Cupcake Busy Bag

If you're on Pinterest or read any type of parenting blog, you've probably heard of Busy Bags.  I like to think of these as "Mommy Gets 15 Minutes Alone" bags or "A More Productive Alternative to Locking Yourself in the Bathroom" bags.  No matter what you call it, the activities are usually ones that can be done alone and quietly.  Recently, I came across this busy bag idea on Money Saving Mom and actually found the time to print the patterns, buy the supplies, and assemble the activity.  Find the Cupcake Busy Bag printable pattern here.

This felt cupcake (made by Abigail for me!) is the finished product.

So, what you start off with are cupcake parts.  I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and every color imaginable wrapper and frosting.  I figured the more options, the more busy time.

After your child assembles the cupcake, it's decorating time!  The printable pattern includes a few of these decorations.  The rest (strawberries, chocolate chips, marshmallows, cookies) I just made up and cut out.  My girl likes her cupcakes decked out.  Oh, and I found these nifty containers in the Target dollar bins.  The dividers work great for my very detailed girl (and me) who needs all the decorations sorted.

See? Super fun and easy to do.

And we keep everything in a plastic shoebox.  So I guess this technically is a busy box.

On a side note, I realized that is what kids played with before their parents let them play games on their phone like this:

Not that I let Abigail do that.  Just kidding.  This is her most favorite app EVER.  Also known as the "How Mommy gets 15 Extra Minutes of Sleep in the Morning" app. Download it here.

My Flower Girl

Abigail had the privilege of being a flower for friends of ours this past month.  She did a wonderful job, and I secretly had so much fun dressing her up.  Pictures of the Ellis wedding are coming, but I thought I'd post one of my favorite pictures of Abigail.  Plus, I just love the frame I found over at The CoffeeShop Blog.

Recipe: Chicken Medallions with Capers

This Pampered Chef recipe combines some of my favorite ingredients: capers and pasta!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T. all purpose flour

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. coarsely ground ground pepper

1 T. olive oil

2 T butter, divided

1 garlic clove

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/2 c. dry white wine

2 t. capers & 1 t. caper juice

2 plum tomatoes, seeded & diced

2 t. fresh oregano

Cut chicken into medallion-size pieces and flatten.  I like to put the chicken in a plastic bag and flatten it with the smooth side of the meat tenderizer.

Combine flour, salt, and black pepper in shallow dish.  Dredge chicken lightly in flour mixture and shake off excess.

Heat oil and 1 T. butter in skillet over med-high heat. Place chicken in skillet and saute 6 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep warm.

Add garlic and shallot to skillet.  I substituted half an onion for the shallot since I had that on hand.  Cook 1 minute or until tender.  Remove skillet from heat.  Add wine and stir to loosen browned bits.  Return to heat and simmer 1 minute.  Add capers, caper juice, and tomatoes.  Stir until heated through.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 1 T. butter and 1 t. oregano.  Return chicken to skillet and coat well with sauce.

Serve over spaghetti and sprinkle with remaining oregano. Enjoy!

Frugal Friday: Totally Target

Did you know that you can use two coupons on one product at Target?  As long as one coupon is a manufacturer's coupon and one is a Target store coupon, you can use both, or stack them.  That makes for some awesome deals!  I was able to everything below for a mere $3.08.

Check out Totally Target, a blog that does all the hard work and lets you know what coupons are available for your Target run.  It's well worth looking at, and a blog I use on a weekly basis to plan my shopping trips.

Necessities

A close look into our budget the other day made me think about my eating habits.  Here are the top ten foods I could not live without, in no particular order:

1. Bread
2. Pasta
3. Cheese
4. Blue Bell ice cream
5. McDonald's chicken nuggets with sweet & sour sauce
6. McDonald's fries
7. Sour cream
8. Fried chicken
9. Mangos
10. Ramen noodles

I don't know what this list says about me.  Probably that I will die of a heart attack if I keep it up.