Nicole Connerley

Apr 1
2014

Easter Treats for kids

We love to make treats to give out in my son’s class for pretty much any holiday, and I wanted to share this super cute idea I found for Easter treats.

It is a little play on smores, items needed: Graham crackers (will use two per child) 1 tiny chocolate bar (last year we used chocolate bunnies) and 1 marshmallow peep (in whatever color you choose)

To make use place two graham crackers, 1 tiny chocolate bar, and a marshmallow peep inside a cute plastic bag that you can see through. Add a cute note saying to use as a smore, then write a note from your child and include it inside.

Enjoy! For another fun Easter treat idea click here.

Mar 27
2014

What is your Disney side?

by Nicole Connerley

We love Disney! But then again who doesn’t love Disney? We love Disney so much we were asked to host a party to show our Disney Side, and it was so fun! We planned a party for my niece who was turning 5 and had a princess (for the girls) and mickey mouse (for the boys) party! The kids loved the snacks from craisins especially because Mickey Mouse was on them!

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To go with our Disney Side theme we made colorful fruit skewers for the kids to enjoy! When ever something is colorful I feel like kids are more likely to start munching on it. We added two blueberries, two purple grapes, a raspberry, a tangerine slice, pineapple, and two green grapes. The fruit skewers were gone before I knew it! I wish I had made more, because I turned around and the kids had eaten them all up!

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I have showed you the healthy snacks we served and I’m not going to lie we also had a candy table. What kid doesn’t love a candy table? The theme for our candy table was more the princess theme with purple and pink being the major colors. The candy table was put off to the side so kids didn’t see it right when they walked in. I told every child they could take a small bag of candy home with them if their parents would let them. I think the parents may have enjoyed the candy table more than the children!

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Some of the fun games we played were pin the tiara on the princess, and pin Mickey’s ears on Mickey! It was very cute to see the little girls line up to see who could pin the tiara closest! The little girls took the game a lot more serious than the boys. The boys would take off the eye mask and just laugh, just little boys acting like boys!

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We loved sharing our Disney Side with our guests and with you. How do you show your Disney Side?

Mar 24
2014

Easter treats fun to make with kids

by Nicole Connerley

It is a cloudy day here in SoCal today, that is why I decided what better to do than make treats! I am hosting Easter brunch for my family and friends on Easter Sunday and I wanted to try out a few recipes and I thought I would share. I love-making Easter Egg Nests, not only are they adorable but they are ridiculously delicious as well. Items needed to make these are marshmallows, butter, vanilla, and dry chow mein noodles, and small candies for the eggs.

4 Cups Dry Chow Mein Noodles
3 Cups Mini Marshmallows
3 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
Candy Eggs, Mini Robin’s Eggs, M & M’s, or Jelly Beans

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Over low heat, melt the marshmallows and butter in a large saucepan, once melted stir in the vanilla. Pour the noodles into a large bowl. Pour the marshmallow and butter mixture over the noodles, stir until well coated. Rub some butter on your hands, this is important as it will all stick to your hands and not together. Then take the noodle mixture and form it into small round bowls in-between the size of a golf ball and tennis ball. Place the balls on the cookie sheet, with the back of a spoon, press the center of each ball to make a hollow indentation. Next let the nests set until they are hard and then fill each nest with candy eggs.

Last year my son and I make enough for all the children in his class. The year before I made them for place settings on Easter Sunday. I took a tooth pick and small piece of paper and wrote everyone’s name and placed at each setting on the table. No one had to get up for something sweet after the meal! Tell me what you choose to do with your nests!

Mar 20
2014

Vegan Lasagna Recipe

by Nicole Connerley

Lasagna is really one of my favorite meals to make at home, maybe because I’m part Italian who knows. Recently my hubby and I became vegan to support my mother who is going through chemotherapy. I was worried I couldn’t make lasagna anymore mainly because of the vegan cheese. We have tried a few different types, Dayia and the store brand from Trader Joe’s. Dayia has a better taste, but the Trader Joe’s brand melts a lot better. Below you will find my recipe for a delicious vegan lasagna, I purchased everything from Trader Joe’s.

Needed: Vegan cheese, beef-less ground beef, no-boil lasagna noodles, organic spaghetti sauce, organic onion, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

Saute’ medium onion 5-6 minutes
In a large bowl poor some of the spaghetti sauce to dip the noodles in before putting in the baking dish
Cover lasagna noodle with spaghetti sauce and place in dish
1 tbsp onion on top of noodle
2 tbsp beef-less ground beef on top of onion
2 tbsp spaghetti sauce, or enough to cover entire noodle
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
A dash of salt & pepper
Repeat steps 3 -8 until near the top of baking dish
Put in oven at 350 for 40 minutes
Remove from oven
1/4 cup of vegan cheese, sprinkle on top
Place back in oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted (depending on your oven it may only need 2 min)

Mar 19
2014

Free shutterfly photo book

by Nicole Connerley

Our friends at Shutterfly are reminding us once again why we love them… a free photo book for all! Choose from any of the many styles of photo books at Shutterfly.com. If you want a photo book but would like to add pages or have larger than the FREE 8X8 size feel free to add them on for a little extra. Only pay for shipping on a 8X8 photo book with promo code: STORYTIME at checkout.

Fine Print

*Offer expires March 25, 2014 (11:59 P.M. PT). Offer is good for one free 20-page 8×8 hard photo cover photo book throughshutterfly.com or the Shutterfly Photo Story app for iPad. Offer cannot be redeemed more than once per account and/or billing address. This particular offer code can only be redeemed once. Taxes, shipping, and handling will apply. Customer may add options to their 8×8 book (additional pages, cover options, layflat pages, Storytelling™ styles, memorabilia pockets, etc.) at additional cost. Alternatively, customer may apply the current price of a 20-page 8×8 hard photo cover photo book (after taking into account any current discounts on shutterfly.com) toward the purchase of any larger photo book. Not valid on 5×7, 7×9, 8×8 or 8×11 soft cover photo books, prepaid plans, other products, prior purchases, purchases made on the Shutterfly iPhone, iPad and Android apps or Shutterfly Pro Galleries. Valid for the intended recipient only. Cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with other offers or credits. Not valid for resale.

Mar 19
2014

Becoming Vegan

by Nicole Connerley

A few months ago I signed up for Netflix, my hubby was very excited to start watching documentaries which he loves. He started a movie he thought I really should watch, after some pleading I finally agreed to watch it with him. To say I was shocked is an understatement, it literally changed the way I look at any animal based product. In the movie it explains how cancer feeds on any animal product, from meat (including turkey and chicken) to cheese and even eggs. Since my mother is going through her fifth round of chemotherapy due to her breast cancer that has spread I wanted her to become vegan that day! My hubby and I told my mom if she would become vegan we would do it with her to support her and it would be a journey for us all to share.

It has been so long without any type of meat I do not crave it at all. That isn’t to say I didn’t cheat some at first! My main issue was no cheese, and I don’t even like cheese that much! It was more for the things I love to make like lasagna, pizza, enchiladas, etc. Lasagna is my favorite meal to make at home so I was really sad I couldn’t make it anymore. That was until I saw the vegan section at my local Trader Joe’s, there was cheese, fake meat (sounds gross but I swear it isn’t) and much more. I’ve cooked with vegan cheese in the past and I hated that no matter how long you cooked it, the cheese didn’t melt, isn’t that what cheese is for?

My first attempt to cook with the vegan cheese was on pizza, and we tried two different types. Trader Joe’s and Dayia cheese (found at Whole Foods) the vegan cheese from Trader’s melted but didn’t have a lot of taste. The Dayia cheese didn’t melt entirely but had a better taste, I was just happy to have some type of cheese to cook with!

My next attempt with the cheese was to make my favorite lasagna. Last night was the first time making it, it wasn’t my regular lasagna but for vegan lasagna it was pretty darn good! Stay tuned for my vegan lasagna recipe!

If you would like to watch the movie it is called Forks over Knives, and basically tells you how to live a plant based diet. It truly isn’t that hard once you figure out what you can and can’t eat. Sounds funny to say figure out but just because something is non-dairy doesn’t mean it isn’t vegan. A lot of non-diary cheese is not considered vegan because it has casein in it. As it is derived from milk, casein is not vegan but it is vegetarian. Unless the package has the V on it for vegan generally I won’t buy it.

My favorite quote from the movie is “Some people think the ‘plant-based whole foods diet’ is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery. Some people would call THAT EXTREME!” ~Dr. Essestyn

If you or anyone you know has cancer please watch this movie, it may save your life.

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