12.19.2016

Reindeer Food + A Free Printable

One of my kids favorite after school snacks is popcorn.
I make them popcorn several times a week & around holidays we make "festive" popcorn with m&m's, sprinkles and mix it with melted white chocolate & peanut butter. 
I have a Valentine version HERE and an Easter version HERE.
The kids love making Christmas cookies for friends & family, and this year they asked if we could make a Reindeer food for their friends.
We decided to make our White Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn, but give it a Christmas theme and call it Reindeer food:
Here is what you need:

- 2 packages of microwave popcorn (I used homestyle because it isn't too buttery)
- 12 oz of White Chocolate Chips or White Almond Bark
-  1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I use Skippy Natural)
- Christmas M&M's
-Christmas Sprinkles

Pop 2 bags of Microwave Popcorn & pour them into a bowl (let cool for 10-15 minutes)
***Make sure you get all the un-popped kernels out of the bag***
While your Popcorn is cooling, heat up your white chocolate/almond bark in the microwave or in a double boiler. I heated mine in the microwave at 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.

Then add the 1/2 cup peanut putter to the melted white chocolate & stir. You might want to heat it up for another 15-30 seconds at 50% power:
 When your popcorn is cooled, add the m&ms & sprinkles to the popcorn. I used about 1 1/2 cups of m&ms 
 
 Then pour the white chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the popcorn, sprinkles and m&m's and stir it all together.

Lay down a piece of wax paper & spread the popcorn on wax paper.
Then, I slide the wax paper onto a cookie sheet & then put it in the fridge for an hour.
After it's chilled, I then put it in an airtight container.

Of course, I had to make a printable to go with it because I love making printables :)
We gave these to friends over the weekend.
You need the printable....I printed it on brown paper:

You could also print on white, but I liked the way the brown looks.

I found these cute Reindeer cartons at CVS & they are perfect for Reindeer food.

We added some "Reindeer Food" to a ziplock sandwich bag (so it stays fresher) and then put it in the carton:

We wrote on the labels, cut them out & then attached them to the top with some washi tape.

I think they turned out so cute!
My kids loved putting these together.

We hope you love making these (and eating) this Reindeer Food as much as we do!
 
Here is the printable:
{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}

This is a perfect little treat for your neighbors, friends or teachers!

12.16.2016

Friday Favorites {It's the Holiday Season Edition}

Happy Friday!
Today I'm linking up with Friday Favorites!
Hosted by: AndreaErika & Narci
 
 I am so excited it is Friday....we have tons of fun planned for this weekend!
Tonight, Saturday & Sunday we have a total of 5 holiday parties we are going to.
It makes this extrovert very happy :)

 Here are some of my favorites lately:

{ONE}
Finally got a red cup at Starbucks!
 
My first holiday drink of the season. Peppermint Mocha with only 2 pumps of each. They normally do 4....way too many!


{TWO}
The nail polish I am wearing in the above picture is one of my favorites.
It doesn't chip!!!!! In the photo above, my nails are on day 6 of the nail polish. I love how it hold up!

This base coat & top coat are my new favorite!!!
You can get the base & top coat {HERE} and the color {HERE}
I have been searching high and low for a top coat that helps with chipping. 
I found out about these last year.
 
I use steps 1, 2 & 3 and my nails don't chip for 5-6 days!
They come in tons of different colors. 

{THREE}
As you know, college football is one of my favorites.
Colorado was playing in the Pac 12 Championship at the beginning of December & the game was here in the Bay Area at the 49ers Levi's Stadium, so of course Kevin and I went!
 There was a Colorado tailgate before the game & I got to see a couple girls I played college soccer with before the game.
This was our first time at the new Levi's stadium, so it was fun to check it out.
 So excited that Colorado was playing in this game!
Our seats were awesome! We were right in front of the pre-game show!
 Oh hey....that's Matt Leinhart right behind me doing his pregame show!
 I was just a little excited to have such great seats :)
 The 1st half of the game was fun....then Colorado got blown out in the 2nd half by Washington.
 There's the Pac 12 Championship trophy...right in front of our seats....that would end up going to UW. Sigh.
 Even though Colorado lost, it was such a fun experience being at the championship game. If we would have won that game, Colorado would have gone to the Rose Bowl. There was even a chance that if we lost we still would have gone to the Rose Bowl since UW was going to the College football playoff. I had even made hotel reservations :( But, USC ended up getting picked to go to the Rose Bowl instead of Colorado. I'm so sad....maybe next year.

{FOUR}
I have talked about the Instant Pot before & it really is my new favorite kitchen appliance.
 It is way better than a crock pot because it can slow cook food, but it is also a pressure cooker. I can cook some of my slow cooker meals in the Instant Pot in under an hour! You need one in your life.
They were on sale on Cyber Monday & in case you missed it, they are on sale AGAIN!!!!!!
You can get one for under $100 and it will arrive by Christmas! 
The Instant Pot is amazing!!! 
You can get one on sale HERE.

{FIVE}
One of my favorite things to make with my kids in December on the weekends is Christmas tree pancakes:
I just add some green food coloring in my pancake batter & make different size pancakes, then stack them like a tree. I dust powered sugar on top for "snow" and some whippped cream as the star and sprinkles as ornaments.
My kids love these!

{SIX}
Rodan + Fields Eye Cream is my Favorite!
I know that some of you missed out on my last bulk order, so I am going to place ANOTHER bulk order next week!
I started using the eye cream right after Luke was born and WOW, it got rid of the bags under my eyes that I had from lack of sleep with a newborn. 

Our  Multi-Function Eye Cream combines powerful peptides to minimize the appearance of crow’s-feet, helps reduce the appearance of both puffiness and dark under eye circles while special optical diffusers noticeably brighten the eye area.
Ophthalmologist tested, this formula is ideal for maintaining the delicate skin around the eyes.  

This brave consultant only used the eye cream on one eye for 3 weeks!
It's less puffy & she doesn't have bags under that eye!

I will be placing a BULK order of our amazing eye cream next Friday.
For my bulk order, you can get it with my discount and it will only cost you $60 and I will cover your tax & shipping!
One jar lasts me at least 4-5 months.
Let me know if you want to order one! Leave a comment with your email or email me: melissa_larson17@yahoo.com
{SEVEN}
Confession:
The Jessica Simpson Christmas album is my favorite Christmas CD.
It's so good & the "Baby it's cold outside" duet with Nick Lachey is the best version of that song.
I feel better after admitting this. LOL!

{EIGHT}
Christmas Cards are my favorite.

The kids help me stuff & stamp. I address them. I love going to the mailbox each day in December and getting Christmas cards :)


{NINE}
Making Blessing Bags is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
We went to San Francisco earlier this week and whenever we go to SF during the holidays, we always bring some blessing bags to give to the homeless.
You can see what we put in them on THIS post.

{TEN}
Speaking of San Francisco,  Fuller House is one of my favorites!
Being born & raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I especially love this show because it is based in SF. Last year on Mother's Day, we played "tourist" in SF and checked out the Full House house.
(The house has been repainted since the show last aired 20 years ago in 1995, it is much darker now!)
 Full House was my FAVORITE show growing up. One of the reasons it was my favorite show is because it was based in San Francisco and because it was a family of 3 girls, just like me & my sisters. 
My girls and I LOVED the first season of Fuller House & Kate was so excited that season 2 came out last Friday. 
 We have watched a few of the episodes & I like them so far, but they aren't as family friendly as I would like, so if you have younger kids, you might want to watch them first before you let them watch. 

So, there you have it....some favorites on this rainy Friday!
Hope you have a great weekend!

12.14.2016

Stranded {Christmas Movies}

Today I'm linking up with Shay & Erika for STRANDED!
Today's topic is:
 What 3 Christmas movies would you bring?
  I LOVE Christmas movies!

This is me all of December:
#thestruggleisreal

I have SO many Hallmark Christmas movies on my DVR & love watching other Christmas movies as well. Since I can only bring 3 Christmas movies with me, here are the ones I chose....these are ones that we watch Every.Single.December without fail. We own them all (I linked to the DVD's to them...they are all around $6 and you can get them with free shipping!)

{ONE}
I LOVE both of these. They are a Christmas staple. I watch them EVERY SINGLE December.

I know this is 2 movies, but I am only counting it as one :)
We showed our kids Home Alone & Home Alone 2 for the first time a few days ago. All 3 kids LOVED them and thought they were so funny.
 
{TWO}
Elf....Such a great movie. We haven't showed this to our kids yet, but Kevin and I watch it every year.
 
 I think our girls could watch it this year...maybe next year. Love this movie....so funny!

{THREE}
This is my all time favorite Christmas movie. It never gets old. I laugh every time.
It doesn't feel like Christmas time until I have watched Christmas Vacation. 
Our kid have definitely not watched this movie yet....not for a few more years.

So, there you have it.... My top 3 movies that I would bring if I were stranded.
Disclaimer....I would only watch these movies from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas day because I have a no Christmas until after Thanksgiving rule ;)
A few years ago, I did a post on my Top 10 favorite Christmas movies...you can check it out HERE

Here were the topics for the STRANDED link up this past year:
Here are the ones I have blogged:
 3 medicine cabinet items {HERE}
 3 book choices {HERE}
 3 Netflix series {HERE}
3 footwear choices {HERE}
3 Movies {HERE}
Halloween Candy {HERE}
Outerwear {HERE}
What 3 Christmas movies would you bring? What are your favorites?
I can't wait to hear! I love Christmas movies :)

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