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Thursday, December 31, 2020

Making Big Wok at Home, plus Sheri's Berries for dessert

Over the summer, we made food from so many different restaurants ourselves, it was bound to happen that we'd end up liking a bunch of them. One of those that's in our rotation is Big Wok. Tonight we're having that, plus a special dessert sent to us from some friends of Sheri's Berries!

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Christmas Movies with family

Christmas is a time to do things together as a family. Since we're all hanging out at the house we're going to be able to see a lot more Christmas movies than we might normally. 


Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Holiday Treats - Making Gingerbread with the kids a 2nd time

Our last batch of gingerbread went fast. Like, really really fast. Come to find out, one of Richard's favorite cookies is gingerbread and he's been eating them quite a bit. I think we should make another batch!


We all got together as a family and decorated them this time. 

Monday, December 28, 2020

Pizza at Home - A look-back at a year of making unique pizzas each week

We love pizza day. Back before the pandemic hit, Sunday was always pizza day at the Flowers' house. We stopped eating out and started making all our foods at home, but I was really missing pizza. 

It was Theresa that suggested I make my own pizzas at home, and make them in all the different styles. That turned into a challenge for me to come up with a new pizza every week for as long as I could. It started in June and just about every week since, I've made something different. To finish out the year, we're going to take a look back on all the pizzas I've made at home and then for dinner I'll be making everyone's favorite. 

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Holiday Treats - Saturday Morning Cereals - Cap'n Crunch's Christmas Crunch

It's Christmas-time and Cap'n Crunch is bringing us something special for the Holidays. It's Cap'n Crunch's Christmas Crunch!
We're attempting to make our way through the entire Fleet of Flavors. So far we've tried Crunch Berries, Oops! All Berries, Cotton Candy Crunch, Chocolatey Berry Crunch, and Sprinkled Donut Crunch


This version of Captain Crunch cereal has Fun Holiday Shapes and Christmas colors. 

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Christmas Eve 2020-12-24

 Merry Christmas Eve! As is tradition on Christmas Eve, the kids get to open one present. 

Friday, December 25, 2020

Ian loses his 5th tooth... On Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve and there's lots of Christmas stuff going on, but for the past few days, Ian has been working really hard on a tooth that's become loose. He was really wanting to have it out on Christmas Eve so that he could have a visit from both the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, all in the same night!

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Filling our hearts with Christmas Spirit

By this point it should be pretty clear that Christmas is one of our favorite holidays to celebrate. It helps that we've got nearly 2 months to prepare for it as soon as Halloween is over. That gives us two months to get into the Christmas spirit and these kids certainly love to figure out fun things to do to celebrate. 

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Going to see Christmas Lights

Merry Christmas! One thing I really enjoy about the holidays is looking at all the festive Christmas lights. I love getting out and seeing the lights in our neighborhood. The surrounding neighborhoods like Sleepy Hollow are fantastic too. This year, things are getting changed up a little bit though. With social distancing, there's not an easy opportunity to walk around Sleepy Hollow. There's lots of traffic and I'd heard from neighbors that cars get backed up for miles. We've got another plan though. Read on. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Decorating for the Holidays 2020

Merry Christmas! It's time to decorate for the holidays! 

Monday, December 21, 2020

Pizza at Home - Christmas Pizzas

Last week I had fun making Holiday Pizzas for the family. There was a giant Frosty the Snowman along with a Christmas Wreath. The only real problem I had with it was that the yeast-dough I used for the crust made everything puffy and distorted a few of the shapes. I know just how to fix that problem, and it'll make a lot of people happy too. 

The request I get more than any other for pizzas is to re-make our thin crust pizza we had back in October. Tonight we're going to make pizzas shaped like different Christmas items!

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Holiday Treats - Making Gingerbread with the kids

Weekends are made for making memories. I love having time off work that I can do things with the kids. 
Alli and Ian have both been saying that they wanted to decorate gingerbread. I'd thought about buying a kit, but you know, let's do something together! 

I made gingerbread for the first time back in 2014 when a fellow Micechatter suggested it as something to make for the holidays. Now that the kids are bigger and eager to help out in the kitchen, they can make them along with me!

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Hershey's Kiss Size Comparison - How much bigger is a Giant Hershey's Kiss?

While I was shopping one day, in the Holiday section I found a Giant Hershey's Kiss. Wow! That's got to be the biggest Hershey's Kiss I've seen. That gives me an idea for another size comparison post. I've already done one with the 8 different sizes of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and 5 different sizes of Oreos. Let's see how those little Hershey's Kisses with the Big Chocolate Taste measure up!


For our comparison today, we're going to look at:
  • Hershey's Kisses Chocolate Chips
  • Hershey's Mini Kisses
  • Hershey's Kisses Original
  • Hershey's Kisses 1.45 oz (41g)
  • Hershey's Kisses 7 oz (198g)
  • Hershey's Giant Kiss 12 oz (340g)

Friday, December 18, 2020

Holiday Treats - Hershey's Kisses Sugar Cookie

Happy Holidays! One of the many things I love about the holidays are all the different Holiday themed treats that get released. In 2018 we tried the Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses and Hot Cocoa Kisses. Then in 2019 there was Dark Chocolate Mint Truffle Kisses and Cherry Cordial Kisses

Today we're going to be trying Sugar Cookie Hershey's Kisses!


If we're going to have Sugar Cookie Hershey's Kisses, we've got to have Sugar Cookies to go along with it. And since we've got a little bit of free time, I think we're going to make these ourselves from scratch. It'll be something fun we can do together as a family. 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Holiday Treats - Saturday Morning Cereals - Elf Cereal - National Maple Syrup Day - December 17th

Time for another cereal taste test! This time it's holiday cereal in the form of one of our favorite Christmas movies. Elf!
Buddy the Elf is just so full of Christmas cheer. The kids had some laugh-out-loud moments while we watched the movie. When I saw the cereal at Target, I had to get it. 


As you might expect, because elves love syrup, this cereal is flavored with Maple Syrup. There's Christmas Tree marshmallows in both pink and green. I like the artwork as well on the box. It's bright green and includes Mr. Narwhal and the Arctic Puffin. 

And because Buddy always goes just a little overboard, we figured we'd incorporate the 4 main food groups for elves into our taste test. 

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Alli's Bottle Caps Taste Test

Ever since her Dots taste test, Alli has been on the lookout for something else to try. She's got a few more that she's planning, but the first are these Bottle Caps that we got in a giant bag of Halloween candy. 


Willy Wonka's Bottle Caps hit store shelves back in 1972. Today they come in 5 fun soda flavors. There's Cherry, Orange, Root Beer, Cola, and Grape. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Pizza at Home - Joe's Favorite No Knead Pizza Crust Recipe and Walkthrough

My family loves Sundays because it's always Pizza Day! I have been making a new homemade pizza crust every Sunday and after 30 weeks, I've pieced together my favorite parts of all of them to come up with my favorite pizza dough recipe. 

Instead of making you read all the way to the bottom like so many other recipe pages I've come across, I'm putting everything at the top. 

Makes (2) 13 in pizzas. This is a wet dough, approximately 70% hydration. 
Ingredients

  • 5 cups of flour (750g) 
  • 2 cups of water (515g) 
  • 5 tsp of instant yeast
  • 2 tsp of salt
  • 2 Tbs of sugar
  • 2 Tbs of canola oil
Mix everything together in a bowl just until it comes together. No need for a stand mixer and no extra kneading. Let it sit until it doubles. Punch it down, split into two bowls and then rise again. Pour the dough onto a floured piece of parchment and with floured hands, press the dough into the desired shape. Add your favorite toppings, cook at 500F for 13 minutes, and enjoy!

That's it! It's all pretty simple!


Continue reading for an in-depth walkthrough with step-by-step pictures. 

Monday, December 14, 2020

Holiday Treats - Pizza at Home - Holiday Pizzas

It's the Holidays! And it's also Sunday! Let's combine Pizza day and the Holidays and make some themed pizzas! On Halloween I made a Jack-o-lantern pizza, and then on Thanksgiving I made a Turkey-Day Leftovers Pizza. To celebrate the Holidays, today I'm going to make two different festive pizzas. A Frosty the Snowman pizza and a Christmas Wreath!

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Kids' Personal Triathlon - Hike, Bike, Jump

One of the fun things we like doing as a family is going through walks in the neighborhood. One evening as we were walking, we crested a hill and could see the ocean. Ian has been pushing to go for a walk from our house all the way to the beach. One Saturday morning, we decided to give it a go!

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Saturday Morning Cereals - Lucky Charms Cereal Bars

For today's cereal, we're taking a look at what might happen if you were on the go and still wanted cereal. There's a whole line of cereal bars that are quick and easy. We're going to start with Frosted Lucky Charms - They're Magically Delicious!


And we're certainly not going anywhere any time soon, so we're going to compare them to the classic Lucky Charms cereal. 

Friday, December 11, 2020

Holiday Treats - Alli's Surprise Sugar Cookies

It's the holidays and so we're going to be in the kitchen a little more than we already usually are. Today we're not just making sugar cookies, we're making SURPRISE sugar cookies! And it was all Alli's idea. 

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Baconator Pringles taste test

Today we've got another new Pringles flavor to try out! This one is supposed to taste like the Wendy's Baconator!

I saw these announced but could not find them anywhere. Luckily my brother and his wife in Colorado are always looking out for me. They mailed me this plus a few other things I couldn't find in Los Angeles. Thanks!


In lieu of buying the sandwich from Wendy's, I'm going to make it at home myself. Just like when we made an entire Wendy's meal at home including the Frostys!

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Alli's first day visiting WDW Parks Part 2 - Animal Kingdom 2016/03/16

Continuing our Walt Disney World day, after going to Epcot in the morning, our next stop is Disney's Animal Kingdom. 


Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Ian's Taste Test - Bigs Taco Bell Taco Supreme Sunflower Seeds

Certain days of the week we always have the same meals, and it's because we love it so much. Every Sunday is Pizza day and every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday! We love Taco Tuesday. Combine that with the Cinnamon Twists I picked up in May and it's like Taco Bell at our house every Tuesday. 

When we were walking around the Dollar Tree before Ian's birthday, he got to pick 2 things as a present for a taste test. The first were these 8 Donald Duck Juices, and since he loves tacos so much, he wanted his second to be these Taco Bell Sunflower Seeds. 


So what better night to try them on than Taco Tuesday. We'll make our own Taco Supreme tacos to taste along side them to compare!

Monday, December 7, 2020

Pizza at Home - Korean Bulgogi Pizza

Happy Sunday! We do love our pizza day. Today we're going to be celebrating our Korean heritage with a Korean Bulgogi Pizza! 

Sunday, December 6, 2020

National Cotton Candy Day - Fluffy Stuff Rainbow Sherbet Cotton Candy - December 7th

While wandering a supermarket, I saw that Fluffy Stuff has a new offering. I love cotton candy and we all love Rainbow Sherbet. I think we have all the makings of a taste test. And what better day to do it than National Cotton Candy Day!


And with something like Rainbow Sherbet Cotton Candy, we've got to try it right alongside the real thing. 

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Saturday Morning Cereals - Minecraft Creeper Crunch

Time for another Saturday Morning Cereal! Like a lot of kids this age, Ian and Alli just love Minecraft. They're still pretty new to it, but they're completely enamored with it. When Ian saw this box of cereal sitting in our quarantine section, he said "Dad! Minecraft Cereal!"
I got it special for you buddy. 
Alli wanted to dress up like a Creeper, so she made herself a Creeper mask and got green Lego plates for the rest of it. It does look very boxy, just like everything else in Minecraft. Great job Alli!


This Minecraft Creeper Crunch is a cinnamon flavored cereal with marshmallows. Ian got a Lego set with Minecraft characters for his birthday, so today we're joined by Minecraft Lego Steve. 

Friday, December 4, 2020

National Cookie Day - Chips Ahoy Thins cookie comparison - December 4th

Today is National Cookie Day! Cookies might be my favorite dessert. I've got a taste test just for such an occasion. 


Chips Ahoy! makes Chips Ahoy! Thins, and we haven't had a chance to try them, or compare them to the originals. 

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Yoplait Fruit Gushers Yogurt

A something-flavored something else? Sounds like our kind of taste test!

Ha! Well in this case, it's a Gushers-flavored yogurt. 


Yoplait is bringing us two new flavors of yogurt. A bright red Tropical Punch Gushers flavor and a bright blue Blue Raspberry Gushers flavor, both with Burstin Beads. 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Reese's Dessert Bars

It's time for another Reese's treat, and this time we're making it ourselves! 


Reese's Dessert Bars look like they're going to be delicious! When Theresa saw me pulling this out, she said she's not quite ready for more Reese's flavors. She's still a little Reese'd out after last year's biggest taste test ever when we had 53 unique Reese's items

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Alli's first day visiting WDW Parks Part 1 - Epcot 2016/03/16

Continuing our story from 2016 about Alli's first visit to Walt Disney World, today is our very first day in the parks!