Last week was an adventurous one around here. Most of the kiddos were spread out here and there. One was at camp, two of them with one set of grandparents and two more with another set of grandparents. CJ was the only one home most of the week, but there was a reason.

I went in for minor surgery on Tuesday. It honestly wasn’t a big deal and I have felt very good all week despite it, as long as I don’t overdo. Add to that the insanity that is called ‘signing up a child for high school’ though, in addition to daily life with 6 boys and things definitely feel a little more nuts.

As we head out of summer and into yet another fall/school year I am gathering many many very fun ideas and products to share with all of you. So, after taking a lot of time off from blogging this summer I am definitely looking forward to the exciting things I have planned for you very soon.

I am going to be featuring a couple of weeks of giveaways and now is definitely the time to start spreading the news! Next week we will be having a Back To School Bash. The fun thing is, this bash will offer great items and ideas for kids AND moms!!!

Then two weeks later I will be offering several super fun and exciting products and ideas mainly for the grown ups (though there might be a few items for little people thrown in as well)!!  Feel free to join in the festivities during my Hooray for Fall Week!  I’m so looking forward to it and hope that I can squeeze everything in to the one week for each that I have alotted.

Here’s your chance to get a jump start on extra entries!

1. Have a blog? Mention my Back to School Bash (August 30 – Sept 3) and/or my Hooray for Fall Week (Sept. 13th – Sept 17th).  Once the giveaways come around for each event simply leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post as an extra entry.
2. Tweet it! If you use twitter, feel free to tweet about these events to let everyone know with a link back to AFrogInMySoup.com and in addition to the extra entry you usually get for tweeting each giveaway you’ll get yet another entry for any giveaway you choose to enter.
3. Share on Facebook! yep, if you choose to let your friends on facebook know about these events with a link back to the site you will get yet another entry.

These options offer you an additional three entries PER giveaway that you choose to enter during both giveaway weeks! (yes you are welcome to cheer). Until I have a better way for giving each of you lots of entries with one submission I am afraid that you will have to leave a separate comment for each qualified entry for each giveaway.

Not every review featured during those weeks will offer a giveaway, but there are some amazing products out there that I simply felt you all should know about.

I am loving the idea of cooking breakfast cookies and healthy muffins for my kids to start the day. Now, before you start thinking that I’m losing it, I just want to say that when looking at the ingredients and giving it a lot of thought, I realized that there’s a lot of energy, protein and nutrients to be found when you choose the right recipe.

I’m talking a little more about this next week at Mom Central Food but I wanted to share some thoughts here as well. Here’s an amazing breakfast cookie recipe from Food Network, but there are tons more to be found as well.

Breakfast Cookies

(Ellie Krieger, Food Network)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute.

Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies.

Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Creating memories is something that summer is capable of offering us unlike any other time of the year.  Although there are some families that will go away on an extravagant vacation, you do not need to feel like you are slighting your children if that’s something you can’t do!!

I know that for us, a day-cation is all we can usually pull off with a family of 8.  As I was doing a little writing this week for Mom Central Food, I had yet another fun summer adventure idea that is so simple yet memorable that I had to share it with you.

This week, my posts at Mom Central Food are very Fruit and Summer focused.  One of them is about Smoothies and offers a great Blueberry Banana Smoothie recipe, and the other is all about making homemade popsicles.

But here’s the super fun part, you can create an amazing experience for your children just centered on making them fresh homemade popsicles. How? you may ask….. Here’s how to create a Fruity Summer Adventure for your kiddos.

• Find a local farm that has a u-pick area. Check for season information so you know what berries are available when.
• Tip: Go in the morning, fairly early with well fed children that aren’t desperate for a nap. This also avoids being caught in what can often become unbearable heat if you aren’t careful about your timing.  Make sure to still bring sunblock and hats for all.
• If you aren’t familiar with picking berries, most farms will have an employee that can tell you where to go to find them and even basics on how to pick them.  If you don’t bring your own containers for the harvest you pick, most farms will have them available there. Tip: Keep in mind that what you picked gets weighed before you pay so although this is intended to be a fun experience for the kids, don’t let them pick the field dry (hehe).
• Once you get home from berry picking {tip: you will have some very colorful and sticky little ones so you may want to bring along wipes for the trip home}, you will want to start by cleaning the berries thoroughly.
• From here you simply process the berries as needed. If they are for smoothies, lay them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours until firm then move them to a gallon size zipper bag for storage and return to the freezer. If you are using them for popsicles you can simply store them in a container in the fridge until you are ready to make the popsicles {tip: best if you can use them within a day or two for freshness}.

The best part about all of this is that the kids were involved in the process from start to finish.  They can help with not only the berry picking, but consider taking them to the store with you to pick out the other ingredients (if necessary for the intended purpose), and even have them help (or watch) you puree the fruit and make their treat!!!

Kids love this and they love being involved. It makes them feel important and “big”!  They are far more likely to try anything that they have been involved in the creation of, so for picky kids that aren’t used to what you are making this is a great way to try new things.  You can’t go wrong when you know what’s in your children’s food.

Overall I think this is a fantastic way to create a very fun and memorable summer experience for your children.

Today is Earth Day. In fact it’s the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day which is pretty impressive in my opinion. So to celebrate the amazing innovations available to us in taking even small steps to protect our Earth, today I’m talking all about Bento Boxes at Mom Central Food.

Earlier this week I talked a little about simple yummy foods like a homemade Bruschetta. Don’t get overwhelmed by the stigma some foods seem to have, just because they sound gourmet doesn’t mean your children won’t want to eat them or that they aren’t simple to make.

Fun things to try out…see you there!

Expanding on the information about health, wellness and feeding your family I have joined the writing team at Mom Central Food. My first post went up today and it’s all about starting good eating habits young.

Feel free to hop on over and share your thoughts too…see you there!

The holidays are quickly approaching and I’ll be featuring a lot of great products for the whole family over the next few weeks that make great gifts.  Today, I’m very excited to share with you one of the most incredible products and moms, this one’s for YOU!

As you all know I went to New York the end of September to learn about and try out some amazing products by EuroPro.  Let me tell you, they have moms figured out!

I have had a ton of fun preparing a variety of meals, dips and more using my Ninja Master Prep.  But I have to say that one of the things I love most about it is that it’s a gift that moms don’t have to feel guilty asking for.  Why? Because it costs less than $50!!

This machine is truly all it’s cracked up to be and has been an invaluable tool for me since it arrived.  From smoothies and guacamole to perfect scrambled eggs and chopped veggies. I have recommended the Ninja Master Prep to every mom I know and now I’m recommending it to you!

Here’s some details:

• The Ninja Master Prep uses Ninja™ technology to mince, dice, chop, blend, and puree evenly without turning food into mush.
• Ninja technology cuts precisely and evenly
• Both the large 48 oz. pitcher and 2-cup bowl make it easy to switch from food prep to drink making in seconds
• High-torque motor offers uniform cutting and ice crushing action while splash guards keep the prep area clean
• Both the pitcher and bowl are designed to use the same powerful motor which is interchangeable to save space
• Ergonomic operation with one touch pulsing creates an easy-to-use and safe product
• Features dishwasher safe parts
• Contains custom-fit storage lids for both the pitcher and bowl
• Available nationwide at select retailers and on www.NinjaKitchen.com.
• Suggested retail price: $49.99
• Find us on Twitter at @NinjaKitchen and be sure to fan our Ninja Kitchen Facebook page.

I love that they’ve been really careful to create a product that is not only family friendly for surviving tons of use, but they have also been careful about what was used to create the Ninja Master Prep.  Although I have used this tool for much much more than just blended drinks, I have to admit that the blending ice ability of it is definitely what initially intrigued me.

I have always struggled with the fact that my blenders would never make a smooth drink and got tired of always having to babysit the machine to have it crank out anything even resembling a smoothie…and even then there were still chunks.  So I’m very thrilled that this machine lives up to it’s claims.  Just be sure not to overfill it and it’ll always do it’s job!

So ladies, you now have my top pick for your Christmas wish list!  Trust me, if this product can live up to it’s claims even for a family of 8, you’re sure to love it!

Disclosure: I received a Ninja Master Prep to try for myself and provide this review.  All of my reviews are honest and forthright and I will absolutely not claim to love a product that I do not. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

I may be alone here, but anytime my husband is left to try and put together a meal for the family (which isn’t often -usually only when I’m gone or sick) all I end up hearing is how empty the pantry is.  But when I go look I declare it a mystery because unless we’re overdo for a shopping trip, I can see all my usual staples in there.

Granted, cooking for our family of 8 is a little more of an undertaking than many families have to deal with, and hubby will usually beeline for the nearest pizza or hamburger place LOL.  What I consider a staple for our pantry is confusing to him and I totally understand that.  It isn’t filled with the convenience foods that most people are used to seeing.  No blue macaroni and cheese boxes, no boxes that claim to help you make a meal quickly, not even the roni foods that I love.

To make mac and cheese around here, you have to cook up a bag of noodles in one pan and make a cheese sauce in the other.  Surprisingly though, once you know what ingredients go into it, making it this way takes less time than when making it from a box.  During the school year, you aren’t likely to find a box of cereal around here, you’ll need to dig around for the gallon size zippered bag filled with homemade granola…that took the same amount of time to make as oatmeal which is the other staple breakfast food here.

You should probably know right now that the only reason that boxed foods aren’t in our house is because they are typically more expensive than making it from scratch.  Yes, I should probably be stating that they are not as healthy, etc, but the real reason is expense.

So what I consider staples may not be the norm and I might need to make a list of what to do with the mysterious cans and packages that do live on our shelves so that next time hubby has to make a meal, the pantry doesn’t look as empty to him.

I can whip up a crazy good dinner with a few simple ingredients.  One of my timeless favorites has no name, but uses a number of what I consider staples…I’ll put the recipe at the bottom of this post for you.  In the meantime I thought I’d make a list of just a few of my pantry staples.

• Cream of Mushroom Soup
• Boxed Onion soup (this actually makes things shockingly quick to make – especially roast, stroganoff and meatloaf if you buy the beefy Onion soup it’s even better)
• Dry ranch mix packages – these are great for flavoring meals, especially chicken
• Dry noodles – pick your favorites, organic and whole grain are best, but not everyone carries them – I keep primarily egg noodles and either macaroni or another bigger noodle on hand.
• Dry Italian Dressing mix – another simple way to flavor a meal
• Potatoes

Ok, so this is obviously not everything I keep in my pantry, but these items are so very versatile that if they were the only things I had on hand I could still whip up a great meal!

Here’s the recipe for the dinner I made last night…we’ll call it Mushroomy Ranch Chicken and Italian Potato Wedges

For the Chicken

4-6 Chicken breasts (depending on the size of your family – use what you will eat)
1 Package Ranch Dressing Mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Cup Milk

For the Potatoes

10 (or so) Red Potatoes (around here they’re fairly small)
Garlic Salt
Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees (F).  Place Chicken in cooking dish.  In a separate bowl mix together Ranch Mix, Soup and Milk.  When blended, pour over chicken.  Cube Red potatoes (about 1 inch or so) and place in a separate small dish that has been greased.  Sprinkle garlic salt and italian seasoning over the top.  Place both dishes into the oven and cook for one hour.

It is so simple but so good!  Enjoy!

Kix® has long been one of my favorite cereals for my kids!  It’s one of those that I started feeding my little ones as soon as they were old enough to grab it and stick it in their mouths.  Simple and yummy I could count on it not adding too much sugar to their diet while being fun for them to eat.

Even now as they are older it is still one of the healthier cereals that I know I can count on my boys eating.  So, when I found out that they have just come out with Honey Kix (and had an opportunity to share it with all of you), I was thrilled to try it out.  It definitely does not disappoint!

Honey Kix is a good source of fiber, calcium and vitamin D, contains 16 grams of whole grain per serving (at least 48 grams recommended daily) and has no artificial flavors or preservatives. A perfect balance of taste and nutrition through simple ingredients, which both moms and kids can agree on!

Want to give it a try for yourself? Well, you’re in luck! One commenter will receive a VERY fun Honey Kix prize pack that includes a coupon for a box of cereal, a honey jar, a cereal bowl, a container to take your cereal and milk on-the-go (which is very fun!), and a great container to keep cereal fresh at home. Whew!

To enter, just leave a comment telling me what you do to get each morning off to a good start! If you’d like extra entries…no problem! Here’s a variety of ways, but you must leave a new comment for each one!

• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

This giveaway is open to US addresses only.  Entry deadline is August 5th.  It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.

Disclosure:  I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  I received the prize pack to review for myself from My Blog Spark on behalf of Honey Kix.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Looking for a very family friendly and fun dinner idea?  Try this one on for size, of course, if your family does not like nuts, you can use bread crumbs (look in the baking aisle, on the top shelf) instead.  It will be a bit less flavorful, but still fun.

Ingredients:

1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon season salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 (6 ounce each) chicken breasts, cut in strips
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans (or bread crumbs) in a shallow baking pan (or large plate with edges). Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Place the butter into another shallow pan. Dip the chicken strips in the butter and then roll in the pecans. Be sure the chicken strips are completely covered. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (or grease it instead). Place the coated chicken strips in a single layer on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake 25 minutes.

This is an especially great recipe for any cool summer night.  Also makes an amazing lunch idea!!!

Want more great recipes?  Be sure to subscribe to The Moms Review where you will find about 2 new recipes and one or two new parenting/family articles per week!

Well then, you’re in luck!  I have started offering some amazing articles and recipes over at The Moms Review!!!

You can find all the latest recipes HERE…and the best part is that I have at least 15 posting from now till the end of June.  Pretty much every category will be covered, from healthy foods to great desserts, breakfast, lunch, sides and snacks!  Right now you can get a great recipe for Whole Wheat Breakfast Scones and a marvelous Avocado Chicken Salad.

Be sure to subscribe to get all the latest articles, recipes, product reviews and giveaways delivered to you by email or in your favorite reader!

I mentioned articles, well, this month I’m focusing primarily on Gardening…organic, how to start one, gardening with kids and even how to create a sensory garden…fun, fun!  Obviously there’s no way I can fit all of that here, so be sure to check it all out and let me know what you think of all we have to offer over there .