Staples Back to School Deals- July 29th - August 4th

Staples is having some great back to school sales right now.  If you have a store near you make sure to stop in to pick up your penny items and cheap (after rebate) paper.

I was able to get all this for $7.18 pre tax after rebate.  The penny deals this week were paper clips, pocket tissue and folders.  The chalk and mechanical pencils were .25 each, notebooks and crayons .50 each and colored pencils and band aids were $1.  I found a couple coupons in the paper that I was also able to use.  There was a $1/3 RoseArt items coupon and $1/2 Bic items coupon.

Now is a great time to stock up for back to school.  You can even purchase some of these items to use as stocking stuffers or as gifts.  I try to buy ahead so I don't have to pay full price when we need them later in the year for school or craft projects.

Michaels summer clearance

I was at Michaels today and noticed several of their summer items are on clearance for 70% off.  I was able to pick up two of these umbrellas for $2.39 each.  If you are in the area make sure you stop by to see if your Michaels has summer items on clearance.  There are several things that would be good to stockpile for next summer or Easter baskets.

Family Fun Night- Summer Olympics

Tonight is the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies.  We are looking forward to watching it and sharing the experience with our boys.  We have been telling them some of the details about the Olympics but thought it would be fun to make it a little more special.  Today while my older son was at school my little guy and I made some fun things to decorate our dining table.  We made a torch, podium, medals and the Olympic rings.

 We set the table with the Olympic colors in mind and had the podium in the middle with the torch and medals.  We hung the rings on the wall behind the table.

To make dinner simple we picked up a pizza.  It is always more fun when I don't have to clean up a big mess after dinner. 

I hope you all enjoy the Olympics.

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

It is once again time for the Crazy Cooking Challenge at Moms Crazy Cooking.  This months challenge is Blueberry Muffins.  Muffins are something I bake atleast once a week.  My family loves trying all kinds of muffins, especially blueberry.  When I found the recipe for these Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins at Joy the Baker I knew they would be a perfect fit for my family.  They were so good we were even fighting over the crumbs.  Definitely a recipe we will be having again real soon.

 Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping

3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on the butter. Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan. The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that. Keep a close eye. Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined. Add the brown butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine. Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Magic Beans

I gave my boys each 5 "magic beans" to plant in the yard.  We dug a small hole and put them in and patted the dirt down.  The sprinklers watered the beans while we were asleep and the next morning....

 a lollipop had grown.

My boys were so excited.  I think my 6 year old is starting to get to smart for my sneaky games.  He asked how the beans had grown a wrapper on the sucker.  Luckily my quick response of "It is like an orange grows a peel that we don't eat." satisfied his curiosity.

Easter Egg Lunch

My boys and I were at an event today and wouldn't be home until after lunch.  I didn't want to spend money to eat out so I packed them a lunch to eat in the car.  I had heard about the idea of putting snacks in Easter eggs so decided to give it a shot with their lunch.  When I handed the egg cartons to my boys they got super excited.  They loved opening the eggs to find out what each held.  They gobbled everything up and asked me to make their lunch like that again tomorrow.

Easter Egg Popsicles

I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew my boys would love it.  It combines two things they love, Easter eggs and popsicles.  What could be better then that.

I started by taking two plastic Easter eggs.  I drilled three holes in the bottom.  A bigger one in the center the size of a sucker stick and two smaller ones on the sides to let air out.

 Put the two pieces of the egg together and make sure they are snapped together tightly.  I used a medicine syringe to squirt cranberry juice inside.  You can use any juice you want.  Koolaid would even work well.  Don't fill it completely, you want room for it to expand when you freeze it.

 Insert the sucker sticks into the center hole.  I used a piece of egg carton to stand them up.  Put in the freezer until frozen.

 When you are ready to eat them just warm up the top lid in your hand or under warm water so it slides off easily.  When you have eaten down to the bottom section of egg you can just slide it off to get to the rest.

Enjoy!

Linked up to Not Just a Housewife and A Diamond in the Stuff!