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Homemade Cheez-Its Recipe

Homemade Cheez-Its

I love having grab-n-go snacks to give to my kids when they're needing a little something to tide them over until dinner.

It seemed like everything I could think of to make, though, was stuff that had sugar in it like muffins, granola bars (what good is a granola bar without chocolate chips in it? 🙂 ), and other things like that.

I wanted some type of crackery something to feed them, so I paid a visit to my good friend, Mr. Google.

 

 

This Homemade Cheez-Its recipe called my name, so I printed it off, and headed to the kitchen.

This was so easy, and what I love is the fact that I know exactly what I'm feeding my kids! Cheese, flour, butter, salt and water are the sole ingredients of this lovely recipe.

I know you're tired of hearing me ramble on, and are ready for me to just get on with it, right?

Here goes:

 

Homemade Cheez-Its Recipe
Ingredients
  • 8 oz extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
  • ½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 t kosher salt
  • 1 c flour
  • 2 T ice water
Instructions
  1. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, mix Cheese, butter and salt until soft and combined.
  2. Add the flour and mix on low speed (the dough will be dry and pebbly).
  3. Slowly add the water and continue to mix as the dough forms a ball.
  4. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  5. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.
  6. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each into a very thin (1/8 inch or less) 10 x 12-inch rectangle. Using a fluted pastry cutter, cut the rectangles into 1-inch squares, then transfer to the baking sheets. Use the tip of a chopstick to punch a hole into the center of each square.
  7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until puffed and browning at the edges. Watch carefully, as the high fat content of the crackers makes it a fine line between golden delicious and burnt. Immediately move the crackers to racks to cool.

I used Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese for ours, and the whole family has been raving about them!

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

 

Recipe from ReadyMade.com

 

 

 

 

 

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Refrigerator

Procrastination Button

I know you're all going to just love me for today's challenge, but it must be done sometime, right?  And if we're not going to procrastinate, it needs to be done now, right?

That's what my husband and I decided right before bed last night.  The nasty refrigerator was just bugging us way too much, and really, when are we ever going to find a good time to clean it out?

So, last night it was.  It took an hour.  Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad (and chances are it wasn't); you just have to know my husband.  He says he's not a perfectionist, but I don't really know what else to call it.

Every single shelf was wiped down, and the old food was thrown away, which is fine.  That's the way most people clean out their fridge.  But, he wasn't content to stop there.  He wanted to use up any food that was about to go bad…now.  As in, let's make a gigantic fruit salad at bedtime.  As in, “Honey, you might as well wash up these blackberries and get them in the freezer.”

I'm always like, “I will.  Tomorrow.”  Which I guess is why I realized that I needed this Anti-Procrastination challenge this year.  And which I guess is why there was food in the fridge that already had to be thrown out.  It must have all been stuff I said I was going to use up…tomorrow.  Apparently, “tomorrow” was too late.

Sigh.  So, I guess know I'll be glad tonight at supper when we get to eat this wonderful fruit salad that I didn't feel like making last night.

Anyway, enough of my rambling about my woes of late-night fruit salad making.

It's time for you to get busy cleaning out your fridge!  And I don't want to hear you saying that it's not that bad!  You'll be sorry when you're throwing out food at bedtime one night.  And, ahem, if you really need to –  go ahead and make that fruit salad.  Just don't tell my husband I suggested that.  He'll think I thought it was a good idea.

 

 

 

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Being Intentional

Anti-Procrastination Challenge

One thing I really want to do better with is being intentional in my mothering.  I want to plan ahead more to spend time with the kids.  Sure, there is a place for spontaneous time together, but that honestly doesn't happen very often.  There are always dishes to wash, clothes to fold, and floors to sweep.  The work is never ending, and the time to spend with these little ones doesn't often just happen by accident.

I decided that since I'm all about Anti-Procrastination this year, that I was going to purposely make time to spend with the kids today.  Instead of waiting until everything magically fell into place (which it never would), I purposely cleared my schedule and gave my undivided attention to them.

And guess what?  I think I had more fun than they did!  Granted, I'll need to stay up a little longer tonight and finish folding the laundry, but what is more important?  Claiming my children's hearts as they grow up right before my eyes, or folding the laundry that will always be there?

 

Kids castle

One of several activites we did together today

 

What about you?  Is there something about which you need to purposely be more intentional?  Maybe it's not your kids; maybe it's being a better wife, a better nieghbor, church member, or friend.  It's time to stop planning to do better and just do it!

Have you been challenged to be more intentional about a certain area of your life?  Leave a comment and tell me about it!

 

If you’re just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. Be sure you’re subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each new challenge!

 

Excellent Christian Book Resource

 

books

 

 

My mother-in-law passed down the Lost in the Woods book to us, and I've been reading the short stories to the kids as they eat their lunch every day.

The stories are excellent – each short story contains a gospel message.  The language is a little bit old-fashioned, which I like because it is helping my kids build their vocabulary.  I don't think kids are as dumb as we make them out to be.  My two year old understands these stories, and she is learning lots of new words as she listens too.

I didn't know where the book came from, so I googled the publisher, and I was pleasantly surprised at what came up!  It was a treasure trove of quality Christian books for all ages!  There are missionary biographies, Christian historical fiction and non-fiction, devotional books, short story compilations like the ones pictured, reference books, and more!

I have this particular book, and it is excellent.book

 

I could spend a small fortune if I were to purchase everything that I wanted.  I will be frequenting this site often.

Anyway, I was just excited to find so many great looking books all in one place, so I thought I'd share.

Here's the site:

 

Bible Truth Publishers

 

Anyone else have any good recommendations for quality Christian books?

 

 

 

 

How to Have More Energy {Plus a Giveaway!}


Since I've still been struggling with extreme fatigue, I've been doing lots of research on what the problem could possibly be, and what I can do to help myself.  Many of you have left comments and written emails giving various advice, and I appreciate it so much.  I have tried lots of different things that you all have suggested.

At this point I'm really hoping that my hormones are just out of balance.  I'm biding my time until the baby is weaned before I seek any more professional medical advice.  If things don't settle down a while after I'm done nursing then I will assume there is something else that needs to be addressed and go back to the doctor.

But in the meantime, I have a household to run and three little ones to take care of.  That's not so easily done when my energy level is basically at zero.

I came across a number of sources that stated that the glucose in honey absorbs into your body very quickly and turns to energy.  It is recommended that you take a tablespoon in a glass of water in the afternoon every day for optimum energy.  I can't honestly say that I know it works yet because I just tried it for the first time today, but I'm all for trying anything that will help me feel a little more like a human being!

 

My favorite honey in the whole world comes from Tropical Traditions.

Raw Honey

This organic raw honey is honestly the best honey I have ever tasted in my life!  I generally like to eat local honey, but there is something so sweet about the honey from Tropical Traditions that blows away the taste of even local honey.  Plus, I love that fact that it is truly organic, meaning that the bees do not gather their pollen from any flowers that are grown with pesticides or fertilizers.  Instead, they gather from wild vegetation in the frontiers of Canada.  The beehives are located far from any type of city and its pollution from traffic and industry.   After harvesting, it is left completely unprocessed.

You can purchase some here.  (And as of this posting, it's on sale too!)

And don't forget, that Tropical Traditions is also the best place to purchase coconut oil.  Check out my post on 30 Uses for Coconut Oil and my favorite ever and oh-so-easy homemade granola using coconut oil.

You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?

 

Now, for the fun part!

 

The Giveaway!

One of you will win some organic raw honey, thanks to the generosity of Tropical Traditions.  To enter, just follow the directions on the form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Legal stuff: 
  • Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. 
  • This post contains affiliate links.
  • I am not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Please use your discretion before making any decisions based on the information in this blog. Author will not compensate you in any way whatsoever if you ever happen to suffer a loss, inconvenience, or damage because of/while making use of information in this blog

15 Independent Activities for One Year Olds

 

I have been preparing for the coming homeschool year, and it dawned on me that I will have a one year old to keep busy during homeschool hours!  He is a busy guy too – always into everything.  I went on the hunt for some activities that will be safe for him to do without supervision.  I'm hoping these will be exciting enough to him that he will keep himself occupied for a while.  If the pictures are not self-explanatory, you can check out the link under each one to find tutorials on how to make these activities.

New! If you like this post, you will love my brand new eBook, 101 Independent Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers!

101 Independent Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Make your own texture book
Peek-a-boo tray from shoebox lid
Baby Play Bottle
Buckle clipping toy
Treasure baskets

 

 

 

Tissue box stuffed with fabric squares

 

 

 

 

 

Nesting bowls

 

 

Muffin tin sorting

 

 

Putting balls through a tissue box

 

Velcro board

 

 

 

Tearing Paper

 

 

 

 

Playing with magnets

 

 

 

 

Placing objects in a large container

 

 

 

 

Tactile exploration cards

 

 

 

 

Pipe cleaners in a bottle

Don't forget to check out 101 Independent Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers!