Michelle Barneck - 78/264 - A Little Tipsy

Flip Flips or Flip Flops?

August 30, 2012 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

Do you flip for flips or think they’re a flop? I personally am a huge fan of flip flops (formerly known as thongs he he). I honestly hate wearing shoes and so these are the closest thing to barefoot that is socially acceptable. I love that my little tootsies can feel the sun and the breeze and that I can show off my pedicure (the once in a great while that I get a real one).

I may have a flip flop hoarding problem. I think I have them in at least 10 colors and various styles in certain hues. Up until now I never ventured in to patterns, but when Havaianas offered to send me a pair of “The World’s Best Rubber Flip Flops” I figured if I was going with an exotic brand I may as well go with flair! Check these babies out…

I know right. Are they not the cutest flip flops ever?! It was love at first site! For reals, the moment I saw them on their website I knew they were the ones for me. The geometric pattern, my favorite color combo, seriously it was a match. Plus they have a cool story, the charms were made to mimic the colonial Northeastern Brazilian tile.

Granted I cannot prove the “World’s Best” claim as I have only been wearing these about a week, but I can tell you they never gave me blisters. I always get blisters when breaking in new flip flops, but these were super comfy from the first wear. I broke them in with a Wal-mart trip for heavens sake. They also survived a trip chasing kiddos at the children’s discovery garden which is saying something.

The only drawbacks I see is they are they are pricey compared to the, ahem *cheap* ones I usually buy to wear in the garden and spray paint in. Also, the charms also leave little gray marks on my toes from the metal, but it comes right off so it doesn’t bother me.

All in all I am totally happy with them and am coveting their adorable superhero flip flops that might just have to find a new home for my boys. Or the Mickey Mouse pairs for the splash pad on our upcoming Disney trip?

I received the product shown and a stipend for my time from Havaianas. The opinions are all my own.

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Fun School Lunch Idea

August 23, 2012 By Michelle Barneck 3 Comments

When it comes to school lunch sometimes things can get repetitive and boring which is why I was thrilled to take the challenge from Glad to come up with a fun new school lunch idea. I have seen so many cool Bento ideas, but I don’t have any of those boxes. What I do have is tons of Glad containers. Don’t we all? You don’t need a special box to make a special school lunch for your kiddos, just a little imagination.

Dino Themed School Lunch

It’s this little sandwich cutter for a couple bucks at Wal-mart that makes this lunch super easy.

INGREDIENTS:

Spinach tortilla wrap

Turkey

Provolone

Pretzel rods

Fruit roll-ups

Celery

Strawberry yogurt

Red food coloring

Juice pouch (frozen)

I put the dinosaur scene in a Glad entree size container and the yogurt in a mini round.

INSTRUCTIONS:

It’s a good idea to pack lunch night before so you can freeze the yogurt and juice.

1. Cut dino shapes from your wrap, provolone, and turkey. Layer them with two turkey and one provolone in each. I stacked two little sandwiches on top of each other. I did not use condiments because I did not want it to get soggy. You could pack some on the side, but they really aren’t necessary. I ate a couple dinos and as long as your wraps are fresh they are not dry at all.

2. Cut leaf and spikey bush shapes out of the fruit roll-up. Break the pretzel rod in half and stick leaves on the top of each to make trees. Place the bushes and trees around the dino sandwiches.

3. Cut a celery stalk into little bites and fill the bottom of the container to act as foliage.

4. Fill the mini round container with strawberry yogurt and swirl some red food coloring on top to look like lava. Put the sealed container in the freezer so it will stay cold in the lunch cooler.

6. Put a napkin in a resealable bag and lay it over the dinosaur scene to keep the tortilla fresh and soft. This will also protect the napkin and wrap from the condensation as the juice thaws.

7. Lay the frozen juice pouch on top of the napkin and put the lid on the container. The juice will keep the meat and cheese cold and keep things from shifting around.

8. Put a spoon in the entree container.

9. Place everything in a lunch cooler and it will all be thawed just in time for lunch.

My little guys were so excited to chomp down their prehistoric lunch. One said it was the best lunch ever and kept telling me how it was so cool.

He loves it because it’s cool, I love it because it is low fat and contains all four food groups. Win win.

How do you make school lunch more fun?

Everyone who shares a back to school recipe, tip, or idea before August 31st on the “Mom Made” promotion on Glad‘s Facebook page, is eligible for a chance to win a Lunch Kit for their kids’ entire class! For more info, visit www.facebook.com/GLAD

I have partnered with The Glad Products Company through DailyBuzz Moms to help promote their Food Storage products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to review this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you GLAD!

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Letter of the Week C

August 22, 2012 By Michelle Barneck 1 Comment

It’s time for another post in the Letter of the Week Series. This time the letter of the week is C. It was so fun to realize how many things around us start with C and how many different sounds it makes.

Letter of the Week C Activities:

Color game idea I saw on Toddler Approved. Lay out Colored Cardstock and have the kids Collect toys that match the Colors.
Coloring with Crayons.

Cars shaped Campbell’s Chicken Noodle
Carrots & Celery
Play with Cars, even have a Crash derby
Watch Disney’s Cars movie
Snack on Caramel Corn, Crunchy Chips, Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Chewy Candy

Write all the C words with a Crayon Color beginning with C
Spin Circles in the office Chair
Pretend to be a Character like Captain America
Create a finger painting picture using Chocolate pudding

See more Letter of the Week ideas:

Letter of the Week A

Letter of the Week B

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Fresh Peach Dessert

August 20, 2012 By Michelle Barneck 5 Comments

I am a Brigham City girl and anyone from around there knows we know our peaches. I have long since moved to the valley, but brought a little touch of my hometown with me that stands in my backyard. My peach tree is on and boy are we loving them! There’s nothing quite like a fresh peach dessert.

FRESH PEACH DESSERT

The true beauty of this fresh peach dessert recipe is THERE IS NO COOKING INVOLVED, thus the fresh! It keeps the fruit in it’s original glorious form, which for me with peaches is a must. I am not a huge fan of cooked fruit.

And it is ridiculously easy. If you can crush, cut, and mix you can make this recipe. Truly.

Adapted from this recipe found through Pinterest on the My Favorites blog. The original recipe prepares the dessert in a 13×9 pan, but if you want to be fancy like the pic above it is easy to separate it in to individual serving dishes. Just layer as normal.

And in case you were wondering it is kid tested, mother approved.

Fresh peach dessert is best within the first 24 hours so if you have a small family like us, brighten someones day and take them a little bit of heaven.