Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

I LOVE sweet potatoes, and they're SO much better for you than regular potatoes. However, if you look up sweet potato casserole recipes on the internet, you'll find that they're packed full of sugar. In my opinion, they don't need all that much sugar, because they're already sweet and delicious. So I came up with this recipe using honey instead of sugar, and only a few other ingredients. It's simple, healthy, and SUPER delicious. My kids always ask for seconds, that's how I know it's really good. There's no topping, so it look a bit plain. If you want, you could probably add some crushed pecans or sprinkle some brown sugar on top.

Keep in mind, I cook for 7 hungry bellies, plus my hubby likes to take left overs to work, so if this is too much for you, you could definitely cut this recipe in half. Also, I apologize, but I'm not a very rigid recipe follower, so some of my measurements aren't exact. It drives my husband crazy, so I understand if it does you too. I can't help it, it's who I am. ;)

Ingredients:
3 lb sweet potatoes (about 8-ish)
1/4 - 1/2 cup honey (to taste)
4T butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
dash of salt






Directions:
1. peel potatoes, and cut into 1" (ish) chunks
2. put potatoes in a large pot and fill with water to just cover potatoes
3. heat on high, boil potatoes until tender (20 minutes?), drain and put potatoes back in pot
(veggie water is great for watering plants!)
4. add all other ingredients and mix together thoroughly
5. transfer to greased 9x13 baking pan
6. bake at 325 (F) for 30 minutes

  

 

Label it! With Lifestyle Crafts

Lifestyle Crafts has It Kits... For those just getting into crafting, these kits are a great place to get started. They're especially great, because they come with the digital files which lets you cut It Kits shapes on your digital die cutting machine, as well as your manual die cutting machine.  20% off code at the bottom of post! 

Here are the It Kits that Lifestyle Crafts has:
Label It,
Tab It,
Corner It
Clip It,
Tag It,
Edge It

To help me get my life in order I got the Label It kit.  Here is what I did with it!

Reward Poster:

My son has a hard time staying in his bed at night. He likes to sleep with his mama, and that means I don't get much sleep.  To help him be BRAVE and stay in his own bed we made reward poster for him.  If he could stay in his bed all night 10 time, he would get the batman car he picked out at the store.  Yep- we totally use bribery in this house!

Here is what we did.
We took a piece of poster paper. markers, and one of my new Label dies and got to work.

I cut out 10 circle/star shapes (I thought they looked super hero-y) and traced around them on the poster for the letters.  we spelled out "Kyan is Brave" I had my son involved the whole time making the poster.  I really wanted him to own it.  {now, the arty mama in me wanted to take over and make it "cute" but I let him decorate it and he was so proud!) We printed off pictures of Batman from a Google image search and used those on the poster too.

We hung it on the door together and we talked about how Batman does not sleep with his mom.  We talked about what it meant to be brave.  We talked about the fact that God is always with us so we know we are safe.  We talked about it a lot... all day, during the bath before bed, after the story... it was a BIG deal.  Then each day he stayed in his bed all night he got to put a sticker on his poster.  I made it a ceremony of sorts to put the sticker on the poster.  There was lots of high five-ing and praise!

It was slow going at first.  I don't think he really got that he had to get all the letters to get the car... but after he got a few stickers and LOTS and LOTS of encouragement, he got it and starting earning stickers night after night.  We didn't make him start over if he got up at night, he just didn't earn his sticker that day.  It got to a point where he would pray "Lord- help me stay in bed so that I can get a sticker in the morning."  I am happy to report that he earned his Batman Car he was so happy and excited!  And I am happy because I am getting more sleep!

Labels for Totes:

I love the fact that you get the digital files too!  I was able to use the files in my silhouette to make these cute labels for all my kids craft/little toys.

I recycle my wipes container to hold all the little pieces/toys/craft things for my kids.  I love that they are the perfect size.  What I did not love is that I cannot see what is inside.

I loaded the digital files into my silhouette and cut out these labels on white board vinyl {From Expressions Vinyl}.  Now I know what is inside.  And it is easy to change it if need be!

Don't forget to use code: fireflies to get 20% off your total order at Lifestyle Crafts


 

SIY: Kids Clothes- Cute Halter top with Lindsay {PA Country Crafts}

Let's welcome our next Guest Poster for our Sew It Yourself: Kids Clothes Series! 

Today we have Lindsay from PA Country Crafts!  Take it away Linsay! 

_______________________________________________________________

 Hi! Thanks so much to Fawnda for letting me share a tutorial with her readers!  My name is Lindsay and I blog over at PACountryCrafts.  I am married with five kiddos- one boy and four girls and we live on a little “farmette” in Pennsylvania, where we actually call them "lightning bugs" instead of fireflies.   On my blog you will find lots of my craft projects, some tutorials, yummy recipes, and a little look at our crazy life out here in the country.  A little bit of everything...

For my guest post, I decided to make a little halter top for my youngest daughter - she could use a few more shirts in her wardrobe.  This could easily be lengthened to make a dress, but she isn't quite walking yet, so this way she doesn't have to bear crawl to avoid getting her knees stuck. 

OK!  Let's get started!  I like to start out with a shirt that already fits well- for this one I folded and traced a tank top.

If your side isn't already an a-line shape, make it slant out as pictured.  I added seam allowance to the side (3/8") and the top (3/4") but I let the underarms alone since I used single fold bias tape.  To make the back, I just traced the front pattern from the bottom of the arm holes down, adding an inch to the width and 3/4" to the top to insert 1/4" elastic (Note: If you are making this in a larger size, you will want to use thicker elastic, so leave more seam allowance.)

Then, cut on the fold for each piece-  I used a lightweight cotton.

For the neck ties,  cut two strips 2" wide by 21" long (or as long as you need to make them fit the size you are making mine were pretty long, and probably a choking hazard- wear under supervision.) The ruffle for the bottom should be 2" wide by twice the finished width of the entire bottom- 44" long for mine.

To make the front, use single fold bias tape along the edges of the arms.

See?  Not too bad.  I don't even like single-fold bias tape, but it is just a little, so I did it with minimal grumbling.

To make the straps, sew the long sides together with a 1/4" seam then flip the tubes right side out.

Press and topstitch both long edges and fold one end in twice to hem.

 Fold the top edge under 1/4" and again about 3/8"-1/2" and insert the straps at the ends.

Sew the top about 1/8" from the folded edge.  Flip the straps back up and sew them in place.

Now, let's move on to the back...  Press the top edge of the back under 1/4" and again 3/8"-1/2".  Sew 1/8" from the folded edge to create a casing for the elastic.

Cut a piece of elastic the width of the back of your original tank top- for me I used 10"- and thread it through the casing, sewing in place with a small zig-zag stitch at each end.

Sew the front to the back along the sides and overlock or zigzag stitch over the edges to make them all neat and tidy.

Almost there!  Now for the ruffle... sew the strip in a tube and press it in half.

Sew a long basting stitch and pull to gather.  Pin it to the bottom edge, making sure it is evenly gathered the whole way around. Sew it in place, trim a million loose threads, and overlock or zig-zag to finish it off.

To make it extra pretty and to keep the ruffle from flipping up, topstitch close to the bottom edge.

TA DA!  Super cute, and I think it was pretty easy, too!

Front

Back

I also added a little flower on one side to embellish it, but to keep this from being the longest guest post ever, I put the directions for that over on my blog, so you can go HERE if you want the details.

A cute summer top for my cute little girl!  I paired it with denim shorts and a matching flower headband, but it would be so cute with a matching ruffle diaper cover, too!

Sunshine Dress Tutorial

My next Sew-It-Yourself: Kid Clothes tutorial is of what I like to call the Sunshine Dress after my Daughter whose name means "Sunshine" and- she just so happens to be the Sunshine our our lives!

Supplies:
Knit Jersey
1/4 inch elastic
Sewing machine with common sewing tools.

1. Create your pattern:

Take a tank top the fits your daughter.  Fold it in half and fold over the neck so that it is flat accross the shoulders.  Make an "A-line shape.  My daughter wears a 3T so I went straight down the folded side 6 inches lower then the shirt and the over 8 inches and then made a diagonal line up to the bottom of the arm pit.

2. Use your pattern and cut 2 pieces (on the fold) for the front and back of the dress.  

This is what they look like unfolded:

3. For the Neck Casing: Cut 2 strips the length of the neck and  4 inches wide.  Fold over the end and sew to finish each side of the strips. 

4. Cut a piece of elastic a little over half the length of the neck so that when you stretch it out fully it goes the full length.  Fold your Casing strips in half (with the right side facing out)  and place on the RIGHT side of the neck of the dress.  Place the elastic of top.  While sewing stretch out the elastic.  This will give you the gathered look of the neck and allow it to stretch over their head too!  Repeat on the other dress pattern too so that the front and the back are the same.

5.  Finishing off the bottom of the dress: 

Cut 2 strips that are the length of the bottom of your dress and 4 inches wide. 

Sew the strip to the bottom of the dress with the right side of the strip facing the wrong side of the dress.  (When you open it up it should look like the first picture)
Folder over the bottom edge of the strip about a 1/4 inch.  Iron if you want (I didn't)
Fold over again to cover your seam.  Pin in place.
Top sew to finish
Repeat on the other dress pattern too so that the front and the back are the same.

6. Now we are going to finish off the arm pits with binding. 

Cut a strip the length of the whole armpit  and about 1 1/2 inches wide.  

Pin with the right side of the strip facing the wrong side of the dress and sew. 

Flip it open to see the right side of the dress and fold about 1/4 inch and fold agian to cover up your first seam and pin in place.

Top Sew to finish.  

Repeat on the other armpit.

***Note: Binding used to scare me before I made this dress... yeah for getting over my fear!***

7. Make the yoke for the neck of the dress. 

Cut a strip at last 18inches.

Fold in half (right sides together) and sew.  Flip right side out. 

Feed the strip through both your neck casings.

Fold over the end and push the other end inside to finish off the circle.  Hide the seam inside one of the neck casings. 

All done! 

Now go make some SUNSHINE! 

{I think that she looks 14 in the picture!}

Updates and random things!

As you can see from our header, we are doing a little updating around here.   Jeannine and I were able to get together last weekend when she was visiting her family here in Minnesota!  It was so great to see each other because it has been a LONG time!   While  we were together we got to take some pictures together, some thing we have wanted to do for the blog for a while now!

So, we have updated our "About" page!  It now has lots of fun information about both us and fun facts about our friendship!  We would love it if you checked it out!

GroopDealz is at it again with their AWESOME deals!  These are my favorite this week!   

I love this quiet time marble maze idea at A girl and A Glue Gun... I think I may have to whip up 2 of them for my kiddos... we have a long car ride tomorrow!

We love Clif Kid Bars around here.  I call them Cookie bars and the kids think they are getting a treat when really they are getting a healthy snack full of really good nutritional stuff to help them grow and play!  They have a new flavor Cookies 'n Cream that is added to our favorites list!   The Cookies 'n Cream bar is full of:

•    Calcium:  for healthy bones (amount equal to the amount found in a stick of mozzarella cheese)

• Iron:  for production of red blood cells and oxygen transport (amount equal to 2 oz of beef or 2.5 cups spinach)

• Zinc:  for immune system health, plus protein synthesis and cell division (amount equal to 2 cups of peas)

• Vitamin D:  helps body absorb and metabolize calcium (amount equal to ½ the vitamin D of one large hardboiled egg)

CLIF Kid Zbar Crispy is a tasty, on-the-go organic snack with balanced portions of carbohydrates, protein, healthy fat and fiber to prevent energy highs and lows. It also includes nutritious whole oats and oat fiber to keep kids feeling full.

They also have a new online tool for parents! CLIF Kid’s Nutrition Label Conversion Tool (www.clifkid.com/nutrition) helps parents take the confusion out of reading nutrition labels on kids’ food, which are historically portioned to meet adults’ needs, rather than kids. It works as a unique online calculator that converts nutrition information based on an average adult 2000-calorie diet into age-appropriate Daily Values based on recommended daily allowance for kids.

 How it works:

•         Grab a food package and identify the nutrition label on the back

•         On the Nutrition Label Conversion Tool page, select your child’s age

•         Under “Adult Nutrition Label”, pick a nutrient you want to convert for your child and enter in the grams from the nutrition label on the package

•         On the “Kid Nutrition Label” side, you will see the grams converted into the daily percentage this nutrient takes up in their diet for the day. Notice the difference in amount as compared to an adult’s.


I think that is enough random for now!  Have a great weekend!