We headed up north to Canada yesterday for a sweet little boy's first birthday celebration.
I opened up my cupboards an hour before we had to leave and sighed. What in sam hill am I going to make? And no, I don't want to NOT bring something. I just don't do that.
I grabbed some canned chunk chicken left over from my Costco 8 pack and headed to the office. Enter trusty online recipe sites. I browsed a bit and came up with this lovely Buffalo Chicken Dip from AllRecipes.com.
I skipped a few steps and tweaked a bit and it turned out pretty grand.
(My version of) Buffalo Chicken Dip:
- 2 Costco cans chunk chicken, drained
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup Ranch dressing
- 1/2 cup pepper/hot sauce (I used green Jalapeno hot sauce)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend Cheese
I threw all the directions out and lumped it all together in a pot over the stove and it turned out great. You know what? I bet it would do just dandy being microwaved. And you know how we all love convenience and happy yummy dip. It may have just earned a spot as a Super Bowl regular.
I used a bit less hot sauce due to the intended consumptors and shunned the celery stick idea for crackers. Once again, what I had in my cupboards and fridge dictated the menu. If you like a zip, kick or thwack to your food, I would suggest adding green chiles and a dash of chili powder. That oughta do it.
It got rave reviews and I am thrilled to report I have some leftovers in the fridge calling my name...
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Many of you will notice my new blog accessory in the left column. I am excited and honored to be a BlogHer ads participant!
I think it's very figure flattering, don't you?
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Remember this post? Hours and hours (OK, 20 minutes at least) worth of toddlertainment? This is the water toddlertainment summer edition.
I'll remind you again of the time-honored, well known formula:
Toddlers + Water = Hours of entertainment
We all know that a swimming pool is ideal, but sometimes you don't want to go through the whole swimsuit-swim diaper-sunscreen slather routine when it isn't quite hot enough to justify the whole thing. You know they will be shivering and crabby in 14.7 seconds. It's a pain.
And sometimes you just feel lazy.
Ahem.
So, my thrifty easy-peasy solution:- Grab any ole water container. Bucket, basin, large tupperware, tote bin, whatever. (I used a spare plastic tote bin)
- Fill halfway with warm water.
- Throw plastic measuring cups, ladles and various tub toys in. Don't expect any of it to come back into the house so hold off on the collectibles or items of ANY value.
- Spray toddler with sunscreen (yes, I said spray. The spray sunscreen will rock your world).
- Hat and sunglasses optional.
- Let em at it.
We call it our water station. He knows it's available to play in and spends quite a chunk of time sloshing, splashing and drinking the water.
See the spray bottle? Yes, get one for them at the Dollar Store and let them spray away. Bubbalu keeps our fence, porch, deck, lawn, sandbox, siding, garden, chairs, table and screen door appropriately watered at ALL times.
He's helpful like that.
Enjoy your thrifty fun toddler water stations...but remember to supervise at all times...
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