I was up at my son's home last week and he and his kids had made some delicious cookies! To my surprise, he told me that they only had 3 ingredients, one of them being Cool Whip! So, I made them myself today since I have grandchildren coming to visit this evening.  They are so easy to make and since I made them with a devil's food cake mix, they seem like brownies. 

    These cookies will be a great simple recipe to make for Memorial Day Weekend, plus an excellent addition to the 3 Ingredient Cookies Collection we shared a few years ago.  

Here is the recipe card.  Simple click on it to print it.

     I think these would really be good done with a lemon cake mix! 
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     Making these cookies got me to wondering about other unusual uses for Cool Whip.  Here are a few Ideas I have found that you might want to try. 
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     The women in our church group had a very successful activity last night!  It was so easy to plan and was a very enjoyable night.  Here is what we did:

  The Theme was about organizing our homes as well as our inner spiritual lives.  

• We gave everyone the opportunity to bring things from their homes that they wanted to get rid of as they organized their homes.  The items were laid all around the large gym in our church building and everyone could "shop" and take whatever they wanted.  All of the leftover items were taken to our church's thrift store.  If you did this activity, you could choose any thrift store that is in your area. 
• We collected donations for an organization called "Days For Girls."  Since people were cleaning out things anyway, we thought this would be a great way for them to find things to help girls and women around the world. 
• We had a speaker who taught us 3 simple ways to be more organized in our homes and then related them to how we can use those methods in our spiritual lives as well. The message was short and simple, not nagging or finger wagging.  It gave us all food for thought and was just perfect! 
• We had a potluck dinner because it seemed to go best with the theme of the evening.  There was some really good food! (I brought these treats and a strawberry fluff salad with strawberries from my garden!)

   We kept The Decorations simple since most of the space was taken up with the stuff people brought!  

• We used green plastic tablecloths on the tables to brighten things up! 
• I made some handouts from Dollar Tree Sponges  that were inexpensive and brightly colored.  We put them in baskets in the center of the tables.  The baskets were also from Dollar Tree.  The scripture I used on the attached card came from Doctrine and Covenants 88:119.  Feel free to print the cards from the link below.  I attached the cards to the sponges with baker's twine and a button.

     Here is the link for the cards.  It has a white background so that you can print it on any color cardstock. 

    At the end of the activity, everyone pitched in to clean-up and to load up the leftover items into a waiting truck and trailer.  The clean-up went pretty quickly with many hands and everyone went home happy to homes a little bit lightened of things that didn't want and/or with new items that they really needed. 
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     I love banana bread, but sometimes the baking time is a deterrent to making it.  We have finally hit the triple digits in Phoenix a time or two, so I don't really want my oven on for that long.  But, I had 3 very ripe bananas that I wanted to use up, plus I needed to take  treat to a church activity.  So, I came up with these Salted Caramel Banana Blondies! 

     There are a couple of secret ingredients that make these blondies so tasty: 

• I used mayonnaise in the batter.  Why?  Well I normally would have used sour cream, but I was all out of it!  And I thought, I know that mayo is great in cakes to add moisture and height because mayo is after all simply eggs and oil.  It worked great! 
• I browned the butter in the frosting.  Why?  Because browning the butter gives such a warm, rich flavor to baked goods.  If you haven't tried it, you don't know what you are missing.  I took my browned butter cookies to the church food bank I volunteer in and the workers had them gone in minutes. 
• The salted caramel chips were a last minute decision and I am so glad I added them.  I only had about 1/2 a cup in the bag. (Someone had been snacking on them!)  You can add more if you would like. 

    Another great thing about this recipe is that it makes a big batch when you bake them in your half sheet pan.  If you bake them in something smaller, add about 10 minutes to your bake time. I had plenty to take to the activity, plus leave some to enjoy at home! 

Here are some other recipes you may enjoy:

• French Style Brown Butter Tarts
• Cake Mix Banana Bread
• Banana Blackberry Crumble
• Banana Cupcakes
• 
  

    School is almost out and it is time to think of how to enjoy the summer with your kids and grandkids.  Reading has always been a big part of enjoying the summer with my family, as well as going to summer movies or watching summer movies at home.  
      A couple of summers ago, I had two of my grandchildren with us in the summer for about 6 weeks.  We had so much fun together!  One thing that we did every night before bedtime was read a chapter or two aloud out of a novel.  Then, when we finished it, we would watch the movie that went with it.  Since they were here partially to have me tutor them in reading that summer, this was a super fun way to stress the fun that goes along with reading and to have some bonding time together.  I feel like I have a particularly close bond with these two grandchildren because of that summer together. (sigh)
​    ( You can read about some of our times together here, here, and here!)

     I prefer to watch the movie after reading the book for a couple of reasons:

• After reading the book, the movie will make sense right away!  Also, it will spark discussion about if the movie leaves out some of their favorite parts or changes anything that they were expecting to see.
• The movie can be like a reward for finishing the book if it was super difficult to stay focused for some children.
• The book is always better! (to my mind!)

     In order to be able to actually find a movie or television show that goes with the book, it is often better to stick with the classics.  I love the classics anyway and I feel like it is good to expose your kids to them at a young age so they can learn to appreciate them.  The beauty of reading aloud at home in the summer is that you can read at a pace that is good for your children and yourself! You will have to decide which books you think will fit best with your child's age and personality, as well as which version of the movie.  The books and movies that I am listing are some of my favorites, and some that I have used with children at home or in the classroom.  I'll try to recommend an age roughly, but you know your child best, so nothing is written in stone here.  If you haven't read some of these books yourself, what a joy to experience them with your children together this summer! 

For the younger set: 

I still remember going to the library with my mom as a child and she recommended this book by A.A. Milne.  I checked it out and lost myself in the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh!  I was lucky enough to read the book before I ever saw the Disney versions of the stories.  Then when I did see the Disney versions of the stories, I loved them as well.  This movie would be a great place to start, out of the many choices. 
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Because of Winn-Dixie is one of the books I read with my grandkids that summer.  It is becoming quite a classic I believe.  There is something very relatable about dogs and kids usually enjoy books about them. The movie  is equally enjoyable!  
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Old Yeller is another great book about a dog and a settler family.  I had my 3rd grade reading students read it aloud with me one year and then we watched the classic Disney movie.  They loved it! 
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You could spend the entire summer enjoying the Little House on the Prairie Books.  There are 9 in all and they give such a great view into what frontier and early settler life was like by the author who lived through it all.  Instead of a movie, watching the old TV series would be a delight! 
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Alicia's favorite book for a long time, beginning in grade school, was the Wizard of Oz.  L. Frank Baum didn't only write the book we are all familiar with because of the Classic Judy Garland Movie, but there are 4 more stories after this one! The movie is fine, but everyone should read the actual books, which are even more magical and imaginative! 
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Anne of Green Gables was a favorite of mine as a young girl and a favorite of Lindsey's as well.  The stories of this young girl on Prince Edward Island transports you to a simpler and more beautiful time and place.  I love the PBS series that so beautifully depicted the story better than any I have ever seen.  This book is innocent and perfect and teaches real values.   
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Treasure Island is a true classic that captures the imagination.  Every kids dreams of finding a hidden treasure!  There are many versions of the movie, you could watch more than one! This one is a Disney classic, the Muppets did a highly enjoyable version, lol, and here is one from the 1930's.
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You really have to know your kids when it comes to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn because while I love these books, I found when I tried reading them aloud to my kids years ago, that the colloquial language used in these books was difficult for them to understand.  So, it may be better for a little older kids to enjoy.  I'm linking to the classic  Johnny Whitaker movie version because I think kids will love it. 
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The Swiss Family Robinson is great for he adventure loving family to read together!  When the Tarzan treehouse at Disneyland used to be The Swiss Family Robin Treehouse, I used to dream of living in it or at least spending the night and waking up in Disneyland in the morning! The movie is full of action and romance! ​

I hope you appreciate that I am not specifying which gender will enjoy which book on this list, because as a child I read and loved them all and I expect that your children will love them as well!  Robin Hood was especially a favorite of mine!  And, my all time favorite movie version is the one made with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland! There are other darker versions out there, but this one is fun and exciting for kids! 
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After you read the book, you can go the extra mile and make the movie experience even better by providing snacks that would go with the movie!  For example: 

• Little House on the Prairie- apple hand pies, fresh berries
• Winnie-the-Pooh- biscuits and honey!
• Because of Winn Dixie- animal crackers, egg salad sandwiches

You get the idea!  Just listen for ideas as you read the books! 

​I hope you try a classic or two with your kids this summer!  These book memories will stay with them for a long time!   If you would like to suggest some favorites of your own, I'd love to hear them in the comments.