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    We have 2 of our grandchildren with us for a large part of this summer.  They are ages 7 and 9.  Besides having the fun of being together with them when usually we are far apart, I am their Summer School Teacher and activity coordinator.  We have a bit of a schedule that they've been very good about sticking with.  The schedule includes school in the morning, swimming lessons, playing board games, cooking and crafts!  There isn't a lot to go and do because of the pandemic and trying extra hard to keep them healthy.  One of the skills that we are going to work on at home together while I have this captive audience is sewing. 
     I know that many of you have been struggling with entertaining children since school was cancelled months ago.  I thought that I would share with you some ideas, aside from the basic decorative bed pillow,  that you can make together with your kids.  A couple of them only require scraps, so you won't even have to buy fabric or go to a store.  But, if you do need fabric, here are some places to order it online:

Fabric.com

Joann Fabrics

      Now, check out these tutorials to teach some sewing skills!

• Pillowcases are a great way to teach and learn some basics, like measuring, straight stitching and french seams. 

• Scrappy Snakes will use up lots of leftover fabrics and are lots of fun to play with afterwards.  

• This Cute Owl Purse also uses scraps and any little girl will love it.  She can personalize it using any colors that she wants. Applique is a nice skill to learn.  

• I personally use this backpack all of the time! If you have pre-teens or teens, this will be a great project! 

     All of these projects will definitely require adult supervision and help, but they are projects that you can definitely enjoy together and use afterwards!  I love that about them!  Let me know if you give any of them a try!  

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I have told you about the wonder that is the air fryer previously. I shared this amazing chicken chimichanga recipe with you. I really love our air fryer, especially in the summer when I don't want to turn our oven on.

I know a few places got some snow last week (what?!?!?!) but here in the valley of the sun, we're getting that summer sun nice and strong, and the last thing anyone wants is their oven heating up their house and ramping up their energy bill even more.

The air fryer cooks things so quickly and the house isn't hot! It is perfect!

The other day I asked my daughter what she wanted for lunch and she cheerfully announced, "PIZZA!" We didn't have any frozen pizzas, and I didn't want to order out from anywhere. Homemade pizza sounded fun, but it was lunch time already and I was working so I couldn't really take the time to make the dough. I thought to myself, "I bet I could  throw it in the air fryer for a few minutes."

I improvised and used our pie crust recipe and then topped it with a little tomato paste that I thinned out a bit and seasoned, and threw some cheese on there.

It was like an upgraded take on a Lunchables pizza because it wasn't a regular crust, but the sauce wasn't nasty and the cheese was nice and melted.

She loved it and I thought, "I bet I could make us a real pizza in the air fryer."

I mean, I love our easy, flakey, fool proof pie crust, but it isn't the same when it comes to pizza!

Well as you know, my mom has shared our pizza crust recipe on here as well! I have tested it out using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour blend (I get the 1 to 1 with the xantham gum included) and it still turns out really nicely for a pizza crust.

You can buy Air Fryers in many different sizes, and I've linked to some at the bottom of this post. Ours isn't quite big enough for any of our pans to fit other than my 6 inch round cake pans (I ordered a pizza stone from a Pampered Chef party recently and I'm waiting for it to get here to see if it fits!) So we ended up making mini personal pizzas. It was a hit. My daughter had fun helping me "decorate" the pizzas, so we got some fun bonding time together as well.

The air fryer pizzas were so fast to bake and the cheese was perfectly stretchy.

Here is the recipe I used for our toppings, pretty basic but still delicious. Let me know what toppings you decide to do!

Pizza Crust
Use our pizza dough recipe found here. To make it gluten free simply use the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Blend and use the same flour ratio.

Pizza Topping:
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic
1/2 onion powder
1 tsp italian seasoning
Mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
pepperonis

Empty out the paste into a bowl. Fill the tomato paste can with water and mix into the paste to make it thinner. Add seasoning and blend well.

Spread your crust out into the bottom of your pan, making sure to leave a raised edge.

Take a spoon and spread the sauce until the bottom of the crust is covered.

Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Top with bell peppers and pepperonis.

Place pan in your air fryer and bake at 330 degrees fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.

Remove pan (it will be hot!) remove pizza from pan and place on plate.

Enjoy!

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    My granddaughter and I canned some strawberry jam the other day.  I am always excited to try out the newest batch of jam.  There is always a bit left over that won't quite fill a canning jar, so I put it in a jam pot that I got in Germany years ago and put it in the fridge to be used right away.  

     Anyway, the idea came into my head that for breakfast the next morning,  the strawberry jam would be great on muffins.  Then, a light bulb moment happened and I thought "why not jam filled muffins?"  So, I got to work and I must say that these came out pretty delicious and were a hit with my grandchildren!  

     The batter is simple to stir up in no time at all.  After filling the muffin liners 2/3 full, I generously topped each cup of batter with the strawberry jam. 

    You will notice that I was using up some odds and ends of muffin tin liners.  I love the cute cardboard ones that are kind of tall. 
      The muffins only take 20-25 minutes to bake and they come out looking wonderful! 

Let them cool a bit, because the jam will be really hot!  That could give a nasty tongue burn.  While they cool, whip up a tasty, healthy breakfast smoothie to go with them.  My grandkids had no idea that I sneaked in some beets in those smoothies that they loved! 

Delicious Jam Muffins

     Of course, any kind of jam that you have would taste great in these muffins.  But, doesn't the bright red strawberry jam look so good!  I hope that you give these a try! 

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      It is very much summer here in Phoenix and I have 2 grandchildren staying with me for most of it.  We went shopping for foods that they will eat when they got here and one of the things my granddaughter went crazy about was when she saw the Magical Mermaid ice cream, which we of course purchased.  Later, at home, we realized that we had Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows and Rice Krispys and we decided that we had to make Magical Mermaid Rice Krispy Treats to go with the ice cream.  Let me tell you, the Magical Mermaid treats tasted much better than the ice cream, in my opinion.  My granddaughter was in mermaid heaven!  Not only that, she loved making them with me.  Bonus points for Grandma! 
     I think the mixture of the 2 cereals give these treats a more magical look because the color looks more scattered, plus there were the little bits of cereal marshmallows that were a surprise treasure every so often. Plus, I feel like the fruit flavor from the Pebbles doesn't overpower as much as a recipe with only Fruity Pebbles would.  If you want to take the mermaid theme over the top, you can sprinkle on little pearl sprinkles before the treats cool. 
     If you aren't able to see your grandchildren yet, like I am able to at this point, these Magical Marshmallow Treats are the perfect surprise to drop off at their door.  They might soften in the heat, but will last pretty well and not spoil. 
      If you have a mermaid lover in your family, make them Magical Mermaid Treats.  They will love you for it. 

Magical Mermaid Rice Krispy Treats