These times are hard. Covid-19 is here, there, and everywhere… and it’s taking its toll. Physically and emotionally, we’re all feeling it in one way or another. This includes our tiny humans. Many are now in orders to shelter in place, while the rest of us have been instructed to practice social distancing with little to no outside interaction. No school. No play dates. No trips to the playground. It’s stressful and exhausting – but it’s necessary. As parents, we are desperately trying to entertain and secure some sort of normalcy for our children while being socially responsible people.
I am so excited to share with you that Pixar has decided to release their newest film, Onward, for digital purchase TODAY – March 20, 2020 and on April 3, 2020 they will be adding it to the Disney+ line up.
In ONWARD, teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) get an unexpected opportunity to spend one more day with their late dad, embarking on an extraordinary quest aboard Barley’s epic van Guinevere. Like any good quest, their journey is filled with magic spells, cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when the boys’ fearless mom Laurel (voice of Julia Louis-Dreyfus) realizes her sons are missing, she teams up with a part-lion, part-bat, part-scorpion, former warrior – aka The Manticore (voice of Octavia Spencer) – and heads off to find them. Perilous curses aside, this one magical day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.
Something fun and new for your families to enjoy SAFELY FROM YOUR HOMES.
While you’re at it, they have provided these amazing new Onward coloring and activity sheets to enjoy some creative, screen free time, as well.
Note: We were provided with a complimentary screening for this movie. All opinions are my own.
Welcome to the latest Diaper Dad Confessions movie review! If you’re here to find out whether Toy Story 4 is worth taking your kids to see in theaters, or later on digital release and Blu-ray Disc, I’ll save you the effort now: They’re gonna LOVE it. Go see it. It’s great.
In fact, for your kiddos, here’s an official Disney guide on how to make YOUR VERY OWN FORKY! (Trust me, after you go see this movie with your kids, and I’m sure you will, they’re going to want their own Forky – or rather, make their own Forky):
Click here to download – Make your own Forky! [PDF]Review over? Chances are you already want to go watch this movie regardless of this opinion, but if you are interested in whether this movie lives up to the Toy Story name, especially for adults who grew up with Toy Story in our lives, read on. It’s no secret that the Toy Story franchise is a significant piece of modern animated cinematic history – and of course Disney·Pixar wouldn’t release a major motion release of this brand without ensuring it would continue and grow the love and appreciation audiences have grown to have over 20 years.
And that, is what brings us to the focus of my review of Toy Story 4 – A parent’s retrospective on over 20 years of talking toys and the impact it has had on my story of parenthood.
The original Toy Story movie premiered on November 22, 1995. I was in seventh grade, and when I heard the first fully computer animated feature film was coming out, as an early computer aficionado (before doing so was ‘cool’) you better bet I was all about its release. While most others my age at the time simply a new world of talking toys, I was enthusiastic about this new era of digital animation and the promise of what computers would bring to entertainment. Months later, during an opportunity to come up with an individual special project of my own choosing. I chose to write a research paper on, you guessed it, the original Toy Story movie. Sure, as a typical 7th grader I also thought the characters of Woody and Buzz were just plain cool – but I was entering teenagehood and my nerdy self was overcome with the idea of computers being the start-to-finish in the creation of this standalone masterpiece.
Fast forward to 1999. Toy Story 2 came out. With an ever-growing interest in technology as a career, my focus for the film’s first sequel was in just how much digital animation had clearly progressed in just a few short years. Sure, Buzz and Woody, along with newcomer Jessie and the entire gang played into a solid second storyline, but I was more compelled to TS2’s significant increase in detail, lighting, and general cinematic quality.
(Spoilers ahead for Toy Story 3 – but let’s face it, it was a 2010 film and you’re here to consider watching its sequel nearly a decade later)
Hyperspace jump again (yup, cross-Disney franchise reference) eleven more years to 2010 – time for Toy Story 3. At this point I’m a father of 2, including a 4 year old who was HUGE into Toy Story. My interest in the franchise hit a crossroads – half me with continued interest in the *significant* jumps in digital animation quality after years of great Pixar hits. The other half excited about the ability to hand down to my children my love of these characters and the imaginative world of talking toys when we aren’t looking. The joy in my oldest son’s eyes when he later got a robotic talking Buzz Lightyear for his birthday was just plain unmatched! And the initial fear he felt (oh let’s face it.. we ALL felt) when we saw the gang’s near demise at the dump displayed a sense of empathy I still have yet to see in my now-teenage son’s eyes for anything else. 😀 This sparked a dramatic epitome in the way I saw this beloved franchise: As a parent, I started to see Toy Story as a way to truly share a sense of joy and caring for a piece of entertainment with my own offspring. And the way TS3’s story brought a proper send-off for Andy’s connection with these toys. I now saw myself as a Toy Story fan in the sense that its filmmakers had primarily intended all these years – to empathize with the evolution we all take in our own lives, human and perhaps even those non-human objects we’ve come to hold so dear through our own growth.
So that takes us a full 9 years later – welcome to 2019. Never did I actually think Pixar would consider another continuation of this franchise. Andy’s moved to college! The toys have found their next generation to support with Bonnie. To me, it was a proper enough ending — or was it? When TS4 was formally announced towards the end of 2014, the “adult” in me first said “okay, well that make sense.. From an Investor’s perspective. Of course they’d keep the money train of Toy Story running!” — but the storylover in me just couldn’t see it. Even when the trailers started pouring out over the past few months leading up to the release, I joined in on the quick laughs but still just didn’t understand where they’d take this story – and why they’d want to risk a well-appreciated franchise that already had a commonly-agreed proper ending.
Turns out folks, after taking 3 (of my now 6) kids to see this movie, I can truly understand why they’ve made this film. Sure, they’ve completed the story arc of our human pal Andy – and alluded that ‘the toys will be fine’ as they start a new life with Bonnie. BUT… Have we really wrapped up the story of our main pal Woody? Despite all his adventures to support his ever-faithful bond with his humans, is it really enough just to say that ‘at least we know he’s moving on to continue his mission’? After TS3 my answer was a resounding ‘YES!’ — and now after watching Toy Story 4, I have to admit I feel kind of bad for making that assumption. Because Pixar has proven to us that we should have continued to care, all these years later, for what has happened to the fate of our western roundup toy star. And I must say, through yet another adventure of grand scale, we come to a proper story bookend for our main man Woody, galactic star Buzz, and all our Andy’s Room and Bonnie’s Room pals. We even find reprise in Woody’s original character love, Bo Peep, and meet some new friends along the way like Forky, Ducky, and Bunny. (by the way, if by the time you come home from seeing TS4 and your kids aren’t already trying to make their own Forky, I’ll be shocked). These new characters add the proper amount of freshness to supplement the Toy Story franchise without doing too much as to upstage the appreciation value we already have for our existing toybox crew. This movie ultimately shows us that, while the first 3 movies tear at the heartstrings of what our children’s playthings do to affect our human lives, this 4th movie allows us to take that resulting love for these otherwise-inanimate characters and allow us to care for what ultimately becomes of their fate. I’d say *now* we have a proper ending for Buzz, Woody, and the gang – that is, should Pixar choose to call it good at this point. Sure, I would no longer be surprised if they decide to keep the train going for some or all of these great characters. But if they really are done this time around, my inner 12 year old feels peace for the fully-rounded story arc for these great toys.
And speaking of that inner 12 year old, who originally was enticed to this story for the behind-the-scenes reasons that brought these stories to life – 9,707 days from first movie release to this movie’s release – was simply so immersed into the story and the reality of how great today’s modern computer animation just simply *is* that I had finally been able to just appreciate the movie as it was intended: To share in this magical not-so-distant world with my children and the inner child of my own appreciation of the world of Toy Story from all these years. Great job Disney and Pixar – you knocked this one out of the park. All 4 movies in this franchise.
Go see it! If you’ve made it this far in my story / review – how can you not? Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” ventures to U.S. theaters on June 21, 2019.
Sometimes, you find a company that blows you away. You know what I mean.. those companies that just seem to hit the nail on the head with their products – and their products do exactly what you expect them to? Malarkey Kids is one of those companies.
Note: The following products were provided to us free of charge. Regardless, this is my own honest opinion.
I was first drawn to Malarkey Kids when I saw their Munch Mitt. My babies all decided that their hands were the perfect “first teether” – and they tended to start this hand gnawing before they were developmentally ready to hold onto a traditional teether toy to chew on.
With my youngest, this constant sucking on her hands exacerbated her eczema. I needed something to protect her hands, and traditional cotton mitts just ended up soaked making things worse. When I heard about the Munch Mitt, I knew I needed it, and for about 3 months, we never went anywhere without it. (You can read more about my love of the Munch Mitt here)
As she began to get older and more coordinated, new products came out. Perfect with her new development, we were sent their Buddy Bib. I SO wish I had this with our other kids. Bandana bibs are not only trendy, but so cute on. Add a removable, chewable teether that doubles as a wrist rattle? MAJOR WIN.
This became our new staple. And the detachable “buddy” was the perfect solution for car rides. It entertained her, it gave her something other than her hands to chew on, and it even attached easily to our baby carriers to help discourage her from chewing on the straps. Bonus that it is adorable.
Once again, Malarkey Kids has expanded their line and we LOVE it. We recently received two of their newest products, the Munch-it Blanket and the Chew Cube. I expected to tell you they were a hit with our little girl, but honestly? Our 3 youngest kids ALL fight over them.
When I first unpacked them, our little girl would NOT put down the Munch-It blanket. She toted it around the house, outside in the snow, in the car. Pretty sure it’s her new BFF. I’m assuming the incredibly soft fabric and snack-inspired print helps. Pretzels are her favorite past time, after all.
You best watch out when her brother sees it and tries to take it for himself. It never ends well. Luckily, I can usually give whichever of them doesn’t have the blanket our new Chew Cube and it will instantly distract them enough to prevent a fight.
The Chew Cube is a great developmental toy, more than just a teether. While the outside is definitely perfect for chewing, the cube itself is so multi-purpose. A toy to roll around or throw -like dice for babies, a rattle to shake, and a sensory stimulating block lies in the center.
With mirrors and bold black and white patterns, it keeps my kids entertained for several minutes trying to free this small block from the confines of the teether cube. (Rest assured, try as they might, that cube has yet to be liberated. It is constructed well!)
Over the years, and between our numerous children, we have come across many teethers.. so trust me when I say these Malarkey Kids products are most definitely worth having. All of them.
Note: We were provided with a complimentary screening for this movie. All opinions are my own.
The phenomenon that kicked off the world singing about how “Everything is Awesome!” Is back, and while it is an adventurous, heartwarming story about how “Everything. Was. Awesome” and is now a story of how “everything is not awesome”, let me reassure you now – this movie, the sequel to 2014’s The LEGO Movie, is indeed… wait for it… AWESOME. This is my spoiler-free review of The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part.
The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part is a solid movie that picks up right from the moment its original story left off, and takes us on a brand new adventure that still finds a way to surprise and amaze – Specifically, in ways I would not have imagined possible in a sequel following a movie that ends with such a surprise on what is actually going on in the world of Emmet. It does this better than I could have asked in any sequel: The LEGO Movie 2 fully embraces the audience already does know what is going on to control the world around Emmet and his friends, and runs full speed ahead embracing this knowledge. By doing so, The LEGO Movie 2 feels completely different in ways than its original film, self-referencing itself and making all new kinds of jokes to its own situation, that it could not have in the first movies until its apex where you find what all is really going on. I could not have asked for better in a sequel like this – and yet, by doing so I would have to highly recommend anyone watching the LEGO Movie 2 make sure to watch 2014’s The LEGO Movie first, and if they haven’t seen it recently – go watch it again first. While there is enough general fun humor, not to mention pop references GALORE (especially if it has ever been a franchise created in LEGO!), you’ll certainly appreciate this movie so much more if the various character backstories are fresh in your head walking in to this sequel.
That said, I was very pleased with how this movie appreciated what has happened to each character with the turn of events that transition from the first to this new movie, how they have each adapted (or perhaps not adapted?!) to the change in environment and the adventure to come through this film. I have to applaud the writers of The LEGO Movie 2 for clearly taking the time to embrace what each character would become in the events between these two movies, from Emmet, to Lucy, Benny, Unikitty, LEGO Batman, and all the others from the original (I’m talking to you, Mrs. Scratchen-Post!). And rest assured, we are equally at home with newcomer key characters like Rex Dangervest (without spoilers, let’s just say this guy is legit the embodiment of every non-Emmet character voiceover master Chris Pratt has ever played on the big and small screen!!), and Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (voiced by Tiffany Haddish, this new character embraces a level of character personification with LEGO that I remember doing as a kid, without the need for traditional minifig bodies to lock them down – would you believe in this film she manages to shapeshift into 40 distinctly different looks?! Love it!).
Beyond our lead roles, The LEGO Movie 2 also does well to embrace the vast world of LEGO itself, especially its huge range of both original and licensed characters and universes. Of its 523 unique characters in the movie, kids of all ages who have ever played with LEGO are guaranteed to find a smile in even niche references to LEGO characters they may have long forgotten about, or never knew was ever even made. Beyond that, as mentioned there are pop culture references that are sure to delight just about everyone. There was one particular reference to an entire list of franchises all related to a particular theme that made laugh out loud SO much, along with the laughter of fellow adults around me Which reference it is I’ll omit to avoid spoilers, but I so wish I could call out right now! Pop culture fans need to watch this movie, just to join in with me on this particular joke! I’m smirking right now typing this several days after my screening, thinking back to this particular reference.
And in the end, that’s what this movie is mostly about. It fully acknowledges the jokes and self-references to the lifestyle of LEGO that makes it so great and runs with it. And while the first movie did this so well, The LEGO Movie 2 takes it to a whole new level by further acknowledging that the audience now knows what is truly going on in the greater ecosystem and takes both its emotional rollercoaster and hysterical humor full blast using this knowledge. I could not have asked for any better in a sequel – because The LEGO Movie 2 does exactly what the first LEGO Movie has done with embracing why we as kids and kids-at-heart love about the play of LEGO, and continues to run with it while still managing to surprise us with its plot. My ten year old summarized his thoughts on the movie best, describing his thoughts on the movie as “so funny, but still found a way to teach us a great lesson. And its about being nice to your family, so that’s even better!” The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part is a family-friendly film that is worth a watch in theaters, as well as ownership when it later his home video. It complements the wonderful story of The LEGO Movie, and vastly expands its universe in the way only LEGO can.
Oh.. and if you thought Everything is Awesome was catchy, wait until you hear the soundtrack in this film. Remember how I said this movie fully embraces what made the first movie so great? Warner Animation Group managed to apply this to their “catchy” songs in this movie in the most self-referential way possible too! Get your Amazon Music / Spotify / Apple Music playlists ready folks, your kids will be asking you to playlist songs from this too (and if you’re like me you might hit play on these songs even without the kids around).
With 5 boys (6 if you include my husband..) Star Wars is a HUGE hit in our house. Though, truth be told, I loved Star Wars long before I had kids. Always a Leia fan, and a huge sucker for those Ewoks. (Wicket is life!!)
Naturally, this means we love anything related to Star Wars, especially Star Wars Day on May the 4th! I was thrilled when I received these fun printable activities for the new movie “Solo” to help celebrate this May!
I hope you and your kids enjoy them as much as we do! (Click on link below each photo to get saveable image)
[Note: This product was provided to me for this post. All opinions expressed are my own]
Let’s be real — Teething isn’t fun. The copious amounts of slobber and seemingly equal amount of tears is enough to have any drool covered, sleep deprived parent on a coffee induced search for just about every product out there that may bring some relief… ANY relief… to their otherwise happy little baby.
I’ve been there. With 6 kids.. I think I’ve tried almost everything that said “teething” on it.. most did nothing. Some worked alright.. but never have I found one I have appreciated as much as my newly found love — the Munch Mitt by Malarkey Kids.
Is it an affective teether? Yes. Does baby like it? Definitely.. Is it cute? Of course it is. But none of these things are what make me love it as much as I do. So, what is it exactly that has me crazy about Munch Mitt? It helps her eczema.
Now, I’m sure you’re sitting there, with one eye brown raised and your hand with a thoughtful grasp on your chin going “uhhh, how exactly does it *help* her eczema?”
No, this isn’t some miracle moisturizer that heals her eczema.. it obviously does nothing to treat eczema.. but what it does do is provide a barrier. This Munch Mitt gives her something else to chew on.
Saliva irritates the skin, as does going from slobbery wet to dry over and over again through the day. We treat most of her eczema prone skin with moisturizers and creams, but she’s a baby. Her hands are not somewhere I am comfortable putting topical ointments – especially with as often as she’s putting them in her mouth. So, her tiny little wrists and hands end up chapped, red, and covered in patches of eczema. That is, until I put this mitt on her hand. She immediately went straight to chewing on it, just as she would her bare hand — but when I removed it after about 15-20 minutes – her hand was dry. It wasn’t covered in saliva. She was happy, and her hand was protected. Win. Total win.
What else makes it a great tool for eczema prone babies? It’s a razer sharp finger nail barrier. She has eczema on her face.. her cheeks are possibly one of the worst areas she has it. Any time I put her in the car seat, she starts chewing on her hands, slobber sits on her cheeks, then they itch. She gets irritated with it’s itchiness and starts clawing at her face. Now we’ve got eczema and claw marks. Not awesome. This mitt, while it’s crinkling offered a distracting toy for her, and it’s silicon soothed her urge to chew on everything — this adorable little mitt also contained her slice and dice happy finger nails. Hooray!
If you’ve been on the fence about getting a Munch Mitt, hesitate no more! Go get it! I only wish I had found it sooner.
I had a very fun opportunity this past week. I recorded a segment for a podcast!
This all came about a couple weeks ago. I noticed I had been tagged a couple times in a post in the gDiapers Facebook community. I clicked to see what I was being called out for, and I instantly laughed upon seeing the post. They were looking for parents of large families (5+ children) to interview for their podcast.
After laughing, I sat and thought for a minute. I’m really the person my friends think of when asked if they know any crazy people who can’t seem to stop having babies?!? Yep. I am. *insert more laughing*
The focus was a lot about how you know when and if you’re done having babies. There were a lot of questions regarding this.. but one actually made me think. What would I say or what advice would I give to someone trying to decide if they’re done.
Considering only ONE of our SIX babies were planned, and one was a birth control baby when we thought we were finished, I have no advice to give on deciding whether you’re done or not. We have been blessed beyond measure – but with very little deciding. (Until now, that is..) That said — I do have a lot of insight on having a large family. So, if you’re sitting there, staring at your all-too-quickly growing baby, trying to decide if you want to set out to procreate like rabbits.. here’s a few things to think about:
•On your worst day, how do you handle the chaos? Large families come with a lot of chaos, even on the good days. You often find yourself running in circles. Like you’re in one of those revolving doors and can’t seems to figure out how to get out of it. Round and round you go. Same stuff, different kid. Over and over until you hit the mattress. (And then a couple times after you’ve hit the mattress. Kids, they just KNOW when you’ve attempted to relax!)
•Do you enjoy shopping at Costco? Costco is one of those things that is no longer a luxury. A trip to Costco used to be one of those “Oh! I can buy our entire months worth of groceries!” Nope. It’s basically a necessity just for a week’s worth of feeding 6 kids. Especially when almost all of them are growing boys with giant appetites. (Have you seen how much a preteen boy can put down?!? And WHERE does it go?????)
•Are you willing to size up your vehicle? Our particular dilemma when we found out that number 6 was on the way was that we would require 5 car seats or boosters to be installed. My gripe is that most large vehicles don’t feel the need to accommodate car seats like they should. We upgraded to a full size van just to fit the amount and types of seats we needed to install, plus give room for all the STUFF that going out with 6 kids requires. It also allows us to not fold our giant stroller (Uppababy Vista) so, yay for being lazy! I mean, uhhh, saving time!
•Are you one of those people who loves doing laundry? Here’s an equation for you. Smelly, sweaty preteen + sticky, snot nosed toddler + slobbery, poop filled infant = A LOT OF LAUNDRY. Along with upgrading the vehicle, you may need to upgrade your washer and dryer capacity. I used to love laundry. I no longer love laundry.
•Cold and flu season.. when one goes down… the entire forest is going down with them. I’ll never forget when I was about 7 months pregnant.. our toddler vomited as we were getting him ready for bed. We thought it was a one off, as he seemed fine after. Put him down to bed and moved on. An hour later, our 3 year old followed suit. Oh no. Okay.. two was tolerable. By 3 am, we had 5 vomiting children and a pile of towels and sheets covering beds and the floor. (Which goes back up to “do you like laundry?” Ha!)
•Are you willing to become best friends with your local baristas? Let’s face it – coffee is my life line. Drink the coffee, do the things. Fairly certain my baristas know what kind of day I’m having based on how many times I roll my giant van through the drive-thru (also a necessity!) and how many children are crying as I do so. They know my drink based on time of day. No joke.
In all seriousness, though..
Do you want a lot of kids? This is probably the only thing that matters. Everything else works itself out. If you want a large family, if you love being a parent and want to keep doing it.. do it! We have our people, our tribes or our villages, whatever you want to call them.. and that’s great. They will all have an opinion on whether you should or shouldn’t have several kids. They’ll probably voice those opinions, too. But as nice as it is to have a support team, this decision is one only you can make, and you shouldn’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.
We love our big family, and our children love our big family. Did we set out thinking we’d have 6 kids? No. It’s been amazing, though. We did make the decision to be done-done (or as done as you can be.. they say nothing is 100%) after baby girl.. We thought we were done after number 5, and she is the whipped cream that topped off our mocha.. We felt ready to make that decision of completion.
Half a dozen kids, one kid, no kids. We all have our ideas of what OUR perfect family is. None of us are right or wrong. Make the decision that works for your family. Also, keep an open mind. Sometimes surprises or tragedies happen and our ideas get changed a bit. Embrace your family, and never apologize for your decisions.
I’ve been babywearing for a long time. What began as a means of parental survival when our third baby was born, quickly became a passion. Eventually, I ended up with quite the extensive collection of carriers. I recently joked to my husband that I almost have enough carriers that I can wear a different carrier (be it style, print, brand, etc..) every week for an entire year.. He made the challenge, and so I will!
Introducing the Diaper Bag Confessions #whowhatwearweekly — Every Friday of 2018, I will post our weekly carrier on my Instagram. Who made it (spoiler alert- most of my collection is LÍLLÉbaby) – what it’s called – and a different carrier (be it a different style, color, print, or brand) every week for a year.
Im super excited to show you my carrier collection, have an excuse to grow it a little more, and answer any babywearing questions you might have! I’d love to have you follow along!
Raising five boys has definitely taught me a lot. I became very accustomed to “boy mom” life. Obviously, as a woman raising 5 future men… I have strived to instill values in them that I feel are important traits to make them not only good humans, but men of integrity who value the importance of women.
Thinking about how we raise our boys and the example my husband sets for our boys made me think about raising our baby girl. The differences, the priorities.. She’ll be a little girl in a boys world — which, I’m hoping, prepares her for being a woman in a man’s world.
I want her to grow up knowing that she is not weak. I hope that if her brothers tackle her (and they will!) — she gets up, brushes off her tutu, and pins them to the ground. Stand up for yourself, baby girl! On that same note — I also want her brother’s to know that it’s perfectly okay when she wins, and ONLY encourage her to try to do so! While I do want her brothers to feel protective and defensive of her, I also want them all to realize she needs to be confident enough to hold her own.
I want her to know that she deserves just as much respect and equality as her brothers, and she should not hesitate to go for it! At the same time, however, I want her to realize that she is not entitled to anything simply because she’s a girl – just as her brother’s must also understand that they aren’t more deserving of anything based on their anatomy.
I hope that having all of these brothers helps her realize that she has value much greater than her looks. As a girl, people will surely remark on her outward appearance – and I don’t want her to focus on that. Be them positive or negative comments. Strive for strength and confidence before beauty.
I hope she challenges and encourages her brothers to continue to grow their views of what “masculine” and “feminine” mean. Showing that she can pretend to be Darth Vader and they can sit down in pint sized chairs for tea parties and both are entirely acceptable!
My biggest hope for her? That she realizes that even though everyone keeps calling her “The Princess” (Ugh…) there are MANY variations of “Princess.” I hope that living with these boys is empowering for her. I want her to see that Queen Amidala battled right alongside the Jedi. Princess Leia became General Organa. Mulan saved her country. Merida challenged tradition and chose her own path. I want her to see that she is more than capable of conquering whatever she wants. She can be strong, be confident, be brave — and she can do it all in a crown if she wants to.
**This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Organic Yogurt and in partnership with Taylor Farms**
It’s finally here! Summer!
With five kids, Summer is busy and exhausting. It’s also HOT. I can’t tell you how often we start thinking about what to fix for dinner and just so do not want to cook. The idea of turning on the stove to make a healthy meal for the family just seems so daunting – not to mention counter productive to running the air conditioner.
So what do you do? Salad!! A great Summer staple. However, getting most kids to eat a salad may take a little finesse. Enter in our kid friendly Simply Sweet Summer Salad.
We love to keep things simple while also keeping things as wholesome, healthy, and nutritious as we can. Organics are a key part of this. We love the opportunities we have working with Stonyfield and other organic collaborators for this very reason. You will find that this salad stays true to a fast, convenient, simple and super healthy meal.. while tasting almost dessert like!
All you need is:
Taylor Farms Power Greens (We loved the Wellness Blend!)
Diced cheese of your choice (optional; Mild Cheddar or Gouda work well)
Fresh, sliced organic strawberries
Fresh, whole, organic seedless red grapes
Start by prepping your ingredients. You can prep as much or as little as you need, depending on what you’re using it for. That’s the nice thing about these particular ingredients. None of them have to be prepped in huge batches. From a small lunch portion to a hearty potluck salad.. you pick how much of what you need and wash and prep accordingly. (You can even dice your chicken and cheese early and just keep them in the fridge, grabbing portions as you need!)
Once your greens, cheese, chicken and fruit is washed, sliced and diced.. it’s time to prep the dressing. Simple is an understatement. Two ingredients. Nothing more. Honey mustard and Vanilla Stonyfield organic whole milk yogurt, blended well with a fork. SO EASY!
3 tablespoons organic honey mustard
1/4 cup Stonyfield Vanilla Whole Milk Yogurt
(Note: for a sweeter dressing, add more honey mustard.. for a tangier, creamier dressing — add more yogurt! Play with it to find the balance you like most!)
Assemble your salad, then drizzle the desired amount of dressing over the top. If packing for a lunch or potluck, I recommend transporting the dressing in a separate container and waiting to drizzle it until just before serving.
Its a bright, fun, incredibly healthy salad that even your kids will crave, and you won’t break a sweat making. Even on those hot summer days. BONUS: the dressing makes an excellent dip! If you have a child who isn’t keen on salad, give them the ingredients seperately and let them dip away! (Sometimes being able to play with their food makes it taste better!)
