Crafts

Fruity Breakfast Pizza PLUS more great Morning Hacks to Make Life Easier

8 · Jul 18, 2016 · 1 Comment

+ This Breakfast Pizza Post brought to you by Jif® Peanut Butter +

Let’s face it… Mornings can be ROUGH! But, they don’t have to be.

I know that we are mid-summer at the moment, but I’m already starting to dread back-to-school. My kiddos start in early August, so we really only have a few more precious weeks of summer left.

Now is the time to perfect our morning routine so that as we transition back into school mode, we already have a good habit to start the year off right. We sat down and pow-wow’d and came up with some great breakfast ideas and some morning hack ideas that we think will help our family have fabulous mornings and maybe your family as well!

Morning Hack #1 Plan Ahead

Nothing tanks a day faster than not having a plan. We have found that a little planning ahead of time makes for smoother mornings. Happier kiddos and definitely a happier Mom. Plan outfits, pack backpacks & make lunches the night before.

You can even make your power packed breakfast the night before with my Overnight Protein Power Oatmeal recipe!

Click the photo above to grab the full recipe.

Morning Hack #2 Keep a Well Stocked Pantry & Fridge

One of the keys to happy mornings at our house is having a well stocked pantry and fridge. Now that doesn’t mean we have an over abundance of food that goes to waste. We’ve figured out some key staples that can make several different recipes with just a few key ingredients. All of the recipes I’m sharing today have been developed with the basic ingredients above.

Fruit, nuts, flat bread, rolled oats, milk, honey, cottage cheese, yogurt and Jif® Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads in Maple & Cinnamon. That’s it! With just those ingredients my kiddos and I can make several different types of breakfasts that they all love like our fruit pizza that my little guy adores!

Fruit Breakfast Pizza Recipe

Fruity Breakfast Pizza PLUS more great Breakfast Hacks

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

7 mins

This easy and nutritious meal is great for the kiddos in the morning. They can even design their very own.

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Cuisine: breakfast

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

Flat bread
1-2 tablespoons of Jif® Cinnamon Flavored Peanut Butter Spread
Fruit - You select your family's favorite fruit
Honey drizzle - optional

Instructions

Toast your flat bread to crisp it up a bit.
Spread a generous layer of the Jif® Cinnamon Flavored Peanut Butter Spread onto the flat bread.
Layer your favorite fruit on top of the peanut butter.
Drizzle with honey and ENJOY!

Morning Hack #3 Be Flexible

Now, I know that my first suggestion is to plan ahead BUT… What if your pre-schooler wants ice cream for breakfast and won’t take no for an answer? Or your middle schooler refuses to go to school without the right kind of hair spray (yep, I did that to my Mom once. 1st day of 7th grade. I had run out of Aqua Net. Stellar Middle School moment! Sorry Mom!) Pre-schoolers, middle schoolers… Really all kiddos are classic for this, trust me, I know the pain!

The key here is to be flexible. Learn how to go with the flow… Your pre-schooler wants ice cream for breakfast? Make them a smoothie bowl and they won’t know what hit them!

Click the photo above for the Peanut Butter and Fruit Smoothie Bowl Recipe

Morning Hack #4 Take Time to Slow Down

Even during the summer things can be really hectic in the morning. Chores, playdates, swim lessons you name it… Mornings can typically be a rush. On the mornings that aren’t a rush, TAKE TIME TO SLOW DOWN. Saturday or Sundays can be perfect for this. Take time to slow down and make something that is extra special for the family. Take the time to sit and giggle together, get to know each other better. These are the mornings that we want to remember for years to come!

When we take the time to slow down, our family loves to eat pancakes. I’m not always jazzed about the lack of nutrition in traditional pancakes so I’ve upped my game and made some gluten-free, protein packed pancakes that my family loves!

Click on the photo above for the recipe.

Bottom line is, you want to have smooth mornings with your family and you want them to have nutritious meals that fuel them for the day. With a little prep work you can achieve just that and EVERYONE will be healthy & happy!! Invite Jif® Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads to breakfast and you’ll be a ROCK STAR!!

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Jif® I received product samples for review purposes. Opinions are my own.

Hazelnut Iced Choffy Latte – A Coffee Alternative

13 · Jun 16, 2016 · 1 Comment

+ This post brought to you by International Delight +

Full disclosure here…

I do not drink coffee, I do however drink Choffy. A scrumptious coffee alternative. It’s basically brewed chocolate. YUM! Well not really brewed chocolate… It’s roasted, ground and then brewed cocao beans. The same beans that they make chocolate from. When brewed this way, it is a dark, bitter drink pretty close to coffee (so I’ve been told.) And, just like coffee, it taste great with cream and sugar. I particularly like to make an iced version with my favorite International Delight Coffee Creamer!

Right now my flavor of choice is the nutty Hazelnut flavored International Delight Coffee Creamer. It’s perfect for a Hazelnut Iced Choffy Latte. It’s such a refreshing drink during the hot summer months. And I love to drink a hot version during the winter. But if you’re an avid coffee drinker, you may also check out https://balancecoffee.co.uk/ for a range of speciality coffee options.

This is super easy to make and you can use Choffy or any other coffee alternative like Pero, Postum or Cafix. They are all just as good. Brew a batch of your favorite coffee alternative and then pour over ice.

Fill your glass roughly 3/4 full.

Now add your International Delight Hazelnut Creamer. I add about an ounce…

Then I top of the glass with milk.

Doesn’t it look pretty!

Stir and then enjoy!

I’m a big fan of International Delight. It’s amazing what you can do with their products. Earlier this week, I shared a divine recipe for Overnight French Toast that is perfect for breakfast or brunch!

Looking for more ideas? Visit the International Delight website and sign-up for their newsletter, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest for all kinds of recipes and ideas.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Simple Overnight French Toast Recipe

12 · Jun 15, 2016 · 5 Comments

+ This Simple Overnight French Toast Recipe brought to you by International Delight Simply Pure +

Nothing is more grand than French Toast for breakfast… Am I right?

What’s even better is when you only need 5 ingredients AND you can make it the night before, pop it in the oven in the morning and voilá, a scrumptious breakfast is served!

That is exactly what you get when you make my simple overnight French toast. It’s easy to whip-up and the entire family will love it. My secret, I use International Delight Vanilla Simply Pure Creamer. It’s made with real milk, vanilla & sugar, that’s it. It’s simple and pure, just like its name. The great thing about using Simply Pure for this recipe, is that I can eliminate 2 ingredients from my typical ingredient list. Simply pure already has the sugar and vanilla, it’s perfect! Here’s what you will need…

Bread (preferably day old), eggs, salt, berries (optional) & Simply Pure vanilla. That’s it! For you campers out there, this will be a prefect way to easily travel with your ingredients and then bake in a dutch oven. Here’s how you make it…

Seriously, easy as that! My family went nuts when I served this the other night for dinner along side some scrambled eggs. They’ve added it to their must have often list. What’s fun is that it’s a perfect meal to make with your kiddos. And really truly, you don’t have to wait overnight for this gem of a meal to appear on your plate. You can whip it up and let it sit for about 20 minutes and it will be just as scrumptious BUT, you can make it the night before and cut down on morning prep time. It’s great for when you have company in town.

Scrumptious Overnight French Toast from WhipperBerry

5.0 from 2 reviews

Simple Overnight French Toast Recipe

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

55 mins

This easy French toast casserole is a fantastic make ahead meal for those busy mornings. Your family and friends with love it!

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread (day old if possible)
6 eggs
16 oz. of Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups of berries - fresh or frozen

Instructions

Cut bread into bit-sized cubes.
If your bread is fresh, place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350˚ to dry it out a bit.
In a medium bowl, add the eggs, creamer and salt and whisk.
In a small baking dish roughly 8x8, spray with cooking spray then add your bread, berries and top with egg and cream mixture.
If you are baking right away make sure everything is submerged in the egg mixture, let sit for 20-30 minutes.
If you are baking later, cover with foil and place in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 350˚
Place casserole into the oven and bake for 40-50 or until set and lightly browned.
Let cool for a few minutes then serve with fresh berries. It's sweet & moist enough that you don't even need syrup!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

DIH (Do it Herself) Drink Station

3 · Jun 13, 2016 · 4 Comments

+ This DIH Drink Station post brought to you by the lovely folks at Home Depot +

You guys, I’m so excited about this project. No, really!

See that drink station above? I BUILT IT MYSELF!!!

Not bad for a girl who used to be afraid of power tools. Now I feel like I can conquer the world! Or build a table or something. I’m no Ana White yet, but I totally have the confidence now to try my hand at this building thing. I owe it all to Home Depot and their DIH (Do it Herself) challenge. The cool thing is that YOU can do this at your local Home Depot too!

This months DIH Workshop in your area will be on Thursday, June 16th at 6:30. Click HERE to register. If you have never been to a DIH workshop, you should go! This one is so fun, it’s FREE and you’ll learn how to make a beverage stations just like this one. Plus, to get to build on your skills and become truly handy around the house.

I was asked to be a part of a blogger challenge with 24 other bloggers. We all had to build the same beverage station from the Home Depot instructions and then give it our own special touches.

I decided to give mine a classic look… I love everything clean and white right now but I want to distress through to a darker brown so, my first layer of paint was brown and then I painted the top an off-white and then distressed down a little bit.

I added a decorative trim piece around the top to give it a more elegant look and then added these fabulous hooks on the side to give it a little more character. Of course I had to spray paint the bucket gold as well.

I can not even tell you how awesome it feels to know that I built this myself!! This is what I started with…

Just some basic plywood and some common boards, with some fabulous directions and that’s it! I now have a beverage station that I can be truly proud of.

Isn’t it cute! I’ve teamed up with 24 other bloggers who have created the very same thing and then personalized it for their taste. Won’t it be fun to see everyone’s different styles? Before you head out to check out the other drink stations, make sure you register to attend the DIH Beverage Station Workshop at your Home Depot. It’s FREE, it’s fun, grab a friend and learn how to BUILD!

Click on over and check out the other beverage stations…

The Casual Craftlete Blog

Domestically Speaking

Disclaimer // This post was sponsored by the Home Depot. I received product in order to complete my assigned task. Remember, I will only share what I truly love, and believe in!

DIH Beverage Station

3 · Jun 8, 2016 · Leave a Comment

You guys!! I’m so excited… I’m joining in on a really fun project through Home Depot this month. Have you been following along with their fabulous DIH (Do it Herself) workshops? Aren’t they fabulous?! If you aren’t familiar with the program, Home Depot hosts DIH workshops for women all over the country. It’s typically a great beginner level project that helps you get comfortable with using power tools and such. I think they are fabulous because I’m a beginner builder as well and I’ve become so much more proficient at working with power tools and I LOVE it!! No longer am I stuck waiting around for my sweet husband’s help.

This month’s DIH project is this fun beverage station…

The DIH workshop in your area will be on Thursday, June 16th at 6:30. Click HERE to register. If you have never been to a DIH workshop, you should go! They are so much fun.

I’ve already been working on my beverage station and can’t wait to show off my interpretation of the project. I’ve teamed up with some other creative friends for a virtual party coming up this coming Monday, June 13th. I can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

Don’t forget to register to make one of your very own!