Dillon State Park: Visitor's Center, Dillon Dam, and Playground

Last week we took a short drive over to Dillon Dam part of the Dillon State Park. For reference, it's about 10 miles from Blackhand Gorge Sat Nature Preserve which we visited earlier this summer. We had a slightly late start to our morning, so we didn't get to see everything we wanted, but we still had a great time.

The visitor's center is really nice and clean. It's pretty small, the above picture shows the majority of the areas to look at, but it was filled with neat information and someone is there to answer questions for the majority of the day. The screen in the picture above shows the view of an underwater camera inside the pond.

Outside the visitor's center there is a nice landscaped trail that leads over to the playground, or you can drive right to the playground.

The playground was the highlight of our morning. It's probably one of the nicest playground we've ever been to. The kids had a great time sliding, swinging, climbing, and exploring. There is a long line of swings in the back and several extra areas surrounding the main part pictured above. The kids had a blast and were sad when it was time to move on.

The Dam really wasn't all that much to look at but it was a nice walk and the scenery was beautiful. I hear the fishing is excellent, though.

That's all the time we had for that morning, since I didn't pack a lunch, but we'll be exploring some other free parts of Dillon State Park later this summer. Check out their website for more information.

Have you been exploring your local area this summer?

Creative Video Workshops on Creativebug #GetCreative

I was recently given the opportunity to review creativebug.com's creative video workshops. I was previously unfamiliar with the website, so I did a little bit of searching and found they have quite the assortment of videos, over 40 of which are free. They have a variety of categories including, but not limited to: sewing, paper, yarn, quilting, jewelry, and kid crafts.
The awesome thing about this site is that if you randomly decide you want to learn how to crochet or do some other project at midnight, you totally can. The instructors are very knowledgeable and easy to learn from. It's almost felt like they were right there in my house showing me how to do things, because they anticipated questions and showed things from the angles you need to see.
I had a great time exploring various videos. I learned a ton! It really got my creative juices flowing. I came up with so many other applications while I was watching the videos and now have a ton of projects I want to do.
Some classes I enjoyed, but haven't made anything from...yet:

• Make a Pattern from an Existing Garment
• Photo Booth Backdrop I have a really cute idea for the window treatment in my girls' new room, so that'll be one of my next projects.
• Paper Flowers: Make a Wild Rose and Thistle Centerpiece
• Crochet Flower Jewelry This workshop really had me wishing I had the supplies on hand, because I would have started crocheting along with her. She made it look so easy, I really hope it's that easy when I get my supplies.

I eventually had to stop exploring workshops, because my list was getting too long, but they have so many workshops on just about any crafty thing you could want. They even have sections for weddings and entertainment!

I did have the chance to make a project from Image Transfers. This is so cool and you probably have the supplies to try at least part of this in your home right now. It shows you how to do packing tape transfers, gel medium transfers, solvent based transfers, and acrylic paint transfers.
So, my kids discovered Pokemon this summer and Quinn adores Pikachu, she even wanted a Pikachu cake for her birthday. The morning after I watched this workshop, I thought, I'll make her a sturdy picture she can play with. Showing her the process was a bad idea, because she thought I was ruining the picture by putting it face down on the paint. I ended up drawing her another picture and when I finished the transfer later, she carried them both around for the longest time. She didn't even care that I didn't do a perfect job.

screenshot from Quilt Making 101: Patchwork

I've also started work on a quilt! I've wanted to make one for awhile now, but these workshops and this review gave me the motivation to pull out my sewing machine. They have several quilting workshops, but I looked at Quilt Making 101: Patchwork to get started. It will be awhile before I'm all finished, because I'm still collecting fabric and I may or may not have broken my sewing machine while working on the first block. To keep costs down as much as possible, I'm using old worn out clothing and fabric scraps for as much of the quilt as I can. Here's what I have done so far. The fabric is from a pair of shorts and a dress that  got holes in them.

Creativebug.com is offering a 14-day free trial to new users if you're interested. The cost is fairly reasonable it's $9.95 a month for unlimited access to their over 300 videos or you can buy individual classes. Click here for more information. If you're looking to give this as a gift, they have gift subscriptions too! Their best deal is a year long subscription for $50.

If you have any more questions, check out their FAQ page here.

What will you make today?

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

 Today is Quinn's 4th birthday and her favorite dinner is pizza, so we're having this for dinner tonight. I love this crust, because it's so easy, tasty, and healthy.

1 1/2 C lukewarm (105-115 F) water
1 tsp sugar
1 T active dry yeast
1 T olive oil (I've used extra virgin olive oil and regular, and they've both turned out great)
4 C whole white wheat flour (the white is important, the red is heavier)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Dissolve sugar into water. Add yeast. Allow to sit approximately 5 minutes (until foamy).

 

 *Tip: When measuring your flour, use a spoon to add the flour to the measuring cup. Fill to overflowing.

Use the straight edge of a knife to wipe the excess flour off the top of the measuring cup.

Combine flour and salt together. If you have a stand mixer with a kneading attachment, use it (speed 2 for a kitchen aid).

 Stir oil into yeast mixture..

While the mixer is running, add the yeast mixture and allow to mix/knead until thoroughly combined.

It should look something like this.

Transfer dough to a large bowl coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cover with a piece of cling-wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and allow to rise in a warm draft free location for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Gently squeeze to deflate.

To use:
Lightly dust clean work surface with cornmeal. Tear off piece dough and roll out to desired size and thickness. Place on a pan to top and bake.
Bake on bottom rack of the oven at 450 F  for 7-10 minutes depending on your toppings.

For a thicker and/or crispier crust:
Pre-bake  the crust for about 5 minutes before topping. Depending on your pan, you may want to flip the crust over after baking and before topping.
Top as desired and bake an addition 5- 10 minutes depending on toppings.

Freeze it:
If you want to freeze your pizza, bake the crust by itself at 350 F for about 8 minutes. Allow crust to cool, top as desired, flash freeze, wrap up, and place back in freezer until ready to use (proceed with normal baking instructions).

To make breadsticks:
Divide dough into 16 equal portions and shape into sticks. Spread melted butter, garlic, and parmesan cheese over each stick. Allow to rise slightly while oven preheats to 450. Bake 6-10 minutes depending on thickness of breadsticks.
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What's your favorite pizza topping?

Meal Plan Monday: July 28, 2014 Dinners

My weekly meal plans are typically based off of weekly sales and basic pantry and food storage. Each week when I go grocery shopping, I buy at least one extra sale item to put in food storage. All posted meal plans are the same or at least extremely similar to our families actual meal plan, so you can be sure that it is affordable.
Don't forget to join me every Monday as we answer the ever present question "What's for dinner?"

• Pizza ( get my whole wheat crust recipe here)
• Stir fry
• Chicken Kabobs
• Simple No-Boil Pasta Bake
• Leftovers 
• Wienie roast and s'mores
• Slow Cooker Pulled Pork w/ South Carolina Style Barbeque Sauce

What's for dinner at your house?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday

Pictures from the backyard homestead July 2014

The ducks are 7 weeks, the younger chicks are 8 weeks, the older black chickens are about 15 weeks and our oldest 2 are about 16 weeks.

Johnny (the roo in black)

Lucky

Quackers, Cheeze, and Nemo

Gladys

Crusty

Ok so these last 2 aren't from the backyard, but Zeke has been so eager to help recently, I just had to share.

He loaded almost all of the groceries into the van by himself!

  

What's on your mind?

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: a quick trip summer 2014

I grew up attending the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, so I may be biased, but I love it there. Our family currently has a membership, so we use it to attend multiple times a year. We typically avoid the summer months, because it gets so hot and crowded. However, last week's weather was too gorgeous not to go see the new giraffes.

 The new exhibit was packed! They have an area where you can actually feed the giraffes, we decided not to wait through that line since we can go back later.

 The Africa exhibit which houses the new giraffes, is also home to these lions. This was the first I've seen of their new habitat, and I was blown away by how close they were to one of the windows.

 The Africa exhibit was so crowded, we decided not to stay long and quickly made our way to the North American area. This bald eagle was practically posing for everyone.

 Next we made our way through Asia and stopped to check out the elephants. Zeke's first visit to the zoo was to see the baby elephant 5 years ago, so it holds special memories for us.

 It was Claire's first visit to the zoo and she spent the first couple hours snuggled in the Ergo.

 She woke up for lunch and spent the last little bit riding in the stroller. Doesn't she look happy?

 Zeke had a great time with the map. It's so neat to see him studying and learning new things.

 It wouldn't be a trip to the zoo for our kids, if we didn't stop by the aquarium, so we stopped there and to visit a couple other favorites, Komodo Dragon and Aldabra Tortoise, before returning home.

What are your favorite zoo animals?

Baby Food: Avocado Puree

I've really been dragging my feet on making Claire's baby food, so I thought I'd look back at some of my old posts for inspiration and I found this one with these adorable pictures of Wyatt.

 To make a nice smooth puree from avocado, it's important to get a nice ripe avocado. A ripe avocado is fairly soft yet still solid.
The easiest way to prepare an avocado is to cut it in half vertically and around the seed. Twist the two sides and pull apart. The seed will stay attached to one side. To remove the seed, tap it with a heavy knife (the knife should stick in) and twist.
Scoop out 1/2 avocado and place in food processor with 2oz (1/4 C) liquid -give or take depending on size of avocado- I used breast milk. Puree until smooth.


...
Be careful not to leave the bowl too close to our baby after snapping your picture, because when you turn away to set down your camera this might happen.

This post originally appeared on 2/27/13 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I wrote, added to it, and transferred it here.

What's the quickest mess your kids have ever made?

Simple No-Boil Pasta Bake

Growing up, my mom had a fairly basic repertoire for meals. Cooking is not one of my mom's favorite things to do, though when she feels like it, she can make some amazing food. This recipe is one that my mom used regularly for about a year and then sort of forgot about.
The appeal for me now is the simplicity of this dish. Boiling pasta is not hard. However, if I'm wearing the baby or comforting and carrying around a sad toddler, I don't want to be working with boiling water. It's much easier to toss something in the oven and tend to more important things. This dish gives me 30 uninterrupted minutes to spend with my family before dinner.

 You'll need: 1 box pasta, 1 (24oz) jar pasta sauce + 1 jar water, 1 C shredded Italian blend cheese

 Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine pasta, sauce, and water together in a 9x13 baking dish. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake 30 minutes. When it's done, it should look like the picture above.

 Add cheese and continue baking uncovered 3-5 additional minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve and enjoy.

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What will you do with your 30 minutes of free time before dinner?

Meal Plan Monday: Dinners 7/21/2014

If you followed me back at the old blog, you are probably very familiar with my weekly grocery and meal plan posts. Unfortunately, I just don't have time for those detailed posts at this phase in life, but I am bringing back the weekly meal plans. The plans are normally based on typical food storage items in combination with weekly sales. The meal plans are the same or at least extremely similar to our plans for the week. So you can be sure that the menu is affordable.
The meal plans can be just breakfast, lunch, or dinner or a full weekly menu. So join me on Mondays as we figure out the answer to the ever present question: "What's for dinner?"

• Spinach meatloaf w/ red potatoes (recipe coming soon)
• Brats cooked with onions & peppers w/ fruit salad
• Hamburgers w/ fries & fruit slices
• Simple No-Boil Pasta Bake
• Grilled Fish, rice, & green vegetable (broccoli, green beans, or asparagus)
• Strawberry Chicken Salad
• Leftovers

What's for dinner at your house?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday