Back to School Scavenger Hunt

We have done this "Back to School Scavenger Hunt" for the past two years. Each year my kids get so excited and ask "Are we going to do the scavenger hunt again"? It's always the same hunt and for the same supplies but they love it. 

The night before school starts I make them their favorite dinner and then the scavenger hunt begins. It's all supplies to fill their backpacks =)

One of my favorite blogs, Happy Home Fairy is where all of these adorable printouts for the scavenger hunt came from!  Click HERE to print out your own.

Your kids will love it!

My favorite part is the message at the end....

Check out her website for tons of wonderful ideas and printouts!

Prep 2- For Back to School

I am continuing on with my "Prep" for Back to School Posts. Like I have mentioned before our lives here at the Bradshaw Household get really busy with back to school, homework, AWANAs, Soccer and the list goes on. So I'm sharing with you some of my favorite ways to simplify and still fill my family's tummies with a good home cooked and healthy meal.

When it comes to Freezer cooking, it often times can get overwhelming for people. With all these different recipes, hours and hours in the Kitchen- and if that works for you that's wonderful! But most times I only have 30 minutes or an hour tops. 

So here's what I do, instead of focusing on a bunch of different Freezer meals I work off of the same recipe and make 3-4 batches of it. This way it will get me through the month with a once a week meal. 

Let's get started, shall we?

Prep 2: Freezer Fajitas
During the school year, Monday nights usually are Fajita nights at our house. It's one of our favorite meals and happens just about every Monday! This is a super easy "dump" recipe. "Dump Recipes" are recipes where you literally just dump the ingredients in a Freezer Ziplock baggie. It is so easy to stock your freezer with a months worth of Monday Night Fajita Bags.

Freezer Fajita mix

Shopping List:

--2 lbs of thin cut stir fry beef, chicken or shrimp

--1 packet of fajita seasoning mix 

--1 onion 

--2 bell peppers (any color)

--1/2 cup of water

Slice the onion and bell peppers lengthwise into strips.  Mix the Fajita Seasoning Packet and water together. Dump all of the above items, including the Fajita Seasoning and water in a Large Freezer Zip-Lock Baggie. Label your bag.

Directions:

Set the Bag in the fridge on a plate or cookie sheet to thaw, the night before. If you didn’t have a chance to thaw that’s ok. Run the large Ziplock baggie under cold water for about 30 seconds so everything will release from the bag. Dump the frozen Fajita Mixture into a hot pan with a little oil (so everything can get a nice grill like mark).  Over Medium Heat put the lid on the pan and let cook. Stir often. Once everything is just about cooked I like to dump out as much liquid as I can. This way the beef/chicken and veges can get a little brown and yummy. Cook til done.

Warm up some Tortillas. Serve the Fajitas with any extra toppings you like (salsa, sour cream, avocados) or leave as is. Many times we just eat the fajitas served with chips and salsa. DELICIOUS!

***And remember you can also freeze Tortillas. We do this all the time and they come out perfect! Set out the tortillas the night before in the fridge and let thaw.

I hope you enjoy!

Back to School Countdown... Prep 1

The Countdown is on till School resumes again. So that means for me that I need to getting planning and prepping to help save me time and money on those busy days and nights of School, Soccer and AWANA's, just to name a few. 

Today I will be focusing on Prep 1, which will be all about saving time, money and your sanity when it comes to Kids' Lunches. The next few days leading into next week I will be focusing on different stages of prep that will hopefully get us all set for Back to School!

Prep 1... Freezer PB&Js

 The Ultimate, time saver during school time: 

Stock your Freezer with your kids' Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, or honey and Peanut Butter sandwiches. You will thank me later!

Whether you kids are school aged kids or pre-school kids. This takes VERY LITTLE time to do and helps not only keep your sanity sometimes but keeps your kitchen clean and they are so easy to grab when you are running out the door to run some errands, soccer practice, etc! Plus it's going  to SAVE you MONEY! Instead of running out the door and going through McDonald's drive Thru to pick up a snack or meal.

Some of you might already do this...the rest of you are going to think this is the absolute smartest thing EVER! That's how I was too...Why didn't I think of this years ago?!?!

Oh well that's what this blog is all about! Building a community to share these ideas!

• If you are planning a Grocery trip (depending on how many kids you have and how much freezer space you have) I typically buy atleast 3-4 loaves of bread when I want to stock up.But use what you have! If you have a loaf in the pantry then just start there.

• Prep Sandwiches like normal and bag individually
• Once all bagged I add them in a large freezer baggie.

TO THAW:  1.) If you are packing your kids lunch, the morning of... just put the frozen sandwich baggie in their lunch box. It will be all ready by the time school starts. In fact they thaw so fast... 2.) if you are at home just grab a sandwich out of the freezer and set the bagged sandwich on your counter it will be ready in no time! 3.) Or on your way out the door grab a few for the little ones at soccer practice and they will be ready to go!

Then you are DONE!

This simple step is a huge Mommy Saver!