Chore Chart

There are a lot of great ideas for chore charts out there. I loved seeing a list of things kids could do by age. I never know if I'm expecting too much of my kids or not expecting enough. I think that kids don't do a lot of work around the house or they are too easily rewarded. I saw this list on Pinterest and thought it was a good way to evaluate how my kids were doing.

Source: scribd.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Here was another list that helped too.

Source: thehappyhousewife.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

What helped was that I could never think of things for them to do! There were the normal ones like getting dressed, brushing teeth, making your bed, and cleaning up your toys but I couldn't think of other things. Then, here was a list of tons of things that my kids could do ... because these lists said they could do it! :) One thing I discovered in all this, kids can do more than you think they can do! I let Landon and Cody sort the laundry and then asked them to fold their clothes. Landon was able to fold all of his clothes! I was shocked. I don't know why but I just didn't think that he could do it! Another thing we did was buy a little vacuum for the boys. It doesn't suck very well but it was only $20, it's light, and they LOVE to vacuum! I made up my own chore charts for the boys. I decided they needed some reward system but I didn't want it to be money, toys, or treats (food). I decided that for every 10 smiley faces (we use smiley faces instead of x's or check marks), they could watch a tv show. That way, if they didn't get their chores done, who cares! They don't watch tv that day! If anything, it's harder on me than on them. If they do more chores, they get extra smiley faces. It's a win win for me I think!
For Cody's chore chart, I did pictures since he doesn't read yet. For Landon, he has words since he can read most of them. If you can figure out what the pictures are for Cody's, then I'll be impressed!

Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

Whenever I go to Olive Garden, instead of getting the salad (I'm not a huge fan anyways) I'll get the soup. And the soup I get is their Chicken and Gnocchi Soup. It is AMAZING! Love it! If you haven't tried it, do it next time! When I saw this recipe online I was so excited to try it but I was trying to not get too excited since, you know, stuff doesn't always taste as good all the time. I know it's the summer time but we were having some monsoon rains that week and I thought it'd be perfect to make a soup.

Source: copykat.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Doesn't that just look a little yummy? And that's the only picture you get because for some reason, I guess I was too busy making it and dreaming of how good it was going to taste to take any! I've made this twice already and made a double batch the last time so I could freeze it for another day. Now we'll see how it freezes!

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Author: CopyKat Recipes

Recipe Type: Soup

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 20 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 
  
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 
  
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 
  
• 1 quart half and half
• 
  
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1 cup onion, finely diced
• 
  
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 
  
• 2 14 ounce cans of chicken broth if you enjoy thick soup, use one can
• 
  
• 1 cup carrots, finely shredded
• 1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)

• 
  1 package gnocchi, cooked  (you can find these in gourmet/pasta section of the grocery store - you may want to cut the gnocchi in half if it is large, or purchase the mini size if available)
• 
  
• 1 cup of fresh spinach coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the flour and make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.

Cook gnocchi according to package directions.

Into the roux, add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick, add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasoning; simmer until soup is heated through.  Before serving season to taste by adding additional salt.

Smoothies

There are a lot of ideas on Pinterest to make your own quick smoothies. Here was one idea I saw and then I added to it a little bit. It was easy enough. Freeze some plain/greek yogurt in ice cube trays, put 2-3 of them in a bag with about 1 cup fruit, and then add juice. I added about 1/2 cup of spinach to ours. These were for John to make in the morning. FYI, he tried them with milk first and they were not good! He said with juice it was a lot better! I was thinking you could also do any flavored yogurt and it'd be even yummier!

Source: thetidynest.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Healthy and delicious? Hard to come by!