Nutella is scientifically proven to make anything taste better. Well, maybe not scientifically, but the chocolatey hazelnut spread is a longtime crowd pleaser. Now you can buy a Nutella cookbook and take your love of the product to the next level!
French celebrity chef and Ferrero Ambassador Grégory Cohen has crafted 60 recipes using Nutella and packed them into a beautiful new book. Whether you want to make a classic muffin or challenge yourself with a Tarte Tatin, the recipes suit all levels of difficulties. We’re excited to try our hand at the mini donuts!
The hardcover book is available for preorder on Amazon now and would look equally at home on your coffee table as in your kitchen. At 184 pages, it also makes a great gift for the Nutella lover in your life. It’s priced at $26 and will officially release on November 30, just in time for your holiday baking.
National English Muffin Day is coming up! You can celebrate the Apr. 23 holiday in a very special way—with one of Thomas’ English Muffins’ new Cinnamon Bun flavor.
The limited-edition English muffin pick is only available for a short time. This means you need to nab a pack of the Cinnamon Bun breakfast treats as soon as they go on sale.
photo courtesy of Thomas’ English Muffins
These flavor-packed cinnamon-infused muffins are available starting Apr. 12 in retailers nationwide. Whether you want to warm up your morning menu, serve a sweet snack to the kids, or add your fave topping and transform your English muffin into a delish dessert, the limit-edition Cinnamon Bun flavor is a can’t-miss. I
f you’re not into filling the nooks and crannies with a slather of butter or other option, these cinnamon-y picks are also pretty perfect as-is. Like original Thomas English Muffins and all the other fun flavors, Cinnamon Bun is sold in standard six-packs. Surprise your fam with this foodie find starting next week!
If you’re homeschooling your children by choice, or you’re doing so because of COVID-19 shutdowns, it’s a challenge. Homeschooling your children can be rewarding, but there are also a lot of things you have to overcome. One issue you may be facing is how to keep giving your kids healthy, nutritious snacks and meals while they’re spending so much time at home. The kids’ meals you feed your family, as well as their snacks, are what will fuel them to perform at their best level during their homeschool day, and the following are some tips and ideas.
1. Use a Meal Delivery Service
One option that can be convenient and perhaps a lifesaver, especially if you’re working from home at the same time as teaching or overseeing learning, is a meal delivery service. A meal delivery service will bring kid-approved, fresh, and prepared items right to your door. It eliminates the need to do meal prep, and if you go with a delivery service like Yumble, their items are specifically geared toward even the pickiest of eaters.
2. Create an Idea List
If your kids are a bit older and you want to take some of the work off your plate, you can create a list of meal and snack ideas, perhaps monthly or weekly. Stock the house with the items from that list, and then your kids can refer to it when they’re hungry. They can use it as inspiration to make their own meals and snacks based on what you have at home and what they’re in the mood for. You can make it part of your kids’ responsibilities to mark off any ingredient or food items that you run out of from the list, so you know when to replenish them.
3. Prep Snacks
You may already be meal prepping for lunch when you’re homeschooling, but don’t forget about snacks. Snacks are an important part of kids’ days and they fill-in nutritional gaps with items they might not get during mealtime. If you meal prep, make time to prepare snacks ahead of time as well. Packs of cut-up vegetables with dips are a good option, as are hardboiled eggs and muffins.
4. Get Inspired
The following are some ideas you can use as inspiration for lunch ideas when your kids learning at home:
Cheese quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas
Breakfast for lunch with things like scrambled eggs and pancakes
Mini pizzas on pita bread
Almond butter and jelly sandwiches
5. Choose Accessible Tools & Storage
Finally, when you’re making lunches and snacks for your kids during the homeschool day, there are some tools and storage containers that can make things easier. You can use mason jars to store items like soup, salads, or fruit and vegetables that you prepare ahead of time. Silicon muffin cups are a fun way to make dips accessible for fruits and vegetables. You can also use color-coded plates and Tupperware so kids can easily find the items meant for them.
"Rae is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing (of course)."
Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time to introduce my favorite toddler gardening activities! Gardening is great for kids ages 2-5 because it builds skills, gets them away from screens, and connects them with the big, wide world. Especially now, when there are fewer opportunities to get out and involved in the community, gardening can be another link in their social chain.
While it might sound exhausting to some moms, gardening with toddlers can be a lot of fun if you manage your expectations. Let’s be clear: there will be no Better Homes & Gardens cover images from your backyard. Your toddler will need to learn what they can and can’t do in the garden, and will probably make some mistakes along the way. But you’ll have something better than a pristine backyard: an occupied toddler!
Here are 7 concrete ways to get your toddler gardening that will keep them busy for at least fifteen minutes.
1. Planting
If you’re sowing plants with big seeds, call up the toddler troops. Pea, bean, squash, and sunflower seeds are the perfect sizes for little hands with limited coordination.
Start by grabbing a muffin tin and pressing it into the ground. This makes perfectly spaced indentations as a guide for your child. Have them poke one hole in each indentation (or one hole per pot if you’re gardening with containers). This will be about half the length of their pointer finger. Then they can practice putting one seed in each hole and covering it. In a few days, they’ll be rewarded with adorable green sprouts.
2. Watering
You know your kids best, so you can judge what exactly they can handle. Some toddlers might be able to use a partially filled adult-sized watering can. Others might be better suited to a toy watering can, or holding the hose with you. You can also make homemade watering cans using a milk jug with holes poked in the side. Finally, you might have a very young toddler whose best bet is a measuring cup filled and emptied over and over on some very sturdy plants.
3. Bug checks
One of the best ways to keep your garden pest-free is regularly picking bugs off your plants by hand. This is the perfect job for toddlers in the garden, especially those who love creepy-crawlies. I know my toddler just loves this job. (Well actually, she might just enjoy eating beetles.)
Teach your little one to identify good bugs like spiders, ladybugs, praying mantises. Then, learn what common bad bugs look like, including tomato hornworms, Japanese beetles, squash bugs. When you go out, bring a bucket of warm, soapy water around your garden. Every time they find one, have them drop it in the bucket.
4. Weeding
Of all the toddler gardening activities, this is the most dubious. After all, you don’t want your prized, heirloom tomato seedlings yanked up by an eager three-year-old!
I suggest only letting toddlers join your weeding team in July or later. Your veggies should be quite large by then, and the weeds are (hopefully) much smaller. Most older toddlers can follow a simple rule of “only pull the little ones.”
The other challenge with letting toddlers help weed is that they’re unlikely to have great technique. Instead of digging in and pulling weeds out by the roots, they’re likely to only yank aboveground leaves. If you’re making weeding a regular part of your daily schedule (or even just once or twice a week) this will be fine. Pulling weeds often is what prevents them from taking over.
5. Loading wheelbarrows
Sometimes, you just want to do all the weeding yourself. That’s okay, because kids can still get involved by loading up wheelbarrows. Have them follow behind you, gleefully chucking little handfuls of weeds into the wheelbarrow.
Warning: some handfuls will probably end up on you, the toddler, or other passing siblings.
6. Harvesting
Is there anything more rewarding than picking your fruits and vegetables after weeks of hard work? Get your little guys used to that joy and excitement by letting them help with the fun stuff, not just the work.
Obviously, some plants are less-suited to toddler harvesting than others. Plants that could be damaged by rough pulling are probably not a good bet for independent gathering. Toddlers should also be supervised to make sure they only pick ripe fruits.
7. Fall clean up
When the summer has passed and all that’s left of your garden is dried vines and stalks, it’s time to put your beds to bed. Toddlers are easily amused by the idea that gardens go “nighty night” for the winter and need to be tucked in, so let them help.
Have them wear those cute little gardening gloves (or snow mittens, if that’s easier) and yank up all non-perennial plants. I recommend using gloves because some common plants like squashes, cucumbers, and pumpkins, have very prickly vines.
Once everything’s out of the ground, have them help put compost on the beds. Fall is a great time to add nutrients to your garden because weeds won’t immediately grow and deplete them. Plus, the cold weather gives your compost time to fully break down and mix into the soil.
Have your little tike help you shovel 2-3 inches of fresh compost onto your beds. This job is ideal for toddlers because it requires no accuracy, serious muscles, or dexterity. If your kid can chuck their dinner off the table, they’ll do just fine with compost.
As a bonus, they get messy! (Ok, maybe that’s not a selling point…)
Hillary is a former high school teacher who went rogue and became a freelance writer. She's also a certified doula and yes, she'd love to hear your birth story. When not offering support and advice to families, she tends to her garden, two tiny humans, husband, and cat.
Pay homage to every kid’s favorite poet by celebrating his birthday and Read Across America Day on March 2! From The Lorax to Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss’ stories have a special place in our hearts (and our heads—we could probably recite The Cat in the Hat by heart by now!). Get the fun rolling and whip up one of these tasty Seuss-inspired treats your little bookworm is sure to love.
Cat in the Hat Tomato Stack The Cat in the Hat might just be one of Dr. Seuss’ most iconic characters, and this snack from Anders Ruff is the perfect way to bring him to your plate. The mozzarella and tomato makes for a tasty twist on the classic caprese salad. Click here to get the recipe.
I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! Tiger Pops Your kiddos might not be too enthusiastic about licking zoo animals, but they’ll definitely love noshing on these adorable pops from Play Eat Grow. They’re super easy to throw together using colorful candy wafers. Click here to find out how it’s done.
The Grinch Who Hash Warm up with a big bowl of Who Hash (that’s corned beef hash to the citizens of Whoville) from Food in Literature and cross your fingers that the Grinch doesn’t come and try to swipe the whole stash. To get the recipe, along with a printable label to decorate your cans, click here.
A Pile of Cupcakes Like one of Seuss’ topsy turvy stories, this stack of cupcakes from Easybaked will make the tots smile. Luckily, you won’t have to dig out your mini muffin tin—the mini cupcakes are just peanut butter cups with frosting on top. To snag the recipe, click here.
The Lorax Lunch Plate How cute is this creation by The Fantastic Five? With a Lorax face sandwich, broccoli grass, and cotton candy Truffula Trees, there’s no way a kid could resist this meal. Click here to get all the info on how to recreate it.
Dye-Free Green Eggs and Ham Make the classic green eggs without using artificial food coloring. This genius recipe from The Food Charlatan makes use of spinach and a blender for a crazy quick and delicious (not to mention festive!) breakfast. Click here to get the full recipe.
The Lorax Fruit & Veggie Plate Get inspired by Little Food Junction to create a whimsical Seussian plate using whatever fruits and vegetables you have on hand. An orange becomes a face, grapes are eyes, and leftover lettuce is facial hair—the sky’s the limit. Click here for more details.
Duff Goldman and his wife Johnna are parents! The Kids Baking Championship host and chef announced the arrival of Josephine Goldman on his Instagram and we’ve never seen the pastry chef so in love.
Goldman shared all the deets about Josephine’s birthday, birth weight and his adoration for wife. The two married in January 2019 and this is the first child for both.
Throughout his relationship with Johnna, Goldman has lovingly referred to her as his “muffin.” So it was no surprise when the duo announced a “mini-muffin” was due this January, and fans were able to follow along on Johnna’s Instagram for much of the pregnancy.
Calling all budding engineers, wannabe conductors, and little ones who dream of riding the rails! We’ve got a roundup of railway-inspired crafts that are sure to make train-time extra fun. From a candy bar train to a totally Thomas costume, scroll through the amazing projects below to create your own creative (and budget-friendly) cars.
1. The Railway that Rocks For a project that’s a little bit locomotive and little bit rock and roll, look no further than this idea from Sam at Thrive 360 Living. It combines trains, art, a lesson on colors, and you won’t need any fancy materials. Check out more of Sam’s amazing ideas on her Instagram, and get this rocking how-to over at Thrive 360 Living.
2. A Fingerprint Freighter
This fingerprint freight train gets extra points for being equal parts messy and fun. Throw in a lesson on colors and painted smoke made with a cotton ball, and you’ve got the recipe for a creative and train-centric afternoon. For more info and inspiration, head over to the Simply Learning Instagram page.
3. The Train That’s Full of Pasta-bilities Get ready to noodle around with a truly creative train craft from The Chocolate Muffin Tree. The kiddos will get a kick out of using food as building materials and they can go crazy with their constructions: trains, planes, automobiles, or any other moving machine that strikes a chord. Get inspired over at The Chocolate Muffin Tree.
4. A Totally Sweet Ride
Ready to give your kiddo’s favorite people mover an edible twist? Cupcakes & Cutlery has you covered with this candy bar train. It’s super simple to make and excellent for dessert decorations. If you sample a few of your construction pieces, so be it. Get the sweet scoop at Cupcakes & Cutlery.
5. The Thomas-Inspired Train
Want to pay tribute to everyone’s favorite tank engine? All you need to create your own artsy Thomas the Tank Engine is a few simple materials: toilet paper rolls, paper, glue, paint, and a heaping handful of glitter. It’s the perfect project for an afternoon of crafty fun. Learn more over at KPL Kids’ Corner.
6. The Circus Setup
No big top experience is complete without a train ride. This darling creation from Merrilee of Mer Mag is all kinds of bright and cheery, and even has a recycled twist—it’s made out of tea boxes! Get your little helpers involved in deciding which animals should go where and you’ll have a wild time, indeed. Grab the easy tutorial over to Mer Mag.
7. The Coffee Cap Choo-Choo Train
We’ll bet this adorable red engine will inspire you to think of your recycle bin as just another arts and crafts supply box. With a coffee cap light leading the way and egg carton cars, this homemade toy is a great way to turn your clutter into playtime fun. For the easy how-to, head for Bon Bon Break.
8. A Sponge-y Express
Got a train-obsessed toddler, preschooler, or kindergartner on your hands? This sponge-painting activity is perfect for the younger set who are learning about colors. The prepwork is minimal and the main materials (kitchen sponges and paint) are easy enough to find. Get the easy how-to over at Buggy and Buddy.
9. An Egg-cellent Train
The next time you serve up omelets for breakfast, be sure to save your egg cartons because The Craft Train has just the upcycled use for them. With the help of a few other basic supplies like paint and paper, those cartons can be transformed into an awesome engine. Don’t forget to paint and decorate before sending it down the tracks! Find out more over at The Craft Train.
10. The Tissue Box Train
Thanks to Mary Kathleen of Discovering Breadcrumbs for showing us tissue boxes can turn into boxcars with just a few easy steps! Not only is this a great reason to recycle, it’s also just waiting for a few stuffed animal passengers. You can even take a cue from Mary Kathleen and add in a lesson on the ABCs. Get the 411 at Discovering Breadcrumbs.
11. The It-Fits-Perfectly Train
How do you take train playtime to a whole new level? Let your little conductor actually be a train, with his very own homemade Thomas costume. The actual how-to has more instructions than your average train craft but the playtime payoff is worth the effort. To find out how to make one of your own, make tracks over to Little Red Window.
Chalk paint is a type of paint that you can create at home and use on various surfaces. It’s simple to make, easy to work with, and a fun activity for both kids and adults. It’s also inexpensive—in fact, you probably have all the ingredients you need to make it at home. Keep reading to learn how to make your own chalk paint and different ways to use it with the family.
What you’ll need:
Cornstarch
Water
Food coloring
Muffin pans or small bowls
Paintbrushes
Stencils (optional)
Follow these instructions for easy DIY chalk paint
Step 1: Combine cornstarch and water in equal parts.
Step 2: Next, pour the cornstarch mixture into a muffin tin or small bowls.
Step 3: Finally, add food coloring of your choice until it gets to your desired color. Now you’re ready to paint!
How to Use DIY Chalk Paint
One of the best aspects of chalk paint is that it’s a great way to get creative. Even better, it easily washes away, making cleanup a breeze. Chalk paint is similar to chalk, but you use paintbrushes instead of chalk pieces to create your artwork. DIY chalk paint is a great activity for people of all ages and you can do it both indoors or outdoors! Chalk paint, like traditional chalk, works great on the sidewalk or driveway. It can also be used to decorate chalkboards to display in your home.
Ways Kids Can Use Chalk Paint
Chalk paint is a great way to keep the kids busy for hours. With many extracurricular activities being canceled this year, it’s been more important than ever to find some at-home crafts for the kids.
Practice letters and numbers: For the younger kids, you can use chalk paint as a way to help teach them their letters and numbers when they are out of school. It makes learning fun!
Practice spelling and math: For the slightly older kids, you can also use chalk paint in the summer months, but up the difficulty level with spelling tests and multiplication tables. It makes practicing their schoolwork more fun when they can do it outside!
Paint their pets: Challenge your kids to paint their dog or cat. Mix a bunch of colors and go crazy.
Create games: Classic games that you would use with chalk are perfect for chalk paint! Hopscotch and foursquare are the most popular chalk games.
Make fun stencils: There are many places that you can find printable stencils online, or you can create your own! Kids will love making different stenciled designs and painting them with the chalk paint they helped create.
Ways Adults Can Use Chalk Paint
No, chalk paint isn’t just for kids. There are many ways that adults can use it too. Here are some ideas for chalkboards.
Create a weekly dinner menu: For those who are always dealing with the “what’s for dinner?” question, use your chalk paint to make a pretty menu so that your kids or spouse can check throughout the week.
Use it for a daily quote, joke, affirmation: Using chalk paint as a way to display inspirational quotes, funny jokes, or daily affirmations can help start your day right.
Paint your favorite bible verse: Painting the bible verse that means the most to you will be a comforting display to look at throughout the day.
Christmas countdown: Make a Christmas, birthday, or special event countdown. We all need a little extra cheer this holiday season, so counting down to Christmas can help keep up the excitement this time of year brings.
Tips for Your DIY Chalk Paint
Chalk paint doesn’t dry instantly—Unlike regular chalk, the paint takes some time to dry. Be careful not to touch your art for a few hours—otherwise, you may smudge it.
Add more water or cornstarch depending on thickness—It’s hard to mess up chalk paint, so if you think it’s a little runny or too stiff, just add a little more cornstarch or water and you’ll be good to go.
Chalk paint color will dry darker—As your painting, you may be tempted to go darker or paint more layers. Remember, the paint will dry darker than when you first paint, so you’ll get a good idea of what it looks like after it dries.
DIY chalk paint is a fun activity for kids and adults. It’s easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients you need already in your pantry! Make some fun games for the kids and they’ll stay busy for hours.
Julia is a dog mom and content creator. When she's not writing or playing with her pup, you can find her playing tennis or chowing down on a vegan burger.
Research has shown that everyone is looking forward to the fall and holidays more than ever this year, and now your tastebuds can get in on the action, too. Dunkin’ announced this week that the company is releasing their famed fall menu earlier than ever before: Aug. 19!
For a limited time, Dunkin’ is bringing back fan favorite items in addition to several new snacking options. You can start looking forward to a variety of pumpkin coffees, Apple Cider-flavored treats and pumpkin baked goods.
photo: Courtesy of Dunkin’
Brand new menu items for this year include:
Signature Pumpkin Spice Latte
Chai Latte
Stuffed Bagel Minis
Stuffed Bagel Minis in plain and everything topping
Steak & Cheese Rollups
Maple Sugar Seasoned Snackin’ Bacon
Looking for your fave treat from last year? Returning items are:
Pumpkin Flavored Coffees
Apple Cider Donut and MUNCHKINS® Donut Hole Treats
Pumpkin Donut, MUNCHKINS® Donut Hole Treats, and Muffin
Is that a bun in the oven or is it a mini-muffin? Duff Goldman and his wife Johnna are expecting their fist child. Goldman posted the sweet announcement on his Instagram account.
“MUFFINS! 😍,” Goldman captioned the photo of him standing next to his wife. In the photo, each hold a full-sized muffin in one hand while Johnna also holds a mini muffin in front of her belly.
Johnna also posted the same photo on her account with the caption, “Our biggest adventure yet! Mini Muffin expected January 2021! 🍼”
