20 S'mores Recipes

Pin this Post
My husband starts a fire frequently in our back yard fire pit and roasting marshmallows and making s'mores is one of our favorite summer activities and also one of our favorite summer desserts.

My favorite way to make a s'more is to smear peanut butter on the graham cracker. It melts with the chocolate once you add the roasted marshmallow---so yummy!

If you love the flavors of s'mores, but building a fire is quite appealing or possible, then try these different s'mores desserts.

20 S'mores Recipes

1. Brownie S'mores Trifle Dessert at Mom Endeavors
2. Crescent Roll S'mores at Stockpiling Moms
3. Frozen Banana S'mores at Oishii treats
4. Nutella S'mores Cheesecake Cups at Lemon Tree Dwelling
5. S'mores Bars at Diana Dishes
6. S'mores Blossoms at Just Putzing around the Kitchen
7. S'mores Cheesecake at The Peche
8. S'mores Fudge Bars at Cookies & Cups
9. S'mores Martini at Hungry Couple
10. Cookies 'N Cream S'mores at The Frugal Girls
11. S'mores Cake at Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
12. S'mores Hot Chocolate at Minimalist Baker
13. S'mores Kiss Cups at My Recipe Journey
14. S'mores Muffins at Archimedes Bakes 
15. S'mores Pie at Gimme Some Oven
16. S'mores Pizza at She Knows
17. S'mores Popcorn at crazylou
18. S'mores Pudding Shots at My Baking Addiction
19. S'mores Rice Krispie Treats at Six Sisters Stuff
20. S'mores Whoopie Pies at Mrs. Regueiro's Plate

Be sure to visit all of these sites for the actual recipes. Also follow me on Pinterest for more S'mores recipes.

Do you roast marshmallows in your back yard? Do you eat the tradional s'more or do you have a secret ingredient?

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Visit a State Park | Summer Fun Guide

Do you like to picnic, hike, swim, camp, bike, bird watch, canoe, fish, and spend your free time exploring the great outdoors?

You can enjoy all of these activities and more at a state park!

Pennsylvania is home to 120 state parks or conservation areas.  None of the PA state parks charge an entrance fee into the park. Campsite rentals start at $15/night. Lake swimming, hiking, and bicycling the trails are all free. Picnicking is also free unless you are renting a pavilion. Some parks have pools and those fees range from $3-$7, depending on your age. A day at a state park is family friendly, fun, adventurous, and inexpensive.

As I was poking around PA's state park website, I found the First Time Camper program where $20 gets you two nights of camping, equipment rental and hands-on instruction on how to camp by state park expert campers. That's a fantastic opportunity and price!

Not from PA? Then head to Google and look for a list of state parks within your state.

My family spent an afternoon at the beach at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA recently and we didn't spending a dime. We brought our own picnic lunch and drinks and the kids had a blast. Next time we want to take our bikes to ride on the bike paths around the park.

Have you visited a state park recently? Where did you go? What did you do? Let us know in the comments.

For more frugal summer fun ideas, Visit my Summer Fun Guide.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Go Bowling | Summer Fun Guide

When the weather hits 90+ and the pool feels more like bath water or a summer storm seems to last for days, I'm looking for indoor activities that are inexpensive, yet entertaining for my kids.

Go Bowling! It's indoors, air-conditioned, entertaining, competitive, and often inexpensive. Bowling offers just about everything I'm looking for in an indoor activity.

I've found coupons in our community's Bonus book and Clipper magazine for Buy 2 Games, Get 2 FREE.

Or check out KidsBowlFree.com and register your kids at a local, participating bowling center to receive certificates to bowl 2 FREE games a day all summer! Shoe rental is not included.

It's indoor fun for those less than desirable days to be outside.

Do you go bowling with your family? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Our Carefree Summer...So Far

I took an unexpected blog break last week because of the death of my grandfather. He was a wonderful man whose passions were his faith, his family, and his farm. I grew up in a home that sat right beside my grandparents' farm and they were both very involved in my childhood.

As I mourned my pappy last weekend, I reflected back on my childhood summers in the 70's & 80's that my brother and I spent roaming my grandparents' farm land, swinging on a tractor tire swing in the hollow, and playing in a shallow stream that ran between our homes. We had idyllic summers of adventure--we were pirates on a tractor tire ship, we were archaeologists in the stream, and we ran a Kids' Detective Agency to solve our neighbors' pestering problems. 

Our summers were spent outside. We took breaks for lunch and went back outside until dinner. If we were thirsty, we drank from my parents outdoor water hose without a second guess from our parents. (I would never let my kids do that today--EWWW!) We would come inside at the end of the day hungry, exhausted, and in desperate need of a bath.

TV wasn't an option for summer entertainment for my brother & I, because we grew up before cable TV. We were allowed to watch reruns of Little House on the Prairie or The Waltons at 9 AM on summer mornings and then we were told to go play outside.

Our summers also weren't over-scheduled and packed with too many activities. We participated with the library's summer reading program and our church's one week Vacation Bible School. We swam at the community pool several days a week with our friends. Summers were carefree and also cheap.

I want that same balance for my 2 girls. This summer, their only organized activities are 2 one week morning camps at the Y and a one week VBS. We took the summer off from organized sports and I don't miss the constant chauffeuring. We cancelled cable TV back in March and while there is still the lure of Netflix, we are limiting TV to just one or two 1/2 hour shows a day either first thing in the morning or right before bed time. We joined the community pool to cool off in the evenings and catch up with school friends. 

Our goal is a simple summer where the entertainment is easy to come by and doesn't break the budget.

We're roasting marshmallows for s'mores.

They're running in the backyard sprinkler with neighborhood friends.

We're visiting local playgrounds.

We're taking family bike rides.

We'll make homemade ice cream in a bag.

The kids are drawing with sidewalk chalk, catching fire-flies, camping out in the back yard, picnicking with friends, and so far are having a fun, old-fashioned, no screen-required summer.

How is your summer going so far? Let us know in the comments how your family is spending its summer.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Our First Official Day of Summer

Yesterday we walked our oldest daughter to the bus for her last day of first grade.

We ended the day outside enjoying the nice weather and that feeling of freedom that summer brings.

But this morning, our first official day of summer, we awoke to a thunderstorm and it will most likely rain all day.

At least we're not running to the bus stop, so we'll take a little rain.

Has your summer started yet? Let's make it a fun one!

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Sign Up for your Library's Summer Reading Program | Summer Fun Guide

I have had more than one teacher tell me how important it is for kids to continue to read over the summer, especially the early readers like my two girls. They work so hard during the school year and without practicing their skills over the summer, they will regress.

Last summer's schedule was very hectic for my family so we didn't participate in a Summer Reading program. I just didn't make it a priority to head to the library.  While my kids had a fun and active summer spent outside with their friends--which is also important--our oldest started first grade last September forgetting some of the skills she had learned in Kindergarten.

This summer will be different. We will continue to spend as much time outside as possible, but we WILL participate in our library's FREE Summer Reading Program. It's just foolish not to.

We are fortunate to live very close to two top notch libraries who make reading & learning fun with a variety of weekly activities. There are movie nights, summer plays, visits from the local zoo, and other fun & educational activities for all ages. And both libraries offer prizes when the students reach their weekly reading goals, like free cones at Dairy Queen or free slices at a local pizza joint.

They're basically bribing our kids to read, but it works!

This past weekend, our local library held its Summer Reading Kick Off party and many of our favorite story characters showed up to par-tay.

Don't walk---RUN---to your local library to sign up for their summer reading program. The more our kids read over the summer, the easier the next school year will be for everyone.

Do your kids participate in a Summer Reading program? Have you participated in the past? Did it help your kids' reading skills? Let us know about it in the comments.



Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Hooray! It's Strawberry Season

Hooray! Strawberry season is here.

It's one of my favorite times of the year; it ranks right up there with Christmas at our house. We wait all year for this short window of time to eat local sweet strawberries. The other 48 weeks a year, we're stuck with the over-sized berries with little flavor that the grocery stores carry year round.

The weather was perfect, sunny & in the high 70's, this week, so we headed to the u-pick farm where the berries were abundant and so sweet. We picked a 5 quart box and the kids helped fill about half the box before they were ready to go home and eat.

 In fact, that one box only lasted a few days. I froze some berries for smoothies, but we ate strawberries with every meal for 3 days. Strawberries on our cereal. Strawberries in the lunch box. Strawberry shortcake for dinner...yes, a rare treat where dessert was our actual dinner. Try it once in awhile. Your kids will think you've lost your mind, but you will be the most cool parent EVER...at least for a day or two.

I'll go back for more. One box isn't nearly enough.

Are you picking strawberries at a u-pick patch this year?

If you need some ideas for all of those strawberries, check out my latest post at The Happy Housewife, 40 Delicious Strawberry Recipes.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Summer Calendar | Summer Fun Guide 2013

Woo Hoo! It's June and it's time to plan our summer. My husband and I want the kids to have a fun and exciting summer, but we don't have a lot of extra funds this year, so we're looking for inexpensive fun and excitement.

To get started and to organize the activities that we have planned, I created a summer calendar as a visual of the kids. Every day during the summer, they wake up and ask, "what are we doing today?" and now our plans are posted on the refrigerator.

I printed blank calendar pages from CalendarLabs.com and decorated them with stickers and markers that we had in our craft closet. The calendars are now posted on the refrigerator and the good news is that there are still open days for us to plan more summer fun!

What big plans do you have this summer? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Visit a Different Playground Every Week {Summer Fun Guide}

One of my kids' favorite things to do is go to a playground to play. They will play, climb, swing, jump, and slide for hours. And if there is a sand pit, my youngest will become a filfthy mess and wonder out loud, "mommy, why don't we have a sand box." When it is time to leave, I usually need to strip her down to her undies before she gets into her car seat. At which point I say back to her, "this is why we don't have a sand box."

My girls have their favorite playground, but I like to mix things up and take them to a different one each week. Why? It prevents boredom...plain and simple. Each playground visit is a new experience with different kids to play with and different equipment to explore and I don't mind driving a few extra miles to try a new park. We pack snacks, water, and sunscreen and head out in the morning to beat the high afternoon heat.

Do you have a favorite park? Try a new this week...mix it up a little.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Live Butterfly Garden

Have you seen the Live Butterfly Garden Hatching Kit advertised on TV? My kids have and my oldest daughter was super excited when she received one for her birthday last fall.

The box contains the mesh 'garden' as seen on the box and a coupon to receive 5 caterpillars and food via mail. She waited anxiously all winter to be able to order the caterpillars for the garden. Every other week, she would rightfully whine, 'is it spring yet?"

Finally, it was time to order the caterpillars. The kit comes with a 'live creature coupon' that you redeem on Insect Lore's website for 5 caterpillars and food. After reading online, I needed to time the delivery around our vacation so we would be home for their delivery and care. It takes about 2 weeks from the time that the caterpillars are delivered to your home to when they are ready to be set free.

The cup needs to sit undisturbed (which can be tricky with kids) and away from direct sun-light. I placed the cup on our breakfast bar ledge and gave the kids strict orders to 'look, but don't touch'. The caterpillars were quite active, crawling all over their cup. That brown layer on the bottom of the cup is their food...and also quickly became their bathroom too.

Slowly, the caterpillars work their way to the top of the cup to hang.

And before your very eyes they form into chrysalids.

Once all of the caterpillars have formed into chrysalids, it is time to move them to their mesh home. I was a little concerned that I would hurt the chrysalids, especially after removing the lid and seeing that the caterpillars had eaten much of the paper that needed to be moved to the mesh.

That paper disk at the top of the cup is where the caterpillars attach themselves. It needs to be carefully removed and pinned to the mesh wall.

After several days as chrysalids, we woke up to butterflies emerging.

They fluttered around and around.

To feed the butterflies, we placed some bee balm flowers from my garden on the floor of the mesh garden and sprinkled sugar water on the petals for the butterflies to drink.

When all five of the butteflies had emerged we took them outside to set them free in our garden. I would have kept them for a few more days, but we were going out of town and I didn't want to come home to dead butterflies.

The Butterfly Garden was a lot of fun for my whole family. The kids enjoyed waking up every morning to see what had changed over-night. The Live Butterfly Garden Hatching Kit is around $14 on Amazon and is eligible for the Super Saver Shipping. You can also buy it on the Insect Lore website for $19.99. The caterpillars are free with the coupon code that comes in the box, but there is $5 shipping fee. But for $20 - $25 you have a fun spring/summer gift or activity for the kids.

Have you ever raised butterflies? Did your family enjoy the process? Let us know in the comment.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Disclaimer Notice - Please understand that I benefit financially from any products or services you may decide to purchase as a result of clicking on the Amazon links contained in this article or on this site. You can read the site's full disclosure here.

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag {Summer Fun Guide}

We are a family of ice cream connoisseurs...that's a nice way of saying that we are addicts. It is one of our favorite ways to beat this incredible heat wave that is passing over the US.

While we enjoy an occasional trip to the ice cream shop, that can get expensive. I have no problem buying a carton of good ice cream at the grocery store, but Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag is a fun (and frugal) treat for the kids. You probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen. I only needed to buy some whole milk, since we don't normally drink it and the pint cost me $1.

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

makes 2-3 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup whole milk or half & half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla - This is where you can experiment with what you have on hand. Try replacing the 1 tsp vanilla with 1 tsp coconut extract. My daughter wanted orange, so I used 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange.
• ice
• 1/2 cup kosher salt or any coarse grain salt.
• quart sized Ziploc bag
• gallon sized Ziploc bag
• your favorite ice cream toppings

Instructions

1. Pour the milk, sugar, and flavoring into the quart sized Ziploc bag. I would only use the Ziploc type bag to prevent leaking (see picture).

2. Place the ice, salt, and the quart bag inside the gallon Ziploc bag. Zip tight.

3. Grab some gloves and SHAKE!

4. SHAKE for 5 - 10 minutes and the ice cream will start to harden.

My oldest daughter thought she would try to shake without gloves...it didn't last long.

5. Add your favorite toppings and Enjoy!

The day was so hot that the ice cream started melting pretty quickly and the kids were in no mood to wait to eat it, so no time to set up a good picture.

Do you make your own ice cream? What are your favorite toppings?

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower