The Scoop on Dining in Richland County

Richland County, Ohio has a ton of great options for family friendly dining. From chains to family owned, there are some fantastic options for dining in Richland County!

One of our favorite places to visit is Two Cousins Pizza, in downtown Mansfield. The pizza is awesome and the lunch specials are great. My son is happy with a slice of pepperoni pizza and a drink, while my husband and I can't pass up their mini pizzas or pepperoni rolls.

The prices are unbeatable and the pizza is really good!

My son really loves the Der Dutchman in Bellville, Ohio. The buffet features several things he might eat on a day he isn't demanding pancakes. Fried chicken, clam strips, potatoes, fish, tons of veggies, salads and other yummy things are ready to tantalize your tastebuds.

My favorite little spot in Richland County right now is the Blueberry Patch. Picking berries and dining in their cute cafe is the best summer activity!

 Tomato Basil soup that is ah-mazing!

Monte Cristo sandwich with blueberry? Phenomenal!

 The Quiche and Fruit Salad? Divine!

Roo loves their flatbread pizza! It is yummy!


If you are traveling to Richland County, I hope these suggestions are helpful to you for finding a great spot to dine!

Cupcake Liner Crafts

We are always looking for fun crafts to make! When I saw these ideas for cupcake liner crafts the wheels in my head started to spin. These ideas are adorable and easy enough for your toddler or preschooler to make!

I hope this collection inspires you to pull out your cupcake liners and start creating!

Your little princess will love making these Tutu Princesses from Well Nourished Nest.

On a rainy day you might want to try your hand at this Cupcake Liner Rainbow from I Heart Crafty Things.

These Cupcake Liner Butterflies from Crafty Morning might flutter their way into your heart!

If your little one likes Ninjago, don't miss this super cute and simple Ninjago Craft from Love and Marriage Blog.

If your little one loves all things Dino, you can't go wrong with this Cupcake Liner Dinosaur from Frogs, Snails and Puppydog Tails.

Do you have an idea for a fun cupcake liner craft? I would love to hear from you!

Washer and Dryer Update

Once upon a time I had a washer/dryer set. It was a cute little matching number, white, basic. Exactly what I needed. I can be no frills about some things, ya know.

Then the dryer bit the dust. It wasn't worth fixing when the parts and labor were added up. Lucky for me, my neighbor had an extra one in her basement and she said "Here, just take this one!" Then my washer followed suit and I bought a new one.

Well, I am thrilled to just have a washer and dryer! I had to use the laundromat for a week-ish when I waited on the washer and that is just not cool. Doing 10 loads of laundry or so at once is not how I like to spend a day! But, to be honest. I  was feeling a slight tinge of embarrassment over my blah washer and dryer.

That materialistic part of me debated getting a new set, I had justified it to myself, but the realist in me knew I wasn't really going to get a new set because they don't match. I live in the real world, have kids, bills and all of that, like everyone else.

Then an idea hit me.

I had a slew of cute decals that I have hesitated to put up in my house, knowing we hope to move in the near future. These were perfect for adding a little something to my washer and dryer that made them look like a pair, despite being different years and brands.

My son is really interested in cats, he thinks they are awesome. So while he was at school I did this.

My washer and dryer are pretty cute now, my kids got a huge thrill out of noticing the kitties in the laundry room and our cat gave us the purr of approval over our choice of decals.

How do you use decals in home decorating? I would love to hear ideas from you!

Lava Jars {Hands on Science}

Last fall my son and I made a fun project together, we called them lava jars as they were inspired by lava lamps and we had a ton of baby food jars on hand. Harp was emptying out at least 6 a day back then.

I first filled the jar with half water, half baby oil. We added a few drops of food  coloring to the mixture, closed the lids tightly and watched to see what would happen.

We decided that this jar was the ocean based on color and the imagination
of a 4 year old

There was some slight bubbling, but nothing major.

We agreed the jars were neat... but what could we do to make them react differently?

We both liked the color of this jar the best.

We went inside and looked around. We found some antacid tablets and decided to introduce them into the mix to see how the oil/water jar reacted.

We started to notice bubbles forming right away. It definitely simulated a lava lamp!

I made a really short little video demonstration of the reaction of adding the antacid to the oil/water mixture.

My son had fun with this project. It was a fun challenge to see what we could do with common household products, and it was even more fun to engage him in a science project.  We think these would be fun with glow in the dark stuff inside. We hope to try this again in a few months with that idea.

Coconut Rice Krispie Treats Recipe {Dairy Free}

Earlier this week I needed to make a snack to share with little boys. I thought I would go with a standard favorite and make Fruity Pebble Treats until I realized margarine has milk in it and I needed a snack that was free of milk and chocolate.

I started a batch of a nutella type Rice Krispie Treats... then I realized after adding the Jif version of Nutella that oops this has chocolate in it... It was irrelevant anyways because the recipe was a total flop. 

I scanned my pantry and came up with coconut oil as an ingredient a little more digging searching produced a bag of coconut flakes...

So, I created a recipe that is free of milk and chocolate for my dears that face food allergies. I wasn't sure how they would turn out so I used {Mr.} Adam as a guinea pig. He said they were good but that they were too adult for kids. I shrugged my shoulders and said "I am okay with that because I tried."

Imagine how thrilled I was to hear from the Moms a few days later that the Coconut Rice Krispie Treats were a hit and that several Moms thought they were lovely! So here is the recipe, I hope you like it too!

print recipe

Coconut Rice Krispie Treats {Dairy Free}

by Sara June-7-2014

Dairy Free Rice Krispie Treats with a delicious coconut flavor!

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cup Rice Krispies
• 10 ounces Marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
• 1/3 cup Coconut Flakes
• as desired Sprinkles

Instructions

Spray a baking dish with coconut oil spray as well as a pan.Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 10 ounces of marshmallows to the sprayed pan. On medium/low heat melt the oil and marshmallow. (This took about 3 minutes, be sure to stir frequently)
When the marshmallows and coconut oil melt add 4/1/2 cups of Rice Krispies and 1/3 cup of coconut flakes to the pan, stirring until the cereal is well coatedSpread the mixture into the prepared baking dish.Add sprinkles.Allow to cool for one hour.Cut into squares and serve.

Details

Prep time: 5 hour Cook time: 5 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: 16 servings

If you liked this easy recipe you might want to check out my Pretty Pebble Marshmallow recipe or My Nuts About Cookies Bark recipe. Thanks for dropping by today!