Inspired by Familia

My name is Mari and I’m obsessed with Easter chicks.  Ahhh, I feel much better.  Seriously, I love little Easter chickies. They are absolutely adorable. One year I had an Easter Chicks theme party for our second born whose birthday happen to fall on Easter. So, cake balls are yummy but these cookie balls were amazing and easier to […]

I pretty much follow the recipe for scotcharoos but don’t use butterscotch morsels and use chocolate rice krispies for a “nest look”. Robin’s Egg Nest Treats 1 cup light corn syrup 1 cup sugar 1 cup peanut butter 6 cups Cocoa Rice Krispies Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans Chocolate for melting Place corn syrup and […]

Applesauce can be pricey at least in our neck of the woods so as the saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention” I got to making my own.   In my world though this would probably fit better “necessity is the mother of homemade connoctions.” Applesauce is super easy to make whether you’re making it over the stovetop […]

I’m pretty sure I’ve taught basic Spanish to every age group out there. And there’s one tip that doesn’t change no matter what age group I’m talking to and it’s: Use children’s literature to help you learn Spanish.”  I tell parents of babies, elementary age, high schoolers, college students, adults and senior citizens the same […]

Oh my word, these gluten free pancakes were amazing!!!  I seriously couldn’t stop eating this deliciousness.  The homemade lemon whipped cream and the berries totally made this meal finger licking good. Gluten Free Pancakes with Lemon Whipped Cream & Berries 1.5 oat flour (gluten free) 1/4 cp almond flour 2 tbl rice flour or bean flour 1/2 tsp […]

This year 100th day of school was on Valentine’s talk about sugar overload.  Our school does a 100 Day Stew and the kids all bring 100 of something and it’s mixed into one huge container and then each child is given a bag of it. I made these for my boys and my hubby who […]

I’m seriously flabbergasted at how good these gluten free brownies turned out.   It’s my first try at baking gluten free and I was greatly encouraged. I’m not bragging, I’m in shock! My husband decided over the holidays to go gluten free so I’ve been doing much “research” on this topic and every time I walk […]

I put together a Polar Express Party for my son’s birthday a few weeks ago. I had a busy week so I wasn’t able to work on his party until the day before.   Therefore, I was looking for shortcuts.  Here’s one of the dessert food shortcuts I took to simplify my life. Not to mention […]

One of our Christmas traditions, making gingerbread men.  Last year, my boys had fun placing soldier men in the dough. This year they really got into the whole process.  My little guy who just turned 3 was really into making the perfect shaped gingerbread man.  It was really cute. I really like this version of […]

Polar Express Birthday Party for our little man who turned 3.  I’m not one of those moms who feels sad when their child has their first day of school or when they have a toddler birthday but I must say I felt teary eyed looking at my little guy knowing he was soon going to […]

This recipe and photo is the hard work of Carla Ackermann made for our quarterly FREE issue, Inspired by Family Magazine Fall 2012. You might be wondering what exactly is Café au lait. It’s French for “coffee with milk”  and basically it’s a French coffee drink. Doesn’t this picture make you just want to get in […]

I was recently asked for my Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll recipe and I realized that my all time favorite cinnamon roll recipe is not on my blog. I can’t believe I haven’t shared this one with you.  My kids love helping make cinnamon rolls and if it was up to them we would make it every Saturday. It’s such […]

I am not much of a donut eater however, I am a huge fan of pumpkin. So when I saw a recipe that said PUMPKIN baked donut holes, I had to try it.  I used my healthy muffins recipe and a couple of donut hole recipes online and came up with my version of this delicious Fall […]

I didn’t realize how much I loved Libby that is Libby’s Pumpkin Puree, until I moved to a place where they don’t sell it.  They also don’t sell pumpkin spice here so I have faithfully packed these two Fall favorite ingredients into my suitcase along with corn tortillas, reeces pieces, Sun chips….. for years but now I […]

One of the fun things about living and traveling abroad is that we get to add to our own little holiday festivities as we discover new traditions from our host country.   An interesting holiday that people celebrate here in Quito, Ecuador for Halloween is Dia de los Difuntos or Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  This celebration […]

  With 3 growing boys I am always on the look out for snack ideas. Here are some great Fall snacks your whole family can enjoy!   These are some of my favorites and as you can see some can be served as dessert but if you leave out the ice cream they make a yummy […]

You won’t believe the main ingredient used for this awesome frosting recipe?   A few months back I randomly saw a recipe that said it used shortening instead of butter, it didn’t sound appetizing. I tried this recipe for some cupcakes I needed for my story time activity for the book “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.” […]

When I first decided to have a back to school dessert social for my sons class I never intended for it to become a tradition but we have loved it so much that we have done it every year. We usually do this a week or two into school, so don’t worry if school has already started for […]