Making Your Staycation Even More Fun

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I shared some fun staycation ideas for north central Oklahoma and then a great round-up of posts with ideas for over 80 cities a few weeks ago! A great resource for planning a staycation or getting extra ideas if you are vacationing in any of them.

Today, I want to share with you 4 simple tips to make your summer of staycationing even more successful. Your kids will enjoy it more than they thought they would.

 

Easy ideas to make your staycation even more fun! Your kids will have a blast.

Brainstorm as a Family

See what your spouse and kids want to do. You might be surprised. One evening (over ice cream maybe) sit down and brainstorm all the fun things you could do around your town and then go around the table and have each person select their top picks. If your family is small enough, go around more than once and get 2nd and 3rd choices. When you decide what to do, be sure to hit everyone’s number one picks first.

Write on the Calendar

One of the fun things about having a big trip planned is the anticipation and counting down the days. If you put a summer calendar up in the kitchen and fill in when the events are going to happen, you’ll still have that build up. Little kids can count down the days to the outing to the zoo or trip to the amusement park.

Do the Unexpected

You know those things your kids just know you won’t let them do because you always say no or that they know not even to expect because you never do them? Shock them by saying yes, do the crazy that the mom in you wants to say no to. You might even be able to throw them for a loop by planning ice cream for breakfast one day.

Surprise

Okay, so I just said that counting down the days and writing things on the calendar is a way for your staycation to be more fun. I also think that surprises can be awesome! Have something up your sleeve for one of those days with nothing on the calendar. Wake your kids up in the morning, put them in the car and just go. Tell them then or wait until you arrive. I still remember when I was a kid when my parents didn’t tell us that friends from the state we moved from were coming to stay with us until we actually saw them! This year, we also took a weekend trip to our daughter’s favorite theme park and she didn’t figure it out until we were just a few miles away and she saw signs.

With a little planning and little to no money you can take your staycation from typical to a summer they will remember.

Next week, I have some staycation ideas for those of us that live in smaller towns. Taking one or two day trips to a big city is okay, but what about all the other days? I have some suggestions coming.

How do your plan for making your staycation even more fun?

Linking up to these fun parties!

Menu Plan and Goals

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It’s been a fun weekend at home full of tackling lots of little projects. The carpets are steam cleaned, tile mopped, grass mowed, and other exciting tasks accomplished.

We had friends over Saturday night for pizza on the grill (love making it this way in the summer) and chocolate chip cookie cake.

Menu Plans and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table P1000020

Last weekend was pretty much non stop go, so this weekend was a nice change of pace. I like going places and doing things, but I truly enjoy quiet weeks and weekends at home. They recharge me and I feel much better when we are able to check off some of the to-dos on the seemingly endless list. Yes, I am an introvert. 🙂 The next few weekends we’ll be going again, so I enjoyed the quiet to the fullest.

The little guy woke up from his afternoon nap with his hair looking a little crazy for the first time ever. It made us laugh and I think he knew he looked a little goofy.

Menu Plans and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

 

Suppers:

  • Garlic Butter Salmon grilled on a cedar plank
  • Pizza on the Grill
  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Sweet Potato Chicken Curry
  • Leftovers

Lunches:

  • Pizza
  • Leftover Bean Tostadas
  • Salads

Breakfasts:

Goals:

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan and Goals

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This weekend has flown by! Saturday we went to the rodeo parade downtown and then headed out to the Christian radio station my husband works at where they were having Kid DJ Day.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

It was a fun event with giant inflatables, free ice cream, a mini petting zoo, and of course getting to talk on air. It was a long day for the staff – they were there from 7am until after 5!

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

Sunday my husband had to go back to work for a call in show they do on Father’s Day every year. All that to say, the time we’ve been home together has been limited. The radio station is giving everyone the day off tomorrow, though, so that will be a nice break.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

Suppers:

Lunches:

  • Leftovers
  • Pizza
  • Salads

Breakfasts:

  • Mango Lassi
  • Buckwheat Pancakes from Freezer
  • Oat flour muffins or smoothies

Goals:

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

Homemade Salsa

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We love Mexican food. The one thing that makes an appearance most often is salsa. It goes perfectly with anything – quesadillas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, salad, tostadas and on and on. Sometimes we even feast on just chips and salsa for dinner.

I can’t remember the last time we’ve purchased salsa from the store. Once you see how simple it can be to make and how superior the taste is to those bottles on the store shelf, I don’t think you’ll go back either! I made this for a cookout a few weeks ago and I had numerous comments on how good the salsa was. Several people even asked for the recipe.

You can have this homemade salsa done in under 5 minutes though I prefer making it ahead of time (even the day before) and letting the flavors develop as it chills in the refrigerator.

I’ve frozen extra salsa before, and even though it doesn’t taste as good as freshly made (and is a little more watery) it still hits the spot. If you are going to be adding it to a recipe and cooking it anyway, I don’t think you’d notice a difference at all.

Homemade Salsa you can have done in under 5 minutes! This rivals what you'd get at any restaurant. We LOVE it!

5.0 from 2 reviews
Print
Homemade Salsa
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeno, de-seeded
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled
  • ¼ onion (I've used red, white, and yellow)
  • Cilantro (I love cilantro, so I use lots but adjust to taste)
  • Juice from ½-1 lemon (a couple Tablespoons)
  • ½-1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ -1 teaspoon cumin
  • Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
  1. Pour the diced tomatoes into a blender or food processor. Add the de-seeded jalapeno, garlic, onion, cilantro, ½ teaspoons salt and cumin. Squeeze in the juice from half of the lemon.
  2. Pulse the blender until everything is in small pieces. Taste and adjust salt, cumin, and lemon juice. If you want it spicier, add a few red pepper flakes.
  3. Refrigerate until serving.

 

Linking up to these fun parties!

Menu Plan and Goals

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I’m hoping this is the week life sort-of gets back to normal and I can spend more time blogging and reading. We survived the Herb Festival and spent yesterday afternoon getting the Kitchen, Dining, and Living Rooms halfway put back together. Cleaning as been on the back burner lately and it’s showing. My dining room table is cleared off and we will actually be able to eat on it again. (Picture of what if had been looking like is here.) My hope is that by the end of the week we can have the house completely cleaned.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

The Herb Festival was a fun day. A couple friends hung out all day and helped set up and tear down which made the entire process easier and more enjoyable. If you are going to have to be someplace for 10 hours, I highly recommend doing it with a friend. Being able to talk and browse other vendors together made the day go by much faster than it would have otherwise.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

After not going grocery shopping for over 3 weeks, it finally happened today! I’m so glad to be restocked and have plenty of vegetables in the house again. I didn’t have supplies for me to have salad for my lunches last week and I missed it. Looking forward to enjoying them again this week.

Suppers:

  • Pizza (and cherry pie brought by our friends)
  • Popcorn
  • Sweet Potato Chicken Curry
  • Scrambled eggs and chicken sausage (found the meat on clearance)
  • Bean Tostadas
  • Cashew Chicken
  • Leftovers

Lunches:

  • Leftovers
  • Burgers
  • Salads (Shaun and me)
  • Rice Noodle Mac and Cheese (the kids)

Breakfasts (however many of these we need):

  • Yogurt and fruit
  • Smoothies
  • Gluten Free Muffins of some kind
  • Buckwheat pancakes

Goals:

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday