No Bake Recipes for Summer

When the summer heat peaks, the last thing you want to do is have the oven running. It residually heats your home, makes your air conditioning work harder (read about cutting summertime costs) and you deserve a break from the outside heat.

Ditch the oven and opt for some no-bake recipes instead.

Dirt Cake is a popular no-bake recipe, especially with kids. A pudding base and crushed cookie topping gives this “cake” its muddy appearance. Put the cake together in a beach bucket, top with gummy worms, and serve with a small beach shovel for an added effect.

As long as no one has any peanut allergies, peanut butter pie can be a delicious dessert that’s sure to give you a chill on even the hottest days. Check out One Ordinary Day for a quick easy recipe that you can enjoy after freezing for just 4 hours. Favorite moments in our house include topping with bite-sized chocolate shavings and candies…mmm!

No-bake peanut butter pie.

Introducing your kids to cooking with some of these easier recipes can be a great tactile experience. Where baking requires exact measuring to ensure everything cooks properly, no-bake recipes are usually more lenient, allowing your kids to be more involved. So even if one of your kids “accidently” adds a bit more chocolate sauce than the recipe calls for, it will still be delicious!

Cooking also provides a fun way to teach kids basic math and science principles. Measuring is a great way to teach fractions, and mixing ingredients like vinegar and baking soda is perfect for lessons on chemical reactions.

Another way to entice the whole family to get involved (maybe even dad) is by making homemade ice cream. A hand crank machine can be difficult for kids to turn, but an ice cream maker ball can create your favorite frosty treat by simply throwing it around or rolling it. The YayLabs ball can make up to a quart of ice cream, and it’s sturdy enough to handle even the roughest play from your toddlers. (Try adding some Greek yogurt and some fresh fruit to make the dessert a little more nutritious.)

Summertime homemade ice cream.

Feel like you may have overindulged? Try our Shorter Workout for a quick, 25-minute calorie burn. After all, there are only a few weeks left of prime bikini season!

5 Creative Graduation Gifts

Congratulations to Marissa and her boyfriend Nick for their graduation from The University of Tampa!

Graduations – for both high schoolers and college students – are significant life events. These moments often bring students to a crossroads. Will a high schooler move on to college right away? What major? For a college graduate—is a job available and will it require a relocation?

Money is universally a “good” gift idea. Gift cards are also great for students leaving academia. But don’t you want to give something special to someone special for such a special rite of passage? My sister Marissa just graduated college in Florida. This is a time to show how proud I am of her success. I want to get creative with graduation gifts!

Time to start cooking!

1. Cooking classes. Students are notoriously strapped for time and money. Macaroni and cheese and ramen are typical dorm room staples. Learning how to cook from a professional chef is knowledge that your loved one can use for the rest of their lives. Maybe they will cook you a meal in thanks!
2. Subscription gifts. What is your graduating friend or family member interested in? Forget magazines or book-of-the-month clubs—there are more creative subscription gifts available today than ever before. Gift a monthly or weekly meal. Craft Coffee offers a monthly java surprise. For sweet-toothed graduates: Mouth offers chocolates-of-the-month.
3. Gym membership. With a new routine and stresses to get used to—you want your graduate to be healthy, right? Give a one-year gym membership and/or one-on-one personal training sessions. Maybe even the new fitness trend of rowing classes. This way they can grow into a healthy lifestyle as they navigate post-academia life.
   

   Offer to buy furniture or decorate the graduate’s new apartment.

4. New apartment furnishings. If the graduate will be moving—whether a short distance or a long one—offer to pay for moving expenses, a couch, a new bed, or a dinette set. The expenses of furnishing an apartment for the first time can easily exceed a few thousand dollars. Help curb the costs and outfit your graduate’s new home.
5. Trip. Whether you want to join the graduate or give them the gift of traveling solo to a dream destination—surprising them with a trip after years of study and dedicated concentration is a great way to celebrate their accomplishment. Plus, you can customize a trip specifically for them. Maybe cooking classes in Paris or a guided hike in Nepal?

Creative & Fresh Date Ideas for All Budgets

Whether you are planning a first date or a suprise for a long-time partner or spouse, we have a few fresh ideas that satisfy any budget. You don’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day to plan a unique date–make a special date any time of the year:

Wallet-Friendly

Indoor candlelit picnic. If weather is not cooperating for a traditional picnic al fresco, surprise your date with a candlelit picnic at home. Cook a special meal yourself, or order takeout from your favorite restaurant and set up with your softest blanket, some pillows and candles in a quiet, dimly lit space.

Dark skies. Stargazing is becoming more difficult across the country as urban sprawl spreads. Use this dark sky map to find the best areas for stargazing that have reduced light pollution. Then check out the meteor shower schedule, review your local forecast, and pack a blanket and pillows to lay back and count shooting stars.

Visit a farm. Apple picking, pecan picking, even cotton picking are all within a short drive from Raleigh. Look into farms in your area and what they offer. Afterwards you can make an apple pie together!

Moderate Cost

Cooking class. Not sure how to make that pie after picking apples? Find a pastry class in your area. Classes may have different formats. Some focus on technique and are hands-on, while others are instruction-based and may serve you the prepared meal after class. Saving up for a trip to Europe? Find a Mediterranean cooking class to get your partner excited for a future vacation.

Dance lessons. Whether your style is ballroom dancing, Argentinean tango, or hip-hop, there is a dance studio out there for you. This is an especially wise date to schedule before going to a wedding, reunion, or other formal function. You may surprise your date with the lesson, but you can also surprise others with your dance skills.

Build something together. Do you or your partner have an eye for design? Find an art center in your area to see what programs fit your interests. Here in the greater Triangle area, there is a woodworking school in Pittsboro where students can build furniture. In Western North Carolina there’s a blacksmith school.

Money to Burn!

Helicopter ride. Most commercial airports also offer private flight lessons and rides. If your main airport does not offer this type of service, search for airports on the outskirts of your area. There are helicopter lessons and rides in Raleigh offered at several area airports that are a perfect way to see your city in a new way.

Fly to another city just for dinner (and maybe a show) and fly home. You may be surprised how many flights under $150 round-trip are available from your closest airport. See if cities within an hour to hour-and-a-half flight time have any airline ticket specials. If so, search for top restaurants in that city (or find a restaurant that serves locally-sourced food). Book flights, make reservations, and surprise your partner.  I guess after all the work you put in planning, you could easily extend your stay and make it an over night “date-cation” and enjoy breakfast before heading home!

Rent a yacht.  Okay, perhaps this is a real splurge!   But yes, you can rent a yacht in just about every country, and if you want to stay domestic there are yacht rentals in many major US coastal cities. For example, renting a private yacht for three days in the spring of 2014 leaving from Miami is $1,755. Have a bigger budget? Rent a yacht with a crew to serve you! Of course, depending on where you live you may need to travel to the coast first, so factor in that expense too.

Happy Date Planning!