Blog With Friends: On The Go

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Every month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post.

This month our theme is Travel. Here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

My friend Eileen chose the theme this month. I remember when she picked it thinking “yikes, how the hell am I going to cook or bake travel?” It really was a challenge, but that’s part of why I do these group posts. I don’t want to get stale (get it . . . stale . . . food . . . lame?) and having someone else pick a theme for me is a way to accomplish that.

So I thought about travel. I’ve done quite a lot of it having been to many states, quite a few islands and multiple countries (if you’re interested in seeing 45 pictures representing where I’ve been, check out my Pinterest board: Places I've Been). I traveled for work, I traveled for fun, but travel really got interesting when I had 2 little boys and was living 1500 miles from all of my friends and family. And with Hubs working, I’d very often be traveling alone with 2 babies.

Yes, travel is a whole new challenge when you’re doing it with kids and strollers and diaper bags. Through the years I’d developed a couple of strategies for travel and both involved diverting the boys’ attention with something new. I’d go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of new little toys and hide them until we were on the plane. The other thing I’d do is pack tons of snacks, again, preferably something new. Now you could make a case for calling this bad parenting, but I considered it survival, plain and simple.

So for my travel project I came up with a simple recipe for a new treat. Travel treats had to meet certain criterion. They had to have some sweet element or my kids wouldn’t have wanted them. They’d have to be something I could put into sandwich bags for travel. They can’t be too salty or the kids would’ve kept drinking and I’d have had to either be constantly changing diapers or spend the day standing in line for the plane cesspool potty. And they can’t be too messy, melted chocolate can look like other less pleasant things when you get off of a plane with it all over your clothes.

Inspired by fruit flavored mini marshmallows and gummy bears, I’ve come up with Fruity Lemonade snack mix.  

Fruity Lemonade Snack Mix

It’s really quite simple to make. I gathered all of the ingredients. I then mixed up and baked the goldfish crackers. Once the crackers had cooled, mixed everything together in an airtight container.

 Fruity Lemonade Snack Mix

My boys aren’t little any more. In fact, my younger son, PurDude now flies back and forth between home and school on his own. But they did try this snack mix and both agreed that they like it now and would have when they were little. I may just sneak a bag or two into some backpacks this fall.

 

Be sure to visit all of this month’s other Blog With Friends projects:

Robin of Someone Else’s Genius has a tutorial for her Frodo's Journey Bezel Bracelet:

Stacy of Stacy Sews and Schools shares a tutorial for making Special Vacation Pajamas, Mandarin Style.

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares her tips and tricks for traveling with a newborn.

Eileen of Eileen’s Perpetually Busy shares her tutorial for a DIY toiletry bag.

Melissa of Home on Deranged shares Road Trippin' Technology: Tips for Summer Travel. 

Do you have a post you’d like to share? Add your link to our blog hop. Please be sure to visit and leave comments on some of the other posts too.

Fruity Lemonade Snack Mix

                                                                            ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 package (6.6 oz) original flavor goldfish
1 cup gummy bears
1 cup fruit flavored mini marshmallows
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried blueberries
½ cup unsalted cashews or macadamia nuts
 
2 tsp strawberry lemonade powder
1 tsp colored sugar
1/3 cup oil
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cover a baking pan with parchment paper.
*Mix together the oil, colored sugar and the powdered drink mix in a large bowl. Add the goldfish and very gently mix until all of the crackers are coated.
*Spread the crackers onto the pan and bake for 7 minutes, stir gently and bake about 7 more minutes. Watch them to be sure they don’t get too dark. Remove from oven and cool.
*Mix the crackers with the gummy bears, marshmallows, nuts and dried fruit.
*Store in an airtight container.