Layered Caramel Apple Dip

9 / 25 / 189 / 25 / 18

No joke – I think I’ve had ‘layered apple caramel dip’ in my idea book for a full 3 years now… It’s on a random page of fall ideas and says ‘layered caramel apple dip – like 7 layer bean dip but sweet – for apples’ – hah! I’ve wanted to make it for ages now, but we just finally got around to it and I’m so happy we did. Because daaaaang – is it ever delicious!

We made a plated version to enjoy immediately as well as several little pots to keep in the fridge and let me tell you – they didn’t last long! Brad and I enjoyed some as a treat while watching a show, Miss G got to take one in her lunch one day, and the others? I’m not sure, but they disappeared.

The best part? I was really hoping to include a caramel outside of my usual date ‘caramel’, and I was able to make a delicious version using coconut milk, pure maple syrup, and coconut sugar. Definitely a still a treat in my books, but no dairy, no butter, and no white sugar. We also used a non-dairy cream cheese for a fully vegan recipe.

For the full recipe and all of the details, pop over to CBC Parents and check out our Layered Caramel Apple Dip post.

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Hulk Fruit Sauce

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My goodness – this apple / pear / spinach / chia sauce has been on repeat like no other over the last few months… So much so that it’s earned itself a nickname. HULK FRUIT SAUCE. Hah! I actually have no idea how that name came to be, but the Hulk is green, so…?

Play Dough Apple Tree Life Cycle

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If you know us well, you know we loooove play dough. We almost always have 3 or 4 play dough kits on hand and for the past several years, they’ve been something Miss G has regularly taken out and played with. That being said, we’ve sort of been on a play dough break recently… Miss G has other things she’s super passionate about at the moment {mainly ‘inventing’ and reading – always reading} and with her being in school full days this year, I honestly just find that there’s not a lot of extra time in our days {*insert sad face here*}. That being said, we’ve recently been all about apples and apple trees, and when Miss G asked about when the different stages of an apple tree’s life cycle occur, I figured it would be fun to explore the different seasons with some play dough and simple play dough mats.

Mini Apple Pies Kids Can Make

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Grae and I are very lucky to be part of a fabulous little play school co-op here in Kuwait. The whole thing is very low key. We meet at someone’s house every Sunday morning to partake in a few fun activities that go with our weekly theme, and then we meet on again on Thursday mornings for a less structured outdoor outing or ‘field trip’ of some sort. Since this week’s theme was apples, I helped to set up an apple pie making station for our little ones {ages 1 to 4} to enjoy.

10 Apples Up On Top Math Game

10 / 21 / 1410 / 29 / 14

$Ten Apples Up On Top Math Game | Mama Papa Bubba$

Not going to lie, this week’s preschool book club was a bit of a tough one… Tough because firstly, we couldn’t find the book anywhere. We visited bookshops, we visited grocery stores with book sections, we visited our school’s library, and we asked pretty much all of our friends. No book! Brad eventually scrounged up a digital version for us to see on the iPad, but after a friend suggested it this morning, I’m guessing that one of Kuwait’s many Instagram shops would have had it! I hadn’t thought of that. {Is this an around the world thing, or a Kuwait specific thing? Here you can order almost anything via Instagram and Whatsapp and have the items delivered to your door.} The second thing that made this week’s PBC challenging was that without the book physically in my hands, I had no inspiration. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a fun activity to go with it. It was frustrating. Eventually though, I thought of something {a very simple math game focused on addition and subtraction} and it’s pretty awesome. Not awesome because it was crazy cool or unique, but awesome because Gracen did not want to stop playing. In fact, we played from about 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. yesterday morning. One round after the next – non-stop! I love when something that was initially challenging turns out so well.

{click to read more…}

Sticky Wall Apple Tree

9 / 24 / 139 / 30 / 13

Contact paper is one of those art supplies that we always keep on hand. It’s awesome for using with glitter and is a ton of fun stuck up on a wall, plus if you pick it up on the roll at the dollar store like we do, it’s really inexpensive too. Knowing that it can be found here in Kuwait (my team of first grade teachers used it all the time during our first stint here), I didn’t pack any with us from Canada. So imagine my dismay when I found myself amidst a giant back to school / office supply display the other night with not a single roll of clear contact paper in sight {the horror!} The lovely lady working in the section did turn me onto something else, however, and in fact, I think it’s even better than the rolls we usually get. When she first handed me the package, I was skeptical. Clear book covers? For real? But then I realized a few things… 1) They are essentially just pre-cut sheets of contact paper. 2) They are inexpensive and sold in packs of 10, which covers a lot of future projects. 3) They come flat so I’d have to wrestle with tightly rolled contact paper no longer – score {ecause we all know how annoying that is}!

An Apple Taste Test

9 / 18 / 139 / 18 / 13

Today, instead of preparing a post-nap snack for Miss G as I usually do, I set out this… A collection of 4 different apples waiting to be observed and tasted.

Caramel Apple Pie Play Dough

9 / 17 / 139 / 17 / 13

One day, while playing with our well-loved pumpkin spice play dough, Gracen asked if we could have some friends over so she could share her new dough with them. She’s always adored having friends come over, and now that we’re in an apartment building filled with teaching families, arranging play dates is easier than ever. A play dough play date sounded like a brilliant plan to me, so I agreed and immediately started thinking about another fall-scented play dough we could create. I quickly remembered the apple play dough post I’d seen on Fantastic Fun & Learning, and knew that Miss G and her friends would enjoy something similar. Because I was on a bit of a roll with the dough containing real pumpkin, I decided our apple dough would contain real apples and would be further fall-ified by making it apple pie scented. The good news is that my mission was a total success! The dough turned out soft, squishy, and smelled deliciously of warm apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce – yum! In fact, as I was making it, Brad came into the kitchen with eager eyes and asked what I was baking because our house smelled so delicious. Oops.