Twice Baked Potato Bites

I created a delicious recipe over the weekend and couldn't wait to share it with you.  We were having game day appetizers for dinner on Saturday.  We had fried pickles, veggies, chili, party pizzas and I added twice baked potato bites to the menu.

I had everything I needed on hand and they turned out to be the yummiest side dish/appetizer.

You need your favorite kind of potatoes.  I had these baby potatoes.  I baked 22 of them.  It filled a 9x13 pan nicely.  Drizzle them with olive oil and your favorite seasoning (Kinders - The Blend).  Bake at 350 until soft.  I baked mine for about 30 minutes.  Let cool and then cut in half.

Combine sour cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, some Kinders seasoning - measure with your heart - and stir until it is well combined.

Grab a spoon a scoop out the middles of the potato bites.

Add the middles of the potatoes to the cheese mixture and stir until well combined.

Fill the potato shells with a spoon.  Sprinkle on a little more shredded cheddar to make them pretty.

Bake at 350 until the cheese is melty.  Then broil for a couple fo minutes to get everything toasty.

Add some chopped green onions on top and serve.

These twice baked potato bites were a really yummy addition to our game day appetizer plate.  You need a fork to eat them and they are even better reheated.

I can't wait to make them again soon! Enjoy!

APA Accredited

We celebrated a HUGE professional milestone for Kevin and it felt like a HUGE milestone for our family and our community.  You may remember back to 2021 when we relocated for his job.  He was hired to found a Clinical Psychology PsyD Program at University of Evansville and to get it accredited ASAP.

It was a huge undertaking.  All signs pointed to it being too much to tackle in a short amount of time.  He has spent the past five years working so hard, stressing, planning, prepping and praying for his program.

He hired a great team of people.  Accepted 4 classes of incoming grad students.  Moved mountains to get his program up for accredidation last Spring and for him to receive the news that they are now accredited is so exciting.  It wasn't possible for this to happen any sooner and many people thought it would take way longer.  But with God on our side and big dreams, exciting things are happening for them.  This means better job opportunities for his students, really great students being interested in joining his program and really cool opportunites for his students and his team in the years ahead.

We celebrated with the faculty and then had a student celebration last week.  Everyone at the university is just as excited as we are.  It's a big deal for the university to have a graduate program be APA accredited.

A big milestone for our family!

A really excited crew of students and faculty!

Way to go, Kev!!  His big milestone made it on the university President's agenda for his back to school address.  I am excited to see what doors this opens for his students and the people of our community.  Their teaching clinic sees lots of kids and adults needing assessments and therapy.  Big things ahead!

We'll probably keep celebrating all year long!

Charcuterie Dip

You know I'm a big fan of charcuterie boards.  I don't make them as often anymore, but my family always enjoys them.  I saw the idea of charcuterie dip floating around the internet and knew I had to give it a try.

You gather all of your favorite charcuterie board items, drizzle some dressing and put it on top of your favorite crackers or bread.

You'll need one baguette.

Dip:

Extra sharp white cheddar cheese

A block of Parmesan cheese.

Your favorite salami.

Your favorite pepperoni.

Your favorite green olives.

(I tried the ones in the picture, but we decided the regular pimento stuffed green olives were better)

Sweet gerkin pickles.

Olive oil.

Balsamic vinegar.

Chop it all into small bite sized pieces.  Add everything to your taste.  I used a handful of each ingredient and then a drizzle of the dressings.  Give it an hour or so to marinate for the best flavors.  This recipe is best enjoyed within a couple hours of making it.  It doesn't look quite so yummy on day 2.

Slice your bread thin and toast it.

I also think an herby cracker or a salt and vinager chip would be so yummy with this dip!

We all loved this charcuterie dip!  Some preferred more olives and some more pickles.  I'm going to make this again for game day snacks or to take to a tailgate party.  It would really be fun for an at home date night, bookclub or dinner with friends.

School Lunch Box Inspiration

We are back in the swing of things packing school lunches every day.  And by we, I mean me.  I shop, prep and pack all the lunches for myself and the kids every school day.  They love having all their favorite things in their lunch box and I am still motivated to give them a big hug from home in the middle of their school day.

Here are some favorite meals from the first few weeks of school.

Almonds, pesto pasta, cold pasta, cashews and turkey meat sticks.

Pesto dip with Naan bread dippers.  Monster cookie protein bites.

Leftovers!  I'm trying to use up leftovers in all of our lunches.  Kevin grilled for us so I chopped up the brats and jalapeno cheddar sausages for their lunch boxes.  Pumpkin spice donuts and candy.  Milano mango cookies and Cosmic brownies have all been a hit.

We had breakfast for dinner so I packed leftover pancakes and fruit in their lunch boxes.

I baked mini banana muffins that were perfect for lunch boxes.

Homemade Uncrustables, white chocolate + cinnamon protein bites, fruits, veggies, bars and their favorite candy.

What are your kids liking in their lunch boxes?  I'd love some new ideas!

Frog Follies 2026

The last weekend in August means that it's Frog Follies weekend in Southern Indiana.  We had always talked about going, but this year we made it happen.

Our roads fill up with the coolest hot rod cars from 1949 or older.  The boys LOVED seeing all these cool cars driving around our city.  We'd count them on the way to and from school and were able to go to the biggest hot rod car show in the nation.  Frog Follies claims to have over 3,000 hot rods in attendance.  The boys were in heaven.

It was HOT, but so fun.  Leo was determined to get his picture taken with every single car with flames on it.  Fletcher was scoping out the for sale signs.  We bumped into friends and had a blast.  We'll be back!

White wall tires!  Just like Lightning McQueen!

T-shirts for the boys.

Teacher Favorites

Happy Friday!  We are ready for the weekend!  The best parts of my teacher week were:

1. Iced coffee in a cute teacher cup.

2. A Peanut helper when I'm working on school work at home.

3. Finding new favorite shops for resources!  This turned out so cute for our frist bulletin board.  I traced their hands instead of painting them because I'm not painting with kindergarteners in August.  haha.

3. A desk stash of treats.

4. New year.  New Spirit wear.  We are gifted a new shirt or two every year.  The one this year is CUTE.  Also favorite teacher neighbors.

5. Gift card gifts with a nice note.

6. Watching The Jordan boys head off to class together every morning with matching Jordan backpacks.

7. Bumping into the boys in the halls for a quick hug and hello.

8. Flag football with Leo + loads of my former students.  It's so fun to see them in their element and in a different setting than the classroom.

9. Packing school lunches to include bites of all their favorite things.  A big hug from home in the middle of their school days!

10. A cozy classroom corner.  I put this giant pillow on my classroom Amazon wish list.  It's so fun!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!  See you back here next week.

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