Freddy's Friday Find--The Pillow Fairy!

Now that Halloween is past--we are going to try to post a Freddy's Friday Find every week until the holidays! 
Hannukah comes very early this year--in fact, in my house we are calling it Gobblekah or Thanksgivingkuh because for the first time EVER and we won't see it again in our lifetimes--the first night of Hannukah comes on Thanksgiving!

Better get shopping! Freddy is here to help! We found the SWEETEST book. I love to give books to kids for the holidays--whichever holiday you celebrate. If you know me--you know I never met a holiday I didn't love. Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanza, Chinese New Year! All occasions to by a little something for the ones we love.

So.... about every 25 years or so, there comes a book that is destined to be a classic--think Good Night Moon, When you Give a Moose a Muffin, Giving Tree--you get the idea. We have found one of those such books:
The Pillow Fairy!!!

The Pillow Fairy, written by Marcia Gale Riley tells the story of a little boy, named Matt (her own son, I believe) who likes to do lots of things which don't include sleeping in his own bed at night! How many of us have been there right? I created Sweet Dreams spray just for that very issue! 

Did you all know that there is a Pillow Fairy that comes to visit little girls and boys who sleep in their own beds all night long? Well, indeed there is! She leaves a little surprise under your pillow if you do! Sometimes it's a sticker, sometimes it's a quarter, sometimes it's even just as simple as a love note.

It is the sweetest book and a wonderful tool to help parents keep their little ones snug as a bug in a rug--in their beds all night long. 

So what are you waiting for! The first night of Hannukah is 28 days away! What a wonderful gift to give to any little one in your life--and it is "Freddy" approved!  Find The Pillow Fairy at www.thepillowfairy.net or on Amazon.

From witches and zombies, to ghouls and goblins, Maria Zoitas, catering director at Westside Market NYC and creator of "Maria’s Homemade", a line of prepared food sold exclusively at Westside Market NYC, is sharing her tips on how to throw a ravishing Halloween party.

Tips

1.       Children’s Activities: For children that aren’t out trick-or-treating ensure that there is something at the party to keep them entertained and occupied. Set-up a small table for spooky cookie decorating by providing plain sugar or chocolate-chip cookies, and decorations such as chocolate chips, festive sprinkles and colored icing.

2.       Pumpkin Dishes: After spending all of that time carving pumpkins for decoration, use the fruits of your labor as unique, autumnal offerings for your guests. Dish ideas include toasted pumpkin seeds as an item to snack on before dinner, oven roasted butternut squash with toasted pumpkin seeds for a side dish, crusted pumpkin seed chicken as a main dish at dinner and baked apples with pumpkin seeds as a delicious, sweet dessert.

3.       Creepy Cocktails. In the spirit of scary, create a signature drink for your Halloween party and give it a creepy name. Cocktails such as a Bloody Mary or red sangria provide a traditional cocktail offering to suit your guests’ taste buds, but are in tune with the Halloween theme due to their blood-red coloring. Serve the sangria out of a Witch’s cauldron and the Bloody Marys in individual “mad scientist” beakers. 

4.       Haunted Playlist. To top it all off, make sure to have a playlist of Halloween classics such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the age-old party favorite, “Monster Mash,” to ensure guests stay in the spooky spirit.

Recipes

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash With Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

INGREDIENTS

·         1 medium size butternut squash – about 2 lbs peeled, seeded and cut into inch cubes

·         1 medium size white onion peeled and ¼ inch diced

·         ½ cup dried cranberries

·         1 bunch of kale, remove stems and slice into one inch wide pieces

·         ½ cup shelled toasted pumpkin seeds

·         ½ tbsp. clove powder

·         ½ tbsp. nutmeg 

·         1 tbsp. salt (kosher)

·         ½ cup olive oil

·         ½ gallon water

DIRECTIONS

1.       In a medium bowl, toss the butternut squash with salt, clove, nutmeg and ¼ cup olive oil.

2.       Place the butternut squash in a 9x8 sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 400⁰, then remove and leave at room temperature.

3.       In the meantime, pouch the kale for 3-4 minutes in ½ gallon of broiled water.  Remove the kale and place in cold water, drain and set aside.

4.       In a sauté pan, heat the 1.4 cup of oil left, sauté the onion for about 5 minutes and add cranberries.  Sauté for 2 minutes and add the pumpkin seeds, cooking for one.

5.       Add and mix all ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

Crusted Pumpkin Seeds Chicken

INGREDIENTS

·         2 chicken breasts

·         2 cups of panko

·         2 cups of pumpkin seeds

·         4 whole eggs beaten

·         1 cup all purpose flour

·         1 tbsp. salt (kosher)

·         1 tbsp. fine chopped oregano leaves

·         1 tbsp. orange zest

·         1 cup sunflower oil

·         1 tbsp. black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1.       You need 2 chicken breasts, sliced in half.  Pound them down lightly until they are ¼ inch thick.

2.       In 3 separate bowls, put flour in one, eggs in another and the panko, pumpkin seeds, salt, black pepper, chopped oregano and orange zest in the third bowl

3.       Coast the chicken breast with flour, then dip into beaten eggs, followed by into the panko bowl.

4.       In a sauté pan, heat up the oil at medium heat.  Lightly sauté the coated chicken breast until it reaches a golden color – about 1 minute on each side.

5.       In the meantime, pre-heat oven at 350⁰ for 10 minutes.  Place the chicken breast onto a sheet pan and cook it for an additional 10-15 minutes.

** Note: You can also use your favorite fish fillet instead of chicken.  You may put it in the oven for less time or you may finish in a pan.

Baked Apples with Pumpkin Seeds

INGREDIENTS

·         Roma apples

·         1 cup red wine (dry)

·         3 cups sangria wine

·         1 ½ cups dried cranberries

·         ¼ cup currents

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 tbsp. cinnamon

·         1 cup honey

·         2 tbsp. orange zest

·         1 cup pumpkin seeds

DIRECTIONS

1.       Core the apple to remove the seeds.  Score with the tip of a small knife in the middle of the apple and around it – this will help bake the apple evenly.

2.       Pell the skin an inch around the top of the apply.

3.       Meanwhile, in a sauté pan put the red wine and sangria wine.  When half is consumer, remove from heat and set aside.

4.       In a roasting pan, place the peeled apples (inside side up).  In the center of each apple, add sugar.  Then pour cinnamon powder around each apple.

5.       In a 300⁰ pre-heated oven bake the apples for 15 minutes.

6.       Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl, toss together the cranberries, currents, honey, pumpkin seeds and orange zest. (This will act as a topping for the apples)

7.       Remove apples from the oven and top each with ¼ cup of the honey mixture.

8.       Put baking pan with apples back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve either hot or cold.

Have a spooky great Halloween and don't forget your bottle of Fairytale Wishes Monster Repellent for a great party favor!

LOOPEEZ is Fairytale Wishes "Freddy Find of the Week"

I don't know about you but I found trying to teach my kids to tie their shoes one of the most challenging  and frustrating jobs as a mom!

Think about it--little kids oftentimes have these chubby fingers and it is so difficult for them to master this task that is indeed a life skill that one MUST master at least before they go off to college!!!!

My kids wore velcro and slide ons for a VERY long time---- and embarrassingly LONG TIME. Guess what it doesn't have to be that way for you!

A fellow mompreneur and all around great gal, Courtney Maslow invented the solution to spending endless frustrating hours trying to teach your little ones how to tie their shoelaces---LOOPEEZ!!!

Sheer brilliance! This little device makes it easy and fun for your child to learn how to make those rabbit ears and tie them up like a champ!

This product is also great for people who have had a stroke or brain injury and need a little extra help getting their shoe tying skills back! 

Guess what-- Courtney also sells dual colored shoelaces on her website so while you are sailing through teaching your kids how tie their shoes you can also teach them left from right!!!

Loopeez come in a variety of styles and they are only $7.95!!!! What are you waiting for???? Go to www.loopeez.com and get yourself some!

P.S--Fairytale Wishes is NEVER paid to endorse products! We just like to spread the word about things we love!

What to pack for Camp this Summer!

It's SUMMER!!!! School is out and parents everywhere have started to pack for Summer Camp!

I know that during this time--my dining room turns into a spare bedroom and looks like a tornado went through it.

Fortunately, camps are great about providing lists about the required items to bring  but what about the stuff that is NOT on the list. 

I have some great suggestions for you to include in your child's duffle bag!

•  Pre-adressed enveloppes  
• This will help your child remember who to drop a note while they are away.

• Soft egg crate mattress topper
• This helps make your child's bunk a lot more comfortable. Those mattresses can get a bit lumpy.

• Box of Dryer Sheets
• Believe it or not these are a natural mosquito deterrent. If you have your child stick a couple in their pillow case and under their sheet, it should really help keep the pesty mosqutios away.

• Catch all Plastic Box
• For extra batteries, stamps, pens and pencils, ponytail holders--ya know--to catch it all.

• A letter from you and a small wrapped gift
• It is so much fun to have a letter from mom and dad and maybe a fun book (I recommend Jemma Hartman by Brenda Aronson Ferber. Great book about camp)

• A package of the game Jax!!!
• I used to spend HOURS playing this game at camp.

• Fairytale Wishes Happy Camper Spray!
• This is a must have for your camper who might suffer from a bit of homesickness. The sweet smelling grape magic potion really and truly helps keeps your child from homesickness! Some camps even keep it on hand. if you can't find it at a store order it at www.fairytalewishesinc.com. There is a store locator on our website.
  

Do you have anything else that you send with your kids to camp that is not on the Camp List?

Freddy's Friday Find--Cast Medic Designs

Happy Friday Everyone! 

I am so lucky! I say this because besides being a wife, mama, and all things Fairytale Wishes-- I get to co-host a weekly radio show with my good friend Dhana Cohen (www.toginet.com/shows/believeinyourfairytale). We love it! We get to meet the coolest people and find out about lots of amazing products, often created by dynamic fabulous women.

Recently, I came across one such woman and her product. Cast Medic Designs is the brainchild of Christina Daves, mompreneur and now a friend of mine.

A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to become a runner. "Not so fast!" said the running Gods. The universe sent me a big ol' signal and decided my dreams of being runner were not going to come true. I landed myself in a big ugly black boot with a stress fracture for 8 weeks right in the middle of sun dress summer!

Where was Cast Medics??????? Not invented quite yet. But, had it been around, I sure would have dressed up that big ugly boot. This is pure genius. An inexpensive way to make a stressful, frustrating situation just a little bit prettier and easier to bare. 

Check out a couple of my favorite designs:

Okay, all you Spring Breakers heading off to the Rocky Mountains. If you see a Suzy Chapstick sitting at the bottom of the mountain drinking her hot chocolate toddy with a big black boot on--tell her our secret. Dress that boot up with fabulous design from Cast Medic Designs.

Freddy's Friday Fairytale Find--The Art of Notewriting

When I was younger, before email or computers even existed I used to love when I came home from school and there was a letter for me. The anticipation of who it might be from and why were they writing to me... To invite me to a party, to thank me for something, to just let me know how they were doing.
When I went away to summer camp, I used to live for the mail delivery. What was going on with everyone at home -- how were they faring without my presence.

Still to this day, I still love getting handwritten notes--perhaps even more because it has become a lost art. I love sitting down to write someone a note as well. It feels warmer and more personal than shooting off an email. I even incorporated personalized notes from Freddy, the magic FTW frog with every online order. The kids just LOVE getting a note just for them.

I have insisted that my children learn how to write thoughtful thank you notes as well.
Recently, I learned that friend of mine, Sarah Pasquesi, a fellow hockey mom started a notecard business  (SolsiP Designs). She gave me a whole set "just because". She had no idea I would even write about them on my weekly blog. 


They are beautiful and personalized with my name on it. I just love them. they will be my favorite gift to give this year for birthdays, hostess gifts, or' just because' gifts. They are so reasonably priced as well.

Check out her Etsy page and when you are pondering for a wonderful gift, maybe you will just think of SolsiP Designs SolsiP Designs

National Tooth Fairy Day!

Did you know that this week we celebrate National Tooth Fairy Day! Yes, apparently this is a National Tooth Fairy and there is BIG news out of Fairyland!

According the Chicago Tribune, the average gift left for kids who lost a tooth was up 15% last year, $2.10 in 2011 to $2.42 in 2012 according to the Original Tooth Fairy Poll--sponsored by Delta Dental.

The most common gift was $1, received by 51% of those surveyed.
Additionally, the poll found that the Tooth Fairy visits 90% of homes with children who lost a tooth and that in 46% of homes the first tooth a child lost commanded more more money than subsequent teeth.

We think a great way to tell the Tooth Fairy that there is a tooth under your child's pillow, is of course, our brand new cotton candy scented Tooth Fairy Spray!

It comes with a hint of magic glitter and a mini-fairytale you can share with your child!

It's a great way to celebrate the MAGIC of the Tooth Fairy! (MSRP: $7.99/2oz bottle)
Have a Happily Ever After!

http://fairytalewishesinc.com