Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

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  • Day Trip to Austin Landing, Miamisburg, and West Carrollton

    It seems as though my photo blogging posts get the most likes.  So I decided to make a video of my day trip adventure that I took on Friday.

    After getting up for the day, I went to a few of the suburbs south of Dayton, Ohio.  One of the places I had not been to before which is Austin Landing.  I had been to the historic part of Miamisburg last year but didn’t really take photos.  Cox Arboretum is one of my favorite places to visit especially during July because of the butterfly house.

    Here is a video of me in the evening talking about my day. In the background, you’ll hear my oldest asking me what I was doing and then he decides I’m vlogging so that is why I called this video Vlogging Attempt.

    Here is the actual video from the photos I took on Friday morning. I am working through trying to figure out how to put music in these videos. For some reason, both YouTube and my video creation program only allow one song which is so frustrating.

    Enjoy the video.

    Have a magical day!
    Traci

  • Mom, What’s For Dinner – Weeks of June 17 and 24th, 2018

    This morning I was up early before the family.  I watched 2 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy before heading outside with a cup of coffee.  While I was outside, I sat down and menu planned for the next two weeks.

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    After menu planning, I headed to the grocery store so that I could be ready for the week.

    Here are some things I had to take into consideration when creating the menus:

    1. The boys will be at day camp all this week during the day.  I’m going to either be going on some day trips or at work for professional development.
    2. Molly will be visiting next week so some of the meals are mere ideas of what we are going to eat.  They are not set in stone.
    3. The Wee One will be at overnight camp next week so there is one less person to feed.
    4. The Wee One turns 13 on Friday so I’m leaving the meal up to him.  We are going to go out to eat and then watch the Incredibles 2 for his birthday.

    So without much further ado, here is the menus for the next two weeks:

    Menu Plan Monday - June 17

    Menu Plan Monday - June 24

    Happy eating,
    Traci

  • Saying Good-bye to the Beach and Beach House Tour – Day 10 Part 1

    Today I’m sharing multiple videos.  

    One of the videos is us saying goodbye to the beach and 2 are tours of the house.  One is multiple videos that I combined together to create one video while the other is a video of the photographs I took of the house.  We were in the middle of getting ready to leave so there is going to be piles of linens laying around and the beds are going to be unmade.  When we got to the beach, they were finishing cleaning up so I did not get a video of the beach house while it was neat.  

    Join me next week for the video of us saying goodbye to Folly Beach and then our final breakfast in Charleston.  We ate at Hominy Grill once again.

    Have a magical day!
    Traci

  • Molly and My EPIC Adventure #4 Plans

    This summer, I’m not taking a vacation.  Last summer, I took 1 vacation, 1 EPIC adventure, and 1 road trip.

    This summer, I’m going to have an EPIC adventure.  Plans have been put into place.  Molly and  I are excited about the 4.5 days she will be here because they are jam-packed.

    She arrives on the 24th at 2ish in the afternoon.  Day 1 will only be driving around to where I grew up, work, and where my sister is buried.  Mom is going to be going along on this drive because she can give more detail about the history of some of the places.

    We’ll eat dinner at my place that night and either swim or get into the hot tub.

    On Monday morning, we will get up early and hit the road.  She had never been to Kentucky before, so we traveled to Louisville.

    While in Louisville, we are going to the Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Kentucky Derby Museum and taking a boat cruise in the evening.

    (Tuesday)  Since she had never been to Indiana, we are traveling back to Ohio via Indiana.  We found a roadside attraction in Versailles, Indiana, that we will try to find called Paulhedge.  I have only been to the part of Indiana that is along I-70 and Indianapolis and northern Indiana.  I’ve never been to southeast Indiana.

    We will go to Jungle Jim’s on our way back, and depending on how tired we feel, we may also head over to Lebanon to see the Golden Lamb.  The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing.

    On Wednesday, we will eat breakfast at one of my favorite brunch spots.  Then we are heading to Carillon Park and Hawthorn Hill.  Afterward, we will hit up a donut shop, a coffee shop, a quick service restaurant featuring gourmet hot dogs, and a store specializing in chocolate.

    After going home for a rest, we are going to a baseball game downtown in Dayton.

    On Thursday of that trip, we are heading northeast to see the Ohio Caverns and maybe a castle.

    On our way home, we will eat ice cream at Young’s Dairy and explore Yellow Springs again.

    She is leaving Friday morning.  (Insert sad face)

    After I drop her off at the airport, the Imaginative One and I are heading down to King’s Island for a fun day.

    All this fun during the week is the reason we call it EPIC adventures.

    There is so much more I would love to do with her, but there is not enough time.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Toledo Zoo Part 2 – Post #2

    I’ve been bad about keeping up with this series.
    (more…)

  • My Top Ten Breakfast Foods

    Today I’m back with my Top Ten List. I know it’s been about a year since I posted one.

    Today I’m going to share my Top Ten Breakfast Foods

    Hopefully this list will help you when you are trying to decide what to eat for breakfast.

    1. Yogurt Parfait – Greek Yogurt, sometimes honey, granola, fruit

    yogurt parfait
    Yogurt Parfait ready to be eaten

    2. Green Smoothie – Juice (oj), spinach, and frozen fruit – That is all that is needed to make a green smoothie.

    Power Up Green Smoothie

    3. Granola

    4. Chocolate Croissant – Especially when I’m at Disney.  For some reason, I love them there.

    5. Eggs – Scrambled or Fried – If I have fried eggs, I like to eat butter toast with it.

    6. Cottage Cheese with canned peaches – Yum!

    7. Granola bar with string cheese and fruit – Usually a quick breakfast on the go!  Kashi bars or some of the granola bars from Aldi are usually my go to for the granola bars.

    8. Lara bar with string cheese and fruit – A variation of #7.

    9. Hard boiled eggs with string cheese and fruit – I like Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning on my hard-boiled eggs.

    10. Waffles especially at hotels – Yum!

     

    Some other contenders for the top 10 list are:

    Overnight Oatmeal

    Pancakes

    Oatmeal
    What are your top breakfast foods?

    Have a magical day!
    Traci

  • An Ode to My Grandpa

    I’ve been de-cluttering my house.  While I was cleaning up, I found many photos of family and friends.

    One of the photos I found was of my grandpa in his favorite chair.

    1.  The mug probably had coffee in it.

    2.  Near the coffee mug is a white dish.  That is his ashtray for his pipe.  The smell of pipe tobacco reminds me of him.

    3.  He probably had a Reader’s Digest somewhere near his pile of books.  He loved the Word Power section of the Reader’s Digest.

    4.  There was chocolate hidden near his chair. Grandpa enjoyed his chocolate and sweets.

    5.  The photo looks like it was taken in the winter.  During the spring and summer, Grandpa would look out the window to watch the birds that flew to their bird feeder.

    6.  The dog on his lap is Dusty.  We got her when I was 11 years old.  The other dog was Dallas.  Dallas died a few months after Grandpa’s death.

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    I love and miss this man everyday.  Thanks for being a hero to me. 

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Mom, What’s For Dinner? – Week of June 10, 2018

    I wrote down a list of possible meal ideas for this week.
    Then I asked the Wee One his opinion on what we should cook for dinner. He gave me a few ideas – taco Tuesday in which I suggested he do a burrito Tuesday instead.
    He also decided we should have a sausage and mac & cheese night. It’s one of their favorite meals. Quick and easy is the name of the game.
    I gave him a choice of ravioli or spaghetti. I have a bunch of spaghetti sauce. He chose ravioli for one of the dinner.

    He also suggested a leftover night.
    I love getting the children involved with cooking in the kitchen.

    Menu Plan Monday - June 10
    The Wee One loves having a menu plan posted on the fridge so he knows what we are going to have to eat. He’s more willing to help cook dinner with the plan.
    On Saturday, he helped with our breakfast for dinner. A few Christmases ago, he got a waffle and pancake cookbook. He pulled it off the cookbook shelf and chose a buttermilk pancake with a mixed berry compote recipe. I wish I had gotten photos of the process because it was so cute.

    The Imaginative One had been at Boy Scout Camp last week so he had not had what he calls “real” food. While the Wee One was cooking dinner, he made sure his brother had chocolate chips in his pancakes. He also made sure he had some chocolate milk to drink. It was impressive that he cared so much.

    At one point, the Wee One wanted to be a chef. I don’t know if he still wants to be a chef. However he does like being in the kitchen.

  • Last Night on the Beach – Day 9 Part 7

    Words cannot express the last night on the beach.  We walked around on the sand.  Looked for shark’s teeth and shells.  Stood in the surf for one last time.  Reminisced about the trip.  

    All week I kept mentioning about the number of pelicans I saw that week.  As you will notice in the video, I took a lot of photos of those pelicans.

    Enjoy our video of our last night on the beach.

    Join me next week for the video of us saying goodbye to the beach and the tour of the house.

    Have a magical day!
    Traci

  • Quick and Easy Stir Fry Sauce and a Very Veggie Stir Fry (GF and Vegetarian)

    When my aunt was here, we cleaned out my fridge. I had a bunch of veggies that needed to be used up, so I decided to make a stir-fry. This is the quick and easy stir-fry sauce I used when cooking the stir-fry.

    What you Need:

    • Soy sauce, gluten-free soy sauce (tamari), or coconut aminos
    • Sesame oil
    • Corn starch
    • 2 to 4 c. veggies – snow peas, broccoli slaw, onions, mushrooms, green beans, etc..
    • Cooking oil


    Quick and Easy Stir Fry Sauce

    • Servings: 4
    • Difficulty: easy
    • Print

    Ingredients

    Stir Fry Sauce:

    • 1/3 c. plus 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, gluten free soy sauce, or coconut aminos
    • ¼ c. sesame oil
    • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

    Stir Fry:

    • 2 to 4 c. veggies – snow peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, broccoli slaw, etc . . . (Use whatever you need to use up.)
    • 1 to 2 Tbsp. water or cooking oil


    Directions

    1. Add ingredients to a mason jar. Place the lid on the jar and then shake to combine. OR Add ingredients to a blender. Blend until combined.

    To Make the Stir Fry:

    1. Heat a medium to large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add either 1 to 2 Tbsp. of water or cooking oil to the skillet or wok.
    2. Add the veggies to the skillet. Allow to cook until tender crisp (5 to 10 minutes depending on the veggies you use).
    3. Pour the stir fry sauce over the veggies. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
    4. Enjoy over rice.


    Adaptation:

    Add a protein – chicken, pork, shrimp, etc…

    Cook any raw protein. Remove it from the pan. Then cook the veggies. Add the protein back in the pan when you add the stir-fry sauce.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

    Source of recipe