Cheap Travel Kids for You and the Kids

Are trying to take a trip with this kids but want to keep it as inexpensive as humanly possibly? There are some simple ways to keep your travel costs that you may have overlooked.
Did you know that all of those credit cards in your wallet more than likely come with points of some sort that you can put towards travel by air or towards expenses such as gasoline?
It's time to go to your credit card website and look at the fine print! Many people simply use their credit cards without really checking out what perks they might have to offer when it comes to travel. If you can't find information about this online then simply call the credit card company and ask what kind of perks you are entitled to as a traveler. Some people can even get an entire trip paid for using this method. You can even get some credit cards that give you bonus points at popular toy stores and feature attractions like Walt Disney World.
Another good thing to do is check out online holiday auction sites. These are budget airline seats that have been bought in batches and are available for a very cheap rate. You can also get food and accommodation packages that go with these flights sometimes that are absurdly cheap. The great thing about this is there is usually a bunch of families on these cheaper flights with you as well.
It is also a good idea to go to vacation sites or the city sites of the places you are thinking of visiting and just simply look for free coupons. You can get coupon discounts for everything from hotels to food and entertainment. This is a good way to afford staying in a five star hotel or to eat in a fancy restaurant when you thought you could only afford to stay in a three star hotel or eat at MacDonald's. It is absolutely amazing how much money you can save downloading these types of coupons and using them to help plan where you will stay and eat during your trip. Suddenly that vacation you thought you could not plan because taking four kids along makes it seem too expensive is suddenly affordable.
Another tip is to try and go somewhere where you are on the top side of the exchange rate. Exchange rates can be very unpredictable. If you play your cards right you can end up making extra money while you travel!

Parenting Tips
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Making Veggies and Fruits Easy to Eat

One of the biggest challenges for me has always been to make vegetables and fruits more attractive for kids to eat.
One of my more successful recipes is actually out of a really old Betty Crocker cookbook for kids called 'Ants on a Log'

Ants on a Log
Fill celery with peanut butter and stick raisins along the top. Can use cheese, cottage cheese, tuna, or egg salad as filler.
Then there are apple cookies. There is no dough in this recipe and this is one of those recipes that can help keep a fat kid's weight down.

Apple Cookies
Core whole apple and slice in circles. Fill core hole, or frost apple cookies, with peanut butter and raisins.
Of course the more food does not look like food the more appealing to akid it is as well. This is another Betty Crocker from the sixties type dish for kids.

Candle Salad
Tear and arrange lettuce on a plate. Top with a pineapple ring. Place banana (cut off ends) in the hole of the pineapple so it stands like a candle. Add a cherry or carrot curl for a flame
My kids love everything that is bad for them including French fries and cheesies. This dish is like a combination of both worlds and it is a lot healthier for them than junk food.

Cheesy Potato Sticks
Wash 1 1/2 lbs. potatoes thoroughly; do not peel. Cut lengthwise into quarters and then cut each quarter into thirds. Coat potatoes with 2 tbsp. melted margarine. Combine 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp. paprika, and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder. Roll potatoes in mixture. Place potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until crispy on the outside. Divide into six 1/2 cup portions and serve immediately.
One way I get my kids to consume potassium, which is good for their nerves and brain, is to serve them bananas in this tasty, fast and easy to prepare pudding.

Instant Banana Pudding
Mash 3 small ripe bananas completely (little ones don’t like lumps) with a fork in a small bowl or in a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of applesauce. Stir in 2 tbsp. of vanilla yogurt. Place in small paper cups.

Yogurt Sundae
Place a tablespoon of vanilla yogurt into each of 6 clear plastic cups. Cover with a layer of Cheerios (or other low-fat cereal). Then cover with a layer off sliced bananas and strawberries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up. Children can build their own parfaits.
I admit that the above recipe is more like a breakfast dish but it can do double duty as a desert too.

Parenting Tips
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