Mom’s Favorite Cupcake Recipe and Traveling for the Holidays

If you and your children are away from home on the holidays, like so many young families visiting parents and grandparents, we hope this idea helps you.  We are Lucky Little Travelers (www.luckylittletravelers.com) a website dedicated to family travel with children.  You and your children can make these cupcakes together before you leave.  Pack them in your suitcase in a heavy plastic box, and place them into your checked luggage.  I love to make special treats and bring them with us.  I hope it helps my children to remember our family traditions during the holidays.  Happy Holidays!

My mom used to make these cupcakes for us for desserts and special snacks.   This is my mom’s favorite cupcake recipe.   

Mom’s Favorite Cupcakes  

Preheat oven:  350 degrees/makes 8 cupcakes

¾ C. Flour (all purpose)

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ C. butter (softened)

1/3 C. Sour Cream

2 eggs

½ teaspoon Vanilla extract (or Almond extract)

1 Jar Maraschino cherries (6 0unce size)  Drain, finely chop, and pat dry with paper towel.

Directions:

Cream together, in medium size mixing bowl using an electric mixer (on high speed), butter and sugar.  Add to the creamed butter/sugar mixture the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and beat until blended.

Still using the electric mixer (low speed) add flour to the above mixture.  Stir in the cherries.

Bake.

 Cool completely (about 30 minutes) before glazing.

Glaze Recipe:

1 C. Powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

2 teaspoons water

1/8 teaspoon Vanilla extract (or Almond extract)

Sprinkles

Children's Vacation Packing List

Packing for my children was always so stressful.  I always worry about what I might forget.  My darling husband has always been kind enough to say, “Don’t worry, we can always buy what we need when we get there,” but that isn’t the point to me.  I always feel like it is such a huge waste of money to buy what our children already have.  I began making list, adding to them each vacation, until I had the list perfected, or as close to perfection as I could come.  I have kept organized lists for warm weather, cold weather, in-flight entertainment, carry-on luggage, checked luggage, and optional items for children.   It all sounds a little crazy, until you realize that you can customize the printable lists by crossing off what you don’t need, and checking-off what you have already put into your luggage.  The list can also be altered to fit the individual needs of your child.  Just add what you think might be missing.  If you have a little guy that loves to crawl around on the ground, add more pants, etc.  I hope that my lists reduce the stress that comes with packing.
For more travel tips, Please look at our new website:  http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/  Lucky Little Travelers is a website dedicated to families traveling with children.

Mom's Holiday Cookie Recipe and Children Traveling For the Holiday

As we prepare to travel away from our house this holiday season, I remember how much fun it was to bake with my mom as a child, and how much I enjoyed eating the results of our “hard” work.  It is a little more difficult to create those special memories on Christmas for our children because we are away from home.  I have for the past several years, brought a container full of Christmas holiday cookies with us (in my checked luggage).   I think my children will tie the holidays to our family by helping to bake in our kitchen before we leave. 

Here is one of my children’s favorite cookie recipes:

Oat meal Lace Cookies

2 ¼ Cups quick cooking rolled oats

2 ¼ Cups packed light brown sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 Cup butter (melted)

1 egg (slightly beaten)

1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

½ to ¾ Cup chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients, drop by level measuring teaspoon full onto well buttered cookie sheet (spray oils are acceptable).  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Let cookies cool before removing them from the baking sheet.  The cookies will be large and flat like lace.

Easy Organized Packing for Children on Vacation

Entertaining children in-flight or in the car can be a tricky task.  We at Lucky Little Travelers have created a printable in-flight (or car) packing list filled with great ideas.  These lists come from years of experience of traveling with children.  You can add to the list with activities that you know your child is interested in, thereby creating a customized list of activities for your child.  Our lists are always free for your use and they come in a printable format.
Lucky Little Travelers (www.luckylittletravelers.com) is a new website dedicated to family travel with children.  Our purpose is to aid you in a stress free vacation.  Packing is always challenging and we can help alleviate some of the pressure.

How to Find The Top 5 Best Vacation Tips to get Great Deals for Lucky Little Travelers

1. The Best time of the year to purchase vacation packages are from Thanksgiving to mid December.
2. The best deals that you can find are vacation packages that come bundled with hotels and flights.
3. The best deals can be found on Tuesdays
4. The best day to fly are Wednesdays, because they are the least expensive day to fly.
5. Some of the best and least expensive flight prices can be found through using alternate airports.

Please check our new website:  http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/  Lucky Little Travelers is a website dedicated to family vacations with children.  After searching the internet for childrens' vacation packing list for both warm weather and cold weather vacations, I developed my own. We also have packing list for carry-on bags and checked luggage.  Entertaining children on a long flight or car ride can be difficult, we put some ideas together and created a packing list for in-flight entertainment for children.  We hope that our ideas of places to go to entertain kids, and our packing list will alleviate some of your stress.  Holiday vacations should be fun, packing can be a nightmare.  We hope that we have helped you.

Organized Packing List for Your Children's Vacation

Organize your children's packing for your holiday vacation.  We (http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/) have printable packing checklists for cold and warm weather vacations.  We also have a printable packing list for both carry-on and checked luggage.  If you are wondering how you will entertain your children for the long plane or car trip, we have printable packing list that can help aid you.  Family vacations should be fun, unfortunately it is stressful to prepare for them, our goal is to ease your stress.  Please check our new website.

New TSA Rules Affect Pregnant Women

Traveling during the holidays can be a difficult under normal conditions, but this year it is an even tougher decision for pregnant women.  The new TSA security measure of full-body scanners involving x-rays or enhanced pat-downs are taking away the joy of the season.  Either way, it is not an easy choice for pregnant women.  Many obstetricians don’t approve of the x-ray exposure to pregnant women.  Our best advice (www.luckylittletravelers.com) is to check with your doctor for their recommendation on how you should handle the new TSA methods.  The good that comes from the TSA’s new rules is the assurance that everyone onboard your plane is there with the same intention as you, to reach their destination without harm.

Take a look at our new website for other advice on traveling with children:  www.luckylittletravelers.com  We have printable packing list for both warm and cold weather vacations, as well as packing for children’s flight entertainment, and information that can help keep your packing organized for a stress free vacation.

New TSA Rules for Holiday Travel Check Your Children's pockets to get through Airport Security Faster

Traveling during the holidays can be a difficult under normal conditions, but this year it is an even tougher decision for parents.  The new TSA security measure of full-body scanners involving x-rays or enhanced pat-downs are taking away from the joy of the season.  Either way, it is not an easy choice for parents.  Many pediatricians don’t approve of the x-ray exposure to young children.  Our best advice (http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/ ) is to check with your children’s pediatrician, before you book your tickets, for their recommendation on how you should handle the new TSA methods.  The good that comes from the TSA’s new rules is the assurance that everyone on board your plane is there with the same intention as you, to reach their destination without harm.
As you are emptying your pockets make sure to empty your children’s pockets as well.  Check your children’s pockets for items that may generate problems.  I have seen many parents empty their own pockets and completely forget about checking their children.
Take a look at our new website for other advice on traveling with children:  http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/   We have printable packing list for flight entertainment for children.  We also have packing list for children for both warm and cold weather vacations that can assist you with keeping your packing organized for a stress free vacation.

New TSA Rules for Children Traveling During the Holidays

Traveling during the holidays can be a difficult under normal conditions, but this year it is an even tougher decision for parents.  The new TSA security measure of full-body scanners involving x-rays or enhanced pat-downs are taking away from the joy of the season.  Either way, it is not an easy choice for parents.  Many pediatricians don’t approve of the x-ray exposure to young children.  Our best advice (http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/ ) is to check with your children's pediatrician, before you book your tickets, for their recommendation on how you should handle the new TSA methods.  The good that comes from the TSA’s new rules is the assurance that everyone onboard your plane is there with the same intention as you, to reach their destination without harm.

As you are emptying your pockets make sure to empty your children's pockets as well.  Check your children’s pockets for items that may generate problems.  I have seen many parents empty their own pockets and completely forget about checking their children.
Take a look at our new website for other advice on traveling with children:  http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/   We have printable packing list for flight entertainment for children.  We also have packing list for children for both warm and cold weather vacations that can assist you with keeping your packing organized for a stress free vacation.