Monday, April 1, 2013

April Fool's Day Fun

APRIL FOOL'S DAY
April Fool's Day is a fun way to make family dinner time memorable.  Two things I have enjoyed doing over the years are to make meatloaf "cupcakes" with mashed potato "frosting" and to make a menu for dinner that uses very creative descriptions for each menu item and the utensils to eat with. Each person can order 1 utensil and 1 menu item for each course and that is what they have for that particular course.
For example: silverware may be prongs, shovel and sword as in fork, spoon and knife. Napkin could be a paper airplane. (Then fold it in the shape of an airplane.)
Food ideas:
tangy tomatoes- salsa
pyramids- chips
rabbit food-salad
spotted frisbee- pepperoni pizza
heavenly hair-angel hair pasta
spheres- meatballs
celestial refreshment- angel food cake
Enjoy dinner time! Happy April Fool's Day






Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Cinnamon Puffs

 This is a really fun recipe to do with kids because it is really easy, super fast (Before you have time to get frustrated it's done.), a tasty snack or breakfast food and the results are just 2 minutes away. It took longer to get the ingredients out than for these muffins to cook. Kids will have fun making these with you. They puff up like magic.
My kids and I have done a lot of cooking together over the years. As teenagers they were in charge of making Sunday dinner for our family. We made everything from tri-tip roasts to bar-b-que chicken pizza. My sons auctioned off desserts once a month for a year and they were bought for about $400 each. They did a great job and none of them are intimidated in the kitchen.
2 Minute Cinnamon Puffs

1 C buttermilk baking mix (like Bisquick)
1/4 C milk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, cut into small chunks
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping
1/4 C sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Place paper cupcake liners in a microwave muffin pan or in small round glass baking dishes. Mix baking mix, milk, egg, sugar, butter and nutmeg. Stir until combined about 15 seconds. Fill muffin cups 1/3 full. Microwave HIGH for approximately 2 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched. The top will not be brown and it will look uneven. That's where the cinnamon and sugar comes in-as camouflage! Let them cool a bit and then remove puffs from the pan.

*Note a microwave muffin pan will say "microwave safe" on it. Mine is in a do-nut shape because the center doesn't cook as fast. In this shape all the muffins will cook more uniformly.

Mix cinnamon and sugar. Dip tops of puffs into melted butter, then into cinnamon sugar mixture.
Yield: 6 puffs

Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Snowman Greetings

SNOWMAN LIGHTS
I love all the lights and decorations at Christmas time and I generally drag my feet when it's time to pack them up at the end of the holiday season. This year I just wasn't ready for the season of lights to be over so I decided to transform my lights into January Snowman Greeters.

 Kids will have so much fun creating their own snowmen to decorate the house with and watch them shine on these cold dark nights of January. Kids can do almost all of this project. They will need adult supervision and adults will need to use the craft knife to cuts the slit in each cup, otherwise this is a really kid-friendly project.
I got a pack of 100, white 3 oz. plastic bathroom cups from Wal-mart, a string of 50 white lights, a hole punch, some black and orange construction paper, scissors, white glue, and scraps of fabric.
I punched a big pile of circles from the black paper. Then I glued them on to the cups to make the eyes and mouth. Then I cut small triangles of various sizes out of the orange paper and glued those on for the nose. I cut some small strips of fabric about 12 inches long to make the scarfs for a few of the snowmen and glued those on too. When they were dry I used a small craft knife to cut a small slit in the top of the cup in a + shape and inserted the cups over the lights.
Done! The whole project cost less than $5.00.

 Now they can be hung around the front door or over the mantle to greet your winter guests.






Friday, November 30, 2012

CANDY CANE REINDEER

Candy Cane Reindeer

This has been a favorite activity for years because it is a festive quick and easy project for the kids to make. We have tied these reindeer on packages and given them out to friends, teachers and students.
You'll need candy canes, brown pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, 1/4" red or black pom poms, 1 ft. of 1/4" ribbon and white glue.
Instructions: Don't unwrap the candy cane. Find the middle of the pipe cleaner, fold it around the candy cane and twist it around itself to secure it. Bend the wire to form the antlers. Add a bit of glue to hold it in place. Glue the Pom pom on the end for the nose and glue the eyes on a little above the nose. Tie the ribbon around the neck you can also string a small bell onto the ribbon.



Chirstmas Paper Chain and Poem

December's here, Christmas is coming. Kids love counting down to the special day. We've used advent calendars and paper chains so that everyone could participate each day.  Here's a fun poem to go with a paper chain.

MY CHRISTMAS CHAIN
Christmas day will soon be here
And I can hardly wait.
I've made this little Christmas Chain 
to help me celebrate.
Please help me hang my chain up high
I'll cut one loop each day.
And when we reach the golden one 
It will be Christmas day!

You'll need the poem, 12 red strips of paper, 12 green strips of paper and 1 yellow or gold strip of paper. Attach them together using clear tape. (Be sure that the golden one is at the top.)

Thursday, November 15, 2012

BOUNCING BUGS

BOUNCING BUGS
A cup full of bouncing "bugs"? It sure looks like it. Drop a few raisin pieces in a clear plastic cup and watch them bounce and bob up and down.

You will need:
3-4 Raisins
Plastic Knife
Plastic clear cup
Any clear soda or carbonated water

Carefully cut the raisins into 3 or 4 pieces. Put them into the bottom of the plastic cup. Pour carbonated soda or water into the cup. Watch the raisins bounce and bob up and down in the cup. 

How does it work?
The soda has carbon dioxide bubbles in it. These bubbles are lighter than the soda and so they float to the top. The raisin is denser than the soda so it sinks to the bottom but the bubbles combine with the raisins and they eventually become less dense than the soda and float to the top. The bubbles are released into the air and then the raisin drops back to the bottom again.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

WALKING SALAD



Take that salad and go!
When I was growing up summers were full of camping trips, some with my family and some with my friends at Girls' Camp.
We had great leaders who taught us all kinds of fun and innovative ways to cook and eat our food. One of the fun and easy salads was called a Walking Salad, in other words, you make it and take it and eat it on the go- or while you are blogging:)
This is a kid friendly, though messy snack. Kids can help make it, choose their favorite snacks to add to it and eat it on the run, and in 5 minutes or less you have a great treat.


1 Apple per person, washed and cored.
Stuff the inside of the apple with a mixture of about 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter and a combinations of raisins, nuts, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips or M&M's, even broken up pretzels, Goldfish, coconut, cranberries or other dried fruit. Use your imagination and your taste buds.
Now take it and eat it!
Oh and DON"T forget the napkin-this can be messy but so fun!