Crafting and Cooking. The story of my week.

Last week I had a blast, I got to try some things in the kitchen I've been wanting to try, I was able to craft some new crochet projects and I also got some great quality time with my niece, nephew and sister in law. Here is a look at my week, my latest projects (the successes and the failures as well), enjoy and maybe you can take something from this and enjoy some new ideas with your family. Oh, and I'll be sharing the recipe that worked soon so keep an eye out!

Well, here goes, I want to start with my favorite, I think, I can't really decide this week was so much fun. This was my daughters favorite too though by a long shot, HEALTHY cheese crackers, she helped make them and was so excited as they came out of the oven. Cheese crackers are most definitely a favorite with most kids, especially mine. These have very few ingredients including grated carrots that create a great filler and integrate vegi's into a wonderful kids snack. The recipe will be up soon so check it out, they are GREAT!

The first thing I tried was homemade gummy candies for my daughter since she loves them so, I was so excited about this, it is healthier and cheaper. Juice, gelatin, just some simple ingredients. Well, this I will say was in fact the project that FAILED this week. Not that I'm giving up, I'll be finding a recipe that works and hope to soon but they were gooey and sticky, my daughter is quite the prissy little thing so anything that makes her hands dirty she doesn't like to touch. Also tried with my son, since he doesn't care if he gets messy and he didn't like it. I don't know why but it just didn't work, hopefully the next attempt will!

 

The next thing I want to share is homemade Velveeta, (this recipe will also be up on the blog soon) my husband LOVES Velveeta cheese dip, but have you bought that stuff lately? It is HIGH, seems like the prices keep going up and up! Well, this was something extremely fun for me, not only does it give my husband something he really likes for a little cheaper and to us an even better flavor but, it is much healthier too, no preservatives all real ingredients! 

Apparently I didn't take a picture of the finished product, sorry!

Next, I crocheted a really cute bow holder for my niece for her birthday to go with some bows I had crocheted for her. See, I have been doing so many different projects, including a hello kitty hair bow I made for my daughter who is slowly becoming a great fan of all hello kitty products. My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was younger and I regret not taking more of an interest until lately, see, I have gotten pretty good at this and enjoy making things without patterns and with them. This bow holder that I didn't have a pattern for turned out really well and I hope to get it pinned down to stitch numbers and all so I can post the pattern soon as well as the bows that are on it.

 

And, last but not least, although I enjoyed all my new experiments with crafting and cooking, this picture below sums up the greatness of my week last week. My daughter, niece and nephew were all so tired from playing together that they actually decided to tell us "night night" and go pretend to sleep in my daughters room. They weren't actually sleeping but they were so sweet together and such a joy to be able to watch them together, if only my son was in this picture too! 

Left daughter Annabelle, Middle Luke, Right Julia

Breakfast time. Pancakes.

UPDATED 2-5-14
Ok so everyone wants/needs a good go to pancake recipe. The kind you generally always have the stuff for, can add in fruits, chocolate chips, nuts or whatever to. Well, this is it for us. Last week my niece, nephew and sister in law were able to spend allot of time with us, including breakfast most mornings of the week and when I asked them what they wanted for breakfast my niece Julia chose pancakes so that's what we had and apparently they liked them cause she kept wanting them thru the week. Hey, it made auntie ellie feel good! My son loves any food pretty much any time of day but my daughter wants only fruit for breakfast ( which is healthy so I kind of cater to that) so we don't usually do big breakfasts they get fruit, cereal, eggs stuff like that allot but last week I think my daughter Annabelle discovered a new favorite, pancakes! They all enjoyed them and she ate something other than only fruit for breakfast for the first time in months ;)
Pancakes: ( yield 10-12 pancakes)
2c self rising flour
1/3c sugar
1tbsp vanilla
1tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/4c milk
butter or spray for cooking
Mix well everything except butter in a large bowl. Melt butter in pan and cook pancakes on medium heat until bubbly then flip. I used a 1/3 c measuring cup to spoon into pan.
Like I said before this is a great recipe either standing alone or with some add-ins and today since my kids love fruits I added in 1 1/2 bananas diced up, I didn't have walnuts but they would have been great too.
One last note, pancakes are a great, GREAT make ahead breakfast for busy mornings. I have done this many times, make a large batch and freeze in freezer bags then when you want just heat up in microwave or on a cookie sheet in the oven.
Hope you enjoy!

Grandparents gift ( Valentine's or whenever!)

So, if you saw m prior post on valentine's day you know I promised a grandparent valentine... Well, I know this isn't going to post early enough but due to my sick kiddos we were a little delayed getting things done for this year. BUT, on the plus side, this is an amazing idea for any occasion so here goes!

What you need:

Unfinished wood 8x10 (big enough for toddler hand prints and 3x5 picture)

Picture printed out on REGULAR paper, no photo paper!

Mod Podge

Craft paint for hand prints

Paint pen (or brush to write with)

Hardware for hanging on wall

FIRST: I'll give you a quick summary of how to transfer the photo onto wood in case you are doing a separate craft and just need that part; then you can continue on and the rest will answer any questions you have and explain how we did it... Cover the wood where your picture will be placed with mod podge, place the picture (printed on REGULAR paper) face down on top of the mod podge, press down evenly, let it set overnight. Using a damp cloth rub off paper and the photo will be on the wood, then moisten it with a damp rag and using your fingers gently rub off extra residue. Cover with mod podge again.

Found the idea of how to transfer pictures to wood on pinterest (love this site) but I found it on so many different places I don't have an original source to give you.  

Get your kids together and get out the paint! Oh what fun! I don't have any pictures of my kids doing this because at 1 & 2 years old they needed some help and I had too much paint to take pictures. (Next time I'll enlist my husbands help :)

Here is the wood with the hand prints on it...

   After the paint dries line up the pictures where you want them so you know it will fit how you like.  

   

Then coat the wood where the picture will be placed with mod podge, place the picture face down on the mod podge. Press it down making sure it is touching the wood good.

As you will notice I put mod podge on the backs of the pictures for some reason but there is no need to

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NOW THE HARD PART... YOU HAVE TO LET IT SET OVER NIGHT! 

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OHHH, If you are any where near as impatient as I am with stuff like this the wait drives you crazy lol! But, if you've waited over night you can now take a damp wash cloth and gently rub the paper off. Toward the edges rub out and not in so you don't catch the edge of the photo and pull up too much of the picture. 

 

 

(Side note: the damp rag will make it look like you have all the residue from the paper but give it a few minutes to air dry and you will notice white splotches again, gently wipe over it with a fresh damp rag to moisten and using your finger tips gently rub to get the remainder of the film off. This takes a little bit of trial and error of thinking you are done and having to go back and do it some more, you should be able to feel whether it is smooth or still has residue.)

 

This is where I was rubbing the remaining residue off... remember to do it gently!

 

 

At this point you could easily cover it with mod podge for the final coat and be done but we did want to do something a little more to add to the "sentiment" of the gift for the grandparents and my brother and sister in law (aunt and uncle). 

Here is our final product:

Using a paint brush since we didn't get to pick up a paint pen we added initials at the palm of each print and added the date and occasion, Valentine's 2013!

And after we added those touches we covered with mod podge and let dry.

(Oh, and the original plan was to make the hand prints form a heart shape but I quickly found out my kids aren't old enough to be that cooperative, especially when they are playing in paint. But, if your kids are older or you can get them to work with you well enough I think it would be really cute to have the heart with the palms overlapping as the bottom of the heart and the fingers forming the top.)

 

Hardware on the back... 

 

AND here are the proud artists... They woke up to see them dry and Annabelle picked it up and carried it everywhere and saying she made it. Was so happy to hand them out to people too! Oh, and excuse the Christmas pj's, it is my daughters absolute favorite pair and we haven't seen the need to put them away yet.

What's for dinner? Chili cheese pasta bake

What's for dinner? Chili cheese pasta bake

My kids love noodles... love, love, LOVE them. And honestly, so does my husband and I as well. So, we try all sorts of things with pasta, this is my latest, made it last night.

Chili cheese pasta bake:

1 lb ground beef (we used venison but I know that's not something allot of people use)

3c elbow mac noodles

14.5oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or fresh tom. diced and roasted)

27oz can Busch's chili beans

16 oz mild cheddar, shredded (divide into 2 8oz sections)

4oz Velveeta cubed

2 eggs

 3 tbsp chili powder

3 tsp cumin

1tbsp salt (plus extra for boiling noodles)

Saute onions and meat together with chili powder, salt and cumin until meat (if you do use venison you will need to add a tbsp or 2 of olive oil as it is more lean than beef) is browned and the onions are translucent. Add beans, tomatoes to meat mixture and simmer together on med-low heat.  Boil noodles to al-dente in salty water, drain. In large bowl mix noodles with meat/onion mixture then add 8oz of the cheese, mix well. In small bowl scramble the 2 eggs and then stir in quickly to noodle mixture. Pour into 9x13in glass pan, place Velveeta evenly around the mixture and then top with the remainder of the shredded cheddar. Bake at 375 about 25 min or until cheese starts to brown.

 

ENJOY!

(It was definitely a hit with my husband and our kids who love anything involving noodles and cheese)

Easy to do toddler Valentine!

Doing crafts with my little girl is the best! I'm sure when my son gets a little bigger he will join right in there with us. This year we did her first "valentine's". We are doing something special for aunt and uncle and the grandparents which I will share once they are done (haven't quite finished those yet). But first, take a look at the cutest little valentine bags ever, and they are cheap to make too!

Looking for ideas I found the "banana's over you" theme for valentines stuff, and who doesn't love banana runts? So, this is what we came up with. Also, another great thing for toddlers, STICKERS, they love stickers, or at least mine does. So, of course, this includes stickers!

We made 4 valentines this year, this is what we purchased for the 4.

And everything was purchased at Hobby Lobby, of course! (except the candy)

What you will need: (Forgot to keep the receipt so I'll guess on price to what I can remember)

-Small jewelry storage zip lock (large pack is approx. 2.99)

-Small letter stickers (I purchased 2 pkgs at 50% off 1.99)

-Monkey stickers about 2 inches or smaller (1pkg 1.49)

-Large Card stock paper in preferred colour (2 sheets, .50 each)

-Skinny ribbon in preferred colour (1.99 1 roll)

-Hole punch (can be purchased for 5.00 or under I think)

-Runts (and other candy if you want extra, 3-4.00)

 

Cut the card stock in strips about 3x6, fold in half.

Then, is is where my Annabelle came in, STICKER TIME!

 
 

Take the strips of card stock and arrange the letter stickers to make "Bananas over you" and place the monkey sticker on as well.

  

(excuse the mess on the table, we were in the middle of the grandparents valentines too)

Cut strips of ribbon about 8 inches long. 

Place folded card stock over bag zipper and punch holes thru bag and paper together. Once you add the candy to the bag (we chose to do runts for the banana theme and a twix for chocolate too, except one bag which is for a younger baby we just put a few banana's and then some m&m's and 3 musketeers for a softer candy he could eat) place the paper over the bag and pull ribbon thru holes and tie in a bow.

 

Now look how adorable? Annabelle LOVED to pick out which monkey each one should get and help put them on.

 

Hoping you all enjoy this idea and enjoy making valentines with your sweet little one as well. Keep a look out and I'll have the grandparents valentines up on the blog soon!

HAPPY VALENTINES TO YOU AND YOURS! 

Whats for dinner? ... Side item!

Well we had a great dinner last night, roasted chicken, loaded mashed pot. (for the husband since I'm dieting) and green beans and mushrooms.

Since this has been a busy week and I am really behind on doing any posts lately I thought I'd share a simple idea you may enjoy.

1 8oz pckg. fresh mushrooms

2 cans cut green beans

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

salt to taste

Shredded parm. cheese to top

 

Saute mushrooms in olive oil and garlic. Heat green beans with salt and when the mushrooms are done drain off extra oil and add to beans. Heat together for about 5 minutes. Serve topped with parm cheese.

Enjoy!

Whats for dinner?... Broccoli Cheese soup

Well our household has been sick lately... ALLOT. From my son having RSV which was his latest sickness until today when he was diagnosed (one week from hospital discharge) with norovirus. It seems between the cold weather and a house of sick kids and sick parents that it was the perfect time to try broccoli cheese soup I've been wanting to make. YUMM! Soup is great and my one year old, the one who has been so sick lately, he LOVES it, ate so much and was quite impatient in between bites, we just couldn't feed him fast enough. Anyhow, here it is...

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 bunches fresh broccoli heads, washed and chopped

1 onion diced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp parsley

3 tbsp garlic salt

 2tbsp salt 

1 tbsp nutmeg

1 tbsp minced garlic

16oz half and half cream

3c milk

2c chicken broth

8oz shredded cheddar cheese (plus extra to top)

1/2c parm. cheese shredded

6oz Velveeta cubed (this could be omitted I think if you want to substitute more ched.) 

3tbsp butter

3tbsp flour

 

 Saute onion with olive oil and minced garlic until translucent then set aside. In large stock pot melt butter until bubbly then whisk in the flour until paste like and then stir in cream.

 

 

Cook on medium for 5 minutes continuing stirring occasionally, add chicken broth and the milk. Stir in onions, shredded cheddar, Parmesan and Velveeta until melted. Add parsley, garlic salt, salt and nutmeg then add the broccoli. Simmer over medium stirring occasionally until broccoli is tender.

 

Once broccoli is tender remove approx half of the broccoli heads and place in food processor (I used my ninja) and pulse until no large pieces left. Return to pot and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes. 

Serve with shredded cheddar on top.

 

 

ENJOY!