Ocean Theme Dinner

Dinner I made for the boys tonight... hotdog octopuses, gold fish, mini blue shells (pasta) and purple "coral" (small salad macaroni) in butter sauce with scallion and spinach "seaweed" on a bed of parmesan "sand". Ocean water (blue powerade) to drink and shark fruit snacks for dessert.   They loved it!

Scripture/Quote Stars (Food For Thought)

I made these as a birthday gift for a friend of mine.  They are little 3D origami stars.  I wrote a scripture or a quote on each one before I folded it.  For this gift I made 60 stars (about 30 church quotes and 30 scriptures), I figured that way he had one for each week of the year (52) plus 8 extra for the weeks when he needed an extra spiritual lift!

This was a last minute project so I just scrounged around for what I already had at the house.  The container is a rinsed out container that had almonds in it!

Here he is with it!

P.S. - 
I got the idea for these stars here :  http://blog.creativekismet.com/2011/01/06/little-guiding-stars/ 
And here is a YouTube video of how to make the stars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6MS4SAKOR0&feature=related

I used scrapbook paper and construction paper and cut it myself instead of buying the paper and I made mine smaller in size than the ones on the blog (closer in size to the ones on the video).  
If you're making a lot it can start to bruise your fingers.  Instead of using your fingers to do the last part (pinching the corners to make the star), I found it was easier to press them against a sharp hard 90 degree corner (I used the corner of my kitchen cabinet).  

Pretzel Hugs

Decided to try this little snack that I found on Pinterest!  (Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest!?)  They tasted great and were super easy to make... I'm not joking, my 2 year old helped me make them!

We did random colors for the ones we were going to eat at our house (I had a bag of regular plain M&Ms and also a bag of Easter colored plain M&Ms).  Then for the ones we were doing as gifts, we chose the person's favorite 2 colors.

Soon as you pull them out of the oven and put the M&Ms on, you can throw them in the fridge and they're set in about 5-10 minutes.

I waited about 30 minutes before I packaged them for gifts, that way they didn't melt together and I kept the containers in the fridge until I was ready to give them out.

Here is the link to the blog where I got the idea for these: http://griffithsrated.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentine-prezel-buttons.html

The cute boxes I gifted these in are found at the Dollar Tree with the Easter themed things.

Homemade Bath Paint

I wanted to make some washable fingerpaint for the boys today but when I looked up recipes online, most of them required ingredients didn't have at the house (and I did not want to go to the store)... so I made my own, with an easy 3 part recipe!

Since I was going to have them paint the walls in the bathroom, I started with baby shampoo (I had Baby Magic, which was a very light yellow color) and body wash (just some extra half-used bottles of different kinds I had laying around, one was a light pink, one was a greenish color and one was a pearly peach color).  I added food coloring (between 5-10 drops, depending on the color I was doing.)  Really, this was all that was needed, but the paint was a clear gel consistancy and was really light on the walls.  So I added about a teaspoon of flour to each of the colors.  It made it a perfect "paint" consistency and the colors showed up really vivid.

 

The boys had a blast playing with it (I had them in the tub painting the walls, themselves and the bathtub) and when it was time to clean up I just filled the tub a little bit, put some old socks over the boys hands and told them to wipe off  the walls, which they thought was a fun new game too.  The paint came off super easy and didn't stain anything at all, even the grout, which I was a little worried about since I used a ton of food coloring.

In case you want them, below are some other basic recipes that I found, but didn't have all the right things to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients2 Tablespoons Sugar1/3 cup cornstarch2 cups water1/4 cup dish soap (colored dishwash soap will affect the colors- use it to your advantage or use clear!)food coloring as desiredsmall containers (baby food jars with lids are perfect)DirectionsPut the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and slowly stir in cold water. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture is a smooth gel.Allow to cool, then add dishwash soap. Divide into small containers and stir in food coloring drops until you achieve desired colors.

Activity:  Homemade Washable Paint  MaterialsLiquid Tempera PaintIvory Snow or Dreft Liquid DetergentProcedure1.  mix 3/4 cups of paint to 1/4 cup liquid detergent2.  stir wellThis mixture works just as good as the commercial washable paint and is more economical.  It also helps you strrrreeeettttccccchhh out your liquid tempera.

Also, for an edible fingerpaint.Yogurt + food coloring.  Tastes good and dries shiny.

Eggs and Unflavored Gelatin

Ever run out of eggs while baking? Did you know you can substitute plain unflavored gelatin in place of eggs? (To replace each egg: Dissolve 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water, then add 2 tablespoons boiling water. Beat vigorously until frothy.) Awesome!

Cake Balls

My first attempt at cake balls. Just make cake (any kind) as usual, when it cools, crumble it and add frosting until it makes a thick sticky "dough". Roll into balls (I found it easier to freeze it for a little while so it was a firmer texture for rolling into balls and also made it less sticky). Freeze for 15-20 minutes. Use chocolate candy coating (OR melt milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons Karo syrup/vegetable shorting) in a microwave safe bowl 30 secs, stir and repeat until melted. Remove cake balls from freezer and dip in melted chocolate and place on wax paper, sprinkle with colored sugar or other baking decorations and place in fridge until chocolate coating has hardened. Remove from fridge 15-20 mins before serving.   I tried a bunch of flavors -  mint chocolate, chocolate Heath, chocolate peanut butter, vanilla, cherry, and strawberry.

Not A Creature Was Stirring... Not Even A Mouse...

Our Christmas Eve cookies (themed from Twas The Night Before Christmas book).  The kids love making these, they are easy and it's a "no bake" recipe.

Ingredients: Oreos (twisted apart and the side with icing used), decorative icing, maraschino cherries (with stem), Hershey's kisses, sliced almonds, red hot candies, mini candy "pearls", Baker's dipping chocolate (or any other dipping chocolate that hardens).

Holding (dry) cherry by stem, dip in melted chocolate, then press onto the bottom of a chocolate kiss.

Place cherry and kiss onto the cream filling of the cookie. Let stem extend over the edge.

Make ears for your mouse by placing sliced almonds between the cherry and the kiss (before the chocolate sets).

Place in refrigerator until chocolate sets.

With green decorative gel, pipe holly leaves on white cream of cookie by the mouse, use 3 red hot candies as the holly berries.

Pipe eyes on each chocolate kiss (I also used the candy pearls in the eyes too, but this can be skipped if you don't have them).

Store in airtight container at room temperature.

These are always a big hit at holiday parties so make sure to make extra!

Merry Christmas!!