5 Chip Cookies

13 Jul

Ok so are any cookies healthy?  Well not too many, but this recipe at least has some healthier ingredients, KINDA… You can add what you want to make them more or less healthy… Shaeffer has been begging for M&M cookies so we thought we’d try this recipe!   I added a few healthier ingredients just to make myself feel better about them! HA…

Healthier Cookies, Well not so much, but some healthy ingredients!

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour or Unbleached white flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup FLAX seed (optional- I used the unground seed)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup each of 5 of the following fruits, nuts, chips, etc…  So basically choose 5 things you like in your cookies and and 2/3 cup of each of them… Here are some options:

Dried Berries (cherries or blueberries are awesome)

Chopped Nuts

White Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter Chips

Dark Chocolate Chips

Milk Chocolate Chips

Butterscotch Chips

M & M’s

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla, combine flour, oats, flax, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Stir in chips, nuts, fruits etc…  Drop by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350′ for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  cool for 1 minute before removing to wire rack.

Can you guess what 5 I chose???

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Summer Safari Day 1

8 Jul

Today we started our “Summer Safari” unit…  I like to call day one “Background Knowledge”…  We went to the library and checked out some books on different animals you might find in Africa along with this movie called, “Growing Up Safari”.  This was a fun movie to watch with the boys.  We watched it in two sittings, but they loved every minute of it.  Tomorrow we are going to make a poster about the things we learned about the animals featured in the movie!  We are also going to make some fun hats that we will wear while we study Africa.  If you are joining us on our Safari I highly suggest this video.  You can probably find it at your local library OR I know the different segments can be found on youtube (growing up giraffe, growing up zebra, etc..).  I’m looking forward to traveling with you :).  Here we go….

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Easy Coleslaw

7 Jul

Last week we hosted a dinner for some of Ben’s volunteer leaders that will be joining him at Young Life camp next week.  I made the Pioneer Woman’s Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork (cutting the adobe peppers by 3/4 so it wasn’t spicy) and this easy coleslaw recipe that I completely adapted from Bobby Flay.  I have never made coleslaw before so this was a learning experience for me, as well.  First, I had to figure out which attachment on my food processor would be best for shredding a cabbage.  I also had to make sure I was coring the cabbage the right way, but thanks to youtube I was able to answer both of my questions by watching one solid video! For those of you wondering, I used the attachment that has one long slicer, not the attachment that looks like a cheese grater.  I fed 15 people with this batch of slaw and had about 5 servings left over…  I don’t want to say “20 servings” because it really depends on how much you eat :), but it made a lot of slaw!     Here’s The Scoop:

Easy Coleslaw

  • 1 head green cabbage, finely shredded
  • 4-5 carrots, finely shredded
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 small red onion- shredded
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon dry mustard
  • 2 teaspoons celery salt
  • 2 Tablespoons celery seed
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper (if desired)

Combine the shredded cabbage, onions and carrots in a large bowl. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery salt, celery seed, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and then add to the cabbage mixture. Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning; add more salt, pepper, or sugar if desired.

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4th of July Hats

2 Jul

This year we are going to the famous (at least that’s what we hear) Vail, Colorado 4th of July Parade…  We thought these hats would be fun to wear to the parade or even if we happen to be “in” the parade (Young Life has a float this year).  For all of my Minnesota friends, we used to make a tradition of going to Edina’s annual 4th of July parade, which is spectacular and highly recommended!  I’m sure a town near you has a parade too and it really is a fun tradition to start with your kiddos!  OH and how fashionable could you be with a hat like this????  Make one today!

Here’s the scoop:

You’ll Need:

Construction paper

Stickers, clip art etc… how ever you want to decorate your hats

Glue

***  I basically cut one inch strips in a large piece of construction paper…  I let the kids go crazy and decorate to their hearts content.  Very easy and very fun!  Here are a couple pics from the Edina Parade….

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Blueberry Lemonade…

29 Jun

I made these tonight for the boys as a sort of a teaser for the 4th of July.  Many of you know that we recently relocated from Minnesota to Colorado for my husband’s job with Young LIfe.  We still spends lots of time in the Twin Cities (just returned from a 2.5 week trip), but we are trying to make a new home out here in the west… We are excited to be a part of the Vail Valley’s 4th of July Extravaganza and we might just include these fun beverages for all our little buddies!  We all tried them and they were super yummy.  If you are wanting to “spike” them by all means go ahead.  For us, I think we’ll keep these to kiddie cocktails :).   Here’s the scoop…

I really wanted something that was light on the sugar and red, white, and blue.  I figured the watermelon would be my red, the ice my white and the beverage my blue.  I didn’t want grape juice because I thought that would be purple.  I didn’t want kool-aid because I thought that would not be as good for you, so I chose blueberry juice (available at Trader Joe’s and most grocery stores).  As you can see, blueberry juice is purple too- OH WELL- you live and learn…  My other thought was that you could do white grape juice, pop a few blueberries in the glass, and mix it with sprite or something fizzy for a sparkling white drink….  Also Red, White and Blue…

SUPER EASY BLUEBERRY KIDDIE COCKTAILS:

Mix each drink individually or make a big batch, your choice…

1 part blueberry juice or grape juice or blue Kool-Aid (you choose)…

1 part lemonade

ice

****  You could blend it now for a freezie like drink, but I kept mine “on the rocks”  🙂

Watermelon for garnish (We used a cookie cutter to cut out star shaped watermelon)

Fun straws (I found mine at Pier 1)

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Turtle Cupcakes…

14 Jun

Last week my son’s school had an end of the year fundraiser .  One of the ways they asked parents to help was by donating something for the bake sale.  One thing we’ve learned about this particular school district is that they still allow home baked goods to be eaten and sold at school parties and functions.  For this particular project they asked that each item be individually wrapped for easy distribution at the sale.  I saw something similar to these cupcakes in my Family Fun magazine so we altered them a little bit and made them…  They ended up selling out at the bake sale, I think the candy on top was especially appealing :).

Here’s the Scoop:

1.  Make and frost any cupcake recipe you want 🙂

2.  We used peach rings, dots, chocolate chips, green fruit slices and frosting,  but you could also use sour apple rings (I didn’t see these until it was too late, but so cute because they are green), gummy worms, gum drops, green M&M’s etc…  be creative.

3.  Cut the fruit slices in half and then half again to make the turtles feet…  Really just try different shapes, I had to cut them a couple different times to get them the right shape.  I also thought if you could find solid green gummy worms it might be a little easier 🙂 to make the feet…

4.  I think the rest is pretty visual.  I used mini chocolate chips for the eyes, but wasn’t a huge fan of them.  You could use a food pen or chocolate sprinkle/jimmy and that might look better…

5.  The boys had fun putting them together, I think your kiddos would too :)!

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Gluten Free-Peanut Butter-Rice Krispie Treats with Chocolate/Butterscotch Frosting

4 Jun

These are the perfect picnic, bake sale, bring to a friend kind of dessert.  They are similar to Special K bars except they are made with all natural peanut butter and Rice Krispies instead of Special K…..  I do not in any way suggest these are healthy, they are full of calories, but they are certainly YUMMY…  Here’s the scoop:

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups homemade sugar syrup (recipe here) or corn syrup

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

9 cups cereal

Heat brown sugar, sugar syrup…  When blended add peanut butter.  Remove from heat and mix in the cereal.  Press into a 9×13 inch pan and allow to cool…

FROSTING:

Melt 12 ounces chocolate chips and 12 ounces butterscotch chips over low heat.  Pour over the cooled bars and let set…  Cut into bars and enjoy!

YUMMY!

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Father’s Day Recipe Book

1 Jun

Anyone who knows my Dad, Larry, knows that he is the town “Pickle Man”…  He makes all sorts of different kinds of pickles from dill to sour, refrigerators to sweet.  He keeps his recipes in a box in his garage… They are all scribble scratched up with notes and formulas, changes and additions.  One of my boys favorite thing to do at G’s house is help him make and eat pickles…  I decided that this Father’s Day I would make him a book of recipes from the boys… It’s still in progress, but it has pictures of my boys helping to harvest the cucumbers, onions, dill etc.. that you need for pickling, as well as photographs of his famous pickles themselves!   The pictures coincide with the different recipes I’ve tried to translate into readable form :).  I also included some of our other favorite recipes that we enjoy at “G’s” house just because I had the pages to do so :)!   I’m ordering the finished product from a site called paper coutier that has excellent deals right now.  They have tons of varieties of books (from recipe books to journals) you can personalize for that special dad or grandpa in your family!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

31 May

I love this time of year…  planting my garden, picking rhubarb, making rhubarb desserts :)…  My Dad has rhubarb plants, I do not 😦 but I take his when ever I can…  I highly suggest this pie, you will love it!  MMMMM…..  Not too sweet, not too sour, just perfect!

Ingredients

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 6 tablespoons cold milk
  • 1 1/4 cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 cups halved strawberries
  • 2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
  • 2 tablespoons butter , cut up
  • 2 teaspoons milk
Directions
To make crust, preheat oven to 400°. Mix flour and salt. Measure oil and milk together—don’t stir. Add to flour. Mix until dough forms.  Split the dough into two balls…  You will roll out both crusts, one for the top and one for the bottom…To make filling, mix sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add rhubarb and strawberries, stirring to coat.

Fill crust with filling. Scatter butter on top of the filling. Add top crust. Pinch edges and ventilate the top. Brush with milk. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake on cookie sheet for 50 minutes. Can cover edge with tinfoil if cooking too fast.

Allow to cool 1 hour before serving or you will have a runny pie 🙂

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Pizza Bites

22 May

Last night Shaeffer had his Montessori graduation.  We love Montessori and it was a bitter sweet time.  We are still debating whether to send him to Montessori for Kindergarten so I guess if we do that he will graduate twice :).  Any ways, they had a pot luck dinner prior to the ceremony and it was organized so well.  The sign up for pot luck included all the basics, appetizer, salad, fruit, entree, paper products, drinks and kid food…  KID FOOD=GENIUS, I mean why didn’t I think of that… They had an entire table of kid food, which I find perfect because my kids are not huge fans of random salads and casseroles (yes I wanted to say hot dish).  One family brought little PB& J sammy’s with the crusts cut off… There were mini hot dogs, nuggets, cheese and crackers, etc..  It was adorable.  We brought PIZZA BITES for this table…  Pretty easy and very yummy!  I think these would be a great appetizer for a party or even a fun dinner at home.  You can fill your bites with what ever you want.  I did pepperoni for ease, but anything would be yummy!  Here’s The Scoop:

PIZZA BITES

Ingredients:
½ batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)- I used Pioneer Woman’s, but you could probably buy it too…
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced
Sliced pepperoni (I used Mini Pepperoni)

For topping:
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Shredded Parmesan

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.  Divide the pizza dough into 20 equal sized pieces.  Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed.  Place seam-side down in the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats

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