Bunny Snacks

24 Apr

Well, I tried to make something a little bit healthier for a little Easter Snack this weekend.  I actually made them with items I had in the pantry, no need to do any special shopping…  The boys thought they were great and they were pretty fun to make too…  You can probably alter them using any ingredients you have around your house…  I used mini bagels, one spread with peanut butter the other with cream cheese.  I used pretzel sticks for ears, cheese for the cheeks and teeth, raisins for the nose, mini chocolate chips for the eyes (although small pecans would work too), and carrots for the whiskers.  Your kids could make their own if you just lay out the parts!  Enjoy and Happy Easter!

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Birds Nest Cookies

21 Apr

When I was a little girl I remember eating these birds nests every year around this time.  I am almost positive we made “butterscotch” nests or maybe they were a peanut butter/butterscotch combination.  My grandmother used to make them with me and she is no longer available to ask so I had to rely on the internet to find a recipe that suited me!  When I looked for the recipe I found all sorts of variations.  Butterscotch, Peanut Butter, Chocolate and combinations of all three…  Because my boys are really into “marshmallows” right now I made the standard “rice crispy treat” version… Here is the recipe I used:

3 c. mini marshmallows
3 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 c. dry chow mein noodles
small candies, jelly beans, m & m’s, etc.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Over low heat, melt the marshmallows and butter in a large saucepan.

Once melted, stir in the vanilla, then the chow mein noodles.

Coat your hands liberally with shortening.  Grab a clump of noodles smaller than a tennis ball and larger than a golf ball. Form into a ball while pressed your thumbs into the middle, forming a nest.  Allow the nests to cool, then fill with with the candy of your choice…. I used peanut butter M & M’s!  YUMMY!  We packaged these up and gave them to our teachers as a little Easter gift!  Enjoy!

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Chocolate Covered Peeps

20 Apr

My oldest son and I spent the better part of last night covering some good ole marshmallow peeps in chocolate (and sprinkles of course).  All I did was melt some chocolate chips in our double boiler, dip  the end of a stick in the chocolate, and then insert it into the peep.  We then dipped, drizzled, and spun our little bunnies until they were covered.  I then stuck them in a block of styrofoam so they could set up.  We did have a couple “casualties” in the process….  I think we just over dipped and they ended up falling right off the stick.  Once the bunnies were covered we added sprinkles etc..  We let them dry over night and enjoyed the taste of “semi homemade” chocolate covered marshmallows this afternoon!  I think these would be very cute with white chocolate and sprinkles (or nuts), as well…  You could stick them in an easter basket or even make a cute centerpiece out of them!  I’m sure you will come up with something creative!

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Bunny Cupcakes

18 Apr

I really wanted to make some cute bunny cupcakes with the boys.  I came across a picture on the web of a bunny made out of donuts and thought “ah, we can modify that and put it on a cupcake”… Well, it wasn’t that easy!  I debated even posting the idea here and then remembered that with children the process is what is fun, not always the product…  So although the product wasn’t everything I dreamed it to be, the process was pretty fun for my boys!  My 5 year old made the one pictured above and what made it so challenging was getting it to stay on the cupcake.  I cut the donuts for him an then gave him toothpicks and frosting as glue. The ears are held on with toothpicks and everything else is glued on with frosting.  He had no problem creating his idea of what a bunny looked like….  This little bunny lasted for about 5 minutes and not because we gobbled him up, either!  The donuts just kept tipping over.  Finally I took a toothpick and stabbed one end in the back of the donut and the other into the cupcake, and it held!  Well, it held until he decided he should eat it.  Then I had to take the toothpicks out so he could enjoy his creation!  All in all I’d give this project a B.  The boys enjoyed making them (they were a bit of a pain for mom), and eating them was pretty fun too! I’m not sure I’d venture into making these by the dozen for my guests, however!   Not the healthiest of alternatives for a treat either, but fun just the same!  I’ll have to work on a healthy bunny this week!  If you decide to make these, just keep telling yourself; process not product, process not product….

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Eaglets

17 Apr

Happy Birthday Baby Eaglets!

Sorry for such a delay in posting…  We’ve had a lot going on around here and just have not had time to post our latest creations!  I have a few that I’ll try to post this week just to catch up!

Our family has been addicted to watching the Decorah Eagle Cam and the Eaglets that were recently born.  If you have not had a chance to watch it, click HERE (DECORAH EAGLE CAM) and you’ll be mesmerized!  The boys got to watch all three eaglets crack out of their eggs, so cool.  I don’t think that this camera will be up much longer so take a peek when you can!  They will put the cameras up again next spring when the eagle family welcomes it’s newest members!

Here is a little project we did to commemorate the birth of the newest eaglets!  This would also be a cute craft to welcome any little birdies you might see this time of year…

We used chinese noodles, wild rice, white glue, construction paper and cotton balls.  We drew our eyes on construction paper, but you could also use googley eyes!  You can tell that these were not completely dry when we took the pic, but the glue does dry clear!  Very adorable!

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Welcome Spring….

20 Mar

The S brothers believe that because today is the first day of spring the weather will be warm from this day forward!  They think that it will not snow again, that the flowers will bloom and that we can start planting our garden (at G’s).  I’ve tried to explain the equinox to them (HA HA) and that today is just a “day” but they are permanently optimistic and I think I just let them be!  We did a little “brainstorming” about what spring will bring… Flowers, sunshine, warmer weather, puddles, baseball, rain and rainbows…  We’ve been very into rainbows since St. Patrick’s Day so I thought we’d just keep the theme going…  I call it “A Rainbow of Fruit Flavors”  the heathy version….   WE ATE EVERY LAST PIECE OF FRUIT… YUMMY!

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Fruit Loop Art

12 Mar

Well with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner the boys have been busy learning about rainbows, shamrocks, and good luck!  Here is a super easy project we completed this week!  All you need is some construction paper, glue, and Fruit Loops Cereal!

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Do you like them here or there?

2 Mar

CELEBRATE DR. SEUSS BY HAVING

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

Do you like green eggs and ham?  Do you like them Sam I Am?

I’m not sure about you, but Green Eggs and Ham is one of my all time favorite Dr. Seuss books.  I can quote so many different phrases from this book that as I sat here to write this post I had a hard time choosing which one…  I mean, “I do not like them on a boat, I do not like them with a goat”…  I don’t know if I like them with a goat either!  Well whether you do or don’t does not matter!   If you are looking for an easy and entertaining activity for tonight, look no further!  Why not read the book Green Eggs and Ham and then have your little ones make dinner for the family!  My boys had a lot of fun squeezing the food coloring in the eggs (and yes we used green, although I did debate trying blue to see if yellow and blue really do make green).  They whisked their little hearts out and loved watching the swirly green stripes turn into one big green blob of eggs..  They loved watching daddy cook the eggs up on the stove and serve them up “just right” on their big boy plates… (By the way, this picture shows a family of eggs, not one serving, it just made for a better photo).  And then without ceasing (well that’s not entirely true because my younger son did flinch a little while taking his first bite) they ate their green eggs and ham!  AND GUESS WHAT?

I do so like green eggs and ham, THANK YOU THANK YOU Sam I AM!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss (March 2nd)

1 Mar

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’s (well Theodor Geisel) 107th birthday!  It is one of my favorite days as a teacher because there are so many fun things to do with kids!  A couple websites that I love are:  http://www.seussville.com/ and http://www.obseussed.com/

Of course I compiled a few things that might be fun to do at home…

1.  Make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast…  You may want to enlist the help of your little one so that he/she sees that the “green” of the eggs was made by you!  

2.  Make Cat in The Hat Snacks…  Take a nilla waffer or ritz cracker and set it on a plate….  Have your child cover it with white frosting.  Then place a red gummy lifesaver on the frosting and add more frosting…  Repeat this process with 4 lifesaver/frosting layers (picture to come after we make them)…

3.  OOBLECK…. Have you read the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck?  It really is a cute story and when you are done you can make your own oobleck…  To make Oobleck you take 1.5 cups of cornstarch and one cup of water…  Add a few drops of green food coloring and VIOLA you have OOBLECK!  It’s not a solid, not a liquid, just ooooey gooooooey fun!  If you don’t want to make that much of it, just put some cornstarch in a bowl and add water until it’s the consistency you desire (so you can make a ball out of it, but it quickly melts into a liquid after being molded)…

4.  Thing One and Thing Two cupcakes… I found these adorable cupcakes on http://www.goodlifeeats.com/ along with some other fun Dr. Seuss treat ideas!  I am going to make these for my family tonight!

St. Patrick’s Day Project

21 Feb

I’m so Lucky…

OK, if you are already ahead of the game and you are trying to think of a St. Patrick’s Day project, here is my first one…  I’ll post a picture once we are done, but I think you’ll get the idea!

Cut out a “Shamrock”  from a green piece of paper.  Depending on the age of your children have them write, draw or even glue pictures of the people and things they feel lucky to have…  Talk with them about how lucky we are to have our family, our friends, our home, food, toys etc…  You can use photographs, magazine pictures, crayons, markers, etc… You can have them decorate one big shamrock or several little ones…   Hang their shamrock(s) up in the house and reflect back on your many blessings throughout the month of March…

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