Cookie cutters

Can you tell its a bunny?

Cookie cutters can be easily used to cut out sandwiches to make lunchtime fun! This bunny rabbit isn't my best example, but you get the point. This week at daycamp my daughter has also had sandwiches shaped like a frog and Darth Vador!

Testing

I'm testing a new mobile post that will hopefully allow me to post more! Here is a photo of our fun and FREE field trip. We went around town and around the house looking for animals. The kids in the pic are staring at a spider. Then, we classified the animals the children recorded in their notebooks. That spider was an arthropod!

How to Make Chicken or Turkey Broth!

I got really tired of spending so much money on broth when I made my Tex Mex Chicken Soup that I decided I HAD to figure out how to make my own broth.  When I discovered how easy it was, I couldn't believe I ever bought broth! 

Cook a chicken (or turkey) and enjoy it as a meal, or remove the meat for soup.  Save the bones, skin, any meat you don't want, and possibly the fat drippings (more later).  Place all these items in a large pot - the largest one you have.  Then, cover completely with water and boil.  Cover the pot to limit the evaporation.  Simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer.  Get it?  Keep it simmering about 3 hours, but longer is fine.  You could also add some salt to taste, but we often prefer to wait until we are making the soup to add the salt.

Note on the fat - I've made the broth with and without the fat drippings.  As expected, it doesn't taste AS good without the fat, but of course its fattier with it!  You may try adding half the fat for an equal balance, or leave it all out for healthier broth.

Freezer Meal: Chicken Fingers or Nuggets

chicken fingers after flash-frozen

This is a slight update to the previous Garlic Chicken recipe. We use this recipe as a healthy alternative to store bought chicken fingers or chicken nuggets.  Just cut the chicken how you or your family desires and bread it that way.    In my original recipe I recommended bread crumbs, but Panko is now readily available at grocery stores and is crunchier.  Try it!  Here's the recipe:

Garlic Chicken:

Ingredients:
2-4 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup PANKO bread crumbs
1 packet Italian dressing mix (or similar seasonings)
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves trimmed of fat, cut into desired shapes


Warm the garlic and olive oil together. In a separate dish, combined bread crumbs, dressing mix, and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. If freezing, place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Then transfer to freezer bags.

Another UPDATE is this is a cook from frozen product!!!  Just stick them in the oven at 375 for about 30-40 minutes until they start to sizzle.  OF COURSE check to make sure they are fully cooked before eating.

How to Make a Tangled Rapunzel Cake!

My turning-6-year-old daughter decided to have a Tangled (Disney's animated Rapunzel movie) themed birthday party.  As usual, we went to buy a shaped cake pan to decorate, only to discover one didn't exist!  So, we had to get creative.  Using an image of the Rapunzel tower from the movie, we crafted our own Tangled Cake.

 This top part is enough cake batter for two layers in a large glass bowl, topped with an ice cream cone.

The middle portion is 2 9-inch round cake layers.

The bottom portion was the fun part!  It is three batches of Rice Krispie Treats (one batch at a time) pressed into a medium size (about 6 inch) spring form pan.  After the batch cools (I used the refrigerator to speed things up) remove the sides and bottom and stack.

 Here you can see the "inside" after we took the top off to eat it.  We used a plate upside-down for the base.

To decorate, we tinted the base with a light gray and the top part with lavender.  Using black icing and a narrow tip, we drew on bricks.  The flower tip was used to make the green ivy, and a few red flowers. Her hair was vermicelli pasta. Thin pretzel sticks were used to simulate the wood work and create the window for her hair.  I have a feeling the mini chocolate chips and yellow chicks were last minute additions by my daughter.

When decorating, my husband found it easier to decorate the base BEFORE adding all the top layers.

Good luck and enjoy!

Freezer Meal Friday: Low Saturated Fat Hot Dog Corn Muffins

Happy Friday everyone!  This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe created by the author of Heavenly Homemakers.  You can view the original recipe there.

Who doesn't like hot dogs and corn muffins?  And combining the two seems like a novel idea!  I decided to give it a try.  The original recipe called for buttermilk and butter, so being that we try to eat low saturated fat now, I had to adapt it.  Here's the adaptation I made:


Ingrediants:

Fat Free Hot Dogs (or lowfat dog of your choice)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup of light olive oil (the light oil has less flavor)
3/4 cup skim milk
2 Tablespoons white vinegar

Combine milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut hot dogs into thirds.  Combine dry ingredients, and then add wet ingredients.  Do not overmix.

 Be sure to either grease, spray, or use muffin cups so the muffins don't stick.  Put one hotdog piece into each muffin hole.  Then pour batter over, so its 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

To freeze:  Put cooled muffins on a cookie sheet and flash freeze.  Then transfer to a freezer bag for storage.  To cook, simply remove and bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until the center is hot.




I've got to confess though, I was the only one who really liked these!  Both of my kids just ate the hot dogs out the middle. My husband and youngest daughter never really liked cornbread to begin with.  I do have friends who enjoy them though!

Bento Box Lunch Ideas!

I was thrilled to be able to buy my daughter a cool Bento Box from Laptop Lunches this year.  I like that the four boxes encourage me to "think outside the box" from the usual sandwich, bag of chips, sweet treat and maybe fruit...and that there is usually zero trash. Although I'm not as creative as others...here are a few of my daughter's lunches:

Pineapple rings, cheese, star-shaped PBJ, "smore" for dessert (nutella, marshmallow, graham cracker)

English Muffin with butter on one half/almond butter on other half, orange & grapes, cheese triangles with pepperoni, watermelon

Example of a lunch without my special box. Used a Lock & Lock container.  PBJ sandwich cut into a heart, rice cakes and cocoa roasted almonds. Fruit in separate container.

cheese, almonds, raspberries, cantalope, sausage over bread, and for dessert plain yogurt sweetened with chocolate syrup, mini choc chips and marshmallows