When a 5 year old makes a sandwich by himself...

Turkey, cheese and mayo with Fritos on top.  LOL  The boy has skilz!!!

Sweet Treats...

I have been baking a little more and making a few more things for fun now that I am out of school until the middle of January. We have had biscuits, muffins, some home cooked dinners as a family more and today we made a bit of candy. Today we made some peanut butter chocolate truffles and almond bark candy. I was going to try to make some Turkish Delight but I have no rose water and no rose petals to make it with. I will check with my MIL and see if she has some that made it through the recent freeze. I am putting together a cake for tomorrow night's Christmas Eve service at church, too. It has been busy with sewing and wrapping and keeping kids busy since school has been out. Here is a sampling...






















TRUFFLES!!!

Kid Friendly...

While I love making a homemade gingerbread house sometimes there is some relief in knowing you can pick one up and put it together in a matter of an hour or so with the kids in a pinch. My kids love this little Wilton Gingerbread House kit and they can pretty much do the whole thing by themselves while I just snap pictures. They did one this morning....

Everything is pre-baked and the candy and frosting mix is included. I tend to think they do not give you enough Royal Icing mix and I often have to make a little more.

We add our own touch with making the roof using Frosted Shredded Wheat cereal. Sometimes we buy extra candy, too but this year we just used the above.

Royal Icing is the glue and here is my daughter putting the roof on.

Adding the candy

My husband came in and added a little "tree" to it. LOL Somehow asparagus just does not fit here! ;)

C is for Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a little cookbook put out by the Gold Medal Flour Company. I bought a copy of this one and it's companion, The Rainbow Bakery, when I started having kiddos. They really do have some basic wonderful recipes. One of our favorites is one we made for our Sunday Advent celebration a few days ago. Thought I would share the recipe and the finished photos. :) Enjoy!

C is for Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup of softened margarine or butter (I use unsalted butter)
1 egg
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup of coarsely chopped nuts (optional)
12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Mix both sugars, butter and egg in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (I sift it in to incorporate better and the dough will be a little stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake until light golden brown, 8-10 minutes (centers will still be soft). Let cookies cool slightly, then remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Makes about 48 cookies.

Recipes for Kids... PLAYDOUGH

Basic Stove-Top Playdough Recipe...

I got this recipe from Feed Me, I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 TBSP cream of tartar
1 cup water
2 tsp vegetable food coloring
1 TBSP oil

I mix it all in a saucepan and cook it on medium heat until it starts to form a ball and then I put it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Store it in an airtight container. Here are the results...

Literally hours and hours of fun for my boys and when it dries up you just toss it and make a new batch. It is SO much cheaper than buying the stuff at the store. We love this one!!!

Bulk Brownie Mix...

There is no reason to buy that box of brownie mix anymore! You just mix this together and follow the individual recipe at the bottom and you are in business. You can use this at home or make gift bags for teachers, friends, or any occasion that you are looking for a simple food gift. Here is how...

start with

* 8 cups sugar
* 5 1/2 cups flour
* 2 1/2 cups cocoa
* 4 tsp. baking powder
* 2 tsp salt

Sift together the dry ingredients. Store it in an air tight container.

When you are ready to make a batch you use...

2 cups of the brownie mix from above
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Stir just until mixed. Spread into an 8x8 greased and floured pan and then bake at 350 degrees for between 25 and 40 minutes depending on your oven. I went a full 40 minutes on mine but if your oven cooks hot then go less.

What are you waiting for? Go bake brownies with the kids!!! :)

Sloppy Joe's are a fave...

I served ours on whole wheat buns with veg and watermelon for a great summer supper.

I got the recipe from this book...

It is called Joe's To Go in the book.

I really just don't measure but if you want the basic recipe...

I start with 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef (we have six in our family and four of them are male people that eat a lot)

I brown the meat and then throw in about one small onion finely diced
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar (white will do, too)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
about 1 to 2 Tbsp mustard
garlic to taste
1 really large can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
sometimes I add diced Italian tomatoes, too
If it is really still dry then you can add a little water to make it more liquid but then I cook it down by simmering over low heat for about 10 minutes.

This is basically my version and a bit different from the book but I got the gist of it from the recipe and have just played with it over the years. I hope you will try it... they are really great!

Life's Simple Pleasures...

I love that my children want to do things for themselves. We recently picked up this little child safe knife from Pampered Chef. Now, I know you could use a butter knife but my kids love this so much. This is the four year old making his own sandwich for lunch. The pleasure for me in this is watching my children learn to do things for themselves and being able to do something that is a life skill all in one. This was just too great not to share...




Peanut Butter and Banana on Homemade Whole Wheat. YUM!!! Another simple pleasure in our house indeed! :)

Letting the kiddos in the kitchen...

Emmy got this from her Girl Scout leader and she has been making recipes from it.

Saturday she made pancakes from it...

Somebody was a happy customer!

No Bake Cookies...

No Bake Cookies
(I love this recipe to get the kids in the kitchen making fun food!)

1/2 cup milk (I use whole milk)
2 cups sugar
1 stick of butter (real butter works best - unsalted)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups old fashioned oats

Mix milk, sugar, butter and cocoa in saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 1 minute (no less). Turn heat off and add the peanut butter and I whisk until it is combined and then add the oats. Mix and drop from a spoon onto a parchment or wax paper on the counter or on a cookie sheet. Let them cool and get firm. If they are not hardening well you can refrigerate them to make the process faster.

There ya go... enjoy! :)

Mommy... can I have some more YUCKY???

That would be how the 3 1/2 year old says Gnocchi! LOL
Made some this week and I cheated using mashed potato flakes.
This is one the kids can help make.
You make the dough and they can cut and roll it into shape.
Mine love doing this project!
Here is the recipe I used...

GNOCCHI WITH INSTANT POTATOES

Preparation - Easy
Serves 2

A quick and easy version of a robust winter dish favored from Genoa to Bologna.

This recipe doubles or triples and works well with a simple tomato sauce, butter and sage, etc.

2/3 cup dry potato buds for instant mashed potatoes

2/3 cup boiling water

1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten with a fork

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

PUT the potato flakes or buds in a medium-size bowl. Add the boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool.

FOLD in the egg and salt with a wooden or plastic spoon or spatula.

ADD flour slowly, folding with the spatula, until you have a fairly firm dough that doesn't stick to the bowl.

TURN dough out onto a well floured surface and knead lightly into a ball. You want just be able to work with the mixture without it sticking unduly - but too much flour will result in gnocchi that are more lead than light.

CUT dough in half.

ROLL each half into a long cylinder about the thickness of your thumb. Cut into bite-size pieces. You can dust lightly with flour or semolina and set aside for a few hours.

TO COOK - put 6 - 8 gnocchi in a few quarts of boiling, salted water (too many at once interferes in the cooking process). As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon and put them in a sieve over a plate to drain further until you are ready to serve. Repeat until all are cooked.

YOU can eat these gnocchi with butter or good olive oil, a grind of black pepper and some Parmesan cheese, or serve with a sauce of your choice.

I tripled this recipe for my family. :)

and they turned out yummy....
NOT yucky... ;)

Making Gnocchi...

Well, I had some cheeses in the 'fridge and some fresh herbs in the garden along with a passel of potatoes so I made gnocchi with the kids today. Doesn't that look YUM?!?!

I don't actually follow a recipe too much.
I make up a few potatoes by boiling them with skins on until they are fork tender.
Then, I peel them and use a potato ricer to break them up.
Thirdly, I would add some flour and an egg or two
until I get the consistency of pasta dough
and knead it for a few minutes with a light dusting of flour on the counter.
Make a big ball and cut it into four equal sections.
Then roll out the sections like a big playdoh snake.
Cut little "pillows" out of that and roll on a fork or gnocchi board to make the ridges.
Drop them into boiling water until they float
and use your favorite sauce
or a bit of butter and parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.
I will saute them in olive oil or butter to heat them back up
before saucing and serving and that is it.

This particular sauce you see above is basically
a Bechamel sauce (white cream sauce)
with parmesan and ricotta cheese added
and it is topped with a bit of Italian Parsley from my garden.




My middle boy got into it and enjoyed eating what he made, too.


Here are some rolled and ready to go in the boiling water.


Here is another angle of rolling out the little gnocchi dumplings
with my NEW TOY.
That is a gnocchi rolling board and it gives gnocchi it's ridges.
You can also use a fork but this is so much more fun to play with
and it only costs a few dollars.
The ridges are important for allowing the sauce to cling to the pasta or dumpling.
I got that board for Mother's Day.
The gnocchi was delicious and now it is ALL GONE!!!

Kids finished the gingerbread today...

Front view

The back view

The decorators!!! They were so excited that I was not playing dictator today... LOL

What I did while they decorated! I made pillowcases for cousins today. See, I do more than cook!!! LOL

Have a Merry Christmas!!!!!

You can read more at my main blog on our Advent and some Christmas G.I.F.T. Challenges.

See you after Christmas. :)

The Gingerbread start....

Letting it set up...,
originally uploaded by academy252.

We got the dough made and cut out last night. We baked all the pieces and then put it together today. Tomorrow is the big decorating day. Oldest child and I put it together and the littler three will be helping with the rest tomorrow. The oldest is 13 and has this genetic bent for assembling and disassembling stuff. LOL This was right up his alley. We think he might be an engineer someday... ;)

This was the first year that we baked out own gingerbread and it was really easy. I cannot believe we have not done this before. You can see more of the process at my Flickr account.

For the record... I am TOTALLY sugared out!!! I think I shall be eating grapefruit for the next week. LOL

Look what we have been up to...

Yesterday was Dan's end of semester Christmas concert so we spent the evening with him last night. Today was a day of cookie making. We made cookies for the Boy Scout Court of Honor/Christmas Party. Since we have been studying about traditions in other countries in our Christmas Around the World Unit we made several different kinds of cookies from different countries. Here is a sampling of our day...















Chocolate Walnut Biscotti - got the basic recipe
from Danielle at Never Trust a Culinary Student















Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
from a little book I picked up a few years ago called
Mary Engelbreit's Cookie Cookbook.
(my favorite of the whole bunch we made today)

















German Spritz - very good recipe! Got it online here...















Russian Tea Cakes - also a great recipe I found here...















Scottish Shortbread or Irish Sweet Biscuit
(same recipe different names)
I use a recipe I have from Darina Allen's little book
called Festive Food of Ireland