Strawberry SNOW-Cream ~ Ice Cream Made from Snow

What?!?! Ice cream made from snow...sign me up!! This is a version recipe that your kids will love to make! 

INGREDIENTS:

8-10 cups clean snow

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup flavored syrup (we used strawberry)

DIRECTIONS:

Fill up a gallon ziplock bag with clean snow by skimming it off the top with a cup or measuring cup. Pour in condensed milk and syrup. Press out air and have your kids (with mittens on) mix everything together by mashing the bag gently. Serve immediately and freeze any leftovers. 

Rotini in Creamy Tomato Cheese Sauce {recipe}

Rotini in Creamy Tomato Cheese Sauce 

(SERVES: 6-8   TIME: 20 minutes)

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz spiral pasta

1 lb smoked sausage, diced

2 medium zucchini, diced

11 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained

2 oz cream cheese

2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese

2 tsp minced garlic 

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp onion powder 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil pasta in a large sauce pot until al dente. 

2. Meanwhile, sauté smoked sausage & zucchini for 5-7 minutes in 1 Tbsp of hot oil. Add tomatoes, cheeses and spices. Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. 

3. Drain pasta and toss with cheese sauce. Serve topped with shredded Parmesan cheese. 

Construction MATH

Calling all preschoolers! It's time for math ~ constructions style!! Dump out the blocks and grab all the diggers, and while you play give them some simple problems to work out. 

"The workers have to clear out a space to build a new playground. Can you help them move 3 blocks out of the construction zone?" (10-3=7) 

"Help the workers build a neighborhood! They need 5 squares and 5 triangles."

FOR THE BIG KIDS:

"What is 1/2 of 12 blocks? What is 1/3?"

Scented Holiday Playdoh

I have to smile at this picture because I did them seperately but if your kids are anything like mine they get mixed almost as soon as they get their hands on it. 

I absolutely love this recipe for playdoh because it smells greats and stays soft forever! It's not edible though so if your little ones still eat everything stay close. 

SCENTED HOLIDAY PLAYDOH

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup salt

1 Tbsp cream of tarter

3 oz jello (see note below)

1 1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp oil

Food coloring

2 tsp extract or spices for scent (optional)

Glitter (optional)

• CINNAMON APPLE (RED): red jello, red food color, cinnamon

• SUGAR COOKIE (WHITE): 1/4 cup or 3 oz unflavored gelletin, almond extract

• HOLIDAY SPICE (GREEN): green jello, green food color, ground clove, orange extract

In a medium mixing bowl combine dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add water, oil, food coloring and extract. In a medium saucepan over med heat cook stirring with a plastic spatula until a semi-stiff ball forms and is no longer liquidy. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and allow to cool for several minutes. Knead until smooth and store in an air tight container or ziplock bag. 

***This is a fun gift to give!!! Layer the dry ingredients in mason jar and attach the instructions and a holiday cookie cutter with fun holiday ribbon! 

Letter Turkey for Preschoolers

My preschooler has been making turkeys one after another this year and we are teaching him letters and simple sight words. Combine letter and word recognition with this classic thanksgiving craft and VOILA! You've got your self a game!! 

SUPPLIES:

Paper bag

Construction paper

Scissors

Markers 

Google eyes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut out a beak and 'gobble' for your turkey. Have your child glue them on and draw eyes. 

2. Meanwhile, cut out feathers and write the letters of the alphabet on each one. You could also do common letter combinations like -sh, -th, and -ch. Make sure you have all the letters for your child's name and doubles of the vowels and more popular letters like R S T L N E.

 

3. Have fun with your letters. Make words, have them find words you've written for them, have them write words they've made, practice rhyming, make silly words with mixed up letters. 

Three Bean Crockpot Chili

Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients - you probably have most of them in your pantry and this recipe is very forgiving so if you are missing something just skip it ;)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef, cooked and chopped

1 lb ground sausage, cooked and chopped

3 cans beans, drained and rinsed (our favorite is a combo of kidney, black and pinto)

28 oz diced tomatoes, with juice

1 small can chopped green chilis

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 onion, diced

2 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Tbsp liquid smoke

1 bottle beer

1/4 cup chili powder

1 Tbsp white sugar

1.5 Tbsp beef bullion granules

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp Cheyenne pepper

Salt &. Pepper

*Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar and corn chips. 

Mix all ingredients and cook on low all day in the crockpot. Freezes well and makes fabulous leftovers. ;) 

Orange Creme Sorbet

Made from real oranges, tastes just like Orange Julius! 

Orange Creme Sorbet

Makes 1 quart

3-4 large naval oranges

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup vanilla yogurt

With electric juicer or citrus hand juicer, peel and juice oranges to yield 4 cups fresh juice. In a blender, mix together orange juice, sugar, vanilla and yogurt. Add to ice cream maker and chill for at least 1 hour after prepared for semi-soft consistency! You could also spoon prepared sorbet into popsicle molds and freeze until hard. 

Mexican Twice Baked Yams

Mexican Twice Baked Yams

Serves 4

2 medium yams (round & fat)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

Approx. 1 cup salsa

Green onions

Bake yams at 350 until fork tender (1-2 hours). Cut in half and scoop out tender middle, leaving 1/4 inch around rim and bottom creating a bowl. Mash yam with cheese and sour cream. Scoop back into yam skins in heaping spoonfuls. Place in a glass baking dish or sheet pan and bake for an addional 15 minutes to melt cheese. Top with warm black beans, salsa and diced green onions. 

I started giving myself an allowance

Being a stay-at-home mom is no joke! We work from long hours, with few breaks and seldom get to take a sick day or vacation. Most of us chose to stay home love it and would tell you in a heartbeat that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Lately my kids haven't been doing their chores - and with 6 of us in our family that meant a whole lot more work for me and one very tired mama. So, I made a list to show my kids everything I do each day and told them that whomever did each item on the list first each day would get a quarter. I put out jars and grabbed a handful of quarters and paid myself for all the chores I had done that day. Clink-clink-clink!! With the coins all deposited for the day I told them the list would be on the fridge from now on and I was no longer going to remind them more than once to get things done. I would pay them (and myself) in quarters at the end of every day. End of conversation. The next morning you should've seen my kids hustle about to do their chores! They've even been doing extra jobs! Whoop!! As their little jars get full I plan to count what they've made at the end of the week and allow them to keep or spend 70% (after 10% goes back to the church and 20% goes into savings). As for my own jar - it's a nice little incentive to get everything done each day. Even as a grown up its nice to have a little spending money! ;)