Wordless Wednesday~ African Safari

In Ohio there is this little drive through park that has African wildlife that you can feed straight from your car.

Albino Zebra

DIY Doll Food~ Tacos, Hot Dogs, Poptarts, & Crackers

Allison and I decided to break out the clay again and make some more play food for her dolls. This time we focused on lunch and dinner type items. I thought it would be good to do another post since the Sweet Treats Tutorial was a lot of fun to do.

Remember, these don't need to be perfectly formed. Mine certainly aren't, but my kids don't seem to mind, as long as they slightly resemble food. Working with polymer clay can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it.

What you will need:

An assortment of polymer clay packages in different colors

Knife or other small sharp tool

Damp paper towel

To make a hot dog:

Break off a tan colored chunk of clay. Rub it between your palms until it is soft and pliant. Roll it into a ball about an inch in diameter.

Next roll it between your palms or against a flat surface until it is a long hot dog shape about 2 inches in length.

Using your knife or other sharp tool, draw little lines through the sides of the hotdogs to give it the pinched hot dog look.

Break off a darker brown clay chunk. Roll it into another ball about 1/2 inch in diameter to start making the bun. Flatten it into a nice round circle until it is 2 inches all the way around.

Place your already formed hot dog on top of the brown bun. Pull the sides of the bun up around the hot dog and gently press the two pieces together.

Pinch off a tiny bit of red and yellow clay for the ketchup and mustard. Roll each (separately) between your palms until you have a thin strand the same length as your hot dog. Form each color into small squiggle lines and place on top of your hot dog, gently pressing down to form a bond between the clay pieces.

If you notice any finger prints or dings, use a damp paper towel and gently rub them away.

Pop Tart:

Start with a small chunk of gold colored clay. Roll into a 2 inch ball. Press clay into an even flat circle.

Using your knife, cut a square about 2 inches in in length and height.

Depending on the flavor of your pop tart, repeat the above process with another color of clay for the icing, only making this color much thinner.

Cut this new square just a bit smaller than the pop tart crust.

Place thin square over the gold square, gently pressing to make the two clays stick together.

Break off bits of other colors of clay (white, pink, blue, ect) and form little sprinkles for the tops of your pop tart icing. Gently press each sprinkle onto the frosting.

Tacos:

Roll a 2 inch ball of gold clay. Press into a flat, round circle until it is about 2 inches in diameter.

Break off a dark brown chunk of clay for the beef. Roll it into a long rope the length of the taco shell. Place in the center of the shell.

Break off a small bit of red, green, and yellow clay. Roll each color between your palms until you have a long thin strand of each color. Using your knife, cut of small bits of each for the lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

Mix each color together, then sprinkle the mixture over the top of the taco, gently pressing down so the clay sticks together.

Peanut Butter Cracker:

To make the cracker tops, roll out an orange ball of clay about 2 inches in diameter. Flatten clay evenly on a hard flat surface.

Using your knife, cut 2 squares from the formed circle, about an inch in length.

Roll out a small gold ball, about an inch in diameter. Flatten, making the gold clay thinner than your crackers.

Cut a square the same shape as the cracker pieces, then sandwich it between the two orange squares.

Using a toothpick, poke several small holes in the top and bottom of your crackers.

Allison was having fun making her own creations. She made meatballs and onion rings, as well as her own tacos. It so much fun to get the kids involved in making their play things!

Now, place all your food onto a cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 225 degrees for about 15 minutes. Do not over bake or you will get scorch marks on your food. It can also cause cracks. Remove from oven and let cool. I usually don't let the kids play with them until the next day when I
know they are fully set and hard.

Don't forget to check out the Sweet Treats Tutorial more more DIY doll food ideas!

*Note* Any kitchen items used while making your clay projects should no longer be used in cooking with real human food. The clay leaves a residue on the surface of these items that is not safe for human ingestion.

Stuffed Shells Flourentine and Garlic Bread

This combo is so delicious together! It looks like it takes forever to make, but it's actually quick and almost effortless. And it is so tasty!

 Stuffed Shells Ingredients:

1- 12oz pk of jumbo pasta shells
1- lightly beaten egg
2- 15oz (each) containers ricotta cheese
1- 10oz pk frozen chopped spinache, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup grated Parmesean cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 32oz jar spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Cook shells according to package directions.
While shells are cooking, combine the egg, ricotta, spinache, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Drain shells and rinse with cold water.
Fill shells with filling mixture.
Place shells in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over shells. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with garlic bread.
*You can also sprinkle a little more Parmesean on top of shells just before serving. It gives it a little more added flavor!*


Ingredients for Garlic Bread:

1 loaf Italian Bread
1 cup Italian blend Shredded Cheese
3 to 4 tbsp Philidelphia Garlic Herb Cooking Cream
1/4 cup Parmesean Cheese

Directions:

Cut bread in half, then in half again lengthwise. Spread a thin layer (you don't need too much or it will be too creamy and over flavorful! just a thin layer will do). Cover bread with Italian blend cheese. Sprinkle Parmesean on top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until bread is heated through and cheese is melted.

Video Games, Bad Attitudes, & A Mean Aunt

My nephew and niece just spent the day on Saturday with me. My girls had a swimming class, so it meant that I got to play with them all by myself for a change. My niece ditched us as soon as she came in to play by herself with baby dolls. My nephew on the other hand was itching to play Mario Brothers on the Wii. I’m not a video game player, but this was his choice, so off we went to save Princess Peach. Let me say again, I am not a video game player. My nephew is 5. Princess Peach is pretty much doomed if she is counting on us to save her. We both stink. My nephew notices this. Yet, somehow, it becomes all my fault.

“You keep getting us dead” he screams at me. “I don’t want to play that level, you’ll make us die” and “Why are you taking all the good stuff?” he shouts. This is all new to me. My girls always laugh it off when they lose in video games. My nephew has never spoken to me out of anger before. How do I handle this? I don’t want to yell back at him. I want to be the cool aunt. I love that I can hear him cheer in the background when he hears he is coming to my house. Now I am about to go down a few notches in his book.

I do something very immature. As soon as he dies, I leave him in the bubble. Sure, I could have popped it and let him keep playing, but now I want to provoke an angry outburst from him. Soon enough, it comes. Finally, I turn to him and say “You have a bad attitude. I don’t like you yelling at me, and you are not making this very fun. I’m going to pop your bubble now so you can play, but if you yell at me or blame me for not beating a level again, it gets turned off, and I will not play with you again.” He agrees and the rest of our video game time is very pleasant and he is actually now complimenting how well I play.

The girls come home and we indulge in some Icee’s. All is forgotten on his end, yet, somehow I still feel bad about the situation. I have such a hard time being the disciplinarian when it comes to kids that aren’t mine.

Do your kids have a bad attitude when it comes to video games? How do you handle it?

My Kids, Social Media, and Sidewalk Chalk

I just gave my girls a brand new pack of sidewalk chalk. Usually this lasts them a few weeks, so I was pretty surprised when they came in after only one day of use and said they were out. I went outside expecting to see the usual rainbows and flowers, but there were none to be found. What did I see? My driveway turned into a billboard for social media advertising! I'm beginning to think they may be spending a little too much time online.

Wordless Wednesday~ Human Chair

Is this seat taken?

No? It is now!

5 Minute Fudge

A couple of years ago I decided to try and make fudge for Christmas. For some reason I never figured out, it just would not set and turned into a runny, gooey mess. I was so disappointed with my attempt that I haven't tried making it again.

I've been trying to shake things up in the food department here at home, and have been checking out all of the old Taste of Home back issue magazines from the library lately. I ran across this recipe for 5 minute fudge that looked simple enough, so I decided to give it a whirl. Finally, I got it right :)

Ingredients:

1 12oz pk of semi sweet chocolate pieces
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Line an 8x8 pan with wax paper. Place chocolate bits, water, and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat until all chocolate bits are melted. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour mixture in lined pan. Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Cut into squares. Serve.
*You can store in an air tight container for up to 1 week*

Flower Hair Pin (Aerie Knockoff)

I was shopping at Aerie back in December and found these cute little flower hair pins they were selling. They had all sorts of colors available, but since they were $5 each, I wasn’t about to buy more than one. I’ll be honest, I’m not the craftiest person when it comes to fabric and sewing things. It’s just not something I ever really picked up on. But, studying the hair pin, I felt fairly confident that I could make my own for much cheaper.

I set off to Hobby Lobby and got the materials I needed, then came home and tried my hand at it. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with how well I did.

What you’ll need:

Flower petal template located HERE

Sheer fabric (I used chiffon, but any sheer will work)

small piece of felt

bobby pins with a flat, round surface on the end

needle

thread that matches the color of your fabric

hot glue and glue gun

scissors

Directions:

Trace your flower template onto your fabric. *Note- I used the middle petal from the template link above. It’s about 2 inches in size all the way around*

Cut out the flower petal. Repeat until you have 6 total petals.

Fold petal in half, then fold in half again.

Sew a small stitch in the base of of the petal to hold it together.

Cut 1 circle from your felt that is the size of the round, flat end of your bobby pin.

Sew each petal around the edges of the felt circle.

Hot glue the bottom of the felt to the flat round of the bobby pin.

Voila, you have a beautiful flower hair pin that cost about 50¢ to make.

I used a darker color thread here so you could see how I stitched it, but you will want to use a matching color thread or it will show through!

Mine is the the pink. The gray is the one I bough from Aerie.

I also made a purple one from leftover fabric we had already.

Stay at home moms, what are you doing with your life?

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just have to shake your head at the stupidity of others? I was recently attacked, by a family member no less, about my choice to be a stay at home mom. I was told flat out that I was doing nothing with my life and what was I accomplishing by being a “Molly Homemaker?” This person just started college after being one of these so called “Molly Homemakers” for the past 15 years herself, so I’m assuming she felt the need to tear into me because of her unhappiness with her own life choices. When I brought this subject up with my best friend, who is also a homemaker, she said that she gets these types of comments thrown at her all the time too. While I can agree with her that the opinions of these people do not matter, it does get annoying hearing it time and again.

I made the choice to stay home with my oldest daughter when she was 3. I was working 2 jobs and babysitting on the side and eventually got tired of hearing about her accomplishments by our babysitter. On top of that, I felt I was away from her so much, we just weren’t bonding the way I thought a mother and child should. Going over what I was bringing home from my paychecks, minus the daycare, gas, and wardrobe expenses of maintaining a job, I really wasn’t bringing in much more than what we would save if I had no job at all. With great joy I quit my jobs and started my new life as a stay at home mom. I have never regretted this decision once.

This isn’t a post about stay at home moms vs. working moms. I’ve done both and I think working moms have it much harder than the sahm. Not only do they have to work, they have to come home and do all the stuff sahm’s do during the day. There are some days I do envy working moms though. I miss adult interaction. My husband jokes that I know the cashier’s a little too well at all of our area grocery stores because I tend to talk too much when I do happen to get around another adult. I miss going out to lunch. I miss being in the car by myself and listening to what I want on the radio. I also miss the quiet I would get on my 15 minute breaks.

I do not think that women choose to stay home and raise a family because they lack ambition or are not intelligent enough to secure a spot in today’s work force. I know many college educated women who have put their careers on hold to raise a family. While I realize not every mother has the option to choose to stay home vs. work, if both husband and wife can agree it is in the best interest of their family, who am I to judge?

To answer the question on what am I accomplishing with my life as a stay at home mom, I am building a strong bond with my children. I have been to every class party, go on field trips (and yes, some of them suck and I wonder what the heck I was thinking coming along), I volunteer on field day (which sometimes sucks too. Last year it was over 100 degrees out- not fun), I am home when my kids arrive and are ready to talk or vent about their day. I am having fun and creating memories with them every day. But most importantly, I am raising two loving, intelligent, compassionate kids and am preparing them to become productive members of society. If they both choose to be stay at home moms I will be just as proud as I would with any career path they choose. This is their decision, one that nobody has a right to attack, and if I had to choose again, I would make the same choices over again.

Cheddar Broccoli Twice Baked Potatoes

Do you remember when we used to get samples of recipe cards in the mail? I think Taste of Home used to send those out. I remember moving in to our first home and was just getting my feet wet in the cooking department. This was one of the first recipe cards I got, and 15 years later, it is still one of our favorite twice baked potato recipes.

My girls usually split one since I buy the big potatoes, so this is the recipe I use for 3.


Ingredients:


3 large baking potatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup ranch dressing (start with 1/2 cup, add more depending on how creamy you like your potato filling)
1 cup cooked chopped broccoli florets (I just use Birdseye Steamfresh, and chop the tops away from the stems. It's a time saver)
shredded cheddar cheese for sprinkling on top
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Wrap pototoes in aluminum foil, pierce with fork, and bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked through.
Using a small knife, cut the tops off the potatoes and scoop the potato pulp into a bowl, taking care to leave enough around the edges so when you fill it back up, it can support the filling.
Mix in broccoli, and 1/2 cup of ranch dressing, adding more ranch until you get your desired consistency, salt and pepper.
Using a spoon, fill the empty potato shells with mixture.
Sprinkle tops with cheddar cheese.
Place potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes until potatoes are heated through and cheese is melted.