Monday Motivation (Breakfast Mealplan)

  Breakfast is my motivation again this week.

Monday: We had donuts.  Not homemade. The store bought kind.  Of course there were no complaints only fights over how many each of them could eat.

Tuesday: Oatmeal
https://www.marthastewart.com/315903/strawberry-oatmeal-breakfast

Wednesday: Muffins
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/6865/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/

Thursday: Crepes
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16383/basic-crepes/

Friday:  Fruit Smoothie and breakfast cookie
https://www.shelikesfood.com/healthy-baked-oatmeal-breakfast-cups-6-ways

  There we have it breakfast is the most important meal of the day!   I will have some happy people this week!

  Have a great week and don't forget to eat your breakfast!  What's your favorite breakfast?

Family Fun

  I am a child of the 80's.  So one year years ago I thought my kids needed toys I had.  Why because they made me happy.  Not thinking of what currently makes kids happy. Tablets, Ipods, XBox and more.  It made me happy and that's all that mattered.

Enter the Easy Bake Oven.

  I have had one in the closet for a few years.  It wasn't gone and forgotten it was just waiting to be appreciated and used under adult supervision.  After a special request for food to cook in it was rescued.  The oven was pulled out!

 

 Now I have seen a variety of meals to cook in it.  From nachos and Mac and cheese to cakes and cookies.  The only dilemma is will it work in only this specific oven or the oven we have.  I have also looked up homemade recipes but based on reviews haven't taken a leap to see if the recipes are really reliable.

  On this day little Miss made chocolate chip cookies with chocolate frosting.  She was so excited and allowing her the independence from start to finish was exciting for her.

 The packages come with all the ingredients.  You just may need to add water.  She was responsible for reading the directions, preparing the cookies and I observed her putting them in the oven and taking them off the pan.

  She made the cookies, and frosted them any way she wanted.  Some she dipped, others she spread chocolate in the middle and we tried to drizzle but, that didn't work real well.

Over all the recipes worked for the oven we had.  They were easy for her to read, understand and follow.  She was pleased with her final product and ate them happily.

These are definitely a snack for little people!  What was one of your favorite childhood toys?

School with Letter C

Each day or most days I try to get my son outside.  Not just to play but to explore and observe.  We look at what's around us as well as hunt for letters.  We go out looking for the letter of the week but, he also points out other letters and that's OK to.  That's part of reading.  Letter identification on everything we see and repetition brings the process full circle.  It may take to the next day or week when he catches on to a particular case lowercase letter.

We made no bake cookies because baking starts with b and we were all about the c.

No bake cookies take a little time to turn solid but if you watch them waiting goes quicker.

The sand on a walk is the perfect place to practice letter writing!

Each week I pick up a couple books with the letter as a word in the title. He has to identify the word.

C is for cutting.  He likes activities that let him use his scissors!  He is left-handed and I have to let him do his thing.

 

His cutting strips helped make c for popcorn.  Does that count?  We also used shaving cream and made cotton candy!  What a sweet week! 

We were greeted one morning by a Cicada! Perfect timing big fella! 

A peek at the desk for one day of the week.  I think he really enjoys seeing the new books and identifying the objects on it.

We finished our week with Chick Fil A. Chicken for the win!  This is one of the few places my little people eat all of their meals.

Thanks for following our journey.  Learning the letter c was a good week!  Did you see any new ideas to share with your little ones?  

Week 1 Letter A school complete

  I won't be able to do a field trip every week but will try to grab one where I can and even if it's to our local store we will make it an adventure!

Its a little too early for apple picking but since we were on letter A it only seemed fit to pick an apple.  We headed to out local grocery store where we picked a few varieties.  I allowed him to pick one from each pile so we could compare the size, color and taste.  

  This tasting was huge as he is a picky eater.  He likes the red delicious and Jonagold! Peanutbutter is not necessary and he will eat the skin.

Apples come from trees before the store so we made this apple tree!

After we dissected the apple we made a picture of all the parts! 

We also made applesauce cookies this week which he did make, eat and enjoy! 

Letter A was a good productive week for us!  I hope your week was productive too!

Chocolate Cookies

  Believe it or not some weeks I do not make anything.  Tonight I made cookies because there I was minding my own business when a plate full of cookies gets my attention on Facebook.  A quick glimpse over the recipe and it's on.

  These cookies boasted of a chocolate flavor and there is no doubt about it when you see them and when you smell them fresh out the oven!

  They were easy to make adding that the teen made these.  The longest process was letting them chill prior to cooking. Ooh the torture.

  However after an hour of that I am almost sure when I took a bite of the first one I had already forgot about the waiting period.

  These are a great little cookie.  They have a great chocolate flavor, were soft, resembled a brownie in flavor and texture.  All you need is a glass of milk to accompany these and you too will be in a happy place.  These would definitely get you bonus points if you cooked them and had them ready for unsuspecting children!

 Get to cooking these!  I know you didn't know you needed them but, your welcome anyways.

Check out the recipe here:
http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2016/03/07/chocolate-sugar-cookies/

Cookies Today with Strawberries

  Although this recipe uses a small amount of strawberries.  It also uses up the strawberries I had on hand.  So I need to go back and get more in order to finish out the month or else I will not be able to finish out the month.  I feel like I am running on fumes already but am not giving up.

  The recipe was for cookies today!  These strawberry cookies only asked for a few tablespoons of strawberries.  I had just enough.

  The rest of your ingredients are your basic requirements for a sugar cookie to include: flour, sugar, butter egg, baking powder and vanilla.

Blend that sugar and butter before you add anything else to make sure it will be incorporated.

I skipped the roll the cookies in a ball part and just plopped them on the cookie sheet but, I did add some sprinkles!

  My opinion of the cookies.  I would like to try them again with more strawberries.  I couldn't see them in any of the cookies, or taste it.  The recipe did say you could use strawberry extract in place of the strawberries.  The cookies however were good.  They didn't have that after taste that I get with some cookies!!  These were a good cookie that I could see making without the strawberries.

  Without the obvious appearance of strawberries the little man of the house nibbled on a couple and liked them too.  He had been avoiding all things strawberries for the last few weeks.

 Grab a glass of milk and make some of these they were a nice treat!
 
Check out the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/235942/chewy-strawberry-sugar-cookies/

Strawberry Cookies

  Did you know when you look up recipes for things you can almost find anything to accommodate that item you plan to use.  I never heard of strawberry cookies until now!

  Super easy basic recipe. Two bowls is suggested.  You start with a wet ingredients  bowl and a dry bowl.  Add chop strawberries.

Blend everything together.

 Longest part of the cookie process is letting the batter chill in the fridge.

After that place those cookies on the sheet and bake.  The strawberries make these cookies smell so good.

Recipe makes up 18 cookies. Shh, I got 19! Score!

Excuse me while I indulge!

Check out the recipe here:http://cookingwithawallflower.com/2015/05/18/strawberry-cookies/

Holidays in the air

  What type of cookies are planned for you this year?

  I personally don't know quite yet.  I just kind of decided today we are making cookies and dig out recipes!

  Do you always make the same cookies each year?

  I make a few cookies from my childhood like gingerbread, anise cookies and pressed cookies but also try to make a few different and new to us ones!

  Do you me cookies solo or do you cook with your mom, grandma, children or siblings?

  Sometimes I make cookies by myself and let my older kids make some independently!


  Tis the season to get baking!  I would love some new recipes. Easy or slightly complex.  I get Betty Crocker's 25 days of cookies sent to my email but I don't think I can handle having that many cookies around in my house.

  I would love to hear your cookie stories feel free to post pictures or recipes!

Cookie monster (Pumpkin edition)

  Ok so I need to stock up on pumpkin scented candles, potpourri or cans of pumpkin.  I am getting so used to the smell and it's not quite becoming second nature but I wish it was.  I love the way it smells and fills my house when I cook it.

  Of course making cookies always smells good but to know it has some pumpkin in them makes these extra special.  These here are my first official pumpkin cookies!

  I assigned the teen to assist and young chef assigned herself to help.

 So these cookies were essentially made by 3 people but don't worry we are all trained professionals.  Also as a side not before I scare you away; this recipe was not that hard.

 You got your dry bowl of ingredients. Funny how noone ever wants to taste the flour bowl.

 Your wet bowl filled with butter and sugar. Fingers did sneak in here.

Then behold the bowl of pumpkin goodness! Don't touch it has an egg in it and you know what they say.  (I live on the edge)

  The only bad thing about this recipe is they require some down time in the refrigerator.

So with that downtime comes a lack of trust and impatience.  The kids got their hopes up only to be put on hold.  This is a hard concept to grasp. Now you see them now you don't.  My poor plan on this step also meant the cookies were having a sleepover in the fridge as it was already 8 o'clock.  Enter worst mom of the year.  However I said I would make them for breakfast in the morning and I regained my tolerable mom title.

0700 let's get this show on the road!

Ahhh tick tick tick. Done

I present you an awesome cookie. An awesome pumpkin cookie!

  Check out the recipe, grab your ingredients and have milk on hand these should go in the books as a must have for a fall cookie.

These awesome soft pumpkin goodies come from cookingclassy.

Day 12

  Another productive day.  A good workout, water consumption and meals!  Oddly it seems to be getting easier.  Last week I had that take out salad. I needed/wanted takeout.  Lucky for me I wanted a taco salad otherwise it could have been worse.  Don't get me wrong I never crave a salad doesn't matter if it's taco or not. So it must have been two world colliding. Take out versus healthy; to come up with a take out taco salad.

  The weekend is approaching and that's where I am more active so we shall see what we get into over the next couple of days.  No plans are set just one day at a time.

  Now onto the meals.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs with spinach and garlic and onion powder and pineapples.  One time I sprinkled those two powders on my eggs and I have never gone back.  My mom puts dill on hers but I don't get the flavor kick with that like I do with mine.

  Lunch was just leftover spaghetti and some squash.  The noodles are now officially gone but I still have the sauce to use up.  Some more zucchini boats may be in the future.  Or I could dump it in a pot with some more tomatoes, add some beans, spices and call it chili!

  Dinner was potato salad (I made mayo last night) a hotdog and corn on the cob.  In my potato salad was the mayo made, a couple hardboiled eggs chopped up and blended in there along with some cut up pickles and paprika.

  Lol, as I am writing this I am waiting on cookies to get out the over.   A healthy recipe I got from pinterest.  It has banana and chocolate chis in it.  No sugar, eggs or dairy.  I hope they are good.

  My water was 75 oz today and my workout was 33 minutes on the elliptical and weights.

Cookies were a success here is the recipe: banana-chocolate-chip-cookies