March 28: Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Talk about yummy!  Tysen enjoyed these from his first taste:  licking the spoons, the beaters, and just eating the dough out of the bowl!  All the other taste-testers raved about these treats as well, and I will certainly be making these again!  These Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Eggs are the perfect treat involving two favorites:  chocolate and peanut butter!  They certainly don't need to be restricted to Easter season (yes, I realize it's a few weeks before Easter yet, but the kids are already excited about it!).  Hope you get a chance to sample one of these!  (Note:  the recipe states it makes 12 eggs...we made 25!)

Kittencal's Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Eggs (Kittencal is one of my favorite chefs on food.com)

1 - 16oz. package confectioners sugar
1 cup peanut butter
4 1/2 Tbs. salted butter -- softened (if using unsalted butter add a pinch of salt)
1 Tbs. milk (may need more)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup crispy rice cereal (like Rice-Krispies, slightly crushed) *optional*

Glaze:
10 - 1oz. semi-sweet chocolate baking squares (could use milk chocolate) *I just used 10 oz. chocolate chips
1 Tbs. shortening

• In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar with peanut butter, butter, milk, and vanilla until smooth and well-combined (may need to add more milk to if the mixture if dry).
• Mix in the cereal at this point, if using.
• Shape into desired size egg-shaped balls.
• Freeze for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours.
• Chop chocolate into smaller pieces and use a microwave-safe bowl to melt chocolate with the shortening.  Microwave until melted stirring occasionally.
• Dip each egg into chocolate allowing the excess to drip off.
• Place on waxed paper.
• Decorate with sprinkles, etc. if you'd like.
• Refridgerate until cool.

March 24: The Last Day of Gymnastics

The boys started out saying they didn't like gymnastics class (I didn't really believe that), but now they love it!  I know a lot of that has to do with their teacher, Mr. Randy.  He was WONDERFUL with them...encouraging them to try new things, do their best, and helping Tysen stay on task.  They were so disappointed that today was their last day for a while (we're now back to swimming lessons).  We will certainly return to For The Kidz, though!  It might be a little harder to get them excited about it again after I tell them that they won't be able to be in the same class anymore once Koen turns 6, but I'm hoping we can at least find classes that run at the same time so they can go together.  They just love doing things together!  I took a few pictures on their last day of class, so here's a glimpse at what went on during their class.

Tysen and Koen with their teacher, Mr. Randy.

March 21: Froot Loop Candy

I had planned on making something else today, but didn't realize we were missing some of the ingredients (oops!) so I rushed to find a plan B, and viola!  Froot Loop Candy!  I found the recipe on food.com (one of my favorite recipe sites).  Simplicity is always a plus when it comes to kids in the kitchen, and Froot Loops are a real treat in this house!  We actually had Froot Loops as well as some left over white chocolate bark from Christmas so this became plan B. 

If you'd like to make your own Froot Loop Candy (like I know you do!) here's how!

Froot Loop Candy

8 oz. white chocolate bark

3 1/2 cups Froot Loops cereal

Melt the bark in the microwave for 1 minute.  Stir thoroughly.  Continue to melt it in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted smooth.  Pour cereal one cup at a time into the melted bark, stirring after each cup is added.  After all the cereal has been added and mixed completely, spoon mixture onto waxed paper in small clusters.  Allow them to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

March 18: Making Hats with Koen's Class

Koen's teacher recently had surgery on her foot.  She's back at school now and doing well, but I had asked if there was anything I could help her with to make her life a bit easier.  She thought it would be nice to have some help decorating paper hats the kids were working on today, so Tysen, Brielle, and I set off for school. 

Tysen loves going to Koen's school, and he considers Koen's teacher to be his teacher, too!  We got there and Ty settled into a seat right next to Koen and made a hat for himself as well (unfortunately, I forgot my camera!).  It was sweet to see how excited Koen was to have Tysen and Brielle there...he spent all his time with them!  Brielle enjoyed crawling around and exploring the classroom on her own. 

March 14: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

We used the recipe on the back of the oatmeal canister to make these cookies, but as we were making them I saw another recipe on the brown sugar bag and that one looked healthier...maybe we'll have to try that another time.  Tysen helped mix everything, then licked the beaters as usual, but this time he stuck around and helped put the cookies on the cookie sheet and flatten them.  Ty gave the "sugar oatmeal cookies" rave reviews!  Koen will only eat them after he picks out the raisins. :)

Family Favorite Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheet (I just use parchment paper instead).  Beat shortening and sugars until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add to shortening mixture; mix well.  Stir in oats, nuts, and raisins.  Using rounded tablespoons, roll into balls.  Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.  Flatten with fork.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let stand 1 minute before removing to racks to cool.  Makes 5 dozen (We got just over 3 dozen)

March 11: Handprint Fish

I think the hand print and footprint crafts from this website (http://funhandprintart.blogspot.com) are adorable!  This week Tysen made his handprint fish, and he LOVED it!  He painted his hand (I just helped a little to make sure all the areas had paint; I also painted the rainbow for his rainbow fish) and then we positioned his had just so on the paper.  We had the wipes nearby to wipe away any excess paint so he wouldn't paint anything else. :) He also made fingerprint fish (I just painted little tail fins on them).  Once the paint dried I added eyes and mouths with a marker and they were SO cute.  Tysen also enjoyed painting waves and bubbles on one of his fish pictures.  A fabulous craft and keepsake.

March 7: Brown Sugar Nut Bread

I'm still not eating sugars and starches, so I knew I wouldn't be able to taste test this one again.  One of my goals in 2011 is to set a better example of healthy eating for our family.  Friends of ours started a whole foods approach to eating, and I'd like to start doing more of that in our house as well.  With that in mind, I came across this recipe in my recipe box, and it fits fairly well with the whole foods way of eating so I thought we'd give it a whirl.  It hasn't gone over very well.  Part of that may be my own doing as I replaced the flour in the recipe with a flour blend from The Sneaky Chef (equal parts white flour, whole wheat flour, and unsweetened wheat germ).  Koen didn't like the raisins, Seth detected the wheat germ immediately, and Ty and Brielle wouldn't even try it.  I'll probably end up freezing most of the loaf and eat it later because I hate to throw it out. 

In case it sounds good to you...

Brown Sugar Nut Bread
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup boiling water
2 cups flour

Combine all of the ingredients.  Bake for 1 hour at 300 degrees in a loaf pan.

March 2: Sweet or Salty?

As I pack Koen's lunch each morning I ask him what kind of yogurt he wants, what kind of drink, etc.  This morning when I asked Koen was salty thing he wanted, Ty asked, "What's salty?" so I told him we'd play a little game about sweet and salty foods later in the day.  I just picked a few salty things and a few sweet treats and put them in front of Tysen.  Before I let him taste anything I had him taste some plain salt and then some plain sugar.  As he tasted each item I asked him if it tasted salty or sugary.  He's still learning the difference, but he sure had fun with this game! 

February 28: Poppy Seed Muffins

The kids decided to take a bit of a break from all of Mom's activities.  We've continued to go to the library and attend gymnastics class, but most of the other activities haven't interested the boys, so I wasn't going to force it. 

This week, though, Ty decided we needed more muffins in the house.  He wanted the always-requested pumpkin muffins, but we didn't have any spice cake mix in the house.  Instead, we made Poppy Seed Muffins with the yellow cake mix we had.  Nothing says healthy muffins like a cake mix base, don't you think? :) 

Poppy Seed Bread
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. instant lemon pudding
1/2 cup oil
1 cup hot water
2 Tbs. poppy seeds

Beat together for 3 minutes.  Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.  Makes 2 loaf pans.  (OR bake muffins for 18-20min. and yield about 30)