Homemade Spaghetti-O's

8 oz ditalini pasta, ring pasta, alphabet pasta or other small pasta
4 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
30 oz can tomato sauce
2 cup water
2 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, to al dente according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large saute' pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt, pepper, sugar and butter. Heat, while stirring, until the butter is melted. Slowly stir in the milk, then turn the heat to low. Simmer at low heat for 10 minutes.

Stir the shredded cheese into the soup until melted. Drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Pour tomato sauce into the pasta and stir to combine.

Notes:
Looking for the convenience factor? Double the batch and freeze the rest for later. Heat on the stove top or in the microwave when you're ready for that quick lunch or dinner!

source: modified from the recipe at Seeded At The Table

November Recipes for Kids

Fruit Turkeys

I made these cute fruit turkeys as part of a breakfast (which also included Apple Cinnamon French Toast sticks) but it could also be used as an afternoon snack.

You will need: a pear, an apple, peanut butter, an almond sliver, two mini M & M's or similar candy, a Craisin.

First half a pear and center it on the plate.

Slice an apple into very thin slices and slip several behind the pear half, fanned out to look like the turkey's feathers. I only used a quarter of an apple for each turkey.

Attach two mini-M & M's with peanut butter for eyes. You could also use chocolate chips or some other similar candy.

Attach a almond sliver with peanut butter for the beak. Add a Craisin for the waddle in the same way.

You could also add pretzels or almond slivers for feet, although I left mine without and no one noticed.
This is an adaption of the 4 King's fruit Turkey.

Pilgrim Hats and "Tea"Time

I saw these cuties on Craftily Ever After and knew at once that they were easy enough for even my youngest to do and simple enough not to be too much for an already busy week.

For each hat, you will need:

1 chocolate coated cookie (Such as Entenman's Raspberry Cookies or Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer or Fudge Striped Cookies)

1 small Reese's peanut butter cup

tube of yellow or orange frosting with piping tips

Place cookies on work surface; squeeze a dime-size dot of frosting in center of each. Unwrap and invert peanut butter cups on frosting, pressing down gently. Using the round piping tip, pipe a hat-band with frosting around peanut butter cup and a square buckle. Let frosting set before storing. Can be made up to 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

I had wanted to show you pictures of the steps, but for some reason they all were blurry. I do have a few photos of our "tea" time to show you, though.

I made a pot of hot chocolate with snowmen marshmallows...

and homemade whipped cream.

We talked about all that we are thankful for...

and all our plans for the week.
A joyous time.

Turkey Treats

There are many instructions out there for these type treats, but here is mine made from what we had on hand. The interesting thing about these is that November is the only time you could make them because the candy corn is still around from Halloween and the Bell-shaped chocolates are just coming in the store, ready for Christmas.

You will need:
2 Oreos (I used regular but Double Stuff might work even better)
1 Bell-shaped chocolate
Candy corn
M&M minis
Frosting (I used white because that is what we had on hand, but chocolate would look better)

Take one Oreo and lay it flat on your work surface. Put a dab of icing on the bottom of the unwrapped bell-shaped chocolate and place it at the near edge of the Oreo. Take another Oreo and put a dab of icing on one edge and place that edge, icing side down, behind the bell chocolate. Take a few candy corns and put a small amount of icing on the thinner end and then gently place it in the grove of the Oreo. This is where the Double-stuff might come in easier- more room to fit the candy corn into. I put an additional row of candy corn on the flat side of the Oreo by putting the icing on the back side of the candy corn instead of the tip, but my husband preferred them with this row left off. Use your own judgement on this one. The eyes and waddle are made from the mini M&M's, using the icing as a glue on the back side. You can let your kids get creative and vary them as they wish. For example, one was made by cutting off just the yellow portion of a candy corn and using this for the feet, icing them on the front of the cookie. These are fun and versatile and fun to eat. You might just have to watch to make sure that not too many of the ingredients get eaten before they get made into turkeys!

Thanksgiving Cornucopia Favors

I saw this idea on Scribbit, and just fell in love with the idea of having these little cornucopia treats at each place setting for Thanksgiving dinner!

You might even have the materials on hand to make these already. All you need is some sugar ice cream cones and some small candies. 

To make the little cornucopias, heat water in teakettle and put pointed end of a sugar cone into spout. Let steam until softened (about 1 minute.) Gently curve end 1/2 inch from tip and hold for about 15 seconds.

Now they are ready to be filled.

Runts work particularly well because of their fruit shapes.

A little plastic wrap and ribbon holds them until they are ready to be eaten.

Turkey Bread

Directions for this turkey bread comes from Almost Unschoolers.

Start with one loaf's worth of bread dough, made the traditional way or thawed from the store.

Divide it in half, and pat one half down on a greased cookie sheet, into a slightly, flat circle.
Divide the other half, into ten equal pieces.
Shape eight of the pieces into tear drop shapes, three to four inches long, and cut them with kitchen shears, or a sharp knife (shears work better), up the sides, to give them a feathery look.
Fan them out, pointy ends up, under the top edge of the circle, for tail feathers.
Combine the two remaining pieces of dough, and pull off three small bits, to turn into a beak, and feet. Flatten what's left of the dough into a bowling pin shape, and place it on top of the circle, to form the turkey's neck, and head.
Pinch one small piece of dough into a beak, and pinch it down into the middle of the head.
Cut small slits in the dough, to the right, and left of the beak.
Insert raisin eyes.
Form the last two scraps of dough into small circles, and snip them two, or three times on the bottom edge, to form feet. Then, place them under the bottom edge of the turkey.
Cover the turkey with a clean towel, and let it rise for about 45 minutes.
Bake for 25 minutes, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rub it with butter, as soon as you remove it from the oven.
Serve.

Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

These require sugar ice cream cones, white frosting tinted green, various candies for decorations.

Just turn the cone upside down on a plate, and frost with the icing.

Decorate with whatever candies you have on hand or wish to use.

Use as decorations (especially nice for gingerbread house scenes) or eat as a treat!

Leprechaun "Pies"

First step is to put a plastic or foil covered chocolate coin in the bottom of a cup or parfait glass.
Make instant Pistachio pudding in a bowl.
Your little one can pour the ingredients in the bowl and can even hold the mixer!
Have your little one spoon it in the cup on top of the coin.
Top with whipped cream. Yum!
A desert with a special treat at the end!

Snowmen Cookies

Nutter Butter cookies

Vanilla Almond Bark

Mini M&M's

Orange Sprinkles or Tic Tac's

Black Decorator Icing or black Sprinkles

Melt Almond Bark according to the package. Dip cookies in the bark or spoon over it. for 90 seconds, I used a spoon to help cover the cookies when I dipped them. Add a orange sprinkle (leftover from Halloween) for the carrot nose. If you don't have orange sprinkles, orange Tic Tacs work well. Add mini M&Ms for the buttons and use either black sprinkles or black decorators icing for the coal eyes and mouth.

Source: My Pretty Purse

Green Eggs and Ham Croissant Breakfast Sandwich

Katie decided to celebrate the book this morning with a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast sandwich.

She fried Canadian Bacon in one pan and some scrambled eggs dyed green in another.
Some cheese was melted on a croissant in the microwave. The breakfast sandwich was easy to put together from there.
We like them anywhere...we like Green Eggs and Ham!

Watermelon Shark

This idea comes from the Watermelon Promotion Board, and Sun Scholars has a photo tutorial on how to make it.
Just in case the links break in the future, I have included the instructions here.
National Watermelon Day is August 3rd.

1 oblong watermelon
Large knife
Smaller utility knife
Large spoon
Paring knife or the tip of a vegetable peeler
2 blueberries
Toothpicks or wooden skewers

Swedish fish candies

Wash and dry the watermelon. Cut off 1/3 of the watermelon at a diagonal angle.

Stand the remaining 2/3 upright on your work surface and cut a line for the mouth and eye sockets. Make sure here that you are adding about an inch or so for the teeth you will be cutting out of the rind. Cut out the mouth. Make sure you save the mouth wedge for the fin.

Next, with a small knife, carefully score around your shark mouth, about a 1/2 inch up and only about 2-3 millimeters deep. This will help you to peal off the rind down to your cut so you can begin to form the teeth. carefully cut away the green rind down to your score lines around the mouth, and set it aside to use later.

Use a large spoon to scoop out the watermelon flesh, leaving 3" intact at the base.

Cut out triangles for the teeth, using a smaller utility knife.

Use small knife and a melon baller to cut into the rind, being careful not to cut all the way through, to make an eye socket and the lines for the gills behind the mouth. Use a paring knife to trim the green area around the eyes. Break a toothpick in half and used that to attach a blueberry to the center of each eye.

Take the wedge you cut to form the shark mouth to make your fin. Cut wedge into triangles to make the fins. Remove the watermelon from the other side. You might need to cut a bit of a curve on the bottom side to have it fit.

Fill the mouth with triangle shapes of watermelon, accented with Swedish fish. Now you have a shark!

Homemade Ice Cream in a Can

You must be careful if you are kicking or rolling the can on a trampoline.

1 pint of cream or half and half
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons of your favorite instant pudding mix
about 10 cups ice
1 1/2 cup ice cream rock salt
1 ziploc baggie
3-pound coffee can, emptied and rinsed
1-pound coffee can, emptied and rinsed
Duct tape

Put the cream, sugar and instant pudding mix into the baggie. Seal well and gently shake bag to mix ingredients. Place inside the 1-pound coffee can, cover the can with it’s corresponding lid and seal with duct tape. Place 1-pound coffee can inside the 3-pound coffee can. Surround the smaller can with ice and salt by layering 5 cups of ice with 3/4 cup of salt. Use duct tape to seal the 3-pound can with its corresponding lid and start rolling. Here is where you can get creative on the most fun way of keeping the can rolling. Have the kids face each other and roll the can back and forth on its side for 20 minutes. Play kick-the-can or a relay race.What creative way can you come up with?

After 20 minutes, open the cans and check the ice cream. If not solid yet, reseal the lid on the smaller can with duct tape, and set it aside. Quickly dump the melted ice water from the large can, and place the smaller can into the larger can again. Now you need to surround the smaller can with remaining ice and salt as you did before. Once that is done, put the lid on the larger can and seal with duct tape again. Roll the large can for 20 minutes more. 

This recipe comes from Kaboose.

Butterfly Lunch

tutorial for how to make this chicken nugget and chips butterfly at Hungry Happenings

In the summertime I like to take a little extra time to make meals and snacks more fun. Today we had these chicken nugget and chips butterflies for lunch. I made the first one for them, and then put the rest of the chips, nuggets and chow mein noodles on the table and let them make their own butterflies. They had so much fun making and eating them!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Candy-Cookies (No Bake)

photo and recipe from Skip to my Lou

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper

In a heavy saucepan mix the sugar, cocoa, butter, salt and milk over medium heat until combined. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly add peanut butter stir until just combined, then stir in vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls. Cookies will harden when cool.

George Washington's Birthday Cherry Pie

Because some stories... are just too fun not to tell...
a Cherry Pie...


for President Washington's Birthday.

Pre-made crust and pie filling can help a little one to make an I-Made-It-All-By-Myself Pie.

What can be sweeter than that?

Pretzel and Chocolate Wreaths

These cute pretzel wreaths are easy to make, All you need are pretzels, white chocolate bark and some colorful sprinkles. This was made by an 11-year old.

Melt the white chocolate bark. Dip about one third of the pretzel in white chocolate and lay on a sheet of waxed paper. Keep dipping and placing the pretzels on the waxed paper in acircle. Make a second layer on top so that the pretzel on top fits in between the two prezels on the first layer. Sprinkle finished wreath with colorful sprinkles. Let chocolate fully harden before moving.

Bear Bread for Kids

2 pkg. (4.5 teaspoons) active dry yeast

2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs

about 6 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt to 110 degrees F. Add to dissolved yeast along with eggs and 3 cups of flour. Beat for 3 minutes on medium speed. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl, cover with a wet tea towel, and let rise 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide the dough into fourths. Shape one of the fourths into a ball and place each one on a greased baking sheet to serve as the body of the bear.

 Now divide one of the fourths in half, and shape into a ball, and place above the body piece to serve as the head.

Divide the remaining fourths each into seven pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Don't worry about uneven dividing. Have them pick out the four largest balls for the paws, the next two largest balls for the ears, and the smallest ball for the nose of each bear.

Place raisins or something similar on for the eyes.

Cover the bears with a wet tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until doubled.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until browned. Cool on a wire rack.
I found the recipe and idea here at The Frugal Girl.

I have also seen this wonderful lesson with bear bread fractions at Almost Unschoolers.

Strawberry-Pretzel Salad

I got this recipe from a friend (Laura R.) and I am not sure where she got it. It is wonderful to make with children. You must use frozen strawberries to make the Jello set.

Put pretzels in a large plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin to make 2 cups. Kids love to do this part!

Mix 2 cups crushed pretzels, 3/4 cup melted butter and 4 Tab sugar. Spread in a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in a 400 degree F oven for 8 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool.

Bring 1-8 oz. package of cream cheese to room temperature. When soft, add 1 cup sugar to it and fold in 1-8 oz. package of Cool Whip. Spread over cooled pretzel layer.

Dissolve 1 large package Strawberry Jello in 2 cups hot water. Stir in 2-10 oz. pkgs. of frozen strawberries. After it starts to jell, pour on top of cream cheese layer and refrigerate until firm. Serve as a dessert or side dish.

Snow Cream

I remember my mother making snow cream most times when it snowed. It was up there with missing school because of snow days. To this day, whenever I see snow falling, I get this excited celebratory feeling. I don't usually measure ingredients when I make snow cream, but I will give you the rough idea...

Have the children gather about 4-6 cups of clean, edible snow. Meanwhile in a bowl mix together about 1 cup of milk, half-and-half or cream and add to it about 1/2 cup or so sugar and about 1 teaspoon of vanilla. If you want chocolate, add about 1/4 cup cocoa and perhaps a bit more sugar. I used already mixed in the carton chocolate milk (and subtracted the sugar) this morning and it turned out fine. Mix in the snow as quickly as you can and serve.

Holiday S'mores

This is just like making regular S'mores (graham cracker, chocolate squares, marshmallows and another graham cracker) but you use holiday Peeps (snowmen, in this case) for the marshmallows and just microwave for about 10 seconds.

Have you ever watched Peeps in the microwave? They puff up wonderfully. The boys love to watch them.

The ingredients in a small gift bag (my kids recieved these as take-home bags at a dance) would also make a nice addition to a food gift basket.

Chocolate Spoons

This needs plastic spoons, chocolate chips (or Wilton melting chips), and decorating sugar and/or pieces. It can only be done with children old enough to understand how to be safe with hot melted chocolate.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove and bring to the table. Have them dip the spoons in and then add decorations. Place on a piece of wax paper. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until hardened. These are great in hot chocolate or coffee, or to give as gifts (especially with a jar of hot cocoa mix.)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Snack

To make this treat, take a rice cake and spread a layer of caramel syrup on top. The eyes are Hershey's Kisses, the Nose is a Maraschino Cherry and the antlers are pretzels.

Santa's Cookies

This is a recipe that Katie made. They are SO yummy!

She made them with her little brothers and took the pictures and she would like to share it with you.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream 1 1/4 cups butter or margarine

and 2 cups of sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy.

Add two eggs

and 2 teaspoons vanilla to creamed butter mixture and beat well.
In another mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour (we are gluten-free, so we used a gluten-free flour mix),

3/4 cups cocoa,
1 teaspoon baking soda

and 1 teaspoon salt.

Gradually add to creamed mixture.

Add 2 cups of Fruit Cake mix fruit

and 1 cup chopped nuts (we used walnuts).

Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Let cool before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 6 dozen.

Santa's Cookies for Cookie Exchange

(Makes about 6 dozen.) 

1 1/4 cups butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tea. vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tea baking soda
2 cups Fruitcake Mix candied fruit
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter or margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla to creamed butter mixture and beat well.

In another mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda.

Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Add Fruit Cake mix fruit and chopped nuts. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Let cool before storing in an airtight container.

 GFCF Santa's Cookies

 1/2 original Recipe (3 dozen)

5/8 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tea. vanilla
1 cup gluten-free flour
3/8 cup cocoa
1/2 tea baking soda
1 cup Fruitcake Mix candied fruit
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla to creamed margarine mixture and beat well.

In another mixing bowl, combine gfcf flour, cocoa, and baking soda.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Add the Fruit Cake mix fruit and the chopped nuts. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Let cool before storing in an airtight container.