Indoor Play

As the weather gets colder we all have to be a little more creative with having to be inside a lot more. Here are a few tried and tested things I've found helps with kids on cold weather days!

1) Indoor Car Wash

Get some bowls, pans, plates etc, some shaving cream (we ended up running out and using mousse as well), cars and trucks, water and lots of towels!

Let the kids wash and rinse the cars and trucks and it keeps them busy for a quite while! Both big and little kids like this activity and if you're looking for something a little more girly, try washing little dolls and animals instead.

 2) Bake and Decorate Cookies

I'm sure this one needs no explanation, but I think we tend to make cookies that need decorating on holidays only. At least that's what I do, so maybe it's time to step out of the box and create some colourful and fun cookies any day of the week!

What better way to spend a chilly day than inside baking and decorating a delicious snack? Cut out shapes and make it into a learning adventure for little ones or cut out people and have a contest on the scariest, funniest etc.




3) Masks

This is a relatively simple idea and it's easy to pull together. Use scrapbook paper, stickers, felts, pipe cleaners and whatever you have on hand to make monster faces, silly faces, animal faces and so on.
After the kids create their masks, they can have fun acting out the characters they created!






4) Busy Boxes

These are so great for indoor play! Boxes of stuff to inspire the imagination and cure boredom. I have a cupboard full of them. There are tons of ideas to create your own. Some of mine include: rocks and trucks; a gardening bin with little plastic flowers, tiny pots and dry black beans for the dirt; a post office bin full of emvelopes, paper, a little mailbox, stickers for stamps, labels etc; a cooking bin full of measuring spoons and cups, various noodles for the food and bowls. That's just a few. It keeps them busy and gives them something creative to do. Well worth all the effort and I bought a lot of supplies from the dollar store to keep it fairly cheap.

5) Games
This dice game in particular is a fun game for the kids with no set up required. All you need is some wooden blocks. Write animals on the one and feelings on the other, keep it around for those times where the kids are bored.

All they do is roll the dice and act out what they rolled. For example, a silly mouse, a happy cow, a mad cat. It's a fun and easy game to play for all ages and there's no mess!

 

Here are a few other places to find some great ideas!
Family Fun (Indoor Activities)
Red Ted Art - Cardboard Tube Activities
Hands On As We Grow - 50 Toddler Activities

Crab Apple Crazy - A Crab Apple Recipe Round-Up

Happy Monday everyone!

My oh my! It's already back to school this Thursday! As always, summer flies by and if you blink  you may miss it! Although I am sad that summer 2012 is almost gone, there is something about the fall and the back to school season that I like. I have a whole pile of pumpkin recipes piling up on my Pinterest boards and a whole lot of crab apples ready to be picked off my tree (that is the ones I haven't already made into juice).

That being said, crabapples are great and all but all I really knew how to make was juice and jelly. The last few years I've left them to ripen and fall off of the tree. A HUGE waste and a HUGE mess to rake up. So this year I've wanted to find some different ways to use these apples and thought I would share what I found:

A lot of things I found start with the juice and since I have the little tiny apples I don't really want to go with any recipes that would require me to peel them anyway. I have sliced up a few to make some muffins because I didn't have any apples on hand. I made Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins (pictured below, only I didn't have whole wheat flour so I used all purpose...still tasted yummy just not quite as healthy) both yummy and healthy!

So minus the whole peeling thing, there is still a little you can do but it pretty much always starts with Crab Apple juice and I found a super easy recipe from Cooks.com. Not only is it a starting point for a lot recipes but the kids looove to drink it on it's own :)

So with the juice you can make:
Apple Pomegranate Syrup 
Apple Cider Syrup 
Apple Spice Syrup
Easy Crab Apple Cider
Spiced Apple Cider
Crab Apple Liqueur
Crab Apple Butter
And of course, we can't forget:
Crab Apple Jelly
 And the most interesting I have found was using the branches as a centerpiece
Crab Apple Centerpiece
Or this centerpiece

Crab Apple Sauce
Or how about some Spiced Crab Apples?
Or if you fancy yourself a little Crab Apple Brandy
And last but not least a little crab apple dessert Crab Apple Crumble Pie
I almost forgot to post this....and I can't believe I did but here it is...
Poison Apple Cocktail...it looks freakin' scrumptious!!!!!!

I don't know about you but I think I need another crab apple tree!

I hope you enjoy these great finds and let me know how yours turn out. Please feel free to share what you do with your crab apples!!

St Pattys Day Fun!

So St.Patrick's Day is still about a week and a half away and not always one of the most celebrated holidays of the year but I think it's fun to celebrate the little holidays too! Sometimes, when you're a stay at home Mama, little things like holidays are great ways to have fun and liven up the days at home! So in honour of St.Patrick's Day and because I will be away on holidays next weekend I have done up a few little treats and found a few fun links to help you celebrate all that is green and Irish!

"I'm Lucky To Have You" Snack Bag

I found this on Pinterest on a link from eighteen25 which is a great site! St.Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year but it still is cute to  put in your little one's lunch any day of the year, especially if they like to snack
on Lucky Charms! My daughter's school took their microwaves out of the classroom last year so for a little something different than a sandwich or a wrap sometimes I pack her cereal and a little milk for breakfast at lunch! (Of course you may want to add a container to eat it in as eating cereal in a milk out of a sandwich bag may prove to be disastrous lol)

"You're My Pot O' Gold At The End Of The Rainbow" Bag

Again, something I came across on Pinterest (imagine that!) from it is what it is. Such a simple little treat but it's pretty darn cool!

Cookies

My Mom used to make these Lemon Cookies (good lemon cookies....probably about the only lemon flavoured thing I like!) for Valentine's Day. One year (grade three to be exact) she brought in heart shaped lemon cookies with pink icing on them to share with all my class mates. I thought it was great! So when my daughter started school, I made it a point to make it a tradition. After a couple years I decided to branch out and make them for Christmas, then for Halloween and Easter...this year, yep, you guessed it...for St.Patrick's Day. Just add green icing and rainbow sprinkles or make round cookies with yellow icing for gold coins...use your favorite recipe, use your imagination, go wild, go crazy!!!!

Cupcakes

Just another way to make something simple into something memorable, make muffins, turn them green, top with icing...it can be green too. Stick a chocolate cover coin in it, rainbow sprinkles, rainbow coloured or multi-coloured anything! Be creative, ask your kids for their suggestions. Create a family tradition together - seriously- do it! :)

Betty Crocker Lucky Charms Cupcakes

Spearmint Baby - Rainbow Cupcakes

The Fickle Pickle - Rainbow Cupcakes

My boy enjoying our own creation!

Desserts

As they say, stressed is desserts spelled backwards...here are a few I found...

How Does She - Dessert With A Surprise Inside

Oopsey Daisy - Leprechaun Pie

Drinks

Be Different Act Normal - DIY Rainbow Straw

Make and Takes - Yoda Soda

Not really at all for St.Patty's Day, but it's green and it's awesome so it's on my list! :)

Printables, Party Decor and Other Fun Stuff

All Kids Network - Paper Plate Lepruchaun

Family Fun - Leprechuan Trap

LAWTEEDAH - St.Patrick's Day Tot Kit

Family Fun - St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt

So there you have it, a few ways to have fun with you little ones (or big ones hehe) this St.Patrick's Day. Please share your ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Mmm Mmm Meatloaf!

I think I love meatloaf.

Yeah, I never thought I'd ever say that sentence! I mean, come on, meatloaf? Well, with the
help of Kraft Canada and a little from myself I think I've perfected it....just saying.


I used Kraft's Favorite Meatloaf Recipe but I altered it a little. I love the idea of frying onions in the Zesty Italian dressing but in my own I also fried it with garlic to give it a little more flavor in the dish.
Another thing I did differently is I added shredded cheese throughout. And when I say throughout, I mean I mixed it with the ground beef, then put half of the ground beef mixture in the pan added a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and then topped it with the remainder of the ground beef mixture....and then topped it with cheese when it was almost ready to come out of the oven. Yeah, we like cheese that much lol
Sometimes I like to add bacon, you can either do this by cooking a few slices, chopping them up and adding them to the ground beef mixture or adding crumbled pieces on top at the end when you add the cheese or laying the bacon on top of the loaf and cooking it that way.
Meatloaf doesn't have to be boring. You can alter your favorite recipe however you want. I once came across a buffalo chicken meatloaf but never did try it as I am the only one in this house who appreciate's Franks Red Hot Sauce....that's probably where I found the recipe too!
Let me know what you do to make your meatloaf a little less ordinary or any dish for that matter. I for one could always use a little dinner inspiration!
Hope you enjoy my recipe!

My Favorite Meatloaf

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
1 lb of Ground Beef
1 box Stovetop Stuffing
2 eggs
3/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Ketchup
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Fry onion and garlic in dressing for 5 minutes or until softened.

Mix onion mixture with ground beef, stuffing, eggs, water 1/2 cup of the ketchup and shredded
cheese.

 Aww! Look, I made a ketchup heart!

Put in a loaf pan and cover with remaining ketchup.

Bake in pan for 1 hour at 350F.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but I'm sure you get the idea!

Happy Birthday To Me!

So I love to help my family celebrate their birthdays. I plan parties, email radio stations, buy gifts and make cakes like any other Mom. But when it comes to my birthday I don't usually get cake unless my Mom does. So I decided that this year I was going to make my own.

I'm not going to lie, it's mostly because I saw it on Pinterest a week before my birthday and thought, why not?!

So here it is, the super delicious and even easier recipe I adapted from Mommy's Kitchen I just had to try:

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake:

You need:
About 10 Ice Cream Sandwiches
Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping
Whipped Topping (thawed)
1 Cup Crushed Candy (Oreos, Malteasers, Smarties etc.) or A Drizzle of Your Favorite Syrup (I used Rolo Flavoured Quick)

Line a 9x13 Pan with Ice Cream Sandwiches (Cut to fit if you have to, I used 9 1/2)
Cover with fudge topping.
Cover with thawed whipped topping.
Sprinkle or drizzle with candy or syrup.
Cover and freeze for 5-7 hours.
That's it!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Layer the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with ice cream sandwiches (super hard, right?)

Top with fudge ice cream topping.

Add a layer of cool whip.

Top with your choice of topping, cover and freeze for 5-7 hours!

Super Easy Cookies

I live in a small town. And by a small town, I mean one with no grocery store. All we have is a gas station that sells everything you need, but of course it's all over priced. You may ask what this has to do with anything and I will tell you.

I want to make cookies and I have no flour. I've already been to the grocery store in another nearby town and forgot to get any. I have four kids (only three are mine) and one is napping. No trip to the gas station for me!

What's a girl to do? I'll tell you! Bake cookies! This is no big secret I'm sure and it kind of sucks that I can't make these cookies for my daughter's lunches as they include peanut butter but these three ingredient cookies take no time to whip up. I added some chocolate chips on top for extra chocolatey goodness and I got this recipe from the back of the Kraft Peanut Butter container. In case you haven't seen it or tried it, here is my recipe adapted from Kraft's Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
Handful of Chocolate Chips, M&Ms, Rolos or whatever you like

Mix peanut butter and sugar and egg.
Roll into balls, flatten and top with chocolate chips. I used four chocolate chips per cookie but
go crazy, add 5 or 6! :)
Bake at 325F for 15 minutes. Makes 12 cookies.

Enjoy and let me know how yours turn out or what you did differently?

Alison xo