Pinterest Week!

I declared last week "Pinterest Week" at our house.  The kids are always looking over my shoulder while I'm on the computer and love to ask me about everything I pin and when we can make it.  Usually I just vaguely reply "sometime."  Last week was the time!

Sunday

The Recipe:  Quinoa Stir-Fry with Vegetables and Chicken

Originally Pinned From:  Handle the Heat

The Verdict:  Fab!!!  I will definitely be making this again!  Perfect for those days when you know you should really be eating a salad but are craving comfort food instead.

The Project:  Handprint Chicks

Originally Pinned From:  Handprint and Footprint Art

The Verdict:  I love that my kids no longer fuss when getting paint on their hands!  They enjoyed glueing everything together.  The chickens now grace our kitchen cabinets.

Monday

The Recipe:  Clean Eating Cinnamon Rolls

Originally Pinned From:  The Gracious Pantry

The Verdict:  FAIL!  If you're 100% clean eating, then you'll love these...you can now eat cinnamon rolls again.  If you're 90% clean eating, like me, then use one of your passes to make these rolls instead.  The clean eating rolls were expensive to make, ridiculously messy, and not great.  

The Project:  Do a Dot Activities

Originally Pinned From:  Simply Montessori

The Verdict:  She loved them!  The only problem is she whipped through it in about 15 seconds each page, which ended up being a lot of paper.  

Tuesday

The Recipe:  Yodalicious Apple Snack

Originally Pinned From:  Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons

The Verdict:  Mine didn't turn out as cute as hers, but both kids recognized Yoda right away, so good enough for me!  They were delighted, I felt like supermom, and it was healthy and fun.  I realized I didn't have any marshmallows so I whipped up a bit of frosting instead for the eyes.  (Tangent- I can't believe how much my cooking skills have improved in the last three years.  I used to burn frozen pizza and now I can whip up frosting without a recipe.  I'm all domesticated.)

The Project:  Big Bubble

Originally Pinned From:  Play at Home Mom

The Verdict:  At first, I wasn't sold on the idea of spending $11 on the plastic sheeting to make this, but it has entertained them for hours and the memories they'll have from it are priceless.

Wednesday

The Recipe:  Key Lime Pie Paletas (I made half as paletas and half in a dish)

Originally Pinned From:  theKitchn

The Verdict:  There are no words to describe how heavenly this treat is!!  Just imagine a long deep moan here instead.  The world is a better place simply because this dessert exists.  Background- when I was pregnant with Liliana, I got totally addicted to DQ's Key Lime Pie Blizzards.  YUM!  Then, they went ahead and discontinued them.  WTH?!?  Picture me, 8 months pregnant, bawling my eyes out in the middle of a shopping mall while yelling at some teenage fast food employee...because that's what happened.  This dessert is so close to that blizzard:  tart yet sweet, cold and creamy, pure awesomeness!  I'm not even going to calculate the calories because A. I don't want to know and B. I'm not sure it would even make a difference.  I'm just going to keep making it and eating it over and over and over again.  TRY IT!

The Project:  Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Originally Pinned From:  The Idea Room

The Verdict:  Liliana loves to paint and she loves sidewalk chalk, so this was a big win!  She decided to paint letters, which I thought at first was just going to be her scribbling and it turns out she knows how to make over half her letters!!!  We've been working on identifying them and somehow along the way, she picked up letter formation as well.  Exciting day!

Thursday

Thursday was a wash-out.  Our pet guinea pig had been missing outside for two days and we found her, Praise the Lord!!!!!  So rather than doing any cooking or projects we just sat by her cage and told her how much we love her.  Cause we're mushy like that.

Friday

The Recipe:  Sesame Soba Noodles

Originally Pinned From:  Annie's Eats

The Verdict:  Besides actual granola, this is the most "granola" thing I've ever made.  It's organic.  It's vegan.  And it contains things like buckwheat noodles and edamane.  Was better than I expected, but I won't be making it again...it was really salty and the kids wouldn't try it.

The Project:  Coffee Filter Butterflies

Originally Pinned From:  Make it and Love it

The Verdict:  Easy.  Fun.  Kept Liliana entertained for a long time and she loves looking at the butterflies which brighten up our basement.

Saturday

The Recipe:  Bacon/Egg/Toast Cups

Originally Pinned From:  Cut Out and Keep

The Verdict:  My husband has never loved me more!!!  Heck, I've never loved me more!  These bad boys are AMAZING!!!!  Even the kids adored them!  We will definitely be making these again.  Weekly.

The Project:  Hand/footprint Lobsters

Originally Pinned From:  Crafty-Crafted

The Verdict:  Meh.  I really REALLY like handprint projects.  But I'm kind of ODing on them.  Notice how close my kids are in size though.  2 years, 3 months apart...and they both are in 4T clothes and are 1 shoe size apart.  Crazy!

While I won't be doing anything this insane for awhile again (just keeping up with the kids, housework and Pinterest occupied my life for the week!), it was a lot of fun to try new things and I definitely found a few new favorites!  

Homemade Wikki Stix

Wikki Stix are strands of yarn covered in wax that can be formed into different shapes.  A lot of teachers and homeschooling moms use them to teach letter formation or just as another material to create with.  But....they can be expensive.  Amazon has them for $6.99 for 48 strands.  But I just made 200 strands for $2.49!

Here's how you do it!

You need yarn, a toilet bowl gasket (thus the $2.49) and an old candle.

Cut the yarn into your desired length.  Ours were about 8 inches.  Micah and Liliana did most of the cutting for me.

Melt the wax together using a double boiler system.  I used the entire gasket and about 1/2 c. of candle wax.  Do yourself a favor and use a coffee can instead of a pot or you'll be cleaning the wax out of your pot for a long time.

When melted, dip the strands of yarn in the wax.  Use a tweezers to fish them out.  Hold the strand over the pot until all the excess wax drips off.  (Don't skip that part.  I was in a hurry and just flopped them out straight onto parchment paper instead of letting it drip...later I had to sit there and pick wax off the strands which was a pain.)

Lay on wax paper or parchment paper to dry/cool.  It only takes a few seconds for them to harden up so they're playable.

Ta-dah!!!

Here's a few ideas of things you can do with the Wikki Stix!

Letter formation

This would be an army man going through a training course.  Micah has a one track mind.  If there aren't explosives involved, he's not interested.

Stick 'em to the window. 

Make jewelry.  Jeremy proposed!  I guess since he's recovering from surgery I can overlook the fact that he didn't get down on one knee.  ;-)

Make your guinea pig a harness and a bow.

And if you're a future PK, I guess you make Jesus on the cross out of Wikki Stix.  :-P  I can't believe he chose to make this.  He was really proud.  I guess we've been talking about Easter a lot.  Poor Jesus has a huge frowny face.  :-(  

A word of warning:  Just like commercial Wikki Stix...these can leave behind a residue.  If that happens, use a DRY paper towel to wipe it up.  At first I was really distraught about it not being completely mess-free and then I realized it's no harder to clean up than playdough or fingerpaint.  Sticking them on the windows kept Liliana entertained for 30 minutes and took me less than 2 minutes to clean up.

Crackers with my Cutie!

We've been in survival mode lately.  Jeremy has a hernia and is awaiting surgery, so all of the heavy lifting (both literally and figuratively) has fallen to me.  Not leaving me nearly as much time as I'd like to try new recipes or relax with a glass of wine and a stack of magazines.

Well, naptime today brought both!

I had intentions of enjoying the sunshine and chillaxing...and it lasted for about 20 minutes (a glorious, well deserved 20 minutes!)  Then it clouded over and Liliana decided there was no way she was laying down today.

So we made some whole wheat/oat crackers instead!

I love how she's been "posing" lately when you take out the camera!

I let Liliana do all of the measuring and stirring herself today.  She was delighted and squealed "I'M A COOKER!!!"  And of course it wouldn't be mother/daughter time if we didn't rock out to some Taylor Swift!  Liliana said "Mama!  Shake your hips like me!!!" and then wiggled her booty.  Priceless.

Here's the recipe we created:

• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 2/3 c. wheat germ
• 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 3 T. milled flax
• 1/4 c. melted butter
• 1/2 c. water

Mix together the dry ingredients, then add the wet and form into a ball.  Roll out on a floured surface and cut into squares.  Place on a baking sheet and then mist with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 9-11 minutes at 375 degrees.

We have been trying eat very few processed foods, but kids' snacks have been hard to switch over.  It's just so easy to pour some goldfish out of the box, but they're typically made with refined flour, not whole grain.  I feel great feeding these homemade crackers to my kiddos and they seem to enjoy them too!

Pretty and Printable Recipe Cards!

This project has completely consumed my last two weeks!  Remember this post two months ago where I said I wanted to make pretty, scrapbooked photo recipe cards for all of my recipes...it turned out to be a huge project!  Who knew we had so many favorite recipes?!?!  Instead of designing different cards for each individual recipe, I decided to make a template for each category, which cut down on a lot of time.

In any case, they're done!  For now.  Until I find a new great recipe tomorrow!  127 beautiful, photo recipe cards!

This is about half, the other half still need to be laminated.

Now I can cook wearing my pretty apron, using my pretty recipe cards, with my pretty daughter!  This makes my heart sing!

Making the Loaded Oatmeal Cookies...they turned out fabulous!!!

Being the kind, generous person I am (and humble too! :-P), here are the links to our recipe cards, ready to be printed.  If you want my original templates, so you can customize your own, send me an email.  I'll be happy to send them to you, I just didn't think they'd upload right.  Or go to this site and download free digital scrapbooking sets, and make your own designs!

Recipes

Appetizers-

• Puppy Chow
• Cucumber Sandwiches
• Cheddar Fondue
• Cocktail Meatballs
• Spicy Chicken Roll Ups
• Veggie Pizza
• Baked Chicken Taquitos

Dips and Spreads-

• Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Spinach Dip
• Vegetable Dip
• Gingerbread Dip

Seasonings and Sauces-

• Fajita Seasoning
• Pizza Sauce
• Steak Marinade
• BWW's Caribbean Jerk Sauce
• Taco Seasoning
• Alfredo Sauce

Beverages-

• Confirmation Punch
• Hot Apple Blast
• Jello Slush Punch
• Rhubarb Slush

Breakfast-

• Cinnamon Rolls
• Baked French Toast
• Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake
• Whole Grain Waffles
• Mom's Coffeecake
• Caramel Rolls
• Egg Bake

Breads-

• Country White Bread
• Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Bread
  
• Big Biscuits
• Lefse
• Zucchini Bread
• Tortillas
• Breadsticks
• Soft Pretzels
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
• Pizza Dough
• Homemade Pasta

Soups-

•  Potato Soup
• Wild Rice Soup
• Basic Cream Soup
• Cheddar Broccoli Potato Soup
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Bestest Hamburger Soup

Salads-

• Jackie's Coleslaw
• Oriental Coleslaw
• Olive Garden Dressing
• Potato Salad
• Orange Jello Salad
• Mandarin Orange Salad
• Cream for Lettuce
• Strawberry Mousse
• Tortellini Pesto Salad

Vegetables-

• Sweet Potato Fries
• Grilled Asparagus
• Crockpot Potatoes
• Baked Kale Chips
• Potato Wedges

Side Dishes-

• Rice-a-Roni
• Easy Cheesy Potatoes
• Bowtie Pasta with Broccoli Sauce
• Homemade Pasta Roni

Main Dishes-

• Cheeseburger Pie
• Creamy Burrito Casserole
• Wild Rice Hotdish
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• General Tso's Chicken
• Roast Sticky Chicken
• Sloppy Joes
• Japanese Chicken
• Grilled Pork Chops
• Peanut Butter Noodles
• Chicken Tetrazzini
• Cajun Pasta Alfredo
• Beef Stroganoff
• Jeremy's Special Chicken

Cookies and Bars-

• Scotcharoos
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate 'n' Oat Bars
• Sugar Cookies
• Monster Cookies
• Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
• Salted Nut Rolls
• Peanut Blossoms
• Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars
• Mounds Bars
• Cathedral Windows
• Nut Goodie Bars
• Peanut Butter Cups
• Rhubarb Oat Bars
• Lemon Squares
• Texan Cookies
• 7 Layer Bars
• Caramel Brownies
• Chocolate Mint Parfait Bars
• Fudge
• Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

Cakes and Frostings-

• Jello Poke Cake
• Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
• Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
• Marshmallow Fondant
• Buttercream Frosting

Desserts-

• Jello Cream Cheese Dessert (Slop)
• Apple Crisp (from scratch)
• Apple Crisp (from Jar)
• Pie Crust
• Strawberry Pretzel Dessert
• Strawberry Pie

Misc.-

• Avocado Beauty Treatments
• Fingerpaint
• Kool-Aide Playdough
• Laundry Detergent

Two notes:  

1.  These are OUR favorite recipes.  A lot are ones passed down from our family.  It's not meant to be a comprehensive cookbook by any means.  And I only made ones for the things I need recipes for (or reminders of what temperature to use, etc.) so we make a lot of other stuff not listed here. (This is for those of you thinking "She only has 5 vegetable recipes and a zillion cookie recipes!  What's that about?!!?!")


2.  Flickr was being weird.  I guess you can only upload 200 per free account...so some are on my account and some are on a one I created for Jeremy.  In case you were confused.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

No way!  It can not be this easy!  But it is.

Here's what you need:

And how to do it:

• Open paper bag.
• Pour in 1/4 cup popcorn.
• Fold edge over and tape.
• Put in microwave for about 2 minutes...watch like you would with store bought....mine only took 90 seconds.
• Season as desired.

Much cheaper and much healthier!  <3

Note- you can put a little salt and oil in the bag too before popping.  I was going for ultra-healthy and wanted to see if it worked with no oil, and it totally does!  Experiment away!

Homemade Tortillas

I usually only make tortillas from scratch if:

• We're out and I'm too lazy to go to the store.
• I'm insanely bored and have absolutely nothing better to do with my time.
• We're having friends over for Mexican night, and I feel like showing off my mad homemaking skills.

Otherwise I just buy them from the store because I really don't think homemade tortillas are that much better, cheaper, or healthier than store bought. 

Until...I started reworking the recipe to create my own flavored tortillas.  Holy cow yum!!!! 

This is the basic recipe I use:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup water (or so)


Throw the first four ingredients in the mixer until the shortening is crumbled in, then add enough water so it all comes together in a ball.  Separate out into 12 pieces and roll into balls.  Let rest for 20 minutes and then roll out thin on a floured surface.  Cook over medium high heat until brown spots start to appear (don't overcook!!!)  Put in between towels to cool slowly so they stay soft.

I experimented and made two different kinds this last time...whole wheat/flax and spinach/herb.

For the whole wheat/flax, I did half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.  Then I sprinkled in some milled flax seed (totally didn't measure, so use your judgment).  Easy peasy.  I cooked these at 300 on our griddle because I was told if you cook flax at over 325, it loses some of the nutritional goodness.

For the spinach/herb, I used entirely all purpose flour and then added in half a pack of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed of all liquid), fresh chopped basil and chives.

AMAZING!!!  Especially the spinach/herb ones!  I can hardly wait to try some other combos.  I love anything chipotle flavored, so I'm going to try that next...and maybe a tomato/basil one.  Endless possibilities!!!  It's safe to say we'll be eating a lot of wraps in the Johnson household over the next few weeks until the thrill wears off.

Rainbow Rice

Boys and girls are very different.  This isn't a new realization to me by any means.  :-P  But it was sooooo evidenced by today's activity.  Micah and I made a batch of rainbow rice last night (instructions below).  So I put out the rice in a tub for him to play with while I showered (Liliana was at preschool)....I come downstairs and he's using the kid sized pots and pans I had given him as "jails" for the "bad guy rice."  And the toy whisk was a "super spinner that sucked everyone into the vortex."  He went on for 15 minutes about the purpose of the toy spatula in the fight against evil but it all went totally over my head.  Silly me!  I thought he would have used the pans to bake pretend cupcakes.

(Update-  Oh way too funny!  Liliana just got home from preschool and went straight to the rainbow rice for the first time and was playing really nice, and I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm making a cake!"  Called it.)

So, Rainbow Rice.

It's super easy to dye rice and pasta and then way fun to use it for art projects and sensory tables! 

Get the BIG bag of rice from Sam's.  We got the 25 lb. one for $10 and dyed about half of it.  It seemed like a ton when we were doing it, but I'm going to go ahead and do the other half now because once it's poured into a tub, it really isn't much.

Micah was so totally pumped about digging his hands into the rice!

Scoop into ziplock bags.  Add food coloring (maybe like 7-10 drops) and a splash of rubbing alcohol.

Shake.

Lay out to dry.

Done!

The rubbing alcohol evaporates making the rice/pasta safe to play with...but while drying, your house will smell like your alcoholic Uncle Herb is visiting and on a bender.  Just a warning, so you don't decide to do this on the day your church Bible study is meeting in your home or anything.  ;-)  The scent goes away really quickly.

A note about sensory tubs-  You can use ANYTHING for a sensory table.  It doesn't have to be elaborate.  Put some water/rice/sand/playdough/beans....not all at the same time :-)....in any sort of container and you've got a sensory tub.  Our rule is that the kids have to sit in the kiddy pool while they play, so that helps contain the mess.  I also try to start out with just the plain filler (rainbow rice in this case)...then after they get bored running their hands through it, etc. I add in something new (pots and pans).  Later, I'll switch out the pots and pans for sand toy scoops, etc. to keep them interested as long as possible before switching to a different filler.

There is a ton of research about how important sensory activities are for kids!  Sometime I'll do a post about it because Liliana is a total "sensory-seeker" and I've been doing a lot of reading on sensory disorders and activities....but in the meantime, get creative and have fun!!!

Who Loves Lefse????

Not me.  It's just okay.  I'm ambivalent about it really.  I wasn't raised on the stuff (no Scandinavian roots here) but I understand that other people get insanely excited about it...my husband included.  And I aim to please.  So when our church offered a lefse making workshop a month ago, I was all over it.

They made it look so easy and it was really easy...when you had two experienced lefse makers standing right next to you, giving you step-by-step hints and instructions.  It's slightly harder on your own.  Especially if you let a month go by and can't remember what the heck you're doing!  But it all eventually turned out and it actually was a really fun way to spend an afternoon.  And my husband is delighted with me (more so with the lefse, I guess.)  So if you want to give it a whirl...here's how you do it!

First, you need some supplies:

Things you should have:

• Large Bowl
• Bath towels
• One cup measure
• 1/2 cup measure
• 1/3 cup measure
• One tablespoon measure
• Cookie Sheet
• Butter knife
• Dish towels

Things you might not have-

• Potato Ricer
• Grooved Rolling Pin
• 2 Lefse sticks (We only had one, and we made it work okay.)
• Griddle (They actually make lefse grills...for $100.  We used our pancake griddle and it worked fine.)
• Cloth covered top for rolling (We just stapled a pastry cloth to our wooden cutting board.  Worked great.)

Ace Hardware, Fleet Farm and Farm and Fleet all carry lefse making stuff (at least around here they do).  And it was WAY cheaper than buying online.  So check there first.

And the ingredients:

• 5 lb. Idaho Potatoes
• Lots of flour
• 1/2 cup plain Crisco
• 3 T. Salt

Here's how you do it:
1.  Peel the potatoes and cook.
2.  While hot, rice into the large bowl.  Then immediately mix in 1/2 cup shortening.
3.  Cover with a dish towel and refrigerate overnight.
4.  The next day, add in 3 cups of flour, 3 T. salt and mix well.
5.  Portion out with the 1/3 cup measure.  It should make about 2 1/2 dozen.
6.  Roll into balls (look for cracks and squeeze them together).  Put the balls on a tray that has flour on it so they don't stick.

Liliana was allowed to "help" with the ball making.  After that, we waited until naptime because she would have been a disaster with all of that flour around! 

7.  Allow time to warm.  At least 30 minutes or two cups of coffee is what we were told at the workshop.  :-)
8.  Make sure your cloth covered board is well, WELL floured.  (Recoat the board with flour often...you really can't use too much flour it seems.)  Put one of the balls on it and pat it down a little bit.  Coat it with a little flour and make sure it's round.  Then roll. 

Side-note:  I'm a bit of a perfectionist (that might be an understatement).  I won't even attempt something if I don't think I'll rock at it and hate when others see me fail.  So I start rolling out the first ball of dough, and it was an epic fail.  Epic.  It was squarish and had holes in it and was stuck to the board in spots.  Jeremy leans over and says to me, "Isn't it supposed to be round?"  Nice.  You can imagine the look I gave him while I shouted "YES AND MAYBE IF I WAS A 90 YEAR OLD NORWEGIAN WOMAN, IT WOULD BE!"  My mother-in-law chose that moment to walk into the kitchen to see how things were going and was promptly booted out of said kitchen until I managed to figure out what the heck I was doing.  I got better with practice.  

Look Jeremy...it's ROUND!!!

9.  This part is a bit tricky...you need to transfer the lefse from the board to the griddle.  This is where the lefse sticks come in.  It's easier to show than explain:

Put the stick on top, and flip the edge over.  It tears easily, so be gentle.

Turn the stick, rolling the dough around it.  Use a butter knife to follow along in case any parts are sticking.

The lefse should be wrapped up around the stick and you carry it over to your handsome lefse cooker.

Handsome lefse cooker than unrolls it onto the griddle.  The second it starts touching the griddle it gets really soft, so you have to do it kind of quick.

10.  The griddle should be set at 350 degrees.  Cook until light brown spots appear.  You have to flip it halfway, but that's easy...just put the stick underneath in the middle and flip it over.  Do not overcook or it gets crispy.

I rolled while Jeremy cooked.  It worked out really well this way.  I would not attempt making lefse with only one person

11.  Stack in a pile between bath towels (I bet you were wondering what those were for!)  The towels help it cool slower, trap in moisture and therefore prevents brittle edges.   

As they cool, fold them in fourths and stack as shown, so the edges cover each other up...which also keeps it from getting brittle.

 Lefse freezes really well.  We put ours four to a bag and froze most of it to take out for holiday gatherings.  Whatever wasn't immediately devoured by the family that is....turns out Liliana loves lefse just like Daddy!!!

Tomorrow's post...Lutefisk!  

KIDDING!  I draw the line at that one. 

Organizing Recipes

With all of the moves we have to do, we've done some serious downsizing.  The first thing to go were my cookbooks.  I never used them.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE trying new recipes...but why would I hang on to a whole shelf full of cookbooks when I can go online and find zillions of recipes that not only have pictures, but ratings and helpful comments with tips on how to improve the recipe? 

My favorite two recipe sites are All Recipes and Food.com (formally Recipezaar).  I usually search for something...like "baked chicken" and then when the search results come back, I sort it by "Most Popular" or "Highest Rating."  I rarely try a recipe unless it has 200+ reviews and it's 4 1/2 stars or better.  And before I make anything, I usually read through the "most helpful" comments to see if there is anything that needs adjusting.

The problem with this method, is that I often forget to bookmark a good recipe and then I have to try to find it again later, remember what I searched for and on what site.  So for awhile, I was printing off the recipes and shoving them in a photo album.

I'm less than thrilled with this method.  It just isn't pretty.  And I like pretty.  Then I ran across this blog, and she makes these ADORABLE digitally scrapbooked recipe cards that she gets printed like photos.  They're GORGEOUS and I'm in love.  But since I'm so picky about my recipes, I need to make my own. 

So that's my current project...taking photos of all of the meals I make, and creating a pretty recipe card for each of them.  It's going to take awhile, and I'm certainly not as good at it as she is...but here's one of them that I've done:

The scrapbook stuff is all courtesy of Shabby Princess....that site ROCKS!  I don't have any actual digital scrapbooking software...so I just use the graphics from Shabby Princess and put it together in a word document (as a 6x9 image so when it prints as a 4x6, it isn't pixely) and then save it as a photo.  So far, it seems to work really well!

Someday, far, far from now, when I get them all done and put them in a cute little recipe box, I'll post a picture of the finished product.  I wouldn't hold my breath.  :-P