No-fry potato doughnuts

These are very yummy, and the hardest part is having some extra mashed potatoes ready to use. This is how easy the dough is to work with:
Princess rolled and cut out a whole pan by herself while I was feeding Snuggle-bug!

Speedy helped, too. :) Honey had to be distracted from snitching dough.

Let me know if you'd like the recipe, and maybe I can get it added later.

Winter Wonderland

We haven't done a lot in the way of school and activities lately, but I'm trying to get back in some kind of groove! We had some snow last week, so made Winter W's. I also brought a dishpan of snow inside for the kids to play with in the sink. We made a snowball and put it on a plate to see what happened, then the kids got spoons out and chowed down. Silly me, I thought they'd mush and mash it. We read 'The Snowy Day' by Ezra Jack Keats.

This week we tried salt-water painting. It was supposed to leave crystals on the paper as it dried, but it flopped. I must not have put enough salt in it!
Then we made some snow-dough. (I'll put the recipe at the bottom of the post.) I halved it, and I'm not sure what happened, but it was about like playing with mashed potatoes. Really sticky ones.

So we added flour. Honey ate some and made a face. Who wouldn't? It is cornstarch, salt & water. You can't tell that she already had blue around her mouth from eating a crayon. And she kept licking and eating the dough. We do feed this child, in case you had doubts!
The flour helped, and it was finally something we could work with. I don't think the kids minded the sticky mess at all, and enjoyed kneading their flour in. And silver glitter. I think next time I'd use some of the white/iridescent glitter instead.
He's not called Speedy for nothin'--look at those hands go! :) (I'm still working on getting the photos I want.)
Some of Princess's finished products--she left them out to dry. And after supper Speedy proceeded to poke fingerprints in most of them and mash the snowman down. Grr.
Some of the books we read:
Tracks in the Snow was very cute; Names for Snow was not up my alley. The names were like 'harmonica, when it whistles in the trees,' etc. Hibernation and Migration were very simple, but covered a LOT of different animals that hibernate and migrate!

More books:
Three Snow Bears is a take of Goldilocks; Katy and the Big Snow is a classic the kids love; SNOW is a new favorite, very simple, but they like repeating the words.

We sang a couple songs about what animals do in winter.

Here's the mashed potato, I mean snow-dough recipe:

SNOW DOUGH
calls for melted snow water, but you can substitute tap water. :)

1. Mix 1 1/3 cups snow water with 2 c kosher salt (I just used table salt, same thing??) and bring to a boil. Simmer several minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

2. Mix 1/2 c snow water with 1 c cornstarch (this makes a very interesting, not quite solid, not quite liquid combo) and add to salt water. Stir well, then let cool. Store snow dough in an airtight container.

3. For extra shine, add silver glitter to dough. Pound flat and make cookie-cutter shapes, or sculpt snow creatures. Dough will harden within 36 hours. (but not fast enough to keep little brother's fingers out of it...)

In the kitchen

I don't know if it's the time of year, or 2nd trimester nesting, or just feeling better after my sinus/ear infection, but we've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen! Here are my three little helpers, ready to help roll out pie crust. First there was one, then two, then the littlest one carried a chair over to stand on as well. Cute, but where am I supposed to stand?? Here was our finished cherry pie--there wasn't quite enough dough for a top and bottom crust, and I didn't feel like making more, so I used a play-do cutter to make these shapes. Not blue-ribbon worthy, but I thought it worked out pretty well!
We've also made apricot jam (with apricot pulp ready to go from my Grandma); salsa; and today tackled crabapple jelly. I've never made it before, thankfully the crabapples were the biggest I've ever seen, so it wasn't too bad. I didn't have any cheesecloth to squeeze the juice from, so used an old clean T-shirt cut into a square. Then for the first time, I tried a hot water bath to seal the jars so I wouldn't have to put them all in the freezer...and it worked! Yeah! Now I have a 5-gallon bucket of apples and some pears to mess with...

More Sewing??

I'll be the first to admit that my projects don't exactly have the 'wow factor,' but, really, I've had so much trouble with my machine and cutting or sewing straight, that I'm excited to finish anything! These are both with some leftover fabric my friend gave us.

A Thomas the Tank Engine pillow for Speedy! I've had the stuffing since last spring when I picked it up at a garage sale, so I'm always happy to use up some of my stash! Speedy loved the pillow, but tonight was asking where his 'Thomas blankie' was. Sorry, honey, that's what I used to make the pillow!! (He was talking about the fabric.)

A Care Bear blanket for Princess--as if Care Bear fabric itself isn't cool enough, the white parts glow-in-the-dark! I used a piece of flannel-ish material for the back. Sewed the wrong sides together, flipped it right-side-out and stitched around the edge again. I sewed around a few of the moons to hold it in place (it doesn't have batting in it or anything.)

Thanks for humoring me by reading this post. :)

holiday crafts

Here are some of the holiday crafts we've made lately, nothing profound...

Shamrocks (PAT library day): we rolled a marble in paint; then rolled it on a shamrock; then glued on the shamrocks. Egg carton critters: styrofoam egg cartons, permanent marker, pipe cleaners and a feather. Ladybug, chick, caterpillar. Not shown: rabbit and turtle with retractable head. :)

Milk jug bunny easter baskets, from Family Fun magazine. We stapled on cardboard ears; used permanent marker to add face details; glued (tacky glue) on eyes and nose.

and a little more today...

So there's another little girl in PAT with the same birthday as Honey. Found out today that her mom went to school with Hubby K-4th grade. Funny! Not as funny: last night I couldn't find my toothbrush. I had 2 suspects in mind, woke one up and he hadn't moved it. The other had spent a little too much time in the bathroom before bed. She (Princess) was the guilty party, I found out this morning. She had 'hidden' my toothbrush in a different cabinet. So I've got 2 girls working against me--one who thinks it's funny to hide things, and the other who just likes putting things in crevices and trash cans. Scary.

I thought it'd be a fun time to post some of our favorite/most used recipes, so here's a start:

Peanut Butter Snack Mix

Melt 1/4 c margarine, 1/3 c PB and 2T brown sugar on stove.

Stir well. Pour over 7c of bite size cereals and mix well.

Bake on cookie sheet 45 min or so at 250 degrees.

Let cool on wax paper. Add m&m's and raisins, if desired.

CORNFLAKE TREATS

½ c light corn syrup

¾ c sugar

½ c peanuts (optional)

¾ c peanut butter

½ tsp vanilla

2 c cereal (we often add more)


Mix corn syrup and sugar in large saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts, peanut butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Fold in cereal flakes until completely covered. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on waxed paper. Refrigerate 5 min. or longer before serving. Serve at room temperature. Makes about 30.

LASAGNA BAKE Freezer-tested; Kid-approved

1 lb. Ground beef

¼ c chopped onion

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper, divided

1 lb medium shell pasta, cooked and drained

4 c shredded mozzarella, divided

1 carton (24 oz) small-curd cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 c grated parmesan

2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes

1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce


Cook beef & onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Sprinkle with salt and ¼ tsp pepper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine pasta, 3 c mozzarella, cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, and remaining pepper; stir gently. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 or shallow 3-qt baking dish (or two smaller dishes—then put one in the freezer to cook another day!) Top with the beef mixture and spaghetti sauce (dish will be full). Cover and bake at 350 for 45 min. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered, 15 min longer or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 10 min before serving. Makes a LOT!

YEASTED WAFFLES

1 ¾ c milk

8 Tbsp butter or margarine, cut into 8 pieces

2 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp instant yeast

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract


Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over med-low until butter is melted. Cool until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add to batter and whisk until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours. (or less, it just gives it time to rise). Heat waffle iron. Whisk batter to recombine. Bake according to waffle iron instructions. Makes four 9-in squares or seven 7-in round waffles.

Laundry Detergent (NOT edible!)

1 bar ivory soap, grated

1 c Borax

1 c baking soda (or washing soda, they're not the same thing, but I've tried both)


Mix together; use 1-2 Tbsp per load of laundry

It's too late tonight, but maybe next time I'll get the play-do recipe I use on here. :) And I see that this shows up on the blog all condensed, not nice and neat like the preview shows. Something to tinker with later, sorry!