Preschool Part 4: Christmas Time and Letter L

I am on week 4 of my turn with preschool playgroup and I am loving it!  Only two more weeks after today and then I have to turn my 7 little cuties over to the next mom.

Today we learned about the letter L and for a snack we had...

Christmas "Lights"

 These beauties were made when I used my football shaped cookie cutter for the shape and then used one of my favorite things this month, a box of 6 colored sprinkles shakers.  Z thought they would have looked better if I would have used green for the bulb, but once again, I have a TON of red frosting in squirt bottles left over from Halloween!

 We also made these cute "letters" to Santa.  I saw  craft kit for something similar on Oriental Trading, but decided to make up my own template.  I bought some felt and pieced them together with the preschoolers.  We put a loop of ribbon on the top so that they can hang on the tree, or on a door knob, which is what Buddy did with his.

 And then we attached a ribbon on the back so that we could tie on a letter to Santa!

Turkey Kisses

This was my last week of Thanksgiving-themed preschool lessons, so of course we had to have a Thanksgiving feast!  Each preschooler brought a food to share.  We had olives, popcorn, cheese cubes, banana muffins, and cookies.

To celebrate the letter of the day, "K" I came up with these little gems,

"Turkey Kisses"

I bought some creme filled vanilla cookies, Hershey's kisses, and candy corns.  Then using all the left over frosting that I had from my Halloween bake-off, I attached them thusly.

When I made them again later, I gave them a little red waddle with the frosting to hang off of their kiss face and it looked even cuter.

 Pilgrim boys enjoying the feast

 And my two pilgrim girls

Aprons

It seems like I have sewed more these last two weeks than the last two years of my life combined!  But at least it was making some fun projects.  I don't know if it is because I love cooking so much, or if I just think they are so cute and fun, but I LOVE aprons.

So I sewed...

I sewed this one for myself.  After borrowing my sister's apron repeatedly during my cookie contest, I realized how much I love it and I got the instructions from her and made my own!  I love the fabric and the design.  I have been wearing it non-stop even when I'm not cooking!

 And because I was in such an apron-y mood, I bought some tea towels from the dollar store, sewed the corners down on one side, added some ribbon for the neckstrap and two ribbons for the ties and wrote the following poem:

"Hope these aprons will provide a way,

To keep your "little turkey" in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day!"

And I gave them to my preschoolers.  Afterall, "K" was the letter of the day and what better Thanksgiving word goes with "K" than "Kitchen"!

And last of all, I spent most of my time on this beauty.  My mom's birthday is next week and she had mentioned that she wished she had a pioneer apron to go over her pioneer dress for a handcart trek that she would be going on in the summer.  She has been going to meetings to plan this event and is expected to dress the part, so I thought I would surprise her by making an apron for her.  I used a cooking apron pattern, but lengthened it.  I certainly had to have a refresher on ruffles, tucks, gathering, and all kinds of different stitches and though it isn't at all perfect, I couldn't help but being proud.

Preschool, Thanksgiving, and The Letter "J"

This was week 2 of being in charge of Buddy's preschool and this week we were in charge of letter J.  What on earth can tie Thanksgiving in with the letter J?  Go ahead think of a word, I dare you, and no, "jam" doesn't count!

There isn't one, so we had to make our own tie in with Gratitude "Jars" filled with "jellybeans"!

Each preschooler glued the felt pieces together to make their turkeys.

This is what they looked like...

The poem attached says, "Here's my jar of gratitude, And with each jellybean I'll say, Something that I'm thankful for, As I countdown to Thanksgiving Day!"

I wrote it myself, did you know I was such an amazing poet?

The pieces are attached to a baby food jar filled with jellybeans.  The kids are supposed to say something that they are thankful for each time they eat a jellybean.

  It was amazing hearing my own kids count their blessings all week as they munched on jellybeans. 

And when we were done with the craft, we played some "Thankful Bingo".  I printed off bingo cards that I made using a 3x3 table and put pictures of items that 3 year olds would be thankful for.  Each card was different and the first child to fill up their card won a prize.  I don't think that any of these 3-year olds had played bingo before, and now that we're all so good at it, I will be taking them all to play Bingo at Fort Hall Casino next week, where we will also continue our study of Indians!

I got the idea for the turkey jar and the pattern for the pieces here.

Corn A'Plenty

It is my turn to teach Buddy's preschool class this month and today we were in charge of the letter "I".  Hmmm... what on earth could we possibly make or do that ties "I" in with Thanksgiving?

INDIAN CORN!

 I knew that those corn on the cob holders that we got for our wedding 10 years ago would some day come in handy.  I think that this may truly be the first itme they were used.

The day before buddy helped me measure all the ingredients to make the snacks.  We used the generic brand of Trix cereal and picked out all the yellow, red, and orange ones and threw in just a few purple and blue ones for a little color variation.

 They're a hit with the 3-year old crowd!

 But even the older kids think they're pretty cool.

 And while we're SNAFTING (snack crafting... that's right I just made up a new word, feel free to use it... just send a trademark payment of $50 post marked to me)... let's throw in a craft.  Gather up these supplies:  multi-colored pony beads (I like the see-through kind), yellow card stock, left over corn stalks, and some raffia.  You will also need some glue.

 Cut a corn cob shape out of the yellow cardstock, leaving a long stem.  Spread glue all over the corn cob.

 Let the kids place beads all over the surface of the corn cob.

 If you are too poor or too lazy to go get pony beads, just use your leftover cereal from the SNAFT.  Punch a hole in the stem of your corn cob and tie a piece of raffia.  Leave enough room that the finished indian corn can be hung from a door knob.

Glue on some leftover cornstock around the stem and hang your beautiful decoration!

And now, the recipe for the Indian corn on the cobbers.

INDIAN CORN SNACKS

4 tablespoons of butter

4 cups of mini marshmallows

5 cups of colored ball shaped cereal (I used a generic trix and sorted out the yellow, red, and orange)

Fruit Leather (we so happened to find green fruit roll-ups, thank you Shrek!)

Popsicle sticks

In a large pot, melt butter and mini marshmallows over low heat (about 5 minutes).

Remove the mixture from the stove and use a wooden spoon to stir in cereal. Allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes.

Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of the mixture around a Popsicle stick. Add fruit leather husks to the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed. Makes 15 treats.

*This recipe was inspired by this post on Disney's Family Fun website, however they made theirs with puffed corn cereal (Kix or Corn Pops) and mixed the cereal with diced dried fruit.  I didn't think my kids would eat the dried fruits that they used, so I made mine this way.  But theirs look totally cute also.  They also had a really cool indian corn cookie that I just noticed today.  You can check it out here!

Gnocchi, It's not Just the Cat on Curious George!

Ever since my kids started watching Curious George on PBS several years ago, I was curious about where the name of the cat, "Gnocchi" came from. (Ha! Curious George made me curious!)

After some research online, I found out that gnocchi are small dumplings that can be made from potatoes, pumpkin, ricotta cheese, or various other mediums.

We found a basic potato gnocchi recipe and tried it out.  It is now one of my favorite Fall comfort foods and a very fun recipe to bake together with the kids!  Best of all you can use your leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving dinner and give them a makeover into something delicious and inexpensive.

Seriously, doesn't this look SO good?

Start by making your dough.  The dough is about 2 cups mashed potatoes.  (If you don't know how to make mashed potatoes.... really you don't?...Well, then peel about 4-5 medium or 2-3 large potatoes, cut into small pieces and boil for 15-20 minutes.  Mash with a masher or in a food processor.  I, personally, dump the boiled potatoes into my Kitchen Aid mixer, whip them on high, and Voila! mashed potatoes.)  When the mashed potatoes have cooled, so that you don't cook the eggs, add 2 beaten egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups flour, and a pinch of salt.  I also like to add a tsp of thyme and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese for flavor.  The dough needs to be stiff enough that you can roll it into a long snake.  If it isn't the right consistency, keep adding flour until it is right.

Next, I let the kids roll the dough into long snakes.

Then cut into 1/2"-1" pieces.

Press each piece in the center with a fork.

Gather gnocchi together until it is ready to boil.

Boil for about 5-10 minutes in a large pot of salted water until all gnocchi are floating at the top.  Drain then toss with your favorite pasta sauce.  Ours is Ragu.  And if you want to be really fancy, sprinkle with cheese and a little bit of parsley flakes.  Parsley always makes our dinners extra fancy!

Gnocchi

Ingredients

2 lbs whole baking potatoes (10lb. bag for $1.99 = about $0.07 per potato) $0.35
2 beaten egg yolks ($1.84 per 18 = about $0.10 per egg) $0.20
1 1/2 cups flour ($1.54 per 5lbs or 19 cups = about $0.08 per cup) $0.20
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese ($4.29 per 8 oz. = about $0.10 per TBSP) $0.40
1 tsp. thyme ($4.29 per 0.37 oz or about 10 tsp= about $0.43 per tsp) $0.43
Pinch of salt (under $0.01) $0.01

Shredded Cheese ($2.99 per 8 oz or about 0.37 an ounce) $0.74
Your favorite pasta sauce $1.29 per jar = $1.29

Serves 5

Total Cost for Meal: approx. $3.62!!! or $0.73 per serving and those aren't even sales prices!

2nd Place!

I just found out yesterday that I won second place in the Nestle Toll House Baking Activity contest.  The prize is $1,000!  I am so excited that I am dancing all around my kitchen eating the leftover cookie dough from the extra ten packs my husband bought me "just in case" I needed to have some extra on hand during the duration of the contest!

Thanks so much to everyone who voted for me and supported me during this contest!  Now that the contest is over, I hope you will keep coming back to Chew and Chew.  I am bursting to share my Thanksgiving and Christmas time baking projects with you!

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Holiday Baking with Nestle Toll House

Easy Elegance: A Celebration of Desserts and Holiday Entertaining - [Nestle Toll House Diamond Walnuts]

Adding Sparkle to Romance since 2010

Is your husband lacking in the looks department. Are you looking for that missing "sparkle" in your love life? Then you need to bake yourself some Dracula's Dentures. Just look what it did for one satisfied customer...

Carol says this about her husband, whom she now refers to as "Mattward",

"And there he is, my own personal Edward. See how he sparkles in the sunlight? Just like the real vampire from the bestselling novels? Just. Like. I. Imagined."

So what are you waiting for, bake your Dracula Denture's today!

*Disclaimer: Not all husbands who try Dracula Dentures will actually look like Edward, or even sparkle (unless you put glitter in their shampoo and body wash, like I did to Z... don't judge me.)

Spooky Mac 'n Cheese

I have had such a busy week this week with the Nestle Toll House Baking contest and other personal ventures that I haven't had a lot of time for creative dinner pursuits. Some nights are just mac 'n cheese nights. And I personally think mac 'n cheese always tastes better with a hot dog involved, so we employed our old friend the hot dog octopus to give us a little spook in our dinner. I really don't know who is the first person to come up with the hot dog octopus, but I tip my hat to their genius.

Start with a hot dog and split in half leaving 1/2" at the top untouched.

Then split your halves in half. And then half those halves again until you have eight legs.
Microwave for 30-45 seconds and then plop that guy down right smack on top of your mac 'n cheese (any brand works great, made according to package directions). Don't forget to dab a toothpick in ketchup to give your little guy two spooky red eyes.

And there you have a quick, easy, inexpensive spooky dinner that the kids will eat!

I promise that once this contest is over I will post some more fun dinner ideas to make with the kids. Happy Halloween!

Interview with KIDK 3

The kids and I had so much fun with KIDK Channel 3 News reporter Tammy Harmer. She came out to our house and baked Dracula's Dentures with us. She was a good sport and made us look great! Thanks Tammy and KIDK 3 for all of your help. We had a blast!

And in case you have missed it, here is the link to vote on the cookies. You can vote once a day until Thursday October 28th at 10AM!


http://apps.facebook.com/nestlebakingactivity/contests/60612/voteable_entries?ogn=facebook

News Segment with KPVI Channel 6

Here is a segment I was able to do with Matt Davenport from KPVI News Channel 6. It was an amazing experience. I was able to go to their studios and create my Dracula's Dentures in their test kitchen. Matt Davenport and his crew were so friendly and helpful in posting my links to help me get some votes. Thanks KPVI!

Nestle Toll House Spooktacular Baking Activity Finalist

I found out Thursday that I am a top ten finalist for the Nestle Toll House Spooktacular Baking Activity for my "Dracula's Dentures".

It has been quite an amazing week as I got the opportunity to go to the KPVI News 6 studios on Friday morning at 6AM and bake my cookies in their test kitchen. And then on Sunday, KIDK News Channel 3 reporter Tammy Harmer came to our home and spent an hour with us baking cookies and interviewing me and the kids.

Baking and decorating these cookies over and over has really demonstrated to me how truly simple, inexpensive, and fun it is. The kids have had a ball and the cookies actually taste good too!

If you have a minute, please click on the following link, then click "Vote Now" and vote for Lori Fillmore's Dracula's Dentures. http://apps.facebook.com/nestlebakingactivity/contests/60612.viteabke_entries?ogn=facebook

I have been truly amazed at the support I have received from family, friends, my community, and facebook community. Thank you everyone!

Dracula Dentures

This was my entry for the Nestle Toll House Halloween Cookie Creation Contest. Cross your fingers for me!

DRACULA'S DENTURES

1 package Nestle Toll House cookie dough (24 cookie count)

Miniature marshmallows

Blanched Almond Slivers

Red or Pink prepared frosting

1. Bake Nestle Toll House cookies according to package directions. Let them cool completely.

2. Frost the bottom side of each cookie making sure to spread frosting clear to the edges. Cut each cookie in perfect halves. Place six miniature marshmallows on the perimeter of one half. Carefully, stack the other half of the cookie frosting side down onto the marshmallow half. Add two blanched almond slivers for fangs.

3. Model your dentures for your family and friends, then sink your teeth into them and enjoy!

Molten Chocolate Surprise

I have been dying to bake a lava cake ever since the kids got a free one from Dominos Pizza for their birthdays from school. I saw this recipe on Kraft Foods and had to try it. It was so worth it!

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE SURPRISE

4 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (the Kraft recipe actually called for 4 squares of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, but since I didn't have any, I made this substitution and it worked great!)

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup flour

12 CHIPS AHOY! Cookies

1/2 cup whipped topping, optional

1. HEAT oven to 425 degrees.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Beat whole eggs, yolks, sugar, and flour with whisk until well blended. Gradually beat into chocolate mixture.

3. Line 12 muffin pan cups with paper liners, spray with cooking spray. Place 1 cookie, upside down on bottom of each cup; cover with batter.

4. Bake for 8 minutes or until cakes are firm aroudn edges but still soft in centers. Cool in pan for 1 minute. Carefully remove cakes from pan, invert into dessert dishes; remove paper liners. Serve with whipped topping if desired.

BE SURE TO EAT THEM WHILE THEY ARE HOT OR THE LAVA CONGEALS... IT IS STILL GOOD, BUT I LIKE THE LAVA HOT! This would also be great with ice cream!

Walking Tacos

I love this meal as a fun and different spin on tacos. They are great for camping, as you don't need plates or utensils to eat them. Even when we eat these at home, I let my kids walk all over and eat them (just not on the carpet!)

WALKING TACOS

One package of Fritos per person

1 lb. ground beef

Cheese

Lettuce

Olives

Other garnishments as desired

1. Brown the ground beef and drain oil.

2. Open each bag of Fritos and have each person add the garnishments that they desire on their tacos. Give each taco a scoop of beef.

3. Fold over the top of the bag and shake well.

4. Eat with fingers right out of the bag or a spoon if it is too messy!

*You can also substitute the ground beef for chili if preferred.

Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuits

This is a quick, easy, and cost effective dinner that I KNOW all of my family will eat!

SAUSAGE, EGG, AND CHEESE BISCUITS

Sausage Patties (I use pre-cooked that are found in the frozen breakfast foods section at Wal-Mart)

Refrigerator Biscuits

Eggs

Cheese

1. Cook biscuits according to package directions.

2. While waiting for the biscuits to bake, cook or prepare sausage patties.

3. Crack 6 eggs into a bowl and whisk them together and pour into a heated skillet that has been greased with butter.

4. Cook the eggs like an omlette rather than scrambling. Allow to cook through on one side, then carefully flip. Cut the omlette into 8 segments (one for each biscuit).

5. When the biscuits have cooked, cut each biscuit in half and fill with a sausage patty, egg segment, and piece of cheese.

Jack-o-lantern Sandwiches

My mom bought these awesome cookie cutters that had a large pumpkin and then various cutters for different mouth and eye combinations for a jack-o-lantern.

She bought some orange bread that she found at a bakery and cut out different faces for each sandwich. They turned out so cute. I think green bread for some Frankenstein sandwiches would have also been so cute.

I would imagine that you could make your own colored bread with any homemade bread recipe by adding coloring to the dough.

These were a huge hit!

For a side garnishment, we used other Halloween shapes to cut out pieces of cheese. And a special shout out to Aunt K, who dipped Nutter Butters in white chocolate melts and added two little chocolate chip eyes to make the most adorable little ghost cookies. The kids loved it all!

Mini Jack-o-lantern and Mummy Pizzas

MINI JACK-O-LANTERN PIZZAS
English Muffins
Pizza Sauce
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Olives
Pepperoni
String Cheese
Other embellishments as desired (peppers, pineapple, Canadian bacon, etc.)

1) Halve and toast the english muffins.
2) Spread pizza sauce on each muffin half
3) Spread cheddar cheese for jack-o-lantern and make a face with the embellishments.
4) For a mummy pizza pull apart one string cheese and lay across the english muffin going the same direction, add olive slices for eyes.
5) Broil in oven until cheese is melted.

Mummy Dogs

I found this in the Family Fun Magazine years ago and it has been a Halloween time tradition in our house ever since.

MUMMY DOGS
1 pkg. hot dogs
1 pkg. refrigerator crescent rolls

1) Preheat oven according to crescent roll directions.
2) Open crescent rolls and cut into long thin strips.
3) Wrap each hot dog, leaving gaps sporadically.
4) Bake according to package directions.
5) Dab ketchup or mustard with a toothpick and apply two spooky looking eyes!

Watching what you Drink

My mom bought these cute "mad scientist" cups and stuck a fake eyeball in each one as a favor at the Halloween party. They were a huge hit. The kids want to drink everything in them now!

SPOOKY!

Spooky Halloween Cupcakes

These come courtesy of a cute snack craft my sister did with the kids at our annual Halloween party. Way to go Aunt R, the kids were thoroughly entertained and they turned out so cute!

Start with your favorite cupcake recipe and then frost as desired. R piped some green frosting on to look like grass.

Next, she whipped up a batch of fondant (though a great time saver is to buy some pre-made fondant at any craft store or even Wal-Mart). She colored the fondant in white, orange, black, and green. Then with a bucket of donut holes, the kids were set loose. They covered the donut holes with the fondant and used their creativity to come up with some spooky characters.

In addition to the ones pictured above, there were also witches, eyeballs, Frankensteins, ghosts, cats, skeletons, and spiders!