Week 23 - Water bottle bubbles and multi-color volcanoes

In honor of school ending, I decided to have some fun things for the kids to do the last day of school for my son.  He is crazy about science, so I started with the multi-color volcanoes.  What kid doesn't like to watch something "explode" and bubble over?  Found this pin which led me to the blog Preschool Powol Packets.  We omitted the "sparkle" because I didn't plan ahead and get glitter.  :)  We took the small vase, cookie sheet, and ingredients outside to test it out. 

We started with one color at a time.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the foam bubble up as the color they chose.

After a couple times of that, they decided to mix colors to see what came out.  We had some interesting shades of brown and green.  The laughed each time at how the color mixed together, and even worked together on how to use the primary colors of food coloring that I had to make different colors.  Nice teamwork! :)

After that we moved onto the water bottle bubbles.  The pin was from the blog, Projects for Preschoolers.  I have to admit that I didn't check the blog out before making this project.  I just saw the picture on the pin and went from there.  I also just used bubble solution that I had at the house.  I had them each drink the small bottle of water first.  ( I have never seen my kids so motivated to drink plain old water!).  Once finished, I used one of our little razor knives from the tool box to cut out the circle in the bottom them gave them to the kids to have fun with.  I even made one for myself.  I discovered as my kids did, that it is a little more difficult that blow bubbles through a wand, but once you figure it out, it's not bad.  The kids loved how they were able to make big bubbles!

The kids enjoyed these fun little things that helped the afternoon pass by quickly!

Week 22 - Chocolate Surprise Cookies

This one is one that I thought was a little ambitious for me, but it ended up being way easier than I thought.  Or maybe I am actually getting better at this cooking thing? ;)  All week long I have been on pretty boring food diet due to having my wisdom teeth out last week, so I decided to further torture myself and make cookies that I should not eat.  It was really as part of my son's gift to his teacher for the end of the year.  So I even got a helper on this one!

The recipe I found on pinterest is actually from Martha Stuart's webpage.

I had Aiden help to measure, pour, and mix all the dry ingredients.

We followed the recipe, used the mixer (I even let him do a little mixing on his own.  We almost had a little wall decorating incident, but I stepped in just in time to bring the mixer back to into the bowl before turning it off.), and scooped it onto the cookie sheets.  I always use my little scoop that I have had for years from Pampered Chef to do this because it makes the perfect size (~1 tbsp) and pushes the dough out with a little squeeze of the handle.  This recipe made a little more than 24 cookies for me, but having too many cookies is never a problem around this house!  I put the two trays into the oven and even switched them halfway through like the recipe said.  Never knew that before!  I cut up the marshmallows and set them on after the first round of cooking then let them go for a little longer.  They were nice and tan on top when I got them out.  It was hard to resist taking a little taste (I LOVE roasted marshmallows!), but I did and let them cool.  We ended up having to go to church for dinner, so this gave the cookies plenty of time to cool. 

We came back, and I made the icing.  It was pretty easy assembly, I was just a little worried b/c it still seemed a little lumpy, so I added a little bit more milk (less than 1/4 cup) and it was somewhat better.  I used a spoon to put the icing on the cookies then let them set for about 15-20 minutes for the icing to set. 

The kids quickly approved of the cookies when they got their sample.  I tried one despite me knowing better.  While it tasted fantastic, the overload of sugar in my mouth made my gums start to hurt again.  I think it was worth it though!  I tasted one a couple days later, and it was still delicious!  The marshmallow somehow stays soft and gooey, and the cookie balances the sweet icing with a less intense and cakier chocolate flavor.  My son's teacher also made sure to tell me that she really enjoyed the cookies in her gift. :)

After tasting the icing and seeing how well it set, I thought I could use it on the donuts that I make with biscuit dough!  Will have to try and see. :)

Week 21 - Printable Candy Wrappers

This week I am brainstorming teacher gifts.  Everyone always thinks about their child's main teacher at holidays and the end of the year, but I also wanted to do something for the teachers that do Specials (PE, art, music, computer, and library) at my son's school b/c they work just as hard as everyone else, and probably get less attention as they are not as prominent in parent's minds.  I couldn't go crazy since there are 7 teachers and my budget is not enormous, but I wanted to give them a little something as a thanks for everything this year!  I googled teacher gifts and found these FREE candy bar wrappers (along with a lot of other cute stuff) at Parties and Patterns.  I simply purchased them (price was free) and downloaded them to print.  My Kroger (I practically live there, can't you tell?!) had the big candy bars (who doesn't love chocolate?) on deal, so I picked them up while doing some grocery shopping.  I then just cut out the printed wrappers, had my son address and sign them, then wrapped them around the bars, taped them (inside and out to avoid the bars slipping out), and they were good to go.  My son enjoyed handing them out the teachers the next day!

Week 20 - Skinny Greek Chicken Tenders

I have recently discovered Greek yogurt.  I had stayed away from it for awhile not wanting to try anything new when I liked my yogurt just fine.  Finally after discovering how much protein it had in it with no fat, I decided to give it a whirl.  I was happily surprised.  With some granola and honey added, it was just as good as my other yogurt, and much more nutritious!  After a couple weeks of looking at the recipe for the Greek yogurt chicken, I tried it out.  The pin on pinterest led me to the blog, Life of Meg. 

This was so easy to make, and the family loved it!  I used chicken tenders instead of breasts, so make it more finger food friendly for the kiddos.  I also just used the Kroger brand plain Greek yogurt (has more protein per serving than the other Greek yogurts I found). 
Everyone ate it up, and my husband even went back for more!  This will definitely go into our regular monthly menu.  It had such a good flavor, and the chicken was very moist too.  I also loved that I had most the ingredients already in my pantry/fridge so all I really had to buy was the chicken.  Highly recommend you try this one!