After School Snacks

The kids are ALWAYS famished when they come home from school. Always! Sometimes I just let them grab something from the SNACK bucket in the pantry, or a fruit, and sometimes I made them a snack to eat. It all depends on how much time I have and when we will be eating dinner.

Today I took 5 minutes and put together this plate of snacks for them when they came home from school. They gobbled it up in minutes. (It is amazing that they can put away so much food sometimes.)

 

A few days ago I had made some banana bread in mini loaf pans. I cut up the last loaf and spread it out on the plate. I broke apart some graham crackers and spread peanut butter on one side and then turned it into a little sandwich. That's it graham crackers and peanut butter- it kinda tastes like a quick and easy peanut butter cookie. Finally, I sliced up a green apple (somehow the kids developed a preference for green apples over the red- so that's what they got). 

Then it was done. They walked through the door... saw the plate, said hello and then I didn't hear much from them til there were only crumbs left on the plate and they were saying, "That was an AWESOME snack Mom!" (Mission Accomplished!)

Then it was time to do homework.

St. Patrick's Day Chalkboard

For my St. Patricks Day Chalkboard I wanted a large oval as a border. I didn't trust my free hand skills so I found a large platter that fit onto the board and then used the chalk marker to draw around it. 

 

After the main outside circle was drawn I erased a small part at the top and added a few embellishments and then a larger section at the bottom... added some shamrocks and more swirlies. I had intended to put more words in the circle. I started with the word blessed and had it hugging tightly to the shamrocks so that it would fit all the words, "We are not Lucky, We Are Blessed." Well after many attempts at the whole saying inside my circle I realized it wouldn't fit the way I wanted it to. I reduced the saying just to "We Are Blessed" and that meant that my spacing was a bit off. I almost started completely over, but the kids were gonna be home fro school soon and I had other things to get done... so it stayed.

 

Here's the link on how I made my chalkboard....Click here. 

Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Bears

Yummy treat... cinnamon bears. Their chewy cinnamonny sweetness! Awesome!
What could make them better? Ummm... duh! Chocolate! That brown gooey goodness makes everything better. The kids and I spent an hour or so making these little gifts for their school teacher.

Start with melted chocolate and a bag of cinnamon bears. You can melt the chocolate in a double boiler or an easier way is to do it in the microwave. Chocolate can burn easily so it is best to reduce the power of the microwave. Of course all microwaves are a little bit different so keep a close eye on the chocolate if it's the first time. I will microwave the chocolate for about a minute at a time at 60-70% power, stirring in between each interval. Then when most of chocolate is melted, I like to pull it out and stir it until the last few lumps melt so that the chocolate doesn't get tooo hot. When it's all ready, toss one of the bears into the melted chocolate bath.

Cover the bear up with a fork. Pick it up and tap it on the edge of the bowl and let the excess chococlate drip off back into the bowl.

Slide the bear off the fork onto a piece of parchment paper. Check to make sure that on the side where the bear slid off the fork it is covered up with chocolate.

The proceed to cover each little bear, one after another...

After all the bears had been dipped, for some fun I put the leftover chocolate into a pastry bag and drizzled it onto some of the bears. You could use a contrasting colored chocolate, white or some Wilton melts in any color to suit the holiday. This was just an easy way to add more chocolate to the bears.

I thought about only doing half the bear... but that was just crazy. Every part of the bear wants to be covered in the silky warm chocolate. It wouldn't be fair to leave out half of the bear.

After the bears take their warm chocolatly bath, it was time to let the bears cool off in a cool place (such as a refrigerator).... and then when the chocolate gets hard and set... you now it is time for the party in your mouth to begin! Mmmm.....

I put some chocolate covered cinnamon bears into the bag and then mixed them up with some plain cinnamon bears. I wasn't sure the teachers position on cinnamon bears. I thought... this way they'd have a choice... some with chocolate and some without.

I made a hand written tag using the Sale A Bration Stampin' Up set, which included the cellophane bags, the long striped tags the hexagon tags and the glittery heart stickers.

Valentine Boxes

Our School Valentine boxes this year... Jared picked making a purple minion and Samantha decided to make her own Olaf box. The openings for the valentines & treats to enter the box is the mouth on both boxes.

Making the boxes...

It was pretty simple to make the boxes. We just used an empty 12 can soda box. We put packing tape over the openings (the one to carry the box & also the corner one where the soda comes out) so the box would be flat and easier to cover with paper. It took about 4 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 inch papers to cover the box & they overlapped on the sides. We just used hot glue to hold the paper onto the box because it would dry quickly and hold strong. Once the boxes were covered, we were ready to embellish them.

Embellishing the boxes...

For the Purple Minion, we started by covering the bottom with some black to make the overalls. Two one-inch strips were put in the front and around to the back for the straps of the overalls. Next we moved to the top of the Minion. I cut strips of paper 3/4 to 1 inch wide, from 3 different shades of purple. Then we crimped the strips quickly and randomly by hand and covered the top of the box with the folded strips to make the Minions crazy hair.

Next it was time to add the eye. A stripe of black paper around the top that was about 2 1/2 inches big. I used a silver mason jar rim as the goggle. Then we put a circle piece of clear window sheets (from Stampin' Up). Punched a white circle that would fit the eye goggle and that was the back of the eye, followed by a black pupil and a purple half circle for the eyelid.

Last it was time to make the mouth. Using a craft knife, we cut the half circle for the mouth and then used white paper and cut out crooked teeth and glued those on.

Done! Ready to fill with many treats!

Olaf: Samantha basically made this on her own. After I covered the box, she used white cardstock to cut out pieces of Olaf's body. Black paper for the buttons and mouth. Brown paper for the stick arms, eyebrows, and crazy hair on top. She used a sharpie to draw on the face and a piece of orange paper for the carrot nose. After the face was drawn on, her Daddy cut out the mouth spot so that her Valentines would make it safely into the box. She put a square piece of paper into the mouth and glued it to the inside of the box, only on the top edge. This was to make sure the mouth was dark. She did an amazing job on it.

Candy Bowl

Check out this cute candy dish that I made years ago.
You need 6 things.

1. A Terra Cotta Pot
2. A Terra Cotta Lid
3. A Glass Ivy Jar (dollar store or craft stores)
4. Wooden Ball with a flat side
5. Spray Paint
6. E-6000 Glue
7. Felt, Circle

You start with a terra cotta pot & lid.
First I spray painted them white. Let the paint dry.
Then used masking tape and put stripes on the pot and taped off the tapered edge of the lid. And painted them red, plus paint the wooden ball red as well.
Once everything has dried, use the E-6000 glue to attach the ball to the bottom of the lid and to attach the Ivy Glass Jar to the bottom of the pot.
Cut a circle of felt that will fit into the bottom of the ivy glass jar so that it covers up the glue and the bottom of the pot. You can glue this in, or just put it down there. Voila! Done! Fill with candy and set it on the counter or give as a gift.
This can be made in various sizes... If you have a larger glass jar that you want to use, take it to the store, find a terra cotta pot that will fit and a saucer that will work as a lid. Then proceed as normal. You can also vary the way you paint them. Endless possibilities.

Turkey Magnet

Want to make a cute little paper turkey to put on your fridge. Or without a magnet, you could attach it to a small gift. They're just so cute. Everyone loves them.

I just use the simple flat magnets. I've even saved the flat advertisement magnets that come in the mail and then will tear the paper off of them, cut them up and glue them on the back of paper crafts I've made so they can stick to the fridge.

Here's a larger Turkey. It uses the scallop circle punch that is 2 3/8 inches to make all the feathers of the turkey. Punch out a variety of scallop circles from a variety of orange, yellow, red, brown, tan, etc paper/cardstock. Paper will be more flimsy and the cardstock will make a more sturdy turkey. But either way they are adorable. The body of the turkey is a 1 3/4 circle punch. The head of the turkey is the 1 3/8 inch circle punch. The buttons on the body of the turkey are made using a 1/4 inch circle punch. The hat is from a black piece of scrap cardstock.  The beak is just a simple triangle cut from orange. You can punch a small square and cut it in half, if you wanted to make sure they are all consistent. Finally the feet, you can punch out the large flower from the Boho Blossoms flower punch. Then cut out a piece that only utilizes the 3 little toes. Eyes are googly eyes.

Here's a slightly smaller Turkey. It uses the scallop circle punch that is 1 3/4 inches to make all the feathers of the turkey. Punch out a variety of scallop circles from a variety of orange, yellow, red, brown, tan, etc paper/cardstock. Paper will be more flimsy and the cardstock will make a more sturdy turkey. But either way they are adorable. The body of the turkey is a 1 3/8 circle punch. The head of the turkey is the 1 inch circle punch. The buttons on the body of the turkey are made using a 1/4 inch circle punch. Use the 1/8 inch circle punch in black to make the little eyes. The hat is from a black piece of scrap cardstock.  The beak is just a simple triangle cut from orange. You can punch a small square and cut it in half, if you wanted to make sure they are all consistent. Finally the feet, you can punch out the large flower from the Boho Blossoms flower punch. Then cut out a piece that only utilizes the 3 little toes.  

1.  Gather your supplies for the turkey and punch out the pieces. Begin to assemble.
2. Using the scallop circle put 5 together and over lap them slightly. This is the back layer of feathers.
3. The second layer of feather is 3 scallops. 
4. Put them on top of the previous 5. 
5. The third layer of feathers is optional depending on how many layers you want. Take one scallop circle and cut it into 4 pieces. 
6. Put them on top of the 3 previous scallop circles
7. Attach the body, head, eyes, beak, hat, buttons, and feet.
8. Add a magnet to the back and you are Done!

Because you are using punches. They really are super simple to make. You can make a bunch in a small amount of time. Gather your supplies and start punching & gluing away. With Thanksgiving only a few days away, these are a great last minute paper craft to add a cute little touch to any Thanksgiving day get together. 

How to Brine (& Roast) a Turkey -- with things you already have in your home!

Can you believe it's going to be Thanksgiving next week. I was realizing how close we are to Thanksgiving and that we should talk about the amazing results are of a turkey that has been soaked in a brine. I typically use a very simple salt and sugar brine. I've seen some pretty interesting combinations of stuff put into the brine solution.

Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. The turkey. I've read that it is best to only brine a fresh turkey (one that has never been frozen) because the kind that have been frozen tend to have a salt solution injected into them to help preserve juiciness. I've brined a frozen turkey using this method and never had an issue with the meat being too salty. I always make sure to rinse it well and it has always turned out well.

The first time I ever attempted to brine a turkey, which was about 7 or 8 years ago, I didn't have the brining bags. I have used a variety of methods to soak the turkey in a brine and find that two clean trash bags work wonderfully if you don't have a brining bag on hand (like this one pictured from Williams Sonoma). They sell a set of 4 bags for $17.95. 2 small ones for a 5 lb chicken and 2 large ones that will hold up to a 23 pound turkey. And let me just say, once you start brining, you probably won't go back. It makes the breast of the turkey soooooo moist. Even the leftovers on the next day are still moist. It is A-MAAAAZING! But if you don't want to buy bags right away for your first time, then you can use a couple of regular tall kitchen trash bags.
 

Here's my cute little Tom turkey, in a bag and waiting for the brine to be added. It has been thawed (which was done in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 days prior to the day before Thanksgiving at no higher than 38 degrees Fahrenheit.), the innards were all removed, it has been rinsed, and then set into two large clean trash bags. For the brine I used a large 5 gallon jug or bucket and mixed all the stuff together. You can use a large pot or other container that will hold all the ingredients. 

 {{The first time I made a brine I didn't have a super large container for the brine so I just used a one gallon pitcher, added the sugar & salt, mixed it as well as I could, then put it into the trash bag, without the turkey, then added the rest of the water needed to cover the turkey. Then added the turkey. It worked wonderfully.}}

Some brines you have to cook and then wait for them to cool, but this one is simple. You take 2 cups of kosher salt (table salt will work too), 2 cups of white granulated sugar, and 2 1/2 gallons of cool water (not hot because you don't want to warm up your turkey and not cold because then the salt & sugar won't dissolve as easily). These are the ratios for a turkey that weighs about 12 -14 pounds and if your turkey is bigger then you will need a bit more water, salt and sugar. Keep it proportional... for every 1/2 gallon more of water add a 1/3 cup more salt and sugar. Stir the ingredients together.

It is important to keep your turkey cool while it brines. You don't want to just store it on the counter because it will get too warm. It needs to be kept cool. I can never store my turkey in the fridge during the holidays while it is brining because there is never enough room. I always have a bunch of pumpkin pies and other yummy holiday food crammed in there. You want to brine your turkey for about 4-6 hours minimum, but I usually start it at night before bed (10, 11 or midnight- depending on how much other stuff I still have to do before going to bed) and let it brine over night... for about 8-10 hours. 

You'll want to calculate backwards from when you want your turkey ready to serve. Here's an idea:

1. Serve the Turkey at 1 PM.
2. Remove Turkey at 12:30 to let it sit and rest for about 15-20 minutes before carving.
3. A 12-16 pound turkey, that is unstuffed, will take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to cook. 
4. Between 9-10 AM you will want to have the bird in the oven. 
5. 8:30 AM start dressing up the bird with whatever spices, butter, etc that you've chosen. 
6. 8 AM pull the bird out of the brine, rinse, let it soak in water for 15 minutes, rinse again. 
7. 11 PM the night before, start brining your bird, and it will be soaking for about 9 hours.

I've found a fantastic way to keep it cool and not take up space in the fridge. Use a cooler. First I layer some ice cubes in the bottom of the cooler, then I put my trash bags in the cooler, add the turkey, and add the brining liquid.

You'll want to remove the excess air so that the liquid is covering up the turkey and then seal up the bags. I used a small zip tie. It was effective and strong at keeping it closed, but you can use whatever you can find.

I noticed that my turkey would float to the top of the brining water and I wanted to keep it submerged. So after it was sealed up, we added a small bowl to the top so that when we close the lid on the cooler, it would push the turkey down fully into the liquid.

Finally we wanted to keep the turkey cool so we added ice cubes all around the turkey in his little salt bath. Closed the lid and came back 8 hours later and it was ready to start the roasting process.

This is a very important step. Rinse the turkey well. You want to get rid of any excess salt. Rinse the outside of the bird and use your hand to rub off salt. Make sure you rinse out the inside of the bird well as well. Then fill up the sink full of cold water and let your bird soak in the cold water bath for about 15 minutes. Then drain the water and rinse him again.

Pull the bird out of his bath and pat him dry with some paper towels. Let him rest on a clean dry towel to allow any excess water to drain out while you prepare your other ingredients for roasting.

Then he is ready for you to start roast. Everyone has a preferred method of roasting. Breast side up or down. High heat then low heat, only low heat, in a bag, or in a roaster. There are lots of ways. I've used multiple methods.

There's a simple Roasting method included here.

Start preheating your oven to 425 degrees. All you need is butter, some pepper and low sodium chicken broth. After the turkey has been rinsed let it sit and drain any excess water. Pat dry with paper towels. Mix 5 tablespoons of softened butter with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Rub this butter under the skin of the turkey, next to the turkey breast. Then take the 3 tablespoons of melted butter and brush that on the skin. The turkey is cold so it will solidify the butter. I sprinkled a little more pepper on top of the skin as well. (Then I stuffed some celery stalks, onion quarters and some carrots into the cavity of the bird. It wasn't stuffed full, just some vegetables to add some extra flavor.) Then in the bottom of your roasting pan, pour in the low sodium chicken broth to use for basting and to keep things from burning in the bottom of the pan.

Put the prepared turkey into the 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25 minutes. Baste and then rotate the roasting pan in the oven. Bake for an additional 25 minutes and then baste it again. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue to roast, baste and rotate the pan every 30-40 minutes. It will only need about an hour to an hour and half more (if it is about a 12 pound turkey). Keep cooking the turkey until the breast reaches an internal temperature of about 170 degrees and the thigh meat is 180 degrees. Pull out the turkey and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before carving. 

{{Brining & Roasting A Turkey}}

Click here for printer friendly version

2 cups Coarse Kosher Salt

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 gallons cool water

1 (12 -14 pound) fresh, whole, bone-in skin-on turkey, rinsed and patted dry

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup low sodium chicken broth, wine or water

      

To Brine: Combine Kosher Salt and sugar in cool water in a large, clean stockpot or 5 gallon jug until completely dissolved. Place the whole turkey in the brine until completely submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours minimum (or cover with ice in a cooler) and up to 8-12 hours. Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse inside and out under cool running water for several minutes to remove all traces of salt. Fill up a sink of cold water and let the turkey sit in the water for about 15 minutes. Drain water, rinse inside and out again then pat dry with paper towels.

To Roast: Mix the softened butter with the pepper. Place turkey on rack in roasting pan. Rub the seasoned butter under the skin. Brush the skin with the melted butter. Pour the 1 cup liquid (wine, broth or water) over the pan bottom to prevent drippings from burning. Roast turkey at 450 degrees F for 25 minutes, baste and then rotate the roasting pan. Continue roasting until the skin turns golden brown, an additional 25 minutes; baste again. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F; continue to roast, basting and rotating the pan once about halfway through cooking, until the *internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F for turkey breast meat and 180 degrees F for turkey thigh meat. Remove the turkey from the oven. Let stand 20 minutes before carving.

Happy Brining! Have a Happy Holiday!