Chocolate Covered Banana Slices: An Easy Ice Cream Alternative

Recently I've been trying to eliminate dairy from my diet (temporarily) because of MSPI.  After watching the other four members of my family indulge in ice cream for dessert, I resolved to find something I could enjoy alongside them.  The frozen chocolate-covered bananas that I used to order at Swensen's Ice Cream shop in Thailand were becoming quite an unfulfilled craving.  How I wish Dairy Queen would carry them!  But recently I found a bite-sized dairy-free version at Trader Joe's (imported from Thailand no less!).  So I splurged and bought this box:

Then I made a more budget-friendly version at home, with the following results:

To make about 8 ounces of banana bites costs less than a dollar, versus $1.99 for the store-bought version.  While the Ghiradhelli dark chocolate chips I melted are not entirely dairy-free (since they contain milk fat), vegan chocolate chips cost twice as much.  Hopefully our fourth child will not notice any small trace of milk.

 For more dairy-free ideas, I also have a list of 7 Surprisingly Good Ice Cream Alternatives.

I'm linking this post to Pennywise Platter and Try New Adventures Thursday.

Speckled Snowflake Cards

Supplies Used:

• White paper snowflakes
• Tape
• Cardstock
• Blue paper
• Purple Koolaid "spray paint"
• Spray bottle
• Watercolor brush
• Watercolor paint set
• Water
• Glue stick

How we made the designs:

1. Fill a spray bottle with unsweetened colored Koolaid mix and water (or use food dye).
2. Lightly tape a snowflake onto cardstock.
3. Spray lightly with Koolaid dye.
4. Throughly wet a paint brush and use an index finger to flick a coordinating color of watercolor paint onto the snowflake and background, creating a splattered paint effect.
5. Allow snowflake to dry before removing it from the background.
6. Glue the snowflake onto a contrasting paper background.

This project was inspired by the following:

• Watercolour Spray Inks
• Watercolor Cross Cards
• DIY Pick Up Sticks Game: Colored Chopsticks

Find more fun ideas at Show & Share Saturday at I Can Teach My Child.

The Snowflake Stomp: A game to learn sight words and more!

We developed this snowflake word game last winter.  Today's frigid temperatures prompted me to set it up again for my 4-year-old son, who is now a pre-reader, and likes to move.

How to play:

1. Set up the snowflakes and secure with tape.   Decide what version you'd like to play--sight words, letters, pictures or numbers.
2. Call out or say a phrase that includes one of the words/ targets.  The child should step or stomp on that snowflake.
3. After he or she has stomped on all of the targets, ask the child to choose a target word/ letter/ number and stomp on it.  Or the child can be a "caller" to instruct someone else where to stomp.

Helpful tips and options:

• Tape page protectors lengthwise so that the opening is available to slide paper flashcards in and out. 

• If using zipper bags, tape around the edges except for the opening, so you can insert and remove what is inside. 

• Electrical tape or masking tape are probably superior to painters tape, which we used.

• If your tape is not sticky enough, reinforce it with clear packing tape.

• At first we wrote on the plastic with wet-erase overhead markers.  The ink rubbed off after playing the game, so I switched the text to paper flashcards placed under the clear plastic. 

• We taped our plastic covered "snowflake quilt" onto a fleece blanket, which can be folded and reused, but you can also tape the snowflakes onto the floor/ carpet directly.

I'm linking this idea to Show & Share Saturday , Show and Tell and It's Playtime.

More snowflake-themed activities:

Snowflake Flying Disks
Snowflake Window Clings
Crystal Snowflake

A Time to Finish and Keep Things Simple

0ur holiday travels ended last week and we are finally starting to get back to a more normal routine with school resuming again.  Meanwhile, I'm wondering how much I can accomplish before baby number four arrives (later this month?)!

Being realistic is not a strength of mine, but goals do help me stay a little more focused.  My main goals for this month (and beyond) are simple: to finish things that I've started and to let go of what is not essential.  Here are 10 things this procrastinator needs (or wants) to do between now and whenever Baby Blueberry arrives:

1. Clean and declutter the whole house.  Yes, it's an audacious goal, but it will make life so much better when it's done.
2. Pack my bag for the hospital.
3. Sort through the baby clothes I've been given.  I am so thankful for generous friends who've stepped forward to meet that need!
4. Turn in hospital paperwork.
5. Finish putting away Christmas decorations.
6. Purchase and prepare supplies for MOPS creative activities this month and next.
7. Plan a dairy-free menu for the rest of the month.  One of the midwives I saw advised me to cut out dairy now in an attempt to avoid another colicky baby with MSPI.
8. Finish several books I've started to read.   I'll put them in my hospital bag in case I don't finish them all before arrival day.
9. Make breakfast foods ahead of time.  On my list: granola, muffins, maybe waffles...
10. Cook a meal with my daughters.  We will use recipes from a book I found at the library, Wrap-N-Bake Egg Rolls: And Other Chinese Dishes.

After making progress on these high-priority items, I'm looking forward to doing some fun things too, like scheduling some craft projects to do with my kids.  And since the weather is supposed to get cold again soon, we can do several out-of-the-ordinary winter activities that we enjoyed last January.

I am linking this to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday.

No Baking Powder? 10 Recipes You Can Bake Anyway

When we go to Canada in the summer, I enjoy using a spacious kitchen for a change.  But since we can only stay for a couple of weeks at most, we try to stock the pantry very simply.  This past summer I purposely did not buy baking powder, so as to curb my tendency to go overboard with baking projects.  Another reason I chose to do without baking powder is that it is significantly more expensive up north than in the U.S.  Still, I managed to find a number of new recipes to try.  And while my husband was urging me to get outdoors and use my sketchpad, I was scheming which recipe to try next.

In everyday life, I do keep baking powder on hand.  But if I happen to run out of it, I would rather not pile everyone into the minivan and make a special trip to the store.  Instead I can opt to bake something that doesn't require baking powder.

Here are 10 kitchen-tested ideas:

1. Farmer Cupcakes
After a failed batch of yogurt, I was able to salvage and use the liquid whey in place of buttermilk.  These were a delightful, not-too-heavy version of pound cake.

Cupcake Recipe:

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1-1/2  c. flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup liquid whey or buttermilk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

To softened butter add sugar and eggs, blending well.  Add vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix whey or buttermilk with baking soda.  To egg mixture add 1/2 cup flour and salt, blend, then add part of whey/buttermilk; continue alternating additions and blending until all is added, ending with flour.

Pour batter into paper-lined muffin cups and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until cupcakes test done with a toothpick.  After cupcakes have cooled, frost as desired or enjoy plain.

2. Date Squares
Widely available on the local menus of St. Joseph Island, my Canadian grandmother introduced me to her homemade version many years ago.

3. Banana Bread
I prefer plain yogurt instead of the sour cream that most recipes call for.

4. Gingerbread muffins
Loaded with mineral-rich molasses, these muffins are also a great way to use up sour milk.

5. Zucchini brownies (which can be made into Penguin Cakes)

6. Apple Crisp
Fruit crisps are among my husband's favorite desserts.  And they're easier than pie!

7. Baked Rice Pudding
I like to eat this after it has cooled and chilled.

8. Oatmeal cookies
If I'm running low on butter (which is pricey up in Canada) and have plenty of almond butter, I substitute half almond butter for real butter.

9. Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
Also known at Snickerdoodles, this recipe only calls for baking soda.  Furthermore, these are one of my husband's very favorite kinds of cookies.

10. Pumpkin Spice Snaps

Recent Christmas Crafts for Moms and Kids

This fall I took on two new roles.  First, I became the creative activities leader for our new MOPS group at our church.  Second, my husband and I have been filling in to teach Sunday School to five-year-olds.   I'm still learning and working on how to get the timing right when it comes to preparing and executing crafts for a group.  But turning ideas into a finished product remains a fun and inspiring pursuit.

Here are some of the projects we've done so far:

`Seven Bean Soup and Gingerbread Cookie Mixes
 (for MOPS moms)

We ate our soup last week, so I just have the cookie mix left to show.  The soup recipe was adapted from this Lucky Bean Soup recipe from Taste of Home.  I halved a gingerbread cookie recipe from Martha Stewart's website.  We put the dry ingredients in plastic bags, then put that in paper sacks, and tied it up with a ribbon.  Moms then had the option of giving the mixes as a gift to someone else, or keeping theirs to make with their family.

When it's time to make the cookies, one has to add butter and molasses. One of the moms said that the cookie dough turned out well, save needing a bit of extra butter.    Soon I hope my kids and I can try making some gingerbread cookies of our own!

Paper Sleighs
(for MOPS moms)

The sleigh pattern came from About.com, though I made a few modifications.  Below are the steps we followed.

WINTER SLEIGH ASSEMBLY

1.  Trace and cut out 2 sides and bottom of sleigh.

2.  Decorate edges of sides with metallic marker.

3.  Fold tabs of sleigh bottom inward.  Curve to follow the shape of sleigh.

4.  Carefully glue tabs to insides of sleigh, holding until mostly dry.

5.  Optional: Add seating.

6.  Decorate with ribbon and fill with any of the following: nuts, small gingerbread people, photo cutouts of kids in winter attire, tea etc.

 Christmas Birth Announcements
(for 5-year-olds to make)

My husband and I are delighted to be using the Children Desiring God kindergarten curriculum with the kids in our class on Sundays.  The idea to make a birth announcement for Jesus was part of last week's lesson plan.  Exactly how to create it was up to me.   I needed more prep time than I allowed to make my sample announcement, but this was the eventual result:

I'm sharing this at Try New Adventures Thursday and A Handmade Christmas.

10 Ways to Enjoy Elderberry Syrup and Boost Our Immune Systems

One big reason I am giving thanks is that I have not gotten sick lately.  Everyone else in my family has come down with one minor illness or another in recent weeks.  But I have been graciously spared, despite my undisciplined sleep habits.  I have had people praying for my health and have been consuming elderberry syrup. I recommend both.

My kids don't mind the flavor of the syrup, but they dislike taking it straight, protesting that it's much too sweet and/or sticky.  They also gag on liquid Tylenol for the same reasons.

So I've come up with ten ways to enjoy elderberry syrup mixed with other edible delights.

1. Elderberry apple cider.
This is my oldest daughter's favorite way to have elderberry syrup.  I prefer cider without chemical preservatives, and I can find it at Trader Joe's.


2. Elderberry herbal tea.

3. Elderberry mixed with fruit spread.

Delicious on toast, it also works in a nut butter and jelly sandwich.

4. Elderberry lemonade.


5. Elderberry mixed fruit smoothie.


6. Elderberry mixed with blueberry kefir.

7. Elderberry oatmeal.

8. Elderberry applesauce.

I've once made elderberry applesauce from whole berries that we picked locally, but the syrup also blends nicely with homemade or store-bought applesauce.

9.  Elderberry maple syrup.

10.  Elderberry sparkling juice.

So far we've tried two different brands of elderberry syrup.  One has added herbs besides elderberry (horehound and wild cherry bark) that make it unwise for me to take during pregnancy.  Thus, I've been using plain elderberry syrup from Nature's Way.

Have you ever tasted elderberry syrup?

I'm sharing ideas this week at 

Top Ten Tuesday, AP Tuesdays,
 Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, and Pennywise Platter..

Books and Movies for Dolphin Lovers

For my daughters and son, a trip to the library is much more exciting than going shopping; I think I was the same way at their ages.   My son is mostly eager to borrow a new DVD each time, though he enjoys fresh books as well.  My daughters also enjoy looking at the Scholastic monthly book catalogs that are sent home with them from school.  And so we must still navigate the choices about what to buy versus what to borrow for free.  (Well, library books are free in theory--our overdue fines now constitute a line item in our monthly budget.)

Anyhow, last month, my six and eight-year-old daughters went out to see the movie Dolphin Tale with me (not free).  It only served to heighten their enthusiasm about these smooth-skinned mammals.  At the Omaha zoo several months before, we got to see IMAX: Dolphins, which definitely captivated their interest and imaginations.

So guess what we've been reading this month...
 
1. Dolphins
2. Wild Marine Animals - Dolphins
3. Dolphins (In the Wild)
4. Dolphins (Early Bird Nature Books)
5. Face to Face with Dolphins (Face to Face with Animals)
6. Dolphins (Nature Watch)
7. Dolphins (World of Mammals)
8. Diving Dolphin (DK READERS)
9. Under the Sea (Usborne Lift-the-Flap)
10. Aquarium Guide: A Bible-Based Handbook to the Aquarium

The first seven titles my daughters pulled with eager hands from the public library shelves.  The last three books that feature or include dolphins are ones that we already own. The dolphin mania continues.

As a girl, I watched Flipper re-runs and wished I could swim with dolphins one day.  In college, I switched my focus to study aquatic invertebrates, but I still find all underwater creatures fascinating.   I have eagerly explored beaches on both Pacific coasts (America and Asia), and gazed on ocean wonders while snorkeling in Vietnam and Thailand.  In the Midwest, I've loved visiting aquariums in Omaha, Gretna, and Chicago.

Though we're currently landlocked, scuba diving remains on my list of hopes for the future.  Meanwhile, books and videos offer a portal to explore the undersea places we have not yet been.

Do you or the children in your life have a favorite aquatic animal?  
Was it influenced by a book, TV program or movie?

Thanksgiving Ideas + Menu Plan

Does anyone else love pumpkin as much as I do?   If so, the 10 pumpkin recipes I shared last week will not disappoint.  Two of my very favorites on that list are savory dishes--pumpkin soup and pumpkin buns stuffed with leftover turkey.  With canned pumpkin on sale at rock-bottom prices (69 cents a can!), I'm stocking up for the weeks ahead.

Thanksgiving weekend I plan to make some baked rice pudding and homemade cranberry sauce and have a mini-feast after gathering with friends on Thursday.  Spending too much time in the kitchen is a temptation I shall try to resist.  But there must be pie, right?  And with all the delicious options --pumpkin, pecan, apple, cherry--it's hard to narrow down which one(s) I'll make.

• Monday - Roast chicken, bean soup, rice
• Tuesday - Birthday meal (from our favorite Chinese restaurant, Yang's)
• Wednesday - Venison, rice, vegetable stir fry

• Thursday - Thanksgiving dinner with friends (bringing a pie, pumpkin dinner rolls, and cider)
• Friday - Leftovers
• Saturday - Cornish game hens, salad, sweet potatoes, rice pudding, cranberry sauce

I hope my use of time this week reflects what it truly important.  Certainly there is more to Thanksgiving than food and shopping, despite ads that say otherwise.  While we try to cultivate a spirit of gratitude in our home every day, I appreciate that there is a designated time to focus on God's goodness to us.  Giving thanks, sharing, and spending time with friends and family are what this season should be about.  Ideas for slowing down during the holidays in this article at Simple Mom were helpful to my thinking.

Have you found a recipe for how to make Thanksgiving happy and meaningful?

On a Pumpkin Kick: 10 Keeper Recipes I'll Make Again and Again

 

The versatility of pumpkin as an ingredient is fun to explore.  Even though there have been pumpkin shortages elsewhere in recent years, I've always been able to find canned and fresh pumpkin here in Nebraska.  Below are links to ten favorite pumpkin recipes, both sweet and savory.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!
                                    
           1. Pumpkin Spice Snaps

           2. Pumpkin Granola*  {I finally made this again yesterday!}

           3. Pumpkin Pear Waffles

           4. Pumpkin Corn Muffins

           5. Super Moist Pumpkin Cake*

           6. Pumpkin Rice Pudding

           7. Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

           8. Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

           9. Pumpkin Soup*

         10. Pumpkin Bao Buns  {I'll be using onion instead of garlic 
                                            next time; these buns are a terrific
                                            concept for leftover turkey!}

* Vegan recipes

I'm joining other bloggers sharing ideas this week at 

Top Ten Tuesday , AP Tuesdays, and Pennywise Platter.