3 Kid-Friendly Ways to Celebrate the Olympic Games at Home

The winter games are here, and I am eager to watch some Olympic action this weekend!  This is one of the rare times when I wish we had access to T.V. programming.  Since we're an internet-and-DVD-only household, I'm planning to whip up some goodies over the next week and a half and invite myself over to watch some of the events with friends.

In addition to watching, there are some hands-on, feet-on activities that I'd like to do with my kids to celebrate the Olympic games that start this week.  Here are three things I'm planning for us:

1)  Eat some Olympic Rings!

Recipe for Olympic Rings Gummy Candy

2)  Do some indoor figure skating!

How to Make Carpet Gliding Skates

3)  Make and award some ice medals!

Champion Ice Medals

Are you planning to watch the games over the next week?  

If so, what will your family members be doing while you watch?

Red Heart Pocket Pies with Strawberry Filling

It's not Valentine's Day yet, so I made these pocket pies with strawberry rhubarb filling to celebrate my daughter's second birthday this month. Any red fruit will work as the filling.  I chose strawberries and rhubarb in order to clear out the last of the frozen produce that we gathered late in the summer.  The recipe I used is from the Artful Parent.  I appreciate that she includes instructions for how to make both the red fruit filling and the pastry crust from scratch.  If pressed for time, you could also just buy crust and filling.  Either way, your friends and family members are sure to enjoy a lovely pocket pie, for Valentine's Day, or just because you love them.

You can find the recipe I used for these pocket pies at the Artful Parent.

In case you would like something with chocolate too, I have a recipe for Chocolate Buckwheat Waffles over at Swirls and Spice.

I'm sharing this at Marvelous Mondays.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Cake Stand {Make One Instead}

Have you noticed that most of those lovely photos of cakes in magazines and on Pinterest include a cake stand?  At my other site, Swirls and Spice, I share recipes that I develop and try to make the food look enticing in the photos. But my budget is rather limited, so I don't own a lot of fancy props. I've contemplated buying a cake stand, but it just does not seem worth the money.  So I have done without and endeavored to avoid coveting cake stands and other lovely dishes I see.

Still, there are occasions where a pretty cake stand would come in handy, like the baby shower pictured above.  At the top left of the photo, if you look closely, you can see half of the Boston cream cupcakes I made sitting on a glass stand.  The rest are on a matching glass platter.

Instead of buying a rather expensive one-piece cake stand, I found two bowls and platters at the (Canadian) dollar store that I though would work.  And they did.  I spent less than $5.00 and I now have two convertible "cake stands" that double as bowls and serving plates.  I've used them frequently in the few two months for parties, family meals, and potlucks.  Below are some of the recipe photos that have included my bargain serveware.

Cranberry Salsa

at Swirls and Spice

Pomegranate and Pesto Bites

at Swirls and Spice

If you've ever wished for a cake stand but lacked the money or space to have one in your kitchen, be not dismayed.  Simply find a fancy bowl and platter, invert the bowl under the platter, and voila!  You have a convertible cake stand!

Stacked Button Christmas Tree Ornaments

Each Sunday of Advent we have planned a family activity.  Homemade ornament making was something that the kids and I really enjoyed this month.   Some of the ornaments turned out to be more durable than others, and these button ornaments are ones that I hope to keep around for a while.

Stacked button tree ornaments would also make cute teacher gifts or package decorations.  We've still got quite a bit of packages left to wrap, and I'd love to make a few more of these to add to our teacher gifts.  How about you?  Do you wrap your presents early or wait until it's closer to Christmas?

 Materials Used:

• Assorted buttons (ours were from the dollar store)
• String, dental floss, or embroidery floss.
• Beads
• Hot glue and glue gun, or craft glue, optional

Directions:

1. Stack buttons, starting with the largest at the bottom and top with a sparkly bead on top.  
2. Thread string through two of the holes of each button, separating the buttons as needed.  Tie a loop at the top of the string.
3. Glue on seed beads for additional colors if desired.

I'm sharing this at Show and Tell Saturday and more.

Homemade String Art Kit: A Great Stocking Stuffer or Last-Minute Gift

Doing it all just can't be done.  That is a lesson I continue to learn this year.  The women I admire most already recognize that and focus on top priorities, letting others go.  So it has been a while since I've done much crafting, much less posted about any.  But for the sake of friends and family, some crafting inspiration returned this month.

A new friend of mine had a baby this fall, and I was able to visit her in the hospital and meet her sweet newborn daughter back in November.  I didn't prepare a gift ahead of time, so I baked some goodies and picked up some helium balloons for her other girls.  However, I still wanted to send a baby gift, so this week I finally got a package together.

But what could I tuck in for the older children this time?  A craft kit made perfect sense (and it was one of the ideas in this article about gifts for kids). Friendship bracelets seemed a tad complicated, so I decided to print out instructions for string art stars.  To wrap it up, I notched the ends of a cardboard tube.  Here was the result:

These simple kits would work well for so many occasions!  I only wish I had thought of it before we bought gifts for the class Christmas parties at school this week.  Since I had some embroidery floss and cardboard tubes on hand already, I did not have to buy a thing!  String art kits would also make great stocking stuffers.  Or you could bring these along as gifts to open and enjoy on any holiday car or plane trips coming up (but make sure you bring along some notched cardboard discs).  Would any kids you know enjoy a kit like this?

Materials Used:

• Cardboard paper towel tube
• Scissors
• Embroidery floss or colored string
• Printed instructions* for string art 

         *I used these instructions by Creative Jewish Mom.

Directions:

1. Wrap the printed instructions for string art around the tube.  Trim the tube so that it is slightly longer than the paper for the instructions.
2. Optional: Cut notches in the ends of the tubes and wrap extra string around the tube so that the paper is tied onto the cardboad tube with decorative string art.
3. Tuck skeins of embroidery floss or string inside the tube.  Give with a smile.

Make It From Scratch: Fresh Naan, Lentil Salad, and Our Week in Review

Making food from scratch makes a lot of sense when you live in a town without a grocery store.  Inspired by Money Saving Mom's Make It From Scratch Week, I was hoping to make homemade bread for us to eat all week long.  That didn't happen, but I did try out a few new from-scratch recipes, like Indian flatbread (naan) and Italian Cabbage Rolls.  Here's how we did, in reverse order.

Friday
Today's lunch was homemade naan and lentil salad.  Tonight's menu is Vietnamese chicken and Chinese onion pancakes.

Thursday
We had leftover cabbage rolls as soup for lunch, but dinner was not homemade.  I didn't thaw any chicken, so I resorted to boxed frozen pizzas.

Wednesday
The long awaited Italian Cabbage Rolls finally appeared on our dinner table!  The traditional, non-Italian versions are hugely popular in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, thanks to the Ukranianian immigrant heritage.

Tuesday
I had planned to make pizza from scratch, but time was running low.  So deli chicken it was.  However, I did make Saskatoon Berry Applesauce Bars for an evening event.

Monday

"Brinner's ready!" Making a breakfast-type casserole for worked out well.  The recipe for Savoury Egg, Sausage, and Grits Casserole is now at Swirls and Spice.  I invite you to follow Swirls and Spice on Facebook or subscribe to new posts there so you get all of my latest recipes as soon as they are published!

What did you make from scratch this week?

How a Mason Jar Lid Saved Bathtime

We have a little toddler in our house who trots off with important items from time to time.  Phones, toilet plungers, and bathtub stoppers seem particularly appealing. A rubber stopper is the easiest to hide of these three favorites, and also the most essential for bath time.

As you might guess, the stopper went missing recently, but kids still needed bathing.  So I thought about what I could use as a makeshift substitute.  Trying a rubber glove ended in failure.  But then I came up with a solution that worked surprisingly well.  An old mason jar lid (minus the ring).  The rubber seal fit our drain hole perfectly.

So, if your bathtub stopper ever goes MIA, just try a mason jar lid and see if it works for you.

The Summer that Was and Wasn't

Kids are back in school, Labor Day is behind us, and leaves are starting to fall.  I am simultaneously feeling:
1) wistful that we did not have a "real" summer vacation,
2) guilty that we never got into a good routine for our summer days together, and
3) relieved that the burden of structuring my time and that of my children is no longer mine alone to bear.

Rather that obsessing over what I did not accomplish or what was not feasible, I want to cultivate a spirit of gratitude.  There were a lot of very good things that happened this summer, and some of them were even on my summer "bucket list."  Here are the things that come to mind.

In July:

• My husband's parent's came for a visit.
• We explored the Saskatchewan Science Centre for the first time.
• Grandparents babysat while we went out for a dinner date in the big city.
• I got my official Canadian passport!
• I was able to switch my part-time work schedule and get to know some fascinating co-workers.
• We found and picked a pitcher-full of local Saskatoon berries!  I've been itching to do this since our arrival in Saskatchewan last summer.  With the fresh berries we picked we enjoyed Saskatoon berry applesauce bars and berry topped pancakes.

In August:

• My parents came for an extended visit.
• We went out to celebrate our 13th anniversary while my parents babysat. 
• We went on a family history tour to see the area where my mom and grandparents were from.
• My husband got to teach new EFL teachers in Cambodia.
• The kids and I went strawberry picking.
• Friends let us tend and harvest the produce in their garden while they were away.  I've missed having a garden of my own. 

• We made lots of yummy jam.  My mom brought us more delicious jam from her kitchen.
• My mom also helped us catch up on laundry.  Yes, we can actually see (part of) the laundry room floor now!
• My husband finished the first draft of his Ph.D. dissertation!  We started this grad school journey six years ago, and now the end is in sight.
• I got a second-hand (or third or fourth-hand, more likely) bike that works--and it was free!
• We finally got an offer on our house in Nebraska!  It's been 12 months since we packed up and headed north.

There are still a few question marks in our lives right now.  When will our house deal finally close?  Will we continue to rent here or will we dive into the local, more expensive real estate market here in Saskatchewan?  Will my husband graduate in December?  If so, will we risk traveling in December to attend the ceremony?  Should I keep working part-time after the house closes?  We need wisdom and patience from above.   Seasons of waiting and uncertainty are hard.  I am ready for closure.  Nevertheless, God is good, all the time.

Sun-Baked Homemade Chocolate Bars

For the summer months, I am working in the early mornings while my husband stays home with the four kids.  Then I return and he goes to work.  Today I said we would bring him lunch.  So five of us trundled over to where he works and made our lunchtime delivery.  Then it was time to return home to eat our lunch.  But on the way to the door, we spied the candy vending machine.

Though we had not even a nickel along in our pockets, I humored my hungry brood half way by letting them type in the codes to reveal the prices of the treats for sale.  Candy bar or chips for $2.00 (Canadian), anyone?  Even my children realized that the prices were exorbitant.

When we returned home, my 9-year-old asked if we had any chocolate chips.  She thought it would be fun to melt them and make her own candy bars, no coinage required.  Since it is blazing hot this week, melting the chips proved easy.  We simply used solar power, as I like to do to dry my clothes.

Here's how we formed our own chocolate candy bars...

Step 1: Assemble the ingredients and equipment.

We lined a glass bread pan with waxed paper and added chocolate chips 

and a few almonds.  Then we covered the pan with plastic wrap.

Step 2: Place the pan in the sun to bake.   

We set the pan on a metal roof (though any sunny spot would do) 

until the chocolate melted.  We stirred the chips to form a smooth layer, 

and then set the chocolate out again.

Step 3: Cool and cut the chocolate bars.

After cooling the pan in the freezer (or fridge), the bars were ready to cut.  

We used a sharp knife, since the chocolate was very firm.

Step 4: Serve and enjoy.

Since the bars are prone to melting, we stored them in the refrigerator.

If you are interested in healthier chocolate recipes, I have recipes for dairy free chocolate pudding, chocolate waffles and chocolate donuts posted at my new food blog, Swirls and Spice.

Snack Time Inspiration: Spiced Up Popcorn

Whether I am craving Mexican spices or something more exotic, popcorn is a simple way to satisfy my snack-tooth.  Using different spices to create a popcorn sampler is a fun way to introduce the family to international flavors.  For the recipes, head over to my other blog, Swirls and Spice.

Also, Spiced Up Popcorn can be turned into a ranking activity, where each person chooses their favorites.  Or you could make it into a guessing game, for more advanced palates.  Placing the popcorn in cut-off paper bags is not only convenient for serving, you can write labels or numbers on each bag.  I hope you enjoy these fresh new flavors as much as we did!