Homemade treats! And one epic fail!

Items #6, #60 - Homemade Goodies!

Two days of special desserts took place on our 2 days off this week! Both were on the list but the recipes I found on Facebook were what really inspired these fun activities!

#6 - Make Homemade Popsicles

A friend of ours gave us popsicle molds last year and we had tons of fun using them for Kool-Aid popsicles. This year, however, we decided to branch out, looking for more unique recipes, and we found one!

The recipe we found suggested Sprite, but we prefer Sierra Mist (Ok, truthfully, Mommy prefers it so they must all deal!) 

We filled the molds to the top with the gummy bears. Not shoving them down, but making sure there were plenty! The hubby was shocked by how many I got down in there, but I loved the flavor so many gave it! (The lonely bear fell into the one mold that no longer had a stick.)

Top it off to the brim, very carefully, with the soda, and put the sticks in. Pop them in the freezer in a safe spot. We started this at around 10 in the morning and enjoyed the treats after dinner, so they had plenty of time to freeze, but we also had to watch out when we took things out! 

A tip: Run hot water over the outsides of the mold when you are ready to eat them. It helps loosen them enough to slide right out.

They were a hit! The bears were frozen so they were a bit hard to chew, but they gave the soda a great flavor! And they were fun! 

#60 - Make Homemade Icecream

Ingredients:

1 large ziploc bag

1 small ziploc bag

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Lots of Ice

6 Tbsp salt

Combine the milk and sugar in the large baggie. We added vanilla to one and cocoa to a second one so that we could try both flavors. Using syrups would give you a lot more flavor options, but for this first try we stuck to the basics.

In the smaller baggie place the ice and salt.

Put the small baggie in the large one and shake for a good 10 minutes!

In the future, and for you, we would suggest that you switch the baggies around. With the ice being on the inside we were forced to scrape the ice cream off the ice bag. When I did this sort of thing in school we put the milk on the inside and wrapped the whole thing in a towel to keep our hands from freezing.

Whichever way you decide to do it, the ice cream comes out great!

There was just not much! Each baggie made about a serving for a small child. (Yes, I would probably make more for me!) But that was perfect for us before we went wasting a whole gallon of milk on it! We now have a recipe that we enjoy and we can multiply it to make a large batch for the kids to shake while we make dinner!

This was a hit!

Now for our fail! =(

A long time ago I found a blurb on someone's Facebook or Pinterest about turning a Mountain Dew into a glow stick. This was years ago! And I guess I didn't really think we would ever get the chance to really do it, because I didn't write the recipe down in full. (My note read: 1/4 bottle Mountain Dew, Baking Soda, and 2 capfulls of Peroxide)

Well, we got the chance to try it! Using the ice tubes from some tea jugs, we divided a can between the two, doled out the peroxide, guessed on the baking soda.

And when they didn't glow we began experimenting, adding more peroxide to one and more baking soda to the other. Epic fail is a good term!

We were shocked to discover that when we came back to them this morning the Mountain Dew had been drained of all its color!

Anyway, while we have failed, we would love to know if anybody knows how to do this! So if you have the recipe on how to PROPERLY do this little trick, please let us know! We would love to do it again for this weekend's Great American Backyard Campout!

And let us know if you try the popsicles or ice cream, and let us know what you think of them! 

Have an awesome week, and get ready to hear about our awesome backyard camping fun on Sunday!

Ponyo Night

This post is part of our "Theme Night" series. We watched a movie while enjoying a new food that even my picky little eaters enjoyed! We encourage you to do the same with your family to explore new things!

Ponyo

Ponyo is a movie by Hayao Miyazaki about a little goldfish princess, Ponyo, who longs to become human after she meets 5-yr-old Sosuke. Of course her father doesn't approve and tries to bring her home, but her determination and love prove too strong. 

Jareth is a big fan of Miyazaki's work as the stories are incredible but easily understood by the young. The artwork and characters are fantastic. And the tales grow with you. So I was not surprised when he came to me asking if this could be a "Theme Night". We decided to make the ramen noodles Sosuke's mother makes for the children on Ponyo's first night as a human. 

First, we had to figure out what all was in the ramen, which turned out to be simple enough! Ramen (we used chicken flavor), a few slices of thick cut ham, and a hard boiled egg (cut in half). The movie and some people put in chopped green onions as well, but we are not big fans.

   

We used eggs dyed for Easter to get them out of the fridge! While the water boiled it gave me time to show an eager Jareth how to peel the egg. 

We made the Ramen as usual. Boil two cups water, pour it into the bowl with the noodles, and cover it with a bowl for 3 minutes. 

The children closed their eyes like little Ponyo and Sosuke did, while I uncovered the noodles and poured in the flavor packet and gently stirred it in. Then I gently placed the egg halves and ham in the bowl and recovered it for 1 more minute. This allows the extras to soak up the flavor, making it so much more delicious!

Que up the movie!

And you have two happy kiddos! 

I have since learned that draining the juice and placing the noodles in the bowl by themselves is a much safer way to enjoy this dinner with the 2 year old! 

This was such a fun "Theme Night" and it has allowed us to discover a dinner I never would have thought to try on my son since he is such a picky eater. Now Ramen Noodles is a staple in our house! And the meat and eggs gives it a little more substance.

If you haven't seen the movie, we urge you to add it to the Must Watch list! It is loved by everyone in our house! Enjoy!

Picky Eaters

One of the biggest challenges in my house is dinner. Four nights a week my husband is at work so dinner is eaten by just me and my two little ones. My problems are two fold: making a meal small enough so that we don't have a ton of left overs that will more than likely not get eaten, and making something both the kids will like, I can enjoy, and is moderately healthy. This turns into a weekly event of sitting down, scouring Pinterest and Parenting magazine for recipes, coming up with a menu, figuring out the shopping list, and finally curling up with a book being thankful I have six days left before I have to do it all again!

We have done pretty good in my house of sticking to the menu, helping us control the money spent on groceries as well as preventing us from eating fast food more than once a month (which most of you know is getting harder these days). But it is still difficult to find new recipes so that we are not eating the same four meals every week!

So I have decided to share some of my recipes with all of you! I will list on here the ones that we have liked as well as some that didn't catch our fancy, because you may end up enjoying them. Welcome the new recipes section! Keep in mind that these are made for one adult, a growing, athletic seven year old, and a finicky two year old, I will tell you how much it made for us with the servings, but adjust to your needs.

Now, one thing I hate most is looking at a list of meal ideas for other people's "picky eaters", so I get that some of the stuff I make your child still might not like. Trust me! My main rule in the house is that my son has to try something at least once, chew and swallow, and if he doesn't like it than he doesn't have to eat it. But I try to always make something he will eat.
So among my recipes you will find:
*Dishes with veggies, but they will be cut into big enough chunks that he can pick them out because he doesn't like bell peppers but everyone else does.
*Mac'n'cheese that does not look like Kraft because he loves noodles and cheese but not together!
*Meals that can be modified for half, i.e. a pizza that you can put mushrooms on only half so he can have only cheese while you get veggie goodness.
*A lot of finger-type foods, things that would appeal to a toddler.

I hope some of these recipes will help other moms who think they have the only kid in the world that does NOT like french fries! (Jareth is the only one I have heard of that can't stand them or mac'n'cheese)!

And please, if you have an idea for a new recipe that your picky eater absolutely loves, feel free to share! I am always looking for new things!