Ma Whats For Dinner?» kid faves

No School No Prob part deux

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:00:29 +0000

More fun things to do while the kids are off school.

This week and next we have no less that 3 shortened days and 3 days off.

Ahh???

What’s a mom to do?

Get your craft on, and learn something in the process.

Like what?

Like…

What would Thanksgiving be without the Native Americans?

Well we wouldn’t have Thanksgiving.

We wouldn’t be here.

We’d all have starved to death during those horrible winters in Plymouth Plantation.

But now we have corn, and squash, and turkey.

Phew…

So here’s an ode to those wonderful people that showed the Pilgrims how it’s done.

Tee Hee Tee Pee Tents

Prep Time: 5 minutes Craft Time: 20-30 minutes

WHAT YOU NEED:

Toothpicks

Sugar Ice Cream Cones

White cake frosting

Various colored writing frosting

raisins

dried fruit

fruity cheerios

MnM candies

Jelly beans

Frost your cones with an even light layer of frosting. Turn the cones upside down on a paper plate. Next stick 2-3 toothpicks out of the botton (now the top) of your tee-pee.

Let the kids decorate their own. Using the writing frosting decorate the sides of the tee-pee. Let them stick on candies, fruit, and cheerios on as they see fit.

Voila…the teepees the first pilgrims came upon before their first Thanksgiving with the Native Americans, ok so that’s not totally historically accurate at all but I’m going with it for now.

Turkey Tom Foolery

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:00:16 +0000

Seems to me there are a lot of shortened days and days off around this time of year.

So we’re always looking for something fun to do in our off hours.

Enter the Thanksgiving crafty afternoons.

Today we’re making turkeys…

fruity turkeys…

apple turkeys…

Fun turkeys your little ones can make in a flash and eat even faster.

Here’s our recipe for

Apple Turkeys

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Craft time: 20-30 minutes

WHAT YOU NEED:

Apples (for the turkey body)

toothpicks

pretzel sticks

fruity cheerios

raisins

dried pineapple

dried apricots

marshmallows

WHAT TO DO:

After positioning your apple on its side. On the bottoms of your apples, stick 4 toothpicks to give your turkey some legs to stand on. You can stick a raisin or marshmallow on the bottom of each leg for his feet.

Next let your kids decorate the turkey’s feathers. Stick 4-5 toothpicks into the top/rear part of your apple (away from the stem). Your kids can thread the toothpicks with raisins, dried pineapple, dried apricots or cheerios to make the turkey’s feathers. Top each feather off with a big raisin or a mini marshmallow to keep things in place. In between each feather you can add a pretzel stick for added color.

We used big marshmallows or big pieces of dried fruit for the turkey head. You could even cut some construction paper and color a turkey head if you like. Get creative, have fun, happy turkey day!

Mac n’ Cheese please

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:00:58 +0000

Recipe Of The Day

Mac n’ Cheese Please

Serves: 4 Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes

1 lb. elbow macaroni
3 T butter, divided
2 T all purpose flour
½ t dry mustard
3 cups whole milk
1 t fresh grated nutmeg
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup panko bread crumbs
S&P

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Set a large pot of water over high heat to boil. In a large saucepan melt 2 T butter over medium high heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk, and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Once the milk has thickened add in mustard and nutmeg, and season with S&P. Reduce to medium low heat and melt in cheddar and swiss cheeses. Allow to cook on low for a few minutes.

When water is boiling season water with salt and add pasta. Note package cooking time and reduce by 2 minutes, the macaroni will continue cooking in the oven later. Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to pot.

In a separate sauce pan melt remaining T butter over medium heat. Combine with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, turn off heat and set aside.

Pour cheese sauce over pasta in pot. Mix well. Transfer to a greased 13×9 baking dish and top with bread crumb mixture. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with side salad and your kids will forget all about that blue box filled with fluorescent orange pasta!

Tasty Tidbit: You can make this an all in one meal with the addition of some cooked cubed ham and some frozen peas or some leftover roasted chicken mixed in with some broccoli.