Ruler Height Board

So, for those who have received the vinyl for the height boards (Deon, yours is on coming) here is what I envisioned. But you can do it however you want. I changed the font for my name because the other one seemed too small, so if you want new font for your name let me know and I will send it to you.

I promised myself that if I was spending time on Pintrest, I had to finish at least one thing a week that I pinned. So this is one of my projects. I have also made multiple meals from pintrest too. Also, I cleaned my stove pans with a tip I learned there. Do I sound like I am trying to justify spending so much time on Pintrest, cause I am. :) Sorry these pictures aren't the best. Which brings me to my next tip of the day. I hate doing post on blogger, as I have done here. I started using Windows Live Writer and it is amazing the difference in ease of posting. Check it out. It's free to download. Here.

Christmas toilet paper roll crafts

I know toilet paper rolls aren't the fanciest of all craft supplies, but with the amount of traffic our bathrooms get, they pile up pretty quick. I found this website that has templates for almost any character you can think of, so you just go the website and click on "snowman" for example, then you can print out the template and make your craft.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/tp_roll.htm

As a side note, when I made this, I actually just copied the template, then pasted it into a drawing document, then I cropped it down to just the snowman image. I was able to fit 6 snowmen on one page so I didn't have to use a lot of paper.

When I have the kids in my preschool playgroup do this activity, I am going to use craft foam instead of construction paper. The paper circles are small and difficult to pick up, so for little fingers, the bulkier the better.

Banana Chocolate Cholate chip muffins, YUMMY!

So if you haven't heard I am doing weight watchers so I am constantly looking for delicious healthy recipes. Here is one of my favorites so far.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp confectioners sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce, vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk.
Add flour mixture to bananas, then blend at low speed until combined; do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
If making the glaze, combine confectioner's sugar and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp water to make a glaze. Drizzle over each muffin

This recipe is courtesy of Skinnytaste.com Check out her website it is fabulous.

Manicotti

Manicotti Shells
8 eggs beaten
2 c. flour
2 c. water
1 tsp salt
beat in blender
cook like you would crepes.
you can freeze them if you put wax paper in between each individual one.

Manicotti Filling
3 lbs. ricotta cheese
1 lb. mozzarella cheese
6 eggs beaten
1/2 cup parm cheese
1/4 cup parsley


put a large spoonful of filling in each shell and roll burrito style. pour sauce over Manicotti. sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese. Cook 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

enjoy

Card Board Kitchen

 I saw this on family fun and although I haven't done it yet, I wanted to share the idea because it can be a great project for your kids to help with and then play with.  Click on the link below to get started!

How to make a cardboard kitchen

picture drawing boards

okay so Scotty's pictures should be flopped but you get the idea.


I printed a picture out of each of the boys. Then I put a thick hard plastic over top and used packing tape to secure the edges. The boys then picked their favorite color marker and went to town. They loved drawing on their own faces and then wiping it off and starting over again. Plus is kept them busy. There is something about kids and looking at themselves that they absolutely love.

More Beans Recipes

I made these biscuits this morning for Biscuits and Gravy.

Baking Soda Biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Shortening
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
Directions
1.In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg with milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2.Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 20 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Alterations:
I used 1/4 C. cold butter because I don't care much for shortening flavor and 1/4 C. beans. I cut the butter into the dry mixture just like they suggested for the shortening, but I added the beans to the wet mixture. It was a little wet to cut out, so I used my biggest cookie scoop and scooped it out onto the pan. Don't mix too much or they get tough. I just mixed until it was all incorporated together.
I just bought a dry package of gravy mix. (McCormick Sausage Gravy, I think.) It was a quick breakfast. They kids ate the biscuits plain. The gravy was a bit peppery for them. :)

The other recipe that I made last night that I will definitely make again:

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1.In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Alterations:
Instead of all flour, I used 1 C. white flour, 1/2 C. Wheat flour, and 1/4 cup blenderized rolled oats.
Instead of oil I used beans.
Instead of yogurt (because I didn't have any) I used reduced fat sour cream.
Then, just to add some extra good for you-ness, I added a Cup of frozen spinach. At one time it was fresh, but I always buy too big of a bag so I end up putting most of it in small ziplocs and sticking it in the freezer. Then I can pull it out and put it in stuff later. It has a really mild taste so you can add it to stuff without altering the flavor. Just the color. :) I added it to the sour cream and tried to puree it, but it was not quite liquidy enough to really get it finely pureed. So next time I will add all the wet ingredients into the blender and see if that purees it better.
This was a complete experiment but turned out WAY better than expected. Want proof? Charlie ate two and asked for more, but I wanted him to eat some dinner. Those who know Charlie, know he is the pickiest eater alive. He ate them even though I didn't puree the spinach enough so it had little pieces of green all through it. My plan was,if the kids noticed, to tell them it was some sort of magic superhero ingredient. Luckily I didn't have to stoop to trickery. :)
I was thinking, that if Charlie did notice the green or if you have kids that have an aversion to green things, you could probably add a few Tbsp. of Cocoa to hide the green. Then, you can tell your kids that they are chocolate muffins.

Other things I have added beans to: homemade pizza crust (I did half beans, half oil). I would love to know what you have tried them in.