Easy Gifts for Kids

My 3.5 year old wanted to make some gifts for the girls who watch her at the gym child care and for 2 of the little girls that are are always there so we made some beaded jewelry together.  These are a really quick easy gift you can help your kids make, or they can make themselves depending on age and skill level.  My 3.5 year old def needed some help, but we enjoyed doing it together.

All you need is some elastic cord and some big beads.  I tied small knots on either end of the beads to keep them from sliding around on the strand.  We made bracelets and rings.  The rings are just 3 beads that go across the top of your finger. 

Orange Chicken Recipe and Other Stuff from Today...

 

I know I've been a bad blogger, but I've been a zombie pretty much with a teething baby I feel like I sleep in 15 minute intervals!  Anyways, Today was a great day starting off with MOPS…which always makes for a great day!  We learned about good lasting gifts we can give our children (a good topic at this time of year when we are all pretty much shopping for the perfect Christmas gift, and the best gift isn't even something you can find at the store!).  Today I decidedly was more firm and strict with J as she’s been acting up a bit lately and I've been getting super frustrated and needed to change my approach…we had a couple moments during the day, but in the end she made the right choices and listened to me without a TOTAL melt down.  Anyways, I made Orange chicken for dinner for the first time and it turned out great despite my husband’s prediction as I started adding the breaded chicken pieces to the hot oil “I have a feeling this is going to be a disaster…”  showed him not to doubt me! Haha!

Dinner was followed by Toy Story 3 on blu ray that we rented from the good old Red Box to have some family time enjoying my hubby’s black Friday/early Christmas present (blu ray player).  Anyways….As I was putting J to bed, I came in to give her a kiss as my hubby was saying good night…she wanted to kiss my cheek and after, as I pulled back she grabbed my neck and pulled me in close, hugged on tight and said in the most loving warm sweet voice “oh Mommy, you’re so nice to me!”  I can’t tell you how that just made me light up.  I don’t like being the bad guy, but obviously my extra firmness today didn’t seem to make her feel less loved at all….if anything..she felt more loved today because other than that, it was a normal day!  And she’s never done anything like that to me before, pulling me in for more cuddles and telling me I’m so nice…usually she is whining about something or trying to beg me to sit a few more minutes or read another book etc. 

 Had to snap this cute picture of family waiting for me to come watch the movie with them!

Here are the bullet points the speaker gave out at MOPS on good gifts we can give our children (and their children and generations to come) by the lovely and amusing Nell F. Bush, Ph.D. 

1. A Pleasant, Manageable Name (their badge of honor, give them a meaningful name that they can live up to) “A good name is better than fine perfume.” Ecclesiastes 7:1
2. A Positive Birth Story (kids are very literal and don’t get adult humor so don’t tell them about how funny they looked or how hard it was –they’ll hear “I was not cute, or I was disappointing or I was trouble and hurt my mom”…tell them how wonderful it was and only the positives.  You can add in the other details when they are teenagers and able to grasp the humor of it) “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord;” Psalm 127:3
3. Freedom to Love Grandparents (Children absorb our emotions, they may know your emotions before you are even aware, so we have to be careful not to taint our kids relationship with other family members through our own attitudes.  A sense of connection to extended family is an important part of a child’s identity and development) “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32
4. A Place of Refuge & Comfort. (Instead of trying to solve all their problems or talk them out of their feelings, just give empathy and turn to the bible together.  Sit together and be a source of comfort.  Our job is to absorb the upset and comfort and nurture.  We have to remember to pause, comfort first and correct later when they are able to receive it.) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in all out troubles, so that we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:3
5. Positive Role Model of Marriage.  (Always present a united front.  If they come to you about something first response should be “What did Dad say?” and then “Well, then listen to your Dad”,  Show respect in your marriage, build your spouse up in front of the kids, talk about how you love being married, respect each other’s parenting styles.  And when it comes to teaching about sex, teach them the ideal, that sex is for marriage…but if they ever make a mistake, let them know “we want the baby”  we will take care of the baby or we will find a family to take care of the baby, we’ll figure it out, just don’t do anything you would regret the rest of your life.)  “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
6. Positive Role Model of Parenting.  (Studies show adolescent girls really benefit from a firm father figure.  It keeps them out of trouble.  Have a simple predictable style, especially when they are little, have a very simple routine because kids crave that security of knowing what to expect.  Be at home as much as possible, don’t over-schedule with so many activities and commitments.  Provide them the opportunity for lots of open ended free play OUTSIDE.  Also lots of free play in their room with no distractions.) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish with all wisdom.”  Col. 3:16
7. An Abiding, Unhidden Faith. (Pray together throughout the day, share your faith openly. “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2

Discussion/Reflection

Name one “good gift” that your parents gave you as a child.

Is there a gift you would have liked to receive from your family, but didn’t?

What good gifts are you currently giving to your own children?

Discuss (think about) a gift that might be challenging for you to give.

And For the Orange Chicken Recipe.  I found it on Allrecipes (of course!) and figured it was a good one since it had over 700 reviews and was 4.5 stars!  It turned out DELICIOUS!  Next time I will put in less sugar though, it was pretty sweet and would still be plenty sweet with less.  I also tossed the chicken pieces on egg to help the flour batter stick. 

Asian Orange Chicken

do yourself a favor and just print off the recipe card here!

• Sauce:
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
•  
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
•  
• Chicken:
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
5. Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turkey Enchiladas!

So, after a lot of Thanksgiving leftover dinners and turkey sandwhiches, we used up the remaining dark meat (which we don't really enjoy) and made Turkey Enchiladas.  This is one of our favorite recipes, I always get positive feedback when I make it (normally with chicken).  It's from my trustee Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, a staple for every kitchen!

Turkey Enchiladas

• 1/4  cup  slivered almonds
• 1/4  cup  chopped onion
• 2  tablespoons  butter or margarine
• 1  4-ounce can  diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1  3-ounce package  cream cheese, softened
• 1  tablespoon  milk
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 2  cups  chopped cooked chicken or turkey
• 12  7-inch  flour tortillas or 6-inch corn tortillas
• 1  10.75-ounce can  reduced-fat condensed cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
• 1  8-ounce carton  light dairy sour cream
• 1  cup  milk
• 3/4  cup  shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
• 2  tablespoons  slivered almonds

Directions

1. In a medium skillet cook the 1/4 cup almonds and the onion in hot butter over medium heat until onion is tender and nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the canned green chile peppers; reserve remaining peppers for sauce.
2. In a medium bowl stir together cream cheese, the 1 tablespoon milk, and the cumin; add nut mixture and chicken. Stir until combined. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla near an edge; roll up. Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a greased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Set aside.
3. For sauce, in a medium bowl combine the reserved chile peppers, the soup, sour cream, and the 1 cup milk. Pour evenly over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil. Sprinkle enchiladas with cheese and the 2 tablespoons almonds. Return to oven; bake about 5 minutes more or until cheese melts. Makes 6 servings.

Picture from Wanna Be Balanced

AND I forgot to tell you guys, because I was so busy with sick kids and company at the time, but I won a giveaway over at Wanna Be Balanced Mom, and received my lace shirt today and LOVE it!  Thank you Crystal!  She always has great giveaways, and has another sweet giveaway going on right now that ends tomorrow so CHECK IT OUT!

Dairy Free Pecan Pie

Dairy Free Pecan Pie

Well, I had no desire for pumpkin pie this year and decided to go for pecan pie.  I've always shied away from pie making...maybe because the one early attempt I made at a Lemon Merengue pie was a huge FLOP!  But I was like 14 or something when I did that and ever since, I always thought a pie was a lot of work and just not my thing.  Anyways....

I wanted to make a pie that was milk free since I can't have any milk products.  I remembered a pie crust recipe my mother in law gave me that is really simple and uses oil rather than butter.  Here is the dairy free pie crust recipe.

Pie Crust

1 cup + 2 TBSP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

2 TBSP cold water

Mix the flour and salt together in a medium bowl with a fork.  then add the oil and water and mix until you can form a soft ball with the pastry.  

Place the ball on the center of some parchment paper.  Press down with your hand and then roll out into a circle that is slightly larger than your pie plate.  

Flip parchment paper over with rolled out pastry over your pie dish and transfer it to the pie plate.  

Pecan Pie

Found on AllRecipes.com

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)

1 tablespoon cold water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

in a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, water, and cornstarch. Bring to a full boil, and remove from heat.

in a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Gradually beat in cooked syrup mixture. Stir in salt, vanilla, and pecans. Pour into pie shell.

  Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is set

Well I guess this isn't technically 100% "dairy free" because there are eggs in the pie, but I can have eggs, it's just the milk/butter products I need to avoid.   I also added an extra 1/4 cup chopped pecans because it seemed like it could use a little more.  And of course just substituted the butter for the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.  Now my holiday cooking is DONE!  My sexy hubby will be taking care of the rest....oh yea! 

Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece - Pumpkin Turkey

I have missed blogville lately!  I have been super busy and super sad that I haven't kept up with Art Every Day Month!  We've been pretty sick around here and just busy in general.  I kind of panicked today when I realized we didn't really have any Thanksgiving decor and Thanksgiving is TOMORROW!  How lame is that???
So J and I recycled her Halloween pumpkin and turned it into a turkey pumpkin for an easy, last minute thanksgiving centerpiece! 

We went out to the hot tub and it was warm and windy, so the hot tub was swirling with fall leaves (FINALLY seeing pretty fall colors!)  As J, Baby B and I sat on the edge soaking our feet, we collected some of the leaves that were floating around in the hot tub.  Then J got a few drops of water on her pants which was of course unacceptable and she could no longer keep her clothes on so before I know it, there's my 3.5 year old running around in her undies (at least we were the only ones in the pool area!)  Then she went to put her feet on the steps of the swimming pool to see how cold it was and before I know it, for some reason, she took her undies off too and was standing there trying to pee like a boy into the pool...Anyways....diverted her attention, got the undies back on, gathered up our leaves and went back home to make our easy thanksgiving centerpiece.

 

Here is J pulling of the glow in the dark jack o lantern stickers and then she wiped off all the marker (but the pen marks stayed...oh well)

Then we just used leaves and arranged them to make tail feathers, pressing a tack or small nail through to hold to pumpkin.  We used a round red leaf for the "gobbler" and stuck on some googly eyes.  Very basic easy Thanksgiving centerpiece, but better than nothing!!!  I just didn't even think about it, I'm not used to doing all that stuff because I'm still used to going over to our parents house where OUR moms do everything! lol.  I also made my first pecan pie today.  It's a dairy free pecan pie, I figured I would get it done and out of the way so I can leave the kitchen to my hubby tomorrow...he will be the one slaving away over the feast! :)  (I'm a lucky girl!)

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

I've been a bit absent recently due to having one of my best friends visiting which has been AWESOME!  Anyways, I was catching up on email and saw this awesome Mama's Holiday Wishlist 2010 giveaway on TodaysMama.  The prizes are SWEET and I had to give it a shot!  If you'd like to enter, copy and past the holiday wish list on your blog and answer the questions and then link up your post here.  

Mama’s Holiday Wish List

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


1. What is your holiday wish for your family? That we'll know if the timing is right to move into our first house and that we could find a "perfect" little house for us.
2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? This year will be the first Christmas as our own little family unit, we have always been with my family and my husbands family on Christmas.  Normally, the kids wake up early, open stockings then lounge around or go back to sleep until adults wake up, then we all open presents, we never really took turns watching  each other open up one at time because that would take forever at my parents house with all the people but at my husband's parents house we do it that way.  Then we have a huge breakfast with tons of food.
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?A new car with more presents on the inside like a spa day gift package, a starbucks gift card, and a babysitter! 
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?  We make a lot of homemade gifts and decor.  We also do outdoor winter activities like sledding, going up to the mountains to pick out a christmas tree (before we moved here), driving around looking for neighborhoods with good christmas lights, watching classic holiday movies and having a good supply of cocoa on hand.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Monopoly and Balderdash
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Open one present on Christmas Eve, usually PJ's.
7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?  Somewhere snowed in with a mountain backdrop, like Leavenworth, WA, or any ski resort along the rocky mountains in British Columbia, Utah or Colorado.  Christmas in New York or Paris would also be very beautiful for a non-secluded Christmas setting with all the lights and Christmas shopping and festivities. 
8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? 

Worldless Wednesday

 TIRED???

This is the little guy who kept me up all last night!!!  Glad one of us is finally getting some sleep!