Green Eggs and Ham

 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! #greeneggsandham twitter.com/Elizabelle17/s…

— Elizabeth Cook (@Elizabelle17) March 2, 2013

 

Since Saturday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, we celebrated at home with a little whimsy.

First, since I couldn’t find our copy of Green Eggs and Ham, I had Brian show this to the kids while I made brunch. 

I used an obscene amount of green food coloring to produce our green eggs and ham.  Anything for the kids, right?  So, to make green eggs is kind of obvious.  Drip the food coloring into the scrambled egg yolk mixture before cooking.  For the ham, I melted a little butter in the pan and then added the food coloring.  Mix it up then add the ham, stirring around till the ham is nice and green.  I used deli sliced ham, but I would so much have rather used some spiral cut ham.  I can honestly tell Sam-I-Am that I do not like THAT kind of green ham.  Sorry, it’s the truth.  I don’t like fried baloney either, that’s just the way it is folks.

 

Sophie was hilarious. She saw the green eggs and ham and freaked out!  She told me she did NOT like green eggs and ham.  She was not going to eat it.  I asked her some of the questions from the book, (in a box? with a fox?)  If I remember correctly, there were even tears.  But eventually, she did try it.  And she liked it.  She ate it all, (even though it was probably cold by then.)  Liam did too, but without the drama.

Celebrate Read Across America every year to promote reading and celebrate the life of Theodore Geisel.  But don’t wait until March 2nd to enjoy some Seussical fun!  See my board on Pinterest where I will continue to add great Seuss ideas, (feel free to link to your favorites in the comments below.)

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My Little Valentines

Yesterday was our Homeschool Support Groups Valentine's Party.  I had recently found some Meyer Lemons (love them!) and decided to use them to make the lemon bars The Food Librarian made here.  Myer lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange.  It’s skin is thinner than a regular lemon and it has a milder, sweeter flavor too. 

I cut these smaller than The Food Librarian did.  I wanted them to fit into mini cupcake wrappers.  I just love tiny desserts:

Cute + Portion Control = Awesome!

The first thing we did at the party was decorate our bags or boxes. 

Everyone brought whatever supplies they had and we shared.

Later, after we ate, we lined the bags along the wall in the hallway. 

We got in line.

And we put a Valentine into each bag.

When that was done, we went back to our table and checked out the loot.

For the party, and many other kids we know, Liam and Sophie gave store bought Valentines.  But they also handmade a few for some family and friends.  I’ve said these are the Valentines to make people think I’ve got it all together.  Because, surely, if she has time to make those, she’s got everything else under control.  Feel free to think that if you wish. I’ll allow it.

For this cute owl, I printed the text and glued it and the body of the owl onto a 4x6 unlined notecard.  Sophie then glued the parts on.  She decided to use two patterns for each owl, which gave us several combinations.  To make the pattern, I drew the owl pattern pieces on a blank piece of paper. Then I just trimmed my scrapbook paper to fit my printer and scanned the pattern onto the backs of my scrapbook paper.  Then I cut the pieces out, (no small feat!) Sophie did a pretty good job gluing if I do say so myself.

For Liam’s Valentines, it couldn’t be more appropriate than to use the sign, “I Love You”.   To make these, just trace a hand print onto flesh colored paper, cut out and glue the middle and ring finger down.  You could fold the paper at the “knuckle” but I just let it bend slightly.  You can glue these to whatever heart shape your heart desires, but store bought paper doilies was the easiest thing for me to do.  After cutting out all those owl bits, I was ready for easy!

The kids are learning Sign Language from Pop and the Old School Sesame Street books you can find here and here. These are the same ones I had when I was a kid, and I found them used for a great price.  The kids are enjoying learning to sign.  Pop is an interpreter, so he is a great teacher!  Liam is really picking up on it and loves to sign, “I Love You.” 

Hope you are having

a lovely

Valentine’s Day!

 

A Grocery List For You

 

In my attempt to be more organized, I have created a grocery list to help me keep track of what we need.  And because I love you, I’m making it available to you too!

Click here to download this file for free!

Since I don’t fancy printing one of these babies each week, I printed mine on cardstock and have laminated it and put it on my fridge with a dry erase pen and small eraser nearby.  I plan on keeping track of what we are out of there, but will write a separate list just for going to the store.  We live so close to a grocery store that we don’t generally go on giant shopping trips anyway, so this will work out well for us.  However, I won’t judge you if you want one for each trip.

Please enjoy this and look forward to more freebies in the future!

Thanks to The Graphics Fairy for making this and many more graphics available to use!

Merry Christmas!

 

Pink Stuff

This recipe will not win me any gourmet friends.  It will not thrust me toward stardom and my own cooking show.  And if you don’t feed your kids anything with food dyes; you may excuse yourself now.  What I’m about to show you is kid food at it’s finest. Pink Stuff. 

Pink Stuff is special to my family.  My grandmother would make it for every special occasion.  Holidays, birthdays, you name it; we had Pink Stuff.  I vaguely remember it being made a different way when I was very young, but I think Mimmy adjusted the recipe to it’s perfect state I give to you today.  Mimmy isn’t with us anymore, but the Pink Stuff is, thanks to my Aunt Teresa who carries the Pink Stuff torch.

I actually made it this weekend, for my Mom’s birthday.  And chances are good that we will have Pink Stuff at least once in November and once in December.  I like those odds.  I think I could live to be 103 and not tire of Pink Stuff. 

So here is the deal.  You make it with Strawberry Jell-O.  But theoretically, you could make it with any flavor Jell-O that would go well with pineapple, (as it is in the mix too.)  However, though there has always be talk about it, we never have strayed from strawberry.  Why mess with perfection?  So, if anyone tries this with another flavor, tell me how it goes!  You just may persuade me to mess with tradition; but not on a holiday or birthday.

Pink Stuff

20 oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice 16 oz. small curd cottage cheese 6 oz. box of Strawberry Jell-O 16 oz. tub of Cool Whip, thawed to room temperature Mix the pineapple/juice, cottage cheese and Jell-O powder into a large bowl.  Fold in the Cool Whip until well combined and pale pink.  Refrigerate before serving for best results.

Not Back To School Part 2

 

Last month I mentioned that I had brought two dishes to our Homeschool Support Group’s Not Back To School Party.  I almost forgot to tell you about the dessert!  But first, some more pictures of my cuties from the party.

Liam really wanted to slide.

It was a really big slide.

But Liam had some help.

Maybe a little too much help.

So, here it is.  Chocolate Cake with Biscoff Cream Cheese Icing. This recipe came from The Food Librarian.  She had me at Biscoff.  I love those little cookies, and am so glad that not only they, but also the spread made from them, have made it to local grocery stores. 

I followed the two recipes The Food Librarian used but alas! I do not own any of those lovely chocolate sprinkles.  I think I need to check World Market for them.  So, instead, I crushed some Biscoff cookies and sprinkled on top. 

My assessment: the chocolate cake is a good one.  It is very easy to make.  It also stayed moist for me.  The icing, oh the icing!  I don’t know what magical properties this concoction created, but this is a very unique icing.  There was a smoky flavor and the tang from the cheese.  It seemed to have a mature flavor, so do not hesitate to make these with grownups in mind.  But, hey, it’s cake, so kids will dig it too.

P.S. If you are not already following The Food Librarian’s blog, you really should. 

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

 

It’s that time of year when Pumpkin is King.  Yum!  I love it!  So, when I saw a recipe for Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal, I knew that 1) not only would I make it pronto, but 2) I would toss in some chocolate chips.  Just a few though, this is supposed to be a healthy dish.  Of course, it’s good without the chocolate too, but I’m a sucker for pumpkin and chocolate.  Can’t be helped. 

I love these little bread pans.  They can be used for individual servings and for giving tasty gifts.  You can probably find them at your local craft store.

Here’s where I found the recipe.  I used the maple syrup option and like I said, added some semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/4 cup or so.  But those are completely optional. 

There are a few options for making these an easy breakfast.  1st, it doesn’t take long to make these from beginning to end, but I’m not always patient when it comes to making breakfast in the mornings.  So, option 2, make them the night before and heat them up. Option 3, mix the ingredients the night before and bake in the morning.  In all honesty, this probably won’t save you a ton of time, since you still have to wait on the oven to preheat, (you may as well mix it all up while preheating).  Option 4, microwave for 3-4 minutes and dig in.  I prefer the oven recipe, but this is much quicker for the times I just can’t wait.  Either way, the inside is nice and creamy and delicious.

I’m going back to check out the other flavors of baked oatmeal.  This may become an obsession.