Creative Homemaker

Homemade Tortillas

2009-11-06T08:11:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe on the internet on Texas Cooking.com
http://www.texascooking.com/features/sept98flourtortillas.htm

I made the Chewy Flour Tortillas on this site.
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons oil
3/4 cup lukewarm milk (which I just microwaved for 30 seconds)

Mix all the ingredients together. Then cut the dough in half. Take each half and cut into 4 pieces. Roll all 8 pieces into a ball. Take two sheets of plastic wrap and place a ball in between and roll with a rolling pin until as flat as you can make it. Cook in a hot skillet for 30 seconds on each side. As they finish place them in a gallon size freezer ziplock bag. The steam helps keep them soft and pliable.

They turned out really good. My family loved it. I was nervous they would want the store bought ones, but instead they don't want me to buy them anymore and just make tortillas all the time.

30 Mile Challenge

2009-11-05T10:12:00.002-05:00

We were doing really good for our challenge for the first two weeks. It was a lot easier since we were allowed to use what we had on hand. Now we have run out of almost everything we eat on a regular basis. The kids are struggling with the lack of Eggos and Poptarts. Either today or tomorrow we will attempt to make our own Poptarts. I imagine it is just pie crust filled with fruit. We are every going as far as to make our own jam to put in them. I can't make waffles since I got rid of my waffle maker earlier this year. I quit making them from scratch since we always bought Eggos. We have been eating a lot of muffins instead, and I eat fresh fruit when I can get it. The next two weeks will be the most challenging so I will keep you posted on any new recipes I try. This will all end right before Thanksgiving were we can feast.

Bagels

2009-10-22T21:41:00.003-04:00

Bagels

100 Mile Diet Challenge

This morning I pulled the last bagel out of the bag. My daughter eats a bagel for her lunch every day because she hates sandwiches. To stay true to the 100 mile diet challenge, I can't just go and buy a new thing of bagels. Since the challenge allows for baking supplies I decided to make some. The recipe called for potato water to be added to the yeast, so I did go to the produce stand and buy some potatoes. I also found some pure cane sugar syrup that was made within the 100 mile radius as well as some ranch salad dressing. I picked up a few other things too.

So as I was making the bagels my daughter wanted to help, she loves to bake. She was so excited to learn how bagels were made. It is nice to teach her where food comes from and that it doesn't just magically appear on the shelves. She helped make dough ropes, form circles, dropped some in the boiling water, and brushed the egg on top. They turned out so good and yummy. Both the kids were excited about them, but they had to go to bed before the bagels came out of the oven.

I made these big because I thought would doesn't love huge bagels. I think next time I make them I'll make the dozen it says to instead of making 8 giant ones.

100 Mile Challenge

2009-10-21T18:49:00.001-04:00

So while I've been stuck in the house, I've found a show on the Green Planet that is called the 100 mile challenge. Everything they buy must be grown within 100 miles of their house. The idea is to eat what is in season and to change the way you shop and buy food.

Now I think depriving my family of necessities is a little extreme, but I really like the concept. So I talked to my sister who also liked the idea and we came up with our own challenge. The concept behind our method is still the same, eat what is in season and support the local markets. However, we are not going to be extreme purist. So here are our rules:

1. We can buy anything at our local farmers market or butcher regardless of where it originated.

2. Other items need to be investigated to see where it comes from. While we don't want to drive 100 miles to get our food, we will try hard to buy foods from the local area, which can be shipped to us or our town.

3. If a food is manufactured in our 100 mile radius than we can buy it. We are not going to be picky about where the ingredients. Maybe later on we will be concerned with that, but for now we are being flexible.

4. Exceptions: We have two exceptions to the rule. We are allowing dairy purchases and anything in the baking isle that isn't a prepackaged goodie (so flour, sugar, salt, oil, ect are allowed).

5. The challenge will go for 30 days. We are allowed to use what is already in our house, but for the next 30 days our purchases must be in accordance with the challenge.

So with the the butcher and farmers market plus the exception of dairy and baking items we have covered all four food groups. So now it is just what kind of menus we can come up with. My kids are excited about the challenge, but they are concerned what we will be eating for the next month. I'll keep you posted!

Yummy Salad Trick

2009-03-31T11:51:00.002-04:00

My friends tend to make fun of my healthy eating habits, of course it could be because I have no problems eating large amounts of soy or large amounts of chocolate lol. So here is a tip for making a boring salad more exciting with a little extra effort. Don't worry I think even my sister could pull it off (she is a bit kitchen challenged).

What you will need is a bagged salad or lettuce cut up plus added veggies you like on your salad (I'm lazy and just bagged salads). Next you'll want lunch meat or chunks of meat or for a vegetarian option pick a non-traditional salad veggie like green beans. You'll also need a liquidity store bought salad dressing, I usually go for the vinaigrettes but nothing fruity.

Now that you have everything, cut up the meat into bit size pieces and place them in a skillet. Warm the meat up a little on a medium-low heat. Once the meat heats up and starts searing add a quarter cup of water and the salad dressing. Turn the heat up a little to medium heat and let the salad dressing boil. This way it saturates the meat which gives it a nice marinated flavor. Once the salad dressing has reduced to a little more liquidity than its original state pour it over your prepared salad.

It takes a boring salad and makes it a warm salad with yummy meat. Also you made the salad dressing go further which is healthier. More flavor, yummier salad, less calories, whats not to like :)

Best Job in the World

2009-01-14T12:55:00.002-05:00

All the buzz on the news is how the Austrialian government is trying to hire someone to fill what they call the Best Job in the World. Basically you live on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef and the tourism department shows you everything cool to do there. In exchange you maintain a blog, both video and written, about how much fun you are having. The term is for 6 months and they are paying what is equivilent to about $100,000 USD. The website is http://www.islandreefjob.com/ but it is often down due to extreme popularity.

Now I'm going to apply for this. I mean you just need to make a 60 second video to start with. They limit it down to to the top 50 videos before they get indepth with the application process. I've been going through the audition videos to get a good idea of what I thought was good and what looked bad. So for those of you interested in making a video, here are some hints on what NOT to do to make a good impression in 60 seconds or less.

1. Don't read a script, esp. looking down.
2. Don't sing, unless of course you are super talented, but still they aren't after a singer
3. Don't hold up snap shots
4. Don't use Power Point with music in the background, this tells nothing about you
5. Don't have the background flip through a million vacation pictures
6. Don't beg
7. Don't complain about your weather
8. Don't voice over your video, nobody likes it when your lips don't match your words
9. Don't take the audience through a tatoo parlor pretending you just got inked to get the job
10. Don't just declare your desire for the position in 10 seconds and cut the video off

Edible Play Dough - Candy Clay

2009-01-13T09:51:00.002-05:00

There are many recipes for edible play dough or candy clay. This recipe uses Almond Bark as its base, which is just a brick of white chocolate. What you do is take half of the Almond Bark and chop it up finely. Place it in a microwave safe bowl. Melt it in the microwave by starting at 1 minute. Take it out and stir and place it in for 30 seconds at a time taking it out and stirring each time. Once the almond bark is melted add 1/3 cup of Karo syrup or any other light corn syrup. Mix it really good and let it cool. I find that if you take a cookie sheet that has a bit of a lip helps cool it faster, but put down some wax or parchment paper so it doesn't stick. It takes awhile to cool, I usually let it cool overnight so I'm not sure exactly how long it takes. This is a great activity to do with a bunch of kids.

You can do this whole thing with Wilton candy chips that comes in a lot of different colors too. They are significantly more expensive than the almond bark and you'd have to buy all the different colors you wanted. It takes 1/3 cup of Karo syrup for each package.

I've tried this with a bunch of different types of chips, but it doesn't seem to work that well. The white chocolate chips work the best but real chocolate chips or things like butterscotch chips make the dough too hard. Perhaps adding more Karo syrup would help it, but I didn't really mess around with it that much.

Aerogarden

2009-01-01T16:27:00.002-05:00

I am so excited I got an Aerogarden for Christmas this year. I've already ordered the seed starter tray for it. Hopefully it will get here soon so I can start my garden soon. I need to plant things before the end of February (I'm in southern Georgia). This year I'm going to try and grow the following:

Kentucky Wonder Green Beans
Red Noodle Beans (which are a long bean good in stir fry)
Zamboni Broccoli
Yaya Carrots
Merida (winter carrots I'll plant later in the year)
Giant Red Celery
Snack Mix Sunflowers
Sugar Dot Sweet Corn
Ambition Shallots
Pot and Patio Lettuce Blend
Athena Cantaloupe
Super Sugar Snap Peas
Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Peas
Mini Chocolate Bell Pepper
Small Sugar Pumpkin

I order my seed from Territorial Seed company, but Burpee has similar seeds and I've had good results with them as well. Their prices are about the same as well. Sadly I'm not growing in tomatoes this year because I had so many bug problems with them.

Fabric Gift Tote Bags

2008-12-16T15:18:00.004-05:00

These are great for giving as a gift bag. People can reuse it, so its a gift in and of itself. I find two matching fabrics, they don't have to be Christmas fabric. I then cut 3 inch strips to make the straps. The strap length is a person preference, as is one or two staps. For me I just cut the width of the fabric, which is usually 45 inches, out of both the fabrics, and make two straps. Sew the straps with the good sides facing each other. Turn it inside out, iron it down, and top stitch the straps, which is sewing a line on each side of the edge of the strap as close to the edge as possible without going over the edge.

Then I take and cut a huge rectangle out of the remaining fabric. Usually about a 18x 24 size bag, but your demonsions can vary, just as long as it fits what you want to put in it. You can simple measure the size of the gift, add a couple inches to each side, and double the length.

Turn the good sides towards each other, and pin the handles in place. Remember they will be on the inside of the fabric during pinning. Sew the two tops, then turn it inside out and top stitch the tops. Finally, sew the sides together. Its super easy, cute, and functional.

Advent Calender

2008-12-15T09:10:00.003-05:00

There has been some interest in my sites, and my Christmas craft ideas. So I thought I would post some of them for you.

Felt sheet size 21x24 inches and I sewed strips of felt for loops. The loops measure 3x6.

The calender has a Christmas tree that I free-handed out of various sized triangles.

The stump is a rectangle. Then I took a glass that had about a 3 inch diameter and traced the circles out of felt for ornaments. I took two circles and sewed them together. Then I wrote the number on them with puff paint. I finally glued them onto the red felt with a small white ribbon behind them. The ornaments have an inch and a half opening for the pocket to put candy in.

For the star, I happen to have a die cut machine that I used to make the star. If you do not have a die cut machine or the star die, then you can print off the interent a picture of a star and use that as a template.

Travel Games Website

2007-11-13T17:16:00.001-05:00

Many of you will be traveling for the holidays. I came across some nice travel games on the Coca-Cola website that I thought might help someone looking to occupy their children during a long trip.

http://www.woccatlanta.com/docs/travelgames.pdf

Card Layout

2007-11-08T06:16:00.001-05:00

Just made another card that I thought I'd share. It is just a basic die cut of a 3 part flower.

Eyeball Cookie

2007-10-30T08:09:00.000-04:00

I made these cookies last night for a Halloween party/potluck. I had these gummy eyeballs that were completely round. I cut off the bottoms so they would lie flat on the cookie. Then I baked regular sugar cookies. When the cookies came out of the oven, I placed the eyeball on top of the warm cookie. The gummy stuff melted a bit on the cookie which made it look cool and helped attach itself. These were quite a hit with the kids and moms.

Halloween Party Schedule

2007-10-23T03:29:00.000-04:00

Ok I have firmed up my activity plans for the Halloween Party this year.

I purchased a Haunted Gingerbread House decorating kit from the store for kids to do as guests arrive.

Craft - Make your own trick or treat bags. I purchased plain white paper gift bags and I have all sorts of stamps and rub-ons (which I bought all on clearance last year) to decorate them with

Bob for apples - be sure to have plenty of towels and encourage the kids not to backwash in the bucket with the apples

Pumpkin Scavenger Hunt - I found sponge pumpkins on clearance last year, so I bought a ton. I came up with a scavenger hunt for the kids. Each pumpkin will have a word and a number. I'll think of a cool Halloween saying that will be said if they fill it out properly. (#1 Have #2 a #3 Happy #4 Halloween) Then I'll hide all the pumpkin sponges and when they can tell me what the phrase is they get a small prize.

Food - I always have some cool food, usually cupcakes and popcorn balls. If you don't schedule time to eat, then your food won't get eaten and you wasted your time making it. Don't go overboard though, there are so many cute recipes online now, limit yourself to only a few.

Hay-find - take a bale of hay and scatter candy and make the kids find it

Pumpkin - our Halloween version of Torpedo - Name on side of the yard Trick and the other side Treat. Tell the kids to run towards whatever side you call and when you yell PUMPKIN, everyone must touch the ground. Last to touch the floor is out. This is a great game while waiting for parents to come and it wears out the kids pretty good.

$50 Halloween Party for kids

2007-10-12T09:33:00.001-04:00

Every year I host a Halloween party for my son. He has a summer birthday and with all our moves it seems like there isn't enough friends for a birthday party. As a kid my parents used to do the same for me and I loved it. Since I have almost a lifetime experience at hosting a Halloween party I have it down to under $50.

$20 - 2 bales of hay

$5 - Tableware

$5 - bag of apples
$2 - outfit at a Thrift store
$10 - candy
$5 - craft supplies
$3 - Misc. stuff

Hay
The hay is used for two activities, but if your budget is tight you can reuse the hay from the first activity. The $20 estimate is based on $10 a bale, which is the most expensive I've found hay.

Tableware
Depending on the size of your party, you have two options. For a small party go to the dollar store and pick up a tablecloth (paper), plates, napkins, and cups. You can usually find them in a Halloween theme. For a larger party you will need the same supplies, but go with the plain black and orange tableware because you get more for your money.

Craft supplies
Every year I change the craft, but I try and stick with something cheap. The craft will probably go in the trash eventually, so no need spending $5 per kid on some knick-knack. There are some exceptions to this, but as a general rule don't go overboard on the craft. Oriental Trading has a lot of great craft kits. You can purchase one or just use the site for ideas.

Misc. Stuff
There isn't really anything I buy extra, but I find it is good to have some extra money in the budget to cover unexpected details. Perhaps you could use it for a bag of chips and kool-aid. Typically I have my parties at 2pm so I don't have to worry about feeding people. For $3 you could buy a box mix of cake and icing, make cupcakes, and still have some change left over for kool-aid.

Activities

My formula for good parties is to have: 2 games/activities, 1 craft, and a means of getting mass amounts of candy/toys/misc. at the end.

After all the guests arrive I start with the classic game of bobbing for apples. The best way to play is to have a plastic tote that is long, and only fill half way up with water. Also make sure you have towels lining the floor and a wipe off towel available for the kids.

Next we go outside and I show the kids the bale of hay and a pile of clothes. It is their job to build a scare crow. Usually I have a chair outside for the scarecrow to sit on. For the head I use our jack-o-lantern, but if you don't have you can get an orange plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin for less than a dollar. It is nice to have the kids build a scarecrow for my front door, makes a great decoration for trick-or-treaters.

When they are done I have them come inside for the craft. As I said earlier, I vary my crafts, so this gives you some freedom.

While the kids are working on the craft, I have another adult (usually my husband) go outside and scatter half of the second hay bale in a big pile. Then they toss candy all over, sometimes I add some goodie bag toys I've collected over the year and sometimes pennies too. Then the other half of the hay is scattered on top. I give the kids grocery bags or brown lunch sacks to turn them lose to find stuff.

If time still remains we play a game to run the kids energy out. The original game is called Torpedo (in case anyone has heard of it), but we change it to suit our needs for every party. For this purpose we will call the game Pumpkin. You tell the kids the left side of the yard is the trick and the right side is the treat. You will shout out directions (either trick or treat) but when you yell Pumpkin everyone has to touch the floor. The last person to touch the ground is out. The last person standing gets to be the caller.

Awesome Sand Castle

2007-10-08T11:20:00.000-04:00

Hopefully I can start posting more regularally now that we have finally settled in. Here is a picture of an awesome sand castle we found on the beach. There was a big festival about a week before we went, so I assume they had a sand sculpture contest.

Expecting Card

2007-08-31T04:05:00.000-04:00

Here is a card I made for a friend who is expecting. I finally got settled down enough from this last move to start crafting again. I thought this card turned out rather well and I wanted to share.

On a personal note, our move went ok, well at least its over now. We are planning to buy this house, closing date is the first of October. Hopefully this means we can settle down for awhile and stop moving, but I know better than that.

The kids are both involved in scouts. I somehow found myself as Cubmaster at a new pack. Amazing how that title follows you around. I don't see how, but I guess I have a big neon sign floating above my head.

Well enjoy the card idea and hopefully I'll get to posting some more craft ideas during September.

We've Moved.....again

2007-07-31T15:53:00.000-04:00

Ok for anyone keeping up, we have moved yet again. Currently we are living in Georgia, but that could change in a month or two if my husband gets promoted. Hopefully we can stay here for longer than 3 months, but it is hard to tell.
Although it is rather warm and humid in Georgia, we seem to like it here a lot. The kids have made friends, and they start school tomorrow (yeah they start REALLY early down here). I have found another Cub Scout pack to join. They found out I was Cubmaster at my last pack, so guess what they want me to do....be thier Cubmaster. Apparently that is a hard vacancy to fill.
When I get some time, and high speed internet, I'll post a picture of the diaper bag I made for a friend. It is too cute and very simple to make. Hope everyone enjoyed my 12 Weeks of Summer posts. My summer is over now, so we will see what kind of fun crafts and ideas I come up with in Georgia.

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 11

2007-07-07T18:43:00.000-04:00

Mad Scientist

Field Trip: Science Museum
Try Something New: Science Experiments; Hypothesize and Prove
Library: Easy kids experiments you can do at home idea books
Crafts: Science lab diorama
Kids Cook: Rock Candy
Rainy Day Fun: Experiments
Outdoor: Egg Drop Experiment -build a device that will prevent an egg from breaking when being dropped from various distances
Movie: Jimmy Neutron
Craft Challenge:Who can make the coolest lab jacket from a t-shirt
Weekly Challenge: Plan your own experiment, whoever best (planned) experiment gets to try it
Additional Info: Constantly explain safety

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 10

2007-06-30T06:03:00.000-04:00

Circus

Field Trip: Merry Go Round
Try Something New: Learn a magic trick
Library: Clowns
Crafts: popsicle stick Big Top tent (use a paper towel for the top)
Kids Cook: Snow cones
Rainy Day Fun: Face paint and act like clowns
Outdoor: Practice lion taming
Movie: Jo Jo’s Circus videos
Craft Challenge: Make a flee circus
Weekly Challenge: Create a circus act
Additional Info: There are many merry go rounds across the country, but if you have a hard time finding one type in your location and carousel and again with merry go round. You are bound to find something nearby.

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 9

2007-06-19T18:16:00.000-04:00

Jungle

Field Trip: Zoo
Try Something New: Backyard Safari, give each kid a disposable camera and go for a walk around the neighborhood or local park. Have them take pictures of all the animals they see. Get them developed and compare pictures.
Library : Animal books
Crafts: pom-pom animals, paper plate lion
Kids Cook: Snake Sticks, buy a can of bread stick dough and let the kids shape them out like snakes. Then take disposable cups and fill them with food coloring and water. Give the kids watercolor brushes to decorate their own snakes. You may want to do this outside or put newspaper down to prevent the food coloring from staining. Alternative is to bake the bread sticks after the kids shape them and let them decorate them with food coloring markers found in the cake decorating section of any craft store.
Rainy Day Fun: Animal puppet show, make your own animal puppets and put on a show
Outdoor: Setup a sprinkler Oasis
Movie: Jungle Book
Craft Challenge: Animal masks
Weekly Challenge: ROAR! start off roaring quietly, then gradually get loaded. Then see who can get the loudest, but only in little increments, no jumping form
roar to ROAR!!!!!

End of Year Party - Luau Crafts

2007-06-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

My son's teacher asked me to do some crafts for the End of Year Luau. We made a paper cup tiki and crepe paper hula skirts.

For the tiki just take a solid colored paper cup, found in the party supply section of any superstore, then have the kids decorate it with foamie stickers, markers, ect. I used glue dots for the googly eyes and the crepe paper hair.

To make the crepe paper (party streamers) hula skirt you just cut a long strip of butcher or craft paper. Then take a large hole punch, in this case it was a square, and cut along the strip of paper. Have the kids tread the crepe paper through the holes and with a glue stick glue the crepe paper onto itself. When they are done wrap it around their waste and staple it. You can staple a lei around their waste as well.

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 8

2007-06-13T09:23:00.000-04:00

Ocean

Field Trip: Aquarium
Try Something New: Get two pairs of tongs and use them to pick up and move things like a crab
Library: Undersea books
Crafts: submarine out of plastic bottle, paper plate aquarium
Kids Cook: submarine sandwiches
Rainy Day Fun: Give each kid a bowl of water, with a tablespoon of oil added to the water, and a spoon. Tell the kids to scoop out the oil with the spoon. This is a great lesson in water conservation. They will find it impossible to get all the oil out. You can let them use a paper towel at the end, but they will find it takes away much more water than oil.
Outdoor: Beach themed scavenger hunt, make a list of things that can be easily found throughout the week, give each kid a sand pail to collect the goodies in. If you don't live near the beach, then you can scatter bath toys around the yard and have them hunt for them.
Movie: Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo
Craft Challenge: Sea shell critter, get a bag of sea shells from the craft store and how many different sea shell creatures you can make
Weekly Challenge: Who can crab walk the farthest

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 7

2007-06-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

Wild West

Field Trip: Visit a local Farm
Try Something New: Pan for gold, paint some small rocks gold and mix them with some mud and dirty. Give the kids foil pie pans to sloosh for the gold.
Library: Wild west or cowboy books
Crafts: create an Old Western town out of old paper milk cartons, make a prairie wagon out of cardboard
Kids Cook: Pulled pork (or meat of choice) BBQ sandwiches, have the kids pull the meat apart with two forks
Rainy Day Fun: Make up a new line dance
Outdoor: Stick Pony Rodeo
Movie: Fievel Goes West
Craft Challenge: make a teepee out of sticks and an old sheet~let the kids decorate it with washable markers
Weekly Challenge: Lasso challenge, who can lasso the most and farthest

12 Weeks of Summer - Week 6

2007-06-04T14:13:00.000-04:00

Bugs

Field Trip: Zoo to look at the spiders and other insects
Try Something New: Watch bugs, take a hula hoop or sting and circle off a small patch of grass, observe for 15 minutes what all the bugs in the area are doing
Library: stages of a butterflies life
Crafts: tissue paper butterfly, clay caterpillar, paper plate lady bugs
Kids Cook: Ants on a log
Rainy Day Fun: Bug Hunt (Buy dollar store bag of bugs and hide them throughout the house)
Outdoor: catch bugs
Movie: Bugs Life or Antz
Craft Challenge: Make a litter bug using trash found outside
Weekly Challenge: Display a Bug Zoo