Sandwich on a stick & Sandwich Art

Both photos taken from Family Fun

Sandwich Art

1. Fill each paper cup with two tbsp. of milk. Add a few drops of food coloring to each cup.
   
2. Paint pictures and designs on the bread using the colored milk and new paintbrushes.
   
3. Toast lightly and use the slices to make crazy sandwiches.
   

Fun idea to have around and worked well for my picky eater!

Homeade Ice Cream in a bag

This turned out a little soupy when I did it. You really have to shake for a long time, and then it turns out great. It's really fun. Maddie loved it. We'll be doing it again! Another note: I would wear gloves when shaking the bag because it gets COLD!

 

 Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)

• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
• 1 pint-size ziplock bag
• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag
• Mix-ins (such as: choc. chips, sprinkles, cookies, candy, etc.)

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.
   
2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.
   
3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.
   

Rock Candy

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp flavoring extract or oil (optional)
• food coloring (optional)
• glass jar
• skewer or thread (see below)

Preparation:

1. Prepare your materials: wash a glass jar thoroughly with hot water to clean it. Cut a length of thick cotton thread a few inches longer than the height of the jar, and tape it to a pencil. Place the pencil across the lip of the jar, and wind it until the thread is hanging about 1 inch from the bottom of the jar. Attach a paper clip to the bottom of the thread to weight it and ensure it hangs straight down. Alternately, you can use a wooden skewer as the base of your rock candy, and use clothespins balanced across the top of the jar to clip it into place.
2. Wet your thread or wooden skewer, and roll it in granulated sugar. This base layer will give the sugar crystals something to “grab” when they start forming. Set the thread or skewer aside to dry while you prepare your sugar syrup.
3. Place the water in a medium-sized pan and bring it to a boil. Begin adding the sugar, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. You will notice that it takes longer for the sugar to dissolve after each addition. Continue to stir and boil the syrup until all of the sugar has been added and it is all dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat.
4. If you are using colors or flavorings, add them at this point. If you are using an extract, add 1 tsp of extract, but if you are using flavoring oils, only add ½ tsp, and make sure you don’t stand right in front of the pan—the scent can be very strong as it rises in the steam. Add 2-3 drops of food coloring and stir to ensure even, smooth color.
5. Allow the sugar syrup to cool for approximately 10 minutes, then pour it into the prepared jar. Lower the sugared string or skewer until it hangs about 1 inch from the bottom.
6. Carefully place your jar in a cool place, away from harsh lights, where it can sit undisturbed. Cover the top loosely with plastic wrap or paper towel.
7. You should start to see sugar crystals forming within 2-4 hours. If you have seen no change to your skewer or thread after 24 hours, try boiling the sugar syrup again and dissolve another cup of sugar into it, then pour it back into the jar and insert the string or skewer again.
8. Allow the rock candy to grow until it is the size you want. Don’t let it grow too large, otherwise it might start growing into the sides of your jar! Once it has reached the size you want, remove it and allow it to dry for a few minutes, then enjoy or wrap in plastic wrap to save it for later.

Silly Face Pizza

This is just an idea i'd like to keep around. It was fun and a success! I just used the roll out pizza crusts and cut them into circles. Then we used canned pizza sauce and topped them with Mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, ham, pineapple. olives, and whatever else you can think of! I baked it according to the pizza crust directions.

Meatball Soup

I got this recipe from my good friend Rachel Nielsen's blog (forced to cook). This is a five star kid recipe. Easy as pie and I was shocked at how much of this Maddie ate. She may be the ultimate picky eater.

2 small pkgs. frozen meatballs (cut them in half)
Note: if you like more or less meatballs, just adjust to taste.
1 jar Ragu PIZZA sauce
1 large can chicken broth. **If you have bullion handy instead of a can, I use about 8 cups of water and 8 cubes of bullion.
1/2 package of bow tie noodles (we use the whole package) **these noodles will soak up a good deal of your broth so add broth/bullion as you like.

Here comes the easy part. Put it all in a big pot and let it simmer until everything is tender. Done! Yes! Even the UNCOOKED pasta! It will cook in the soup itself and soak up all the yumminess.

Dirt cups

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

15 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 1-1/4 cups), divided

10 worm-shaped chewy fruit snacks

Preparation:

BEAT pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Stir in COOL WHIP and 1/2 cup cookie crumbs.

SPOON into 10 (6- to 7-oz.) paper or plastic cups; top with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour. Top with fruit snacks just before serving.

Banana Pops

This isn't so much of a recipe as it is an idea. I just took banana's and put them on sticks.

Then I coated them in Peanut Butter, Cool whip, and put sprinkles and mini vanilla wafers on them.

Last, I froze them in the freezer for a few hours, and we had dessert like that! It was good. Maddie loved it.

Variations-Chocolate rolled in nuts, or coconuts, sprinkles, reese's chips, mini choc. chip, oreo crumbs, or m&m's, or marshmallows. Drizzle chocolate over the top.

This may be fun to take to a party treat
             

Italian Sodas

Photo taken from Our Recipe Garden

INGREDIENTS
crushed ice
flavoring syrup of choice
club soda
heavy whipping cream
straws
*
DIRECTIONS
1. Fill tall glass with crushed ice.
2. Add about an inch of flavoring syrup.
3. Pour in club soda to about an inch from the top of the cup.
4. Add a bit of heavy whipping cream.
5. Use straw for both mixing and for drinking the soda. :)

*Would be cute to serve in these lids and mason jars w/ straws for a party

Rolo Pretzels

1 bag small Pretzel Twists

1 bag Rolo candies (or Hershey's Caramel Kisses)

Nuts - almonds, pecans, walnuts, OPTIONAL

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap Rolos. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top each pretzel with a Rolo candy. Bake in oven for 3-5 minutes just until chocolate begins to melt. The Rolo should be soft but not completely melted. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and immediately smash the chocolate with a nut (or a small spoon if not using nuts).

Slow Cooker Mac-n-Cheese

16 oz. elbow macaroni
1/2 c butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 c milk
4 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/8 tsp. paprika

Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Place in 5 qt. slow cooker; add melted butter. In a bowl, combine eggs, evaporated milk, soup, milk, and 3 c cheese. Pour over macaroni; stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with paprika.