Toddler Fun with Bubbles and a Bowl

I know! I know! I barely started my blog and I am already slackin' on posts!  Well, in my defense, I do chase around a 2 1/2 year old boy and have to keep him entertained so there will be NO melt downs!!!! Everyone with children knows, WE DON'T WANT THAT!!!!  So, sometimes I fall into the cloud of caring for my child and I get to come up for air here & there! Like now, for instance!  Haha!

Today it has been raining all day long! What do you do to keep an energetic toddler at bay?  Well, if you're like me you peruse Pinterest for ideas on how to keep the youngin' busy!  I came across a Pin about using good ol' fashioned dish soap (like a 1/4 teaspoon) and some water in a large bowl and add straws!  INSTANT FUN!!!!

 

It didn't take the lil Mr. long before he caught onto how to use the straw to blow & make lots of bubbles!!!

 

 

 

Then he used the straw to pop them, swoosh them around, make some more bubbles, make a mess, clean it up (amazing, I know!) and ya know, that kept him entertained for over an hour!!!! Happy Mommy right here! 

 

 

Here are a few other ideas for entertaining your Toddler with stuff you most likely have lying around the house! These are O'lovely & Lil Mr. approved!!! ;o)

 

Turn a cardboard box into a coloring haven

 

Edible Sensory Paint (homemade fingerpainting that's non-toxic)

 

Make Your own Colored Playdough

 

Shaving Cream Finger Painting

 

Tape some painters tape to outline tile floor and give your toddler a broom & tell them to "play the sweep game", have them sweep little small toys, marbles, rice, whatever small that you have that is easy for them to sweep up and have them sweep the stuff into the taped tile square.....a fun "game" that teaches them motor skills!  This is a very simple but fun activity for toddlers because they actually LOVE to help and this activity teaches them how to sweep by making it into a game!  When I did this with the Lil Mr. I forgot to snap some pics, so when I bring the activity back I will update the post so you can have a visual!   

 

These activities were all a hit in our household and are sure to be used again and again until he grows out of this kind of play!!!  Hope you enjoy and give them a try with your lil one!

 

 

Chilean Quinoa Salad

Every so often, and definitely not often enough,I like to crack open my Chilean Kitchen cookbook!!! It helps me to feel closer to my family there..........AND, since I have no idea about the food in Chile (except for the minimal time I spent there and being served up yummy dishes by Mi Abuelita), I had to buy this book to learn how to prepare authentic Chilean dishes!  Ya see, my Father is from Chile and his entire family (damn near) all reside there!  I didn't grow up with that side of the family and was only around my Father a handful of times during my youth!  I did go and visit him there after he moved back to retire and I just LOVED it!!!! If I only spoke Spanish fluently I may have uprooted my Hubby and furry babies to relocate (before the munchkin came into our lives)!!!!

 click here to buy

Anyway, I got on my Chilean kick this past week and we happen to love quinoa!! So when I stumbled across the recipe for a Chilean Quinoa Salad I got super excited!  I did modify the recipe to fit our family taste (Hubs hates any variety of bell pepper, sigh!) so I substituted the red bell pepper for banana peppers that I grow in my little container garden!  I also used Cherry Husk Tomatoes that also grow in my little garden too!

See!!!! Isn't my little standing container garden bed CUTE!! I just love this thing!!! I am a garden novice!!! I primarily have only had herb gardens!!!  I did kill my zucchini and yellow squash that I originally planted with the tomatoes though (they caught something nasty, don't have a clue what!) but the banana peppers & tomatoes have thrived quite well!!!

Ok, so back to the quinoa...........I gathered all the necessary ingredients and started preparing the tomatoes, red onion & banana peppers.  Then I placed the quinoa & 3 cups of vegetable broth in a medium sized saucepan over high heat to bring to a boil (you can substitute chicken broth or even just water, though I suggest using a broth to give the quinoa more flavor), then turn the heat down and let it do it's thing!  In about 15 minutes you will have fluffy quinoa!!


In a large bowl add all the yumminess together.........drizzle the olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro and add salt and pepper and BAM.......Chilean Quinoa Salad is ready!  Now, please try not to eat all of this for yourself and share with your loved ones!  Yes, it is that good!  My husband and I had seconds and were still looking at eachother like "should we get more.." aahhh, such little piggies!

Chilean Quinoa Salad
serves approx. 4

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
3 cups Vegetable Broth (or chicken broth or water)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2-3 banana peppers, finely diced (these aren't spicy at all...)
1 cup finely chopped red onion or sweet onion (whatever you have on hand)
1/2 cup finely minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice  (zest the lemon to add more lemony flavor)
1/2 cup olive oil (I used extra virgin)
salt & pepper to taste


In a medium saucepan add quinoa and vegetable broth, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook on low heat for approx. 12-15 min.  Drain and let the quinoa cool.  Place the cooled quinoa in a bowl and fluff with a fork.

Add the tomatoes, banana peppers, onions, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper and toss it all together.   Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.  This allows all the flavors to marry together and the longer it sits the more delicious it becomes.

Super Easy to do DIPPED MARSHMELLOWS!!!!

Our wonderful friend's are expecting a baby and I offered to give them a dessert table for their Baby Shower!!!!!  Let me just say that it is nearly impossible for me to do things on a small scale.....despite the lack of planning & trying!! What started out as a modest dessert table, turned into cupcakes, cake pops, sugar cookies, dipped marshmellows, dipped rice krispy treats & peach pie pops (who doesn't want a pie on a stick???) Don't fret!!! I have a post for the Peach Pie Pops!!!! And............I had the best time making all of this stuff!

So, here I am sharing this SUPER EASY "how to" make your very own yummy dipped marshmellows!!! Seriously! These are addicting!  My little 2 year old boy couldn't keep his hands off of them (unfortunately that meant he didn't go to sleep till WAAAAAAYYY past bedtime either, not letting that go down again, haha!!)

Ok, to get started you're going to need a package of candy melts.  I use Merkins Candy melts for my dipped delights!  If you aren't near a cake supply that carries this brand you can always use Wilton.  I melt mine down in a an old fashioned double broiler (Actually belongs to my Grandmother, who passed it along to me!!! It's copper and porcelain coated!!! YES<<<<I LOVE THIS THING!!!); so heat up about an inch of water in your double broiler; if you don't have one use a small saucepan that you can fit a glass or metal bowl over.  Only fill with an inch of water, you don't want water touching the bottom of the bowl or you'll waste your money on the candy melts!! They will seize up if overheated and that totally BLOWS!!! Yes, I speak from experience!!!

Bring the water to a simmer and remove from heat, place the candy melts in the top of your double broiler (or bowl if using a make shift double broiler) and stir to get a smooth consistency.  Add your food coloring when the chocolate has melted down smooth.  If you're impatient like I can be just add it after the melts have started melting down and watch the process happen!!!

Now, grab a Marshmellow and insert a pretty decorative straw, then dip in the chocolate and coat as much of the marshmellow as you would like!  I went about half way down. 

Have the sprinkles, jimmies, disco dust, pearls (or whatever edible decorations you choose) and have them right near your dipping station.  After you have your marshmellow dipped in the chocolate sprinkle them to your liking!  Here's how I did mine!!  

TaaaaaaaaDDDDDaaaaaaa!!!!!

What you need for making your own Dipped Marshmellows!!!

Large Marshmellows
Decorative Straws
Candy Melts
Sprinkles, Jimmies, Pearls, Edible Glitter, etc...

And IMAGINATION!!!  Now Gooooooooooo!!!!!! :o)

Fun and easy Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween time is one of my favorite holidays!!! It marks the beginning of my fave 3 holidays to come.....Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas!!! Why? Do you ask??? Because it gives me an excuse to go PLUM crazy in the kitchen!!!!!  Today I wanted to demonstrate just how easy it is to throw some Halloween theme cupcakes together.  You don't have to be an expert baker or a pro, you just have to love to enjoy them and that is all the motivation you need!!!!

Now, I am a scratch baker, but if that intimidates you then hit the baking aisle and buy some cake mix, canned frosting, and the rest of what you'll need to get started!!!! Let's have some fun!!

I whipped up some Red Velvet cupcakes using the recipe out of this cookbook (scooped it off of Amazon), which I modified slightly:

I prefer using cake flour (recipe in the book calls for All Purpose Soft Wheat Flour) in my baking because it produces a lighter texture cake.  I also always sift my flour and other required dry ingredients to ensure there are no clumps!!! Why, do that you ask....because dumps of flour create pockets and can cause your cupcakes to sink or explode! We don't want that! So sift, sift, sift!!! Even the recipe doesn't call for it, do it for good measure!!!!


To decorate these cute little ghost cupcakes all you need is buttercream, mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for the eyes and you have a few options to use for a mouth (I used black fondant that I shaped into a flat oval) but you could use a dark chocolate espresso bean or an M&M.  Just have fun with it!!!!

Tag a pastry bag fitted with a 1A tip and make a swirl of frosting, which will be the ghost's body.  If you don't have a pastry bag you can always use a ziplock baggy and cut a small tip off one of the corners and pipe your ghosts that way.  Then take 2 mini chocolate chips and place them point side in to the frosting, so the flat side is what is showing.  Then add your mouth and VIOLA!!! Instant, simple ghost!!!!

***click here for the video tutorial***

Now if you want to be fancy you can roll out some white fondant, use a 3" circle cutter and drape it over a skinny & long cookie ( I used a fudge graham stick ) that you placed in the center of your frosted cupcakes, then use an edible marker in black to make the details for the eyes & mouth, if you don't have an edible marker just dip the tip of a decorator art brush (or even a toothpick, eyeliner, lip liner, just something with a small point!!!) into black food coloring and make your eyes & mouth out of that! Here's a few pics of the Halloween cupcakes I did for 2012!

 

 

Keep scrolling for the recipes on the buttercream, sugar glass and edible blood!!! Thought I'd make this post extra looooooooonnnnngggg for ya!!! :o)

 

AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM
(This will frost approx 12 cupcakes)

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (+ 2 tbsp in case you need a more spreadable consistency) 
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a mixer and cream them together.  Next, keeping the mixer on a low speed, add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time making sure to mix thoroughly before adding more, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.   After all the powdered sugar has been incorporated turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and whip the frosting for a couple minutes until it is fluffy and light. 



SUGAR GLASS

I followed the directions from All Recipes website: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bloody-Broken-Glass-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=broken%20glass%20cupcakes&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

2 cups water
1 cup light corn syrup
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

*have a metal cookie sheet right next to the burner, on stand by.

mix water, corn syrup, sugar & cream of tartar in a large sauce pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan and bring the mixture to 300 degrees (the hard ball stage), keep stirring the entire time to keep the sugar from burning.  When the mixture reaches 300 degrees, pour quickly into the metal cookie sheet, let it cool completely. 

After it has cooled the fun part begins!!! Crack out a meat mallet and bang away (don't go overboard or you'll have sugar shards everywhere!!!)

*********Here is a link to my quick vid tutorial*********


EDIBLE BLOOD

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
red food coloring

Basically you are just making a simple syrup and adding red food coloring to get the blood red color you're looking for.  So, in a small saucepan bring the mixture to a boil until the sugar has dissolved (approx. 2-3 min) remove from heat & add the food coloring until the blood red color is achieved.


If you don't like to use a lot of food coloring in your cooking, you can substituted this r3ecipe with raspberry jam.  Just heat it up to get a runny consistency and drizzle it over the shards of sugar glass and the cupcake.

Sautéed Swai Fillets w/ Whole Grain Penne, Grape Tomatoes & Fresh Basil

Hey everyone!! Thanks for stopping by my blog for a looksee!  This is my very first post, so bare with me here ok!!! :o)


Tonight's meal prep started off like most nights, what do I have in the kitchen pantry???  I usually take a protein out so I know somewhat of what the game plan is, but I usually cook on the fly!!! I really need to improve on that! Haha! Ok, now back to my dish!  So I had taken out Swai fillets from the freezer.  This is my "go to fish", It's versatile, light and meaty......and it can be cooked so many different ways!  I will share more recipes with my FAVE fish! Don't worry!!!

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to serve the fish.........I figure this out by opening up the pantry and seeing what speaks to me!  Tonight, the Penne was calling my name!  That spiraled into grabbing the grape tomatoes I had procured from the Farmer's Market a couple days prior, some Parmagiano Reggiano, fresh basil from my herb garden, a yellow bell pepper, an onion, some garlic cloves and parsley. It's time to paaaaaaaaaarty now!

 

Start by finely chopping up the onion, yellow bell pepper and garlic.  Then finish chopping up the parsley, slicing the grape tomatoes, and chopping the basil, take care not to bruise it (I just run my knife through it, I don't mind larger pieces of basil!)

Now break out a large skillet, on medium high heat, add some olive oil (I eyeball it, so make about two turns around the pan)  then add the onion,  sprinkle with salt & fresh ground pepper and sauté until the onions become translucent in color.  Then add the bell pepper and garlic, cook till softened over medium low heat........approx 5 min........

Push the onion mixture to the sides of the pan and add your fish, that you seasoned with salt, pepper & a pinch of adobo seasoning.  As the fish is cooking I add about half cup of white wine and steam that flavor right not the fish...............can you say smells O'YUMMY???!!!! Cook the fish through for approx 5 min.


Add the grape tomatoes, a couple tbsp's of unsalted butter & a handful of basil.  Cook together till the tomatoes release their juices.  Then add the cooked pasta.  Toss it all together in a are pasta bowl & finish off with chopped parsley and shredded parmigiano.

 

 

 And.........VIOLA!!!!  You have a delicious and only slightly indulgent (because of the butter) but overall HEALTHY meal!  If fish isn't your thing you can always use good ol' chicken breast or the meat of your choosing.  All the components in this pasta are pretty classic, so play with it and have fun!!! Afterall, that is the best part of cooking!!!!


SWAI FILLETS W/ WHOLE GRAIN PENNE, GRAPE TOMATOES & FRESH BASIL

SERVES 4 HUNGRY FOLKS

3 SWAI FILLETS, CUT INTO CHUNKS
BOX OF WHOLE GRAIN PENNE, COOK AS DIRECTED
1 YELLOW ONION, FINELY CHOPPED
1 YELLOW BELL PEPPER, SEEDED & FINELY CHOPPED
1 CONTAINER GRAPE TOMATOES, HALVED
3 CLOVES GARLIC, MINCED
HANDFUL OF FRESH BASIL, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
1/2 CUP FLAT LEAF PARSLEY, CHOPPED
1/2-1CUP PARMIGIANO REGGIANO
SALT & PEPPER
1 TSP ADOBO SEASONING
2 TBSP OLIVE OIL (EXTRA VIRGIN)
2 TBSP BUTTER
1/2 CUP WHITE WINE (Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris or Sauvingnon Blanc)


Season the Swai fillets with salt, pepper & adobo seasoning.  Cut the fish into chunks, set aside.

Finely chop the onion, bell pepper & garlic.  Run a knife through the tomatoes.  Chop the parsley & basil.  Set everything aside to have ready to go.

Fill a large pasta pot with water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. (I usually leave the pasta in the pot after it is finished cooking to keep it nice and warm while I prepare the rest of the meal)

Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet (atleast a 10" skillet or larger), over medium high heat, add the olive oil.  When you see the oil start to ripple add the onions, season with salt & pepper.  Cook a few minutes until the onions become translucent (approx. 5 min).  Then add the bell pepper and garlic.  Cook for a few more minutes until the bell pepper has softened.  Then push the mixture to the outsides of the skillet to make room for the fish.  Add the fish (if the pan needs some fat, add a little more olive oil) and cook it through, adding the white wine about half way through this process.  It should take about 5-8 minutes to fully cook the fish through. 

Next, add the tomatoes, basil and butter.  When the tomatoes start releasing their juices add the pasta and toss in the parsley & parmigiano.  Serve it immediately.