Party Mix

Michael, Trinity and I made party mix this morning for snack later today. 

Measure and mix together 10 cups of favorite cereals such as corn, rice or wheat chex and cheerios, nuts and pretzel sticks.

Melt 6 tbsp. margarine, stir in one tbsp. seasoned salt and 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Pour over cereals, nuts and pretzels.

Mix well.

And of course you have to do a taste test to make sure everything is well seasoned.

Pour (or spoon, as Michael prefers) into two 9x13in. pans

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Pasta Salad

During the summer months we love a meal of pasta salad. It can be made ahead of time (like in the morning when the kitchen is cooler) and put in the refrigerator. Our recipe is pretty simple and easy to adjust to individual tastes. We use the following ingredients in varying amounts (depending on how much we have) in ours.

cooked spaghetti noodles

diced peppers

halved cherry tomatoes

sliced cucumbers

pepperoni

shredded cheddar cheese

Italian dressing

We simply mix these ingredients, chill, and enjoy.

Pineapple Raisin Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup raisins

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and water, mix well. Add 1/3 cup of flour mixture; mix until smooth. Mix in remaining flour mixture and the pineapple. Stir in raisins. Pour into a  greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. oaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.

Overnight Sausage Egg Casserole

8 slices bread, cubed
3/4 pound shredded cheddar cheese
2 lbs ground bulk pork sausage
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/4 cup water

Place bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in x 2-in baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Brown sausage over medium heat; drain. crumble sausage over cheese and bread. Beat eggs, milk, water and soup; pour over sausage. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Cooking Up a Storm

This weekend has been full of kids. I guess that's not news. Every day around here is full of kids.

Amanda had two friends over Saturday afternoon and they stayed for the night. They had a great time together. I was glad because a few sleepovers recently have turned a little sour. They did each other's makeup, went for a long walk, played with the little kids, and watched TV. Saturday evening they made Bacon Wrapped Burgers and fries for dinner.


We woke up this morning to freezing rain and a coating of ice on everything. By lunch time though the temperature was up around 40 and by early afternooon the sun came out.

Austin made some Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes and a Cream Cheese Strawberry Pie for lunch. It was SO good. We also had broccoli and cheese.



And the finished product!
Yummy!

Michael has continued to be very fussy and clingy the last two days. He's not complaining about anything hurting and not running a fever. I've been giving him some Tylenol just in case something is hurting and he doesn't know how to tell me. He does have a slight cold so I've been giving him some Benedryl at night to help with the symptoms and to help him sleep.

I got to take the most wonderful nap this afternoon. Doug watched the one daycare child who was here at the time. Michael was asleep and Austin and Amanda were watching Disney.

Doug has squad duty this evening. His shift is from 5:45 - 9:45 this evening.

Cooking and Learning Together

Today has been the coldest day so far this season. We woke up this morning to temperatures at 19 degrees. I know other areas were much colder but this was cold enough for me. It reminded me how glad I am that my work comes to me every day and I don't have to go out into the cold.

Austin and Amanda are still on their cooking spree and I'm loving it. They choose different things to cook then I would and it adds variety to our meals. It's to easy for me to fall into the pattern of cooking the same things over and over.

Austin chose to make a ham and potato casserole. This was a recipe that I normally would not have chosen because I'm not a fan of sour cream. But this particular recipe was really good. I had him do as much on his own as he possibly could, only stepping in when he started to get too overwhelmed. He did a great job and there were no leftovers.



Amanda has quite a sweet tooth and decided to make Saucepan Fudgies. They're really a very chocolaty cookie. And they were delicious. And they completely disappeared in next to no time.


Michael has had a bit of a rough day and spent a good bit of time in his room for misbehavior - throwing things, pushing other kids, etc. I'm not sure why he was so out of sorts today but I'm hoping a good night of sleep will "reset" his mood. He did enjoy stealing cookie dough from the cookie sheets before Amanda could get them in the oven. He can be really fast when he wants to be.

This evening Austin and Amanda went to practice for the Christmas play they are going to have part in. Austin is playing the part of the innkeeper and Amanda is an angel.

Bread of Life, Playing with Tools, Dinosaurs and Playdough

I made some whole wheat bread dough to put in the freezer for later use. Or rather, I started making it and Amanda took over. She loves to cook and bake and is becoming quite the young chef. I even slipped in a lesson (just a little one) on fractions. And yes, she's still in her PJs. She loves her cat pajamas.





I froze the dough in balls to use later to make homemade hot pockets.



This recipe is called Bread of Life and is found here.

I also made a pineapple cake. And it's quickly disappearing. I think I have a house full of eating machines today.


Doug and Michael tackled some repairs today in our downstairs bathroom. I think they really just wanted an excuse to play with the tools.




And a whole herd of dinosaurs invaded our playroom!


Michael and Hunter were both very wound up this evening, running up and down the hall, throwing toys, climbing everything in sight. So I got out the play dough. They only played for about 15 minutes but they had fun. And by the time they got tired of playing with the play dough it was close enough to bed time to go ahead get them ready.




I found some links to some sites with fun playdough activities that I thought I would share: Scholastic - Playing With Playdough and Playdough Letters.

Busy Kids

The kids stayed busy today, doing a lot of fun things.

Austin brought out the hand puppets and played with L. and Gianni for awhile.


Amanda brought out the balloons and they had a blast with them too. It looks like a party.

L. enjoyed watching Austin play games on his gameboy.


Amanda did a cool project with the kids using the letters of their names. First she made large versions of the letters in each child's name and had them color them.







Then she cut them out. I think here she's trying to tell me "Enough pictures already!"


Then she had each child glue the letters of their name onto sheets of construction paper.



She then used the completed papers to create a wall display in our playroom.


Austin made the macaroni and cheese for lunch.





Austin and Gianni made up a game involving words written on index cards. I never did quite figure out the rules of the game but they stayed busy creating and playing this game for about two hours.



And right about now, this is looking to me like a really good idea. Actually Doug was very kind to me this evening and watched the kids for about an hour so I could go take a nap. Bliss!