Recipes

Activities, Art, Gift Giving, Parenting, Recipes, Toddlers

Salt Dough Keepsakes

I wanted to come up with an inexpensive and creative gift for my mother’s birthday. I also wanted Rosebud to be involved in making it so I decided to see what we could create with salt dough.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup salt,
  • 2 cups all purpose flour,
  • 1 cup warm water,
  • A pinch of cinnamon, (Optional)
  • Food coloring or powder paint. (Optional)

    • Homemade salt dough
    Directions:

    • 1. Mix salt and flour together in a bowl.
    • If you are using powder paint to add coloring, you’ll want to mix it with the dry ingredients.
    • I added the pinch of cinnamon at this stage for a hint of scent, but that is totally optional.
    • 2. Gradually add the warm water and stir until dough forms.
    • If you are using food coloring, add it into the water before mixing with the dry ingredients.
    • 3. Once you have your dough, shape it into a ball and kneed for five minutes. the more you kneed, the softer it gets.
    • 4. Time to have fun and see what you can create.

    Salt dough heart ornament

    It took several tries, but I shaped the dough into a flat heart and Rosebud pushed her hand in the center to make the handprint. Trying to get a tired child to do something like this can be pure torture, but after the sixth try, we got our final product. The other handprints were missing fingers, missing part of the hand itself or barely noticeable.

    Salt dough heart, dried

    To add some sparkle, I put some glitter on the heart. Finally, I poked two holes in the top so the heart can be hung as a decoration. I used a pencil to get good sized holes.

    Salt dough rose

    Next, I worked on the small rose. I roled out a coil for the stem and then made the leaf and rose petals by hand. You role the dough into tiny balls, shape them like a fingerprint and then smooth and bend the pointy ends into the stem. I start out with the outside petals which are larger and then work my way into the smallest center petals.

    I baked the decorations for one hour at 200F and covered them with foil to avoid browning. The heart could’ve been baked a bit longer, but it air dried the rest of the way.

    When it was cool, I painted them. For the heart and flower, I mixed white paint with a tiny drop of red food coloring. For the stem and leaf, I mixed the white paint with some green food coloring. When the paint was dry, I covered it with a coat of modpoj.

    Rosebud was proud to give the birthday gifts and I was happy that we created something together. Have you made anything with salt dough? If so, what are your best creations?

    6 Comments
    Activities, Education, Fall, Recipes, Toddlers

    Pumpkin Spice Play-dough

    I love anything pumpkin spice, so I couldn’t let fall fly by without making this play-dough. For some reason, it took me forever to get all the ingredients on hand to make this play-dough, but I’m glad I finally was able to make it. It smells fantastic and goes great with any Halloween or fall themed activities.

    As soon as I opened the container, Rosebud said it smelled good enough to eat. And yes, she took several bites even though I kept telling her not too. I’m sure it smells way better than it tastes. I set out some play-dough tools. We have rolling pins, mini spatulas, play-dough scissors and cookie cutters. I found any Halloween related trinkets I found in my kitchen as well. I have a tiny ghost cake pan and some ghost and pumpkin rings that came on a cake.

    Small play-dough pumpkin

    We tried making pumpkins. Well, I would and then Rosebud would squish them.

    Play-dough ghost

    We made ghosts, squished them up and then filled the pan again.

    Round, triangular and square pumpkin

    Finally, I made different shaped pumpkins like in the book, The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. It’s a book about a square pumpkin who saves the day for a farmer because of his differences. It’s a great book for Halloween, but the underlying theme is diversity. Even though we may look different, you can find something wonderful and worthwhile in those differences.

    Pumpkin spice play-dough

    Here’s the recipe I used.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 cups flour,
    • 1 cup salt,
    • 2 table spoons cream of tarter,
    • 1 table spoon Pumpkin Spice,
    • 2 table spoons vegetable oil,
    • 1&1/2 cups boiling water,
    • A couple drops of glycerin to add shine,
    • Red and yellow food coloring.

    Directions:

    1. Mix together dry ingredients.

    2. Stir in oil.

    3. Add water and stir until the lumps are gone and it comes together.

    4. Kneed. Add food coloring, scent, glitter and or glycerin at this stage.

    Store in an air tight container. All of my batches of play-dough have stayed good for a couple months at least.

    Enjoy and happy playing. What are your favorite fall activities with play-dough? Let me know in the comments.

    9 Comments
    Recipes

    Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

    I found this simple slow cooker recipe on Facebook and thought I’d pass it along to my readers.

    Uncooked casserole in the crockpot

    Ingredients:

    1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots

    1 (3 oz.) bag bacon pieces

    1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

    2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

    3/4 cup milk

    salt & pepper, to taste

    Directions:

    1. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of the slow cooker.

    2. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces.

    3. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese.

    4. Add diced chicken on top. Season with salt & pepper.

    5. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese.

    6. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

    7. Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces.

    8. Pour 3/4 cup milk over the top.

    9. Cover and cook on low for about 4-6 hours.

    Please note: Some slow cookers run at different temperatures. If you are using an older slow cooker (older than about 6 years old), your cooking time may take longer. Newer models run a bit hotter so keep an eye on this around the 4 hour mark. You want to make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly (to 165F degrees.)

    Cooked casserole in the crockpot

    I made a couple of alterations to this recipe. First, I did not use the entire bag of tater tots. I used maybe 3/4 of the bag. I also left out the bacon. I don’t eat bacon very often because I get disgusted thinking about how bad it is, but I’m sure the recipe tastes better with it. You can also cook this on high for around three hours.

    The casserole, broccoli and carrots on a plate.

    The first time I made this, the texture was more like shredded hash browns, but this time the texture was more like mashed potatoes. It’s not the healthiest option, but it tastes good and it’s simple to make. I served it with broccoli and carrots.

    2 Comments
    Recipes

    Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I saw this recipe recently so I had to try it. I often try new dessert recipes and sometimes Rosebud even helps me in the kitchen. this chocolate chip cookie recipe is simple, doesn't take much time overall and I already had all the ingredients on hand. this recipe will be one of my favorites from now on whenever I need to make a sweet treat for a family gathering, office party or to have at home as an unhealthy, but delicious treat. Rosebud loves these cookies. they have the perfect chewy and soft texture.

    Ingredients

    Time: 1 hour | 24 servings | 298 cals per serving

    • 1 cup butter, softened

    • 1 cup white sugar

    • 1 cup packed brown sugar

    • 2 eggs

    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    • 3 cups all-purpose flour

    • 1 teaspoon baking soda

    • 2 teaspoons hot water

    • 1/2 teaspoon salt

    • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

    • 1 cup chopped walnuts

    Ingredients omitted/changes that can be done as well: chopped walnuts; 2 cups brown sugar if you want a cake-like texture; can substitute with any type of chocolate you prefer; can omit the chocolate entirely and serve as a sugar cookie

    Directions Prep 20 min. | Cook 10 min. | Ready In 1 hr.

    1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

    2 Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

    3 Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.


    1 Comment
    Recipes

    Spring Macaroni Salad

    For the life of me, I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but I know it was called spring macaroni salad. I know the original had a few extra ingredients, some of which I didn’t like so I adapted it. Rosebud loves this salad and the whole bowl goes quickly when I take it to family gatherings.

    Ingredients:

    1 32oz box of macaroni,

    1 pepper (red, yellow or green)

    Knor soup mix (Classic vegetable recipe)

    Mayonnaise have your choice.

    Cook the macaroni.

    Cut peppers into small pieces. Since Rosebud was eating it, I chopped them up into tiny cubes. I used 1/2 red pepper and 1/2 green pepper, but you can use one whole pepper if you wish.

    Once macaroni is cooked, drain water and add peppers and vegetable soup mix.

    Then add mayo. I used five table spoons, but you might want more or less.

    After everything is mixed together. I put it in the fridge for an hour or more before serving.

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    Recipes, Uncategorized

    Sweet Treats: Blueberry Cake

    I started writing this post yesterday, but I have been having some technical issues with my website. I’ve been working on things for the past week. I think the technical troubles are fixed for now thanks to my hosting provider. There are still a few things I want to change and hopefully it won’t get messed up. I’m not sure if I messed something up or if there was something wrong with a specific file. It could have been anything. The options are endless. In this case, my persistence in dealing with this issue paid off.

    After the long week I’ve had, some baked goods were definetly in order. Luckily, I have a four day weekend so yesterday was my Friday. Last year I found this blueberry cake recipe. You can find it here. I don’t know who Alice is, but her blueberry cake is wonderful.

    Rosebud says this is delicious. She even started to help me make it, but she got bored and decided looking out the front window is much more interesting. Since spring is finally showing up, we were able to be outside today without any winter gear and enjoying the warm sun. It was a nice ending to a long week. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make all the difference.

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