PC#18 - Glow Stick Bath Time

When the power went out one night, I was eager to get a divers stick (bright glow stick) and stick Elie in the tub.  It is hard to tell by the picture, but just one of these glow sticks is bright enough for bath time.  Fortunately, it lasted for a while, so I used it to light up my tub as well!
Pinterest Link

PC#17 - Pizza Grilled Cheese

This Pinterest Challenge was quick, easy, and delicious.  Of course I modified it since the original recipe seemed like a heart attack waiting to happen.  Plus my 3 year old would not be a big fan if I used regular pepperoni (not a spicy fan).  Here are the ingredients I used:

• honey wheat bread
• fresh sliced mozzarella cheese
• mini turkey pepperoni
• cooking spray
• pizza sauce for dipping

Now just make it like a traditional grilled cheese.  Spray the pan.  Layer bread, cheese, pepperoni, and bread.  I microwaved the sandwiches for 30 seconds each to get the cheese melting (my first sandwich resulted in almost burnt bread and non-melted cheese).  Then I grilled the bread until it was golden brown.
I heated a little bit of pizza sauce for dipping, and it was delicious!

Pinterest Link
Original Recipe

PC#16 - Homemade Peanut Butter

The thought of making homemade peanut butter never crossed my mind until Pinterest, but oh am I glad it did.  I'm just glad we will never go back to buying peanut butter (whether all natural or original, crunchy or creamy, high fructose corn syrup or not, stir or non-stir, crunchy or creamy).  This peanut butter was by far the best tasting peanut butter I've ever tried!
Here's what you need:

• peanuts (we got salted roasted peanuts in a shell and peeled them)
• a strong food processor

Sounds easy?  Right, it is...well other than spending hours peeling peanuts and having them already half eaten between the three of us.  We only peeled a few cups at a time, so this is just one batch we made.

 Ready to begin?  Our food processor is an attachment to our blender base we received when we were married.  After finishing the first batch, I was happy I didn't use my little $10 chopper because it would have given out in a heartbeat.











 Here are the stages I encountered in making this recipe:

• crushed peanuts
• fine powder (sand like)
• paste
• thick paste
• dough ball
• gritty peanut butter
• perfect peanut butter

Here is my peanut butter after 1 minute of processing.

 Here we are 2 minutes in.

 These two pictures are from 3 minutes into processing.

 Not quite ready, but getting there!

 4 minutes - almost there!

5 minutes and we are done! Look how creamy....mmmmmmmm!

I absolutely love this peanut butter.  It is so much better than store bought.  I have stored mine in the fridge just to keep it thicker and allow it to keep longer (I assume it will last as long as the nuts were originally good for, but as fast as we are eating it, I won't be able to tell you that personally!

On a side note, a friend of mine tried it and her peanut butter couldn't get past the balled up point (my guess is it depends on the strength of your chopper).  She added melted coconut oil to it, and it blended well.  Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Pinterest Link
Original Recipe

PC#15 - Chicken Tortilla Soup

Don't be fooled!  In no way does this soup turn out like the picture pinned, but it was still quite yummy!
Here's the recipe ( modified slightly by using chicken breasts instead of thighs)

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• 1 can of chopped green chilies
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. cumin
• Toppings - cilantro, tortillas, tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, lime, sour cream (we use Greek Yogurt)

Place chicken in crock pot, and blend together chilies, garlic, onion, tomato, broth, and cumin.

Pour over chicken then cook on high for 3-4 hours.  

I used a fork to break up the chicken a little, but I didn't want completely shredded chicken like the recipe suggests (just my personal taste buds).

Voila!  Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Pinterest Link

Original Recipe Link

PC#14 - Q-Tip Letter Tracing

This was a super easy craft to do one morning before a play date with a few friends.  I wrote the letters on two different pieces of paper (I thought they may be too small if I squished them onto one paper), put a little paint in a bowl, and handed Elie a few Q-tips.


Apparently this was very self explanatory because before I could give directions, she was already finishing the A.  It was so cute to hear her say the instructions for each letter as she traced them (A - down, down, across; B - down, loop, loop).

We will be doing this activity again, and again, and again!  Super easy and fun!

Pinterest Link   
Link to Original Idea

PC#13 - Homemade Goldfish Crackers

I hosted a Bible study at our house almost two months ago.  Here is Elie helping me make the kids snack - homemade goldfish crackers.  She thought my flour shield was a crown since she is the "QUEEN OF BAKING".  The crackers turned out delicious and were quite popular.  I didn't even get a chance to take a finished picture because they were eaten too quickly!
Here's what you need:

• 8 ounces shredded cheese
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Cut Into Cubes (Room Temperature)
• 1 cup Flour
• ¾ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Cold Water

1.  I mixed everything except water with my mixer until the mixture was sandy looking. 
2. I then added the water, one tablespoon at a time. 
3. Once it resembled dough, form it into a ball and wrap in Saran Wrap. 
4. Chill for 20 minutes.  I chilled it for about 2 hours because I was working on other recipes, and it took a while to roll out because it became harder.
5. Take it out of the fridge and roll the dough out. 
6. Cut the dough into desired shapes (I made a goldfish shaped cookie cutter out of a coke can). 
7. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
8. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Pinterest Link
Original recipe link

PC#12 - Cheerios Bird Feeder

We had a few minutes before lunch one day after swimming lessons, so we decided to make this Cheerios bird feeder.  It was quite simple. I put one cheerio (or is it still Cheerios...not sure about that one) on the end of a pipe cleaner and twisted it to make an end.

Then I gave Elie a bowl of Cheerios (I know it is correct this time) and let her string the Cheerios on the pipe cleaner while I made lunch.  She was quite good at this - although the pipe cleaner didn't turn out the straightest!

I then made a loop at the top and hung it outside of our window in the dining room.  We hoped to see birds loving this, but it turned out to just be a squirrel feeder. 
Pinterest Link
There is no tutorial available, just the pinterest picture.

PC#11 - Cheesy Garlic Bread

Chris picked out an assortment of things he wanted me to make on his birthday (I think I gained 5 pounds that day alone...HAHA).  This cheesy garlic bread was one of them.  The recipe called for homemade bread, but our schedule didn't allow enough time in our day to make it homemade, so I used a store bought loaf.  Here's what you need to make this recipe:

• 1 loaf of bakery bread
• 3 heaping tablespoons of garlic butter (I buy it in the deli section of the store)
• 5 slices of Farmer's Cheese (It is the cheese I chose to use, but I'm sure you can experiment with others)

I made slices in the bread about 3/4 of the way down (you need room to butter it and stuff it with cheese, but you don't want it cut all of the way through) and about 1 inch apart.  I then used my basting brush and applied the melted garlic butter to the inside of the slices of bread.  Then I put about 1/4 to 1/2 piece of sliced cheese in between each cut.  Once the bread was completely stuffed, I applied the remaining butter to the top.  I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes (until I could see that all of the cheese was melting).

It was quite delicious, but it will not be made in our house unless it is a special occasion. 
Pinterest Link
Original Recipe Link