DIY Cooking at Home

Did you know Halloween is the third most popular holiday in America, topped only by Thanksgiving and Christmas? If you have kids, this probably comes as no surprise. Children anticipate Halloween almost as wildly as Christmas morning, mostly because of the candy, but also because of the fun class parties and costume parades that happen each year at school. I often volunteer for our kids' class parties because it's so fun to see all of the cuties in their costumes. Here's a Halloween class treat idea for you: Pumpkin Patch Pudding Cups Steps Tear the foil lids off of the pudding cups and line them up on a rimmed cookie sheet or tray to make them easier to carry. Sprinkle chocolate cookie crumbs (you can use finely-crushed Oreos if you can't find the boxed kind) on top of the pudding. Put four waffle-style pretzels around the perimeter of each pudding cup to look like a fence. Put a candy-corn pumpkin in the center of each "pumpkin patch." Remember to brin...

I really try to offer healthy food options to our kids and most of the time, I think I'm pretty good about squeezing those fruits and veggies in. Lately, though, I've fallen victim to the convenience foods for snacking--not that there's anything wrong with some of them--but I'm trying to get back on the healthy bandwagon. Which is why I wrote this post . I'm obsessed with all the ways to make granola bites! The first variety we tried had chocolate chips in them, which are certainly appreciated around here. But I wanted a new flavor, so I tried out these apple pie granola bites and I'm in heaven! I love that I know what's in them, and they have the qualities of a granola bar, so they'd be great for lunch boxes. Apple Pie Granola Bites 1 c. dried apples (chewy, not crunchy--Sun Maid makes them), chopped 1/2 c. pitted dates, chopped 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats 2 T. unsweetened applesauce 2 T. honey 1/4 tsp. cinnamon Use a food processor or mini chopper ...

Does this happen to you? No sooner do you sit down or start working on something and your kids say, "Mom, can I have a snack?" Geez, I'm really sick of that question. So last week, I determined that our kids are way old enough (8 and 6) to figure this out on their own. So, why haven't they? Well, I'm partly to blame. I'm a bit of a control-freak when it comes to what they eat. But also, our darn fridge has shelves that are too high for our spritely-sized people. So I came up with a couple of ways for our kids to help themselves to some pre-approved healthy snacks. First, I lowered a shelf in the fridge--which happens to be one that also slides out for easier access--and filled it with plastic containers of 1) baby carrots 2) celery sticks 3) granola bites and 4) string cheese. Next, I used an undermount wire shelf in our pantry to lower the healthy stuff to eye-level. It has 1) dried fruit 2) almonds 3) applesauce cups and 4) pretzel rods on it. Fin...

Hey there! So, have you ever had one of those weeks (months) when you can't seem to cross anything off the list? Nothing is going right for me lately. Projects are failing left and right (or never getting off the ground) and I'm distracted by the mundane yet necessary. Snow days aren't helping. I'd love nothing more than to take the day off whenever my kids are home so we could frolic and revel in our unexpected freedom together; but, it seems I'm not built that way. At least not at this stage in our lives. But then again, wouldn't it be just the way God works for me to take that time, assuage my guilt over lists without checkmarks with cupcakes and snowmen instead, and then feel better for it afterwards? At least in the motherhood column? Hmmmm. Maybe I'll get another chance tomorrow. There was one thing that turned out for me today: these mini lunchbox pizzas! Anything mini is worth trying, right? If nothing else, for the cuteness factor. B...

We are regular smoothie drinkers around here, but I usually just use milk, frozen berries and bananas. So for something different today, I made smoothies that tasted just like a creamsicle. The girls really liked them and I did, too, because they got tons of vitamin C and calcium out of 'em. Here's how: Creamsicle Smoothies Ahead of time, fill an ice cube tray with orange juice and freeze. When you're ready for your smoothies, blend the orange juice cubes with 1 c. vanilla yogurt, 1 T. honey and 2 T. of orange juice concentrate. Makes about four six-ounce smoothies. Enjoy!!

It's strawberry season! The kids and I went picking again this year, but instead of experimenting with a bunch of new strawberry recipes like I did last year , I decided just to freeze the lot of 'em. Well, except for a big bowl I saved to eat fresh. If you've never eaten a fresh strawberry, I'd highly recommend it! Here's another thing I'd highly recommend trying: homemade lemonade! It's ridiculously easy, and the kids can help. Buy a big bag of lemons, and show the kids how to roll them back and forth on the counter with their palms to release the juices before you halve and squeeze them. This will keep them occupied while you make the simple syrup. You can certainly drink this straight up, but our youngest daughter had the brilliant suggestion of adding strawberry juice to make it pink. It just so happened we had some leftover strawberries in the fridge from a picnic. They were slightly mushy, not much good for anything anymore. Except this...

You may have seen a pin or two on Pinterest illustrating the "marble in the muffin tin trick" to making heart-shaped cupcakes last Valentine's Day. Welllll...we tried it. And here's what I have to say about that: a picture is sometimes NOT worth a thousand words. So here's a word to the wise for all you Pinterest junkies out there. If you want to try something, take 2 minutes to follow the pin to its source in order to get full instructions. But in this case, it seemed pretty self-explanatory. Stick a marble between the cupcake liner and muffin tin, and voila! Heart-shaped cupcakes to delight the youngsters! I didn't have marbles so we balled up tin foil instead. Then I filled the cups too full so that when they baked, the heart shape was totally lost. I didn't even take a picture because why bother staging the photo and worrying over lighting for a total flop? (Afterwards, I Googled the idea again and came across this site that gave some helpful...

...I'm sharing two new recipes with you today that are fun for kids on a cold day. If you're having a holiday party this year, you might consider serving one of these for the kiddos while the adults have their cocktails. We've tried both and loved 'em! Hot Vanilla from Family Fun Magazine (pictured above) Candy Cane Milk from Parents Magazine

Do you get in a breakfast rut in your house? For our kids, it's oatmeal or cereal almost every morning. But when we make these yummy pancakes (they taste SO good this time of year, especially with maple syrup), we have a quick go-to breakfast or even lunch that feels special because it's out of the norm. Plus, the whole wheat flour and pumpkin are very healthy. This recipe makes a TON of sand-dollar sized pancakes, so after they've cooled, I plastic wrap them--2 cakes per package--and freeze them in a freezer bag. When we want 'em, we just unwrap them and reheat for 30 seconds per side. Pumpkin Pancakes In large bowl, whisk together: 2 c. whole wheat flour 1 ¾ c. white flour 5 ¼ tsp. baking powder 3 tsp. cinnamon 1 ¼ tsp. allspice 1 ¼ tsp. ginger ½ tsp. kosher salt and 1/3 c. brown sugar In a separate bowl, whisk together: 15 oz. canned pumpkin 6 eggs and 3 c. whole milk (I used buttermilk the last time and it worked just fine) Slowly pour liquid mixture into dry m...

I'm so proud of my latest concoction, mostly because it met with approval from our 4-year-old! But it's also easy, healthy, and uses up zucchini from the garden. I only wish I'd taken a picture for the purposes of HMM, but (will wonders never cease?) there was none left. Ok, so I was making BLTs tonight to use up some tomatoes. (Ok, one tomato. But that's one less to attract fruit flies on the counter!) Anyway, I needed a side dish, so I pulled out some of that frozen, shredded zucchini I told you about with plans to try Disappearing Zucchini Orzo . But silly me, I had no orzo (duh), no parmesan, and no onions (how does that happen? I always have onions). So, as millions of you fellow moms do at 5:00 every day, I punted. I swapped couscous for the orzo, feta for the parmesan, and garlic for the onions and voila! My zucchini side dish did its own disappearing act. Zingy Zucchini Couscous 2 cups thawed, shredded zucchini (you can use freshly shredded, too) 3/4 c. dried, ...

My blog posts have turned from decorating to cooking lately because that's where my attention is. It's that time of year when neighbors and friends (God love 'em) have been bringing us the bounty from their gardens. It's no coincidence that Mother Nature blesses us with all of this produce--peaches, tomatoes, squash and corn are my faves--just as we begin to sense the impending change of seasons and summer's last gasp fades us into fall. I look forward to fall--welcome the cooler weather, love the crunch of leaves, soup on the stove and Buckeye football Saturdays...but I'm sad to see summer go, too. Anyway, I'm noticing that (thanks to above-mentioned friends who garden), each year I've been freezing a bit more, and a bit more. I keep vowing to learn how to can--particularly tomatoes--but for some reason the process intimidates me. I've checked out library books on the subject and read the same chapters over and over again with the hope that I'll...