Baking Bread

Bread baking occurs a few times a week in our home and I always have so many volunteers and helpers to make the bread. We have lived in this home for almost 2 years now and finally put a lightbulb in the oven. It was burned out when we moved in and we just never thought of buying a new bulb when we were at the store. Well, the kids think it is the coolest thing ever to be able to see what is baking in the oven. Even though it takes extra time to have all my little helping hands I am grateful they are there with me. I am also looking forward to summer vacation when Thomas will be home to bake the bread for us! For some reason it always tastes so much better to me when he bakes it than when I do!

My Kitchen Help

Last week Mary and Joshie wanted to make some new kind of treats and since I needed Cub Scout treats I figured it was the perfect combination.  We found a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Oreos and Cookies and Cream Hershey Kisses in them.  They all loved helping...including Gideon.  Everytime I turned around Gideon had another cookie or Hershey Kiss in his mouth.  The cookie bars were a hit.  Gideon really liked them and all day would bring me by the hand to the kitchen and point at the pan of cookies. 

FHE Treats

Before school this morning I asked Sammy what he was planning to make for Family Home Evening treats tonight so I could be sure to have all the ingredients. He informed me, with conviction, he was planning to make Monkey Bread.  So after school and quiet time he came to me all ready to make the treats.  He let me know that he did not need my help and that he was going to do it all by himself. And, do it all on his own he did!  He kept telling me how cool it was that he has "an ingredient he can make all on his own!"  I reminded him countless times that it is a recipe he knows, not an ingredient...but finally I just let him call it an ingredient!  He talked and commentated every step of the way...through all 40 biscuits!  I think it took him close to 45 minutes to prepare it (longer than it took to bake!) but he did an amazing job.  He was so excited when it came out that he had to run some of it over to Sue Ann right away so he could share the recipe with her too!  We all loved our monkey bread made by Sammy tonight!

Family Fun Night

Joel and I wanted to have a movie night with the kids last night.  I was able to get the movie, "Dolphin Tail" from Redbox.  Then I found a fun recipe for Pretzel Bites from our favorite cooking blog, "Jamie Cooks It Up."  Sammy and I made the dough during the day and then after dinner we all worked together to make the pretzel bites.  It was so much fun having everyone in the kitchen working together.  This was the perfect thing for all of us to do because there were so many different steps that could be done simultaneously so all could be busy helping.  There was lots of chatter, laughter, and excitement...I like to call this controlled chaos...in the kitchen.  And there were smiles...lots of them!  We made salted pretzel bites with a cheese sauce for dipping & cinnamon/sugar pretzel bites with frosting for dipping.  Then we enjoyed them while watching the movie together. We all liked the cinnamon/sugar pretzels the best, although, I think Joshie and Mary just liked them because it was an excuse to eat frosting!  We had to remind then they needed to dip their pretzel bite in the frosting...not just their fingers!

We all loved the movie.  My Mom had told me when she saw the movie she thought of Spring and knew Spring would love it.  Spring was in her glory and so envious of the kids that were able to swim with the dolphin!  It has inspired her to learn more about what it would take to be a marine biologist.  Sammy kept telling me, "Mom, I'm learning so much about dolphins that I never knew before!"  At one point Joel and I were sitting on the couch with Sammy, Mary, & Joshie curled up with us and I looked over at Thomas & Spring (Gideon was already in bed asleep) and I was overcome with gratitude for the blessing each of these little, and not-so-little anymore, spirits are to me.  It was one of those moments that I wish I could have bottled up to save forever.

Little Miss Homemaker

Spring had a very productive day today.  They have the day off school and she was busy from the time she got up this morning.  She spent time this morning looking through recipes before deciding on what to make for FHE treats.  She chose Cream Cheese Brownies with Chocolate Frosting.  She loved that she was able to make brownies from scratch for this as well as the frosting.  She followed the recipe and made them all by herself.  They were super yummy.  We all loved them tonight and she even left a section without frosting for Dad since he doesn't like that much chocolate.  Then, Alanna, showed us an idea for making a scarf out of old T-shirts.  She wanted to make this so we found a couple old T-shirts and with that and some scissors she had it completed in less than an hour.  It is fun to see her complete different projects.  They are off school tomorrow as well so I don't know what she has in mind for tomorrow!

Monkey Bread

Throughout the day today we have told the kids we were going to make monkey bread for dessert.  They kept asking what it was and we just told them it was bread made by monkeys and since they were all monkeys...they were going to make it.  We had so much fun and they were super excited when they found out what it really was.  Joshie couldn't keep his fingers out of his mouth after dipping his bread into the butter and cinnamon/sugar.  They were all a sticky mess after making it but we had so much fun.  Spring told us we should call it "turkey bread" because Joel and I call the kids "turkeys" not "monkeys." We didn't get a picture of it after it was done baking because it was devoured rather quickly!  I am sure we will be making this again soon. 

My Cute Chef

 I love that our children enjoy cooking and baking and helping me in the kitchen.  Although sometimes it is more work and definitely more messy, I have seen the benefits of it as I now watch the ease and confidence that Thomas and Spring have in the kitchen.  They can independently make meals, cookies, treats, and follow recipes very well.  Joshie has had a very high interest in helping me cook the last couple months.  He was given a "Lightening McQueen" apron from Grandma Powell at Christmas so now he runs to get his apron as he is calling out, "Me help you cook, Mom."  This morning he helped me make these yummy Spinach Lasagna Rolls.  I love the website these come from so I thought I would try them out.  He loved pushing the button on the food processor to grate up the spinach.  It was the perfect recipe for him because he could do all the stirring and he could help me spread them out and roll them up.  I had to be careful so though because I kept catching him sneaking a bite out of the lasagna noodle before we put the filling on it.  I would catch him and he'd smile with that dimple in his cheek and say, "Sorry Mommy.  It's just so yummy."  So, yes, he still needs to learn to not bite off of the things he is cooking!  Oh, well he has time to learn this lesson and right now that darn smile of his usually gets him off the hook!

I was somewhat nervous as to whether the kids would eat the dinner with it having spinach in it.  I debated about making some without the spinach but thought I would give it a try.  So, before I took the foil off the pan I told the kids that Joshie and I decided to make green lasagna rolls for dinner so we dyed some of the cheese green.  They thought that was a really strange thing to do.  Lucky for me, Joshie didn't tell them the truth about the not-so-hidden ingredient.  To my utter astonishment, they all LOVED it and Thomas even asked for seconds!  Now, comes the dilemma...they all put in their requests for what color to dye it next time I make it...Mary wants orange, Spring wants me to dye them blue, Thomas thought yellow would be cool...they may catch on to me afterall!  Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can!

Ice Cream!

 I found a fun recipe for homemade ice cream on this wonderful blog yesterday. You don't even need an ice cream maker for it so we decided to try it out. We doubled the recipe so we could make 2 different kinds. We made peanut butter cup ice cream and cookies & cream. Sammy was SUPER excited for the peanut butter cup ice cream because he "just loves peanut butter cups!" We had a great time making the ice cream and of course the kids loved licking the bowls and spoons. The only bad thing was we started it at 5:00 last night and it has to be in the freezer for 6 hours so we couldn't test it out last night.

So, what's a good, responsible, healthy mom do? She makes her kids wait until the next afternoon to try out their ice cream. Well, fortunately for our kids, I'm not that kind of Mom! About 8:00 this morning I asked the kids, "Hey, who wants some ice cream?" What kid wouldn't love that idea! Some of them hadn't even had breakfast yet but, hey the memory and me being able to eat the ice cream this morning (without sneaking it) was well worth it! They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Let me tell you, this is some amazing ice cream. We will definately be doing this again soon! Next time I think I am going to get lots of different fun mix ins and let them all make thier own individual concoction! The kids had all sorts of ideas this morning of what they would put in their "perfect" ice cream! It was a wonderful morning. Notice all the kids wearing jackets and long pants? Well, they think it is cold here in the mornings now because our lows at night are finally getting into the 60's! We keep all the windows open at night to help bring in the wonderful crisp air! The kids think it is freezing but I am loving it!

My Assistant

Spring has always enjoyed helping me in the kitchen.  As I was looking through pictures for her slideshow I realized how many pictures I have of her cooking or baking from an early age through now.  She especially loves to make anything that involves chocolate!  I love the time we have together cooking and baking.  I have realized the blessing it is also because she is now very competent to make things pretty much completely on her own.  She is getting really good at following recipes on her own as well.  The 11 year old scouts were heading to camp early this morning so we wanted to send some treats up for Joel and the scouts.  Yesterday turned out to be a busy day though as I was watching my friend's 5 children (ages 10, 8, 5, 3, 2) while they were loading their moving truck and also Brady and Kaiden were here for a while as well so we had anywhere between 11-13 kids at the house.  After they all left last night I hadn't made anything yet so Spring asked if she could make O'Henry bars.  I gladly accepted her offer.  Joel sent Spring an email with this picture because the Young Men kept asking him to personally thank her for them.

Today she decided to make treats for cub scouts for tomorrow.  She found a new recipe and enjoyed making these Trix Krispie treats all on her own.  She did a wonderful job.  One of the things that I absolutely appreciate about when she and Thomas cook is that they always clean up the dishes they used and never leave the kitchen a mess afterwards.  What more could a mother ask for!

My Kitchen Help

This afternoon we made rolls for dinner. The little ones love to help in the kitchen. The tears in Joshie's eyes are because I told him he couldn't eat any more of the bread dough. Sammy had to take some of the rolls to Sue Ann when he went to her house this afternoon. Then Mary and Joshie helped me make cookies. I'm grateful they like to help me in the kitchen.

Our New Chef

Spring checked out "Cookbook for Girls" from the library this week. Yesterday she decided to make banana blueberry muffins. She followed the recipe and made these delicious muffins almost entirely on her own. We love them. They are seriously the best muffins I remember having. Tonight the missionaries are coming for dinner and she is planning to make milkshakes for dessert. I can see this being a summer of cooking for Spring.

Baking Cookies with Spring

Spring told me yesterday that she hasn't baked or cooked with me in a long time because I always get dinner ready while she is at school. So, after school today I let her stay up while the little ones napped so we could bake cookies. We had such a good time together and she really did the majority of the work. I am glad she mentioned this to me so we could spend that time together. I am grateful she enjoys spending time with me even when it is doing the 'little things' in life. We had fun baking and talking about her day at school. I need to be more aware and try to leave some things for us to bake or cook together when she is home from school.

Christmas Cookies

The kids and I have been making cookies the last few days. One of their all time favorites to make is sugar cookies. We made the dough, cut them out, and baked them yesterday. Then, this morning we decorated them. Boy, did we ever have a mess in the kitchen and on the kids. I think Mary thought she was decorating herself not cookies. It was fun to see them be creative, especially Spring. Spring was so detailed in all the cookies she decorated. In fact, she decorated a gingerbread family. She was so proud of her creations. Sammy did really well and then he started to just put the frosting directly into his mouth! It was fun and messy and it was time for baths after we were finished.

Homemade Donuts

We had a fun FHE tonight. Spring gave us a lesson about prayer and she had prepared prayer reminders for everyone. We sat around the table and listed on our reminder sheet things we can thank Heavenly Father for in our prayers. It was fun to see their lists. Then, Thomas was in charge of treats for the evening. He had decided on making homemade donuts. We used to do this all the time but it has been months since we have made them. We all had a great time. Mary grabbed a biscuit and started eating the dough and loved it. I about gagged watching her but she was in her glory. After that it was a challenge for the kids to keep their donut holes and donuts away from her until they were cooked. They all loved frosting them and eating them. Sammy drenched his donuts in so much frosting it was difficult to even see the donut. I am glad we did this again. Spring asked if we could make them tomorrow morning for breakfast but we convinced her that would be a great idea for Saturday morning when we have a little more time to clean up the mess before running off to school. I am so grateful for the inspiration of our prophets in revealing the inspired program of Family Home Evening. It is a blessing to our family as we are able to forget about all other worries and cares while we focus the evening on teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and spending precious family time together.

Hidden Treasure Cupcakes

We made hidden treasure cupcakes today. It was so fun to see the excitement of the kids as we made them. They really did the majority of the work. Thomas can basically read and follow any recipe completely on his own. It is fun to listen to him explain to Spring the different ways they can add ingredients using different fractional amounts. He was telling her if it calls for 1/2 cup you can just use a 1/2 cup measuring cup or you can add 1/4 cup twice. It is interesting to listen to him explain it to her.

Sammy loved cracking the eggs and didn't even get any shells in the mix. They all had a great time adding the hidden treasure (cream cheese mixture and mini oreo cookie) to the middle of the cupcake mixture and then adding more mix on top to bury it.

Mary was awake for the frosting and adding the oreo to the top of the cupcake and she thought she needed to help as well. Some of the cupcakes ended up with extra oreos on top which Spring remedied by taking off and eating. They were so excited to have them for dessert. They couldn't wait for Dad to find the hidden treasure inside his cupcake! It was fun to do all together and I think the kids enjoyed baking them more than eating them, although they did really enjoy eating them as well.