Kentucky Derby Treats for Meals on Wheels

I made some horse necklaces for a Meals on Wheels Kentucky Derby treat. This year the Kentucky Derby is on May 7th.

Supply List:

Small plastic horses

Small flowers

Glue gun/glue sticks

Exacto knife

Screw eyes

Thin ribbon

Directions:


I bought my horses from Oriental Trading Company because I needed to make 50 necklaces. But they sell the horses in the tubes at any craft or party store - they tubes have 8 horses and are about $10. Be sure to use a craft store coupon.

Using an exacto knife twist a small hole and then twist in the screw eye.

I bought the screw eyes in the wood section of Hobby Lobby.

I also hot glued a little flower onto each horse.

I also found the little flowers at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section.

Now the horses are ready for a long piece of ribbon or twine to make  a necklace. 

I apologize for the photography - I made these late at night!

Earth Day Cookies

Tomorrow - April 22nd is Earth Day. Everyday should be Earth Day! Reuse, recycle, repurpose. These cookies were so simple to make. Using your favorite sugar cookie recipe and blue and green gel food coloring.

You can find gel food coloring at any craft or party store.

I made a batch of sugar cookie dough and divided the dough in half.

Kneed the blue gel food coloring onto one half of the dough and the green food coloring onto the other half. Gel food coloring will also stain your hands - I put my hands into plastic bags while I kneed the food coloring int each dough ball.

To make the cookies simply take a good pinch of blue and a good pinch of green and roll them into little balls.

The cookies come out of the oven looking like the Earth! 

Don't these cookies look adorable? After I made them I had the brilliant idea that I should have made them into hearts — which would have translated to "love the earth." 

Substitute Teaching 1st Grade Religion

Today I substitute taught first grade religion class. We had a lot of fun! The lesson was on the Gospel of John 13:31-38 "Love one another, even as I have loved you."

First we colored a "Love one another" worksheet.

Then we went over the lesson and wrote who we loved onto little hearts and cut out a spiral. The kids were pretty good at cutting!

We had a snack and a religious word spelling bee. The take home treat was a Hershey bar decorated with a heart and cross. The label says, "Love one another."

The kids loved the Hershey bars!

Homemade Carrot Cake

I found this recipe on http://www.momontimeout.com/2012/08/to-die-for-carrot-cake-recipe/ and it was a super easy recipe. I had everything I needed for this recipe in my fridge and cupboard except the can of crushed pineapple.

So yesterday I ran into the store to grab a can of crushed pineapple! And came home to bake an awesome carrot cake!

Cake Ingredients:

First Bowl:

1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

Second Bowl:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Third Bowl:

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup crushed pineapple in juice


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 8-inch pans with baking spray.

Combine the first bowl ingredients. Add the second bowl to the first bowl. Stir until all of the ingredients are combined. Add the third bowl and stir until the ingredients of all three bowls are combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool completely before turning them out to frost.

Frosting:

2 sticks of butter, (softened)

16 ounces of cream cheese (softened)

2 teaspoons of vanilla 

8 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat the butter and cream cheese in your stand mixer until they are light and fluffy. Add vanilla and continue mixing.

Add the powdered sugar two cups at a time - continue mixing until the sugar is combined.

Place the first cake on a cake plate and spread a generous amount of icing on top and put the second cake on top.

Start icing the top and sides.

I usually sprinkle the tops of my carrot cakes with chopped nuts or toasted coconut - but I happen to have these icing carrots left over from Easter. So I used the icing carrots to decorate the cake.

This cake was so fantastic!

My husband loved it! He said it tasted like a Polly's pie. Note: I have never been to a Polly's Pie! I don't think he has either. And it was a cake - not a pie! He was doing his best to be complimentary.

Pipe Cleaner Butterfly Magnets for Meals on Wheels

I made 50 of these little Pipe Cleaner Butterfly Magnets. They were simple to make - I made these into magnets but they would also look cute made into bracelets or rings. Pipe cleaners are so fun! Give your kids a bag and let them create!

Supply List:

Multicolored pipe cleaners

Wooden or plastic pony bead

Sharp scissors

Small magnets

Glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

Grab three different colors of pipe cleaners.

Twist the pipe cleaners in the middle and spread out like whiskers.

Twist the bottom color of pipe cleaners into little rounds.

Then twist the second pipe cleaner into little rounds.

Pop the pony bead onto the top of the remaining color of pipe cleaners and cut the pipe cleaner inhalf.

Turn the top pipe cleaner over into an antennae shape. 

On the back I hot glued  a small magnet.

I used the smallest magnet because  the pipe cleaners are so light. And I awlays package the treat into little bags so they can be attached to the meals.

These were so easy to make and would be perfect for girls to make at a craft or birthday party.

Mini m&m Cookies

Today was gray and drizzly so I decided to bake! I found this bag of mini m&m's in my pantry and made these yummy little cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, browned and brought back to room temperature

1 cup +2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons vanilla

2 large eggs, room temperature

bag of mini m&m's

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt - set aside.

Place one stick of butter into a small saucepan and over medium heat stir until the butter is completely melted and starting to brown. Remove from heat and add the remaining stick of butter. Stir constantly until the second stick of butter is melted.

Pour the melted butter into a heat proof bowl and place the bowl into the refrigerator for about an hour.

You will know when the butter is room temperature by pressing your finger into the top and if it makes an indentation on the butter you are good to go!

After an hour pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the room temperature browned butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time.  Add the flour mixture in slowly and beat until the flour mixture is completely combined. Remove the bowl from the stand and hand mix in the miniature m&m's.

Form small balls about the size of a tablespoon. And place them on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies - one cookie sheet at a time for 6-7 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

These were the perfect cookies to make on a cloudy, gray, drizzling day!

I wonder how long these cookies will last!

Confirmation Gifts for Boys

My son is getting Confirmed this Saturday. It is difficult to find Confirmation gifts for boys. I finally found some red pens with little crosses on the pen clip.

The pen is attached to a paper that says "Confirmed in Christ."

I wrapped the pen and a Hershey bar in blue paper and added a cross sticker. Then I attached them to a piece of cardboard covered in silver paper.

On the back of the gift I wrote a little note. And added another cross sticker.

I had some beautiful handmade rosaries in this exact blue - but I am unsure of where I put them! I have until Saturday to find them! And add them to the gift.

Beef Stew

I feel like a loser because I never posted any crafts or recipes for Easter this year. However, I did post quite a few Easter crafts and baked goods on my Instagram account ROOMMOM27_TERESA_STEELE. Follow me I post a lot of fun ideas!

 So since it has been chilly in the evenings I have experimented with a few different Beef Stew recipes and I found this recipe the most flavorful and quite easy to make. This Beef Stew is adapted from an epicurious recipe. And the recipe uses beer instead of red wine.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds cubed stew meat — cut into 1" pieces

1 medium onion,  finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces of beer

4  1/2 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

finely chopped parsley 


Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches brown the meat on all sides for about six minutes a batch. Remove the meat from the pot and place on a plate.

Add the onion to the pot.

Cook the onion, stirring until softened for about 3 minutes. Also add the garlic and cook stirring for an additional minute.

Pour the beer, beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, sugar, dried basil, salt and pepper to taste into the pot.

Return the beef to the pot, simmer until the meat is tender for about 2 hours. Stir in the potatoes and carrots and  simmer until the vegetables are tender and the meat is very tender about 40 additional minutes.

Remove one cup of liquid from the pot and slowly whisk in the flour. Stir the flour broth back into the pot. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Sprinkle with parsley.

While the soup was simmering I threw together a green salad. Sadly I do not have a picture of my salad. But a bowl of Beef Stew is perfect with a salad and some crusty bread.

Yum - I love Beef Stew on chilly evenings. With this recipe I always have leftovers for the next evening.