Blog Post Roundup 3/10/12

Here are some article I think are worth passing along.










The Simple Overlooking of a Daily Duty @ Like a Bubbling Brook

Waiting on God @ Keeper of the Home (Note: Bible verses used are not KJB)

4 Ways to Take the Drudgery out of Motherhood @ Keeper of the Home

The Rules @ Five in Tow


Counting the Hours @ Five in Tow


Earning His Love @ The Better Mom

Clothespin Game for Toddlers

 I based this project on an activity mentioned in the book The Toddler's Busy Book.  The activity they mentioned involved just cutting holes in the bottom of the egg carton and sticking clothespins in them.

I decided to make it more of a learning game by coloring the egg carton and the clothespins.





First, get a clean egg carton.  Use an exacto knife to cut a hole in the bottom of each egg cup.  Use markers to color the edges of the holes and to write the name of the color on the corresponding egg cup.  Use same markers to color the ends of the clothespins and to write the names of the colors.

This was a super-easy project.  I'm pretty sure it took less than half an hour to do.

Right now, Gracie enjoys taking the clothespins out and putting them back in, not necessarily in the "correct" holes.  Sometimes, she will match, and when she does, I make a big deal out of it.  When I've prompted her to find a specific color to match the clothespin, she will do it.  This is a great game for fine motor manipulation and for teaching colors.

You do have to be careful about your child pinching her fingers or hands with the clothespins.  Gracie likes to squeeze the clothespins and will get pinched.  Sometimes I think she does it on purpose just so she can say, "Ow!"

Pistachio Dessert

Pistachio Dessert on dessert table at Old Fashioned Sunday

My sister-in-law Kris gave me this recipe years ago. It's really good! Of course, anything with pistachios, and especially pistachio pudding, is going to be delicious!








Ingredients:

1 stick oleo* (That's the old name for margarine, but I use butter.)
1 cup flour*
2 Tbs sugar*
1/2 cup nuts* (I chopped up pecans.)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
large carton of Cool Whip (16 oz.), thawed and divided
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 small packages instant pistachio pudding
2-1/2 cups milk
Extra nuts for sprinkling


Directions:

1. Before starting, make sure the oleo/margarine/butter, cream cheese, and Cool Whip are thawed or soft.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3.  Bottom layer:
Mix 1 stick oleo/margarine/butter, 1 cup flour, 2 Tbs sugar, and 1/2 cup nuts.  Put on bottom of your 9x13 pan. (*I may have had it too thick, but it didn't cover the whole bottom, so I mixed up some more to cover the whole bottom of the dish.)  Bake 10 minutes.  Take out and let cool.

4.  Next layer:
Mix 8 ounces cream cheese, half of the large carton of Cool Whip, and 2/3 cup powdered sugar.  Layer on top of the crust.

5.  Next layer:
Mix 2 small packages of instant pistachio pudding and 2-1/2 cups milk.  Put in fridge to make pudding.  Layer on top of the cream cheese-Cool Whip layer.

6.  Final layer:
Put the remaining Cool Whip on top and sprinkle with nuts.  Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

The finished dessert

Came home with half of it.  Not bad considering all of the other yummy desserts that were there!

Hanging Hand Towel for Little Ones

This is one of my "surprise" projects mentioned in my March Projects the other day.

I want Gracie to be able to wash her hands without much help from me.  In the hall bathroom, our handtowel holder is located rather high which makes it difficult for her to reach the towel when she needs to dry her hands.  I solved this problem by sewing ribbon onto a couple of handtowels and hanging the handtowel on the ring which makes it easier for her to reach.

The two handtowels and ribbon.

First, I cut off 8" of ribbon and pinned it to the upper left corner of the towel.  This is the back side of the towel.

Here, you can see how I stitched the ribbon onto the towel.  I basically made a square and X'd the square.  I also did a zigzag across the fold of the towel.

Here it is hanging in our {tiny} bathroom.

I added a regular handtowel for the grownups.

Here is the other towel.

This took about 15 minutes to do and only took that long because of the time it took to take the above pictures.

One final word of advice:  When you buy new pink towels, wash them separately.  DO NOT just think to yourself, "Oh, they'll be all right," and stick them in a load of regular wash.  You will regret it.

Coming soon:  a post about using Oxi-Clean to remove red and pink dye from white clothes!  Stay tuned!

Crispy Onion Chicken

I got this recipe from the February-March 2011 issue of Taste of Home.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp garlic salt (I used garlic powder and sprinkled some salt.)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (6 ounces) cheddar or original french-fried onions, crushed (I used a 6-ounce bag of original french-friend onions.)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
2.  In a shallow bowl, combine the butter, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic salt, and pepper. (I microwaved the butter in the shallow bowl and added the other ingredients to it.)  In another shallow bowl, add 1/2 cup fried onions.  Dip chicken in the butter mixture, then coat with onions.
3.  Place the chicken in the greased baking dish.  Top with the remaining onions; drizzle with any remaining butter mixture.
4.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

We really enjoyed this chicken.  I think I may have cooked it a little longer than the 35 minutes (but not by much).  The chicken, even the thick breasts, were done perfectly while the onions were somewhat overdone, but not burnt.

Blog Post Roundup 3/3/12

Here is this week's list of notable posts.  Hope you enjoy!









Motherhood:  A Risky Business @ The Better Mom

Say My Name, Say My Name @ Cake Wrecks (This cracked me up.  She posts great cake wrecks, but sometimes her commentary can be inappropriate, so proceed with caution.  This post is rated G.)

Don't Fight the Small Stuff @ The Organizing Junkie

But for God's Grace !! @ Hidden Treasures

Four Focuses of Effective Parents @ Encouraging Words


Lessons of Life @ The Gil & Kelly Bates Family

How to Grow the Church by Keeping it Small @ Pastor Paul Chappell

White Bean and Chicken Chili

This is one of our favorite recipes for the crockpot.  The original recipe came from a magazine, but I do not remember which one.  I have since changed it a little.

I served this at Gracie's first birthday party last year, and everyone really liked it.







Ingredients:

3 15-ounce cans white beans (Northern beans), rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken broth
1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 chicken breasts
salt and pepper

2 onions chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 4-ounce cans green chilies, drained
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 cup water

1.  Place beans and broth in crockpot.  Cook on high 2 hours.
2.  In the meantime, chop your onions and garlic to be used in step 4.
3.  Warm oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Cook until brown, about four minutes.  Turn over and cook two minutes.  Transfer to a plate.
4.  Add onions and garlic to skillet.  Cook about 5 minutes.
5.  Add onions, garlic, chilies, 1 cup water, and cumin to the crockpot.  Stir.
6.  Add chicken to the crockpot.  Cook on low for six hours.
7.  Take chicken out of the crockpot and shred. (My favorite tip is to put it in my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment and run it for about 15 seconds or so.)
8.  Add chicken back to the crockpot and stir.  Ready to serve!

The original recipe called for less white beans and more chicken, but we agreed that we'd prefer more white beans and less chicken, so I changed the ratio.

The only thing I don't like about the recipe is that you have a few steps in the middle of cooking it, so you have to be home at the appropriate time.  However, it is a great recipe and worth the inconvenience.