no bake

Rainbow Marshmallow Treats

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

Last month I shared how I’ve been developing my own curriculum when it comes to holiday themed school units for my preschoolers (with a lot of help from Pinterest).

It’s time now for me to share something from our St. Patrick’s Day “studies.”

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St. Patrick’s Day was only a big holiday for me when we lived in the FL panhandle because my best friend was (I mean, she still is) Irish and we celebrated 4 SPDs together in a row. Quite fun.

I admit I know nothing really about the holiday. Yes, I could go google that right now, but I’m not going to; let’s be real.

But hey. I ordered two books to fit the holiday off Amazon (funnily enough the library didn’t have materials left for me to check out!) and we’ve read them 8 times today (aka yesterday). Guess they’re a hit: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! and Ten Lucky Leprechauns. (Personally, I prefer the latter.)

Firecracker absolutely loves rainbows so I knew we’d have to focus on the “pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow” idea of the holiday. He doesn’t get it. (Hey, I don’t either, kid.) But a rainbow activity and craft – he’s all for it.

We made rainbow paper chains and learned about how staplers work – quite an interesting machine! “I’m very curious about the stapler.” These cute crafts act as my prop for the star of the show – the Rainbow Marshmallow Treats.

Rainbow Marshmallow Treats #StPatricksDay | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Think Rice Krispie Treat made with Trix cereal.

I know marshmallow treats made with Lucky Charms are incredibly popular this time of year, and rightfully so, but I wanted to go a slightly different route this week. They’re definitely fun, festive, and applicable more than once a year – they’d be great for birthday parties!

Rainbow Marshmallow Treats

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1 bag mini marshmallows
  • 1 box Trix cereal

Steps:

  1. Melt butter and marshmallows in a large pot over medium heat. Stir until smooth.
  2. Remove from heat and fold in the cereal, mixing until cereal is fully coated.
  3. Press into a greased casserole dish and let set before cutting into squares.

Rainbow Marshmallow Treats #StPatricksDay | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Mummy Granola Bars

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Granola bars have been on my “to make” list for quite some time. In fact, I’ve tried making them before with disastrous results.

So I did some searching for another type of recipe – this one a no bake!

These chewy granola bars are made kind of like rice krispie treats! They’re packed full of healthy ingredients (and sugar) and given the mummy treatment with a drizzling of melted white chocolate. To give the mummies eye, I simply cut raisins, though melted dark chocolate would work quiet well, too.

These granola bars have an airy crispiness from the rice cereal and a smokey sweetness from the local honey I used in the recipe. Because I was mummifying these granola bars with a drizzling of white chocolate I opted to omit the mini chocolate chips.

If you have a granola bar recipe you swear by, by all means use that – and share it in the comments, I’d love to expand my granola bar repertoire!

Mummy Granola Bars

Ingredients:

  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 1/3 C brown sugar
  • 1/4 C + 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 C quick oats
  • 1 3/4 C crispy rice cereal
  • 1/2 C sliced almonds
  • 1/4 C flax meal
  • white chocolate
  • raisins or dark chocolate

Steps:

  1. Line a 9×11″ baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease with cooking spray.
  2. In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter, brown sugar, and honey together. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook 2 more minutes, until thickened slightly. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla, stir to incorporate.
  3. Fold in the oats, cereal, almonds, and flax meal. Mix until combined.
  4. Pour into the prepared baking dish and press firmly. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.
  5. Remove from the fridge and cut into rectangles.
  6. Melt the white chocolate and pour over the granola bars to make them look like mummies. Cut a raisin in half for each granola bar to make eyes.
  7. Store in the refrigerator.

*This recipe is adapted from Jenn at https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chewy-chocolate-chip-granola-bars.html*

Mummy Granola Bars | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Tuesday Tattles: 3rd Birthday

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

It’s time for another Tuesday Tattles.

A very long overdue Tuesday Tattles, at that!

Over a month ago, my Firecracker had his golden birthday and is now a three year old!

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It has been an absolute joy becoming a mother with my Firecracker. His turning 3 has been the most emotional, yet! 1 felt like a milestone and an accomplishment, but he was still a baby. 2 was a quiet birthday with a party a couple of weeks late. But 3! At 3 my little man has such a personality, with strong opinions, a sassy attitude, and a smart vocabulary, it’s hard to remember he’s still just a little kid. (<- Yes, I just plagiarized that from my personal Facebook status. You’re not experiencing dejavu, Mom.)

Because 3 was his golden birthday, I really wanted to throw a Quidditch party with emphasis on the Golden Stitch. And while he says he likes Harry Potter, he really doesn’t know much about it. I let go of my obsession and gave him the option between Harry Potter and Space. He chose space.

Okay, time to “vent.” WHY AREN’T THERE SPACE PARTY DECORATIONS?! Once again, I found myself creating my own birthday party.

To make his birthday banner, I went the easy route this year. I found large black letter stickers at Michael’s. I made sure they fit inside the star shape, which I then traced onto gold cardstock. Cut out the stars, stuck on the stickers, and taped the string to the back. Easy as pie!

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The most important decoration was the golden 3 balloon, and I got the last one from the party store! Phew! 3 gold stars were also on my decorating wish list; another mission accomplished. But even using blacks and yellows for the tablescape, the space theme only came to life with my food.

Space Themed Birthday Party (food) | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Planet Pizzas and Solar System Salad were delivered by a local, Chicago-style thin crust pizza joint. The Suns were a giant bowl of clementines. Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and yellow tomatoes were arranged to look like Rocket Veggies. Pineapple and green grapes were arranged to look like a Saturn Fruit Tray. We used a small star cookie cutter to cut cheese slices into stars which were served with round Ritz crackers for the Stars & Moons. We used my grandmother’s Christmas cut-out cookie recipe to make Golden Star Cookies. The trusty Walmart Bakery provided the chocolate cupcakes with yellow frosting, we added the star sprinkles to turn them into Cosmic Cupcakes.

birthday boy

My husband had one request for the party. The no-bake cookies from his childhood. I had him make them with Firecracker for the day. This recipe comes from his high school best friend’s mom. I’ve renamed them Asteroids for the purpose of this space themed party.

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Asteroids

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 C sugar
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 C milk
  • 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 C quick oats

Steps:

  1. Bring butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and milk to a boil in a large pot over medium heat.
  2. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Mix in the oats.
  3. Form into balls, or asteroids, and place on a sheet of wax paper to cool completely.

No-Bake Cookies: renamed asteroids, they're perfect for a Space Themed Birthday Party

If you’re really intuitive, you might recognize the background of these pictures. We flew to Wisconsin to celebrate his birthday. And again, I need to give a HUGE thank you to my parents for allowing us to have his party at their summer home.

Thankfully the rain clouds parted the hour before the party and our outdoor gathering was a wonderful reunion with my cousins. If there’s anything my Firecracker loves, it’s making friends, and boy were there plenty of new friends to be had – we had a total of 16 (including my 2) kids running around the yard, playing baseball, and throwing 200 water balloons in a matter of minutes.

water balloons

Those kids went home with goodie bags filled with star shaped sunglasses, bubbles, lollipops, and glow bracelets.

 

 

Eating the Bible: Journey On

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Today I am taking a very liberal response to my Lenten call to cook through Eating the Bible: Over 50 Delicious Recipes to Feed Your Body and Nourish Your Soul.

I saw that Rena had a recipe for Trail Mix to accompany her study of Numbers 33:1-2 during which the journey from Egypt to Israel is detailed.

Today, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, marks the start of Holy Week in the Catholic Church. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion. According to the Bible He was greeted by crowds placing palm branches along his path.

I thought that her Trail Mix would be a fun way to prepare for the journey of holy week ahead. During this week we celebrate Holy Thursday, the Last Supper, Good Friday, the Crucifixion of the Lord, and of course Easter Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead.

This week is also the last to survive without chocolate, or whatever other vice you gave up for Lent. So, make a healthy snack and power through!

Instead of Rena’s trail mix I made these Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls – a healthier way to get your sweet tooth fix and a natural boost of energy.

Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 C peanut butter
  • 1/2 C honey
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 C instant oats
  • 1/4 C golden flaxseed meal
  • 1/2 C raisins

Steps:

  1. In a microwave safe bowl combine peanut butter and honey. Microwave for twenty seconds.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
  3. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  4. Form into balls.

*This recipe is adapted from Miss Candiquick at http://blog.candiquik.com/cinnamon-raisin-energy-bites/*

Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

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