Fortune Cookies

Ingredients:

2 to 3 Tablespoons cornstarch or flour

1 Package refridgerated piecrusts

1 Tablespoon water

Colored decorating sugars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Write a not of good fortune or draw little pictures on 2 inch long pieces of paper with a pen or non-toxic marker.

Sprinkle cornstarch or flour on work surface.

Unfold one piecrust at a time and place on work area dusting both sides with the cornstach or flour. Roll smooth with rolling pin. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter or a large glass to cut out 4 to 6 circle per crust. You may reroll the scraps to get more if you wish.

Put one fortune in the center of circle and fold in half. Then fold in half again.

Brush each fortune cookie with water and dip in colored sugar or sprinkles. Then place on cookie sheet sugar side up 2 inches apart.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Sister Griffith's Playdough Recipe

This is the best recipe ever for Homemade playdough. I got it from Sister Griffiths when I worked in the Nursery with her before Dean and I even had kids. I have made it for Steph's preschool, for Emma's kindergarten teacher and for Nursery. It keeps forever without having to go in the fridge too. I usually quadruple the recipe for a batch.

1 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Salt

2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Cup Flour

Food Coloring -the color of your choice- just add drops until desired color is reached

Cook together in a large pot over medium heat. Be sure to stir constantly until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. Remove from heat and then from pot so it may cool, otherwise it continues to cook and gets a little crunchy. Once cool, have fun!! -Amy

Glurch

This picture is not of anyone I know, but it came up when I googled "Gooey Gunk picture". I like it.

I love the book The Ultimate Book Of Kid Concoctions. (Sometimes you can find it in the Scholastic Book Orders for really cheap.) There are so many fun recipes for things like sidewalk chalk, peanut butter playdough, bath crayons, and one of my favorites... Glurch (they call it Gooey Gunk in the book). I've used this recipe at preschool and home a million times and it is always so much fun.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Solution A
1 cup water
1 cup white glue
2 Tbs liquid tempera paint or 7-10 drops food coloring

Solution B
1 1/3 cup warm water
4 tsp borax laundry booster (you can buy this anywhere in the laundry aisle).

HOW TO CONCOCT IT:

1. Mix ingredients in solution A together in a medium bowl.
2. In a second medium bowl, mix the ingredients in solution B together until the borax is completely dissolved.
3. Slowly pour solution A into solution B (do not mix!).
4. Roll solution A around in solution B 4-5 times.
5. Lift solution A out of solution B and knead for 2-3 minutes.
6. Store Gunk in an airtight container or plastic zip bag.

I saw this picture on a random blog and it looks like a fun thing to try with this concoction.

Chicken Fingers

We discovered Activity TV on our Comcast OnDemand and some of it has been really fun. Addison has learned magic tricks, origami, and has even found a few recipes. We have loved making these chicken fingers with CornFlakes. When I was in Utah, Emma and Eric helped Addison and I make them one night, and they were a big hit. We set up an assembly line and dipped and battered our way through some very messy, but very fun dinner preparation.

This is a video that shows the whole process...

Materials
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound chicken breast tenders, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup fine corn flake crumbs
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil

TOOLS:
shallow dish
large skillet
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If using chicken breasts, cut the chicken into strips about 1/2 to x 3 inches.
In a plastic foodbag, combine the flour and salt.
In a shallow dish place the corn flake crumbs; in a similar dish beat the eggs well with the water.
Dredge the chicken strips first in the flour, coating well on all sides. Then one at time, dip in the egg and roll in the crumb mixture. Place on a rack as they are completed.
In a large skillet, heat about 1/8 inch vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Brown half the fingers until golden on all sides, about 5 minutes, then transfer them to cookie sheet. Add more oil to the skillet if necessary, allow to heat, and repeat with the second half of the fingers.
When all fingers have been browned, place in the hot oven for 5 to 8 minutes, or until crispy.

Serve with dipping sauces, such as bottled barbecue sauce or honey mustard sauce.(Honey mustard sauce can be made easily by combining 2 parts honey to 1 part sweet mustard.)

We used Ranch Dressing and Ketchup, of course.

August's Recipe Theme

So, I'm a little late in getting this posted... We're halfway through August, and most of your kids have already started school, but since we're in that mode of getting back into routine, and actually having real dinners instead of a short order kitchen like we've done all summer, I thought it would be fun to post recipes we can do with our kids. Mostly, cooking with Addison ends up taking longer and becoming much messier than I would probably like, but it's always worth it... and I find he's much more willing to eat what he has prepared.

I really like this website from Whole Foods that has healthy recipes for kids. Some of them are probably a little complicated when it comes to the actual cooking part, but they are all fun recipes that are meant for kids.

Summer Wheatberry Salad

Just a quick note to Ellen: if you're checking in here, I think now would be a perfect time to post a recipe of something you're eating as you're enjoying a gondola right through Italy! I know they have great salads there.





Here's to one of my new favorite salad ingredients - wheatberries. The wheat berries are just the wheat you have stored in your food storage. In this salad the berries are just a topping, but I'm loving a few salads right now that use the berry as the main ingredient too. This recipe calls for soft wheat, but I always use hard. If you're using hard berries (my favorite are hard white wheat), just make sure to soak the beans overnight in the fridge covered with water. Once soaked, they take about the same amount of time to cook as the soft berries. You can also use a pressure cooker for the berries and it cuts down the time a lot.



Summer Wheatberry Salad

1 cup soft wheatberries
6 cups water (or low-salt vegetable or chicken broth)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup diced roasted red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. sliced scallion (white and green parts)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or cilantro

Vinaigrette:
1/2 to 1 tsp. finely minced garlic
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup fruity olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:
Young greens, such as arugula, red mustard, cress, mizuna, or a mix.

In a heavy saucepan with a lid, combine the wheatberries, water or broth, salt, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer partially covered until the wheatberries are pleasantly chewy, which may take anywhere from 50 to 90 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, discard the bay leaf, and let the berries cool in the liquid. When cool, drain off all the liquid and put the berries into a large bowl. Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, roasted pepper, capers, scallion, almonds and basil or cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk the garlic, lime juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper; toss with the salad. Arrange the greens on chilled plates and top with the salad.