link parties

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Breakfast Wraps

A Graham family favorite. My daughter says anything tastes good in a corn tortilla. My theory behind that is the kids like it because they can't see what they're eating + wraps are just fun to eat. They're not messy because the food is all wrapped up and they're easy to eat.

Breakfast Wrap



  • corn tortillas

  • eggs mixed with milk, salt, pepper to make scrambled

  • turkey breakfast sausage

  • diced onions

  • shredded cheese

  • already cooked potato from the night before

  • already steamed veggies -optional- if you have from last nights dinner (Sweet potato, broccoli, carrots, corn)


break up the sausage in pan on high heat then add onions and potatoes

once cooked and golden add veggies then egg mixture

cook well then place in heated corn tortilla with a little cheese and catchup

-Tip-I heat my tortillas over an open flame on my gas stove

wrap and done nobody sees what's in there and it tastes great!

-Tip- everything should be proportionate to each other in really small pieces

Friday, October 22, 2010

Fun day Friday Finger Food



So it's fun day Friday at the Grahams. Translation Mom's tired from a long week at work.

Dinner is served:

Rachael Ray's Penne Italian Shepherd's Pie





This is such a yummy way to get your veggies and protein in. I love Rachael Ray! Her recipes are so easy, delicious and written so much more precisely than mine! My mom makes a fantastic shepherd's pie with sweet potato which I will share on another day but for now,  this is what's for dinner tonight at the Grahams:

Cheesy Penne Italian Shepherd's Pie


Serves 4

Submitted by




INGREDIENTS


  • 1/2 pound mini penne (or any mini short-cut pasta) $0.74

  • Salt

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) ($0.40)

  • 1 pound ground turkey ($3.15)

  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped ($0.12)

  • 1 medium onion, diced ($0.69)

  • 3 medium carrots, diced ($0.51)

  • 1 medium zucchini, diced ($0.72)

  • 11/2 tablespoons tomato paste ($0.09)

  • 1 cup chicken stock, divided ($0.72)

  • 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning ($0.16)

  • 3 tablespoons butter ($0.33)

  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour ($0.12)

  • 1 cup milk --(eyeball it) ($0.26)

  • 1 cup shredded provolone ($2.00)




PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

Place a large pot filled with water over high heat and bring to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Heads up -- reserve a mug of starchy water before draining the cooked pasta. Drain well and transfer pasta back to the cooking pot.

While the water is coming up to a boil for the pasta, place a large skillet over high heat and with 3 turns of the pan, add EVOO, about 3 tablespoons. Once the oil starts to ripple, add the ground turkey and break it up into small pieces as it cooks, using the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Cook until the turkey is nice and brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Add the veggies and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, ½ cup chicken stock, half of the reserved starchy water, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 10 more minutes, stirring every now and then.

While the veggies and turkey are cooking, place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat with the butter. Once the butter melts, add the flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly so the flour doesn't burn. Whisk in the milk and the rest of the starchy pasta water and chicken stock, bring to a simmer and cook until thickened. Once thick, turn off the heat, add the cheese to the pot and stir until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the bottom of a large, oven-safe baking dish with the turkey and veggie mixture. Meanwhile, add the cheese sauce to the reserved pasta in the pasta pot. Stir to coat, then transfer the cheesy pasta to the baking dish. Spread it out to cover the turkey mixture evenly. Place in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Scrappy Pumpkin Tee Shirt project

My friend designed this project for her daughter's girl scout troupe. I think it is such a great project.



 



• TAP® Transfer Artist Paper
• Plain tee shirt – white or light color
• Scraps of pretty patterned papers
• Black marker, pencil
• White paper, white card stock
• Glue stick, scissors, Exacto® blade
• All-in-one inkjet printer/copier
• Firm ironing surface and iron

  1. Use a black marker to draw a thick outline of a pumpkin with 4 segments on white cardstock

  2. Copy the pumpkin on to white paper to make a master copy

  3. Use an Exacto blade to trim out the inside of each section of the pumpkin on cardstock to create a stencil

  4. Use the stencil to mark and cut out scrap papers to fit inside each section – use a different patterned paper for each section to make it scrappy, and don’t forget the stem!

  5. Glue each of your trimmed scraps onto your master copy

  6. Load a sheet of TAP into your inkjet printer and copy your scrappy pumpkin on to the TAP, following package instructions

  7. Trim your pumpkin out of the TAP sheet and place it image-side-down on to your tee shirt

  8. Press the image on to your shirt with your iron, following the TAP package instructions

  9. If desired, you can also print out some Halloween words on to TAP to go with your pumpkin – just be sure to reverse the words on your computer before printing them out


This post was originally posted on C&T Publishing's blog:

http://www.ctpubblog.com/2010/10/08/scrappy-pumpkin-tee-shirt/

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Halloween Jokes for kids



What did the bird say on Halloween?

Trick or tweet!

 

What do goblins and ghosts drink when they're hot and thirsty on Halloween?

Ghoul-aid

 

What is a Mummie's favorite type of music?

Wrap

 

Where does a ghost go on Saturday night?

Anywhere where he can boo-gie

 

Why didn't the skeleton dance at the party?

He had no body to dance with

 

What tops off a ghost's ice cream sundae?

Whipped scream

 

What do you call a little monsters parents

mummy and deady

 

What do ghosts eat for breakfast?

Boo-Berries

 

What's a ghosts favorite desert?

Boo-berry pie

 

What's a monsters favorite desert?

I-Scream

 

What kind of tie does a ghost wear to a formal party?

A boo-tie.

 

What did tha boy ghost say to the girl ghost?

You are the most booooooooo-tiful thing I have ever seen!

 

super quick homemade dinner for the busy family

This is a nice meal for the really busy family. We got home late from school and after school activities, kids are starving, need to eat, do homework and get ready for bed so I made this super quick meal. It's healthy and home made and the kids love it.

  • ham steak heated in pan

  • sweet potatoes steamed topped with butter and a little brown sugar

  • romaine, croutons, and good dressing makes a great caesar salad

  • green beans steamed topped with a little parmesan cheese, garlic salt and butter served over spaghetti noodles tossed in olive oil, a little butter, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt


-Tip- I like to add a little butter, just a touch, along with olive oil for flavor

    Wednesday, October 20, 2010

    Halloween Fun for kids

    Happy Halloween!


    Free downloadable PDFs of Halloween songs, poems, jokes and a maze.


    halloween fun 1

    halloween fun 2




     

     

     



     

    Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm



    Another great pumpkin patch Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm. We just went there with my son's pre school and it was a big hit.

    Fun for kids


    Lots of pumkins

    They do a wonderful educational tour which really is age appropriate and just the right amount of information for the kids along with fun things to do like mill corn and milk a pretend cow,

    Alpacas, goats, pot bellied pigs

    A train ride

    A food stand

    Down below the pumpkin patch area is a kids play area with a hay maze and HUGE pools of Lima Beans





    Monday, October 18, 2010

    Kids cowboy holster







    My kids are going to be Woody and Jessie from toy story for Halloween this year so I'm making their costumes. I never knew I would have so much fun making a costume. The holster is so cool for a little boy that I made 2 extras for my nephews because I think they'll just have fun playing cowboys.

    I did a search and found a blog that gives step by step instructions on how to make the holster. It took me a couple times to get the pattern right but once I did the others were so easy to make that I made 3 in one night.

    here's the link to the blog I found that has the step by step instructions for making your own holster.

    http://jameehomemaker.blogspot.com/2010/03/cowboy-days-and-gun-holster-tutorial.html

    I used some faux leather remnants from a fabric store.  hole punched around the edge and cut thin strips of the same leather for the lace. Basically you have one piece that is cut around the gun with extra at the top to weave the belt through and a second piece that covers the gun. Then just lace them together and you have on rough and tough cowboy holster.

    Adobe Farms Pumpkin Patch



     


    We had so much fun at this  pumpkin patch in Petaluma.


     



    They have a few food stands. We ate at a wonderful mexican food stand that is really affordable. The Papusas were so yummy. I never heard of these before, but according to my cousin they are El Salvador's contribution to the culinary world.



    Lots of fun things for the kids to do

    hayride, jumpy, jumpy slide, corn maze, lots of great photo ops!, farm animals, a cute little store, pony rides, pumpkins everywhere (a little pricey), and beautiful sunflowers


    crafty birthday gift idea




    My daughter was going to a friend’s birthday party. I wanted her gift to be something fun and unique, not the same old Barbie doll. Alivia and I love to make crafts together, so I figured her friend likes to, also. I thought the Ready-to-Go! Indie File Box would be the perfect size box to fill with craft goodies.

    I then discovered that the Ready-to-Go! 1 1/2″ blocks fit perfectly inside the file box and are a great surface for kids crafts. They’re also a great deal at $8.95 for 9 blocks! Alivia likes to draw pictures on each side of the block with pens. (I have to admit that I like to do this, too.)

    The file box includes tab dividers, so we included several sheets of stickers and fancy paper. There was even enough room for a cute paper punch and some glittery pens!



    To finish off the crafty gift, we wrapped it in beautiful pink fabric and topped it with a big ribbon!

    My daughter was so proud to give this gift, a personalized present that she put so much thought into, like picking out the perfect stickers that she knew her friend would like, and decorating one of the blocks. It was really sweet.

    enchilada casserole

    Mom's Enchilada Casserole

    All the yumminess of enchiladas in one casserole dish.

    -TIP- freezes well so after you bake it put in meal size freezer containers.

    what you'll need

    cook meat and onions in oil then stir in these these ingredients making sure that the meat mixture isn't too spicy for kids.

    • ground turkey

    • enchilada sauce (to taste)

    • tomato sauce (to taste)

    • chopped olives

    • corn kernels


    in casserole dish layer meat mixture then tortillas, you can add a layer of fresh tomatoes or cilantro and top with grated cheese

    bake at 350

    serve topped with plain yogurt or sourceam

    GG's Sopa Rice


    Serve with GG's sopa (mexican soup rice) everyone loves this rice and it is so easy.

    1 1/2 can chicken broth

    1/2 can tomato sauce

    california garlic salt, onion powder

    optional: celery stalk, onion, carrot in big chunks floating on top for flavor

    cover and cook until done (Sorry, I can smell when it's done so I don not know times. My husband thinks this is crazy)

    -TIP- do not uncover until done and you will have perfectly cooked rice.



    String beans


    For a vegetable side dish mom made string beans. Everyone loves her string beans.

    steam until tender but not too mushy and still green. In serving bowl stir in butter, parmesan cheese and garlic salt