Teaching My Kids

Motherhood is full of wonder and surprise. Some days I am overwhelmed by the brilliance of my toddler, while yet others I am overwhelmed by his needs. I must confess a sick, clingy, grumpy child is not easy to deal with. But my true struggle has been coming up with ways to teach him the gospel on a daily basis. We read scriptures and hold FHE but to me that has never seemed enough. When a friend of mine posted about the blog Teaching My Kids I was so grateful for some new, fresh ideas. I enjoy her posts about fun books, music, FHE, and all the other ideas thrown in. But I really liked her post about Morning Devotionals. As I read it I thought "brilliant, now why hadn't I thought of that already?" Oh well, as her blog states "parenting is a learn as you go kind of thing".

I appreciate that she's sharing what she's learned with the rest of us so we can all benefit. Do any of you have fun ways you teach your kids the gospel? I'd love more ideas!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

My Sister-in-Law introduced my family to this favorite recipe of ours:

Ingredients

1 (8 oz.) package Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely chopped Roasted Red Peppers
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup grated Pepper Jack Cheese (I use Tillamook as it's so moist)
1 box frozen chopped Spinach (thawed and strained)
1 large can Artichoke Hearts (drained and finely chopped)
1/3 cup finely chopped Onion
2-3 finely chopped pickled Jalapeños (Optional)

 Instructions

1. Blend together Cream Cheese, Mayonnaise, and other Cheeses until smooth.

2. Stir in all the other ingredients. Place in casserole dish.

3. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350°F (or until lightly browned).

4. Serve with Tortilla chips, toasted breads, pita chips, or vegetables.

White Chicken Chili

I love this recipe... it's super easy and filling! Plus it makes a big batch and is great for leftovers!

Ing. (everything is an estimate)

2-3 cans white beans or 2-3 cups cooked white beans

2-3 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup concentrate

1 jar Chile Verde salsa

1/2 jar reg salsa

1 cup tomatoes either canned or fresh

1 cup corn either canned or fresh
McCormick white chicken chili seasoning packet

3 cups water

Directions: Put everything in one pot on stove, heat to boiling then reduce down to simmer for 30 minutes or until everything is hot.

We like to top ours with shredded cheese, sour cream and fresh avocado.

Enjoy!

Moist Cornbread

For the most part cornbread is dry. Crumbly. After you swallow a bite you have to immediately gulp milk so it doesn't get stuck in your throat. 

I have happy happy news for you. Throw away your old recipe and give this incredible recipe a try. It is so good that I made it twice last week. And I received quite a few requests for the recipe. Here it goes:

                        

Moist Cornbread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Cream applesauce and sugar, add eggs and cornmeal.

3. In a small bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder. 

4. Alternate mixing milk and the dry ingredients into cornmeal mixture. 

5. Grease and flour a 8x8 dish pan. Pour mixture into pan and cook for 25-30 minutes. When cornbread is golden on top put a piece of foil over the top to prevent burning. 

Now....go ahead. Enjoy!

Delicious Fruit Dip

There are so many different variations of Fruit Dips available. Even with this recipe you can play around a lot.

Fruit Dip:

7 oz. Marshmallow Cream (1 jar)

8 oz. Frozen Whipped Topping thawed (1 tub)

4 oz. Cream Cheese softened (1/2 package)

1 tsp Lime Juice

Lime Zest

Directions:

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Sprinkle with a little Lime Zest and serve with sliced fruits and/or Graham Crackers.

Variations:

Use a different Citrus fruit juice and zest - grapefruit, orange, lemon.

Use Cranberry flavoring and dried cranberries.

Use a flavored Cream Cheese instead.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today my toes are cold. I think it is time to make some soup. This is one of our favorites. It is a bit spicy and really wards off the chill on a cold day! I always make it over the stovetop, but you of course can try the slowcooker method in the directions below!!! Enjoy!
                                      

                                       

Chicken Tortilla Soup

INGREDIENTS
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can of Beans (black or pinto), drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 Corn Tortillas
Garnish: Cilantro, Cheese, Lime, Avocado, Sour Cream...whatever you have in the fridge!

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and beans, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Spray cookie pan with PAM. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. Load on the garnishes!

Okay, now eat it. Slurp up the warm goodness of happiness!

Finger Painting

My kids really love to color, paint, draw, etc. and I'm sure your kids do too. I came across this idea on the Internet a few months ago and my boys love it. For a fast, easy, and super cheap way to finger paint, all you need is:

• Shaving cream (the really cheap white stuff)
• Food coloring
• Fingers

All you do is mix white shaving cream with a few drops of any color food coloring you want. Its even fun to show your kids how mixing certain primary colors will turn them into different colors (blue + red = purple, etc). Then all you do is let them go to town on some paper. I bought a roll of "butcher" type paper at IKEA a while back for around $6. I tape it to my kitchen table and let my kids go crazy. They love it. Anyway, I just thought I'd share!!

The Pizzadilla

Are you a pizza lover like me? I love it. Growing up at my house we made home-made pizza every Friday night. It was the best pizza ever. I look forward to continuing this tradition with my own kids.

I must confess however, making the dough takes time, and patience. Something I don't have when it's lunch time, or when dinner should have already been served. Thankfully my sister taught me a really fast, simple recipe for mini-pizzas. It's delicious, fast, and if you love thin-crust pizza, you will love this.

PIZZADILLA

Flour Tortillas

Pizza Sauce 

Cheese

Toppings (Ham, Pineapple, Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Peppers, etc.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place tortilla(s) on a baking sheet. Spread thinly with pizza sauce. Be careful not to use too much at this point or your toppings will all slide off. Top the pizza with the cheese and then your toppings. Again, don't put too much on or your tortilla won't hold it all. Place in the oven and cook for 5 minutes, then turn it to Broil and broil the top of the pizza for about 1-2 minutes. This is to get the cheese bubbled up and slightly browned.

Notes:

I'm already in a hurry right? So if I don't happen to have pizza sauce, or don't feel like opening a large jar of spaghetti sauce, I just use a little ketchup and shake on oregano and garlic powder. It's not perfection, but it's still yummy.

I also cut the toppings smaller than I normally would. For example, crushed pineapple, or tidbits are much better than chunks. Remember, the heavier the toppings, the more likely it is to all fall off the tortilla.

Best Banana Muffins Ever

It's nice to take something like this:

And make it delicious again....


3 large bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mash bananas very well, add egg, sugar and butter. Mix well by hand. Combine dry ingredients and add to banana mix. Don't overmix.
Makes 12 muffins baked for 20 min. or loaf bread bakes for 30-35 min., or 'til inserted toothpick is clean.

A Post by Brandon

This is Brandon. I came across this blog that my wife is part of and just had to post my newest and most favorite recipe ever. I was casually walking down the grocery store isle and came across the most ingenious thing I've ever seen. It was a cake in a box. In fact it had a name, Super Moist Triple Fudge Cake. Being overcome with such awesomness in a box, I purchased it immediately went home and followed the most awesome instructions. All I had to do is add some eggs, oil and some other awesome ingredient that is slipping my mind at the moment. I mixed that bad boy up and threw it in the oven (note-i was feeling a little gitty, so I made cupcakes for the kiddos instead of a cake - oh and I was overcome by giddiness, so I even made little cupcakes). 30 minutes later we had Super Moist Triple Fudge Cake cupcakes for our SuperBowl viewing. I would recommend that you Simply Doing Something Ladies check out this magical isle in the supermarket for these most awesome boxes. I have even added a picture to help everyone locate such awesomness!!!