Two Little Artists

My boys really like to paint. So when they asked to paint this morning I was almost prepared. I had found this cool idea on pinterest where you use tape to spell out a word on a canvas and then you paint over the whole thing, let it dry, and peel off the tape.

This is how our project went:

I just absolutely LOVE how these turned out. What a fun way to spend part of a morning!

The Ultimate Snack - In 2 Parts

PART 1

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (or more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Combine butter, brown sugar and milk. Beat in egg. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Mix until just blended. Add chocolate chips.

3. Bake 8-10 minutes on ungreades cookie sheets.

PART 2
Now take 6 of those cookies and put them in a ziplock bag, and crush them up real good.
In a bowl soften 1/2 block of cream cheese for 15 seconds in the microwave. 
Mix in cookie crumbs. 
Roll into 24 bite size balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
Place in freezer for about 10 minutes or while you complete the next step.
Melt 4 squares semi sweet bakers chocolate in double boiler (also known as a glass bowl over a pot with an inch of boiling water)
Now take those cold cheese balls out of the freezer. Using two forks roll each ball in the chocolate, letting the extra drip back into the bowl. Replace on wax paper.
When done stick them back in the freezer for another 10 minutes to set the chocolate. 
Store in a container in the fridge.
You now have ULTIMATE CREAM CHEESE AND COOKIE TRUFFLES.
Seriously amazing. I don't want to share.

Eat Your FRESH Veggies

Eating a freshly dug up carrot....

Yum!

Supper from our garden. 

Jacob helping with the harvest.

Look at that huge carrot! 

Something New

Hello friends and family who regularly check out what is new in my kitchen! I am starting something new!! A new blog. I am not replacing this one or anything, this is still going to be where I let you know what is up in our family kitchen. My new blog is just a place where you can get a little hope when you need it. Please check it out: /encourageeveryday

Anyways, stay tuned here for more kitchen adventures....

Here's My Finished Digger

I Love Japan

My brother and his fiancee are back home visiting from Japan. They are here to get married! Anwyays, my brother brought me home some "souvenirs" for the boys. The each got a little kit to make a vehicle. Here is the fire truck kit:

Just so you know, I had to cut out all the pieces and then decipher the Japanese instructions. 

Three and a half hours later I had a completed fire truck. Jacob was in bed by the time I finished it.

And here is his version of "posing for the camera" the next morning.

Daniel was sad that his digger wasn't done. So I did it yesterday for him to find this morning. I forgot to take pictures and the first thing Jacob said when he saw it was that I had put the digger's bucket on backwards. I guess I have to fix it tonight. :) 

It's Been Awhile...

Oh my goodness.... I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted! We have had all sorts of kitchen adventures and I have lots of pictures, so I guess I will backtrack a bit.
Here we go!

Did you know you can make ice cream with bananas. JUST bananas. Cut into slices and freeze. Throw them in your blender and they get creamier and creamier. Refreeze for a little while for a more solid "ice cream." We went for the soft serve straight out of the blender stuff. Yum. Even better with chocolate chips sprinkled on top!

I also made "Chocolate Duos." It is on the Kraft website I think. Not the greatest cookie recipe ever, but the boys loved how one cookie turned into TWO cookies. One side was chocolate chocolate chip and the other side was coconut. I would do this again, but I would just use my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and add cocoa powder to half the batch.

Then I bought some beautiful carrots from the farmer's market and decided to try making carrot chips. Just slice them up nice and thin and even, sprinkle with salt, and bake at maybe 250 for a couple of hours. Daniel loved these.

Before baking... forgot to take an after...

We played ticket to ride... the boys' way:

And just last week we repainted an old table that was found in our basement when we moved in and has since been sitting in the backyard. To relax afterwards we had some home-made iced tea. My sister gave me some apple-mint that she grew. I roughly chopped about 20 big leaves. I steeped the leaves in four cups boiling water for a couple of hours. Added 1/2 cup sugar a little lemon juice and 10 more cups of water. Refreshing.

Didn't the boys do a great job on the table?