Memorial Day Fun With Kids

MEMORIAL DAY FLAG ROCK PAINTING 






http://www.examiner.com/article/patriotic-pebble-memorial-day-or-4th-of-july-craft-for-kids-paint-a-flag-rock
Teach children about Memorial Day and then watch them have a blast making this super fun American Flag Rock Painting craft for Memorial Day!
Craft supplies you will need:
■Paint

■Rock

■Paint brushes

Craft instructions:
Take the children outside to find a rock.
Have the children wash and dry the rock.
Next, pour blue paint in a small plastic cup.
Then, have the children paint a blue square in the upper left side of the rock.
Let dry.
While the blue square is drying, pour red paint in a cup and white paint in another cup.
Then, painting around the blue square, have the children paint a red stripe across the rock and then a white stripe.
Have the children continue till they get to the bottom of the rock.
Lastly, have the children paint white stars in the blue square.


PARTY CRACKERS

http://www.kidactivities.net/category/Holidays-All-the-Patriotic-Red-White-Blue-Days.aspx
To make party crackers, take an old paper towel roll and cut it in half or thirds.
Place small favors such as erasers, tiny toys, stickers, or small wrapped candy inside.
Roll the filled paper towel roll in party wrapping paper allowing extra paper at both ends.
Twist the excess wrapping paper at each end and tie with ribbon or yarn. Party crackers!!!

RED, WHITE AND BLUE PUFFY ART
Materials:
Flour, Salt, Water, Red and blue food coloring, Empty squeeze bottles (mustard bottles work well), Cardboard
Directions:
1. Mix equal parts of flour, salt, and water to make the puffy paint.
2. Divide mixture into three different bowls and color one bowl of mixture blue, one bowl red, and leave the last one white.
3. Fill the mustard bottles with the mixture (one color per squeeze bottle).
4. Let the children squeeze the different colors onto the cardboard.
5. When they're dry, the design will be raised and will sparkle!

TEAR PAPER ART

Have a flag as a guide for the kids to follow. Tearing strips of red, white and blue paper, have children glue them onto a large sheet of construction paper. Make sure they know what size they should be trying to tear for the stars, stripes, etc.

OUTDOOR CANVAS ART- A FLAG, OR A PATRIOTIC THEME...
http://health.kaboose.com/active-kids/summer-backyard-games.html
Create an outdoor canvas. Hang an old sheet on a clothesline or tape paper to a fence for your budding artist to paint on. Encourage them to try painting with different kinds of brushes, says Warner. “Try dipping grass into paint and swishing it on paper, then try painting with a leaf or a twig. The kids can also try painting rocks and creating little people or bugs with them.” 
*Use star sponge shapes, or cookie cutters to create patterns on your canvas!

How To Make Jewelry

    Making Jewelry with my children is a lot of fun.  The store bought kits work well, but I decided to try and see about making our own beads. While searching, I discovered there is actually a website based on those fantastic "Dummies" books.  Some of which include, Jewelry Beading For Dummies, and Making Candles And Soaps For Dummies.  Tons of great info on website! The TLC how stuff works website below is also a good resource for making beads...
Clay Bead Project for Children
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/clay-bead-project-for-children.html
Use polymer clay, which you can find in craft stores. Look for brand names like Sculpey, Kato, and Fimo. You need an oven to harden the clay, so supervise the children for this project.

1.Condition the polymer clay before the kids work with it.Conditioning the clay softens it slightly: Knead and squeeze the clay between your fingers until the clay can stretch without breaking immediately. You need to condition the clay only once, so you can put it away for later at this point.

2.Warm the conditioned clay between your hands and fingers.This step helps it to become more malleable.

3.Roll the clay and fold it back into itself several times, then pinch off a piece of clay for each child.Fold the clay onto itself until you can pull the clay and it stretches rather than breaks apart.

4.Have them roll the clay on the table with the palm of their hand or between their two palms in a circular motion to make the bead round.Shoot for a finished bead size around 1/4 inch in diameter or so, to keep the baking time down. You can of course make bigger beads depending how long your little artists are willing to wait to string their beads.

5.Insert a round toothpick through the center of the bead.Make sure the hole you create reaches through the entire bead so you can insert the string through the bead. To ensure that the bead doesn’t end up with an exit wound on one side, insert the toothpick until just the tip comes through the other side. Then flip the bead around, and insert the toothpick in the same spot it exited. Gently reshape the bead as necessary.

6.Bake the beads according to the packaged directions, using a glass, oven safe container.Polymer clays can be baked in the oven. Look for brand names like Sculpey, Kato, and Fimo.

7.Remove the beads from the oven and allow them to cool before stringing.To create some beads with a little more interest, choose two complementary colors. Condition each color separately then roll each into a log. Twist the two logs together, and then pinch off bead-sized bits. Round the beads with your palm. The more you work the mixed bead, the more the two colors blend together. So if you want to blend two colors to make a new color, this is a great way to do it. But if you prefer a marbled blend of the colors, don’t overwork the clay.

ROLLED PAPER BEADS
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/bead5.htm
     These rolled paper beads are colorful and shiny -- perfect for making all kinds of necklaces and bracelets. You can coordinate your jewelry with any outfit just by choosing the right paper. Go for something designed and decorative, or find out what fun colors and patterns you can create just from the pages in a magazine.

What You'll Need:
Old magazines or other decorative paper
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Craft glue
Yarn or dental floss
Spray acrylic sealer

What To Do:
Tear out two or three colorful pages from a magazine. Use a ruler to mark an inch along the long edge of a magazine page. Continue making inch marks along the page. Starting at the first 1-inch mark, cut a long triangle from the magazine page. Repeat until you have 20 to 30 triangles. Your triangles should look something like this.
Starting with the wide end of the triangle, roll it around a pencil. Continue rolling until you reach the point of the triangle. Place a dot of glue at the point of the paper, and smooth the point down.

Roll carefully to keep your bead symmetrical.

Slide the paper bead off the pencil. Repeat until you've made 20 to 30 beads, depending on how long you want your necklace or bracelet to be.

String the beads on yarn or dental floss. Tie the ends of your necklace or bracelet together in a double knot.

You can combine colors in all sorts of ways to give your bead jewelry different looks.

Spread newspaper over your work surface, and place the beads on the newspaper. With an adult's help, spray acrylic sealer to give your beads a shiny finish.

Make a Bundt cake for Mother's Day!

Maple Bundt Cake

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11450?section

Ingredient List

Serves 12

• 3 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 Tbs. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. maple extract
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly coat 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in bowl.
3. Whisk maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, maple extract, and 11/3 cups water in large separate bowl. Stir in flour mixture until just blended.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Unmold onto rack, and cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Nutritional Information

Per slice: Calories: 361, Protein: 4g, Total fat: 13g, Saturated fat: <1g, Carbs: 57g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 384mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 26g

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/8274?printer=yes

INGREDIENT LIST:

16 Servings

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs or equivalent egg substitute
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 8 to 16 walnuts, garnish (optional)

    Orange Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 Tbs. orange juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 10-inch Bundt pan (12-cup capacity) with cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. Put pumpkin in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, combine eggs and both sugars. Beat with electric mixer at high speed until pale in color and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. With rubber spatula, alternately fold in flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, making 3 flour additions and 2 pumpkin additions. Scrape into prepared pan. Smooth surface with spatula.
4. Bake cake until top springs back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen edges and turn cake out onto rack to cool completely.
5. Make glaze: Sift confectioners’ sugar into medium bowl. Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon orange juice; whisk to blend. Gradually add just enough additional orange juice until glaze is smooth and thick yet pourable. Slowly spoon glaze over cake, letting it drip down sides. Decorate cake with walnuts if desired. Let stand until glaze has set, about 30 minutes.

Easy Mother's Day Brunch Recipes

Looking for an easy, delicious Mother's Day Brunch Menu? Check out the recipes below!
Bacon and Cheese Frittata
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/breakfast-brunch-recipes/Bacon-and-Cheese-Frittata
6 Servings

Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min

Ingredients:

5 strips bacon
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese
2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, flipping once, until cooked but not crisp. Drain on a paper towel, then chop into bite-size pieces.

2.Pour off the bacon fat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat until softened, about 7 minutes. Let cool.

3.In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the onion, the bacon, the cheeses and the salt and pepper and stir gently. In a 9- or 10-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil (swirl the oil to coat the bottom and sides of the skillet). Add the egg mixture and cook over medium-low heat until the sides start to set, about 3 minutes. Bake in the oven until the frittata is firm, 20 to 25 minutes.

4.Gently run a rubber spatula around the sides of the skillet to loosen the frittata. Place a serving plate over the skillet and carefully flip the pan to release the frittata.

Brunch Fruit Salad

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Brunch-Fruit-Salad
10 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks
2 large firm bananas, cut into 1/4-inch chunks
1 cup green grapes
1 can (15 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
1 medium red apple, sliced
1 medium green apple, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions
Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Combine the pineapple, bananas, grapes, oranges and apples in a large bowl; set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add the orange juice, lemon juice and reserved pineapple juice; stir until smooth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Pour over fruit; mix gently. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Yield: 10 servings.


Sunrise Smoothies

http://kidscooking.about.com/od/beverages/r/sunrisesmoothie.htm
There's no need to skip breakfast when you can whip up these sunrise smoothies in no time. Combining the flavors of orange and banana, these sunrise smoothies are sweet, creamy and refreshing.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
•1 cup ice
•1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
•1 cup vanilla soy milk
•1 medium banana
•1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
•1 Tbsp. honey

Preparation:
1.Place the ice in the bottom of a blender or Vita Mix.
2.Add remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth.

Serve immediately


Cinnamon Rolls

http://www.cookingpanda.com/2011/02/18/how-to-make-cinnamon-rolls-easy-brunch-recipe/
A lot of people think you need to spend an entire day making delicious cinnamon rolls. Well, perhaps. A lot of recipes are definitely set up that way. However if you’ve ever wanted to know How to Make Cinnamon Rolls [this] easy brunch recipe will fit the bill.
Ingredients:
* 1 egg
* 3/4 c. milk
* 3 c. Bisquick
* 2 tbsp. melted butter
* 2 tsp. cinnamon
* 1/2 c. sugar
* 1/4 c. confectioners sugar
* 2 tsp warm water

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat eggs in mixing bowl, then mix in Bisquick and milk, until soft and consistent.
3. Lightly knead until soft and smooth.
4. Roll out into 10×8 inch rectangle.
5. Cover evenly with butter, then cinnamon and sugar.
6. Starting with wide, 10 inch side, tightly roll dough. Pinch off edge of roll to seal.
7. Transfer roll to an ungreased baking sheet, seal side down.
8. Using scissors, cut the roll in 1″ increments, almost cutting through to the bottom, but not quite.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes.
10. While baking roll, mix confectioners sugar and water until smooth. After baking, glaze rolls with glaze mixture.

Crisp Spring Salad with Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing
http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-US/FoodandRecipes/Pages/soup-and-salad-brunch-recipes.aspx?TID=c83f88fe-b8e9-4c02-b0ce-089295b04488
INGREDIENTS
For Dressing:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, (approximately 1/2 to 1 lemon)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, (approximately 2 limes)
3 tablespoons orange juice, no pulp
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds
Black pepper, to taste

For Salad:
1 bag spring mix salad greens
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (add more if desired)
1 cup red grapes
2 medium-ripe Anjou pears, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup sliced almonds, unsalted
Optional: grilled chicken slices

INSTRUCTIONS
Place all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake vigorously. Let stand in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving to blend the flavors.

Rinse and dry salad greens and fresh produce.

Toss all ingredients together in a large salad or serving bowl.

Sprinkle desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss in or serve on the side in small sauce dishes.

Mother's Day Desserts

     What Mom does not like dessert??? Check out these "Oh so Pretty" desserts to make for that special person in your life.  They will brighten up any buffet or dessert table for sure.


http://www.marthastewart.com/259355/strawberry-tart?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/mothers-day-desserts#slide_1
To prevent the delicate crust from breaking, leave it in the pan while assembling and chilling tart. Unmold tart just before serving.

Note: To hull strawberries, insert the tip of a paring knife below the strawberry's stem. Gently cut around to remove only the base of the stem and the white core.

Ingredients


For the Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for handling dough
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling
1 bar (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 to 2 pounds strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup seedless red currant jelly

Directions
1.Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form (this may take up to 1 minute). Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.

2.With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry-measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.

3.Using a fork, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up. Cool completely in pan.

4.Make the filling: In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth; spread mixture evenly in bottom of baked crust (still in tart pan).

5.Starting from outside edge, arrange strawberry halves, stemmed side down, in tight concentric circles on cream cheese.

6.In a small saucepan, heat jelly on medium-low until liquefied. Gently brush strawberries with jelly; let set at least 20 minutes. Chill in pan at least 1 hour (and up to 6 hours); remove from pan just before serving.



http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Raspberry-Cream-Trifle
14-16 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 prepared angel food cake (8 to 10 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
2 cups fresh raspberries
Chocolate curls and fresh mint

Directions
In a large bowl, beat the milk, water and extract until blended. Add pudding mix; whisk for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Cover and chill until mixture is partially set. Fold in the whipped cream.

Place half of the cake cubes in a 2-qt. glass serving bowl. Top with half of the cream mixture. Carefully spread with jam. Sprinkle with 1 cup raspberries. Layer with remaining cake cubes, cream mixture and raspberries. Garnish with chocolate curls and mint. Yield: 14-16 servings.