Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us and I am finding myself very busy with food preparations, gift planning, shopping, and lots of family time. Sorry for the non post, but I will be back to my usual blogging on Monday. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Thanks for visiting, Kayla


Image found at:
http://dancexploration.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/happy_thanksgiving_turkey.jpg

School Lunch..Salami kabobs

Happy Monday!  Can you believe that Thanksgiving is almost here? We are looking forward to some much needed family time. This year we will spend the holiday at home with my mother, and my in-laws coming over for dinner. It's only Monday and I am already starting my to do lists for the week. Sigh. :) How will you spend your Thanksgiving?

This lunch was a big hit. B took this to school one day last week and absolutely loved it. He is a huge salami fan, and asks for it often, so I make sure to buy the Organic Nitrate free salami. You can find it right at your local health food store.

In this lunch:
Salami kabobs with cheese, olives, tomato and cucumber
Gluten Free Whole Grain Crackers
Organic Strawberries
Fruit Leather leaf
Newmano Cookie
Yogurt Tube

Thanks for visiting, Kayla

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

Here is the Thanksgiving craft we did as a family the other night. I was tired of the traditional turkey hat craft we usually do, so I decided to check around online for some new ideas. I found an idea from Curious George, unfortunately I cannot link the site for some reason. The kids have fun anytime painting is involved, especially when they get to paint their hands and feet.

Have you made any Thanksgiving crafts yet this year?

Thanks for visiting, Kayla

School Lunch..watermelon animals

Happy Monday.  It seems as though the weekends go by so quick lately. Sigh. We had a nice restful weekend at home. The kids and I did some Thanksgiving crafts while Daddy went hunting. The temperatures were rather mild for this time of year in Maine, so we too full advantage and went for a bike ride both Saturday and Sunday. Usually the bikes are stored for the Winter by now, but if Winter wants to make it's appearance late this year that is fine by me.

In this lunch:
Turkey and Cheese on a whole wheat roll
watermelon shaped animals
apple
carrot sticks
cheddar bunnies
fruit/nut mixture
newmano cookie

Thanks for visiting, Kayla 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are a big deal around here. My husband, my kids, my family, my friends, yes, pretty much everyone I know LOVES these cookies. :) Sadly, I cannot enjoy them anymore because they are not gluten free or egg free. I have yet to attempt to alter my original recipe. I have used this recipe for years, I am not sure where it originally came from, so I will pass it on to you. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies make a great addition to any party, football get together, or just because.

You will need:
1 15oz. can organic pumpkin (not pie mix)
2 tbs. organic milk
2 c. organic sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 c. organic butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. unbleached flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 c. chocolate chips


Method:
1. In a large bowl mix pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla.
2. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, blend well.
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Drop rounded spoonful's onto cookie sheet. I use a small cookie scoop. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by, Kayla

School Lunch..Chicken Salad

Here is a lunch I made a few weeks ago, hence the spooky cat. Oh well. I feel like I am getting a bit backed up on lunch posts, since I tend to photograph B's lunch every day. Since he goes to school five days a week, that is a lot of lunch pictures. :) I don't want this blog to be all about school lunches, so I think I will slow it down a little on the lunch posts. Let me know if you prefer more. Comments are always welcome.

In this lunch:
Chicken Salad Sandwich with a cheese cat on top
Mango and watermelon pieces
green olives
tomatoes
popcorn

Thanks for visiting, Kayla

Apple Brownies

Here is another fall favorite in my house. My husband can eat the entire pan himself. I make these apple brownies every year after apple picking. They somehow found their way into the list of fall must haves, along with apple pie and apple crisp. If you have never had them, give them a try.

You will need:
1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 medium apples, chopped fine
1 c. flour
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Method:
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Cream butter and sugar together in stand mixer. Add egg. Combine all ingredients together and add apples and nuts. Spread in 8x8 pan, and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by, Kayla

School Lunch..Apple Sandwich

I made this lunch for B a while ago. For some reason, it got lost in the mix. The spooky cat and bat could obviously be swapped out for another fun shape, since Halloween is over. The apple sandwich was a fun idea. I usually can't get away with packing apples in B's lunches, since he refuses to eat them once they turn brownish. And since, apples brown moments after cutting, it is a no go, maybe someday I will try to lemon juice trick..:)
The apple sandwich is just that, an apple cored, and sliced with peanut butter in the middle. I did roll it is chopped pecans to add a little crunch. Also in this lunch we have cheese shapes, grapes, crackers, tomatoes, and mango.

Thanks for visiting, Kayla

3 Year Old Birthday Party Part 1

 

My little guy turned three a few weeks ago, I can hardly believe it. He loves trains, so he chose a Percy the Train party, which was great since I had the Thomas table cloth and banner from last year. I admit I am cheap, but these parties can really add up, so reusing is key. For this party, since only family was invited, I skipped the favor bags. R's cousins were there so I had this Halloween mask coloring activity ready, and figured they could just take it home with them.

 

Kids love snacks. To keep things simple, I bought these cute little snack cups, which I recycled after the party, and filled them with Annie's snack mix.

For the adults, I chose the simple route of chips guacamole, my recipe here and salsa. Labeling is important if you have different kids of salsa, as I did, so I purchased these adorable chalk board labels from amazon, and a chalk marker. You can find them here. I cut and folded scrapbook paper, then added the sticker label. They came out adorable.

Here is the whole spread. Yes, my counter tops are blue. Someday we will get around the updating them. :)

Don't forget to check back for the next party post...

Thanks for visiting, Kayla

Fall Crafts and a nice view

 

This is the beautiful view from my kitchen window.  How gorgeous are the leaves on this Maple tree? Of course this was taken in mid September, so this view is no longer what I see, but hey. I thought I would share how pretty it was for my friends and family across the country who might miss Maine just a little.

 

 I thought I would share some of the fun fall crafts we have been doing around the house. Lately anything involving crafting, coloring, or drawing is getting B's attention. He loves art. we did these crafts a couple weeks ago.  The Fall tree is simply the kids arm and hand traced onto a brown piece of construction paper and used onto white paper. We then used little fingers to dot the fall leaves. They had so much fun doing this, gotta love pinterest. The apple printing craft was super easy and just as fun. I feel like it is important for me to emphasize that we are still celebrating Fall, even though the temperatures are dropping, and we have already set the clocks back. Blah. I will not let Winter creep up on me just yet. :)

 

Thanks for stopping by, Kayla