Finger Paints

Recently I tried a finger paint recipe that worked rather well. 

It was easy to make, quite colorful and 

fun for the littles to paint with.  

I found this finger paint recipe over at 

Easie Peasie. 

Check it out. It's a good one!

~Christie

Recipe: Panipopo

Oh yes, panipopo...one of my favorites. 

It is a Samoan delight

and a complete comfort food. 

There is a good recipe here. 

 Basically, use your best sweet dough recipe.

Let it rise until doubled.

Then heat two cans of coconut milk with 

about 1/2 to 1 cup of granulated sugar. 

Let thicken, stir constantly and do not burn!

Pour the coconut mixture into a 

greased 9x13" pan.

Divide your dough.

I like to make 24 little rolls. 

You can make 12 larger ones. 

 I also roll and twist each one.

Then I let them rise until doubled.

I bake them at 350'F for 30 minutes 
until golden brown.

Let them cool to warm....then cut a piece. 

When you flip them over the thick coconut mixture is like a pudding.

 YUM. 

Best when warm and straight out of the oven.

You'll need to share some with a friend.
{It's delightsome.}

Aloha!

~Christie

Recipe: Cream Puff Desert

YUMMY! 

That's all I have to say about this delightfully light dessert.It's been one of our favorites for awhile now.

 You may find the complete detailed recipe here at Taste of Home.

This is definitely one to try this weekend! 

Check out the process below.

~Christie

Recipe: Chocolate Filled Wontons

  We usually fill our wontons with a shrimp and vegetable mixture and dip them in sweet and sour sauce. This  time We filled them with chocolate and coated them in powdered sugar.I found a good recipe here, and another similar recipe here.  

 I used a mixture of semi sweet baking squares melted with butter over a double boiler. 

 Then mixed in some cream cheese. {Looking back, I think that next time I will use my Kitchenaid to really blend the cream cheese in well.} Then I spooned that mixture onto my wonton wrappers. 

Folding the wonton over, forming a triangle, I used a bit of water to adhere the two sides together. This makes a sealed little package of goodness. Then making sure your oil is hot, deep fry the wontons for two minutes or so until they are golden brown and crispy. The crispier the better. 

 Transfer them onto a paper towel lined plate then dredge them in powdered sugar and let cool to warm. 

 They are a crispy chewy treat and  make a nice side to a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.

~Christie

Happy New Year!

   This past week of holiday fun has sent me into a happy state of exhaustion. We baked, sewed, ate, and spent time together. Friends dropped delicious treats by and carolers even graced our door. It was a pleasant time of family and remembering the reason for the season. Now as I look around my home that I spent days cleaning, organizing and preparing for Christmas...I see that the joy of the holiday has left its mark. After two days of resting and spending quality time with the family...it's time to clean house and ready ourselves to ring in the New Year. Besides the mounds of laundry and bags of paper trash, there is much to be done. We like to eat Chinese food for New Year's Eve. Yum. This year we decided to make orange chicken, chicken chow mien, Chinese dumplings, white rice, fortune cookies and these yummies...Chinese Almond Cookies.

A quick recipe for Chinese Almond Cookies here.

     As my home is quite festively decorated in the Christmas theme I thought I'd bring in some New Year Cheer and declutter the holiday haze. Here is a fun printable that I made up for New Years. Traditionally in Hawaii on New Year's Eve most everyone celebrates with food and fireworks. Most common are the Chinese red firecracker bundles that are set off at midnight to ring in the New Year. These are strands of thousands of firecrackers that send off a most loud hurrah! The streets are often peppered in red firecracker paper and the New Year Day is spent sweeping up the night of fun. I'm looking forward to a new year, 2011 was a difficult one, but we are all well and good. Here is to a bright and shiny new year full of surprises, opportunity, and hope.

Download Here

 

~Christie

Salmon Patties

An easy recipe that is full of omega 3. 

Try it over a bed of green salad. 

Or top it with some dill and garlic flavored light sour cream.

Salmon Patties

1 can salmon

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. parsley

2 T. grated Parmesan

1 egg, beaten slightly

2 T. lo-fat mayo

Olive oil for cooking. 

*Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. 

Use a fork to mix together. Do not over mix. 

When completely combined, form patties. 

 Heat skillet with olive oil.

Cook 2-3 minutes on each side till golden brown. 

Let cool on paper towel covered plate. 

Serve over a plate of green salad.

~Christie

Sweet and Savory Garlic Bread

So, with a family of six, 

homemade spaghetti is a basic staple on our menu. 

To change it up a bit, I like to play around with the sides. 

This is how I make my garlic bread...sweet and savory. 

The family must like it because there are never left overs. 

 Sweet and Savory Garlic Bread

4 T. Softened Butter

1 T. Garlic Powder

1 T. Parsley

1/2 T. Olive Oil

2 T. Honey

French Bread or Dutch Crunch Bread

*Mix the first five ingredients together. Slice bread in half. 

Spread the garlic butter on the bread and bake at 400`F 

until butter melts and bread is crisp.

 ~Christie

Homemade Koolaid Play Dough

 We use play dough for a variety of reasons. 

Counting, patterning, sorting, and of course artistic play.

This is a play dough recipe I like to use because

of all the bright colors you can come up with. 

It is quite simple to make up and 

can be refrigerated in an airtight container for weeks. 

Recipe 

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 c salt

1 T. canola oil

1 pkg. Koolaid (Choose your color) and 3/4 c. water.

*Whisk the flour, salt, cream of tartar and Koolaid together in a glass or stainless steel bowl. Boil the 1 cup of water and gradually pour over dry mixture and mix until combined. 
When cool, knead the dough thoroughly. 
If mixture is sticky add more flour and knead in well. 
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  

**This recipe makes one ball of play dough. 

Make up different colors by using different Koolaids in every batch.

My Lasagne

Every family has their own take on lasagne. 

It's funny, I always thought lasagne was lasagne until I started having babies and wonderfully nice friends were bringing my family and I dinner. Can you guess what they all brought? 

Yep, lasagne. 

Each one was different and each so yummy. 

It was a really good thing that my family loves lasagne and so I'd like to share with you my take on our family favorite.

My Lasagne

1 small onion , chopped

1 1/2 lb. ground beef, cooked with onions and drained

15 oz. ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 29 oz. can of tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz. can diced petite tomatoes

4 c. shredded mozzarella

1 1/2 T. Italian seasoning

1 T garlic powder or 4 cloves of pressed garlic

1T. onion powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 T. cinnamon

2 heaping T. of brown sugar

 * Preheat oven 350`F. 
After cooking the ground beef and onions together in a skillet, drain and add garlic, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, cinnamon and brown sugar. Heat through. While the sauce is heating, boil and cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. 
In a separate bowl mix together ricotta cheese and the eggs. 
Take sauce off of the heat and drain noodles when done cooking. 
Grease a 9x13" baking dish. 
Layer noodles, cheese mixture, sauce 
and grate mozzarella until pan is full. 
Top with remaining sauce and mozzarella. 
Cover baking pan with foil. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 350`F for 30 minutes. Then remove foil and continue to bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Yum. Enjoying it with a side of corn, garlic bread and 

mango passion orange juice.

Muffins

    Yesterday, I had a super bad headache. When school was finished and the afternoon brought chores to complete around the house, it got worse. While making dinner, I suddenly realized that I was supposed to prepare something for my sons early morning seminary class breakfast. It was our turn, we would be the only ones assigned to bring anything. Too tired to go to the store, I found some simple muffin recipes on the web that I will share with you today.  

Pumpkin chocolate chip and 
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins. 
 I think I favor the pumpkin...the flavor reminds me of fall.

~Christie

Black Bean Chili

    Here is a great recipe for a family fall dinner. It is easy to put together and cooks all by itself in the crock pot. 

Gotta love a hearty crock pot meal.

If you don't want to use a crock pot then you definitely could cook it over the stove top.

Black Bean Chili

1 1/2 1b. ground beef 

2 15 oz. cans of black beans

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce

1 cup of frozen corn

1 15 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, pressed

Chili powder

      *Brown ground been in a skillet, add onions and garlic. When cooked through, drain the meat and add it to your crock pot. Then add in drained black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, corn, and 1 T. of chili powder (If you like it more seasoned add more chili powder). Add a dash of salt and pepper. Cook in crock pot for 4-5 hours on low. If cooking over stove top, then cook till thoroughly heated through and flavors come together. Serves 6-8. Pour it over rice and top with cheese.

~Christie

It's September! Time for Apple Pie.

   I had to make an apple pie today. I just had to smell it's warm apple cinnamony goodness baking away in the oven. An apple pie made with fresh ingredients is divine to say the least. I had lots of help. Little girls who wanted to spin the apple corer, loved the apple juices spraying in the air and strands of apple peels falling onto the floor. Flour and sugar everywhere. We made a huge mess, but in the end it was soooo worth it! 

 ***Don't forget to scroll down to the end of the post for a free September calendar printable!***

Sept. Calendar