Twisted Mystery Thanksgiving Dinner

This turned out to be so much fun :) I found the idea on this website so I won't go into too much detail.  She did it at Christmas. If you want to know more about it, check out her site.  Basically, you give the youth a list of foods to order without telling them what they are ordering!  Included in the ordering are forks and spoons - so if they don't order one, they don't get one :)

I tweaked the idea a bit from the other site because I wanted to serve more variety for Thanksgiving, but didn't want to give them as many choices or courses.  We ended up doing 3 courses and they got 3 choices at each course.

They ordered the first two courses at the same time (so 6 dishes).  Then, I let them order the third course after they ate the other two.

A few of the plates for the first course :) 

the only one that actually ordered salad AND salad toppings...and he was so excited ;) lol

the only one who ordered a fork...which he was excited about - but not excited about the salad ;)

No fork? no problem!  They got very resourceful.  Cups can be used to eat sweet potatoes! ;) 

By letting them order the 3rd course separately, they got to do some "sleuthing" by talking to one another and figuring out which food was which number.  It was fun listening to their deducations and converations :) By the third course, they had most of them figured out so they ordered what they wanted!  And what did they order?  Pumpkin pie, goldfish (evidently a very popular Thanksgiving dish?! lol) and pudding!  Who needs turkey??

We did have a few at the very end who were still hungry, so we let them go back and get more turkey and "main dishes".  They had a good time.  We had 4 people serving and finished all three courses in just over an hour.  We put some Thanksgiving trivia (that we found on pinterest) on the table to keep them busy at the beginning and we streamed the football game that was going on.

Overall, it was a fun night.  I thought it would take longer so they had 40 minutes to kill at the end, but we would totally do it again!!

I am posting all my materials I made on my teachers pay teachers site - so if you'd like to use what I made, it's just $1.75.  You'll get the menu, the order forms (two sets - 1st/2nd course and 3rd course) blank invitations and the "key" to the menu (the foods we served).  In addition, I'm throwing in a silly ten dice game that includes fun facts you never knew about turkeys ;)  You could also search the internet for fun trivia about Thanksgiving that you could put on the tables.  I found some for free just googling Thanksgiving trivia, but if you want something more "formal", I also found a neat pdf/powerpoint version on teachers pay teachers by another seller :)  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pick-your-own Party!! :)

PICK-YOUR-OWN PARTY!!

  I loved the idea that this woman wrote about in her blog...so I decided to do the same for my son who is turning 9 this week.  I told him we would give him $150 and he could either keep it, spend it on a party, or both.  It was his to do with as he wanted.  He decided to throw a party AND keep some money so then we had a big discussion on how much things cost :) He wanted to spend $50 on a party and keep $100 but was surprised how quickly the costs started adding up!  So, he started getting creative and came up with this - a Pick Your Own Party :) Pretty cool!  

                                                        

We ended up having a blast and I was proud of him for being creative :)  The only thing 

I did different than what the other blog mentioned, was that I didn't have him make his own cake or anything like that.  He helped me plan the menu and he paid for it...but it is his birthday after all :)  I don't make myself a cake on my birthday!  So I didn't ask him to :)

  This is a neat little orchard.  Remember, we live in Amish country so pick-your-own farms are everywhere.  We even have a small one within walking distance to our house.  However, when we decided to find one last year (when we first moved here), this was one of the few that still had fruit/veggies to pick and it was reasonably priced. So, we tried it out even though it was 20 minutes away.  It made such a lasting impression on them, that's where he wanted to have his party :) it has a neat little play area as well as a tether ball - which the boys loved playing with. 

So, in all, he paid $15 for pizza and cupcakes (would've been $10 but we had to get him a gluten free pizza which isnt cheap!). For the kids' "goodie bags" (which I'm not a huge fan of), we decided we would let them pick whatever fruit they wanted to take home-and averaged about $5 per child...or $15. Add in the cost of some paper products and misc and he spent around $50.  Awesome!

We picked raspberries...

apples...

and climbed some trees to get some peaches :)

Ate our pizza and cupcakes...

And played until we had to leave! :)

Overall, he had a great party :)  His actual birthday isn't until September 11 (another blog about that here...) but we decided to do it before school started and the craziness begins :)  Happy birthday buddy!! I love you <3

Gluten free "homemade" pretzels!!

Our family took a trip to Lititz and the Sturgis Pretzel Bakery...the first pretzel bakery in the US!  We had a great time...and learned more than we ever wanted to know about pretzels!!  For example, did you know that when they first started baking pretzels, they would dip them in a substance so caustic that the workers had to wear gloves or their hands would get burned?  Crazy right? Now, thanks to the FDA, the solution is made up of almost all baking soda and water.  Thank goodness! :) We also learned how to fold the dough into pretzel shapes...easier than you think.  However, before the machines were made that now mold the dough very quickly, people did it by hand.  They could do over 40 a minute.  We decided we probably couldn't keep up with that :)  They also made 10 cents an hour for folding dough all day long.  Don't think it sounds like much?  Evidently they were some of the highest paid workers in all of Litiz at the time!  Crazy!  

learning how to fold the pretzel

Ever since we returned from the Pretzel bakery, the kids have been asking to make their own pretzels!  Since my oldest monkey and I are (mostly) gluten free, I decided to go on pinterest and find a recipe for homemade pretzels.  Guess what I found?  NOTHING!  Can you believe it?!  For the first time ever pinterest let me down!! ;)  lol  So, I had to get creative.  I found a good blog that had a good recipe that I followed (after making the dough part).  You can find it HERE.  However, I still had to figure out how to make the dough.  I'm not a bad cook...and I like to get creative...but baking gluten free desserts/pastries is NOT easy and so I looked for an alternative...

I have found this in Giant and Publix...and I think I saw it in Whole Foods.

Feel like a cheater?  Don't! :) Think of yourself as smart and as someone who uses their time wisely ;) I had no idea how this would work...but it turned out great!!  Get the pie shell out of the freezer and let it warm a bit (or pop it in the microwave for a few seconds).  Form it into a ball and work it around with your hands so that it becomes easier to form.  

Besides the dough, these are the only other things you'll need...

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees 

1 cup water

1/4 cup baking soda

salt 

(I used the salt grinder I had and it worked great-but there is also salt you can buy specifically for pretzels)

butter 

(you need some to grease the pan and also to rub on the pretzels when they come out of the oven.  I used less than 1 tablespoon)

Once the dough softens, you can be creative and form it into whatever shape you want!  The first time around we did regular pretzel shapes and my daughter made a braid :) the second time around we made pretzel shapes, a flag, a soccer ball and hearts!

Once you have your shapes, dip them into the water/baking soda mixture (you have to keep stirring it!) and put them on your baking pan.  Put on your salt and then let them sit for 10 minutes (great time for your oven to heat up:)  After ten minutes, stick the dough in the oven for 4 minutes.  Turn the tray and bake for 4 more minutes.  My oven is slow so I had to cook them a few more minutes, but yours may be done.  We cooked ours until they were a little brown on top.  Once they look done pull them out of the oven and coat them with butter (we didn't do this the first time and it wasn't a big deal).  They are the perfect texture!  Yummy :)  Just wish the pie crust made a little more :)  I split the dough and gave half to each child.  They could make one large and one small with their part.  You can see my daughter had enough to make a flag and a few hearts.  You could probably make 8-10 small ones or 3 large ones.  

So there you go!  We are hooked :)  The kids actually commented that they liked ours better than the soft pretzels at Sturgis :) I wouldn't got THAT far...but they are good :) Next we want to try some sweet ones ;)

This little craft can be found at oriental trading :)

And since Easter is coming up - don't forget about the legend of the pretzel!  Share it in your church, Sunday school class, mid-week classes, etc.  Here's a site that has a lesson plan and an explanation of the legend :)  

Happy Pretzel Baking!

In Christ,

Laurie

After school snacks!

So both of my kids eat lunch this year around 10:40...pretty early.  And, neither of them get a snack in the afternoon - so, needless to say they come home pretty hungry!  I've been stumped with after school snacks because I also send them with their lunches everyday so I felt I was getting pretty redundant.  The kids thought so too.  That's when I went to pinterest and google :)  Yea for pinterest! :)  I did a search for some ideas that my kids would like.  The obvious bowl or fruit or yogurt or carrots and dip aside, here are a few ideas I found that I will be adding to my snack list...

oh, and btw, I have limited time to get this ready once I get home from teaching prek so these do not include anything that needs a lot of preparation beforehand or anything cutesie...I like cutesie sometimes, but they are outgrowing it and there just isn't time :)  so, no little animals shapes, flowers or decorations - and nothing expensive.  I'm lucky to have something ready for them when they get home much less get fancy :)

go here to see cheeriosandlattes ideas

These look quite yummy and here in south florida, where we don't get cold weather, I am always looking for more frozen treat ideas!  These are nothing but yogurt, squeezed onto a tray and frozen.  Easy!

Something I will add to this that both of my kids love (and would go great with this) are frozen blueberries!

Go to familystyledining6 to see the original post

Along the same lines, I love the idea of frozen drinks/smoothies.  Personally, I'm not a fan of frozen strawberries (don't think they're very sweet) but I love other fruits - esp pineapple, banana and peaches. I would probably add 100% juice to this instead of sugar...

another idea at blissfullydomestic

This same blog tells you how to make your own sorbet...might be worth a try as well...

Go to this page to get more info...

I've never done this before.  Both my kids love frozen blueberries, but we've never tried frozen grapes...interested to see if they like them!

   Definitely going to be making some homemade applesauce.  This is easy and doesn't take long...and both my kids love it!

homemade apple chips!  click here

These look awesome...and also easy!  Boil some applejuice (with or without cinnamon), cut apples very thinly (says not to worry about the seeds - they'll fall out on their own), boil til translucent, pat dry then lay flat on a baking pan and put in oven at 250 until slightly brown.  yum!

parents.com has some great ideas for snacks!

I don't know why I've never thought to make jell-o from real fruit juice!  I still don't like the coloring, but every now and then this could be a nice treat...all kids love jello!!

Get recipe here!

 This frozen blueberry, pear and yogurt popsicle looks awesome...and healthy!

click here

 I'm definitely going to be making some trail mix for the kids.  It's hard to find something without peanuts and without soy that they can both eat - but my sister found a great mix they could share.  unfortunately, they didn't like the pumpkin seeds and a few other little seeds in there.  So, I'm going to make my own.  now that i know that they like dried fruit, i'll mix that with granola, cheerios/life/or some other cereal and maybe some chocolate chips or mini marshmallows.

 

One thing my kids like to make and eat are little soft taco pizza wraps.  I send them for lunch sometimes, but it's so quick and easy I could make them for a snack as well.   My son prefers them not rolled up so they look more like a pizza:)

babble.com has some suggestions

Don't know why I didn't think of this but this site reminded me of POPCORN!!  Duh!  My kids love popcorn and it only takes a few minutes to make!  I make my own btw - no microwave popcorn for me :) That's all because of my Dad :)


So, there are some ideas.  At least I have enough listed here so they will have a week's worth of variety :)  If you have any more ideas please share!