Ice Cream in a Bag

Its been an extremely long time since Ive posted, so what better way to reconnect with everyone than with an activity you can do with you kids that is both educational (hey, you can call it "science" lol) and entertaining while also being very yummy!! Did I just hear someone say they wanted a party in their tummy?? I seriously watch to much Yo Gabba Gabba.....

Okay, so I know that I am a mommy to an almost four year old, however, there are STILL things I am just recently learning that just make me think "WHY did I not know this before?!" Needless to say, this may not be something new for you. I just may in fact be the last person on the planet to have learned this. But if you are like me and had no clue you could do this then this recipe is just for you!! I found this scavenging the Internet for something quick and fun to do with my daughter outside today before her nap. It had to be quick, mess free (its sorta mess free.....), and I had to have everything needed to complete this task. This activity fit the bill!! Here is how simple it is to make homemade ice cream in a bag in just about 5 minutes!! No Joke!!


**Disclaimer! I was way to involved in the making of this activity to stop and photograph the process, which I wish I had, so the following pictures are not my own :-)



                                                 First you need to gather your ingredients!

Milk, Sugar, and Vanilla.

You can vary how much of each ingredient you use. Since Gracie and I each wanted our own little bit of ice cream, I made each recipe twice. For one person to have a small amount, I recommend using (per person) 1 cup of milk, 3 table spoons sugar (we like it sweet people!), and 1 table spoon of vanilla and just a tiny tiny pinch of salt.

Now, this is where you could talk to your kids about how we measure, let them poor the ingredients into the bag, talk to them about the flavors and what each one might taste like inside the ice cream. Ask them questions and get their brains movin!

In a small Ziploc bag, place your cup of milk, sugar and vanilla and use a spoon to mix gently. Seal the bag very tightly and try to get as much of the air out as you can so it doesn't pop later in the process.

In a Large zip lock back, place about 3 cups of ice. You want to fill the bag about half way of Ice. Next place about 6 tablespoons of rock salt into the Ice bag and give the bag a little shake to evenly distribute the salt into the ice. We were out of rock salt so I used a half and half mixture of kosher salt and table salt. This worked just fine! This is what you should have in front of you at this point.....

Now, just place your sealed bag of milk mixture into the ice bag and seal the ice bag very tightly.

I recommend going outside for this next part. Once your outside you want to shake the bag and move it around as much as you can for a few minutes. Basically moving the ice around the ice cream mixture as much as you can. Your child's hands will probably only be able to handle it for a few seconds because the bag gets VERY cold. After only a few minutes you will be able to feel the ice cream mixture and tell that it is now a soft ice cream texture. Once its firm enough its done! Just take it back in side, poor the ice cream in a bowl and enjoy!

Stove top scents!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season and have hopefully managed to get most of their shopping done. I still have a ton do buy and do but it will all get done sooner then later I hope :). I'm not sure what the appropriate name for this would be, so I'm just calling it Stove top scents. This scent will fill your entire home with the most beautiful scent just perfect for the Holidays. The best part is its extremely cheap to make and almost all the ingredients were already in my pantry! Who doesn't love stuff when its almost FREE?! Here are the ingredients I used for this stove top scent but you can honestly change it to how ever you want your home to smell.

•Apple Juice (optional, I used about 2 cups worth)
•Water, just enough to fill the pot about 3/4 of the way after adding the apple juice
•Orange Zest (as much as you can get off that sucker!)
•Orange slices (I only used half the orange)
•Apple slices (I only used am half again)
**Fresh Cranberries would be wonderful in this as well!**
•About 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice.
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract
•1 tablespoon whole cloves

Place all your spices into a big pot on the stove and set the heat to high. Cook on high just until it starts to boil. Once it starts boiling, turn down to a low simmer and cook how ever long you want :) You want to make sure you keep your eye on the pot, if the water starts to get low you need to continue to add water, do not let all the water evaporate out. This pot of scents will last you about a week. YES! A whole WEEK! I haven't had it going a week, only one day but Ive done some research and every thing I have read said you can keep the mixture for a week and it will continue to smell amazing the whole week.

Remember, there are tons of options to this! Any spices you have that you think would create the scents you want your home filled with, add them! You could even probably add any scent oils if you have any of those. The options are endless! And you can use as much or as little as you want. Use less if you want a more subtle smell and use more if you want to make sure everyone smells it right when they first walk into your home. Either way you will be so happy you tried this! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Lauren Holmes

Coke Chicken

Okay so tonight for dinner we had coke chicken, thank you to the wonderful "Mrs. Nicki" as we call her in our household (she is our daughters music teacher at MDO and our dear friend). She gave me this recipie a while back and it has changed out lives! YES its that good lol. I give her all credit for this! I thought I would let this be the first recipe I post about since its one of our favorites at our house and we eat it no less than once a week since its soooo easy, cheap, and extremely YUMMY! Plus, its low in weight watcher points too. I forget how many she says its worth, but im sure its low in cals. and fat since there is pretty much nothing to it. So here you go!


Ingredients:

• We use about 2lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken (I have used both chicken breasts and chicken tenders)this is what will feed our family of 2 1/2 (yes, I consider Gracie a half lol) But you can use as much chicken as you need to feed your family.
• 1 cup of ketchup
• 1 can Diet Coke, Any kind works well. (Tonight we didnt have any diet coke so I tried it with a can of regular Pepsi and it worked GREAT!)

Thats it, thats the only ingredietns you need! Its wonderful lol.




Directions:

1. Grease a skillet pan well and place on burner with heat turned to Med-Med/High. Place chicken in skillet (You dont have to wait for pan to heat up)
2. In a large bowl mix together ketchup and coke, then poor over chicken in skillet.
3. Heat chicken and coke mixture until boiling.
4. Once boiling, turn down the heat and cover with lid. Let sit for about 30 min. I usually turn and stir every 5-10 minutes, but you dont need to.
5. After about 30 min. of simmering, take lid off and crank the heat back up to high.
6. Let boil until the soupiness of the sauce has thickend up to a BBQ consistancy. You will know its done when the sauce is as thick as ketchup or BBQ sauce. The chicken will be almost falling apart at this point also. REMEMBER! If the sauce is still soupy then it is NOT done. You need to let it cook as long as it needs to cook for the sauce to be thick! It shouldnt take more than 30-35 min. for it to be cooks completely.
7. If you want a little more seasoning you can always sprinkle with some garlic powder and onion powder.
8. Serve with fries or veggies and ENJOY!

                                          

I plan to try this recipe in the crock pot the next time to see if it works. I will update on that as soon as I try it out :)