Rice Pudding

My Husband LOVES rice pudding. He's British, its a British classic. I have created a recipe which our family loves by compiling a few good recipes together. I thought I would share! Let me know how it turns out for you!

Rice Pudding:

Ingredients:

1 cup pudding (short grain) rice
1 can 14 1/2 oz Evaporated milk
2 cups Whole or 2% Milk (not skim!)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teas vanilla
1Tbsp Karo or Golden Syrup
1/2 Tbsp Nutmeg

Directions

Pre heat oven to 300F, 150C or Gas Mark 2. Mix Rice and sugar in a deep round baking dish. In a medium bowl mix: exaporated milk, Whole or 2% milk, vanilla and Karo or Golden Syrup. Pour over rice. Stri lightly. Sprinkle Nutmeg over the top. Place in oven to bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven stir lightly again. Place back in oven for a further hour. Remove from oven. This will likely be very runny at this point but as it cools down it will thicken up very nicely. Delish. Its a favorite on cold winter nights in our home.... Who am I kidding its a favorite any time ;)

Creamy Turkey Soup Recipe

Just about now you are looking at the left over Turkey in the fridge and thinking maybe its to dry for sandwiches. Or if anyone else in the world is like me the thought of leftover poultry just makes me want to be sick. There is something about the taste of left over poultry, whether chicken, turkey, duck whatever which makes me a little sick. BUT..... This recipe is absolutely A-MAZE-ING!! No seriously. You don't get that weird leftover poultry taste with this and it doesn't matter if your turkey is a bit dry because when it is mixed into this creamy soup it moistens right up! I have adapted this recipe from a couple of different recipes and added a few of my own things so that now I think it is perfect. ENJOY!!

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs with leaves, chopped up, I used my Pampered Chef Food Chopped
6 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, savory and parsley flakes
1-1/2 evaporated Milk plus extra semi skim milk to thin out a bit if necessary
4 cups cubed cooked turkey
5 medium carrots, cut into pieces (I use my Pampered Chef chopped to coarsely chop)
2 cups turkey or Chicken Broth
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas


Directions:

In a large pot, saute onion and celery in butter until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour and seasonings; gradually add evaporated milk, because it is evaporated milk it will form a paste. Slowly add the broth all the while whisking next add milk until your soup meets the desired thickness.It will continue to thicken as it cooks don't be afraid to add more milk if necessary. Add turkey and carrots. Simmer for 15 minutes stirring often.

Add peas; Simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender making sure to stir often so soup doesn't burn. Now enjoy!

Family Home Evening - Our Favorite Things....

First off Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope that you have had a Fantastic Holiday Season.

Tonights Fsmily Home Evening in our home is going to be very simple. We are all ill (I spent Christmas and yesterday in bed with a temp of 102, the baby was in the hospitsl twice last week and everyone else has sore throats, sniffles, you know the drill)

So I have decided that we will just have a family chat about the last year. I will ask the children what their favorite parts of the year were. What their least favorite parts of the year were and what they would like to change next year. It will be very casual.

For our activity we will watch a movie together with hot chocolate and popcorn. I hope that each of you have had a great year and that the upcoming year is the best one yet.

Thank you for all your support with my blog I look forward to sharing new ideas with you in the New Year!!

Alisha xx

Family Home Evening - Christmas Time

This week for Family Home Evening is kind of a traditional week in our home. So the lesson is simple as is the activity. See today the kids and I will do loads of baking, Christmas baking. Then Family Home Evening will go as follows.

Opening Song: A Christmas one

Opening Prayer:

Lesson: Mommy

We will tonight read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and discuss it with the children. We will ask them questions like.

Why is the birth of the Savior so important?

How does it make you feel knowing Heavenly Father sent Jesus Christ so that you can live with him again?

What sort of things can you do to show Heavenly Father and Jesus you love them?

And we will ask questions based on their answers too.

We will then explain how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ gave us a great gift by Jesus coming to earth. Jesus Christ gave up his life for us.

What kind of gift can we give to Jesus this next year to show him how much we love him and all that he has done for us?

We then write down on a piece of paper a gift to the Savior, ie. say personal prayers every day, have personal scripture study. we then put them in a Christmas Stocking labeled Jesus. This is our gift to him for the next year.

After this we will watch the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional which can be found here

Can I just take this time to wish each of you a Very Merry Christmas. May the Lord bless each of you and your families in the upcoming year. And may you find happiness and peace for many years to come.

Love,
Alisha xx

Christmas Gift Tags

I thought rather than buying gift tags this year I would just make some of my own. I wanted to share them with you all incase you didnt want to spend the money to buy gift tags this year, you can print these out and use them as well.

Family Home Evening - Jesus Christ is the Greatest Gift

Opening Song: Picture Christmas

Opening Prayer:

Lesson: Mommy

Before FHE wrap the following Picture up in a small box. Write John 3:16 on a gift tag and attach it to the top of the present.




Tell them there is something inside the package that represents a wonderful gift from someone who loves us very much. Pass the present around and let each child hold the gift and try to guess what is inside.

Tell the children that the tag is a clue and have a family member read the scripture aloud. Ask the children if they know what the gift is and who it is from?

Let one of them unwrap the present and hold up the picture so everyone can see it.

What is the gift?

Who is the gift from?

Why is the birth of Jesus Christ such a wonderful gift?

Explain in your own words that one reason the birth of Christ is such a great gift is that Jesus Christ came to teach us the right way to live. He taught us that loving and helping others will make us happy. By sending Jesus to earth, Heavenly Father gave us a gift that will help us find happiness not just at Christmastime but always.

Show a picture of the wise men.



Ask if anyone knows the story of the wise men. Maybe you can assign daddy to tell the story of the wise men.

Read Mathew 2:11

What gifts did the Wise Men bring to Jesus?

Explain that frankincense and myrrh were sweet-smelling perfumes used in religious ceremonies. All three gifts were valuable and difficult to get. The Wise Men wanted to bring Jesus the nicest gifts they could find. UAdd a Note

Why did the Wise Men bring these gifts to Jesus? (To show they loved and honored him.)

Why did the Wise Men bow down and worship Jesus when they saw him? (They knew he was the Savior, the Son of Heavenly Father.)

Explain that just as the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus to show their love for him, we can give gifts to others to show our love for them.

Tell the following story about a young boy named S. Dilworth Young, who later became a General Authority:

The Christmas that S. Dilworth Young was five years old, he saw a jigsaw puzzle displayed in the window of a store. The puzzle had a picture of an old horse-drawn fire truck on it. Dilworth wanted that puzzle for Christmas more than he wanted anything else.

Elder Young later explained what happened with the puzzle on Christmas Day:

“When Christmas morning finally came, I found hung on my chair a stocking full of good things. But right off I spotted my puzzle. It was wrapped in bright paper, but I could tell by the shape what it was. I quickly opened the box and was soon lost in the pleasure of putting the puzzle together.

“Before long my father came into the room and explained to my younger brother, older sister, and me that the Jensen family down the street had recently come from Denmark. He said the father had no job and no money, and then he suggested that we take our Christmas dinner to them. He also asked each of us to select our most loved toy and give it to a child in the Jensen family. …


“Before we left for the Jensen’s, I spent three happy hours playing with and enjoying my puzzle. I thought about giving something else, but I knew deep down that there was only one gift to give.

“At eleven forty-five we all started out. Father carried the turkey on a platter. Mother and my sister Emily followed with potatoes, gravy, dressing, cranberries, and dessert. And under my arm, carefully rewrapped, was my fire engine puzzle.

“When we entered the Jensen home, Father placed the turkey on the small bare table in the corner, and the others followed.

“Each one of us in turn then gave his present. Emily gave her beautiful doll to the girl. I stepped forward and looked at the boy about my age. ‘Here,’ I said as I pushed the puzzle at him. He took it from me and smiled. Next my brother gave his offering to the smallest child. And then we returned home.

“It was strange, but somehow as I walked the block between our house and the Jensen’s, it seemed as if my feet didn’t touch the ground. I felt as though I were floating on clouds of good feeling, for I knew I had made someone else happy.


“Even our Christmas dinner of canned beans, bread, butter, and bottled fruit had a special and unforgettable meaning on that special Christmas Day!”

What did Dilworth do that made him happy?

Why was he happy after giving away his favorite toy?

Have you ever given something to someone else that made him or her happy?

Let the children talk about times when they have made others happy by giving them gifts

Explain that when we give gifts to others, we show that we love them. While it can make us happy to receive a gift, it can also make us happy to give gifts.

Bear your testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Tell the children how you feel when you think about how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each of us. Also tell the children how you feel when you give gifts to others

ACTIVITY: Give each child a piece of paper have them make a card for a family member on the inside have them write a service to one other family member. Help them write
I will at the top of the card and for you at the bottom of the card. If they cant write they can draw a picture of what they want to do for someone else in the family.

Very Merry Cookie Wreath

At one point early this morning whilst up with my sick 3 month old baby. I started thinking about how it is time to do our Christmas Caroling. See every year we make goodies for friends and go out Christmas Caroling. We always did this when I was growing up with my family. In fact we did it every year until I was married. So naturally I would want to carry this tradition on with my little family.

Well I got online to try and find something unique that we could hand out this year rather than the normal Handmade candies, Christmas Cookies, and Popcorn Balls. And I found this Very Merry Cookie Wreath on the Nestle verybestbaking.com website. Ding Dong we found a winner. So I am now going to make a trip to Costco this weekend to get frozen cookie dough and will be making these on Monday so that we can do some Carloing for FHE in the evening. Anyway here is the directions. If you make one I would love to know how yours turns out!

Ingredients
•1 package (16.5 oz.) NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Refrigerated Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough

•1 container (16 oz.) prepared vanilla frosting

•Green food coloring

•14- x 17-inch piece of cardboard for base, covered in foil or parchment paper or large flat platter

•NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Morsels (such as Semi-Sweet Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Premier White)

•Assorted NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Holiday Candies (WONKA® Gobstoppers Snowballs, NERDS® OR SPREE®)

•Decorator sprinkles, candies and sugars

•20-inch strip of strawberry fruit-flavored snack in 3-foot rolls

Directions
PREPARE cookies following package directions. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

COMBINE frosting and food coloring in small bowl to shade of green desired.

SPREAD heaping teaspoons of frosting on flat sides of cookies.

ARRANGE 15 cookies on the base or platter in a 12-inch circle to form outer ring of wreath.

ARRANGE 12 cookies inside the outer ring of cookies, forming inside ring of wreath. Adhered cookies can be moved to create more space.

ARRANGE remaining 13 cookies on base ring for a second layer.

DECORATE with remaining frosting, morsels, candies, sprinkles and sugars as desired. Attach bow to top of wreath.

TO MAKE BOW:
CUT four 5-inch strips from fruit snack roll. Peel off paper baking. Cut a small “V” on end of two strips. Form loops with remaining two strips; pinch ends together. Place loops on top of strips. Pinch all together to make bow!

Family Home Evening - Jesus Once Was A Little Child

Yay for the Month a December. I thought as we talk so muh about Christ this month what a great time to teach the children that he was once a child too.

Opening Song: Jesus Once Was A Little Child

Opening Prayer:

Lesson: Mommy

Before the lesson try to get a hold of some baby items. If you cant get the items some pictures of baby items will work. Items such as Diapers, Bottles, Blankets, etc. Show these items to the children. Ask what they are used for. Then ask the children if they think that jesus would have ever used these items?

Show this picture:



Ask Children who they think this baby is. What is the difference between this baby and other babies?


Jesus Had a Home. Show the following picture:

Tell the children that this is the kind of home that the people of Nazareth lived in. Nazareth is the town where Jesus grew up (see Matthew 2:23), and Jesus may have lived in a home like this one.

To help your family understand this picture better as the following questions:

Where do you think the family slept? (Point out the mat the woman is putting away and the closet behind her that seems to hold other rolled mats. Explain that the roofs of the houses were flat, and steps on the outside of each house led up to the roof. Perhaps the children sometimes slept on the roof.)

Where did the baby in this home sleep? (Point out the cradle. Explain that Joseph was a carpenter and might have made a cradle like this one for the baby Jesus.)

What do you think the big jars were used for? (Some held water. All the water the family used was carried from the well in the village because there was no running water in the homes. A well is a deep hole in the ground with clean water in it.)

What is the woman who is sitting on the floor doing? (Grinding grain to make into bread.)

Since there was no electricity, how could they light this home? (They used oil lamps. Point out the lamp on the stool behind the woman grinding grain. Perhaps some of the jars held oil for the lamps.)

Show the next picture:



Who are the people in this picture? (Jesus and Joseph.)

What are they doing?

Explain that just like the children help you around the house Jesus helped his mommy and daddy. Just like your childrens daddy has to work so did Jesus daddy. Jesus daddy was a carpenter and his father probably taught him to be a carpenter too.

In Jesus home he was told stories about the prophets, like the stories we read in the Bible. He was also taught to pray and to choose to do the right just as we are taught by our parents. Mary and Joseph believed in Heavenly Father just as we do.

Ask the children these questions:

How do you think your childhood is different from Jesus’ childhood?

How do you think your childhood is similar to Jesus’ childhood?

Have the children discuss things they do that Jesus Christ may have done as a boy. For example, they may run errands, help their parents, go to school, take care of a baby, sing songs, play games, run races, or ride horses. Suggest that Jesus probably did these or similar things (for example, Jesus may never have ridden a horse, but he probably rode a donkey).

Bare your testimony of Jesus Christ. I will tell my children that Just like I want the best for them I know that Joseph and Mary wanted the best for Jesus.

Activity: Colour Picture of Baby Jesus:

PJ The Elf - One of our family traditions

In my family we have always had a Christmas Eve tradition one which probably most people have..... Opening one gift on Christmas Eve. And it never fails that the gift is always Pajamas. One of my sisters changed the tradition with her family a few years ago and has shared the idea with each of us. Every year there is a knock at her front door now and presents are left on the doorstep. (Her mother in law lives near and can do this for her) The gifts are pajamas left by PJ the Elf. You see PJ is one of Santa's helpers. He is the one responsible for making sure all children are in their pj's and tucked up in bed before Santa gets to the houses. So he leaves PJs for all the children to get into and then go straight to bed. I love this idea because it makes it seem as though Santa is really near. Last year two of my sisters co wrote a poem to attach to the Pj's and I love it so I thought I would share it with you all!

You have been good so Santa has said,

Now put on your pj's and go straight to bed.

Your jammies will keep you so nice and cozy,

from the tip of your toes to your cute little nosey.

So hop into bed, dream of reindeer in flight

For Jolly ole' Santa is coming tonight!

-Brittney Robles and Misty Kelly

The kids still get to open one gift from under the tree but now instead of it being Pj's they get slippers. I love traditions! We have loads!

Coconut Cream Pie

Firstly Im sorry there is no Family Home Evening this week. It is my 7yr olds School Christmas pagent this evening, early I know tell me about it. So that is what we are doing for our FHE tonight. So there wont be a lesson. But There will definitely be dessert! I made our favorite Coconut Cream Pie for dessert tonight and thought I would share the recipe with you.

Best Ever Coconut Cream Pie:

Ingedients:

3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
5 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
1 (9-inch) baked pie shell, recipe follows
1/3 cup toasted coconut
Whipped Cream for Garnish

Directions:
In a nonstick 1-quart saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar, coconut milk, and 1 cup milk. Scald mixture.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch together to make a slurry. Whisk egg yolks with salt in medium bowl. Temper yolks by adding 1/2 cup scaled milk mixture to yolks and whisk well. Add yolk mixture and slurry back into milk mixture and whisk vigorously over medium heat until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut, vanilla, and butter. Whisk until uniformly incorporated.

Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill the pie completely, about 2 hours.

To serve, top with toasted coconut and a dollop of whipped cream.

Family Home Evening - Thanking Others

I know another Thankful FHE. This week being Thanksgiving in the states I just wanted to do one last Thankful one on a topic we hadnt really talked about yet. Which is Thanking others. I would never want anyone to think my children were ungrateful for a kindness or service which was provided. I think that thanking others is so important which is the reason for this lesson. I hope it works well for you too!

Opening Song: Children all Over the World (pg 16 Childrens Song book)

Opening Prayer:

Lesson: Mommy (Or whom ever else is reading this :) )

Start by reading the story of the ten leppers Luke 17:12-19 or you can just paraphrase I like to have the kids read from the scriptures and then paraphrase so they understand better:

One day as Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He saw ten men standing outside a village. They could not go into the village because they were lepers. Leprosy is a disease that causes large sores on the body that spread and hurt. When the ten lepers saw the Savior, they asked Him to heal them of this terrible disease. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. When they did as the Savior told them, they were found to be healed.

When one of the men discovered that he was cured, he went back to the Savior, fell down at his feet, and thanked Him. Ten men had been healed, but only one went back to thank the Savior.

How do you think it made Jesus feel when the one lepper went back to him and said Thank you?

How do you feel when you do something nice for someone else and they say Thank you to you?

Does it make your heart happy to say Thank You to others or when others say Thank You to you?

Draw a Big Heart, Im going to tape together 4 pieces of paper and draw the heart on that so it is a BIG heart. Then tape this to a wall or somewhere the children can see it.

Ask the children to draw inside the heart kind things other have done for them which they would want to say thank you for. If they are a bit older and can spell or need practise with writing maybe have them draw and then write the words.

Read My Thank You Song (1986 November Friend):

I’m learning to say “thank you”
For so many, many things.
I tell my sister “thank you”
When she helps me on the swings.

And I say, “Thank you, Mother,”
When she helps me brush my hair
And “thank you” to my daddy
When he takes me to the fair.

I have a big, tall brother
Who can reach high on the shelf
To get my books and toys
That I cannot reach myself.

So when my brother helps me,
I say “thank you” right away,
Then take the books and toys he got
And run outside to play.

Soon I’ll be seeing Grandma,
And I’ll know just what to do.
She’ll say, “My, you’re looking pretty!”
And I’ll laugh and say, “Thank you.”

When she gets down her cookie jar,
Filled with goodies just for me,
I know that I’ll remember
To say “thank you” cheerfully.

I’ll practice saying “thank you”
Every time I think I should.
It makes me very happy
To be showing gratitude.

And when the day is over
And I kneel to say my prayer,
I’ll say, “Thank you, Heavenly Father,
For my family’s love and care.”

THANK YOU is sometimes called a "magic word". That's because it makes people feel good. When we say thank you to others we are acting like the Savior taught us. We make others want to continue to do good and our hearts become more thankful.

Bear your testimony about how good you feel when you are thanked for your efforts. Share how an attitudee of gratitude brings you closer to Heavenly Father.

Activity:

(1) Make Thank You Cards for someone who has done something nice, A Friend, A Teacher, A sibling, Grandparents and tell them how much you appreciated the kind thing they did.

(2)Leper Cross Word:



Closing Song: A Song of Thanks (Childrens Song Book Pg 20)

Family Home Evening - Gratitude

I know not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving but we all have things to be Thankful for. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving a lesson on Gratitude :) Enjoy!

Opening Song: I am Glad for Many Things

Opening Prayer:

Read D&C 59:7
Why has Heavenly Father commanded us to be Thankful?

Read The Thankful Game - The Friend May 1994:

Alison knew it was going to be a bad day. The world outside was gray and drizzly. Mommy told her she had to clean her room. And—worst of all—there was a big bowl of cold oatmeal on the table that she still had to eat.

“I wish it was tomorrow already,” she mumbled.

Mommy looked up from the computer where she was working. “Oh, things aren’t that bad, are they?”

Alison nodded without saying anything more.

“Well, then,” Mommy said, “why don’t we play the Thank-You Game. Find a reason to be grateful for everything you can. No complaining is allowed. If you can do it the whole day, I’ll give you a surprise.”

“That’s a funny game,” said Alison.

“I’ll help you begin. Why are you grateful for oatmeal?”

Alison thought a moment. “I guess it’s better than a bowl full of bugs to eat.”

“Well, that’s a start,” Mommy chuckled.

Alison gobbled down her oatmeal, to get it over with. “I’m grateful I have orange juice to help wash the oatmeal down,” she said.

Then she went to her room. It was a mess! How can I be grateful for a messy room? she wondered. “I know—I’m grateful I have all these toys to play with.” She hummed as she put them all away.

The drizzle outside turned into a freezing rain that tap-tap-tapped against the window. Alison pressed her nose against the frosty glass.

I’m grateful the rain comes so that the flowers don’t get thirsty, she thought.

When her room was tidy, she got out her play dough. She made funny shapes with it and squished it through her fingers. “I’m grateful for things that feel good in my hands,” she giggled.

Alison was having a busy day. Soon her eyelids began to grow heavy.

“I think it’s nap time,” Mommy said.

Alison was going to complain, but she remembered that it wasn’t allowed. She climbed onto her bed and reached for her stuffed rabbit. “I’m grateful I have Charlie to snuggle with,” she told Mommy.

The Thank-You Game got easier and easier. It wasn’t turning out to be such a bad day, after all!

That night Mommy looked pleased. “You played the game really well, Alison,” she said, “Here’s your surprise,” She gave Alison a strip of bubble-gum-scented stickers along with her usual hug and kiss.

Alison smiled. “It turned out to be a really nice day,” she said. “I’m grateful for bubble-gum stickers and hugs and kisses and you!”

Question: Is it easy to always find things to be Thankful for?

Read Alma 37:37

Talk to your family about what it means to “let thy heart be full of thanks unto God”.

Bare your Testimony about some of the things you are Thankful for and why.

Closing Song: Im Thankful to be me

Activity: Tonight we will be starting the Family Home Evening Phantom in our ward. This is always so much fun. Our children have loved starting it in other wards and it is just a lot of fun to hear wisperings from ward members the following Sunday. All you do if take some of your FHE treat to a family from the ward, Knock and run. Of course the next week it is then their turn to do the same. Here is the note you attach to the treats so they know what is happening:



I also found this really cute one for Thanksgiving. If we were back in the states we would do this instead because it is adorable!




And if you dont fancy either of those ideas here is a nice picture for the children to color.Thankful Coloring Page

Happy Family Night!

Toffee Popcorn

Tonight I decided it was a Toffee Popcorn night. It is so easy to make and absolutely delish!! So just incase you feel the need to have some Toffee Popcorn here is the recipe:

1 cube butter (1/2 cup, I use margarine)
1 cup corn syrup (For our UK guests this is Golden Syrup)
2 cups brown sugar

Melt together in large pot over medium heat and cook and stir until soft ball stage. (test a drop of mixture in cold water and if holds its shape when pinched into a ball, its cooked)

Turn off heat and slowly add;

1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla

Mix until marshmallows are just about melted and pour over a large batch of popcorn. I used 4 bags tonight but it will depend on how big your bags are.

Pour onto a baking tray. Once cooled Enjoy!!

Autumn Wreath

I love the idea of a dried fruit wreath. I saw something in town a few weeks ago and immediately thought hey, I can do that!! Here is what I came up with:


This wreath was so easy to do and it only took about 20 minutes from start to finish. Brilliant plus the supplies cost me 1/4 of what it would have cost to buy it. Here is what I used.



Variety of Dried fruit, I bought oranges and apples at a craft supply store.
Baby Pine Cones
Cinnamon Sticks
Thick Ribbon
Floral Wire

Literally all you do is thread everything onto the floral wire.


Next just pull the two sides of the wire together to the shape you want.

Thats it, easy peasy lemon squeezy as the Brits say here :)

Family Home Evening - Blessings

As we are now in the month of November I thought it would be appropriate to talk about our blessings. I hope this idea works for you and your family.

Opening Song: Count Your Many Blessings

Opening Prayer:

Lesson:

For the Object Lesson you will need:

A small cup
Dish full of water
Spoon
Saucer to place under the empty cup

Ask the children to name blessings which they receive from our Father in Heaven. Every time they say a blessing they get to take a spoon full of water and put it in the cup. Quickly the cup will be completely full. My daughter said " Ummm Mommy the cup if over flowing" PERFECT. I then explained how this is just like our blessings from our Father in Heaven. He wants to bless us. He gives us so many blessings that they are overflowing as long as we are worthy to receive them.

I asked the children then what we have to do to be worthy to recieve blessings from our Father in Heaven.

Next we read 1 Thessalonians 5:18

How can we thank Heavenly Father for all the blessings he has given us?

We discussed through our prayers meaning we can pray and tell heavenly Father thank you. We talked again very quickly about the 4 steps of prayer. We also talked about how we can thank him through our actions, ie being nice to our brother and sister :)

Bear your testimony and make sure to ask the children if there is anything else they want to discuss or anything they dont understand.

Activity: I have decided to do a Thanksgiving Decoration for our FHE activity. I have printed about 15 different color leaves I will then let the children write some of the blessings they are thankful for on the leaves I will then tie the leaves together and make a swag out of them to hang across our mantle until Thanksgiving to remind us of all the things we are thankful for. Here is a picture I found on google of something similar to what I have in mind:

Dessert: Homemade Cinnabons <--- Link

This is the best recipe ever if you are making homemade Cinnamon Rolls. It is tradition in my family to have Cinnamon Rolls and Hot Chocolate in the winter A Lot!! So starting tonight we will be having these. YUMMY

Thanksgiving Turkeys

Yesterday after school the kids were begging me to do two things. First make Tom and Jerry cupcakes and second to do some kind of craft. So we made the cakes and while they were cooking we did a Thanksgiving Craft. I seriously dont have any Thanksgiving decorations so I was excited to get some more stuff done. Here is what we made:



I had some squares cut from 2x4's for a craft I never got around to so we cut a turkey body and feathers out of Foam and just glued it all together.

Here are the supplies we used:



I think they turned out pretty cute. I have lots more ideas lets see if I can get around to making them in time for Thanksgiving :)

Family Home Evening - Prayer

I know prayer is something which we alk about a lot with our children and the importance of it. But It is a topic which I just dont think we can talk to much about. So last week I decided to go over prayer again in out home. I hope this lesson idea can help to inspire each of you.

Opening Song: A Child Prayer
Opening Prayer:

Lesson: Mommy


I started by asking the children if Mommy had to go away on a long trip and I couldnt see them for a few days what are some of the ways that we could keep in touch. Since times are so modern and we are so far away from my family in the states they had a few answers which included, Letters, Email, Skype and of course talk on the phone (which is what I was looking for). I then explained to the children that before we were born we lived with Heavenly Father and that we loved him the same way as we love Mommy and Daddy. Heavenly Father wanted what was best for us which is why he let us come to earth so that we could do everything we can to go live with him forever. But Heavenly Father didnt want to not be able to talk to us or hear from us just like if Mommy was away on a trip I wouldnt want to not talk to them. So Heavenly Father gave us a way to talk to him through prayer.

I then showed them a paper which I had made with the Four Parts of Prayer on it:

1. Dear Heavenly Father
2. We Thank Thee.....
3. We Ask Thee.....
4. In the Name of Jesus Christ Amen

We then discussed things we could thank Heavenly Father for. There are so many.

We then discussed the things we could ask Heavenly Father for. Again the kids had a great list of things.

Finally we discussed why we say in the Name of Jesus Christ Amen to finish our prayers rather then just stop once we have Thanked Heavenly Father and Asked him for the things we need.

Next I told the kids this picture:



I asked them the story of Daniel and the Lions Den and we discussed it. We love this story in our house so the kids knew it well.

Lastly I played the song: "I pray in Faith" from the Childrens song book, (the song and music can be found for free on LDS.org)the words say:

I begin by saying “Dear Heavenly Father”;
I thank him for blessings he sends;
Then humbly I ask him for things that I need,
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Lastly for our activity I gave the children the following Maze to complete:



Closing Song: I am a Child of God
Closing Prayer:



For a treat why not try this Banoffee Pie. It is so lush!!

Halloween Ghosts

It is time for the church Halloween Party again and this year Ive been asked to decorate a door for the children to trick or treat to. Im excited. I love Halloween. Ive also decided to go all out and make these little guys for the children.



Yep.... Lollipops made to look like ghosts. They are a favorite for friends this time of year so Ive made 50 extra to hand out to the children. Im going to attempt to go dressed as a hillbilly this year. My 6 year old will be a scary with, my 3 year old Mr tickle and my 10 week old..... a baby :) If you cant remember how to make these little ghosts I did a small tutorial here last year. More Halloween crafts to come before the end of the week I promise!

Family Home Evening - Scripture Study

Recently I was speaking with a good friend of mine who is on the Primary Presidency about my children and scriptures. See my daughter is 6 and we send her to church with the scripture readers. I thought it gets her in the habit of taking scriptures and she can understand them so I was doing the right thing.... WRONG!! My friend explained to me how my 6 yr old was the only child without her own "real" scriptures. What did I do? That afternoon I rushed out and bought her her own set of "real scriptures" I also bought them for my 3 year old cause he will need them soon too. Apparently it isnt cool to wait until you are 8 to get scriptures anymore the cool thing is to get them straight when you go into primary. Man I am so behind on these kind of things. I felt terrible and thought what kind of mom am I to not have known this. We are back on the right track again. So what do you think FHE was about the week following the new scriptures? Yep Scripture study and Marking Scriptures. Anyway here is what we did and I hope that you can get a good idea for your FHE tonight from whaat happen in our home.

Opening Song: Search Ponder and Pray

Opening Prayer: Assigned

Lesson: Mommy

How many books of scripture do we have: (answer 4) We have the Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctorine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.

The Bible has stories written by Prophets who testified that Jesus would come and by people who knew Jesus when he was alive on the earth. These people lived where Jesus came from, in the East.

The Book of Mormon was written by Prophets who lived all the way across the world from where Jesus grew up. But they wrote the same things...Prophets told that Christ would come, they shared their testimonies of Him and they saw Him after his resurrection.

The Doctrine and Covenants was written by modern Prophets, like Joseph Smith. As he was organizing Christ's church on the earth he had many questions. The Doctrine and Covenants has the answers to many of those questions and is a history of the early Latter Day church.

The Pearl of Great Price contains many sacred writing that were lost many years ago. The Lord guided Joseph Smith to find those lost writings and translate them for us to read today. It also has a history of Joseph Smith's life and the Articles of Faith.

President Howard W. Hunter said, “When we … read and study the scriptures, benefits and blessings of many kinds come to us. This is the most profitable of all study in which we could engage.”

I told of experiences when the scriptures have helped me make decisions.

My Husband then did a little bit about marking scriptures and why we do this. He explained that we dont just write in our scriptures for no reason but how we mark things which are important to us. Things which we want to be able to find again quickly. He showed his scriptures from his mission and all the markings in them. The kids thought they were pretty cool.

We both bore our testimony about scriptures to the kids and then we moved on to our favorite part of FHE the activity. We made Scripture cookies. Fun and Yummy. This is also the dessert.

3/4 cup _________
“The words of his mouth were smoother than ____” (Ps. 55:21)

1/3 cup _________
“Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy ____ and honey” (2 Ne. 26:25)

1 1/2 cups _________
“To what purpose cometh there to me … the ____ ____ from a far country?” (Jer. 6:20)

2 _________
“As one gathereth ____ that are left, have I gathered all the earth” (Isa. 10:14)

2 cups _________
“And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine ____” (1 Kgs. 4:22)

1 teaspoon _________
“Take thou also unto thee principal spices … and of sweet ____ half so much” (Ex. 30:23)

1 teaspoon _________
“Ye are the ____ of the earth” (Matt. 5:13)

1/2 teaspoon _________
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto ____ (Matt. 13:33)

3 cups _________
“Nevertheless … ____ for the horse” (D&C 89:17)

1 cup _________
“And they gave him … two clusters of ____” (1 Sam. 30:12)

Beat first four ingredients together. Mix in remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for 15 minutes.

Recipe origin unknown

Scripture Cookie Answers:
3/4 c butter, 1/3 c milk, 1 1/2 c sugar, 2 eggs, 2 c flour, 1 t cinnamon, 1 t salt, 1/2 t baking soda, 3 c oats, 1 c

I also printed off this picture for the kids to do while the cookies were baking:

I hope your family enjoys this lesson as much as mine did!!

Family Home Evening Idea

This morning on the way to school my daughter asked if for Family Home Evening we can talk about prophets. So as I have contemplated all day what we can talk about that we havent already discussed, I started singing the song Follow The Prophet. It then hit me my kids LOVE this song but Im not to sure how much they know about all the prophets in the song. So tonight we are going to focus on two Prophets they have heard of know the stories but maybe we havent talk about them as much as the modern and Book of Mormon prophets. I hope this idea can work for you and your family too.

Opening song: Follow the Prophet
Opening Prayer:
Family Business: Daddy (We have a Young family so this doesnt take to long. But with me being on the RS presidency and my husband the EQ President we tend to discuss what we will be doing in the week. Even our 6 year old gets involved. For example tonight she will be sure to remind us of her school disco on Wednesday, School Field Trip on Thursday and Dance on Saturday.)

Lesson: Mommy



Show picture of Adam and Eve and ask children if they know who these people are? We will then discuss Adam as a prophet how he was the first prophet. I tend to wing it and answer and ask questions about the picture and about Adam and Eve.



Next I will show a picture of the city of Enoch. I will ask my husband to tell the story of what happen to the people of the city of Enoch. We will again just talk with the children about Enoch and the city and how righteous they were.

Activity: Memory game with prophet pictures. I made some of these a while ago and they have come in so handy. All I di was make this picture bigger and print it out twice. I them cute the pictures up and thats it, Prophets Memory / Matching Game.



Dessert tonight is homemade Oreo type cookies. Here is the recipe I use.



Ingredients:

Cookies:
2 boxes Devils Food Cake Mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup shortening

Mix cake mixes, eggs, shortening. Roll in prune-size balls. Bake at 350 degrees on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet.

Cream Frosting for middle:
8 oz cream cheese
3 cups Powder Sugar
1/4 cup butter

Mix filling - put between 2 cooled cookies. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween Swag

I love this time of year and making loads of crafts. I have so many things on the go at the moment and I want to get them all done ASAP so that I can get to display them before the end of the Halloween season.

So craft Number 1 is a Halloween Swag. I just wanted something cute to hang across my mantle piece. and here is what I came up with:




This was so simple to make. I found some paper mache letters at the local craft shop. I just painted them black and orange and then glued them to a piece of orange ribbon. I also found some cute Halloween stickers that I put on some of the letters too. It was so simple and it looks really cute on my mantle.

Like I said I have loads more crafts on the go, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas things. So keep watching for more.

How To Make Pumpkin Puree

So here in England it is very difficult to get cans of pumpkin. There is one store that sells it from the 6 - 31 of October, the rest of the year there isnt any. So I normally stock up on pumpkin but from time to time I dont get enough and have to puree a pumpkin myself. The other problem is you can only buy a pumpkin those same times of year. So I very often substitute pumpkin for butternut squash. It works fantastic and tastes the same too.

Im not too sure how many people know how to make their own puree so I thought it might be a good idea to share just how I do it. You may do it different but this is what works best for me.

Step One:
Pre-heat your oven to about 325F 170C or gas mark 4.

Step 2:
Cut your pumpkin or Butternut Squash in half and deseed it. If you are using a pumpkin you can leave it in two big sections or you can put it into quarters at this point.

Step 3:


Place the pumpkin or Squash in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet flesh side up. Fill the bottom of the baking tray with water and place in the oven for about an hour.

Step 4:


Remove from oven when the flesh of the pumpkin or squash is tender. I check this by poking it with a fork, kind of like what I do when I am making mashed potatoes. I know it is done when the fork goes into the pumpkin or squash and comes out very easily.

Step 5:



Remove all the flesh from the skin and use in your favorite pumpkin recipe. Today I made this pumpkin bread recipe and sent some with my hubby into work. Everyone loved it. I hope this little tutorial helps someone

Halloween Decorations

Yes you have to look closley but there are really cute halloween signs that I made that were so fun for the whole family to make!! I had the kids go find 12-14 sticks. then got a box and cut it up and painted the peices black or orange. Then after they dried I wrote words on them: scary, eek, keep out, boo, danger, go back. Then I used my glue gun and glued a stick to them. Let them sit over night to make sure they were on really good and then stuck them in the ground! I have to say they really turned out cute! Here is the link that I got the idea from: http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Shelter/Decorating/5-Wicked-Ways-to-Decorate.html Good luck and Happy decorating!!

Halloween Advent

So I found this idea here http://www.howdoesshe.com/ under halloween crafts. It is so easy to make. I went to Home Depot and had them cut me a 4x4x8 into 4x4 and 4x8 then I picked out halloween paper. First I sanded down the blocks so they were smooth and then I modge podged the cute halloween paper to the wood. Then I used my slice die cut machine to cut out the letters and the numbers! It turned out so cute I just love it!!

Fruit 3 Ways

We have a nectarine tree in our yard which has yielded a bucket load of fruit this year. So this past weekend we picked the remaining fruit, and made Fruit Leather, Baby Food and Peach Cobbler. Click the links for the recipes. They tasted so good and it was great to use up all this great fruit in a variety of ways - and you could do it with all fruits, i.e. Berries, Apples, Plums etc. etc. etc. Yummo!

Pumpkin Bread

Today at church we had a "Munch and Mingle" I decided to make pumpkin bread. I mean it is nearly October. I think this time of year is all about the pumpkin. Everyone absolutely loved this recipe and was asking for it. So not only for members of my ward who look at this blog but for everyone else out there who would like a really GREAT Pumpkin bread recipe this is for you!

Pumpkin Bread


1 (15oz) can of Pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 c. water
3 c. Sugar
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp ground cloves

Preheat Over to 350F or 175C. Grease and flour three 7x3inch bread pans

In a large bowl mix together the Pumpkin, Eggs, Oil, Water and Sugar until well blended. Sift all the dry ingredients together and then mix with the wet ingredients. Por into pepared bread pans.

Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.


*Note ifyou cant get tins of pumpkin you can make this very simple and you can use pumpkin or butternut squash. Simple boil the flesh of either fruit and mash*