Tuesday 28 June 2011

Strawberry Chocolate Nachos

I came across this recipe yesterday here, and had all the ingredients for thought I'd give my tummy a yum fest.

Ingredients:

  • Tortillas (6" size work great)
  • Melted butter
  • Cinnamon Sugar (caster sugar and cinnamon mixed together for the UK peeps)
  • Strawberries
  • Chocolate
  • 1tsp-1tbs Vegetable/Canola oil
  • Whipped cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt some butter and brush one side of the tortillas with it. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar liberally over them, then with a pizza cutter cut it up into chip size triangles. Put on a ungreased baking tray for about 10-15 minutes until the ends curl up.

Meanwhile, cut up the strawberry's put them in a bowl with a little sugar sprinkle on them to create a nice syrup. Set aside.

Take the cut up tortillas out of the oven and cool.

When cooled, arrange in a layer on a plate, and sprinkle strawberries on top. Melt your favorite chocolate on top (I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk), if you mix in a little oil, it makes it smoother. Drizzle haphazardly over the top and add some dollops of cream. Enjoy!

Monday 27 June 2011

Family Home Evening - Preparing for Baptism


In the next few months my daughter is going to be baptised. So each month I am trying to do a Family Home Evening on preparing her for baptism. Tonight I have decided to talk about what we need to continue to do after baptism to be good members of the church and to help us to gain eternal life.

Im going to start with an empty glass bowl. I am going to explain how is is like us when we are baptised clean and pure. Good member of the church. I am going to ask her what kinds of things she thinks we need to continue to be like this.

Im also going to have ingredients to make cupcakes (Im using the Vanilla Cupcake Recipe found here.) each ingredient will have another principal of the gospel we need to follow in order to make it back to our Father in Heaven.

for Example :

Eggs will have a lable read scriptures
Flour - Go to Church on Sunday
Sugar - Pay full tithe
Vanilla - Pray Always
Milk - Keep Commandments
Butter - Keep Baptism covenants

As we place each ingredient in the bowl we will talk about them and read scriptures about them.

I will explain that if we do all these things then just like at the end of making a delicious recipe we will have something which is sweeter and more desireable than anything we could possibly want. That being eternal life.

Here are the scriptures or stories I will tell for each of the principals:


Attending Sunday Meetings - Im going to ask the children why this is important. Ask if they know what the most important meeting on a Sunday is. Explain why we take the sacrament and the importance of it.

Tithing
- Tithing Shoes - Friend Nov. 2007

Prayer:

Keep The Commandments - I thought we would sing the song and talk about the words

Im going to tie in Keeping the commandments with Keeping Baptism covenants.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Fathers Day Tie



So I went to Deseret Book and was able to get an all white tie for $6.00. Then I put all of my kids hand prints on it with paint that I already had here at the house. The kids LOVED it. I also added their names to it after the picture but I wrote in the names very small so that you couldnt see them too much! I thought it was a great idea and for $6 whala! Fathers day gift done!

CRAFTS





These are felt pictures that my friend made up. So cheap and easy. You just decide on a picture that you want and start out by cutting your design. Then you use embroidery floss and hand stitch around all of the stencil to make it stick out more. once you are done you will put them in 8X10 frames and it makes such a cute wall hanging. I just have not found the frames yet. When I do I am going to paint them purple to make it all come together better! The flowers are 3d you cut them into 4 edged clover flowers and sew them on really close to one another so that they stick out.


Glow in the dark "DID YOU PRAY" blocks



These are did you pray blocks. They are really easy and so fun. During the day they are nice to look at but when you turn off the lights they glow "DID YOU PRAY?" We are making these up at girls camp this summer. I am so excited to show these to the girls!

Sunday 12 June 2011

Spiritually Speaking - Healing Through The Unreserved Love of God


“In the many trials of life, when we feel abandoned and when sorrow, sin, disappointment, failure, and weakness make us less than we should ever be, there can come the healing salve of the unreserved love in the grace of God. It is a love that lifts and blesses. It is a love that sustains a new beginning on a higher level and thereby continues from grace to grace.”

–James E. Faust,

Friday 10 June 2011

Homemade Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream Pies


Today I was on the phone with a missionary serving in our ward. He was telling me how he had received a care package from his family and that it had his favorite treat from home. Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream Pies. Just the words took me back to my childhood when my mom would get home from the store and we would see the little white box with the blue writting. Of course not forgetting the picture of the little girl, obviously Little Debbie, in her 50's get up sporting one of those pretend cowgirl hats. I remember how the pie, only by name because it was really more like a cookie, would fall apart in my hands and I would have to eat it just a little bit at a time savoring each bite until finally it was gone. And being one of 7 children I had to wait until the next time mom went shopping to have another because there were never enough in the box for each of us to have two, so we only got one. Thinking about it I wonder where the other 5 went each week. Probably the same place all my children treats go now, in mommy and daddy's tummys.

Straight away I decided I needed to indulge my children and my husband in this great American treat so I turned to the internet for advice. A couple button pushes later and thanks to google I had loads of recipes for these little gems. I read through a bunch of these recipes and am now going to share with you the one which seemed to suit me and my brain tastebuds (you know the things which make you salivate when reading a recipe because it sounds so good) I found this recipe on a little blog called The Sweet Touch. So thank you to Lucy over there for posting such a great recipe. If you try these let me know what you think. Im going to have a go tomorrow and take them to the missionaries on sunday and see what they think. Happy Baking!

Homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies
Ingredients

Cookies
1 1/4 cups butter, unsalted, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups quick oats (the only change I made here was to pulse the oats several times in a food processor so that there were some bigger oats pieces and some finely ground, but I'm sure it would be great either way)

Filling (I am leaving the measurements as listed but I only used about half the recipe so you could easily halve the ingredients and have plenty for filling. A little bit goes a long way!)
1/2 cup butter, unsalted, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the 1 1/4 cup butter with the granulated and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture and then the oats..
Use a small cookie scoop to make uniform sized balls for the cookie sheet. Do not worry about pressing flat as they will spread when they bake. Refrigerate the scooped cookie dough for about 10 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 11 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 48 individual cookies.

Make the filling by beating the 1/2 cup butter with powdered sugar and up to 2 tablespoons of milk. Transfer to a zip lock type baggie with a corner snipped off.

Assemble the cookies by piping about a teaspoon of filling onto the bottom side of one cookie. I used about a quarter sized dollop and it was the perfect amount of sweetness. Top with another cookie.

*** What was your FAVORITE Treat growing up? ***

Thursday 2 June 2011

Visiting Teaching Message - June 2011


I thought I would share with you the handout which I have made for my sisters for this month with the Visiting Teaching Message. I love this message. What a great one for all of us. I hope you enjoy this handout and are able to use it!