Paper Towel Stained Glass

I have to admit, my 8-year-old just came up with a great idea.  She's my little artist, and is always doodling, coloring, and writing any chance she gets.  She was in the kitchen being so quiet, so I peeked around the corner and was shocked (and awed) to find she was finishing up on this:

Paper towel Stained glass art - by my 8-year-old

It's beautiful!

I was pretty impressed.  She had found an extra piece of paper towel that was lying on the island and started tracing the absorption pattern on the towel with colorful sharpies.  I couldn't believe how she stuck to a pattern with the colors, and she made it such a lovely mosaic.

My 11-year-old like to leave more negative white space with her stained glass art attempt

My other two girls immediately wanted to make their own stained glass art, so off they went and this is what they came up with.

A work in progress.  Picking the colors for the different shapes was the fun part.

This craft is pretty self explanatory, but might make for a nice little artsy time killer over a rainy weekend or spring break.  All you need is white paper towels that have an interesting texture or pattern on them, a handful of sharpies, and something under your artwork (more paper towels, extra printer paper) to protect the sharpies from bleeding through to any surface beneath. Then have your artist trace the patterns with whichever color they want.

Paper towel stained glass looks nice no matter what part of the drawing you are at

After they were finished, we decided to hang them up on the back window for a while, and they really did look like bits of pretty stained glass.They also looked nice on the fridge.  (Note: If you are interested in exactly what kind of paper towels we used, these were the 12 pack of Kirkland Signature "create-a- size" towels from Costco).  They almost made my fridge look like a patchwork quilt!  So pretty.

Stained glass paper towel art - they just couldn't stop making these

Today was their cousin Gabe's birthday party and so my youngest made him a lovely birthday card because she knew he liked "art".  So sweet of her.  

Even though he was 14, he made her feel nice about it and hung it on their fridge, and she was beaming from ear to ear.  Anyway, it's a great little artsy time killer, and I have to admit, I didn't even think if it, my kid did! She was so pleased when I told her I was going to make a blog post featuring her art invention.  She was so excited!  Not to mention they really did turn out just beautiful! Enjoy!

Stained Glass Rainbow Cake

With Saint Patrick's day around the corner, my thoughts always seem to turn to rainbows.  A few years back we had a rainbow birthday party in the middle of winter, and I was able to make a very cool cake with a surprise rainbow center that the kids went gaga over.  Then two years ago, my 10 year old wanted a sleeping bag cake, and she wanted another rainbow inside.  Instead of doing the concentric circles like we did the first time, we layered in the colors quite randomly, and what we ended up with, was nothing short of the most amazing "stained glass" rainbow cake!

The Stain glass rainbow cake up close

Now isn't that pretty?  If you want to take a peek at how we did it I will give you the play by play below.  First, for a reminder, if you want to see the original rainbow cake technique, this is how it turned out.  (Note, if you want to make the larger, color patched rainbow cake pictured below, the full tutorial is here).

The original rainbow cake - using concentric circles

The technique used here was to pour 1/2 cups of cake batter in concentric circles (each pan the opposite color order as the first one) to get the above chunky rainbow look.  Here's what they looked like baking:

See how each pan we layered the colors in opposite rainbow order, so when we stacked them on top of each other later, each color would have it's own share of the color scheme.

For our new and improved attempt to make a stained glass rainbow cake, we were trying something completely new.  Luckily, it starts out pretty much the same as the original rainbow cake by separating the batter into 6 bowls, and giving each it's own color.

This is the equivalent of two boxes of cake mix, split into six bowls

We drizzled the different colored batters, and spooned in or layered in the different colors randomly as we went along.

Pan #1 of the stained glass rainbow cake - pre baked

Then we did the same thing to the next pan, trying to do different colors than we did the first time.  Almost a drizzling effect.

Pan #2 of the stained glass rainbow cake

Here they are baking, and we were just hoping and praying the colors would not blend too much during the baking time.  We were surprised when the colors held strong, even if they had been created with very thin lines.  I was impressed!  We baked these by the way for the regular recommend time on the box for two 9x13 pans, as we are making a double-layer cake.

Stained glass cake.  I have no idea why those rectangles appeared, but they are cool!

I tend to let cakes cool, remove from the pan, and let them sit in the freezer so they are easier to work with.  We stacked them on top of each other with a layer of strawberry jelly in between.

A layer of strawberry jelly between the stained glass rainbow cake

After that, I frosted them to look like a cozy sleeping bag (It was her first official sleep over, and all her friends were bringing their sleeping bags too).

It's a sleeping bag cake with a secret rainbow surprise inside!

When we finally cut it open, there were plenty of Ooo's and Ahh's to be had

Stained glass rainbow cake - a very special treat

The colors were amazing!

Stained glass rainbow cake - WOW!

Let's just say the birthday girl was pretty happy.

Why yes, there were rainbow plates too!

So if you need a fun new way to celebrate St. Patrick's day, or I have inspired you to do a future birthday theme party decorated entirely with rainbows, or if you need a cool Wizard of Oz cake, or you want to switch up the colors to your favorite team or school colors, it's all good.  Well, delicious actually.  Enjoy!

Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie

Need an easy family meal everyone will love?  Well I have one that I wanted to pass it along. Not to mention it has a snappy name that just might make your kids want to eat it! It started when a friend posted a picture on Facebook of a chicken n' dumpling recipe.  It looked delicious, only I've never been a fan of how slimy biscuit dough can get when you cook it in a hot liquid. I mean, come on now, the BEST part of a biscuit is it's golden flaky brown crust, am I right?  So if you're gonna have carbs, you might as well do them up right. So I did some modifications of my own and came up with: Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie.

The best part of this meal is that most of it can cook all day in a crock pot and be all smelling fantastic and waiting for you to come waltzing in your door after your busy day.  Pop in some refrigerated biscuits in the oven (or from scratch if you are so inclined), and by the time the table is set, dinner is ready.  Ingredients you will need for your recipe are as follows:

4 Chicken breasts (thawed - frozen would work too with longer cooking time)
1 diced onion (or bag of frozen chopped onions)
2 celery stalks chopped
2-3 carrots cut in rounds
1 15 oz can corn
1 large (23 oz) family sized can of cream of chicken soup
1 32 oz box chicken broth (I used Rachael Ray)
Salt, pepper, and dried parsley to taste

(full printable recipe at the end of the post)


Pour the large cream of chicken soup in chopped onion, celery, carrots and the can of corn in the bottom of the crock pot.
 

You can tailor the veggies to your liking.  Add frozen peas the last hour of cooking if you wish.

Next, pour in about half the box of Rachel Ray chicken stock and stir everything around.  (Note: I did not use the whole box for four chicken breasts.  If you have more chicken to add (or a larger family), you can add as much or as little stock liquid as you would like for the consistency you want.  The end result is the sauce should be about the thickness of a stew, not a soup)

 Drop in the chicken breasts and make sure they are covered in the "sauce"

Adding the chicken in.  I pushed them down after this picture was taken.

Cook on low in the crock pot for six hours.  After six hours, pull chicken out of the pot and chop up into bite sized chunks on a plate.

Add the chopped chicken back into the pot, stir, and let all the flavors meld and incorporate. Add salt, pepper, or dried parsley at this time.

Now bake up a quick pan of your favorite biscuits until they are fluffy and golden brown.

By now your house should smell like heaven.

While the biscuits are still warm, split them open on a plate and top with a pat of butter.

Mmmm melted butter on a hot bun.  Hello comfort food.

After that, lovingly spoon over a heapin' helpin' of the chicken pot pie mixture.  Serve with fruit, a green salad, and you've got an easy winner winner chicken dinner.

Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie

I'm not gonna lie here people. This was so so SO good. The kids ate it up.  It made for great left overs too.  I stored the extra pot pie filling by itself in microwave-safe container, and wrapped the biscuits separately.  I sent hubby to work with an "upside down chicken pot pie" kit and he could heat and assemble at work at will.

I was trying to figure out the differences between chicken n dumplings, chicken n' biscuits, and my new and improved upside down chicken pot pie.  In my research to make the first two, I kept reading comments about the dumplings being "raw" or soggy in the middle. In the case of chicken n biscuits, (in which you cook the biscuit dough on top of the pot pie sauce), the number one complaint was soggy biscuit bottoms.  Well have soggy bottoms no more!

Upside down chicken pot pie... it's a win win for flavor town!

I think we've found the perfect solution on how to add those delicious, home-style chicken pot pie flavors, with those fully cooked golden buttery flaky biscuits that every one loves.  All we had to do was flip everything upside down!!  Full printable recipe can be found by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Easy Peach Blueberry Crisp

Mr. D brought home some peaches from Costco this week that were absolutely delicious.  After eating a few right out of the box, my mind started to wander on what yummy grub we could make with such a fresh and fruity find.  Now we like our fruit pies around here, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about fragrant, super ripe peaches that lend themselves to turning into a warm, hot bubbly crisp. Throw in some blueberries we picked from this summer and you've got yourself one beautiful, tasty summer dessert.

Peach Blueberry Crisp - the perfect summer dessert!

What you will need for this dessert: (Printable recipe found at the end of the post)

Filling:
5 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
4 cups of blueberries (frozen or fresh)
1 cup brown sugar (more or less to taste, depending on the sweetness of the fruit)
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (half a lemon squeezed)
1 Tablespoon of flour or corn starch

Crisp Topping:
1 1/2 cups of quick or rolled oats
1 cup of flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
12 tablespoons (1 and 1/2 sticks) of chilled (regular salted) butter, cubed into small pieces

In a bowl, put the sliced peaches.

Add four cups of blueberries and 1 cup of brown sugar (more or less to taste, depending on the sweetness of the fruit).  Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and the juice of 1/2 a lemon

Stir in 1 Tablespoon of flour or cornstarch as thickener and mix together until blended.  Since our blueberries were frozen, I put this bowl sit to the side to let the berries come up to room temperature while we worked on the topping.

You can then also dump this fruit mixture into a 9x13 pan to await the fabulous topping goodness.

For the topping:

In another bowl, add 1 1/2 cups of quick or rolled oats. Add 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 cup of flour, and mix until combined.

Drop in 1 and 1/2 sticks of chilled, cubed butter.  

Use a pastry dough cutter to mix the butter into the dry mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, then dump over the fruit mixture in the 9x13 pan, and pat down firmly.

Heat the oven to 425º and place in the center of the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown, bubbling, and the fruit is cooked through.  Let it cool at least 15 minutes before serving.  

Delicious hot peach blueberry crisp!

Serve with whipped cream or a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.  

This turned out quite delicious and we ended up having some the next morning for breakfast too, I mean, come on, fruit, oatmeal... it's practically the breakfast of champions, right?  If you  are lucky enough to have any leftovers the following night, put a scoop in a microwave safe bowl or plate and nuke for 30 seconds to heat it back up and then top accordingly.  
For full printable recipe, click HERE.

Enjoy!

Walking Tacos

We just returned from not one, but two mini camping trips.  My siblings and I went on an untold number of camping trips as kids growing up.  Camping is so FUN when you are young.  I've come to realize now, that camping is only fun when you are a kid, because it is a lot of work for the grown-ups!  The "fun" for moms on a camping trip is, how to bring and prepare food ahead of time so that less time has to be spent doing meal prep during the actual camping trip.  I hate doing dishes.  I don't want to make dirty dishes, or heat up a bunk house oven if I don't have to when I'm suppose to be on vacation.  My goal for our trips was to make enough things for dinner that were fun, yummy, but the key word for me was EASY PREP and EASIER CLEAN UP.  Flash forward to "Walking Tacos"

Walking Tacos.  They're sweeping the nation (one step at a time)

Oh sure, they are all over Pinterest right now.  I surely did not invent them.  But I did decide to try them, and I'm here to report they were the biggest win win with the kids and adults alike.  

All you have to do before your trip is cook your favorite taco meat, bring along all the side fixin's you would put in a taco, and toss in some individual bags of Fritos and Doritos, and you are in business!

Here's what we brought:

cooked taco meat (we stored ours in a gallon zip lock bag)
shredded cheese (bought it pre-shredded)
lettuce from our garden (chopped and stored in another ziplock bag with a wet paper towel inside to keep moisture and crispness - a little trick I learned from my mom) 
can of sliced olives
favorite salsa (in a baggie or a small container so you don't have to bring the whole thing)
sour cream (also in a baggie or small container) 
individual bags of Doritos/Fritos
Plastic Forks 

All you do after that is open your favorite bag of chips.  Crunch them up a bit.

Mr. D dramatically demonstrates the crunching up of said chips

 Now that your chips are properly smashed...

Do not underestimate how much the small fry will love crushing up a bag of chips.  Very satisfying!

Next, add a scoop or two of the warmed up taco meat

Add some cheese

Throw in some lettuce and other goodies

My youngest does not enjoy the lettuce so much, so her completely customized creation was more of a meat n' cheese scenario.  She also chose Doritos instead of Fritos.  Kids LOVE having it "their way" let me tell you.

"Nothing green to see here, carry on..."

Finally I put in a scoop of salsa and a scoop of sour cream, (which made it's own taco salad dressing of sorts) and a few sliced olives. 

After that, shake everything up inside your chip bag.  There was some flipping bags over and stirring of forks at this part.  The kids thought this was FUN!

Now it's time to dig into your creation.  It was a perfect little taco salad in a bag if you will.  Not that pretty, but delicious! The kids could customize the bags to their tastes and add only the toppings they wanted.  They loved that they were eating out of chip bags like bowls.

My girls loved the name "Walking Tacos" almost as much as they wanted to demonstrate they could walk and eat tacos at the same time.

She's walking... she's taco-ing...

And, the other fun fact in this kid friendly dinner, is the clean up.  Toss your bags and forks into the garbage and you are done!  Didn't even need plates if you don't want them.

This little dinner would not only work great for camping, but anytime you need to feed a crowd.  I could see this working for a youth group game night, a slumber party, or when you have the little league team over for their big awards night.  It really was an easy thing to make, and we will totally make these again soon.  Maybe in the luxury of our own kitchen, just for kicks!


Enjoy!