Thursday, April 28, 2011

Mother's Day Crafts - How to Make a Special Mother’s Day Paper Flower Bouquet

Now is the time for Mother's Day Crafts. Kids love them and mom loves receiving them.

All mothers love receiving flowers from anyone, but especially from a child. What will be even more endearing is flowers made from construction paper or tissue paper. So, start helping your kid to make flowers for mother's day with these ideas. Mom will love them and they will last for a long time.

Hand-traced Flowers as one of our Mother's Day Crafts:

This is a good one for toddlers and younger children.

Materials:
  • Green pipe cleaners
  • Construction paper
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
Directions:
  1. Make at least four tracings of your child's hand on various colors of paper.
  2. Bend the end of each pipe cleaner into a small hook shape. (The bent part of the pipe cleaner keeps the flower from slipping off the end and looks like a flower center.)
  3. Cut out the hand shapes.
  4. Take each cut-out hand and wrap it around the end of a pipe cleaner. Make sure the "fingers" are pointing upward and the small hook you bent in the pipe cleaner is inside.
  5. Using glue, secure the hands in their wrapped shape.
  6. Bend the "fingers" outward a bit to look like petals.
  7. Place the flowers into a vase, or tie the stems with ribbon.
Tissue Paper Carnations or Roses, another of our Mother's Day crafts:

Here is another type of paper bouquet you can make for Mom (or any other special person in your life!).

Materials:
  • Tissue paper of various colors
  • Green pipe cleaners
  • Scissors
For Carnations:
  1. Cut 8-10 circles from whatever color tissue paper you like - you don't have to use all one color.
  2. Stack the circles.
  3. Poke one of the pipe cleaners through the center of the stack (or do one circle at a time).
  4. Bend the end of the pipe cleaner to hold the circles firmly.
  5. Push and shape the circles, separating them a bit, so that they look like a layered carnation shape.
For Roses:
  1. Cut 8-10 circles from red or pink tissue paper, but make the edges scalloped.
  2. Proceed as for carnations.
Add any finishing touches you like, such as leaves made from construction paper or pipe cleaners, or flower centers made from beads or construction paper.

Now that you are all busy with kids crafts why not keep the momentum going and do some more crafts. Kids love crafts and it has many benefits for them. You can also look at crafts such as Kids Knitting Projects or salt dough projects such as you can find in Salt Dough Just 3 Ingredients More Than 100 Projects.

Have fun with these easy Mother's Day Crafts for kids.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Tasty Football Bratwursts Recipe

If you have a charcoal grill, such as the Weber One Touch Charcoal Grill, or if you are the one to provide for a grill, this recipe is ideal for you. It is easy to make and exceptionally tasty. Even if the weather is not suitable for a grill, and you have a griddler, such as the Cuisinart GR-4 Griddler, you can use it as an indoor grill and still make these tasty bratwursts.

So, I will not keep you any longer, here is the recipe for your bratwursts:

What You Need:

  • 8 bratwursts
  • 1 (12 oz) can of beer
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 TBSP vegetable oil
  • 1 lb sauerkraut, drained well
  • 2 TBSP sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 8 (10 inn) tortillas
  • 8 TBSP Dijon mustard
  • 8 slices smoked Swiss cheese

How to Make It:

  1. Pour the beer into a large pan and place on medium high heat.
  2. Add the bratwurst and bring to a rapid boil.
  3. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat and allow the bratwurst to lie in the beer until cooled.
  5. Place the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.
  6. Add the onion and cook 6 minutes or until just beginning to brown.
  7. Stir in the sauerkraut, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes and cook 5 more minutes.
  8. Heat the grill to medium high temperature.
  9. Place the bratwurst on the grill and cook 8 minutes, turning often to cook all sides.
  10. Spread some of the sauerkraut mixture down the middle of each tortilla.
  11. Place two halves of the bratwurst on top of the sauerkraut.
  12. Spread the bratwurst with the mustard and add a slice of cheese.
  13. Fold the tortilla over the cheese and fold the bottom and tops in to close.
  14. Over medium heat grill the tortilla 3 minutes per side until toasted and the cheese is melted.

These are great to make for a tailgate party. Mix all your ingredients together, grab the grill, and be on your way. They will be such a hit that you’ll be asked to double the quantity next time around.

If I were you, I would not even wait for the next suitable occasion, I'll try this recipe out right now and see how my family loves it. Make it indoors if you do not want to grill outside, it will still be a hit with your family.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tasty Baked Blueberry Crepes

These Baked Blueberry Crepes are really tasty and very easy to make. Preparing the batter is a breeze if you have a stand mixer, such as the Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer 63220. As the baking do take a little time these crepes are more suitable for a leisurely weekend breakfast than for a weekday morning when you are rushed.

Good for You Blueberry Crepes

What You Need:

  • 2 egg whites
  • 2/3 C of fat free milk
  • 2 tsp canola oil
  • 1/2 C of flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C of reduced sugar orange marmalade
  • 1 C of unsweetened blueberries
  • Splenda, equivalent to 8 tsp of sugar
  • 1/2 C fat free sour cream
  • 1/8 tsp of cinnamon

How to Make It:

  1. Place the egg whites, milk and oil in a bowl and whisk until well blended.
  2. In a separate bowl combine the flour and salt.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and blend it in well.
  4. Place the marmalade into a saucepan.
  5. Stirring constantly, cook the marmalade over low heat until completely melted.
  6. Remove from the heat and stir in the blueberries and Splenda.
  7. Mix the sour cream and cinnamon together.
  8. Coat a small skillet with cooking spray.
  9. Place the skillet over low heat and add 2 tbsp of the batter.
  10. Lift the pan to evenly coat the bottom with the batter.
  11. Cook until the top is dry and the bottom is lightly browned.
  12. Remove the crepe to a wire rack to cool and continue cooking the batter until all the batter is used.
  13. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  14. Spread each of the crepes with 1 tbsp of the sour cream mixture.
  15. Roll each crepe up over the mixture and place in a baking dish.
  16. Spoon the blueberries over the top of each crepe.
  17. Bake 15 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

This is a wonderful healthy breakfast to serve to your family on a lazy Sunday morning. Use raspberries, blackberries or strawberries in place of the blueberries if you prefer.

What a treat to be able to serve your family a breakfast that is not only delicious, but also very healthy. This is an easy way to start the day this way with part of the five fruit and veggies of the day. Try these and see how your family loves them.