Homemade Pretzel Bites

 

Ingredients: 

2 cups milk

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

6 Tbsp brown sugar, divided

4 Tbsp melted butter

5 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp salt

1/3 cup baking soda

3 cups warm water

pretzel salt

6 Tbsp melted butter

Warm up the milk in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the yeast and 1 Tbsp brown sugar. Stir and let sit for about 5 minutes. 

In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the 4 Tbsp melted butter, 5 Tbsp brown sugar, and 2 tsp salt. After the yeast has proofed, add that to the brown sugar/butter mixture. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Knead with the hook attachment for 10 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm location for about an hour. 

After the dough doubles, punch it down and divide into 12 balls. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees while you complete this step. 

Roll each ball into a rope. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside. 

Put the 3 cups of warm water and 1/3 cup of baking soda in a bowl. Cut each rope into pieces that are about 1 1/2 inches each. Dip each piece in the baking soda water and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt. (This amount will make two full baking pans.) Bake at 450 for 6-7 minutes. 

Spread the remaining 6 Tbsp of melted butter with a silicone baking brush. 

February Daily Heart Messages Until Valentine's Day

 

Every year I make hearts with different messages for the kids to receive each day of February until Valentine's Day. This year, I searched the internet for memes of inspiration I thought applied to each kid. On the first day, each kid's heart lists 5 things I love about them. The next 12 days, they will receive a meme of inspiration or a quote from one of their favorite athletes/celebrities. On the final day, their heart will have qr codes that link them to videos done by their grandparents and one from me. 

On each sheet of paper below, I traced three hearts. Then I glued the memes to the hearts. I will cut out the three hearts each day and put it on their bedroom wall for them to see when they wake up. 

Cactus-themed Desserts

 

Instant Pot Taco Rice Bowl

 

Ingredients: 

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground turkey or hamburger

1/2 onion, diced

16 oz salsa

4 oz can green chilies

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup taco seasoning (or one pack) 

2 cups white rice

2 cups chicken broth

Turn your instant pot to sauté mode. Add the olive oil, onion, and ground turkey. Brown the turkey. Add the taco seasoning, green chilies, black beans, and salsa. (If you want to add corn, you could put a can of that in too.) Stir together. Top that with the rice. Then cover with the chicken broth. 

Do not stir. Turn to high pressure, seal the lid, and cook for 10 minutes. Release the lid when done cooking. Fluff the rice. Add cheese and other taco toppings if desired. You could also serve this with tortilla chips or in a taco shell. 

Healthy Carrot Muffins

 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup shredded carrot

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together. In a separate bowl, put the yogurt, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Beat that with a mixer. Slowly add in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick. 

Fold in the applesauce and the carrots. 

Place in a cupcake liner and bake for about 22 minutes. 

Dill and Lemon Salmon Foil Dinner

 

Ingredients: 

1 large salmon fillet (about 1 1/2-2 lbs)

salt and pepper

4 Tbsp butter

1 1/2-2 Tbsp garlic

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2-3 tsp fresh dill

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray. Put the salmon on the foil (skin side down) and sprinkle on salt and pepper. In a bowl, melt the butter. Add the garlic and lemon juice. Let cool a little before you put it on the salmon. 

Spread the lemon butter on the on the salmon. Top with the fresh dill. (Leave some remaining to top after cooking.)

Seal the salmon up with the foil. Bake for about 25 minutes. Top with more lemon and dill if desired. 

Happy Meal Employee of the Month Cake

 

Encanto Cardboard Playhouse

We love everything Lin Manuel Miranda does, so I knew Encanto was going to be a favorite at our house. Rachel really wanted the Encanto playhouse set, but...it is $80, so I bought the $20 figurine set and decided to come up with an alternative playset. Plus this project was something we could build together and she could make her own. She wanted to make sure every character had a room, and we decided that adding Bruno's secret hideaway was also very important. Almost everything is made from cardboard boxes and scrapbook paper. I did have a sticky tile left and some cardboard looking contact paper that I also used, but we managed to build this with supplies we had already. 

This is where the tunnel in Bruno's tower leads to. (There is a candle in the window of Abuela's window.)

There is also a hole under the blue flap that goes into the kitchen on the other side. 

This is the box I started out with. I used the contact paper shown to cover all of the "floor" areas of the house. 

I added some other boxes to the top for the third floor. A sticky tile was placed on the courtyard floor to make that a different floor covering. 

I hot glued scrapbook paper to the room dividers. Rachel picked out all of the designs she wanted for each character's room. 

I hot glued the dividers onto the floor and then glued it into place in the box. 

Then I added another box to the back to create Bruno's secret hideaway. 

After all of the rooms were covered...