Red, White, and Blue Charcuterie Board

 

Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas

 

Ingredients: 

2 chicken breasts sliced in thin strips

1 onion, sliced in strips

3 peppers of any color, sliced in strips

1 Tbsp oil

3 Tbps homemade seasoning (mix together 2 Tbsp chili powder, 4 tsp cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 4 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp pepper, 2 tsp salt) 

1/4 cup water

 

Place all of the ingredients in the instant pot. Stir until it is all coated with seasoning. Seal the instant pot and set for 4 minutes. Do a quick release when it is done. Put the mixture in tortilla shells and top with your favorite toppings. 

Mickey and Minnie Photo Board

Our high school band has a Disney theme at their award night this year, so I created this for the kids to use. 

I just get a tri-fold display board and sketch the design using pencil first. Then I cut out the face holes and outline with a black paint pen. 

I painted in Mickey and Minnie and then added a background. I went back over the final design with the black paint pen. 

Lunar Eclipse Cupcakes

For the Full Lunar Eclipse we experienced this month, we decided to make some cupcakes to showcase the stages of the eclipse. I used regular frosting, sprinkles, and some leftover red fondant I had to make these cupcakes. 

Kentucky Derby Party with Charcuterie Board

 

I had a lot of fun putting together this racetrack charcuterie board for the Kentucky Derby. I made hot brown dip (in the number 2 slot) and derby pie dip (in slot 5). The numbers are homemade marshmallow that I cut using number cookie cutters. 

We also made our own "hats" too. I took a hair clip and just started hot gluing pieces of tulle, feathers, and flowers that I got at the Dollar Tree. 

We also made virgin mint juleps. I made a simple syrup by combining 2 cups water with 2 cups sugar and about 8 mint leaves. Let that boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Cool the syrup in the refrigerator. Add about 1/4 cup syrup to crushed ice and about 1/2 cup ginger ale. 

Cinco de Mayo Party

 

For Cinco de Mayo, we had a taco bar feast. I made quinoa, rice, taco meat, and added all of the toppings for tacos. I also found a bag of crunchy churros from Sam's Club. We had non-alcoholic margaritas and made fried ice cream. 

Add 1/4 cup butter to a pan and melt that. Add 3 cups crushed cornflakes and 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Sauté the mixture over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool. 

I used a large cookie scoop to dish out ice cream balls.  I put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put it in the freezer to let those harden. After the cornflake mixture was cooled, I put on disposable gloves and dipped each ice cream ball into the cornflake mixture. 

We topped them with hot fudge and whipped cream. 

We also made our own piñatas using toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. 

We started by cutting slits in pieces of tissue paper. Then we layered the colors of tissue paper around the toilet paper roll and secured them with hot glue. I put a scored piece of tissue paper over the bottom of the toilet paper roll. (Just cut an X in the tissue paper circle before you secure it to the bottom.) Attach a string or piece of ribbon to the bottom, taping the string/ribbon right over the X.  We put some candy in the toilet paper tube and hung it up. You just have to pull the string/ribbon and the candy will fall out. 

May the 4th Be With You Party

Every year we do a little celebration for May the 4th. 

This year we had death star pizza, Han "Solo" Burgers, Vader's Tators (French fries), Chocolate covered pretzel rods that resembled light sabers, BB8 donut sticks, and Yoda Soda. 

We also made a Sarlacc Pit out of a cardboard box. 

We then tried dropping small Star Wars figures into the pit from a chair. 

We also made some homemade light sabers using water, glitter glue, and glowsticks. 

We taped off the top of the water bottle with gray and black Duct tape. 

Teacher Appreciation Cupcake Tree

 

For this cupcake tree, I did three batches of cupcakes. 

I arranged them on a tri-fold board that I bought from the Dollar Tree. I cut off the two sides that I didn't need. 

I used regular cake decorating frosting for the green on the tree part. I used my grass tip for that part. I used homemade marshmallow fondant for the tree trunk and the apples. Then I wrote the name of all of our teachers on each apple. 

Sausage, Onion, and Fennel Cast Iron Pizza

 

Ingredients: 

I can of refrigerated pizza dough

olive oil

8 oz ground sausage (I have used sweet Italian and regular sausage)

1/2 purple onion chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp fennel

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

Place one of your racks in the oven to the top position and preheat the oven to 475 degrees. 

Put some olive oil in the bottom of your cast iron pan. Brown the sausage with the onion and garlic. When it is close to being browned, add the fennel. Remove the sausage from the pan. Carefully add the dough to the cast iron pan. Put a little bit of olive oil over the top of the dough. Add the marinara. 

Then add your cheese and finish with the sausage mixture. Put the pizza in the oven and let cook for about 10 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted. 

Earth Day Cookies

Ingredients: 

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

blue and green food gel

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Gradually add to the wet ingredients. Divide the dough in two. Add blue food coloring to one and green to the other. 

Pull little pieces off of each half until you have about 1tbsp of dough. Roll the pieces together and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes. Let them sit for a minute or so on the baking sheet and then remove to a cooling rack. 

Another activity we did for Earth Day this year was to make dirt cups and plant some flowers in them. I got a bundle of flowers from the Dollar Tree and some green straws. We cut off a flower and placed in in the straw and then planted them in the dirt cups.

Banana Cake

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar

About 1 1/3 cups mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)

2/3 cup butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

 1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Add the vinegar to the milk and let it sit while combining the other ingredients. 

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add the eggs, banana, and vanilla. Then alternate adding about 1/3 of the flour and 1/3 of the milk. Repeat alternating and mixing until the flour and milk is all mixed. 

Pour in a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. It may take longer...but make sure you start checking it at 50 minutes. 

You could top this with a variety of frosting, but I chose to use my cooked frosting recipe. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup milk

4 Tbsp flour

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Start by whisking the milk and flour in a small saucepan. Let the mixture boil. (It becomes very thick.) Place that in the refrigerator to cool. Then beat the butter and sugar with a stand mixer. Add the vanilla.  Add the cooled milk/flour mixture. Whip on the highest setting you have until it is light and fluffy. Spread on the cooled cake. 

Easter Charcuterie Boards

The bunnies are homemade marshmallows that I cut using a bunny cookie cutter. 

I also dipped some of them in chocolate. 

 

Peanut Butter Eggs

 

Ingredients: 

 3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup melted butter

2 Tbsp milk

2 bags melting chocolate disks

Put the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter in a bowl. Use a hand mixer and mix until crumbly. Add the milk and mix again. (It will still be a little crumbly.) 

Roll the dough out on the table until it is about 1/2 inch thick. 

I cut some bigger eggs with my egg cookie cutter. For the smaller eggs pictured at the top of the post, I used a small circle cutter and squeezed the top a little with my fingers. I put the peanut butter eggs on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and placed in the freezer for about an hour. When I was ready to coat the eggs, I melted the chocolate disks and coated each egg. Let the chocolate set and then eat or store in the freezer. 

Frittata Cups

 Ingredients: 

7 whole eggs

1 egg white

2 Tbsp Milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup cooked sausage or cubed ham

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray. (You can figure about 1 egg for each muffin tin, so this recipe amount will give you 8 frittata cups.) Put the meat and cheese in the bottom of each muffin tin. Top with the egg mixture until the tin is about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 375 degrees for 22 minutes. Run a knife around the cup and take out of the muffin tin. 

St. Patrick's Day Party

For our St. Patrick's Day dinner party we had shamrock cheese bread, ravioli, pasta with pesto, green vegetables, Lucky Charm cookies, Irish cheesecake, and rainbow smoothies. 

Each layer of smoothie was made with frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, and orange juice.

Red: Frozen strawberries, one banana

Orange: Banana, fresh orange

Yellow: Banana and pineapple

Green: Banana, pineapple, and spinach

Blue: Banana, pineapple, spinach, and some blue food gel

Purple: Blueberries and banana

We love to do the Skittle experiment. We arranged the Skittles on the plate and poured water in the middle until the water reached the Skittles. Then the colors spread out. 

Academy Award Party

For our Academy Award party last year, we came up with food items that matched some of the movie nominees. That worked pretty well, so did the same thing this year. 

The one thing that is not tied to a movie is our traditional red carpet brownies. 

The movie/food line-up:

Belfast: Potato Pancakes

Coda: Fried Chicken

Don't Look Up: Asteroids (We baked mashed potatoes that we shaped into our own asteroid shapes and added craters) 

West Side Story: Ropa Vieja and gummy sharks

Cruella: Black and white cookies and a black/white/red trifle in a cocktail glass

Luca: Bowtie pasta

Licorice Pizza: fondant record 

King Richard: Gatorade

Encanto: Arepas

The Lost Daughter: orange peel rind snake

We got out the red carpet and trophy photo board.