Sugar Crystals

About a month or so ago, Brayden and I decided to do a science experiment. We were going to make sugar crystals. It's pretty easy. I remember making salt crystals grow on coal when I was a kid. I'm not sure what we did for that, but I would like to find out and do that with Brayden some time too. We just did this to see if it would actually work--it does.

Directions:

1 cup boiling water

3-4 cups sugar

food color-what ever color you want the crystals to be

quart jar

pencil

string

washer or paper clip (we used a 1 inch washer)

1. Dissolve sugar in boiling water--this takes a while. Add sugar slowly, bits at a time, wait for it to dissolve, then add more. Again, this takes a while.

2. Add food color and pour into quart jar

3. Tie string around paper clip/washer

4. Put washer into jar with sugar--you do not want it to touch the sides or the bottom of the jar.

5. When you know what that lenghth is, tie it to the pencil and lay pencil across quart jar.

6. Let sit for 24 hours, undisturbed- you should see crystals appear (We did not see crystals this soon, it seemed we had to wait for at least a week, and even at that they were very small.)

We left our string in for month or even a little longer--it grew into quite a big crystal (about a 2 inch ball size)--Brayden is quite proud. DO NOT EAT CRYSTAL if on washer or paper clip-something about lead, I think. I've seen people do it on a dowel, instead of string and paper clip--that would be edible.

Finger puppets

Last year we had a family get together at our cabin, and made some little crafts. It's been almost a year but I thought I'd at least post a picture of what we made. These are both my moms great ideas. (She hasn't quite gotten the blogging thing down yet) We made cute little finger puppets out of winter gloves, pom poms, googly eyes and felt. This idea was something she found in her file from the 70's. I think they turned out so cute. We made Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and The Billy Goats Gruff(we didn't mean for the goats to be green...it makes them cuter, don't you think?) I'm sorry the pictures are sideways, but I don't know how to rotate them. We just used a hot glue gun to glue them together.

Sponge boats

This idea for these boats came from one of my favorite blogs.. makeandtakes.com...I can't take credit. Max and his friend Nicholas had a great time making these and pushing them in the water. It was not warm enough to swim, so they just let their boats do that. All you need is:
1 sponge(I cut a large sponge in half )
straw
foam paper sheets, cut into a triangle shape
scissors
All you do is cut a triangle shape out of the foam for your sail and poke two holes in it for your straw. Poke a hole in the sponge and put your straw through it. (I cut the straws a little shorter to take off the bendy part) They had a fun time, they make for great bath toys too.

Parachute Men

Well with school being out we are coming up with all types of things to do. Brayden saw in a book, some parachute guys--we altered it a bit to work with what we had. These do not last a long time, but entertained the boys for an afternoon. They do get tangled--so be prepared.

What you need:

pipe cleaners-any color you want

String

Plastic bag

Directions

1. Shape pipe cleaners into guys

2. We then wrapped more pipe cleaners around the body to look like clothes

3. Cut bag into a 14x14 square

4. Tie a 14" string to each corner of the square bag.

5. Bring all the strings together and tie in a knot.

6. Attach the strings to the pipe cleaner body (we just tied it to the head of our guy)

7. Throw them up and have a great time.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know we all have a chocolate chip cookie recipe. But this one is so good. A gal here made them to thank all the men for taking primary on Mother's Day. She made them really big--I think she said her scoop was 1/4 cup. They are one of our favorite's now. It's not a typo that there is no vanilla.

1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts (optional--I don't add these)
1 pkg chocolate chips (I like the semi-sweet ones)

Cook 9-12 minutes, til they are just barely brown. (I found 9 was good for me) 375*.
I actually think these are better the second day when they are not hot at all--seems funny, but true.

Creamy Chicken & Chile Enchiladas

Someone brought these to an elder's quarom party. I was a little worried that the sauce was green, but they were SO GOOD!! I had to come home and make them a couple days after the party.

1 lb uncooked chicken breast strips (I just cooked and shredded mine)
1- 8oz pkg cream cheese, cut in cubes
1 can (4.5 oz) chpped green chilis
1 pkg flour tortillas ( 6 inch)
2 cans (10 oz each) green chile enchilda sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheee

Heat oven to 400*. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Heat skillet- cook chicken over medium heat until done, add cream cheese and chilis until blended and cream cheese is melted. Spoon mixure into tortillas, place seam side down in pan. Pour enchilada sauce over top, sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted. Yummy!!

I made a pan of 8 enchiladas--although, I noticed after the recipe says this will make 12.

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

These are awesome! They are a quick dinner, I got the recipe off the Bisquick box. I ate them too fast to get a picture, so I'll post one next time we have these for dinner.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb), cut into 1/2" strips or pkg chicken tenders
2/3 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 450*. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. In 1 gal ziploc bag, mix Bisquick mix, cheese, salt and paprika.
Dip half the chicken strips into egg; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat to use up remaining chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken.
Bake 12-14 min, turning halfway through bake time with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center.
4 servings