On Monday we shared how we modified a cupboard we have had for years into a Doll Closet. Hangers are absolutely necessary for a closet. I have searched for some affordable hangers online but never liked the cost, or the cost was ok but the shipping was outrageous.
I decided to make my own. I went to the dollar store and purchased three packages of children’s hangers.
I took some tin snips and cut the hangers just after the hook on both sides.
I sanded down the edges to make sure it didn’t cut a child or snag the clothes.
This was so easy to do my girls teamed up, one cut and the other sanded.
In just 10 minutes we were able to make 18 doll hangers for only $3.
This is a family recipe that’s great to use up your left over chicken. We will purposely cook a couple extra pieces of chicken for a dinner earlier in the week so we will already have my chicken ready to make this Fast & Fantastic Chicken Salad! Or some days, if you are like us – it is 4pm and we are at the store wondering what to make for dinner, we will just pick up a cooked rotisserie chicken – it also makes a delicious chicken salad. For this recipe, we had a couple extra leftover chicken breasts from a dinner the night before. To reheat the leftover chicken, so it is not dry and rubbery, we just cover it in tinfoil, add a few tablespoons of chicken broth, and stick it in the oven on low (around 200 degrees) for about 8-10 minutes. Warming the chicken makes it a lot easier to shred and will soak up the sauce as it cools. And an easy way to shred the chicken, especially for Little Chefs, once you take it out of the oven, still warm, use an Electric Hand Mixer on low. You can also just dice the chicken, if you prefer for your Chicken Salad.
Then, to make the Chicken Salad it is as easy as cutting up, adding in, and gently mix all the remaining ingredients together!! We like to add in the sauce ingredients at the very end to see if we need to add a bit more if it is too dry.
And you might be able to relate to my celery dilemma – We would buy celery for a recipe, use a couple of stalks and stick it back in the fridge. Then when we go to use it again, it is limp and soft. A tip we learned to keep our celery fresh and crisp for weeks – cover completely in tinfoil before sticking it back in the fridge – it will be sure to stay fresh for your next recipe!
This is one of my Little Chefs, and Dad Little Chefs FAVORITE dinners. And it always seems to be a big hit anytime other try this recipe!! No rolls on hand, make up some of our Homemade Rolls to go with this Fast & Fantastic Chicken Salad. And another great recipe to use your leftover chicken is our Quick Chicken Divan.
We Love Celebrating the 4th of July! It is a time for BBQ’s, parties, family and friends, playing out in the summer sun, yummy food, and fireworks. To help out with your party planning – we put together a few 4th of July Printables – to add a bit of fun to your 4th of July Celebrations! The kiddos will LOVE them!!
We have ideas for all ages! The Sparklers Printable – for the “Kids at Heart” – of the adults!
4th of July Sparklers
A 4th of July Bag Topper , goodie bag topper printable that will filled with some red, white and blue Perfect Playdoh for all the little kiddos.
4th of July Bag Topper
And the 4th of July Pop Rocks Printable for anyone who like the feeling of fireworks going of in their mouths (to me these are the weirdest candy ever, but my Little Chefs seem to LOVE them!).
4th of July Pop Rocks
Stay tuned for some other great Celebration ideas and recipes!! For some great BBQ recipes try our Tangy BBQ Chicken Marinade, Smoked Gouda Sliders, Potato Salad, or top if off with some refreshing Brazilian Lemonade. Do you need more crafts? Try our Red, White and Blue DIY Necklace, Easy Star Button Wreath and Uncle Sam Craft.
In the summer we grill a lot of chicken, steak and fish. This Avocado Compound Butter is an easy recipe that can be made in advance. When you pull your meat off the grill place a slab of butter on top and watch it melt.
We had a bunch of avocados that were all ripe at the same time. I needed to find something to do with them all so they would not be wasted. We could only have homemade guacamole two days in a row. I created a compound butter that we put on top of Grilled Lime Chicken. It was delicious!
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp butter, softened
2 small avocados
1 Tablespoon cilantro
2 teaspoons cumin
juice of 1/2 lime
zest of 1/2 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Directions:
Put all ingredients into a food processor.
Mix until combined.
Place butter onto wax/parchment paper and squeeze into a log. As you can see from the picture I tried using plastic wrap. It was pretty easy to use, but it was a little more difficult to peel off after being frozen. Any little wrinkle will be frozen in that pattern. Try to smooth it out if that will bother you. Just remember when you serve it the pieces will be small and the wrinkles will not be noticed, especially when the better melts.
Chill in the refrigerator a couple hours until firm.
This butter should keep in the fridge for about a month. To extend the life wrap it well then transfer it into a freezer zip top bag. It should keep in the freezer for about 3 months. Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before using.
Add a slab of butter on top of:
grilled fish
grilled chicken
fresh corn on the cob
pork chops
steak
toast/bagels
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:81]
Next time you want to jazz up a piece of meat, just create this Avocado Compound Butter. Add a slab to the top of the meat the last minute of grilling or immediately when you pull it off the grill.
Before we start cooking we need to learn a few things we should DO to help the cooking process go a little smoother. Following these 7 Do’s will also help you have a better experience.
7 Do’s in the Kitchen
DO read the recipe all the way through before getting out any equipment or food. Here you will discover the steps to the recipe. You will get a general idea how complicated the recipe is and how long it will take to prepare. Beginners add 2-3 times the estimated prep time.
DO clean as you go. Doing dishes and cleaning your work space as you go is a good habit. It also makes clean up at the end much quicker.
DO use the largest cutting board available. You will be more comfortable cutting on a larger surface. Your mess should mostly be contained to the large cutting board which makes clean up easier.
DO mise en place. A French term meaning to prepare all your ingredients before starting the first step of a recipe. Prepare your equipment and tools by placing them on your work surface.
DO create a cooking journal. A 3-ring notebook with divider tabs works well. You can print or copy a recipe then file it under the appropriate heading. After you have tasted your recipe write on the recipe anything you learned that will help you make it even better the next time.
DO combine rich and light dishes. Rich dishes are heavy with butter and indulgent ingredients, light dishes are generally healthier. I tried finding a great definition of rich and light and obviously couldn’t find one. Do you have an easy way to explain the two? If so, let me know.
DO keep a conversion chart readily available. All recipes are written just a little differently. Did you know you can strengthen your math skills as you cook? Here a printable conversion chart.
Do you have any DO’s that help you have a more successful experience in the kitchen? I have found the more prepared we are going into a recipe the more excited my Little Chefs are at preparing it and they know the beginning, middle and end. (This really helps with their attention spans!)
We are loving trying my Grandmother’s recipes; Caramel Rolls and Dutch Butter Cookies. Sometimes, very occasionally we have bananas that are becoming over ripe. Grandma’s Aloha Bread is a twist on the regular banana bread because it incorporates coconut and orange rind.
The first step is to zest an orange. Little Chef A is very proficient using the microplane.
Next she mashed up 3 bananas. This was her first time so I had to assure her it was just fine to completely smash them.
First she creamed the butter and sugar. We cheated and added to it the milk, vanilla and almond extract. Then came the dry ingredients and coconut and nuts. We were lazy and didn’t want to do more dishes.
The batter was then put in a greased bread pan. We were so excited when the timer finally went off because we were smelling something wonderful for so long. This bread did not disappoint. We absolutely loved it. Thanks Grandma for another great recipe!
Aloha Banana Bread
Five Little Chefs Great Grandma
Ingredients 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (softened) 1 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup chopped nuts 2 eggs 2-3 mashed bananas 1 Tablespoon orange rind 1/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, bananas and orange rind. Combine milk, vanilla and almond extract. Mix dry ingredients and milk alternately. Stir in coconut and nuts. Pour into 9×3 loaf pan greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes after taking out of oven.
Not only has school already started for us, but so has soccer season! Practices are keeping us busy each night. This Saturday is the first of the games. Spending so much time outside waiting and watching I have to be creative to keep my Little Chefs happy. One way is to make sure they are fed. I have found if they are hungry they are not happy anywhere, especially at the soccer field where they need to stay for a predetermined time. We are not able to leave whenever we want which makes it more difficult for them.
Have you tried the Green Giant Veggie Snack Chips yet? I’ll let you in on a secret. I gave them to my Little Chefs and didn’t tell them they were veggie chips! I only told them they were chips. They already love ranch and barbecue flavors so I knew they would most likely enjoy this new snack. It is great to take on the go to practices or games. It is soccer for us, but it could be another sport or activity for you.
We tried two flavors Green Giant™ Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chip – Garden Ranch and Green Giant Multigrain Sweet Potato Chip – Barbecue. There are two additional flavors: Tasty Cheddar and Sea Salt. These chips are thick, crunchy and my Little Chefs loved that they could see different ingredients on the chip. I loved that they did not seem to leave a lot of residue on their hands for me to clean up afterward. I did not need to worry about them wiping red all over their shirts just to get it off their hands! You know what I’m talking about!
The Garden Ranch chip has a texture that is similar to a multigrain tortilla chip with a roasted red pepper and ranch flavor. The Barbecue is sweet and smoky with the sweet potato and barbecue flavors blending together well. This chip is thicker then chip we are used to eating. Our family was 3-2 on which was our favorite. But they did say they would eat both flavors if we had them as options. Now that sounds like my Little Chefs will be requesting these when we are out shopping and they see them on the shelves!
Look for Green Giant Veggie Snack Chips in your local grocery store or supercenter. Which is your favorite flavor?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
A couple years ago we had a Halloween birthday party where we made tombstones for all in attendance. All the kids, not just mine, thought they were so fun! They enjoyed finding the one with their name and reading the rhyme my Little Chefs created for them.
To continue with our tombstone theme this year we created Tombstone Treats. These krispy treats are easy to make with only 3 ingredients. They are also easy to shape.
First, Little Chef D make the krispy treats the traditional way. 3 Tablespoons butter, 40 regular marshmallows and 6 cups rice krispies. Melt the butter and marshmallows in a saucepan on low. Once melted turn the heat off and add the rice krispies. Stir well to combine.
After everything is mixed together thoroughly, pour into a 9×13 pan and spread evenly with a piece of waxed paper. Once cooled, cut carefully with a knife into strips. You can make these as large or as small as you choose. We made the strips 3″ because there are a lot of people in our family! We made the front of the tombstone 3″ wide by 4″ high. The back piece is 3″ x 2″.
Round the top 2 corners of the front piece by squeezing and pressing with our fingers. This is easy to do.
Decorate the front of your tombstone. We opted for the easy way and used little tubes of icing. The fine tip made it easy to write or draw.
Once the front is finished attach the front to the back with a line of icing. Now your tombstone should stand alone without falling down.
My Little Chefs had fun creating the tombstones on their own. They were quick and easy enough to keep their attention.
Need another tombstone idea? Try our Tombstone Pudding Cups. Do you want to search for tombstones? Try our Halloween Scavenger Hunt.
Need another tombstone idea? Try our Tombstone Pudding Cups. Do you want to search for tombstones? Try our Halloween Scavenger Hunt.