The Chaos and the Clutter

Easiest Chocolate Cherry Cake

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This recipe can be whipped up in no time and is downright delicious!

1 package of dry chocolate cake mix

1 19 oz. can cherry pie filling

1 1/4 tsp. almond flavouring

2 beaten eggs

Combine all ingredients together.  Mix well.  Smooth into a cookie sheet that has been greased or is lined with parchment paper.  I like to use parchment paper because then it also makes for easy clean up.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

This photo is how it looks before going into the oven.

For the icing, put in small saucepan,

1 cup sugar

5 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup milk

Bring to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Pour icing over warm cake.  Cool and serve.  If served with whipped cream, it tastes like a moist black forest cake!

More Snow Day Activities

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On a cold and snowy day, the kids easily start to get restless.  These activities will help to keep away the winter blues and redirect all that pent up energy!

In my first Snow Day Activities post, I concentrated on indoor activities that kids could do when it was just too cold to go outside.  This time, I thought I would concentrate on winter activities that actually incorporate the snow.

Snow Art.  Fill spray bottles with water and a bit of food colouring.  Send the kids outside and have them create masterpieces just by spraying the snow!  This is so easy to do and one that can entertain from toddlers to teens and every age in between!

snow painting

Snow Castles.  Using empty ice cream buckets, pails, sand toys, or moulds, the kids can pack the containers with snow and make snow castles instead of sand castles.  They can even add flags made from straws and paper to complete the look!

Back to Basics.  Sometimes we forget that the most fun in snow can be had by playing in it the way kids used to.  Making snow angels, building snowmen, making snow forts, making pictures on the snow with sticks, going tobogganing, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing are all things that are just as much fun now as they were when we were kids.  Snowball fights are fun too as long as there are ground rules set to keep it safe and fun for all.

Tracks.  Finding or creating tracks in the snow is fun and educational.  Have your kids try to find tracks in the snow and then using books or the internet, help them discover what type of animal made those tracks.  You can also have them play detective and try to figure out which family member made which human track by using clues such as foot size, treads, and weight distribution.

Bring Winter Inside.  When the temperature outside dips too low, bring the snow in for a fun change of pace.  You can do this by filling plastic buckets or even the bathtub with snow and then letting the kids use their imaginations to play.  They can use toy cars to make roads, make imaginary scenes using small toys or make “mountains” for their dolls to ski or toboggan down.

Of course a great way to end off a snow day activity is with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a snuggle under a warm blanket!

Snow Day Activities (indoor)

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Today is way too cold to venture out, so I got to thinking about what indoor activities I could do with the kids to keep them (and me) from going crazy. Here are some easy ones that I came up with that could be made with household items.

Doll House or Castle.  Using empty boxes, help your child make a doll house or castle.  Imaginations, scissors, and markers are all you need.  If you really want to be creative, use scraps of fabric, pipe cleaners, and tiny boxes (such as match or toothpick boxes) to make curtains, lamps, and furniture for the house.

Faux Stained Glass.  Use up your broken crayon pieces by spreading out a sheet of wax paper and having the kids make crayon shavings on it using a pencil sharpener.  When they are done, fold the wax paper in half and iron it on a low temperature.  The kids can then make a frame for their creation out of construction paper.  They can make it look like a butterfly or a stained glass window.

Themed collage.  Have the kids create a collage using glue and pictures from a catalogue, magazine, or flyer.  Give them a theme such as “favourite things”, “foods that are healthy”, “things that fly”, “things that are red”, or “what I would buy if I had a hundred dollars”.

Masks.  Masks are a good way to change the mood.  They can be made using large paper bags, paper plates, stiff paper, or paper mache.  Feathers, glitter, sequins, ribbons, and beads can make the masks more interesting.  The kids can even then put on a play wearing their masks, which will help the hours pass more quickly on a rainy or snowy day.  If you don’t have supplies for mask making, face painting can also change the mood in the house and be used for make-believe.

Easy Shrinky Dinks.  Use empty small size potato chip bags or regular size chocolate bar wrappers.  Hole punch one hole near the corner and then place them on a baking sheet.  Put them in the oven at 325 degrees, keeping an eye on them.  They will shrivel and curl and then uncurl.  Remove from the oven when they are at least halfway uncurled.  Wait for them to cool.  They can then be made into keychains, zipper pulls, or jewelry.  Kids love this one!

For other great stay-at-home activities, be sure to check out these fun posts:

Creative Mail Ideas
More Snow Day Activities (outdoor)

Creative Mail For Kids – 7 Unique Ideas

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Everyone likes to receive happy mail, which is pretty much anything other than a bill. You can use these ideas to have kids send mail to grandparents, friends, cousins, or pen pals.a mother helps her two young boys mail a letter in a mailbox. Text reads "Creative Mail Ideas for Kids"Writing letters is a great way for children to practise their writing skills and penmanship in a practical and fun way. Sending them (by “snail mail”) instead of e-mail is especially fun. Below are some suggestions for fun and creative mail they can send.

Creative Mail Ideas:

A Homemade Photo Postcard – Take pictures and let the your child turn them into postcards by sticking a white index card onto the back of them. They can then write a message, fill in the address, put a stamp in the corner and send their personalized postcard.

A Puzzle – Have your child draw a colourful picture on cardboard or thick card stock with a message for a friend or relative. If the child is old enough, have them cut the picture into puzzle pieces. If they are too young, you can cut the pieces for them. Pop the pieces in an envelope and mail to the intended recipient for a very fun greeting card. 

Invisible Ink – Have your child write a message or draw a picture in lemon juice on a paper. Include a note on a separate piece of paper explaining that in order to view the message, the recipient will have to heat the paper up over a candle. This one is as fun to receive as it is to make.

Mail a Hug – I love this idea! Kids can send one of their actual hugs to loved ones by tracing their outstretched arms. This is particularly heartwarming for situations when you can’t give your loved ones a hug in person. Find the full instructions here.

Building Suspense – One idea that can improve your child’s creative writing abilities as well as their desire is to have them write a story and send a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or friend one chapter at a time. The recipient will want to know how the story ends and will phone or write to ask the child, who will then feel encouraged in their writing and be spurred on to finish that story and to write others as well.

Secret Code – Your child can write a letter using a secret code. Be sure that they send a decoder along with the letter of course! Here are some secret codes kids can use.

Add a Sentence – This one is also good for building creative writing skills in your child. The way it works is that your child writes one sentence or one paragraph (depending on the age and writing level of the child) and sends it to the recipient. The recipient then adds another sentence or paragraph on to the story and sends it back. Your child then continues the story from there and this continues back and forth until the story is finished.

Sending and receiving mail is fun for any child (it’s fun for adults too!). If there isn’t a relative that your child can send mail to, consider asking a Senior’s care centre if there is a lonely resident there that your child can send letters to or find a pen pal for your child.

Check out these other fun activities for kids:

Sensory Scavenger Hunt

Theme Day Ideas for Family Fun at Home

Easy Indoor Sensory Activities at Home

How to Make Your Own Tempura Sauce

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While cooking some tempura shrimp, I casually checked the fridge for the tempura sauce only to discover to my dismay that I could not find it.  I scoured everywhere in my kitchen, but the search was fruitless.  Desperate, I did a quick Google search for tempura sauce recipes, but became increasingly discouraged as the recipes called for things that would take a trip to a specialty grocery store to acquire.  My pantry doesn’t have many authentic Japanese ingredients!  I changed the ingredients to things I could find in my kitchen and tweaked it to suit my tastes.  Given the ingredients, this is not authentic tempura sauce, but it tastes like a good likeness and it can be made in about 5 minutes and with common ingredients that are in most kitchens.

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. white wine

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 Tbsp. minced ginger

Stir ingredients together on low heat for five minutes until they are well blended.

It turned out so well and was so fast and easy to make that I will be making my own tempura sauce from now on instead of buying it.

 

Healthy Lentil Soup

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Saute 1/2 a chopped onion and 1 clove of minced garlic in 1 Tbsp. olive oil for 5 minutes.

Stir in:

4 cups (or more) of vegetable stock

2 cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes

1/3 cup pearl barley

1/3 cup green lentils (known in the real world as split peas)

1/3 cup yellow lentils (known in the real world as split peas)

1 tsp. dried oregano (or more – I never measure spices)

1 tsp. dried basil

2 bay leaves

1 cup of chopped vegetables (whatever you have on hand…carrots, zucchini, celery…)

Simmer, covered for about 45 minutes.  Then add:

1/2 cup or more of sliced spinach leaves

2 Tbsp. blackstrap molasses

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Cook for another 15 minutes.  I like to add a bit of hot sauce into my personal bowl for some kick.  This recipe freezes well.