FREE St. Patrick's Day Printables

I can't believe St. Patrick's Day is around the corner!  In case it is sneaking up on you too, here are some links to help you decorate your house with your little one.  Have Fun!!!

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day word search from About.com

Click HERE for a Vocabulary Worksheet from About.com

Click HERE for a St. Patrick's Day crossword from About.com

Click HERE for a sign or HERE for a Harp for a St. Patrick's coloring page from About.com

Click HERE for a Clover coloring page on About.com

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day activity sheets from abcteach.com

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day coloring pages from grandparents.com

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day printable activities, coloring pages, mazes, and crossword puzzles from kaboose.com

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day coloring pages from mes-english.com

Click HERE for St. Patrick's Day coloring page printables, connect the dots, color by letter and more from coloring.ws

Free Valentine's Day Printables, Crafts and Activities

Valentine's Day is going to be here before you know it! It's not too late to print off some free Valentine's Day printables for your kids to create, color and give out to the ones they love,.


Click HERE for free Valentine's Day activities including crafts, games, classroom decorations, worksheets, readings, and interactives from abcteach.com

Click HERE for free Valentine's printables from HP

Click HERE for free printables from activityvillage.co.uk/. They have little Valentine's Day jigsaws, posters to decorate the classroom, scrapbook paper for your Valentine craft projects, and much more

Click HERE for printables including coloring pages, bookmarks, cards, awards, and more from
mes-english.com

Click HERE for activity sheets for all ages for Valentine's Day from teachingheart.net

Click HERE for printables, coloring pages, bingo games, and more from About.com

Click HERE for cards, activities, worksheets, coloring sheet and more from 123printcards.com

Click HERE for Valentine's pictures and coloring pages from kaboose.com

Click HERE for Valentine's coloring pages, cards, crafts, games, poems, recipe, puzzles and more from DLTK-holiday.com

Click HERE for free printable cards, coloring pages, activity sheets, gifts, stickers, and decorations from familyfun.go.com.

Click HERE for free coloring pages and invitations from familyshoppingbag.com

Click HERE for free valentine printables, coupons, word search puzzles, an activity book, and cards from allfreeprintables.com

Easy Valentine Treats

Everyone knows how to make Rice Crispy Treats.  Here is a super simple twist for Valentines Day to make your treats extra special.  This is also perfect for little hands to help out with!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine                                         
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows  or 4 cups miniature marshmallows                           
• 6 cups Crispy Rice Cereal
• red food coloring
• white chocolate chips, if desired

Directions:

     1. To begin, lightly coat a 10- by 15-inch baking sheet
        with cooking spray and set it aside.

     2. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add
        marshmallows and stir continuously
        until completely melted. Remove from heat.

    3. Stir in drops of red food coloring until the color

        receives a thumbs-up from the chef.

     4. Add Crispy Rice Cereal.  Stir until they are evenly
         and well coated.

     5. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press
         mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with
         cooking spray.

     6. Cool slightly.   Cut out hearts with the cookie

         cutter. Place hearts in a clear plastic bag or on

         a plate and they're ready for giving

**MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS: In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow the rest of the steps as noted above.  Microwave cooking times may vary.

**I split the batter in half and kept some to cut for squares and some to cut out for hearts.  That way, I was able to make a tray with squares for the adults and bite sized hearts for the kids.

I know the possibilities are endless with this dessert, but I made a special heart for my husband,  Since my husband loves white chocolate, I melted some white chocolate chips and drizzled it over the big heart.  YUM!

Free Groundhog Day Printables

Here is your roundup of free Groundhog Day printables to enjoy with your little ones!

Click HERE for a free Groundhog Day word search, puzzle and other activities from About.com Homeschooling

Click HERE for crafts, worksheets, and printable books from enchantedlearing.com

Click HERE for tons of printables, including puzzles, lesson plans, mazes, dot to dot and more from edhelper.com

Click HERE for free printables from activity village.

Click HERE for free Groundhog Day printables and Groundhog Day worksheets and a Groundhog Day unit of study from apples4theteacher.com

Click HERE for free printables, including a Groundhog Day song from abcteach.com

 

Homemade Disinfecting Wipes

For the second week in a row, I forgot to buy disinfecting wipes.  The kids are sick, the hubby is sick, and I'm the last one standing.  Anyone knows that SAHM's do not have PTO or sick days to use up.  Those are a far and distant memory, so I HAVE to stay well. 

Then it hit me...how could I not figure this out sooner?  I will make my own disinfecting wipes.  Easy enough, I Googled it and found the directions on eHow.com.  I can't take credit for this, but I will take the credit for being smart enough to make them instead of buying pricey wipes from the store!

Instructions:

1. Lay the roll of paper towels on its side on a flat, level surface such as a cutting board or counter. Use the serrated knife to cut the roll in half, width-wise. Press down on the roll as you cut so that the cardboard tube in the center of the roll is compressed and somewhat crushed.
2. Remove the cardboard tube from the roll of paper towels and discard it. Set the two half-rolls of paper towels aside.
3. Measure 1 1/2 cups of distilled water into a plastic container, such as a clean margarine tub or food storage container. The container should be large enough to hold one of the half-rolls of paper towels upright. Add 1/2 cup of liquid disinfectant household cleaner to the water and stir.
4. Place one of the half-rolls of paper towels into the container. Seal the lid tightly, and flip the container onto its lid. Set it in a sink or on a counter in case any of the liquid leaks.
5. Allow the homemade disinfectant wipes to stand overnight so that all of the liquid will be absorbed into the paper towels. Use the homemade disinfectant wipes by opening the lid and pulling a paper towel out of the center of the roll. If desired, you may cut a slit in the lid, and pull the homemade disinfectant wipes out through this hole.

Tips & Warnings

• These homemade disinfectant wipes are only intended to use for household cleaning. Do not use the homemade disinfectant wipes for personal cleaning.

Read more: How to Make Homemade Disinfectant Wipes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5431933_make-homemade-disinfectant-wipes.html#ixzz2Iphf6aQY

French Toast Bread Pudding Recipe

With the holidays behind me, I can now get back to posting and sharing all the wonderful recipes I tried over the holiday season.  First, I posted the Christmas Crack recipe, which is absolutely delicious, if you haven't tried it yet.  Now, I can post my favorite breakfast dish of the holiday.  Each year, my sister makes this for our Christmas morning gathering.  This year, we decided to have a brunch, so instead of missing out on the tradition, I finally got the recipe from her.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup brown sugar (not packed)
• 1 box frozen french toast sticks, cut in half (I use Murray's brand)
• 1cup heavy cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut french toast into pieces while frozen
3. Layer 9x13 pan with brown sugar
4. Lay french toast in sugar in a single layer
5. In a large bowl, whisk cream, eggs, vanilla, salt, and water.
6. Cover french toast with mixture
7. Leave in refrigerator overnight for creamier texture. 
8. When ready to bake, sprinkle top of french toast with white sugar.
9. Bake 30-40 minutes, then broil top of bake for 2-3 minutes to brown the top.
10. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!  And don't expect there to be anything left over for the next day!

Crunchy Pork Chop Recipe

I kind of stumbled upon this recipe one day while I was trying to come up with something new.  Pork chops....what to do with them?  I searched crunchy pork chop recipes, but I didn't like any one recipe I saw.   So, as usual, I took the best of each recipe and came up with my own!  This recipe was a hit with my family and so easy!

Ingredients:

• 2 to 4 Boneless Pork Chops
• 1 Egg and 1 teaspoon of milk
• 1 Cup Herb Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
• Salt, Pepper and whatever spices you like on your chops to taste.  I use Rosemary and Thyme
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Trim the thick white fat off the pork chops, cutting carefully around the outside edge. Lay the chops between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and, using a mallet beat them until the meaty part of the chop is about half as thick.
3. Beat the egg in a shallow wide bowl with the salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. On a large plate or platter, combine the breadcrumbs with the Parmesan cheese.
4. Press each of the chops into the egg mixture, coating either side. Then dip the egg covered chops into the bread crumbs, covering them evenly.
5. Place in a shallow pan lined with tin foil and drizzle the melted butter over the coated pork chops.
6. Bake in the oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes, or until the juices run clear.