Toddler Meals

Purim 2021

Dear Sis,

We started our celebration yesterday. William took fruit filled pastries to school to share with his classmates and Carter’s family came over to have a festive dinner with us. 

I made five-bean soup, toss salad, warmed a loaf of challah I bought from a local international foods market, and roasted a chicken. Mama Jenn brought mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn, and green beans. William made a simple and delicious Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie for dessert. 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie

b
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pre-made graham cracker crust
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 2 T powdered sugar
  • 4 oz whipped topping, thawed
  • 1 (3.9) oz. pkg chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 3/4 c whole milk

Instructions
 

  • Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread into prepared crust.
  • Whisk together pudding mix and milk until smooth and thick. Spread over cream cheese layer. Chill a few hours to set.
  • Garnish with additional whipped topping and milk chocolate chips.

Our Purim Checklist

  • Read the story of Esther twice, The Queen Who Saved Her People by Tilda Baldly with noise makers.
  • Share a festive meal with friends and dress up.
  • Bake Hamantaschen and share them with Jewish friends.
  • Call and chat with Jewish friends. (Replaces going to temple during a pandemic)
  • Donate food to those in need. 

William got a new, larger rolling pin for Purim.

He also got a piggy bank and some change to put in it!

Charlotte, who is pig crazed, got a stuffed pig and a book:

Little Pig by L. Rigo

A Visitor

Our festive weekend happened to line up with William’s weekend with the class pet. A stuffed hedgehog, Quilly, was part of all our holiday happenings.

Love,

b

Beef Ramen for Grown-Ups

Dear Sis,

We all loved Ramen as kids! Its high time those greasy curly noodles grew-up too!!!

Grown-up Beef Ramen

Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 (3 oz) pkg beef ramen
  • 1 lb beef top sirloin sliced
  • 1 T avocado oil
  • 1 T steak sauce
  • 2 carrots shredded
  • 2 T green onions sliced

Instructions
 

  • Set aside seasoning and cook pasta according to package instructions.
  • Fry steak in oil until browned.
  • Add seasoning, steak sauce, and vegetables and cook until soft.
  • Stir in pasta and serve.

Love,

b

Homemade Pizza Lunchables

Dear Sis,

This week we made homemade crackers to go with some freezer meal chili we prepared in the slow cooker. We had leftover crackers, after days of snacking, all that remained was about 8 crackers that had lost their crunch and their snackers’ interest. On a whim, I turned them into pizza crackers as a bedtime snack for William! He declared them to be just like Lunchable pizza, which he gets super excited about!!! 

I promised William we could made a batch of crackers this coming month that were the proper size, so he could enjoy Lunchable pizza until his heart’s content.

Love,

b

Winter Book Club

Dear Sis,

Today we had a very full house and a lot of fun!

Book

Jenny’s Winter Walk: a kids yoga winter book by Giselle Shardlow

This story follows a mom and daughter on a winter walk. Each page also features a yoga pose. I wasn’t sure how a yoga book would go over, but everyone really enjoyed it!

Craft: Winter Landscape

Materials

  • 8×10 inch canvas
  • light blue acrylic paint
  • sponge brush
  • stick
  • hot glue
  • white acrylic paint
  • cotton swab
  • glitter

Assembly

  1. Paint the entire canvas blue using a sponge brush. Dry fully.
  2. Hot glue stick in place.
  3. With white paint, paint a snow-covered ground at the base of the stick to make it look like a tree.
  4. Dab on more white to create snow flakes.
  5. Dust with glitter. 

These winter scenes turned out great! We had kids between 4 and 9, who were all able to make one with pleasing results.

Craft: Snow Globe

Materials

  • plastic mason jar
  • miniature evergreen figurine
  • hot glue
  • distilled water
  • glycerine
  • glitter

Assembly Instructions

  1. Glue evergreen figurine to inside of jar lid with hot glue.
  2. Fill jar with distilled water, leaving only a small space at the top.
  3. Add a few drops of glycerin. The glycerine helps keep the glitter from sticking to the jar when it settles. Too much makes the glitter clump together, so be careful.
  4. Add an 1/8 t glitter. Too much glitter tends to stick to the bottom when it settles.
  5. Close jar tightly and give it a shake.

The glycerine:glitter ratio will vary based on the size of your jar. I practiced before book club to get the balance just right.

Game: Roll a Snowman

Free Download: Roll a Snowman Preschool Math Game

Posted on Teachers Pay Teachers by Natural Knowledge

Snack: Bagel Snowman

Ingredients

  • half a plain bagel
  • half a plain mini bagel
  • whipped cream cheese
  • pretzel sticks
  • chocolate yogurt covered raisins
  • fruit roll-up

Song

Party Freeze Dance by The Kiboomers

Instead of “freezing” by staying still, we “froze” by wrapping our arms around ourselves and saying “burr.”

Love,

b

P.S. We also did a book exchange. Each family gently used wrapped books and we swapped at the end.

Lunch with Aunt Angel

Dear Sis,

This morning my sous chef and I had an early start, so we could me Shepherd Pie and Cookie Pudding for Aunt Angels lunch visit.

While I chopped the onion, Sous Chef William chopped the potatoes. Daddy is in the background sitting on the floor while baby sister spins counter-clockwise in the doorway bouncer:) She always uses her feet to spin counter-clockwise (shoulder shrug).

Josh browned the beef for me, while I put Charlotte down for her morning nap. Making lunch was a family affair:) When I came back, we put William’s potatoes on the stovetop to boil. 

While I made gravy and mixed veggies into the beef, my sous chef got busy crushing the chocolate sandwich cookies. He has a few refined techniques:

This first technique is a broad spectrum approach to cookie smashing.

The second technique is more precise and can be used to target cookies that escaped smashing during the application of the first technique.

I have a homemade shepherds pie recipe on the blog, but I have made some changes to accommodate life with a baby and toddler. When I’m in a real pinch, I use Bob Evans pre-made mashed potatoes from the grocery store. I thought I’d share my new mom hacks. Also, though I have not tried it yet, I’m pretty sure this could be a freezer meal. 

Busy Mama Shepherds Pie
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pound lean ground beef
  2. 1 onion, chopped
  3. 2 cups beef gravy
  4. 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  5. mashed potatoes
  6. shredded cheese (opt)
Instructions
  1. Brown beef and onion in a skillet over medium heat.
  2. Stir together beef, gravy, and vegetables in a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
  3. Top generously with mashed potatoes.
  4. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
  5. Add shredded cheese during last 10 minutes of baking time, if using.
Adapted from b
Adapted from b
Tag Sis, You're It! http://www.tagsisyoureit.com/
I used GFS beef gravy mix: 2 c water and 1/2 c mix, whisked and microwaved in 30 second intervals until thick.

We had a wonderful afternoon with Aunt Angel! Our monthly lunches are such a treat:)

Love,

b

Cheesy Instant Pot Chicken Veggies and Rice

Dear Sis,

I made this dish during our visit, but this time I didn’t burn it. The sauté function heats very quickly. I learned the hard way that it is best to have all your food prep complete before go time, and to stay close by to stir frequently.

Cheesy Instand Pot Chicken Veggie Rice
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Ingredients
  1. 2 chicken breasts, cubed
  2. 1 onion, diced
  3. 1 T minced garlic
  4. 2 T avocado oil
  5. 1 t ground pepper
  6. 1 t salt
  7. 2 c uncooked rice
  8. 3 1/2 c chicken stock
  9. 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
  10. 2 c shaded colby cheese
  11. 1 (12 oz) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
Instructions
  1. Using the sauté function, panfry chicken, onion, and garlic in oil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. When cooked through, cancel sauté function and stir in salt, pepper, and rice.
  2. Add chicken stock and place lid on Instant Pot. Set to manual cook and put 8 minutes on the timer.
  3. Quick release pressure. Stir in soup, cheese, and vegetables until cheese is melted and vegetables are warmed.
Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff
Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff
Tag Sis, You're It! http://www.tagsisyoureit.com/
Love,

b

E is for Elephant

Dear Sis,

Elephant Cinnamon Biscuits

Elephant Cinnamon Biscuits
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pkg. refrigerated biscuits
  2. cinnamon sugar
  3. raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven according to package instructions.
  2. Place half the biscuits on a baking sheet. Cut the other half into thirds. Press the outer thirds onto the whole biscuits to create elephant ears. Press the center thirds onto the lower center of the whole biscuits to create elephant trunks.
  3. Sprinkle each elephant biscuit generously with cinnamon sugar.
  4. Press two raisins into each elephant biscuit to create eyes.
  5. Bake according to package instructions.
Tag Sis, You're It! http://www.tagsisyoureit.com/

Our Daily Reading

Our fiction selection for the day is Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. This is one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books. Aside from the obvious entertainment value, Horton reminds us that handwork and dedication are worth the time and effort!

Our non-fiction selection for the day is Baby Elephant Joins the Herd by Ben Richmond. This book follows an elephant from birth to maturity. The photography is framable! 

“E” is for Elephant Letter Craft

Parent Preparation

  • Print 2 copies E is for Elephant Letter Craft from Miss Maren’s Monkeys, on white card stock. You need 2 copies because the E and the ear templates overlap.
  • Cut out E, ear, tail, and trunk templates.
  • On gray or light blue craft paper, trace and cut out templates. 
  • Draw toe nails and tail hairs on with a black pen.
  • Provide a sheet of craft paper, glue stick, and large wiggly eye.

Student Assembly

  • Paste E on craft paper.
  • Paste ear, tail, and trunk in place.
  • Paste wiggly eye in place.
  • Write or ask your grown up to title, name, and date your work, for your homeschool portfolio.

Elephant Size Sorting

Print page 7 of Elephant Printable Packet by Mudpies & Make-up, on white card stock. Cut out and laminate for durability. We sort largest to smallest and smallest to largest:)

Feed the Elephant Counting Mat

Parent Preparation

Our Process

  • Match number cards with numbers on puzzle, so student can count to figure out forgotten number names.
  • Place a number on the counting mat and add that number of peanuts.
  • Check your work, by counting aloud with your grown up.

Love,

b

 

E is for Egg

Dear Sis,

Our Daily Reading

Our non-fiction selection is from the Cat in the Hat Learning Library collection: Who Hatches the Egg? by Tish Rabe. This book has great content, written in verse, and even follows a chick embryo through its stages of development.

Our fiction selection for today is Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Sam-I-am might be a nuisance, but he reminds us we don’t know if we like something until we try it!

Green Eggs Shape Mat

Print Green Eggs Shape Matching Mat from AUThentic Creation’s Teachers Pay Teachers account, on white card stock. Place shape mat in a page protection, and cut out and laminate shapes, for durability.

Green Eggs & Ham Alphabet Cards

Print Green Eggs and Ham Letter Match Game by The Cozy Red Cottage, on white card stock. Cut out and laminate for durability.

These game is designed for kids who are learning to match upper case and lower case letters. William is not at that point yet. He is still learning his alphabet. We started our lesson, by singing through the alphabet song a few times together. Then we used the upper case cards as flash cards. I told him letter names and a few words that start with that letter and he repeated the information back to me while studying the card.

Green Eggs Counting Mat

Print Green Eggs Math Mats for Counting, Addition, and Subtraction from A to Z Teacher Stuff, on white card stock. Also print Number Cards by Tag Sis, You’re It! Draw a square in the upper corner of the counting mat for number placement. Place mat in a page protector. Cut out and laminate eggs and numbers.

Lunch: Green Eggs & Ham

Green Eggs & Ham
Yields 12
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Ingredients
  1. 6 eggs, boiled and peeled
  2. 2 - 3 T mayonaise
  3. green food coloring
  4. 12 slices ham cold cuts
Instructions
  1. Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks, place in a mixing bowl, and crush until smooth with the back of a fork.
  2. Stir in mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in food coloring.
  3. Place egg mixture in a pastry bag with a large star tip. Pipe into egg whites.
  4. Roll slices of ham and secure with toothpicks.
Tag Sis, You're It! http://www.tagsisyoureit.com/

Love,

b