Nylon Headbands

Every wonder how to make those cute nylon headbands you see for sell everywhere? I always think to myself that I don't need to buy them. I could just make them myself. But them I never know quite where to start. I found this great tutorial on how to make them at elizabethkartchner.blogspot.com. Check it out. And if anyone else knows of different way to make baby headbands/bows, please share. It's no fair keeping it all to yourself. :)

Frozen Pizza and Month Of Meals

So, I have been working on two things lately, trying to save money and trying to save time. I know the cheapest way to cook is from scratch and to plan meals in order to avoid going out to eat on a whim, but it is so time consuming. With me and my husband working full time and with church callings, it seems like there is always a meeting to be to or someone to pick up.... Who has the time? This is way I was very intrigued by the women who do that month of meals in their freezer. I'm sure you have all heard of this idea, but, in case you haven't, I'll tell you how it works. At the beginning of the month you set aside one whole day to do nothing but cook. You make enough meals (that can be placed in your freezer) to last you the whole month. Of course you need a big freezer, which I don't have as of yet. So my plan is to try different recipes and make a few things to keep in my freezer on the days that I don't feel like cooking. As I find ones that I like, I will share them with you. If any of you have any that you have tried before, please email the recipes to fun4mommies@gmail.com

First up...Frozen Pizza

We like pizza at out house, but the order it is expensive and most of the good frozen kind are not too cheap either (Unless you get them on sale). So we decided to try and make our own. They turned out good.

You make your pizza dough recipe like you normally would. When you get to the part where you roll it out, you have a choice to make. You can either freeze it without toppings, just as a plain pizza crust, or you can place all your toppings on it before freezing. We tried it both ways. The first time I tried this I didn't have any good toppings at home, so I just froze the crust. The nexy time I planned ahead and got all my toppings ready. Both way turn out fine. But if you freeze it with the toppings, that is one less thing you need to do on the night you bake it.

Once your dough is ready, instead of placing it in your oven like you normally would, it goes in your freezer for later :) I placed mine on a cook sheet covered with wax paper. In a few hours, when it is completely frozen, take the pizza out and place it in a freezer bag. Try to get all the air out of the bag. You can now store your pizza in the freezer for up to a month. Any longer and you might get freezer burn.

When you are ready to cook it, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place your pizza on a cookie sheet or pizza stone. I would suggest spreading a small amount of corn meal under your pizza. The dough tends to get very sticky after it has been frozen. Bake for about 25 minute or until your cheese is bubbly and you dough is golden brown. Enjoy!

I'm sure almost any pizza dough recipe will work, but this is the recipe we use and it works great.

Herb Pizza Crust
makes 3 10-14 inch pizzas

2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups flour (I used part whole wheat and part all purpose to make it a bit healthier.)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
3 tablespoon oil (Olive oil is the healthiest to use. It's good for your heart.)

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and let stand for about 5 minute. Combined dry ingredient in a large bowl. Kneed in yeast mixture and oil into the dry ingredients. (I used my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook attachment.) Once a dough as formed, shape in into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise till it doubles in size, about 45 minute. Punch dough down. Place dough on a floured surface and divide into three balls. Brush the balls with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30-45 minute. Shape dough into your pizza crust by working from the center of the ball outwards. 1/4 inch for crispy crust. 1/2 inch for soft crust. Now you freeze it, with or without toppings.

NOTE: You can omit the herbs in the recipe and it would still turn out great.

Princess Hairdos

I was looking online for some cute Halloween ideas and came across a fun hairdo blog, shedoeshair.blogspot.com. If your daughter is a princess this year, you might want to check out some of these great tutorials.

Snow White Hairdo
Jasmine Hairdo
Cinderella Hairdo
Tinkerbell Hairdo and my favorite,
Belle Hairdo

Even if your little girl isn't a princess this year, still check out her blog. She has some great ideas. And she takes pictures of her creating from all angles, so you can see what they are suppose to look like. Some of them look hard to me (but what do I know, I have a baby boy) but others look easier. All of them are definitely worth trying.

Happy Hairdoing. (Is that a word? :)

Halloween Dinner Ideas

Here are some great ideas for Halloween food. Some of these I have tried, some I have yet to try, but all of them look fun.

First, we love Goumet Mom on-the-go! And she has some great posts you need to check out. She is full of fun and spooky diner ideas. And make sure to check out a lot of her other ideas while you are there.
Ghostly Shepard's Pie
Ghostly Pancakes
Spooky Snake Pizza
Not Your Mummy's Meatloaf
Mom?! There's Something In My Dinner

I got a copy of Woman's Day Magazine from a friend of mine. It had some fun dinner ideas as well.
Spider Web Pizzas
Pumpkin Patch Bites (I like it better with Crescent roll dough instead of pie crust.)
Serpent Sandwich
Bloody Soup Shots (goes great with the Pumpkin Patch Bites)
Spiderweb Nacho Spread

I also love a lot of the name brand food sites, like Kraft.com and Jello.com. These recipes came from Pillsbury.com.
Crescent Mummy Dogs
Jack-O'-Lantern Chicken Taco Cups
Witches Finger Sandwiches
Cauldron of Chili With Spider Bread
Toad's Eye Soup With Witches Broom Breadsticks

If anyone tries any other these recipes, please let us know how they are. If you have any ideas to share, please email us at Fun4Mommies@gmail.com. One thing I have learned is green olives make great eyes for any meal.

Happy Halloween!

Fruit Sorbet

For my birthday, my mom and dad bought me a lot of canning stuff. One thing they bought me was Ball's Blue Book Of Preserving. The whole book is about different ways to preserve foods.
In the "Freezing" section there is a great recipe for Fruit Sorbet. It's a great dairy-free alternative to ice cream. It's like sherbet, but more tart. I thought it would be a good way to use those baby food jars I have piled up. You can freeze individual servings. Plus, it's a good way to get some extra fruit into your kiddos.

Fruit Sorbet

4 cups sliced fruit (I used peaches)
2 cups of sugar
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Puree your fruit in a blender. (You could use a food processor of you don't have a blender.)
Combine sugar, OJ, and lemon juice and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add fruit puree. Pour on a 9x13 pan and freeze. (I let mine freeze over night, but if you want to do it all in one day then you need to keep in mind it will take over 4 hours to completely freeze.) Working in small batches, blend your frozen puree in your blender (or food processor) until creamy. Scoop into the jars you will be freezing your sorbet in, leaving 1/2 inch of space on the top for freezing expansion.

Mine made about 3 pints, with a little left for tasting. It was yummy. I thought next time I would try it with less sugar and see if it is as good. Never hurts to try and make it a little more healthy.

NOTE: the book says to store in your freezer up to a month. Also, any soft fruit such as peaches, strawberries, raspberries, or melons can be used.

Free Movie Rental

So, did you know your local library likely has tons of movies for you to check out that you and your kids will love? I had no idea till recently. On the radio, they were talking about how local libraries were busier than ever because of the poor economy. So I thought I would see if my library had any good movies to check out. They do!!! The trick to getting the good movies is to get online and request movies. If you just show up at your library, often times the good ones are gone. If you don't know how to request books/videos/music online, ask your librarian. When I was looking for movies, I typed in Disney and got 11 pages on different Disney movies, from Peter Pan to Mighty Ducks to School House Rocks. You can even get the old Disney educational movies. My husband and I got some interesting movies for us too. This week we are getting a NOVA and a Planet Earth. They may not be an action/adventure, but they are interesting, educational, and FREE.

UPDATE: I discovered that if I search "feature films" I get over 900 full-length movies. Some are really good ones, such as Annie, Apollo 13, Beautiful Mind, The Indian In The Cupboard, My Fair Lady, and Second Hand Lions (Just to name a few :)

Jump Start Creativity

One way to get children to use their imaginations is through writing. When I was in fourth grade, my teacher had a story starter book similar to this one:
The book had many different story starters. Each story starter had a picture and the first few sentences of a story. It was our job as students to finish the story as we felt it should go. Even though we all started with the same picture and beginning, we all had very different stories in the end.

Of course you don't need a book for this activity. You can make your own story starters. You can start a story from pictures you have in books at home, or from the library. Or keep you eye out for fun and unusually pictures from books at the DI. They have cheap books and you can rip out pictures you want to keep even if the book is hammered. Show your child the picture and ask them what they think is going on. Have them tell a story about it. Example:

This picture came from Vladstudio.com. It's a wonderful and whimsical picture that sparks the imagination.

Or you can start a story from just a few lines you wrote yourself. Just write a small paragraph and your kids can finish up. Here's an example:

It was a cold winter morning. I thought everything was normal, but boy was I wrong. First of all, It had snowed 2 feet in the middle of the night. That may not seem to strange to you, but I like in Arizona! Then I heard a strange tapping on my window. I opened they window. I couldn't believe my eyes. Standing there was a polar bear! Things just got weirder from there. Next, when I went outside...

It's easy! And fun to see what your kids come up with. If you have young kids, you can write a story they dictate to you. Or do a picture starter instead. It's also a great way to help increase creativity. Here's how it works. You draw a few lines, shapes, and/or squiggles on a piece of paper.

Have your child finish the picture. You will be surprised what they see and imagine. I'm sure they will be a lot more creative than I was. I just wanted to show you an example of what I meant. I thought it would be easier to understand than me just explaining.
HAPPY WRITING!

Power Of Parents

I came across a website with tons of information to help keep your children safe from abduction. It's called PowerOfParentsOnline.com. It has tips on how to keep you kids safe, how to talk to your kids about how to keep themselves safe, and what information you should have available and updated if you child should ever be abducted. I know this topic isn't really Fun 4 Mommies, but it is Important 4 Mommies to know.