Fun with the Kids Fridays: Make A Cloud

The other day I mentioned on Facebook that it was in the negatives (yes, I also realize I mentioned it yesterday when I gave my Taco Soup recipe...I am pretty much whining about it everywhere).

One of my friends left me a comment telling me about an experiment you can do if the weather is in the negatives.  

Something fun to do outside when the weather is so cold you won't feel your face, finger, elbows, teeth, hair...you get it, it is cold.

So back to the awesome experiment...

When the weather is in the negatives, you can make yourselves some clouds.

All you need is...well the afore mentioned negative degrees of course. 

Then you need some hot water. Tea kettle, right off the stove kind of hot. I did try hot tap water, that only partially worked. So make sure it is hot.

Gather your excited and bundled up kiddos. 

Pour the hot water into a smaller container, we used the lid to a thermos.

Toss the water away from you up into the air.

Then right before your eyes the water turns into a big, billowy, fluffy cloud.

The boys LOVED it.

I wish I had gotten more pictures, but my fingers stopped being able to function about 30 seconds in. We were also working with a small window of time.

We had realized that this was the last negative temp for awhile, AND it was only going to be negative for the morning. So we had to hustle and make our clouds before the boys had to get to school.

Best start of the day ever.

We are pretty excited for the next below zero day. The good news is we will probably have another one...or two...or three...

I would normally not wish negative degrees on anyone, but if it means you get to watch hot water turn into clouds...totally worth it.

Taco Soup

This week we hit a first. The cold hit double negative digits.

Say what?! Uh, yeah.

I guess that isn't uncommon around here, but it was still quite a shock for us. I mean we know cold.

Ohio got super cold and nasty during the winter too. The wind was nasty. The sleet was nasty. The snow was nasty. So yeah, we know cold winters.

Man this was different.

Considering our first winter in Idaho wasn't as bad as we had anticipated, I think we just kind of put it out of our minds that the weather here had the potential to be so cold.

Sunday late evening the predictions started.  Just how cold would it get?

Would it get cold enough to cancel school...

P.S. that would be -20 degrees.

Yes, folks it did get cold enough to cancel school.

-24.

Crazy. TWO cups of crazy.

There are only a few ways to combat that kind of cold.

Stay inside.
Grab a quilt.
Make a mug, or three, of hot cocoa.
Wear your jams all day.
Snuggle.

Oh, and of course, make soup.

Taco soup is a family favorite. 

This is a recipe I have tweaked over the years until we love it.

Taco-ey enough for Oldest, who could eat a taco for every meal. There is enough kick for the adults, but not so much that a little sour cream can't extinguish for the smaller boys. I like beans, so wouldn't you know it there are two kinds. For Hubby, it has the consistency more of a stew...but Taco Stew sounds weird, so I am still callin' it soup. From the cook/mom's perspective, this soup can be made quick-like in 30 minutes if I am pressed for time. It can also cook low and slow all day long in the crock pot if I am uncharacteristically prepared.

So really, it is a dream-come-true-kind of soup.

I have heard that is uncommonly chilly in a lot of places. 

I hope you can get warm and cozy. 

Soup is always a good idea.

Taco Soup

Printable Recipe

1 lb ground hamburger
1 cup diced onions
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (like Rotel)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
1 small can tomato sauc
1/4 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup taco seasoning
1 dry ranch packet

Cook ground hamburger and onions in a saute pan until meat is cooked through.

Drain the fat off the meat and transfer to either a stock pot or a crock pot.

Add all of the other ingredients and stir until combined.

If cooking it in a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

In a stock pot, bring to a bowl of med high heat. Stir frequently. Once it comes to a boil, lower the temperature and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, stirring ever five minutes.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Stay warm friends!!

A Pinteresting Wednesday: Open Wide Zipper Pouch

Sorry I am a little late getting this week's A Pinteresting Wednesday up. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth...in other words, our internet was down and when it came back up our decrepit computer was having problems coming back to life.

But, sweet Methuselah (aka our computer) woke up from his nap and now it is time to share with you my Pinterest project this week.

This week's A Pinteresting Wednesday project is this Noodlehead Open Wide Zipper Pouch.  

I actually made two. The first one I made for a quick birthday present. I made it from an old shirt and some gingham fabric. Gotta love gingham.

It was so easy to make. Anna's tutorials are always easy to follow. Plus her projects are always sewing eye candy. I did misread the instructions, completely my bad, so the bottom of my first one didn't taper as much as it should have. I still loved it, but I really wanted to make one with the tapered bottom.

I knew right away who I wanted to make one for. 

I have this lovely baby sister who has decided to volunteer 18 months of her young adult live and go serve the Lord on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is currently awaiting her assignment.

Isn't she lovely?

While we are waiting to find out where she will go and serve, I decided she could use a little gift for her mission.

This pouch is the perfect size for holding a little notepad, some scripture pencils, pens, or anything else a missionary might need handy.

The open wide feature makes it easy to see everything in the pouch. Nothing is hiding or getting lost in there.

Another feature of Anna's tutorial I love is that the zipper is meant to be over-sized so that you can add a coordinating zipper pull.

Her two-tone bag was a little different than mine, but for my bag I just wanted a hint of a contrasting fabric on the bottom. This tutorial is really easy to play around with. In fact, I used old jeans for the bottom of this bag.

Now it is kind of like I am going on this journey with my sister.

I used fabric that reminded me of her. Lovely. Playful. Cheerful.

This is one of my favorite new sewing projects. All I need to do now is stock up on zippers.

Now we just wait to find out where this zipper pouch and my not-so-baby sister will be going.

How has your pinning gone this week? What has been a favorite Pinterest project of yours? What Pinterest board to you pin or use the most? I would love a link to your favorite pin board and would love to see what you are pinning.

Follow along on Pinterest.

Nacho Average Valentines: Printable

I am getting a jump on Valentines this year.

AND by a jump...I mean so far I have 1 out of 3 Little Men's done.

That is a "jump" right? I sure hope so.

I got this idea when I was actually brainstorming a thank you gift idea. I am excited to show you that version later.

Once I had the original idea, it just kind of morphed into a possible valentine idea.

Sometimes I have a hard time thinking up valentine ideas that my boys want to give out. They aren't so much about the lovey-dovey, mushy, all hearts and kisses stuff.

Imagine that. Shocking that little boys wouldn't so much be into that!

Last year I only had one Little Man to make valentine's for and I made my How Does a Dinosaur Say Happy Valentine's Day? valentines. They were a big hit.

Dinosaur Valentines Post

Fast forward to this year and I have not one, but three Little Men to make valentines for, thanks to starting kindergarten and preschool.

I was pretty happy with myself when I came up with these phrases that would fit perfectly with snack-sized bags of Doritos chips.

The "NACHO" average valentine was the first phrase I thought of.

I wanted to play on the cheesiness of the chips too.

This "CHEESY" tag is what evolved. (This would go great on bags of Cheetos or Cheez-Its too)

I made these tags in my go-to editing program PicMonkey.

Download Printable Valentines HERE

I the tags on a single sheet and made it a downloadable/printable pdf file, in plenty of time for you to make some of these for your little Valentine to give out.

Making them is easy peasy. Simply download the tags. Then print off as many as you need. By some snack-sized bags of Doritos (or any other nacho cheese tortilla chips).

Cut out the tags. Have your little Valentine sign the tags.

Then I cut out some black and white fabric.

I very simply taped the fabric strip around the bag and then taped the tag onto the front of the bag, covering the seam of the fabric I taped down.

Before I knew it I had a whole slew of "Cheesy" valentines all ready for Middle to use in his class on Valentine's day.

He is pretty excited! Now I just need to decided what I am doing for the other two.

What are you guys doing this year for valentine's? What have you done in the past?

Linking Here:

Tatertots and Jello,
Your Homebased Mom, Tidy Mom

Slow Cooker Saturday: Lasagna Soup

Welcome to edition No.2 of Slow Cooker Saturday.

Thank you to everyone for making the first Slow Cooker Saturday's recipe Teriyaki Chicken such a success.

I got a lot of good feedback and a few good recipe ideas. If you have any tried and true slow cooker recipes too, I would love to give them a try. My crock pot and I are becoming fast friends. Who knew?

I left her (yes I decided my slow cooker is a she) out of the kitchen cool group (you know...my Kitchenaid, my frying pan, my Dutch oven...) for so long. I can't believe I missed out on how awesome she is.

She is totally one of the cool kids.

This week she brought her a-game and helped me make this soup.

It is absolutely no secret that I love soup. My love of a delightfully warm bowl of goodness comes to no surprise considering how much I loathe being cold. When chilly Fall and even chillier Winter comes, soup is one of my favorite things to put on the menu.

Again, I have said this before. Broken record much?

How much do I love soup?

I love it like a love song baby. I love it like a love song baby. I love it like a love song baby...

And I keep hitting ruh-peet-peet-peet-peet-peet...

I think I just gave away that I like to listen to Selena Gomez songs...

Oops.

Anywho, this soup was awesome. 

How awesome you ask? 

Well, let's just say I had this soup done early enough to have good light to photograph it (yes I am crazy, but that is a given), about an hour before the actual time to serve dinner. 

I may or may not have eaten the bowl of soup immediately after my photo shoot was done. 

I may or may not have had melted mozzarella cheese hanging from my chin. 

I may or may not have happily pretended that I had not already had a giant bowl and proceeded to eat another...ehem...I mean my very first...bowl of soup of the day.

The soup was so yummy with the perfect combination of meat, pasta, and tomatoes. The cheese was pretty impressive too. We paired it with a loaf of Dutch Oven Artisan Bread. 

Yum.

No really...yuuummmm...sorry I got carried away.

My Little Men inhaled this soup. Even Little who tends to be a wee pit picky.

It was even music to my ears when I overheard the boys fighting the next day over who got the leftovers for lunch.

My heart was oh-so-happy.

If it is as chilly where you live as it is where I live, I think you owe it to your chilly toes to make this soup.

If it isn't as chilly...you lucky dog...

However, I still think you owe it to your not-as-chilly-toes to make this soup.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup 
adapted from Family Fresh Meals 

Printable Recipe

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups beef broth
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
1-6 oz can of tomato paste
1 1/2 cups V8
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups small pasta (I like any of Barilla's Piccolini pasta), uncooked
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.
Shredded mozzarella-for topping

First saute the ground beef and the onion together until the hamburger is browned. Drain off the fat. Set aside.

In the dish of your slow cooker, mix the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste until well combined.

Next add in the cooked hamburger mixture, the broth, garlic, parsley, basil, V8 and the salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Add in the cup of water, the pasta, and the parmesan cheese. Stir. Then cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes, or until the pasta is done.

When ready to serve, generously top with mozzarella cheese.

I would love for you to share this recipe on Pinterest or Facebook.

Thanks you guys are the best.

Linking here:
Be Different, Act Normal, Six Sisters Stuff