Teacher Gifts

I lost track of time these last few weeks. There has been so much going on with the kids and wrapping up the semester. Yesterday one of my friends asked me what we gave last year for teacher gifts. That is when I realized that the last day of school is tomorrow and I had not even thought of teacher gifts.

Personally, I prefer to donate money to a class fund to purchase a gift card or some other group gift. That way I don't have to worry about gifts.

This year, being short on time, I just had the kids help me put together some gifts with things we already had at the house.

We made snowmen containers from old peanut butter jars and DH's old socks. The cuff on the socks made great snowmen hats!  I got the idea from here.

I also found some directions for a felt owl ornament from Juicy Bits.  I put the front of the owls together and each of the kids sewed and stuffed an owl.

The kids also helped me make chocolate covered pretzels. We bagged those up and put them in the snowman jars along with the ornament. The kids made cards using clipped images from last year's wrapping paper.

I made gift bags from newspaper. We put the gifts in the bags and decorated with paper snowflakes. The red ribbon was from a gift my daughter received the other day at her class holiday party.

I might be just nuts or cheap or both, but I love reycling or finding new ways to use old things. I hang onto anything I think might be useful down the line. DH thought I cut up a pair of his perfectly good socks for the snowman hats. I told him they were socks he had discarded because they were worn out. I just never threw them out. What do you know, they actually did come in handy...lol.



Newspaper Gift Bags

Snowman jars

Felt owl ornaments

Card decorated with clippings from previous year's wrapping paper

Recycled bows and bags

The first graders at my children's school put on a holiday market as a fundraiser for a charity. Each year they ask for gently used items to sell as well as gift bags and ribbons.

I donated some used gift bags. I also donated some bows made from magazines and some gift bags made from newspaper. My kids helped me make and decorate the bags. They were so fun to make.

Play Dough Update

The recipe I previously posted for non-gooey homemade play dough is still my favorite thus far.  It has been over a week and the stuff is still as good as the day that I made it.  It has not dried out nor has it gotten all gooey and squishy like all the other recipes that I have tried.  This one is definitely a keeper!  The consistency and texture really is much like that of store bought Play Doh.  If you are looking for an easy play dough recipe, definitely give this a try. 

Non-gooey Homemade Play Dough

I don’t know how many homemade play dough recipes I have tried.  None of them have even come remotely close to resembling the store bought Play-Doh.  I’ve tried both cooking and non-cooking recipes and no matter what, the homemade stuff always turns out to be a gooey mess.  I think that maybe the homemade recipes are okay if you live in dry areas, but I have always lived in really humid places. Although some of the homemade play dough is okay initially, it doesn’t take long before it turns into a gooey mess.  Some websites say to just add more flour and knead it into the dough if it becomes to sticky. I just don’t even want to handle the gooey mess much less try to salvage it. 

The last batch of homemade stuff I made had to be scooped out of each container, and it was just gross.  I kept all my original Play-Doh containers so that I have containers in which to put the new homemade play dough.

So back to the original  problem…gooey dough.  I think I finally have a solution to non-gooey play dough.  This stuff actually resembles the store bought brand. At least it's the closest I've come.  The solution was so simple it was almost ridiculous.  Just add less water.  I make Chinese dumplings all the time and realized that the 2 cups of flour to 1 cup of water would probably be appropriate ratio for the play dough recipe as well. This ratio makes for a really nice pliable dough.

I didn't want to have to cook to make play dough so I really was wanting a non-cook recipe. The salt is important but I didn’t like the recipes that called for a ridiculous amount of salt (1 or more cups).  I think too much salt makes the texture of the play dough grainy.  That and I think it’s a waste of perfectly good salt. Overall, I am really liking this recipe.  There is no cooking involved and it's really simple.  Most people already have all the ingredients in their cupboards.

Non-Gooey Play Dough

2 cups flour
2 Tbs. Vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbs. Cream of Tartar
1 cup hot or warm water (I did not use boiling water)
Gel food coloring

I mixed all the dry ingredients together.  Then I drizzled the vegetable oil over the mixture.  After that I added about 3/4 cups of the water.  As I kneaded the dough, I added a little more water as needed.  You really shouldn’t need more than 1 cup of water.  The dough might seem a little stiff at first, but it should become more soft and pliable as you knead.  It also helps to let the dough sit for a couple of minutes before kneading again.  I used gel food coloring since the liquid food coloring just adds more moisture to the dough.





I will try and remember to blog again in a month or so about how this play dough has held up.  So far it has been a couple of days and no gooey mess.  The kids have played with it a lot and so far so good.

If anyone has a recipe for homemade play dough that holds up well under humid conditions, I would love to try it out.  Until I can find a better substitute, I think this will be my recipe of choice.

Wheat Tortillas

I've only bought tortillas a couple of times since moving to Jakarta because the packages are so expensive!  It's probably around US $7 for a package of 8.    A friend of mine says that she always makes her own tortillas so I got the recipe from her.  Here it is.  It is simple, and my kids really like it.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
4 Tbsp. Canola oil
2/3 cups water

Combine all the dry ingredients.  Then add the rest.  Knead a little until it sticks together.  Divide into eight balls and dredge in flour.  You can store them in the fridge in a plastic bag or roll them out immediately. Flatten to a 7 inch disk or larger.  Fry on medium high heat about 30 seconds per side.  Cover with a towel as you make the rest.

Easy Biscuits

DH loves Bisquick biscuits.  I think that I’ve seen Bisquick here in Jakarta on occasion,but as I recall, it is very expensive.  Awhile ago, I looked online (probably at allrecipes.com) and found an easy recipe that DH says tastes just like the Bisquick biscuits he likes so much.  It’s pretty simple to make and both DH and the kids love it warm from the oven.  They taste really good with a little bit of butter and honey.
Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter (softened)
2/3 cup milk

I mix the dry ingredients together first.  Then I put in the butter and milk and mix it all up with a fork. There is no need to knead the mixture.  Make 9 small balls (just pat the dough together)  and put on a greased baking sheet.  Brush the tops of the biscuits with a little bit of milk.  Put in the oven at 220C for about 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Garden

Back in August, I posted about planting some chili pepper seeds and green onions in plastic buckets.  Well, months and months later, we finally have chili peppers!  I’m not sure what the variety is, but the peppers are a mixture of slightly sweet and spicy.   The package said it was a hot pepper, but milder than other varieties.  I tried planting a couple of other things, but they didn’t turn out so well.

The green onions do well in the plastic buckets as has kang kung (green leafy vegetable).  Sadly, my tomatoes grew some kind of fungus and died without ever producing fruit.  The strawberries never even sprouted, and the pumpkin sprout died.  Of all the things we have planted, the chili peppers have been the most successful. The kids think it is pretty fun to harvest the chili peppers.  They also enjoy going out with a pair of scissors to cut green onions for me.  Although it’s pretty tiny, it’s nice to have our own little garden.

 

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffin

I was at the store the other day and saw that they had Libby brand canned pumpkin.  I had been thinking about baking something like banana bread for the kids to take to school as a snack.  When I saw the canned pumpkin, I thought that muffins sounded good. 

After I got home, I noticed that I had 2 Granny Smith apples that had been sitting in the fruit bowl for over a week with no takers.  Poor little apples were starting to look a little sad so I thought maybe I could make some kind of muffin with pumpkin and apples.  I found a recipe at one of my favorite recipes sites: www.allrecipes.com. The recipe was for a pumpkin apple streusel muffin...perfect!

I did make a few changes since 1) I didn't have pumpkin pie spice and 2) along with the Libby brand canned pumpkin, I also found gold medal wheat flour.  Now that may not seem very exciting to you, but those things can be hard to come by here in Jakarta.  I've learned from experience now that if I see something that I want that is not readily available, I need to buy it right away.  The last time I thought I would go home and think about whether or not I wanted to pay US $7 for a bag of wheat flour, they were sold out by the next day.

Ok..now for the slightly modified recipe.  If you want the original recipe, you can find it here.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffin

Makes 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour ( this way i can convince myself the muffins are healthy...ha ha)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutment
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple

Streusel                    

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together white and wheat flour, sugars, spices, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.               

The muffins were very moist and DH and I thought they were delicious!  Unfortunately, my kids didn't like the muffins as much as we did.  Still, I thought the recipe was worth keeping.  One of these days, I should probably just make a recipe as written and try it first before tweaking it.  As usual, I generally end up making changes because I don't have all the ingredients on hand.  I guess I could learn to plan to make something in advance and then go grocery shopping.  But...that would require too much planning and forethought...lol.

Clam Chowder in Bread Bowl

All this rain during the rainy season in Jakarta has been making me crave soup.  The other night I decided I really wanted some clam chowder in a bread bowl.  I looked up some recipes for clam chowder and came up with this one by taking parts from a couple of recipes.  I get most of my recipe ideas from www.allrecipes.com.  I mixed recipes because I really wanted clam chowder, and I didn’t want to run to the store to get anything I didn’t already have in my pantry.  The kids liked the soup although they weren’t too fond of clams.  DH loved the soup.  Everyone loved the bread bowls. So this isn’t the healthiest recipe, but it certainly hit the spot!
Clam Chowder

• 1 can cream of potato soup
• 1 can baby clams
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 strips of bacon chopped into small pieces
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp. butter

I cooked the bacon in the bottom of a soup pot.  The bacon here in Jakarta is actually super lean and more like ham so I added 1 Tbsp. of butter and cooked the bacon in the butter. If using regular bacon, I would drain the excess fat and leave just a little bit for flavor.  When the bacon was part-way cooked, I added the onions and bell peppers and cooked everything until the bacon was crispy.  Then I added some potatoes and stir-fried them briefly.   I added the entire can of clams.  Then I added 2 cups of heavy cream and the can of cream of potato soup.  I added a little salt and white pepper to taste.  I also threw in roughly 1 Tbsp. of dried parsley…I think fresh would be better. I cooked the soup over medium heat until the potatoes were tender.

Bread Bowl
Before starting the soup, I started the dough for the bread bowls. I basically used the recipe for the Italian Bread Bowl from allrecipes.com. I liked this recipe because the ingredients were simple and I had them on hand. I halved the recipes and made 5 smaller bread bowls for our family instead of the 8 in the recipe.  The following recipe makes 4 large bread bowls.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1-1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 egg white
• 1-1/2 teaspoons water

The instructions are pasted from all recipes.com with a few minor changes to the quantities since I halved the recipe.

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, oil and 1/2 the flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Punch dough down, and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.
7. To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

123 Color

This coloring book app is free for just this week!  I think the free download period started yesterday.  The regular price is $9.99 (to get all the coloring books) so get it while it is free!  All the coloring books are included in the free download.  Normally the price would be $0.99 for the app and then $0.99 for each coloring book or $8.99 for all the coloring books.  This app is the International Edition with 17 different languages.  English is the default language, but you can change it under the settings tab to whatever language that you would prefer.  You can color by number, capital letters, lower case letters, and free-style.  Kids can also practice handwriting.  My 3-year old daughter has been playing with it this morning and loves it!   You can check out a more detailed review here: http://kidcalc.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/123-color-international-edition-talking-coloring-book-released/
I have been downloading apps that will help my kids learn mandarin Chinese so this app is perfect since mandarin is one of the 17 language choices that is available. Can I just say I love free stuff?

iPad Apps

So we finally broke down and bought an iPad 2. My son uses one at school in tech class. I thought it was interesting that the school my kids attend begins teaching kids how to use the computer and the iPad starting in kindergarten. Anyways, each month the school librarian gives a recommendation about a free or relatively inexpensive app that she thinks is good for kids.

I was curious to try out the iPad as an educational tool for the kids. So far, I have been very impressed with the quality of many of the free educational apps for kids. I am going to add a page that will list the apps that we have tried and that we like. So far I have not paid for any apps but that may change later on down the road. I came across a website today that has lots of great reviews of both free and paid apps for kids (www.smartappsforkids.com). Check it out. I was able to download some paid math apps that are free for a limited time. I think the kids will like the new apps.

The beauty of the free apps is that if the kids get tired of it or if it isn't that great, you can just delete it and try another one. I was surprised that we have had the iPad for almost a month now and the novelty has still not worn off. We all love our iPad!