Snow Day & Buttered Kale Chips

  Yesterday we had a SNOW DAY!  I love having everyone at home.  And guess what!? We get to be home together today too!!!!  🙂  Here are some photos for you to see, head on over to facebook to view.

  We had some leftover Kale from that yummy Potato Kale soup I shared on Monday, so we decided to brave a new recipe I have been eyeballing for Kale Chips!  I can’t believe I am saying this, to you, but Kale Chips are AMAZING! 

This kale chip recipe includes olive oil. Did you know that healthy fat eaten with a veggie increases nutrient absorption? Who knew eating healthy would be sooooo delicious?!

Buttered Kale Chips

{click title to print}

Ingredients

• 75 leaves (or More!) Organic Baby Kale
• 1/4 cups Butter Infused Olive Oil, or more to taste
• Coarse Kosher Salt, To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 275*.

Prepare Baby Kale leaves by removing the fat part of the stem, starting up in the leaf. This part is bitter! Place trimmed leaves in a bowl and drizzle with approximately 1/4 cup buttered olive oil, use more or less based on the amount of baby kale you are using. We just want a nice coating of oil on each leaf.

On a baking stone, place leaves in a single layer and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for *25-30 minutes or until leaves are nicely crisp, but not brown.

Allow to cool, then carefully remove to a platter and enjoy. You will not believe how crisp these get!

*If you do not have a baking stone and instead plan on using a baking sheet, flip each leaf over, and bake an additional 20 minutes to crisp the other side before cooling and eating.

Enjoy!  My family went through 2 batches of these in one sitting!!!!
~T

Snowy Day Salt Sculptures

  Post 2 for today, is in honor of the first SNOW DAY of the year! YAY!

  We have a Snowy Day tradition here at the 4 little Ferguson’s household.  It goes beyond the usual traditions of cocoa by the fire…..these kids LOVE to do arts and crafts, so when we are snowed in for a couple of days, we make Salt Sculptures!

  We make it into an all day project.  First, we all work together to make the dough. Then, we all turn our dough into cool shapes and creatures.  It bakes while we eat lunch.  After nap, once they are nice and cool, we paint!!  Super fun way to pass the time!

Salt Sculpture Recipe

4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup salt

Mix together flour, water and salt.  Sculpt the doughy mixture into shapes-animals, flowers, rockets, or whatever your imagination inspires.

Bake at 350* for 1 hour.  Cool and paint with washable acrylic paint.

 Here is the original post from 2011, I cannot believe how little the kids were back then!!!!!

This is what we made last winter when we were home for 4 snow days in a row, PLUS a weekend.  It was awesome!

  Get ready for some good ol’ fashioned, MESSY fun!

Be sure to head back one post, and go check out the Birdseed Ornaments we are making over at Marathon Mom today!

~T

Christmas 2013: Part 1

We got the kids home for 2 whole weeks for Christmas Break!  There is nothing that makes me happier than when we are all under one roof together.

  I have to show you these photos I found on my camera when I was uploading Christmas!

We even had our first big snow of the Season, just in time to have a White Christmas….

  I love living in a place where we experience all 4 Seasons to their fullest!

The photo above {right side} with the little shed, made the local paper!!!!  So exciting when that happens 🙂

 

  We got 9 and a half inches of snow, so it was pretty tough to get around, but everyone had fun….
UNTIL the Snow Ball Fight started. 

  Apparently, Snow Ball fights sound a lot more fun than they actually are.

Just sayin’.

Avery is sobbing and Pax grins, “Hee hee! I do it, Momma.”

  Last year I got a beautiful picture of the kids having fun in the snow.  I guess I waited too long to get a shot, because by this point everyone but Ty was in tears. 

  I told him he might as well cry for the photo too.  He is a good faker. 

The tears continued as we tried to walk in….

So I assigned partners and sent them in to warm up.   We will try, try again next snow!

  Christmas Eve Eve I took photos of some PRECIOUS newborn twin girls! 

   Their sweet Momma needed photos done ASAP before they got too big to be sleepy. They were 13 days old, and much after 10, they are no longer sleepyheads.

  I told her if we could keep it short and sweet, and she didn’t mind my living room, I could fit her in before our family came over for Christmas. 

  I have never ever shot in my house before, and I was so worried about lighting and the timing of it all. Sometimes newborns can take HOURS to cooperate.

  God was gracious, I was able to get all the food made in the morning, and put the ham in before she arrived. The light was fine, and the girls were angels!

Here are my favorite shots:

  About the time I cleaned up, Dale’s siblings and dad arrived for our traditional Christmas Eve Eve get together.  The kids always have fun with their cousins and aunt and uncles!

  The next night, Christmas Eve, we had some surprise company from Phoenix, Uncle Marion & Aunt Judy.  We just sat around and talked and of course, ate tons of good food! 

  That night, we decided to try the first annual Sleepover in front of the tree.  I always did that growing up and we are finally at a stage to do so. 

  Dale and I lay by the kids and sang Christmas carols until everyone was relaxed enough to sleep.  A couple of them were still up at ELEVEN!!!! Ack!
Oh well, they all must’ve been very tired, because they all slept until 8!  That never happens at our house….

  WordPress always gets mad at me for putting on too many photos, so I am going to start a new post for the rest! 🙂

Hugs, T

Salt Sculptures

    It’s cold here, 5*……

And SNOWY!  17 inches according to the news, and still coming down as you read this.

   So here we are, stuck inside on another Snow Day this school year. (What is this day number 4 or 5 for this year?)  I never remember getting out for Snow Days very often when I was in school, but I gotta say, I loved them then, and I love them now! There is something so cozy about holing up and staying home together!

  The first Snow Day, we made snow ice cream.

    On another snow day, we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace.

  So enough with the Snow Day sweet treats!  Today, it was time to bust out some arts & crafts.  We decided to make Salt Sculptures!

  Everyone worked SO hard on their projects!  They took an hour to bake and then we had to let them cool before we could paint them.

  Paxton found the whole thing rather exhausting.  Sweet baby.

We had SO much fun!  Daddy came home from work super early and joined us at the table, which makes things like this even better!   🙂    

 Here are the finished sculptures:

Tylan’s “Sam the Snake” & Destiny’s worm, “Slimey”.

My flower & Dale’s Rainbow Arachnid, who due to a nasty fall broke both front legs, poor dear.

Destiny’s momma horse & colt and 2 bales of hay

Avery’s baby Jesus, complete with binky & crib. You can see her baby spider in the background. (He’s nice she says.)

Tylan’s T-Rex named, “T. Rex”, what else?

  I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but stay warm, stay safe and have fun making these with your kids today!  What a great way to spend the afternoon!

~T

 

Salt Sculpture Recipe:

Mix together 4 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup salt.  Sculpt the doughy mixture into shapes-animals, flowers, rockets, or whatever your imagination inspires.  Bake at 350* for 1 hour.  Cool and paint with washable acrylic paint.

 

Snow Day Fun

   As I am writing you this evening, it’s 5* with -22*wind chill and a couple of inches of snow on the ground…school was cancelled, so I got my girl home for the day! 🙂  I love being home with everyone safe and warm, we have so much to be thankful for!

  The first thing the kids did when they found out there was no school for big sis, was declare it “Jammie Day!”

  Ok, ok twist my arm…..they’re warm, they’re snuggly and it’ll save time later at bedtime…I’m in!!!!

   They played hide & seek and ended up under Destiny’s bed playing “tent” most of the morning.  After nap time, as a special treat, we busted out the marshmallows to make S’mores. 

 

  If you know me, you know I am anti-sugary snacks, but on this snowy day with a fire crackling in the fireplace, it just seemed like the right thing to do.  It made their day! 🙂

  Being the official “S’more Maker” is a MESSY (but delicious) job!!!!

  Oh, here is an interesting tidbit for you….

Did you know Walmart’s Graham Crackers no longer come in rectangle shape?  Nope, they are already broke in half.  Convenient, but kinda sad.  I LOVED eating those huge rectangles when I was a kid. 

Do they have to go and change EVERYTHING?

  Pax took a nice nap this afternoon, but woke up a bit frantic. 

I went to his room to figure out what was wrong…..

  

  Little stinker had managed to wedge himself across the bottom of the bed and every time he kicked, he hit his head! 

    To make a great day even better, Daddy came home early!

    The rest of the afternoon was spent reading books, coloring and playing games. 

  We finished the evening with a yummy soup supper, Creamy Tortilla Soup (recipe to come) and a Custard Pie, using fresh eggs from our new feathered friends.  The crust recipe I used made two crusts, so I was forced to make a Peanut Butter Pie as well.  Oh the shame of it all!  The Custard Pie is devoured, only two pathetically small pieces remain.  The PB Pie awaits tomorrow nights dessert! YUM! 

Speaking of tomorrow….It’s back to reality, but what a great break!   

Never mind, I just got “the call”;  No school Wednesday either!  YAY!  🙂

Stay warm today!  Oh, and Happy Groundhog Day….

  Here’s to hoping the little critter doesn’t see his shadow, so we have a shorter winter!  But let’s be realistic, he is no weather forecaster!!! 

~T

 

Snow Day

 

  I ADORE snow!  Especially when we get to stay home alll day!  I figure if its going to be cold, it might as well be pretty too!

  We had such a great day, despite the fact that my poor little buddy, Tylan had the flu.  😦  Doggone it!  He spent the day dozing on a little bed in front of the fireplace and begging to drink and eat, to which I complied as often as I could….with bucket ready every time.  Poor kid!  Praying no one else gets it!

  Anyhow, Destiny had no school due to the snowy weather, so we played games, read library books and drank a mugs full of hot tea, all cozy in front of the fire.  (My kids adore hot tea, go figure!)  Even better….Dale got home early and joined us! 

  The girls went out in the snow together while daddy worked out in the shed.  They had a ball and lasted MUCH longer than I anticipated, actually staying out longer than it took me to get them bundled for once.  The boys took great naps during this time, so I got a bunch done, yay!

  Anyhow, here are the pictures from today……

The Girls were excited to play in the snow together….

 

As is tradition with all our babies, we took Paxton out for a total of like 60 seconds to get his picture taken with his First Snow…..

 

Needless to say, his reaction was quite similar, if not identical, to his siblings reactions of years past.

Yup, here it comes……

He got so mad he fell over.  Things really went down hill after that!  Since he is my 4th, I got like 6 more photos of him bawling before rescuing him from his snowy demise…..

My little snow angel…..

  This is the part where I headed in to feed, comfort and console him by the warm fire. 

  He forgave me.  🙂

~T

P.S.  I am adding a second post here in a bit for you…..it’s a delicious new recipe we tried called Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole.  Man, was it ever good!  I love comfort food on a snowy cold day!