How is everyone doing out there? Do you all have enough toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and soap? What is your food supply looking like?
I don't have rolls of toilet paper to give away, but while you're camping out at home for the next couple of weeks with kids who have been pulled out of school, I wanted to give you a list of ideas to keep yourself sane, and not feel guilty about any sort of academic schedule. So I'm breaking this down into outside activities and inside activities. It's all fun and, often times, it will be educational without your kids even knowing it! Outdoor activities: I don't know what the weather is like near you. We had rain all week so the temps are nice and cool, but the sun has come back. If you live in a more temperate climate like us (no snow) then here are a few fun outdoor activities:
Indoor activities: If it's too cold outside for you, or you just want a change of pace, here are a few fun ideas to keep you and your kids occupied indoors
I hope this list really helps get you started and if you come up with ideas of your own, share them! We're all in this together, let's make it as fun as possible and take advantage of time to really reconnect with our kids!
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Sometimes, when I think about that fact that my mom made us a home cooked meal for dinner almost every night of my childhood (and sometimes even now) my mind is blown. Thinking up and making something for dinner every night is the hardest part of adulting, I believe.
For me, simplicity is the name of the game. That is why I like this recipe for smoked paprika chicken thighs so much. It's simple, requires very few dishes, and the best part? It tastes so yummy! As you can see from my photo collage, I paired my smoked paprika chicken thighs with rice, corn, and strawberries. (Colorful dinner plates are the name of the game guys.) You can mix it up however you like. PH loves chicken and rice and Friday was his birthday, so I thought these smoked paprika chicken thighs would be a great and tasty variation on a theme. I was right. The chicken thighs were moist and flavorful. So, without further ado, here is your recipe for smoked paprika baked chicken thighs so you can have something to make for dinner tonight.
Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs
This quick and easy dinner is sure to be a big hit with your family Ingredients:1 pound Bone in, skin on chicken thighs 1 ½ TBSP Smoked Paprika 1 TBSP Garlic powder 2 TSP Onion powder 2 TSP Salt 1 ½ TSP Black Pepper 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil Directions:Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit Mix together all spices and oil in a large sealable bag Add chicken to bag and seal Toss chicken until coated. Use fingers to rub in spice mix to the chicken. Place chicken in a baking dish Bake in the oven covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for an additional 15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Remove from oven and serve with a side of rice and your favorite veggies. This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support. In case you've forgotten something about me, I've lived in France. A few times actually. The first time was as a law student. The second time was as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After I got back from law school I searched for a recipe to make those delicious macaron cookies. I found this lovely blog. The author is French! So, obviously, when she wrote blog post tutorials on how to make the French macaron cookie, I'm going to believe everything she says because she is French. I don't know if you know this, but French people invented food. Anyway, I've made macarons a few times using Tartelette's recipe and tips to ensure the best outcome. I'm not a pro, but I've gotten pretty good at it. Well, a couple of weeks ago my mom told me she was going to make macaron cookies like Mike from Monsters Inc. for us to take on our trip to Disneyland. Did she consult me on the recipe? Or ask me to help? NO! She used a Tasty video. Ugh. Let's be honest guys, you enjoy watching those videos, but nothing turns out like they say it's going to. They do weird things like bake a cookie for 40 minutes. Like, how does that sound good? Well, I got over being offended and decided to make some cookies for her. I made a batch of green ones and then a batch of pink. My daughter wanted red, but I didn't add enough food coloring to make it red so they're pink. We're going to decorate them with polka dots and make them Minnie Mouse macarons. I am going to share with you here how I make these cookies. It is all based off of Tartelette's recipe. A few tips to get you started. 1. Use a digital scale. The recipe is in grams, because it is French. A scale will ensure that you get your measurements just right. French macarons can be finicky little cookies, so you want to make sure you have your measurements right. 2. Leave your egg whites sitting out for at least 24 hours. I know that might gross you out, but I assure you, you will be fine. Just do it. 3. Do not overbeat your egg whites. When adding the sugar you want to beat them until they have a glossy shine like shaving cream. They hold their shape, but if you over beat them then your cookies will be hollow and not as good. 4. Use the Simple Home Creations Silicon mat to make them (linked below.) Alicia's family got it for me for Christmas one year. It is so nice because it helps ensure that my cookies turn out all the same size. 5. Finally, Tartelette uses an Ateco tip to make her cookies. I use Wilton's #12 size tip. A #10 works too, but I like #12 the best. Okay, are you ready to make some French macaron cookies? French Macaron
These delicious little French cookies are fun to make and so tasty! Recipe adapted from Tartelette.com Ingredients:90 gr Egg whites 25-50 gr White Sugar 110 gr Almond Meal 200 gr Powdered Sugar Directions:Allow your egg whites to age in a bowl on the counter, loosely covered for 24-48 hours. In a large mixing bowl sift together almond meal and powdered sugar In a stand mixer beat egg whites until they are a bubble bath consistency. Slowly add in sugar while continuing to beat eggs until they become a shaving cream consistency. Fold in almond meal/powdered sugar mixture with whichever food Coloring you want to add. It should only take you a maximum of 50 strokes to mix in the almond mixture. Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton’s #12 tip with the batter. On a silicon mat, pipe out your cookies to about an inch and a half in diameter. Let cookies sit for 30 minutes to an hour white you preheat the oven to 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool at least five minutes before removing them from the sheet. After filling the cookies you can store them in the refrigerator. This will enhance their flavor. This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support. I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year! I'm still suffering from a little bit of back to work depression. Christmas was wonderful, and it's a busy time for our family since our daughter's birthday is three days later. We threw her a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her second birthday. She was so excited. She asked me for about a week afterwards what happened to her "birpay party" and keeps pretending that she is having a party. I made her a chocolate birthday cake using my favorite chocolate cake recipe, which you can find on a box of Hershey's Cocoa Powder. Our litte one loves blueberries, so I used this blueberry filling for the middle. I made pink buttercream frosting for the outside. For the polka dots I used these Wilton's candy eyeballs. I just turned them around backwards so they looked like plain white polka dots, and nobody knew the difference. On today's post, I am going to share with you my secret to perfectly delicious buttercream frosting! You can use this recipe for all your frosting needs and adjust it with any color you want it to be, and add chocolate if you want. Your sweet treats will always taste delicious. Perfect Buttercream Frosting
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
July 2024
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