Thankfully, I still have the job in my church of teaching singing to the children ages 3-11. Over all of the callings I have had throughout my life in the church, this is my absolute favorite. I love getting to know all of the children and having fun singing with them. I love sharing my testimony with them through music. Most of all, I love how strongly the Spirit speaks to us in Primary when the children love and understand a song and sing it beautifully. All year long, I teach the children songs that they will be singing for the whole congregation in the Fall. It is called the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. For many, it is the best Sacrament Meeting of the year because of the sweet spirit the children bring when they sing and speak. As I teach them throughout the year, it is easy to get caught up in getting them to perfect their singing, i.e. knowing the words and singing loud enough. But, I know that the most important thing I should teach is the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ through song. I want the children to learn and understand the doctrine taught within the music. When they do know and understand the message of the songs, they actually do sing their best because they love the simple truths that the Primary Music teaches. Recently, I came up with an idea that checks the children's understanding of the songs that we are singing this year. It was a sort of trivia game that made the review fun as well as informative. This idea could be adapted to any songs that your Primary is working on. I am including printable versions of the graphics that I used for my kids and I think that you will be able to see how you could personalize your own. You can simply click on each picture to get the pdf file to print them yourself!
These last 2 pictures are about verses from "Follow the Prophet." We practiced Enoch and Moses on this particular week. After you print the pictures, the prep work is easy. I used magnets to put the pictures up on the blackboard randomly. I asked the children as they came in to look at the pictures and if they could read, to read the questions and quietly think about which ones they could answer. I had them whisper to their teachers and to their other classmates who all shared what they thought the answers were. Then, one at a time I gave each class an opportunity to send up a representative to choose one of the pictures and tell us which song it was about. Then, I would discuss the song briefly with them. For example, for "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," I explained the scripture from Alma and we talked about how seeing Heavenly Father's beautiful creations remind us of his love for us. For "Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah," we talked about what it means to be fed by the Spirit. Then, we would sing the song. Everyone felt involved and the children had great insights. I was able to bear my testimony of the truths we discussed. It was a simple and effective activity. If you want to make your own graphics for additional songs, my two favorite places to do that are on Canva or on Google Drive. You could even make them on Word and just use stock pictures. I hope that if you are the chorister in your Primary, you will love it as much as I do and that you find this idea helpful! Let me know if you give it a try! PS: Here is the link to "I Will Walk With Jesus." Other Primary Ideas I've Shared
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**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own. Fall is right around the corner and I couldn't be happier! We don't get a lot of the crisp Fall weather in Phoenix, but I am ready for cooler temperatures and the chance to wear sweaters! I'm also in love with the comfort food that comes with Fall days that make you just want to cozy up and savor a meal at home!
**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.
I'm making cinnamon rolls with this recipe right now! I'm so excited to bite into one when they are finished baking!
I love potato bread and it has always been a favorite with my family as well. It is always so moist and fluffy. I had never attempted to make it before this week. But, when I was looking through some old recipe books, I came across this recipe for Potato Rolls and I decided to make a few adaptations and give it a try. The original recipe called for butter, but I substituted coconut oil. When I mashed the potatoes, I used a little almond milk in them instead of regular milk. I wasn't sure if the mashed potatoes had to have milk or anything in them, but I put some in just to make sure that they were smooth and well mashed.
The result was perfect! The rolls are so tall, light, fluffy and moist! My husband and I ate them warm from the oven with butter and honey.
You may remember that a while ago I was able to get a bunch of potatoes and can them. That made it super easy to make my mashed potatoes for this recipe this time around!
I used the Bosch to mix my dough. It is still super hot here in Phoenix, so I waited until evening to make these so my house wouldn't get to hot during the daytime. The Bosch helps to speed up the process of bread making so that I wasn't up all night finishing these.
I was able to put 24 rolls in my extra long Pyrex baking pan. Then, there was a little dough left over, so I turned that dough into about 8 cinnamon rolls!
This recipe is very simple to make and I am sure this is going to become my new go to roll recipe! I hope you will give them a try and you will see why!
The recipe calls for 8 cups of flour. I have found that flour amounts in bread can vary up to 2 cups! Today I only used 6-1/2 cups and the dough was perfect! So, the lesson is, don't add the flour all at once. Put in about half and start mixing it in and then add more as needed a cup or two at a time.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. When I was growing up, sometimes on cold evenings, my mom would turn on the oven and make this incredible, tasty dish called "Surprise Fudge Pudding". I loved it because it had this wonderful fudgy sauce with a super moist cake and it was a surprise! I love surprises! It is a surprise because when you put the cake together, the cake batter goes on the bottom and the fudge ingredients go on the top in a powdered form. You add boiling hot water and stick the whole thing in the over and when it is finished, the fudge sauce is on the bottom and the cake is on the top! Magic! Well, I was thinking about this dish the other night because it has been a little cooler in the evenings. (Just under 80 degrees, that is cool for Phoenix). In the daytime, it is still hitting 100. But the idea of this recipe caught hold of me and I wondered if I could do it in the Crock-pot? Guess what! I could and I did! Here is how I did it. First, I sprayed my Crock-pot for easy clean-up! I preheated the pot to the low setting. Then I mixed up the batter (I will post the recipe below). Click on the pictures here to see what I am doing. I let it cook for 1 and 1./2 hours. In the regular oven, it cooks for 40 min. The top will still be moist, but the mixture will be set. Things in the Crock-pot won't really brown remember. I got so excited about the pictures, I almost forgot to give you the recipe! Here it is, I will give you both oven and Crock-pot versions. Surprise Fudge Pudding Spray the inside of the crock and preheat to the low setting while you mix the batter. Cream 1/4 c. butter and 3/4 c. sugar in a mixing bowl. In a different bowl, sift together 1 and 1/2 c. flour, 2 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt. Add this to the butter mixture a little at a time alternately with 3/4 c. milk. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. You may also add 3/4 c. chopped nuts to the batter, but I never do that. I don't remember my mom doing that either. Spread this batter, which will be quite thick, into the bottom of your Crock-Pot. Blend together 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 and 1/2 c. packed brown sugar. Sprinkle over the top of the batter. Pour 1 c. boiling water over all of this. Put on the lid of the Crock-Pot and let bake for approx. 1 and 1/2 hours. (I checked it after 40 min., then after 30 more and then gave it about 20 to 30 more min. and decided it seemed done, and it was perfect. Depending on the size of your pot, times may vary.) If baking in the oven, put into a 13 x 9 baking dish and bake for 40 min. at 375 degrees F. Serve topped with ice cream while warm! Serves 6 There is a little bit of this left in the fridge from last night. It is starting to look like breakfast this morning! :) |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
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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
June 2024
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