Recipe ~Turkey and all the Fixings!

Turkey Time!

World's Simplest Thanksgiving Turkey

Find the original recipe HERE at the Food Network

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

 Pull the neck and giblets out of the cavity; ditch the liver and save the rest of the giblets for gravy. Dry the turkey with paper towels, then season inside and out with salt and pepper. 

Fill the turkey with aromatics like chopped onions,carrots, apples and herbs, then place breast-side up in a roasting pan and brush with melted butter.

 Tent with foil and roast for 2 hours (for a 10- to 12-pound turkey; add an extra 15 minutes per pound for larger birds). Remove the foil, baste with more meltedbutter and crank the oven to 425 degrees F.

 Roast for another hour or until the meat at the thigh registers 165 degrees F. 

Let rest while you make the gravy.

Turkey is done but lots of little hands helped make rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole!  The house smelled delicious, the food was fantastic and the little 

chefs were pleased with their dinner!

Yum!  We'll have to do this again next year!

Family Night ~ Coloring Eggs

Easter is here and we focus most of our time doing devotions, crafts and other projects based on the resurrection of Jesus leading up to Easter Sunday.  There are a few other fun things that we do as well and one of them is to color eggs.  It is fun to watch the kids as they are completely enveloped in changing eggs different colors!  This year we skipped buying the kit and decided to try to dye eggs with food coloring.  It was so successful that we will never buy a kit again!  

You can find the recipe below.  Enjoy the pictures!

 Daddy packed up the Colored Eggs and we turned around and 

there was Lil Bro back on top of the table re-coloring the eggs as fast as he could!

 Big Sis is pretending she is Ramona as she shows us the proper way to crack an egg!

You can find the following recipe HERE!

How to Dye Easter Eggs

Five simple steps for adding a coat of color to those hard-boiled eggs.

Photo: Nicole Hill Gerulat. Styling: One Charming Party

What You Need

• Hard-boiled eggs
• Paper towel or newspaper
• Bowl or cup deep enough to completely submerge an egg
• Tongs, egg dipper, or slotted spoon
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• Liquid food coloring (about 20 drops per color)

1. Start with cool hard-boiled eggs.

2. Protect your surface by covering with a sheet of newspaper or paper towel.

3. Fill container with the mixture of water, vinegar, and food coloring.

4. Place egg on spoon and dunk, turning occasionally so both sides get color. Keep in liquid for up to 5 minutes, leave in longer for a darker hue.

5. Carefully remove the egg and set aside to dry.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  

He has RISEN!

We stayed home-bound over Easter because of sickness.  

We try to keep the germs to ourselves and not share the love so we spent the day with craft projects, online Church at Cedarcreek.tv and Lifechurch.tv and 

some super yummy food thanks to Daddy and the girls!

Funny thing is that the kids spent most of the day in bathing suits and sunglasses 

although there was no water involved!  We had a great family day and I even got to take a nap!

Hope your day was great! 

Easter Week ~ Daily Devotions Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday

Here is a fun way to make Easter more meaningful to your children.  We have done this same devotional for the past 4 years and they were looking forward to doing it again this year!

Easter is a special time when we remember that Jesus rose from the dead.  In fact it is such a special time that we celebrate it as a holiday!  It’s a privilege to know that Jesus is in heaven preparing a place for us.  Someday we too will go to heaven and spend time with him if we have asked Jesus into our hearts.  God made that special plan for us.  Here is a really fun way to remember the events of Easter week. 

Create a large calendar to hang on the wall that is divided into days. Tip: We use a large piece of butcher paper (or you can use the white side of a roll of wrapping paper) to glue all of the projects on. 

Palm Sunday: Read Luke 19:28. Cut out Palm Leaves out of green construction paper to represent Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Tip: We use real palm branches that Church passes out on Palm Sunday. We memorize "Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Monday: Read Luke 19:45. Draw a table on your calendar. Cut coins out of tin foil. Glue them to your table. This represents Jesus driving out the money-changers.

Tuesday: Read Luke 19:47. Roll up newspapers to resemble scrolls and tie with string.  This represents Jesus teaching in the temple.

Wednesday: Empty Square.  We do not know everything Jesus did that week.  Ask your child what Jesus might have done during this last week of his life.

Thursday: Read Luke 22:7. Communion and Judas’ betrayal. Glue a cracker to your calendar.  This represents communion. Read Luke 22:39. Trace the hands of your child and cut them out. Use a glue stick to form praying hands. This represents the time Jesus spent praying.

Friday: Read Luke 23:26. Crucifixion. Glue Popsicle sticks together to make 3 crosses. TIP: We usually use a hot glue gun to make the drying process faster!

Saturday: Read Luke 23:50. Tomb and Stone.  Cut out a black large half circle for the tomb and a smaller gray circle for the stone that rolled away. Make the recipe the Resurrection Rolls! You can find the recipe by clicking HERE! YUMMY!

Easter Sunday: Read Luke 24:1. Resurrection.  Use a paper towel, napkin, or piece of cloth to represent the burial linen. 


This activity was adapted from Family Time Activities by Kirk Weaver at http://www.famtime.com/.  We have several of their books.  They help make the Bible come to life through amazing hands-on activities!

Easter Week ~ Resurrection Rolls

Recipe for Saturday night or Sunday morning!

Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients

1 (10 ounce) can of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

8 large marshmallows

¼ c melted butter

2 T cinnamon

2 T sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheet.

2.     Separate crescent rolls into triangles.

3.     In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon.

4.     Dip marshmallow into melted butter, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture, and place in the center of the triangle. Carefully wrap the crescent around the marshmallow, pinching the seams to tightly seal in the marshmallow. Place on baking sheet. Repeat.

5.     Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

6.     The rolls are hollow, representing the tomb on Easter morning.  When you break them open, they are empty!

Easter Week ~ Toilet Paper Tube Resurrection Set

Resurrection Set

I found this great set on Pinterest and decided that this is a must do for Easter. We LOVE our nativity sets at Christmas.  They are played with and the people are constantly moved around.  We always have to search for wise men but baby Jesus is always the favorite! I never thought about an Easter Resurrection set until I saw this one. The kids had a great time coloring, cutting and taping.  Daddy even got in on the action!

 All done!

 They make a great backdrop for the kitchen!

What you need to make your own resurrection set:

• 10 cardboard tissue tubes (or about 4 paper towel tubes, or like 1 wrapping paper tube)
• 1 empty (square) tissue box
• Glue or a stapler
• Something to color them with (optional)
• Resurrection Set Printable
• Scissors

All you do is print the pages provided from this post, color them, cut them out, and glue them around toilet paper tubes.  The cutting is very easy… if you want it to be. For the most part, just cut around the outside lines. If you want something to stick out from the sides (like Jesus’ arms or the angels’ wings) you can cut them out around the edges and let them flap free from the sides of the tubes.
All you need is to print the free printable found HERE and then have fun!

You can find the original post HERE and use their free printable set!

Easter Week ~ Stained Glass Cross

Stained Glass Cross

Luke 9:23 Jesus said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Supplies:

Tissue Paper cut into small pieces

Construction Paper Cross Border

Glue Stick

Scissors

Saran Wrap (you could use contact paper and then you wouldn't need saran and Glue)