Simply Made Sunday - Pumpkin Squares

It felt good to get back in the kitchen with R for some fun baking this week. I found this incredibly delicious recipe for Pumpkin Squares in Family Fun Magazine.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (15 -ounce) can of pumpkin
2 large eggs lightly beaten


Step 1: Heat oven to 325. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and set aside.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Add the oil, pumpkin, and eggs and whisk until the batter is evenly blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Step 3: Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

The recipe says this makes 12 squares but they are really big so you can definitely cut them smaller.

You could stop right there and enjoy the squares topped with ice cream or whipped cream, but if you want to increase the deliciousness factor, top them with cider caramel sauce. This recipe is also from Family Fun Magazine. C helped us out with the sauce.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 TBSP cornstarch
2/3 cup apple cider
2 TBSP heavy cream
1 TBSP butter
salt to taste

Directions: In a medium size saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar and cornstarch. Add the cider and stir well to dissolve the other ingredients.
Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until large bubbles form around the perimeter of the pan, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to continue to simmeruntil it thickens, about 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat and whisk in heavy cream and butter. Taste, and if necessary, add a pinch of salt.

Make these now; you will love them!!!!!!!

For more great recipes, visit Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms and check out Simply Made Sunday.

Simply Made Sunday - Pinkalicious

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann is one of R's favorite books. She is also a fan of Purplicious and Goldilicious by the same authors. This week we decided to make Pinkalicious cupcakes for Simply Made Sunday.

R mixed a few drops of neon pink food coloring into our cupcake batter. We used a yellow cake box mix for these.

We even used store bought frosting, nothing from scratch here this week. The frosting we bought was already pink so that made things even easier.


The frosting even came with sprinkles! R was thrilled.

It may not be from scratch, but R was tickled pink (hee hee) with the results.

After enjoying a pink cupcake, we snuggled up and read Pinkalicious.

Now, head on over to Our Homeschool Fun to see what other people made this week!

Simply Made Sunday - Tub Paint

This is an old post that I edited for Simply Made Sunday. The tub paint recipe is very mild, and once in a while it is a big help when the prospect of taking a bath is not so appealing to C and R. They are always willing to help make tub paint.

First, you mix 1 cup of baby shampoo with 5 TBSP of corn starch. Then separate that mixture into plastic cups (one cup for each color) and add food coloring until you have the color you want. I have no idea where this recipe came from but we have been using it for a few years now.


Next, get in the tub and paint! C and R used paint brushes, but you could also use shaped sponges and stamp different shapes on the tub walls.

R chose purple and C chose red. When they finished painting, they each dumped the rest of their mixture into the tub and created colorful bubble baths.

Surprisingly, this cleans up easily. You can also use this as a great color mixing activity.

Be sure to check out the other recipes at Simply Made Sunday.

Simply Made Sunday - Popsicles

I am really enjoying Simply Made Sunday because I think it is so important to get kids in the kitchen, and this is a great incentive to do that. There are so many opportunities for learning in the kitchen - measurement, food preparation, food safety, etc.

With less than two weeks before school starts for us, we decided to make something that captures the flavors and fun of summer. Our local newspaper had a recipe for homemade ice pops made with fresh fruit - perfect!

*Strawberry Kiwi Fruit Pops*

• 2 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into quarters

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tablespoon sugar (if needed, this depends on the sweetness of your fruit)

• One drop vanilla extract

Puree kiwi and strawberries in blender with water, vanilla, and sugar. If mixture is too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is easily poured but not runny. Taste for sweetness. If it tastes perfect before freezing, add a pinch or two more sugar, as flavors tend to diminish when frozen.

Pour into pop molds and freeze at least 8 hours.

Per serving: 53 calories, 1 g protein, zero fat and cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 9 g sugar
*This recipe was published in The Providence Journal on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
We also combined one cup of strawberries, one banana, a few spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt, and a little milk in the blender and made another batch of popsicles.

Both flavors were delicious! C was not happy about the seeds from the strawberries and kiwi in his popsicle but he did eat most of it.

We used Tovolo ice pop molds in both rocket and star shapes. If you are in the market for popsicle molds, I strongly recommend these. They are easy to use, very sturdy in the freezer because they fit into a base (see photo below), and they feature built in sticks and drip guards! Our molds came from Amazon.com (if you know me, you know I buy everything from Amazon!), but they are also available at Bed Bath & Beyond.

For more recipes, go visit my friend Susana at Our Homeschool Fun!

Banana Cake Butterfly

C and R helped me make a butterfly banana cake this week; we even got a little help with the frosting from T. This cake is really good and we make it often. The recipe comes from The One-Armed Cook cookbook by Cynthia Stevens Graubart and Catherine Fliegel. The book features quick and easy recipes, meal plans, and advice for moms. If you click on the title of the book in the earlier sentence, you will be routed to The One-Armed Cook website where you can find more recipes and information. (I have the cookbook and enjoy it; I am not being compensated for this recommendation.)

Banana Cake
2 sticks butter softened to room temp.
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat two 9 inch layer cake pans with cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix on high for one minute, until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Add mashed banana and beat for one minute.
6. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda, stirring well to mix. Add to banana mixture. On low speed, continue mixing until thoroughly mixed.
7. Add milk and vanilla. Mix for one minute.
8. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

We frosted the cake with cream cheese frosting:

1. Mix 8 oz cream cheese and 1 stick butter (both at room temp) on high speed for 1 minute
2. Add 1 pound confectioner's sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix on low speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Frost your cake

I only used one layer of the cake and half of the frosting to make the butterfly.
I first saw the butterfly cake on the Living and Learning blog. I am happy that she posted this because it was fun and so easy to do! Here are some photos that show how I cut the cake:
After we frosted the cake, I outlined the butterfly with yellow icing. Then, we covered the body with chocolate sprinkles and used pink and rainbow sparkling sugar to decorate the wings.

Click here for complete directions from the Betty Crocker website on how to cut the cake.

Simply Made Sunday - It's a Hard Knock Life

C, R, and I had fun in the kitchen popping popcorn in our Whirly-Pop stovetop popper. We listened for the kernels to pop, observed the transformation from kernel to popcorn, smelled the fantastic aroma, and enjoyed every last bite.

What good is popcorn without a movie? We snuggled on the couch and watched Annie, and I am so happy that they enjoyed the movie almost as much as I did!

Click here to visit Our Homeschool Fun and find out what other people made in the kitchen this week!

Simply Made Sunday - the Tuesday edition!

Simply Made Sunday is hosted by Our Homeschool Fun. It is a new carnival that is posted on Sunday and you can link any fun or yummy kitchen creations you make with or for your children.

I found a very simple recipe for Banana Balls in The Preschooler's Busy Book. The final result is a good, healthy snack that R and I both enjoyed. C would not even try them, too mushy for his picky palate.

First, mash a ripe banana with a fork.

Add some finely chopped nuts (we used walnuts) and a pinch of cinnamon.

Roll the mixture into little balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Cover and refrigerate until cold. I bet they would be good frozen too. Now that I am writing this, I think if you freeze these and then roll them in melted chocolate, they would be delicious! Why didn't I think of that before? I'm sure C would have tried them covered in chocolate, and they wouldn't be mushy.

Enjoy!
For more recipes, head on over to Our Homeschool Fun!