Yummy Haunted Houses

This is a quick post to show you the edible haunted houses my kids made today. Each child brought in something different to help decorate the houses. I bought little orange juice cartons and the kids drank them the day before. I rinsed them out and let them dry. Then I snipped off the very top and taped it closed. I put some frosting on the bottom of the carton and stuck it on a plate. Then I used frosting to attach graham crackers to each side and two at the top for the roof. When they were all put together, the kids were able to decorate them however they wanted.

They each had a plastic knife and a paper towel (to wipe their fingers instead of licking them!). We had candy corn and pumpkins, colored chocolate chips, M&Ms, gummy worms, licorice, little Hershey bars, sprinkles and candy eyes. They all did such a good job! We had a few roof tops that started to slide off, but adding a bit more frosting seemed to do the trick.

They turned out great and the kids couldn't wait to take them home so they could eat them!

This one used Hershey bars to make a graveyard. So creative!

Happy Halloween!

Sweet Tooth (and a Frog Treat)

To finish up our dental health week, I made "toothpaste" by mixing tempera paint with shaving cream.

It was nice and fluffy! The kids used toothbrushes to brush giant teeth that I had cut out.

I did not add any glue, so this isn't puffy paint. For the most part, it dried flat. But they looked so pretty with the Valentine's colors they used, I decided to call them Sweet Teeth.

And on an unrelated note, one of my kids brought in a birthday treat. FROGS!

It's an Oreo cookie sitting on two pretzels, all covered in what I think was white chocolate tinted green. It had candy eyes and a strawberry fruit snack for a tongue. How cute is that?

And it was so good!

Simple Banana Treat

Since I turned my kids into monkeys for the week, I thought we should have a banana snack! Today was our swimming day, so we didn't have a lot of time to make something. This banana treat is so incredibly easy! First I poured some cookie sprinkles into bowls.

Then I cut bananas in half and stuck a popsicle stick into each one. I was planning on having the kids just dip their bananas into the sugar, but I was worried the banana would fall off the stick or get smashed. So, after all the kids washed their hands really well, they picked up the sugar with their fingers and sprinkled it over their bananas.

That's it!

We made sure to make these right before lunch so the bananas wouldn't turn brown before we had a chance to eat them. I know it might seem silly to take a healthy snack and add some sugar, but the kids gobbled them up with their lunch!

To go along with our banana snack, I read The Boy Who Loved Bananas by George Elliott.

After seeing monkeys at the zoo, Matthew eats nothing but bananas. Pretty much all day, every day. Soon he starts feeling a little bit funny. Does he turn into a monkey? Read the book to find out!

Strawberry Santa Hats

We had our classroom holiday party yesterday and I made a very simple snack.

I got the idea from Reading Confetti, but I simplified it by just using whipped cream. (Although the cheesecake version sounds very delicious!) I started by washing my strawberries and cutting them so they had a flat bottom. I also dried them with a paper towel.

Then I took a vanilla wafer and, using a small star tip, I put a dot of whipped cream in the middle. This is to hold the strawberry in place. (I used Cool Whip in a piping bag, not the spray kind!)

Then I put the strawberry on. (Little ones fit better than big ones.)

Then I piped the whipped cream around the strawberry and put one dot on top.

So easy, I tell you! I was worried that the wafers would become soggy, so I ran home on my lunch break and made these just a couple hours before the party. I placed them on a holiday plate and they looked so cute!

You could probably do these without the wafer, but I think it gives the whipped cream a little something extra to hold on to.

And on a separate note:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

...a little cat in a Christmas tree.
My little Duma sure loves to climb!

Watermelon Krispies

It's August! When I think of August, two things come to mind. Corn on the cob and watermelon! These rice krispie treats would be fun to make with kids. I was looking through all my cookie cutters trying to find something that would work for a watermelon slice. I noticed I had two egg-shaped cookie cutters. I don't need two, so I took one and squeezed the bottom up (it was plastic) until I got the shape I desired.

I made a normal batch of rice krispies, but added red food coloring to the melted marshmallow/butter mix. I let them sit for a bit in the pan so they wouldn't be too sticky. Then I pressed in the cookie cutter a bunch of times, peeled away the extra (and ate a bunch, of course!) and added some frosting. I used green for the rind and black for the seeds (using a small frosting tip).

They don't look that pink in the picture, but they really were. And they were delicious!

The kids loved them!