Salt Dough Hand Prints

Awhile back on the 3 Mommies Facebook Group, a member posted this picture.

Looked like a fun and easy project to do with my toddlers, my nieces and nephew. We did these awhile back in November so they would be able to give them to their parents for Christmas. I just had no computer to use to post at the time. So here they are now! In February! 

Here are some pictures of the fun time we had!

Give it a try!

By Mommy Melissa

Homemade Oreos - Pinterest Challenge

Here is a perfect cookie to make loved ones this Valentines day! 

They are quite easy and incredibly tasty. This was a pin from the great website MyKitchenAddiction. This lady is insanely talented! 

Now lets talk cookies. Oeros are one of my favourite cookies, ever! So when this popped up, I knew it would be in the works soon. James even helped me make them (thats a big deal!)

The original recipe called for dutch cocoa powder. what the heck? there are more than one kind?! After a little research online, it turns out the difference between dutch and regular cocoa powder is the acidity between the two. Regular is more acidic and dutch is more alkaline. Dutch also has a more mellow taste and darker colour. I used regular and threw in a little baking soda to neutralize the acidity. Worked out fine.

Homemade Oreos 

(original pin here)

The Cookies!

Gather it up!

1 cup of unsalted butter, softened (I used margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla 

2 cups flour

3/4 cup of Dutch cocoa powder (or regular and a little baking soda)

1.5 tsp baking power

1 tsp salt

Work it!

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until its nice and fluffy. Then add the egg and vanilla until its all getting along together. 

In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder (baking soda if using), baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix it all together to make sure there are no more lumps (especially the cocoa powder) 

Cup by cup, add the flour mix to the wet ingredients and mix on lowest speed until there is no longer any flour mix left. 

Divide the dough into two and wrap in plastic wrap. Throw it in the fridge for at least an hour. This step is very important not to skip. The dough is very soft and needs to firm up a little. 

Line you cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350.

Once the dough has been cooled. Roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. I found it very sticky and needed to use more flour than usual. To make them look more like real Oreos, use a circle cutter but that is boring! I used a heart for Valentines day aww sweet eh!? 

Place cookies on a cookie sheet. Since the cookies do not spread much you can put many on at one time just not too close. 

Bake them for about 12 minutes if you want them softer, 14 for a more crisp one. 

Cool them before icing. 

The Icing

Gather it up again!

1/2 cup butter, softened (margarine worked fine)

2 tbs half and half (who even has this? I used milk!)

1 tsp vanilla 

3-3.5 cups icing sugar 

Work it...again!

Mix the first three ingredients together until mixed. Then add the icing sugar about a half cup at a time (or you will be wearing more then you have in the bowl!)

Put in a piping bag, or if you are classy like me, a zipper seal bag with a hole cut in the corner, and pipe the icing onto a cookie. Place a second cookie on top and repeat with the rest of them.

Get a nice glass of milk and eat one, or four! Enjoy!

I loved these cookies and so did the kids and James too. These are added to my cookie recipe book and will be making them again soon with a new idea in mind. 

What if the filling was skipped. Add a little mint extract to the dough and dipped them in chocolate? Sounds like a Girl Guide Mint Cookie to me!

Do you have a favourite cookie recipe for us to try and feature on the blog? 

let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page or even the group! 

By Mommy Melissa

Buffalo Mac n Cheese

I had this all typed up a few days ago and then the babies woke up. By the time I got back to it, the whole page was wiped. Note to self: don't blog from the iPad if you aren't 100% sure you can finish it in one sitting.

Anyways, I came up with a new variation on my standard Mac n Cheese recipe when my husband came home with ground chicken instead of ground beef, and I was kinda like "what the heck do I do with ground chicken?". Buffalo Mac n Cheese. Cheesy, creamy, a little spicy... So good. Because I'm like, the worst food blogger ever, I forgot to take a picture. Hopefully next time I make some, I'll remember to snap a quick photo and add it here. But for now, here's the recipe!

Buffalo Mac n Cheese

1lb ground chicken

4 cups macaroni noodles (or small shells)

1/2 onion, diced

2 tbsp oil

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Buffalo wing sauce

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder

1. Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until done. Add in your diced onion and continue cooking until translucent. Toss mixture with as much (or as little) wing sauce as you'd like and pour into a casserole dish. Set aside.

2. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.

3. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, whisking constantly for a few minutes, until the roux has slightly darkened. Pour in chicken broth and milk, whisking occasionally until it begins to thicken. Little by little, add in 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, whisking well until fully melted and incorporated. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

4. After pasta has been drained, pour into casserole dish with the chicken mixture. Pour cheese sauce over top, mix it up real well so that everything is fully coated in cheesy goodness. 

5. Top with remaining cheese and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes until its all melty and gooey and wonderful.

6. Enjoy!

Macaroni Art!

Noah and I have been locked inside because he has a never ending cold that seems like it will never subside. He's been way cranky and irritable, which is making me cranky and irritable. So I try to come up with new things we can do stuck indoors to make the munchkin (and myself) happy. Yesterday we mastered macaroni art!



What types of things do you do to cheer up a sick toddler?

Cheesy Stuffed Croissants

This is a yummy recipe, that has been bouncing around Pinterest forever, croissants stuffed with cheese, chicken and broccoli... mmm!! There so easy to make!

What you will need:
- a tube of Pillsbury Croissant dough
- 2 cups shredded chicken (cooked)
- 2 cups broccoli (cooked 1/2 way and chopped)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven as directed on the package of the dough . On a baking sheet lay out your croissants flat, pile on the chicken and broccoli and cheese (about a tsp of each), and roll up as directed on the package. Bake  as directed (may need 5 minutes extra) check to make sure dough is cooked all the way through to determine.

Enjoy!

 

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

 

Make a Frosty with your toddler

With this never-ending winter, have you started to run out of ideas to keep you energizer bunny entertained as your locked inside on these cold winter days? Well, something Noah and I do on a daily basis is crafts! He just loves crafting. It' easy to keep your toddler busy when you plan fun crafts for them to do everyday. All I did for this was cut out body parts of the frosty, gave them to Noah with a glue stick and helped him stick everything together! Obviously if your child is older they can cut the pieces out themselves, but for a 2 year old he was thrilled to be using glue! Just be careful he doesn't decide to eat it! haha.





What types of things keep your toddler entertained?

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Renew Intensive Care Therapy - Product Review

Back in action! February is going to be a new start for 3 Mommies! Bringing more posts and fun activities!

Lets starts off with a review of what is now one of my favourite products!

I am prone to chapped hands which is usually caused by not properly drying hands off after contact with water.  Since I am a bit of an excessive hand washer, it happens to me often. The most in the end of fall, all winter and the beginning of spring. I have searched a long time for a lotion that would make it go away and not sting like a bitch when I applied it. From ones that promise soft silky hands to fragrance free, even one prescribed by a doctor. Nothing ever seemed to work well. 

Then I was given a free sample of a life changing miracle worker!

Renew Intensive Skin Therapy moisturizing lotion from Melaleuca.

It. Is. Great. No other lotion I have ever used worked like this. My chapped hands which were cracked and bleeding at that point were soft the next morning. I am not exaggerating. Its that good. Even on Logan's face where he gets eczema was soft when I applied it.

The lotion is a thinner consistency letting you use less. Plus it absorbs very quickly into your skin letting you get back to life without leaving a layer of lotion on anything you touch!

Some lotions which claim to be fragrance free, at times have what I find to be a hospital smell to them. This lotion has almost no smell to it at all.

There is one downside to this product. The price. I can honestly say I have never (ever) paid this much for a 8 fl oz bottle of freaking lotion! Insert that saying 'you get what you pay for' here! It is worth it. And I will do it again when this bottle is finished.

So to finish this post off, this lotion is a 4.5 stars for me. That 0.5 going to the price. Its wonderful and I would (and do) suggest it to everyone.

Have you tried this lotion? What did you think of it?

By Mommy Melissa