Am I crazy? You be the judge

I am 33 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

Today we're leaving to drive to Anaheim (10+ hours).

Tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday we're going to Disneyland.

{And don't worry, my doc is completely on board with this. I'm not even having Braxton Hicks contractions.}

my favorite ways to eat an Oreo

5. in ice cream

4. with peanut butter

3. dipped in melted chocolate

2. Oreo truffles

1. fried

Freezer Meals Fridays

Sweet and Tangy Shredded Chicken

Ingredients

6-8 frozen chicken tenders or 3-4 frozen chicken breasts

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup salsa (I like Great Value Peach Pineapple Chipotle)

1. Spray inside of Crock Pot with cooking spray; place chicken in Crock Pot

2. Mix brown sugar and salsa; pour over chicken.

3. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours

4. Use two forks to shred the chicken; let cool completely.

5. Divide shredded chicken into sandwich size ziplock bags and freeze for up to 3 months

6. Reheat in the microwave, the Crock Pot, or on the stovetop; serve with tortillas and your choice of garnishes, sweet rice, and black beans.

Play School: My Five Senses

To kick off our unit on My Body, we had a lesson this week on My Five Senses.

Concepts: What are my five senses? How do I use them?

Books: My Five Senses by Aliki; The Listening Walk by Paul Showers; You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear by Harriet Ziefert; Clang, Boom, Bang by Jane Belk-Moncure; My Five Senses by Margaret Miller; and various touch-and-feel books

Activities: We did a little activity for each one of our five senses:

Sight: Blindfold Marco Polo

Hearing: Telephone/Whisper Down the Lane

Taste: Our afternoon snack was Fake Fondue (apple chunks dipped in chocolate ice cream sauce, caramel ice cream sauce, and chopped peanuts) and we talked about how we could taste sweet and salty in every bite.

Smell: I let the girls smell all of my cooking spices. They both liked apple pie spice the best

Touch: We played with the apple pie play dough that we made earlier this week; this let us use our sense of smell and touch at the same time!

After our sense activities, we went for a senses walk and talked about the things we could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste (?)

Sensory bin: Apple pie play dough and various autumn cookie cutters

Letter of the Day: E is for Envelopes

Utah Museum of Natural History

Last night for FHE we took the kids to the Utah Museum of Natural History. The first Monday of every month is free and I thought it would be a great way to end our unit on earth science. In fact, there were exhibits for three of the four lessons we did over the month of September...

Volcanoes and earthquakes...

... inside the Earth...

... and rocks!

We had a great time!

{Even though we were at the U. Just kidding.}

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Now that it's October (although it's still in the mid-80s here--way too hot!!) I've gone on a fall baking kick. I love apples, I love streusel, and I love caramel, so these caramel apple cheesecake bars hit the spot!

Ingredients

3 cups flour

3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup quick oats

1 1/2 cup melted butter

2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup + 2 Tbs sugar, divided

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 apples, peeled and chopped

cinnamon

nutmeg

caramel topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, quick oats, and melted butter; mix on low speed until crumbly and delicious. Press 2/3 of the mixture into a 9x13 pan, reserving the rest. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

3. In large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; beat in 1/2 cup sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour over warm crust.

4. In small bowl, stir together apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg; spoon over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle evenly with remaining streusel topping.

5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until set. Drizzle individual pieces with caramel topping.

Freezer Meals Friday

With all the requests for my freezer meal recipes, I decided to start posting them. Look for one every Friday for Freezer Meals Friday!

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bundles (16 servings)

Ingredients*

2 10-oz cans of chicken

2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1 8-oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

4 cans of crescent rolls

Melted butter

Breadcrumbs

1. Combine chicken, cream cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts in a large bowl; mix well until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

2. Instead of dividing crescent roll dough into triangles, press seams together to form rectangles (four rectangles from each package)

3. Place heaping tablespoon of chicken mixture in center of crescent roll rectangles; wrap sides around and pinch to seal

4. Roll bundles in melted butter and breadcrumbs; place on a cookie sheet, seam side down, and freeze until solid; transfer to a gallon ziplock bag and freeze for up to three months.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes; serve with rice pilaf and a green salad.

*You can substitute fresh ingredients for the frozen/canned ones--it's just so much easier and you can't tell a difference when it's made.