Cooking for Kids: Hawaiian Pizza Puffs

Finley asked me to make pizza for dinner last night. I was happy for her input because it was about 4 p.m. and I still had no plan for the night. But I didn't feel like pulling out the big KitchenAid mixer to make homemade pizza dough. So I cheated and made these pizza puffs instead.

These are very simple and can really be made with whatever add-ins you'd like. I've made them with pepperoni and olives before. Next time I'd like to make a breakfast version with sausage and cheddar cheese. Or maybe some bacon. I do love my bacon!

Hawaiian Pizza Puffs (adapted from Rachael Ray's Pepperoni Pizza Puffs recipe)

• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup ham, chopped or cubed
• 1 cup pineapple tidbits
• 1 teaspoon pizza or italian seasoning

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a muffin tin. You can use a mini-muffin tin or a regular size one.

2. In a medium size bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and italian seasoning together.

3. Add the milk and egg and mix together.

4. Stir in the ham and pineapple. Let sit for 10 minutes.

5. Stir the mixture and divide among the muffin cups.

6. Serve with warmed marinara sauce or some ranch dressing.

7. Enjoy!

Cooking for Kids: Pizza Cups

I seem to start all my crafting and cooking posts with, "Sooooo, I saw this cool <fill in the blank> on Pinterest the other day..." Well, this one is no different.

I've been seeing these wonton wrapper recipes make a splash on Pinterest the last few months -- taco cups, breakfast cup, lasagna cups. So, I decided to use up some leftover wonton wrappers tonight and make some pizza cups. They're easy and fun and you can even get all the ingredients ready and let your kids help with the assembling.

Ingredients:

• Wonton wrappers (24 to make 12 pizza cups)
• Shredded mozzarella
• Sliced olives
• Marinara sauce
• Cilantro
• Cooking spray
• Cupcake pan

Preheat the oven to 350º. Then lightly spray the cupcake pan with oil. Place a wonton wrapper in each cup.

Add a spoonful of marinara, a few olive slices, a pinch of cilantro, and a sprinkle of cheese. I have no exact measurements here. Just add what looks good. You want to fill each cup about half full.

Gently press another wonton wrapper in each cup. 

Then repeat with the fillings. Bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Finley looked at them and said, "Those look extra, extra delicious!" Then she devoured about 4 of them. Grady loved them, too, and polished off a few. It always feels so good to put some effort into a meal and have your kids appreciate it.

You can turn these wonton cups into pretty much anything you want. Add some pepperoni or salami for a meat lovers pizza cup. Or sneak in some veggies. I've also used leftover chili and topped the little cups with sour cream and salsa.

Here's a fun recipe for Chicken Taco Cups that uses a mini muffin tin. And here's another for Lasagna Cups. Next time I think I might try a BBQ Bacon Chicken Cup with a little ranch dipping sauce on the side. Mmmmmm... bacon! The possibilities are endless!

Cooking for Kids: Mac and Cheese

Two thumbs (and a tongue) up

Are your kids mac lovers like mine? I'm pretty sure my daughter would eat mac and cheese all day, every day if we let her. And my son, well, he pretty much eats anything we put in front of him.

I've made homemade mac and cheese a few times using a recipe from the Betty Crocker Bridal Cookbook. It's great, but there are a lot of steps involved. I don't know about you, but I usually don't have time for a lot of steps. I've also made the kids Annie's Mac & Cheese quite a bit. It's organic so it's good for them, right?

Then a friend of mine told me about some one pot mac and cheese recipes that are made by cooking the noodles in milk. It seemed very similar to Pasta Roni Shells and White Cheddar, which I'm a little embarrassed to admit, I totally love. No wonder my kids love mac and cheese. Their addiction probably started in the womb.

I tried out two of these one pot mac and cheese recipes in the last two days. One is from White On Rice Couple and another one is from Macaroni and Cheesecake. They were both pretty similar. The White On Rice recipe cooked the noodles in butter, milk, mustard powder and salt. The Macaroni and Cheesecake recipe cooked the noodles in milk alone and added the salt and dijon mustard at the end. Both were super delicious. I think I preferred White on Rice Couple (probably because I love butter) but my kids did not have a preference. They loved them both.

Real men wear pink bibs

This little boy loved it so much he decided to style his hair with it. Totally put a kink in my bathe-the-kids-every-three-nights schedule.

If you're going to do a boxed mac and cheese night to save a bit of time, these one pot recipes will be just as fast. And even more delicious!

After a few tries, here's the recipe I like best.

Ingredients

• 2 cups noodles
• 2 cups milk (I used full fat since that's what my kids still drink, low-fat is fine, too)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup grated cheese

Directions

1. Combine milk, salt, mustard powder, butter and noodles in a sauce pan.
2. Over medium heat bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (If you leave the room this WILL boil over and make a huge mess, if you stay in the room it won't. It's some strange law that noodles always follow.)
3. Once the mixture comes to a simmer, turn down the heat and let the noodles cook at a very low simmer.
4. Stir the mixture frequently. The cooking time varies based on the noodles you use. Just keep an eye on it and cook until the noodles are done and most of the milk is absorbed. You can always add a bit more milk and cook for longer if you need to.
5. Stir in cheese.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Take a little taste because you can't stand to wait.
8. Add a lid and wait impatiently for 5 minutes.
9. Stir and enjoy!

ParentMap: Preschool Preview

Do you have a child nearing preschool age? ParentMap is hosting three Preschool Preview Nights full of info on local preschools, tips and general information. There will be representatives from dozens of preschools. You can ask questions, compare programs and find the perfect fit for your perfect preschooler.

West/South Seattle
When: Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Where: Jerry Brokey Center

North Seattle/Shoreline
When: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Where: Shoreline Community College

Eastside
When: Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Where: Meydenbauer Center

Be sure to RSVP for the event before you go and sign up for free childcare provided by A Nanny for U.

Google Offers: $24 for Admission and Behind the Scenes Tour at Woodland Park Zoo for Adult and Child

I love giving (and getting!) activity gifts for Christmas and Birthdays. It keeps down on the toy clutter in the house and makes for a fun day. Here's a great activity gift from Google offers for the little animal lover in your life!

For only $24 you can get admission to the zoo for one child (5 - 12 years old) and one adult, a 90 minute Real Tour which includes a behind-the-scenes look at the animals and a peek into the kitchen where they prepare the animals' meals, and a chance to feed the penguins.

This is a great deal considering tickets alone are up to $29 for an adult and child. Don't wait too long to snag this deal - quantities are limited and the deal expires in 14 hours! The voucher is good December 12, 2011 through June 8, 2012.

As always, check out the fine print before purchasing.

Eversave: $14 for $30 of Activities Books, Games and Projects at Klutz

Are you still looking for gifts for your kiddos or other family members? Eversave is offering a deal on activity books, games, projects and more at Klutz. For $14 you will get $30 worth of products. And if you're new to Klutz, you can sign up for the Klutz Insider program and get a 25% off code! The voucher can also be used towards shipping which is always a bonus on these types of deals.

If you haven't signed up with Eversave yet, go here to create an account. You'll get a $2 credit on your account for signing up, making this deal a cool $12! Then go here to pick up your Klutz deal. Be sure to sign up for the Klutz Insider program to get your 25% off coupon.

When you're checking out on the Klutz website, enter the Klutz coupon code on the first page of the checkout and enter the Eversave code on the payments page as a gift certificate.

Fine Print: This Eversave deal expires December 13, 2011 and the voucher is good through June 9, 2012. Be sure to read the fine print on this deal before purchasing.

Salt Dough Ornaments

I think pretty much every preschooler makes these salt dough ornaments at some point. They are super cheap, super easy and super cute!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3/4 - 1 cup warm water

Mix together the flour and salt. Then mix in the oil and water until the dough has the consistency of pie crust. Or if you're like me and you don't know what homemade pie crust is supposed to look like, just make sure it's not sopping wet or super dry. You really can't go wrong with this.

I made a half-batch of the dough and we ended up with about 10 ornaments.

Start by rolling out the dough on a floured surface.

Then use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Be sure to make a hole in the top for the ribbon. A straw or a meat thermometer works well.

Bake them for about 2 hours at 250 degrees. My oven is a little wonky so your times might be different. Just keep checking them and take them out when they are hard.

Once they've cooled, break out the paint, stickers and any other sparkly things and start decorating. We stuck to Crayola washable paint because of this...

I caught him painting his toes, too. Silly boy!

Finley was very serious about her art, as usual.

I think the kids did a great job! Though I'm not sure where we're going to put all these since we still don't have a tree. I think we'll have to do something about that this week.

KidsQuest Museum: BOGO Memberships Through December 11th

KidsQuest Museum is offering a great BOGO deal on memberships right now. You can buy one membership for yourself (any type) and get a certificate for a free Family Fun Membership. The certificates are only good for families that have never been members before, so it's a great opportunity to introduce a friend or a neighbor or a new mom or dad to the museum.

Memberships can be purchased at the museum or online. If purchasing online, you will receive the BOGO certificate in the mail with your membership card. The promotion is good through December 11th.

Free Personalized Video From Santa

Here's a fun way to get your kids (even more) excited about Christmas. You can make a personalized video message from Santa with their name, photos and more thanks to the Portable North Pole.

I made this for Finley last night and just sent one to my niece this afternoon (who has now watched it at least 4 times according to my sister!).

And don't forget to Elf Yourself using Office Max's fun website. I was cracking up last night when I made this one of our family. Today I made one of Finley and her cousin Ali. And I might have to make one of the cats next. There's just something so hilarious about dancing elves with your faces on them!

Color Buckets

If it's looking like this outside, here's a good activity to keep your kids busy inside.

All you need for this little game is some colored containers. We have a couple of buckets from Finley's art-themed birthday party that work perfectly. I think these were around a dollar each at a party store. If you don't have colored buckets or containers, you could always tape a piece of paper on a bowl. Once you have your containers, send your kids on a color hunt around the house to find things that match the container.

Finley had a lot of fun showing me her finds.

Turns out we don't have too many purple items in our house.

Sure, you might spend a bit of time putting all the toys back where they belong. But it's worth a few minutes of uninterrupted facebook time, isn't it? (Unless you can convince your kids that putting the toys back is part of the game, too. Which would be awesome since you could spend a few minutes on Pinterest, too.)

kids.woot: Halo SleepSack for $12.99

My youngest is almost past the sleepsack days (and I have no plans to go through the sleep deprivation phase again with another one) so I have to pass on this deal. But for those of you that have little ones, this is a good one. You can snag a Halo SleepSack for only $7.99 + $5 shipping. They have boy, girl and neutral styles in size small, medium and large. Hurry though, deals on kids.woot only last for 24 hours.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Why have I not done this before? It's easy. It's cheap. It's fun for the kids. And I love popcorn. So I love this.

It's super simple. Add 1/4 cup popcorn kernels to a brown paper bag and seal with a piece of tape.

Put the bag in the microwave (seam side up) for 1 - 2 minutes. I let it pop for 1 1/2 minutes and there were quite a few kernels left in the bag so it could have popped for longer. I hate burnt popcorn though so I'd rather eat fewer delicious, delicious kernels of perfectly popped popcorn than smell that nasty burnt popcorn smell for days. I'm sure you agree.

While the microwave was running, Finley decided to create a popcorn cafe. She took a box of diapers (delivered straight to my door that morning from Amazon.com - love them!), covered it with a beautiful tablecloth blankie, pulled up a few chairs, and invited her brother to a nice popcorn meal. How cute are they?

Thanks make and takes for the fun idea!

Play: Our Amtrak Adventure

Exploring the train station

The kids and I had a fun little adventure riding the rails this week. We took the train to visit the grandparents a few hours away. It's not far to drive but we thought the train might be fun for them and it definitely was.

What to Pack: Patience, patience, patience

The railways are notoriously late around here. At least that's what I hear. And what we experienced. The train was a bit late leaving the station which put us behind from the get-go. But it was nothing a little chocolate milk from the train station cafe couldn't smooth over.

But then about 20 minutes into our trip we were stopped on the tracks for a "fire department incident." Luckily we were parked right next to the Puget Sound on a gorgeous, sunny morning. You can't say that when you're stuck in traffic on I-5, can you? After enjoying the view for a while, we started chugging along again and we were only about 45 minutes late in the end.

Don't let the delays scare you away from a trip on the train. You just have to go into it with the knowledge that things probably won't go exactly how you plan. But isn't that true of anything involving kids?

What to Pack: Food, Lots of Food
This leads me to what to pack #2 - food. My kids are much easier to bribe settle down when given food. The coloring books, toys, stickers, and games on my phone were great, but the food was better. We were nearing a melt-down when a kind woman sitting across from us offered the munchkins some fruit snacks. She was either being friendly or was trying to keep them quiet. But who really cares? It did the job and got them through the first of many near melt-downs. Food is key!

Other Advice
Since I was traveling by myself with two small children, two suitcases and a car seat I knew it would be easier to check the luggage and just worry about carrying the kiddos on. Well, I should have checked on this first. Some of the smaller stations are "unmanned" and don't have people to pull off the checked luggage. And our destination station, Olympia, had no men. Bummer.

Small children.

It was a little difficult getting on the train. I brought the luggage on. My husband handed me the kids. I plopped them down in the nearest seats and told them to stay put. Then I quickly put the luggage into the racks by the door. By then Grady was screaming for his Dada who he could see out the window and Finley didn't know what was going on. Chaos!

As soon as the dust settled I realized we chose the wrong seats - on the non-water side. Mistake #1. They also have seats with tables and 4-seater spots where the seats face each other. We didn't choose those. Mistake #2. I tried to move to a new section but by then the conductor had checked our tickets. And they wouldn't let me change seats after they checked the tickets. I tried, but they put me right back into our original seats. Too bad.

Trying out our table seats, which we were quickly removed from.

So my advice is to look for the best seats before you get settled. Even though they don't assign seats, the seats you pick become your assigned seats as soon as they check your tickets. It's probably not like this on all trains. Just ask one of the train employees.

Play, Stay Away or Just Okay

All in all, it was a great trip, even being outnumbered by kids and enduring a few delays. I give our Amtrak Adventure a Play rating. It's a somewhat frugal outing. You can usually find some great deals on Amtrak like this one. But even if you don't find any deals, kids are always 50% off the regular price. Our tickets were about $30 for a 90 mile trip. (But actually free since they were a gift from the grandparents! Thank you!) I'm not going to do all the calculations to determine if it's cheaper than driving, but I don't think it's a crazy amount to spend for a trip. Even if it is more expensive than driving, you're paying for the travel expenses and the train experience so overall it's a good deal.

Have you taken the train recently? Or have any plans to? I would love to take the kids on a bigger trip when they're a bit older. And this time I'll bring my husband along for a little extra help.

Mukilteo Papa Murphys: Free Mini Pizza

I stopped by the Mukilteo Papa Murphys this afternoon for one of their Halloween Pumpkin Pizzas and noticed this in the store. I love PMs, so I love, love this little deal. Pick up one of their pumpkin coloring sheets, have your kid color it in and bring it back for a free mini pizza. Yum!

(I asked if this was going on at other locations and they said no.)

Details ---
Where: Mukilteo Papa Murphys (12721 Mukilteo Speedway Mukilteo, WA)
When: Through Monday, October 31st
Cost: Free!
More Info: Contact the store for more info - 425.353.0734

Greenlake Kids Denistry: Candy Buy Back

Photo by Adam Kalsey

For those of you who don't raid your kids' Halloween candy and leave only wrappers behind, you might want to check this out. Greenlake Kids Denistry is offering kids $1 per pound of candy they bring in (up to 10 pounds per kid). The candy will be donated to Operation Gratitude and then packed up and sent to service members overseas in care packages.

So if your kids get loads of candy and you can't possible consume it all, take it to Greenlake Kids Denistry on November 1st between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. It's a great way to get that extra candy out of the house and donate it to some men and women that will really appreciate it.

Details ---
Where: Greenlake Kids Denistry (6900 E Green Lake Way N. #H Seattle, WA)
When: Tuesday, November 1st 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Cost: Earn $1 per pound of unopened candy (up to 10 pounds per kid)
More Info: Here
Details: For kids 12 and under, accompanied by an adult

Barnes & Noble: Kids' Club Discounts and Birthday Treats

Photo from Barnes & Noble

Books and deals -- two of my favorite things! Oh, and free cupcakes! (Well, for your kids anyway. But I'm sure you can sneak a little bite from them!) Sign your kids up for the Barnes & Noble Kids' Club and you can get in on all of this -- 30% off a book or toy, $5 reward for every $100 you spend on kid's stuff, and the best part - a free cupcake on their birthday!

Sign up now at the Barnes & Noble website.

Paramount Theatre: Yo Gabba Gabba Tickets $15

Yo Gabba Gabba is coming to Seattle! Travelzoo is offering Yo Gabba Gabba tickets for only $15 each. The tickets are good for either of the showings on Saturday, November 12th or Sunday, November 13th. The seats are located in the Third Mezzanine section. If you purchase the seats straight from the Yo Gabba Gabba Live website, the tickets are $31.50 (plus $3 processing fee for each purchase). This is a great discount and could make for a fun afternoon with your Yo Gabba Gabba fans!

Details ---
Where: Paramount Theatre (911 Pine Street Seattle, WA)
When: Saturday, November 12th at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Sunday, November 13th at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Cost: $15/ticket
More Info: Travelzoo
Fine Print: Vouchers can be redeemed Saturday or Sunday, Nov.12-13, 2011, at Paramount Theatre's box office. Seats will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, and tickets purchased together will be seated together. This deal cannot be combined with any other offer. No cash value or cash back. Must be used in 1 visit. No refunds or exchanges.

Not a fan of Yo Gabba Gabba? Check out this deal for Disney On Ice Toy Story 3!