I can't believe it's butter!

by Brie I like the idea of making things from scratch. I really like the idea of making easy things from scratch. My new favorite easy thing to make? Butter.

Yup, you heard right. Butter. And I am making it the easy way. No wooden butter churn for me. All you need to make butter are two marbles, a clean baby food jar and some heavy cream (i.e. whipping cream). Oh, and a lot of muscle.

The three-year old girl and I had some fun one afternoon making butter while her brother napped. She plopped two marbled into the jar and then filled up the jar half way with cream. I screwed the lit on very, very tight. Then the shaking began.

I wish I could tell you that she did most of the shaking, but well, that would be lying. Instead she would do a little shaking and then hand the jar back to me to do a lot of shaking. So I shook and shook and shook.

After awhile I couldn't hear the marbles rattling around anymore. I thought this is it! So I opened the jar and found...whipping cream. Convinced that I had somehow done something wrong, like buy the wrong cream, I let the girl eat four crackers spread with whipping cream. She loved it.

While she ate I sat there thinking. Finally I decided to try shaking the jar some more. And what do you know! I heard a distinct slosh sound and what had been whipping cream suddenly split into butter and whey. Success!

The girl ate another four crackers, this time topped with butter. I used the butter in my cooking the next day. Really, the butter is very yummy. After eating it you will want to make butter all the time.

The best part, though, was making something from scratch and showing the girl how butter can easily be homemade.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter “the girl” and twenty-two month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Easy Birthday Cupcakes - A Mom's Lifesaver

by Isabelle I recently resuscitated an old trick of my mom's for those times where you're busy and you're expecting a bunch of kids to your house: ice cream cone cupcakes. I made them a few weeks ago for my little guy's fourth birthday, and they were a HUGE hit, with both kids and grownups.

Step 1: Prepare your favorite cake batter (or use a mix if you're short on time and ingredients)

Step 2: Pour the batter into flat-bottomed ice cream cones placed in muffin tins.

Step 3: Bake according to cupcake recipe directions (nothing special needed for the cones).

Step 4: Decorate and enjoy!

This is what my quickie cupcakes looked like:

For slightly older kids, an easy birthday party activity would be to frost the cupcakes themselves. With the 3- and 4-year old crowd, though, I picked a different activity and just let them enjoy the pre-decorated cupcakes :)

Isabelle is the mom of 3.5 year old Jay and two-month old Rosie. You can also find her at Dr. Peach’s Blog.

Everyone's birthday

Have you ever noticed the way kids always want to help the birthday boy/girl blow out the birthday candles on a cake? They crowd in and hover as close as they can get, take a deep breathe and blow all over the cake! There's no wonder they all want a piece of the action, birthdays make you feel special! So why not create that moment of magic any day of the year?

Not too long ago Joel and I baked a cake and decorated it. He insisted that it was a birthday cake, even though it wasn't his, nor mine, or anyone's birthday that day. When I asked him who's birthday it was he replied 'everyone's birthday!'

That's when the idea came to me, why not have it be a birthday cake? So with some friends, we lit the candles, sang happy birthday to everyone, and let the kids blow them out.

You should have seen those happy faces!

Zucchini chocolate chip muffins

by Vicky Here's a great kid-friendly muffin recipe that contains not only chocolate chips, but zucchini! They're great for after school snacks, or to take on playdates. I can't take credit for them though, they came from Shannon's blog 'Crafty Mom Cooks'. Check out her blog for some really great recipes the whole family will enjoy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup shredded zucchini 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. I'm a big fan of Epicure, and I really love their cinnamon and real vanilla extract so those are the ones I used.

Also I used brown sugar, but you can use white if you prefer.

Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well and set aside. Stir into dry ingredients. Add the zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts (which I skipped this time). I use the finest grater I have for the zucchini, which makes it disappear into the muffins, (not that I'm trying to deceive anyone).

Fill greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on the top.

I was trying out my Pampered Chef muffin stone for the first time, and muffins tend to stick until it's well seasoned, which is why I used muffin cups, but you can make these without the cups. These muffins are moist and really tasty. They don't last long in our house! I'm sure I'll be making them weekly come September once Joel starts school (eep!)

(Photo courtesy of A Crafty Mom Cooks)

Have a Mommy's Night In!

by Jenn One great way of having fun with Freezer Cooking is to get together with a few friends and make a bunch of meals together.  You can each choose a recipe, agree on how many each person will make, then get together at someone house and each make your own recipe. 

 If you have 4 people who each make just 8 meals of their recipe, then each person will go home with 8 meals, 2 of each recipe!  This is a great way to try 4 new recipes without have to make all 4 recipes.  You can also just do a swap if nobody has the time to get together.  Kind of like a cookie exchange - a frozen meal exchange! 

Get the dads to get the kids out of the house on a Saturday afternoon and have fun!  Maybe even some wine for those who can!  :)

Jenn is mom to five-year old Jacob and two and a half year old Zachary. You can find her at Invitations by Jenn.