Monday, February 24, 2014

Menu Plan Monday - 2/24/14

Weekend was pretty busy.  We had a Girl Scout event yesterday.  Our troop did a presentation on Brazil and we made brigadeiros.  It all went really well and the girls had a blast!





Menu:

Monday:  Meatless Goulash - Substitute a bag of Boca crumbles for the ground meat makes the recipe super quick and easy for Monday.  I'll add some veggies on the side.

Tuesday:  Grilled chicken, salad, Asian sesame dressing, brown rice

Wednesday:  Pasta night

Thursday:  Back to back after school events today, so I plan on packing a picnic.  Calzones, crudite


Friday:  Not sure yet.  Perhaps grilling if the weather cooperates.

Looking for more menu plans, please visit MPM at orgjunkie.com

Brigadeiros - Brazil GS World Thinking Day

World Thinking Day for our Girl Scout troop this weekend went really well, although it was sweltering hot at the Lodge.  Brazil was our country and we made brigadeiros for our sample treat.  They were a hit!  Several people came up for the recipe.  I don't know why I didn't think to make recipe cards for the table.  They are super easy to make and the girls helped with the rolling out and coating in sprinkles part.





Brigadeiros

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
4 Tbs. cocoa powder
1 Tbs. Butter
sprinkles

Add the milk, cocoa and butter in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.  Heat the mixture on medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Allow the mixture to simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.  The mixture will thicken and begin to pull away from the pan when it's ready.  Pour onto a greased jelly-roll pan or baking sheet.  Allow to cool completely before forming into balls (about 1 teaspoon-sized) and rolling in sprinkles (either rainbow or chocolate)  or any other topping of your choosing.  The candy is slightly soft and sticky, so a little cooking spray on the hands may help to roll the balls out.  You can also pop the mixture in the fridge for a bit to firm it up.  Storing them, in a sealed container, in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve will keep them fresh.


Monday, February 17, 2014

Menu Plan Monday - 2/17/14


Menu: (quick post)

Monday : Veggie Quiche with crudite
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken and asparagus
Wednesday:  Baked Fish with brown rice
Thursday: Pasta night
Friday: Pot roast with veggies, challah

This week I plan on making Brigadeiros for the GS World Thinking Day (our troop is focusing on Brazil).


For more menus or recipes, please visit MPM at orgjunkie.com

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Homemade Marshmallow Heart Pops


Homemade Marshmallow Heart Pops

I made these treats for a school Valentine's Day event.  I think they turned out really sweet!

I started with this recipe for marshmallows.  I added a touch of pink food coloring to the mixture after I added the vanilla.  You could certainly choose to add different flavor extracts to the marshmallow mixture to change it up.  I pour the marshmallow in to a large 9" x 13" pan that has been greased and lined with parchment or waxed paper.  The pan gets dusted with confectioner's sugar and I allow the marshmallow to sit over night to dry.  The next day, I used a small heart-shaped cutter to form the shapes.


Place the hearts on lollipop sticks and line up on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet.


Melt a bit of chocolate or confectioner's coating and drizzle over the heart pops.  You can add a sprinkle of mini hearts before the chocolate sets and you are all done.  Get ready to share!



Girl Scout Sleeping Bag SWAP



Girl Scout Sleeping Bag SWAP

What you will need:
Felt Sheets
Yarn
Wooden Beads
Mini Craft Sticks
Sharpie markers
Craft Glue
Safety Pins
Hole Punch
Scissors and/or Fabric cutter
Ruler
Stickers or labels with Troop #

1.)  Start by cutting felt into strips 9" x 1 1/4".  You should get about 9 strips per sheet of felt.

2.) You will need some small lengths of yarn to tie up the roll 5" long.  And you will need smaller (2") lengths for the "hair".  I used a bundle of rug loom yarn in various brown/yellow/beige colors.  The girls can cut the yarn to make shorter "hair", too!

3.)  Use the Sharpie markers to draw faces on the beads.

4.) Next, punch a hole in the felt strip about 1/3 of the way down the strip.  Roll the short end of the felt and tie it with the yarn.

5.)  Glue a small craft stick to the felt and fold the felt up and over to make the "sleeping bag".  Leave enough room to glue the bead to the top of the stick for the head.


6.)  Add glue to the bead for hair and then attach it to the craft stick carefully.  I used a paper plate to keep the glue mess to a minimum. :)


7.)  Once dry, you can add the safety pin to the bed-roll part and attach the Troop# label.  So cute!





Monday, February 10, 2014

Menu Plan Monday - 2/10/14

Quick plan this week.  Lots of projects.  Miss D wrote a "How to" paper on "How to Make Challah".  She's presenting her paper this morning along with a demonstration.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the classroom. Friday I'm making Homemade Marshmallow Heart Pops - more on that later this week.  Also, we're making SWAPS for Girl Scouts.  I'll post more about our cute sleeping bag scout swap later.

Menu:

Monday - Crock-pot baked ziti

Tuesday - BBQ meatballs, potatoes, broccoli

Wednesday - Crock pot orange chicken

Thursday - Italian Wedding soup

Friday - Not sure - maybe Heart-shaped Pizza?


Looking for menus?  Please visit MPM at orgjunkie.com

Monday, February 3, 2014

Menu Plan Monday - 2/3/14

The weekend was good.  The rain finally cleared out and we saw a bit of sun yesterday.  The kids had been home sick Thursday and Friday, so we stayed in Saturday as well.  Everyone seemed to be feeling better by Sunday and I was ready to get out of the house a bit.  We watched the Super Bowl.  The food and Half-time show were great, the commercials were ok, and the game not so much..oh, well.  I ended up serving bunch of dips and appetizers like potato skins and these holiday roll-ups.  The kids were still not at full-steam yet, so they seem content with chips, dip and crudite..and dessert.



Monday: Potato leek soup - using up those scooped out potato innards plus random leftover veggies, dip, etc.

Tuesday: Turkey burgers and veggies on the grill

Wednesday: Fish tacos

Thursday:  Pasta

Friday:  Pot roast, veggies, challah

Looking for more menus, please visit MPM at orgjunkie.com