Project Life 2014 - Weeks 14 and 15

Week 14:

This week started with a church schedule that was a little different than usual.  After the morning service, we had lunch at church and then an afternoon service.  Maddie enjoyed her lunch (she had frosting all over her lips)!

 Drew enjoyed going through the line and choosing his own food.

 The weather finally started getting a little nicer this week, and the kids enjoyed getting to play outside.

 Drew and I wore our U of M shirts while we watched some March Madness this week.  We were all sad when Michigan lost.

 Jim and I got new phones this week.  We had fun playing with them and figuring them out.

Maddie found a whole collection of Sesame Street stuffed animals at Walmart.  She wanted to hold the whole group, and she went through and named them all - "Elmo, Cookie, Abby, ..."  Elmo came home with us for Maddie's Easter basket.

 Maddie loves her speech class.  Each week they do a little craft - this week was painting.

 They also played with play dough.

 Maddie's favorite part of each week's class is the pom poms!

 Maddie fed Baby a bottle.

 Drew earned some gold fish at school as a reward for reading and doing a folder full of worksheets during Dr. Seuss month.  Unfortunately, all the fish died over the weekend.  :(

Here's what I did for Project Life this week (sorry for the glare).

 Week 15:
Maddie refused to sleep during her nap on Sunday afternoon.  When I went to pick her up from her class Sunday night, I found her asleep on the nursery floor.  Her teachers had covered her with a blanket.  They said she had been sleeping almost the entire time!

Maddie's preschool church group had a Spring Fling.  They had an Easter egg hunt,

 drew with chalk outside,

 played in the rice "sand box,"

 petted a real bunny,

and ate lunch.  It was a fun time!

 We had a beautiful, warm day one day this week, and I took the kids to the park after we picked Drew up from school.

 They had so much fun playing on the swings and slides.

 We had such a long, snowy winter this year, and it was nice to be able to play outside!

 We replaced Drew's fish that died with some new fish, and we dug my old classroom fish tank out of the basement for them.  Drew is enjoying having some little pets in his room.

 We got Drew a basketball hoop for his birthday, and Jim put it together one evening.

 Maddie ate some chocolate pudding and smeared it all over her face!

 We had waffles and strawberries for breakfast on Saturday - yum!

Here's what I did for Project Life this week.

 Here are Weeks 14 and 15 together.

This month is a busy one for us with school winding down for the year!  I hope to be back next week with more Project Life and maybe another recipe or project to share!

Baked Snickerdoodle Doughnuts

During Spring Break a few weeks ago, Jim and Drew wanted something fun for breakfast one morning, and they suggested that I make some doughnuts.  I did a quick search on Pinterest, and when I found this recipe, I knew it was the one I wanted to make.  I whipped up a batch, and we all loved them.  Drew ate 4 of them that morning!  I made them again later that week - they are a new favorite!

The doughnut batter has cinnamon in it, which gives the doughnuts themselves a snickerdoodle flavor.  They bake in the doughnut pan and come out light in color, not really browned much at all.

 After cooling them in the pan for a few minutes, you can pop them out, brush them with melted butter, and coat them in cinnamon sugar.

I made a double batch of these doughnuts this week and sent them to school for Teacher Appreciation Week.  They are delicious!

 Here's how I made them:

Baked Snickerdoodle Doughnuts

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Add milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla, and gently mix, being careful not to over-mix.  Scoop batter into greased doughnut pans, filling each section about 2/3 full.  (I like to use a small cookie scoop for this part.)  Bake for about 10 minutes or until tops spring back when touched.  The doughnuts will not brown much, if at all.
Cool in pans for a few minutes, and then gently remove from pan.  (I carefully run a table knife around the outsides of each doughnut and then pop it out of the pan with the knife.)  Brush the top of each doughnut with melted butter, and then dip the buttered doughnut top in cinnamon sugar.  Serve warm.  Makes 1 dozen.

Sunday Lunch - Chicken Ranch Tacos

Today, I have another quick and easy slow cooker recipe to share.  These chicken tacos are great for Sunday lunches, but we love them any night for dinner!  Jim and I eat the shredded chicken in flour tortillas, with Mexican rice and chips and salsa.  Drew loves it when I put the shredded chicken on nachos, and Maddie loves it in a bowl of rice with some sour cream.  However you eat it, this chicken is delicious!  Cinco de Mayo is coming this next week, so you have the perfect reason to try this recipe soon!

Here's how I make them:

Chicken Ranch Tacos

4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package dry taco seasoning mix
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes

Place chicken, seasoning mixes, water, and bouillon cubes in slow cooker and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.  Shred chicken with two forks.  Serve in flour tortillas (or on nachos, rice bowls, quesadillas, taco salad - however you'd like!), and top with taco toppings of your choice.