Family Theme Night Blog

The Daytona 500 marks the beginning of another NASCAR* racing season. Excitement abounds in our household as the racing fans gear up for the big race tomorrow! I already caught my husband holed up in the den watching the Nationwide race today. I'm preparing myself for the roar of the engines tomorrow.

Do you have any young racecar fans in your home? Try out some of these fun ideas as you celebrate the start of racing season.

1. Racing-Themed Food

It's turkey time!  Here's a fun snack idea to get your kids to eat their veggies.

You will need:

Round crackers

I have a confession to make.  As you may have noticed, I have been neglecting my blog lately.  But I have a reason!  I am busily putting the finishing touches on a new book, a companion book to my family fun night book.  It is a cookbook with fun ideas and recipes for busy moms (including "no time to cook" menus).

Today I took one of the super easy ideas from my upcoming book, and made a PB&J Lightsaber* for my son:

We put the peanut butter on the inside of this tortilla roll-up, and the jelly on the ouside (he wanted the "blade" to be red).  He also informed me that every Lightsaber has a black or silver hilt!  (That's when the tin foil idea came into play.)

It's pumpkin season!  Try this quick and easy snack—pumpkin pudding!

Ingredients:

1 (3.4 oz.) box of instant vanilla pudding

"Memory-Making Meals Monday" is a regular blog post feature that includes meal ideas for fun-filled family dinners and/or kid-friendly snacks.

Happy Columbus Day!

Treat your kids to this super easy snack to commemorate the voyage to the new world!  Peel kiwi fruit, cut in half, and add a decorative toothpick to make a ship.  Make three and you can name them the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.

"Memory-Making Meals Monday" is a regular blog post feature that includes meal ideas for fun-filled family dinners and/or kid-friendly snacks.

It was a rainy weekend, but that didn't stop us from having some family fun!  If you are looking at the title of this blog post, you are probably wondering "what do s'mores have to do with Lewis and Clark?"  I know, it's a stretch.  However, with some imagination and some background information, you will soon understand.

Our family fun nights usually have some type of theme.  This week we went with an explorers theme, learning about Lewis and Clark.  We did a frontier style dinner:  cornbread, beans, chicken, fruit.  We talked about how in the wilderness the explorers ate what they could catch or hunt.  We also talked about how they would roast meat over an open fire.

After dinner, we headed outside for one of the last campfires of the season.  It was time to roast our own rabbits.  But not regular rabbits.  Marshmallow bunnies, the last of our stash from the Easter season.

To celebrate the beginning of football season, we are enjoying "football family fun."  This weekend I came up with two football themed recipes, one that pleased my husband and one that pleased my kids.  I hope these easy recipes will get you in the football mood too!

Football Shaped Nacho Dip:

I made a layered nacho dip, but made it in the shape of a football with black olive laces!

I love easy, and I love fun—so when I was in a creative mood, I came up with this idea for a super easy castle made out of sandwiches!  I served it on the first day of school (but it would also be perfect for a "castle family fun night").

I made two kinds of sandwiches for this castle.  The "grown-up" sandwiches were in the middle (deli-style turkey, avocado, tomato and bacon), and the turrets were the kid sandwiches (peanut butter is a favorite in our household).  For the crust-less turrets, I used a special sandwich maker from Pampered Chef, but a round cookie cutter or glass would also work to make circle-shaped sandwiches.  I put one short wooden skewer through each turret, and topped each turret with a cucumber slice and a grape tomato.  For the main part of the "castle,"  I put four short skewers through the stack of sandwiches and added a grape tomato to the top of each skewer for the "battlements."  I added some baby carrots around the castle for the "moat."  I served our sandwiches with soup, and it ended up being a very easy dinner to prepare.

Since this sandwich castle would be perfectly paired with some castle-type books and activities, I'll be posting more castle ideas this week!

"Memory-Making Meals Monday" is a regular blog post feature that includes meal ideas for fun-filled family dinners and/or kid-friendly snacks.

This summer as we traveled the country, we had the opportunity to visit the Iowa State Fair.  What a spectacle!  The sights, the food, the rides—my boys loved it all. This year, the talk of the fair was the new "delicacy."  Deep fried BUTTER on a stick.  (Yes, you did read that correctly!)  It seemed that almost anything can be prepared on a stick.

When we returned home, I thought it would be fun to have a family dinner to remember the fair.  But can a state fair themed meal be healthy?  Obviously, deep fried butter would not be on the menu.  Here is what I came up with:

Chicken on a Stick

Family dinner can be a special time.  Here's an easy idea to add some spark to your dinner table, especially if you have a racing fan in your midst.  (We happen to be in the racing mood because of a family trip to Indianapolis, but this cute race flag is perfect for anytime.)

I spooned vanilla yogurt onto a platter in a flag shape, then I added blackberries for the pole and the black checks, and sliced bananas for the white checks.  (Blueberries can be substituted for the blackberries.)  Very easy!

Are you taking a virtual trip to Indiana?  In addition to this fruit plate, serve corn on the cob (if available) and whole-grain bread—reminding your family that corn and grain are grown in Indiana!

It has been a soccer-playing kind of summer! I love to make special treats for my kids, and this summer I came up with these super easy recipes for my little soccer fans.

An edible (and healthy) soccer ball:

I scooped some of my favorite organic yogurt in a custard cup, and then added some strategically placed fresh blueberries. Voila! A healthy soccer ball treat. (The only other thing that was needed was a pinch of imagination!)

"Memory-Making Meals Monday" is a new regular blog post feature that includes meal ideas for fun-filled family dinners and/or kid-friendly snacks.

This summer our family has enjoyed a lot of baseball-themed family fun. Our youngest started t-ball, so baseball has been a popular topic in our home. My kids love special baseball treats at mealtime—perhaps your family might enjoy these super easy ideas too!

Let's start with dessert first. What could be easier (or more appealing) than a baseball made from frozen yogurt/ice cream?

The Friday faith-filled family fun blog is a series of weekly posts with fun activities based around Bible stories. Today's activities go with the story of Samson.

I have two boys, and they love to show off their muscles and proclaim feats of strength. It is no surprise that one of their favorite Bible stories is the story of Samson. It is full of action and adventure, and it includes a man that was strong enough to knock down a building!

A while back we did a "Samson family fun night." We did a whole list of easy Samson activities, such as watching the movie VeggieTales: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush and then going on a hunt for Samson's hairbrush. We ended the evening by making Samson cookies.

If you read my last blog, you know that a fox family made its home in our neighbors' backyard, which in turn spurred me on to plan a fox-themed family fun night.  What a fun night it turned out to be!

The fun began by reading the Aesop's fable of "The Fox and the Grapes,"  and then enjoying a meal to compliment the story.  I made a pancake that looked like a fox:  a round pancake, banana slices for the snout (held together by peanut butter), a grape nose (glued on with more peanut butter), dried cherry eyes, and all-natural fruit flats cut into triangles for the ears.

Five year old Stephen took one look at my fox creation, and was suddenly inspired to pretend to be a fox.  (Can you almost hear the growl when you look at this picture?)