Celebrating St. Patrick's Day Last Minute Style

St. Patrick's Day is one of those holidays that I think are fun, but don't put a lot of effort into beforehand. Although when I look Pinterest I see lots of things that would be really fun to do with the kids, but somehow I never get around to them.

My kids aren't a fan of spinach flavored eggs or pancakes that are dyed green with food coloring, so we kept it simple and had regular cereal for breakfast. We didn't have any leprechan traps set up or any decorations to celebrate. And we weren't planning on having corned beef and cabbage for dinner. My husband isn't a fan and I've never tried it. Maybe someday when everyone at my house isn't so picky. I guess it's obvious that I'm not Irish. Ha!

Today I figured that we'd be doing well by just everyone going to school wearing a little bit of green. Easy peasy! Although I did have to explain to my kindergartener why he should wear green (so his big brother wouldn't pinch him first thing in the morning...good thing his pjs had green on them.)

Then I decided to be adventurous and make my little guy and I a green smoothie.

I had a half hour by myself while the kids were at practices, so I decided to make a little menu so they'd know what's for dinner. (I ate dinner at the church at a Relief Society activity.)

Notice the little picture of the dessert? It's my quicky quick drawing of this...

I had seen my friend Julia's post about the fruit rainbow that she makes for her kids every St. Patrick's day, complete with a pot of gold (Rolos). Little did I know that Rolos don't all come individually wrapped. Thus the sticks of rolos in the "pot". Luckily I bought some Werther's today on a whim while I was out shopping today.

Anyway...my kids were happy when I got home from the activity. One of them even told me that I was a good artist. Sweet! I haven't drawn a rainbow in years!

How about you? Do you go all out for St. Patrick's Day? I'd love more easy peasy, fun ideas!

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Don't like your house to smell like food? I've got a kitchen tip for that!

I have a smallish, one story house and if I cook food that is kind of smelly, like onions, the smell tends to linger in every room. This is a pet peeve of mine and (also my husband's). Over the years I've found a few ways to cook smelly food without smelling up the kitchen. Use your garage! I use my garage quite often to cook things in. I open the window and it airs out, especially when you open the garage door. I'm sure my neighbors wonder what I'm cooking. I've used two different kitchen appliances in the garage: my crockpot and my food dehydrator. Crockpot - I did this very thing today since I'm simmering chicken, onions, carrots and celery to make chicken noodle soup tonight. I don't want my house to smell like onions all day, so I plugged it in on my husband's workbench. Food dehydrator - when I make jerky, I plug the food dehydrator in in the garage. I don't really want my house to smell like meat for hours

Chicken Angelo

Don't forget to enter the Whirley Pop giveaway . It ends tomorrow! Am I the only person that asks their friends what they're making for dinner all the time? That's kind of why I started this blog, because I want to know what my friends are making for dinner. The other day I asked my friend, Juli (who is great cook), what she was making for dinner. She told me she was making Chicken Angelo. Then she told me what's in it. I knew I had to try it too because she has some picky eaters at her house like I do. I figured if they'll eat it then maybe it was worth a try at my house. This Chicken Angelo pasta has my favorite things, artichoke hearts and mushrooms in it. But don't be fooled into thinking that my family likes these things too. Because they don't. They won't touch an artichoke or mushroom with a ten foot pole. That being said, my family loved this pasta dish. They even gave me the go ahead to make it again. They loved the ch

What is on your menu this week?

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