Gourmet Meals For Less

At the Kid's Table...two kid friendly ideas for Thanksgiving!

 

 
 
Before I share with you these great last minute ideas for the kid's table I want to apologize for not posting my Thanksgiving turkey recipe.  This past Saturday night I died.  Okay so I didn't die, but I felt like I had. Or maybe hit by a truck. a big truck. a dump truck. and not only did it hit me but it backed up and hit me again.  At least that's what it felt like.  I did not get out of bed all day Sunday or Monday...okay so I did get out of bed but for reasons we shall not discuss here in polite company.  Let's just say I haven't been sick like that in a long time.  So needless to say, typing up turkey recipes was the last thing on my agenda.  What was on my agenda was my bed, ginger ale and saltine crackers.  Fun! heh.

So now that I am up and functioning (kinda) I wanted to share these two cute ideas that are so easy!  You can involve even the youngest child with both of these and you even have time to run out tomorrow and get the supplies if you want to have them for Thanksgiving.  Both of these are kid friendly which make them perfect additions to the kid's table!

 

Up first...Sugar Cone Cornucopias.

 

 

I have seen this idea floating around web land and thought they were so cute and loved that they were an edible decoration!  My daughter and I decided to make one for every guest and use them as their nameplaces.  To make these you will need:

 

 
 
Ice cream sugar cones, a filling of your choice for your cornocopias (we chose fruit flavored candies, you could use granola mix for a healthier version) and a tea pot.

Fill you teapot with water and heat until it is steaming.  Place the end of a sugar cone into the spout of the teapot.  Being careful not to get the surgar cone wet, you just need the steam.

 

 

After a minute check your sugar cone to see if the end is becoming soft and pliable.  It could take up to two minutes to have the end pliable enough to bend.  Do NOT let your sugar cone become wet enough to start to break apart.  When the end is pliable gently bend the end up into the shape of a cornacopia

 

 

When you have the desired look you want.  Lay the cones on a sheet of paper to cool and harden into shape.

 

 

When you are ready to use the cornacopias place them on a plate and fill with desired goodies.  If you want to use as a nameplace like we did you, cut out a square of paper and write each guests name on it and place next to the cornacopia.

 

 
 
 
Up next, one of my son's all time favorite treats.  They are no bake, easy to make and so yummy!  They are a great addition to the dessert table for our littlest guests and there couldn't be a more fall cookie than one called..Haystacks!

I have been making haystacks for my kids for years.  They are super simple and they literally have two-three ingredients depending on any additions you make.

To make Haystacks you will need:

 

 

A bag of butterscotch chips, chow mein noodles (the crunchy kind in the bag) and if you want to add the following you can: two heaping tablespoons of either crunchy or smooth peanut butter.

Place your butterscotch chips in a microwave bowl

 

 

Heat chips for one minute in the microwave.  Remove and stir with spatula.  Return chips to microwave and heat at 15 second incraments, removing to stir each time until chips are fully melted.  Do not overcook as the butterscotch will scorch. yuck.  If you are adding peanut butter to your Haystacks, add it in now and stir well to combine with butterscotch.

Add in half a bag of the chow mein noodles (just eye ball this)

 

 

Stir until all noodles are incorporated well into the butterscotch.  Using a tablespoon to scoop up a generous amount of the mixture and use another to help slide mixture off onto wax paper

 

 

Allow cookies to cool and harden on wax paper

 

 
See how they look like little haystacks?!

 

 
 These cookies are a great combination of sweet and salty and crunchy! 

 

 
 
It's a perfect treat to make for the kid's table.  Because around here we believe...the kid's table should be as fun as the big table!

Hope your Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of celebration with family and friends.  Even with all of the uncertainty in the world we still have so much to be thankful for in this country!  God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

At the Kid's Table...kid friendly brussels sprouts!

 

 

Brussels Sprouts.  The other dreaded "BS" word.

The name brings about an instant nose crinkle among most kids, when they hear the mention of this otherwise innocent looking little vegetable.  Why is that?

Is it because in the past they have been served boiled to death?  Slimy and barely seasoned? Have we been programed to dread eating this little cousin of the cabbage because it has been a victim of bad cooking practices?

At our home brussels sprouts are considered a treat!  I know, I know you don't believe it...but it's true!  We have mastered the art of cooking these little guys, and they have become a family favorite.  During the holidays I make our traditional brussels sprouts recipe: Creamy Brussels Sprouts.  This is one of my favorite Better Homes and Gardens Recipes!  You can find it here:

Creamy Brussels Sprouts

Kids though, are often put off by casseroles.  I think it's hard for them to look past all of the ingredients mixed together to see the goodness that lies within.  In an effort to introduce this great little vegetable to the kid's table I came up with a fun new way to serve brussels sprouts!  Sprout Skewers!

 

 

Kid's love anything on a skewer!  We are going to take advantage of this and skewer those little sprouts with some bacon and roast them until they are flavorful and oh so good!  This is such an easy recipe to make.  It is worth the extra little effort of adding this to your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal for the kid's table. 

 

{Print this Recipe}

Sprout Skewers
makes 8-10 skewers

Ingredients:

1 carton fresh brussels sprouts
6-8 slices of bacon of choice
olive oil
kosher or course salt
skewers (can be metal or bamboo)

Directions:

If you are using wooden skewers, soak them for 20 minutes in water to prevent them from scorching.  Place top rack in top third of oven.  Preheat oven to 400°.  Wash and trim off ends of brussels sprouts.  Remove any outer leaves that are loose.

 

 
 
 

  

After you have lined up all of the skewers on cookie sheet.  Lightly brush each skewer with olive oil.  You will not need to use too much as the bacon will help keep the sprouts from drying out.

 

 

Sprinkle skewers with a small amount of salt.  The bacon is salty so do not add too much.  Place skewers on top rack of oven for approximately 30 minutes, turning once during cooking.  You will know skewers are ready when sprouts are soft to the touch but not still a little firm and look roasted.  Bacon should also be completely cooked through.  

 

 

I hope this idea helps you think outside of the box when it comes to your family's favorite holiday recipes.  Often it takes just a little creativity to introduce our kids to new foods.  I will be featuring many more recipes, decorations and ideas just for the Kid's Table during the holiday season!  Let me know if you try this one!

And remember sitting... At the Kid's Table can be as fun as the Big Table!

Enjoy!
 
 

 

 

 

At the Kid's Table ... a guest post from my sister!

 

 
 
I want to introduce you to my sister Vanessa, over at Southern In My Heart, who generously offered to come over to Gourmet Meals for Less and guest post for me.

I say generous because we mommy bloggers often do not have time to write one post for our own blogs, let alone a post for someone else's.  So I appreciate her coming over here to share a great Thanksgiving craft idea for At the Kid's Table. So please give my sister a warm welcome, and leave lots of great comments for her. If you feel like telling me how adorable my nephew and niece are while your commenting...that's great too!

  

Hi! It is such a treat to get to be guest posting here today at Gourmet Meals for Less! My sister and I have had so much fun being on this blogging adventure together, and I was so honored when she asked me to contribute a post for her At the Kid’s Table series. She has already shared with you her gorgeous Leaves of Thanksgiving Tree she created for her family and she asked me if I would be willing to share some kind of crafty idea to do with younger kiddos.

My first thought was “Have you met me? You do know me right? Your sister of 34 years whom you showed how to wear eye shadow and sat on the orange shag carpet listening to records with and whom you let listen to your 45’s in your room while trying on your lace cut-off gloves and long bead necklaces?  The one who is totally NON-CRAFTY??!!”  But, my sister does know me. And she knows that while I may not be the most crafty gal in Blogland, I do love making memories and creating traditions for my kids. One of our favorites has always been the good old-fashioned Paper Chain, used to count down the days to some highly anticipated event. We have used these as we look forward to Grandparents visiting, family vacations and, of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
 

But, this year, I wanted to take this concept up a notch and use this opportunity to express our Thanks in a new way.

This is our Thankfulness Chain!

 

 

After cutting out the appropriate number of links, we gave the kiddos crayons and instructed them to write down something they are thankful for on each one.

 

 

My youngest told us what she wanted to say and we wrote it for her and then let her color on her links.

 
 
 
We then glued the links together to form the chain and decided to hang in on the light fixture over our kitchen table.

Each night we take turns removing one link from the chain and that person prays a Prayer of Thanks to God for that particular blessing.
Simple, sweet and so easy. My kind of Craft!

   
 
 Anyone notice something about the links in this picture?

 

 

Yep! In our house having the Jesus link connected to the Unicorn link makes perfect sense!

Big Brother was totally not amused by this, though, and said in a disgusted tone of voice, “How on earth are we supposed to pray for unicorns?” Well my boy, your sister loves unicorns and sleeps with a stuffed one every night. It is her best friend and for that we are Thankful!

   
Now tell me how adorable will this look over your kitchen table this Thanksgiving season!?  I love this idea because anyone can create this easy Thanksgiving craft with a child of any age!  If you have a fun craft, idea or kid friendly holiday meal recipe you would like to share during the At the Kid's Table Series, I would love to feature it!  It needs to be an idea specific to the holiday season and something that makes being at the kid's table as fun as the big table.  Send me an email and let me know your idea!

And another big thank you to my sis, for guest posting on Gourmet Meals for Less today!  Head on over to Southern in My Heart and check out her incredible blog full of great decorating inspiration, creative recipes and wonderful stories about raising a  "southern at heart" family in the beautiful northwest!

Enjoy!

 

At the Kid's Table...Leaves of Thankfulness

 

 

I stumbled upon this great blog the other day while researching ideas for my holiday series, At the Kid's Table.  It is Skip to My Lou, who's author Cindy is full of the most creative and neat ideas.

When I saw her Thanksgiving Tree, I knew I had to create one for our family as well.  Even though I have one in his late teens (sigh, still have a hard time saying that)and one in her pre-teens I knew that even they would find this idea fun and meaningful.

As is customary with me, the project had to be frugal and yet still be pretty enough for my great room.  I think you would agree this fall project succeeds on both accounts. 

 

 
 
This is so cheap and easy and perfect for kids, but yet has the potential to bring so much thoughtfulness into your home at this time of year.  Following are the instructions on how to make your own "Leaves of Thankfulness."

I started out with my tried and true Dollar Tree Pottery Barn Hurricane Lamp Knock-off.  This time I attached the top part temporarily to a candlestick I already owned.  I like the height of this one for my buffet table.

 

 
I then filled it with these great little foam beads I found at the Dollar Tree in the craft aisle. 

 

 
 I loved that they look "natural", like a small stone, but really they are just cheap little styrofoam pellets.  I thought the branches would anchor nicely in them.

Now I had a difficult time finding leaves that I liked.  I searched several stores and could not find plain colored ones that were already cut.  I am not in to manual labor..at all.  So I ended up back at the Dollar Tree and purchased these. 

 

 

I am so glad I did!  I ended up really liking how lacey and pretty they were.  They go really nicely with my decor...and of course even better, they only cost $1.00 for 32 leaves!  If you buy these you will need to make sure you have really taken them all apart.  They tend to stick together in groups of two and three.  I was able to find the cute teeny tiny clothespins at Hobby Lobby for 40% off.  Now all you need to do is find some sturdy branches that have several small twigs to clip your leaves to.  Arrange in your vase to your liking.  Make sure to place extra leaves and clothespins out.

 

 
I placed the individual leaves in this beautiful leaf plate inherited from my husband's grandmother along with Sharpies and the clothespins.  Now I realize I have older children who (hopefully) will not write on anything else in the house with the Sharpie pens.  If that is not your case, just keep those somewhere else close by or all of this out of their reach. 

Now, here's the important part.  The why. 

We, as a family, will spend the days leading up to Thanksgiving, writing down what we are most thankful for and placing them on the tree.  We will in invite our family and friends who enter our home to also share what they are thankful for and add their leaves to the tree.  We hope our tree will be full of beautiful leaves of Thanksgiving by the day we celebrate all that we are thankful for!

I had the honor of placing first on the tree what "I" am most thankful for in my life.

These two beautiful souls...

 

and this one...

 

I can't wait to watch this tree grow it's beautiful leaves over the next few weeks; and then it will grace our "Kid's Table" where they can be reminded of how thankful we are for them!

 

 

Let me know if you decide to make a tree of Thanksgiving for your family this year.  It can be a great tradition that you can repeat for years to come.  In fact, I'm headed to the Dollar Tree for more leaves so I will have plenty for next Thanksgiving! 

The total cost of this project was: $4.50!  A great inexpensive way to help remind your family all that they have to be thankful for!

Watch for the next installment of At the Kid's Table where my sister Vanessa, who writes over at Southern In My Heart, will be guest posting with a similar idea that she uses with my nephew and niece!  It is inexpensive, clever and oh so very cute!  So, be waching for the next idea to help make being "at the kid's table as fun as the big table!"

Enjoy!

This post is linked up to:

 

At the Kid's Table...a fun fall dessert for the kids!

 

 

 

The Kid's Table.

You know the spot where you spent holidays with siblings, various cousins, and the obnoxious kids of your neighbors that your parents felt obliged to have over for every holiday dinner....you know..that place.

 

 

The place where you spent holiday dinners isolated from the real fun.  The fun going on at the "big table".  The place where you sat with your booger eating cousin* while you strained to hear the juicy conversation in the next room.  Which as far as you were concerned, might as well have been miles away instead of feet for all you could hear.

You missed out on the good stuff.  Like, the gossip about Aunt Ethel's* "fill in the blank problem" that nobody would discuss when you were around. Or Great-Uncle Fred's* "issue", or Betty* the floozy former cousin twice removed, that everyone was glad was no longer a party of the family.  You know...the good stuff.

*all name's have been changed to protect the not so innocent, and if any of my cousins are reading this, the booger picking reference does not apply to you.

Let's just face it, the kid's table isn't all it's cracked up to be.  That's why we are devoting several posts over the next two months to At the Kid's Table!  

Fun projects, decorations and recipes to make sitting at the kid's table just a little bit better.  So join us during the month's of November and December as we feature great holiday ideas that will make the kid's table as fun as the big table!

 

 

I would love to meet the ingenious person behind the concept of "dirt and worms".  You know...dirt and worms.  That gooey pudding mixture covered in crushed chocolate sandwich cookies that you stick gummy worms in.  I mean who doesn't love pudding, chocolate and gummy candy all in one delicious dessert.  What's even cooler is that this person just knew kids would love anything that turns a perfectly respectable dessert into something that looks like top soiled covered in lumbricus terrestris (that's the scientific name for words, in case you were wondering).

My girl loves dirt and worms and I decided a spin on this great idea would be a perfect dessert for the kid's table at Thanksgiving.  We came up with our own version.  Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes.

They are perfect for little hands and do not require any special dessert plates or utensils.  You might even find a few adults paying a visit to the kid's table when they spy these great pumpkin patch cupcakes!

 

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes
Serves 18-24

Ingredients:

your favorite homemade or store bought cupcake mix
your favorite homemade or store bought chocolate frosting
white or brown cupcake liners
1 package chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos or a store brand version)
24 candy corn pumpkins
1 package green and red Rips candy

Directions:

Bake cupcakes according to directions.  Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.  While cupcakes are baking open your package of Rips and remove all of the green ones.  Now, see those red ones left?  Those are yours to eat for being so clever and making these pumpkin patch cupcakes.  Keep your stash well hidden though, because your kids might think they are entitled to some of the red Rip's...and they're not.

Begin to gently pull apart the individual strings, being careful not to rip them in two.  They are called Rips for a reason.

 

 
You will end up with a nice pile of little green strings. 
  

Once you have enough strings for two to a cupcake, carefully pull and twist the strings to lengthen them and make them more flexible.  These will become your the "vines" for your pumpkins.

 

 
After you have your strings (vines) prepared.  Place one and a half rows of your sandwich cookies into a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs.  If they look like a pile of dirt, they are ready.  Keep the remainder of the cookies for those picky children at your dinner who will turn up their nose at pumpkin patch cupcakes but will eat a lard filled cookie without hesitation.  Place your cookie crumbs in a bowl.

  

Frost each cupcake generously, forming frosting into a nice mound (think pile of dirt)

  

 

immediately roll frosting part of cupcake in cookie crumbs.  To fully cover frosting you will have to also scoop crumbs up and gently press onto cupcake.  Shake off access crumbs.  You will need to do each cupcake one at at time through this step, so frosting does not have time to harden. 

 

 

Top each cupcake with a candy corn pumpkin, pressing it into the crumbs and the frosting, and two "vines".  You can twist vines into curls, tucking the ends down into the cupcake.

 

 

These cupcakes are sure to be a hit with your smallest guests on Thanksgiving, they will appreciate having their own special dessert to enjoy At The Kid's Table!

 

 

Be watching for many other great ideas in November and December to make the holidays even more fun for the kids in your life!  If you have a fun project, decoration or recipe and you would like to be considered for a guest post on a segiment of At the Kid's Table please email me, I'd love to hear your idea! 

Also, I always love to hear what my readers have planned for the holidays.  Will you have lots of kids at your home?  Will you be travelling? Are their any kid friendly ideas or recipes you would like to read about over the next few weeks.  If so let me know in the comment section!

Enjoy!
 

This post is linked up to the following awesome parties!  Head on over and check out the other great recipes!