Pizza Pockets
Want an easy idea for school lunches? My friend passed along this suggestion. Make and freeze pizza pockets!
Ingredients:
Pizza dough
Pasta sauce
Grated Cheese
Pizza toppings
Start with pizza dough. You can make your own from scratch, buy some in a tube, buy a packet, or make it in the bread machine (which is what I did).
Take a small fistful of dough.
Roll it flat into an oval. The amount you use will determine the size of the pizza pocket. Remember, it will expand! My kids don’t eat much, so I make them relatively small.
Cover the dough with pasta sauce and the toppings, like you would make a pizza.
Fold the dough in half. Pinch the edges together. You might want to use a fork to make a crisp seal.
Place on a baking sheet and bake pizza pockets for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees – or until the dough is golden brown.
Remove from baking sheet and let cool.
Wrap each pizza pocket in tinfoil and place in a freezer bag.
Freeze pizza pockets.
In the morning, take out a pizza pocket and put it into your child’s sandwich container, frozen. By lunch time it will be thawed. I take the tinfoil off before I put it into the container because my kids sometimes like to heat them up in the microwave at school, and I know they won’t remember to take off the foil!
Enjoy! The kids love this as a special treat in their lunches, and it makes for a great last minute, on the go lunch!
A Visit from the Tooth Fairy
A Visit from the Tooth Fairy
Twas the night before school started
when all through the house
not a creature was stirring
not even a mouse.
WRONG!
Not in our house!
The night before Thomas started grade 1 he discovered that he had a wiggly tooth.
He would NOT go to bed until this tooth was out.
He wiggled it and wiggled it. Moved it around with his tongue, but it was not coming out.
After about 45 minutes of this, and him being up an hour past his bedtime, I told him it was my turn!
I grabbed the tooth and finally pulled it out! I held up the prized tooth with my fingers covered in blood. It was out!
I scrambled to find a cloth baggie to put it in, and he put it under his pillow.
Before falling asleep Thomas said to me, “You know, the Tooth Fairy pays like $5 for top teeth!”
“Really? Where did you hear that?” I asked incredulously.
“It’s what happened to my friends!”
“Don’t be surprised if that doesn’t happen here.”
How’s that for inflation? I remember getting 25cents for a tooth!
You never want to set the bar too high, either. Remember, there are a lot of teeth, and if you have multiple children, that’s a lot of money!
I love the story of the child who lost his first tooth at his grandparents’ house and was awarded with $20 from the Tooth Fairy! Not a good precedent!
The next morning before 6am I was awoken by Thomas who was doubly excited about school starting and finding the money from the Tooth Fairy!
“But Mommy, it’s only a twoonie and not $5!”
I explained that a different Tooth Fairy must have been on shift that night!
His second front tooth is also wiggly and will fall out any day now, too. Will we have this conversation again?
UPDATE: Since I wrote this post, Thomas’ second front tooth has come out! This one was a lot less dramatic. David said that the Tooth Fairy was bound to give him a bonus for losing two teeth in less than a week!
I walked in upon a conversation between my two boys tonight. They were discussing whether the Tooth Fairy turned the teeth into money, or whether it was replaced with the money. Good question!
For parents whose child has lost their first tooth, there are several free online certificates you can print.
FREE Printables for when your child loses a tooth! Share on X
Smile Certificate: This is from the Canadian Dental Association. Put in your child’s name and the date the tooth was lost and print off the certificate.
Tooth Fairy Letter Printables – There is a printable letter for your child to fill out to leave for the Tooth Fairy and then a printable return letter the Tooth Fairy leaves behind.
If you spend some time Googling, there are a lot of other things you can find like interesting containers to leave your tooth in. But, that depends on what time of day the tooth falls out!
Enjoy these toothless moments and capture them on camera!
Do you have any tooth fairy or loose tooth stories to share?
Making a Stuffed Snake
How to Make a Stuffed Snake from a Necktie!
Meet Slithers. He’s the newest addition to our stuffies collection. The boys are pretty proud because they made him! The instructions were based on a craft that I made years ago at camp.
You don’t need to be crafty, I’m certainly not! But you do need to know how to sew a basic stitch and use a glue gun!
Materials:
Needle and thread
Necktie
Glue Gun
Felt
Buttons (optional)
Googly eyes (optional)
Cotton batting
Wooden soon (optional)
Bell (optional)
1. Find an old neck tie.
2. Stuff the tie with cotton batting.
To get the stuffing to the middle, we used the end of a wooden spoon to push it in, stuffing from both ends until it was the desired shape.
3. Sew up the narrow end of the tie. Daniel decided to make his rattle so we added a bell inside.
4. Sew up the wide end of the tie to make the head. Nip and tuck until it is the shape that the child desires.
5. Make the eyes. Thomas wanted to use googly eyes while Daniel cut his from felt. You can also sew buttons onto felt circles for another look.
6. Hot glue gun the eyes into place.
7. Cut a tongue from felt.
8. Glue this onto the bottom of the tie.
Voila! You are finished!
The kids are happy because they have a new stuffie, and you are happy because this non-crafty mom just made a cool toy!
Fishing with Kids
Fun with Fishing!
**This is a guest post by avid fishing guru, Ken Eastmen. Thanks Ken for your words of wisdom!**
Now I don’t profess to know a whole lot about anything but I do know that if you get your kid out fishing, I can guarantee they’ll want to do it again.
Their idea of fishing might be different from yours, but remember that even if your child spends the time chasing minnows and tadpoles at the water’s edge while you fish, that’s still awesome.
Some kids just want to reel the fish in when you hook one on. As I’ve jokingly taught my boy to say: “a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at school or work.”
Ben and I have been enjoying many days this summer on lakes, streams and brooks around home. While we are lucky to have a boat and kayak to get out on the water, our most memorable moments seem to be when we follow streams and brooks through the woods looking for the perfect “honey hole” to catch a lunker with our name on it! I must admit that the exploration of what’s around the next bend is half the fun of going.
I must admit that the exploration of what’s around the next bend is half the fun.
Don’t over think where to go. Just go.
You can stand in the fishing section of your local sport goods department listening intently to the stories of where people have had good luck but any spot can be hot and then go cold. If you see water there’s probably fish in there somewhere.
I stopped the other day along the 101 between Mount Uniacke and Ellershouse in effectively a small pond fed by a brook. I made my way down the rocky shoulder of the highway and saw a small trout swimming at water’s edge. YEEHA! THAT’S ALWAYS A GOOD SIGN!
In eight casts I had caught six, albeit small, trout and bass which were still absolutely exhilarating on my ultra light gear. I proceeded to catch and release about 20-30 fish over about an hour and a half. Just goes to show that you can’t rule out any water hole.
If you want just about a sure thing though, Gaspereau Lake is chockful of bass and chain pickerel. Any of the lakes in that system are also wonderful. You can fish from shore but the best spots are always near the weeds.
We have a few lures that work faithfully for us. The “Five of Diamonds” “Red Devil” spoons as well as almost any colour of Rapala lures. They’re easy to control when casting and seem to drive the fish nuts. I know that the die-hards love trout fishing but bass love to jump out of the water and they are always a thrill, especially for a kid.
My favorite colour combination! Mimics a wounded trout.
If you want to experience big fish, nothing beats striped bass for size! Hot spots for these are along the Minas Basin and into the rivers coming off it.
While some people use large Rapala Magnums and other similar lures we, like the majority of people we meet, like to use squid, herring, mackerel or any other fish. We cut them into chunks and use on a striper rig which is available at most fishing stores. Place a heavy weight at the bottom and cast it out, real it till the line is tight and wait till you get a nibble. This fishery has taken off in the last ten years as more and more people have discovered it. You’ll need heavier gear for this since they can get pretty big.
A fish has to be at least 27” or more or it has to be released. A great trick is to mark your rod with tape 27” up from the butt. Then when you catch one you can set it beside your rod to make sure you’re keeping a legal one.
One way or another, if you take your child fishing you won’t regret it. Unless like my little guy they want to fish… like every day!
I HAVE created a monster.
Back to School Cookie Exchange
Back to School Cookie Exchange
This is an idea I have been toying with for a few years, so I am glad that I finally got my act together to organize it!
It’s a back-to-school cookie exchange!
Traditionally, we have done cookie exchanges before Christmas. For the most part, I end up eating all the cookies (even frozen from the freezer!) There is always so much food around at Christmas time, and I don’t need to be eating more!
I, along with many of my friends, like to include a homemade cookie in school lunches. So, why not stock your freezer for back-to-school? The instructions were easy. Bake cookies that are nut-free and kid-friendly!
Here’s how I planned and orchestrated the back-to-school exchange:
1. Pick a time and a date. Not everyone is going to be able to make it. I’ve learned to just pick a date and work with who can come rather than to try to accommodate schedules.
2. Send an email to friends. Tell them the date, the idea, and ask who is able to come. Keep track of the responses!
3. A few days before the event send an email to those who positively responded. Let them know how many people are coming and how many cookies they need to bake.
We decided to do 6 cookies per person (rather than a dozen). This is more manageable to bake. We had 9 people so each person brought 4.5dozen cookies. They were instructed to put 6 cookies into 9 ziplock bags. For this exchange, we didn’t mind if they were all the same kind of cookies. The kids won’t care! So, it was pure potluck!
4. Set the cookies out around the table.
5. Have each person walk around the table picking up a bag of each kind of cookie (including their own – just makes it less confusing)
6. Take them home and freeze.
7. Try not to eat them before they get to the kids’ school lunches!
This was a great excuse for a girls’ night out. I had some drinks and snacks and we sat around and caught up. I’ll definitely be doing this next year, too!
The Best Mystery Series to Watch
The Best Mystery Series Out There… Or So I Think!
My confession: I love crime shows. My favourite are true crime shows where they follow an investigation or explain how they caught a killer. When we stay in a hotel and the kids are in bed, my guilty pleasure is to watch an evening of true crime shows!
My husband and I also enjoy watching fictional crime mini-series, especially from the UK.
Here are some of our favourites that we recommend checking out:
The Bridge – This is a Danish/Swedish series with subtitles. There is an American version, but I hear it’s not as good! There are two series.
Crime drama in which a bi-national police team is put together to investigate when the body of a woman is found in the middle of the Oresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark.
Broadchurch – Set on the Dorset coast, it centres on the death of an eleven-year-old boy, and the search for his murderer by detectives Alec Hardy (Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Colman)
Life on Mars – Drama about a present-day Manchester detective who, after suffering near-fatal injuries in a car-crash, awakes to find himself living in 1973
Luther – Crime drama series starring Idris Elba as Luther, a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions
Sherlock – Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson’s adventures in 21st Century London. A thrilling, funny, fast-paced contemporary reimagining of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic
Wallander – Drama series starring Kenneth Branagh as Swedish detective Kurt Wallander, investigating a series of violent and terrifying murders in the beautiful setting of Skane, southern Sweden.
What other crime series do you recommend?
