Another month has gone by and while things are slowly opening back up we are still 95% home bound. So here are some of our favorite activities and recipes from the last few weeks. We have also included 2 of our favorite recipes from Disneyland! Can you guess which 2??
Activity Round Up
Rainbow Rain
What you need:
Water
Shaving Cream
Food Coloring
Small squeeze bottles or droppers
How to:
Fill up a clear glass or jar halfway with water. Add shaving cream clouds. Use small squeeze bottles or droppers to slowly squeeze the colored water into the "clouds." As the clouds fill up, the rainbow rain will start to fall. For a cool variation: use oil instead of water to fill the cup.
(With the oil)
Magic Paper Towels
What you need:
Paper towels
Markers
A shallow pan with water
How to:
Fold a paper towel in half like a greeting card. Draw an outline of your design on the front of the paper towel- we used a black marker for a more dramatic effect. On the inside of the folded towel "color in" your design using colored markers. Re-fold the towel and drop into a shallow pan filled with water. Voila! Your design is magically colored in.
Floating Flowers
What you need:
A ceramic or glass plate
Dry erase markers
A small squeeze bottle filled with water
A straw
How to:
Draw flowers (or any shape) on a ceramic plate with the dry erase markers. Slowly pour water in the corner of the plate. As the water fills the plate the flowers will magically float. Use the straw to gently blow the flowers around.
Fizzy Cloud Dough
What you need:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons oil (you may need 1 more tablespoon after mixing)
Oil based food coloring (you can use regular food coloring just make sure to color the flour before you add the oil)
How to:
Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Knead the dough with your hands until fluffy and soft and play! You can use cookie cutters to create shapes or just use your hands. And then... when your child is done with the could dough you can make it fizz by adding vinegar! So fun!
Recipe Round Up
Strawberry Smoothies
Underwood Family Farms is currently open for picking strawberries. If you are up for the adventure, it was a great way to spend family time out in the sun and safely away from others. We got some very juicy strawberries and here is something we made:
What you need:
2 cup strawberries
1 1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened (or whatever kind of milk)
1 cup Greek yogurt, plain
1 tablespoon honey
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to:
Blend in a blender with ice. Add more milk or ice to make it how you like. Yum! You can also add a banana! We froze the banana to make it extra creamy like ice cream.
Pretzel Bites (just like the mall ;))
This is the simplest way to make pretzel bites. You just use biscuit dough!
What you need:
Biscuit dough
1/4 cup Baking Soda in 4-6 cups of water (boil together)
1 egg beaten
Coarse Salt
How to:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Draw an "X" in each ball with a knife so heat can escape during baking. Drop each piece into a pot of boiling water mixed with baking soda. Boil for 30 seconds. Place boiled balls on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg and add coarse salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
Disneyland Churros and Beignets!
If you are like us then you are really missing Disneyland right now. Well they did us a solid and released some of their signature recipes. We are spreading the wealth and sharing them with you.
Churros
What you need:
1 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable or canola oil
½ cup sugar
How to:
Combine water, butter, salt, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in 1 ½-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring pot to rolling boil.
Reduce heat to low.
Add flour and stir vigorously until mix forms a ball. Remove from heat and let rest for 5-7 min.
Add eggs, one at a time, and stir until combined. Set aside.
Using caution, heat oil in medium skillet or 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat or until temperature reaches 350˚.
Spoon dough into piping bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe 1-inch strip of dough over saucepan, cut with knife, and drop into hot oil. Repeat until churro bites fill saucepan with room to fry.
Fry churro bites until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon or mesh spider strainer.
Drain churro bites on paper towel.
Mix sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl. Toss in churro bites until coated. Place on serving plate and serve with favorite dipping sauce.
Beignets (need we say more...)
What you need:
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105°)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup boiling water
Vegetable oil for frying
Powdered sugar
How to:
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine sugar, shortening, salt, heavy cream, egg, flour and boiling water in a large bowl; stir in yeast mixture. With the dough hook attachment of an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the dough just until combined and smooth. Let dough rest for 30 minutes.
Roll to 1/4-inch thickness and cut individual beignets with a Mickey Mouse-shaped cutter or cut into 2 1/2 to 3-inch squares. Cover with a towel and let dough rise until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free area, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Using caution, heat 3 inches of vegetable oil to 350°F in a deep, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Fry beignets until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes, turning as soon as they brown on one side. Remove with tongs and place on paper towels to drain. Dust warm beignets with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
Favorite Links:
The LA Arboretum
We found out that the LA Arboretum has been open this entire time and we were shook! And then promptly bought tickets to go. But they also have a great at home learning curriculum online. Click here to check it out!
Descanso Gardens
Another family fave just opened up. Enjoy some socially distant fun in these beautiful gardens. Advanced tickets are required. Click here for more info.
Headspace.com
For all the mamas in the house... this one's for you! Headspace and the LA County Department of Mental Health have partnered to provide support and resources during this challenging time. Sign up FOR FREE to access meditations, as well as sleep and movement exercises, designed to help you care for your mind.
Learn more by clicking here.
PBS Socal
We love PBS kids but we recently discovered the family math section on their website and we are now obsessed. There are a ton of hands-on, super fun and creative math activities that you can do at home.
Check it out.
And that's a wrap... for now. But we will be back with more activities, recipes, and links just for our Ice Cream Castles Family. Hope you enjoyed! Please let us know in the comments below and of course you can always find us on Instagram @theicecreamcastles. Stay Safe!
