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I am giving you this brownie recipe by popular demand! I developed it out of necessity and it has become my go to recipe for brownies, which is amazing because I have a recipe that I have used for years that I thought was the best of all. Let me explain!
In my church, I lead the children up to age 11 years old in music. Each year we are responsible for a program that teaches about all of the things the children have learned in their Sunday classes throughout the year. Music is a large part of this program and we work on about 9 (or so) songs throughout the year until the fall program. In order to motivate my kids to sing their very best, I have used a "Brownie Points" system for a couple of years. As the children improve as they learn each song, I award them brownie points. Then, at the end of the program, when they have sung their very best, I bring them brownies. (They always sing their very best.) Here is a copy and paste printable of the brownie point stickers I have made to add interest to this process. I tell them in advance that we have a goal of 9 to 10 stickers per song in order to earn the brownies. I make a poster listing all of the songs and award stickers across as the year goes by.
At the end of Primary, after the program, I hand out the brownies. There are a few children who need to eat gluten free, so the first year I did this, I made both regular and gluten free brownies. The gluten free brownies were so popular and delicious, I only made those this year.
We do a lot of mustache themed activities in our singing time. It is just a gimmick to add a little fun to singing time. So, this year I cut the brownies into mustaches with a cookie cutter. The kids loved them. My husband loved eating all of the scraps!
I recently took a batch of these over to some friends, who incidentally must eat gluten free, here is what they told me about these brownies:
Now, fast forward to Christmas Treat Plates! This are going to be a hit on those I believe!
So, the moral of the story is, don't let the words "gluten free" scare you! These are some of the best brownies you will ever eat!
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This is lemon season, so of course there must be lemon desserts! I have already shown you Blackberry Lemon Bars, but today I wanted a stand alone lemon dessert. I was feeding 9 people for dinner today, but some people don't like lemon, so I made one chocolate pie for those guys. For the main dish, I served Chicken Enchilada Casserole, which I have shared the recipe with you before. That was a crock pot version, but because I needed more than my crock pot would serve, I made it in the oven today. Everyone loved it, but the lemon dessert was the stand out, hands down most delicious and simple thing to make success! I found the recipe on Taste and Tell, and as I made it, I realized that it is the same as a recipe my son brought home from Brazil called Pavé. The main difference is that he made his in a 9 x 13 pan and this one is a pretty round pie. Whatever the shape, you should try it, it is so good. The main ingredients are sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese and lemon. You will love it.
Of course, I needed some whipped cream to decorate the pie. Madalynn went to Sprouts to buy me the cream because she likes to buy organic. Oh my goodness you guys! Do you see this cute bottle that Straus' cream comes in? My mind is racing with ideas about what to do with these little pint sized bottles! We may be eating a lot of whipped cream for a little while so that I can collect more of them.
Madalynn says that they also have bottles like these for chocolate milk and other products. So, we are going to have to try a few of those products now that I know that they exist. The quality of this cream is superb. I haven't tasted cream this fresh and good for years. This is not an affiliate post, I just really liked this cream, as well as the container. I am going to write them and tell them.
Finally, you may remember that my job at church is to teach music to the Primary children ages 18 months to 11 years of age. (Not all at the same time!) During the month of February, I have been teaching them our family's favorite hymn, "Choose the Right". We are working on the last verse tomorrow. The beginning line goes:
"Choose the right, there is peace in righteous doing. Choose the right, there's safety for the soul..." (LDS Hymns, pg 239)
, That first line is a big part of my faith and testimony. I know that our Heavenly Father has given us commandments to help us to be happy or even better, to have joy! When we keep those commandments and try to live the way we should, we will experience happiness and joy in our lives. We will avoid the things that will bring us into bondage and we can rise above our problems through faith in him. I have put this to the test and I know it is true. So, because I feel so strongly about this, as I explain to the children what those words in the hymn mean, I want them to feel my testimony and to develop their own. So, I made them these dove handouts to take home and hang somewhere as a reminder of the blessings that can come when we choose the right. I know from otherchorister ideas that I have posted, that there are other Primary Choristers out there looking for ideas as well. I hope this handout is helpful to you. Click the button to print it.
That was my Saturday! Good dinner, awesome product discovery, an inspired idea, Oh and did I mention a power outage? Overall, a great day! How was yours? Talk to you next week.
I have really been wanting to do a great Pioneer Singing time on Sunday since Pioneer Day, July 24, actually falls on Sunday this year. Last week, our wagon wheel singing time went very well. Now this week will be the big week! I have searched Pinterest for some great ideas and foundthis and this which were very similar, but different. Luckily, because I couldn't print the maps the way they suggested, I have an artistic daughter who drew my map for me.
I am going to have all of the children sit around a fake campfire on the floor. We will start our trek in Nauvoo with a picture of the Nauvoo Temple and talk about leaving that place. Then we will talk about each stop along the way and sing one or two songs to go with it. After we talk about Nauvoo we will sing "Praise to The Man", because they had just lost the prophet Joseph Smith. I looked at some of the things that were written by the pinners I mentioned above, and then came up with my own stories and words to read and talk about. I encourage you to do the same thing for your kids so that you will be saying the thing the Lord wants your children in your ward to hear. I am using the story of the three 18 year old young men at Sweetwater Crossing because that is one of my favorite stories. : (Hinckley, Gordon B. “Four B’s for Boys”. Ensign. November 1989.) At the end I am going to give them a little campfire cookie (no bake of course) that I found here. It is actually supposed to be a burning bush, but I think it makes a great campfire as well. The recipe is on that webpage.
Of course, we will stand up and do actions and walking with many of the songs. I will use bonnets and hats for the children to act things out, like gathering berries and chips. (I will explain what chips are). I hope that they feel the Spirit as we talk about and sing about their Pioneer ancestors and the sacrifices they made. Thanks to all of you choristers out there who helped me to formulate this plan! I am so excited to share it with my Primary kids!
July 24th, 1847 is the day that Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. In the LDS Church, we commemorate that event with pioneer songs, parades and activities to some degree throughout the church. Probably less so here in Phoenix than in Utah, but still, it is an important date to us. One of my ancestors was a pioneer who came from Denmark on one of the last wooden sailing vessels to then make the trek to Salt Lake first by train then by handcart. On the way, his mother and older brother died of cholera. His father was already gone before they embarked on the trip. This left my great grandfather and his siblings orphans. They were cared for and raised by other members of the church when they reached Salt Lake. His name was Niels Rasmussen. So, because of this family history, I have a strong love for Pioneer Day. I don't want to only spend 1 Sunday singing Pioneer Songs. I want to make it more special than that. This Sunday is the week before the actual 24th. In past weeks, I have introduced a couple of pioneer songs, so the kids are beginning to be familiar with them. In the midst of singing the pioneer songs, we also need to practice our Sacrament Meeting Presentation songs, especially, "I Love to See the Temple". The kids know the first verse really well, but they are a little week on the second verse. I have decided to tie this song to the idea of the Pioneers having to leave Nauvoo, shortly after the temple was built there and how the temple work was being done around the clock as they were also leaving to avoid persecution. Joseph Smith had just been killed and they were being driven from their homes. Brigham Young was leading them and as they looked back at their beautiful city and temple, they saw the temple burning. The story of their trials is heart wrenching. What a blessing that they had the knowledge that their families are eternal. I want our children to understand the sacrifice those pioneers made in order to uphold their religious freedom. For this week I have created a wagon wheel spinner for the kids to use to choose the songs that we will sing. When the spinner lands on "I Love to see the Temple", I will talk about the Nauvoo Temple and use some Primary Symbol pictures found on LDS..org to review the song. I also have pictures to review the Pioneer Songs. It is pretty simple and not that fancy, but I think the kids will like it. Here was my process: ! I will use some of the girl's sing/boy's sing signs on some of the songs and other variations to mix things up. I will have kids come up and hold pictures.
Next week will be the actual 24th of July. I think that I will make a fake campfire and have the kids sit around it. I'm debating about making butter that they can shake in rhythm as they sing. I need to check with my Primary President and see what she thinks. But, I will fill you in when I decide what to do. I just want to make it special and have the kids learn why we sing these songs and understand their heritage. If you have any great ideas for making this Pioneer Day special, please share! If you want to make some pioneer bonnets, I found this tutorial. I'll let you know how this week goes! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
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Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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