Homemade Mozzarella Sticks

I love Mozzarella Sticks. It's one of those appetizers that if it's on a menu I always debate getting them because they are soooo good! I've seen some recipes on Pinterest for fried mozzarella balls that were baked but after reading some comments the general consensus seemed to be that they ended up flat instead of in balls. So I thought why not try doing a whole mozzarella stick? I also decided that I was going to fry them instead of bake them. Sure, they are not as healthy I guess but I only made two so I felt a little better about it. (I only had 2 mozzarella sticks but I think I may need to make a trip to get some more because they turned out so good!!!)

So here is what you need:
Mozzarella string cheese
FEB for frying (Flour, egg, breadcrumbs - I used a combo of Panko and Italian seasoned)
oil for frying (I used vegetable oil but I would also use peanut oil in my deep fryer)
Sauce for dipping


Directions:
On the stove top fill a skillet part way with oil. Turn it on medium high. I didn't use a thermometer,  I just tested my oil by putting the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil and when it bubbles at the handle it's ready. I also have a deep fryer with peanut oil but these seriously take about 2-3 minutes to fry. That also means that they kept their shape too!

Dip the sticks in the flour and shake off the excess.
Then dip in egg and then into the breadcrumbs. I double dipped in the egg and breadcrumbs to make them extra crunchy.

When they are golden brown on all sides take them out and enjoy! Mine turned out so good and the cheese was oooey gooey just like I wanted them!

Homemade Slime!

Today Alexandra and I made some homemade slime. We had fun before making Oobleck so I thought this would be a hit too - and it was! And it's great for sensory play too!

I've seen this recipe all over Pinterest but the one that caught my eye was from Our Best Bites. There is a great step by step list of instructions with a picture for each step so if you need that go check it out!

The best thing is that this slime is so easy to make and only has 4 ingredients: Glue, water, food coloring, and Borax. These ingredients are mixed together in 5 minutes and you instantly have slime, which is great when you have an eager four year old waiting to play!

So here are the directions for the slime. Have fun making it and playing with it but please supervise young children with it. This slime is not edible as it contains Borax and glue -  it's simply to play with!

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Borax powder
1 1/2 cups water, divided
4 oz glue (1 small bottle, either white or clear: I used white)
a few drops of food coloring

Directions:

1. In one bowl mix 1 teaspoon Borax powder with 1 cup of water. Stir to dissolve and set aside. 

2. In another bowl mix the glue with 1/2 cup water and stir to combine. Add a few drops of food coloring.

3. Add the Borax mixture to the glue mixture. A solid will form and be stringy with a lot of water in the bowl.  

4. Stir and then knead the mixture with your hands, squeezing out all of the excess water. If you continue kneading you can form the slime into a cohesive ball. Discard the excess water. 

Now just explore! Stretch it, flatten in, make it into a ball, and just have fun! 

Muffin Tin Monday: Fresh Fruit and Dip

It's Muffin Tin Monday!

Sometimes Alexandra can be a picky eater but one food that will never go to waste in our house is fresh fruit. Each time we go grocery shopping we stock up on fresh fruit and a lot of it disappears within the week. In fact, now that I have two kids who love fresh fruit a quart of strawberries have been known to disappear within a day!

So today for her muffin tin meal I decided to make her a tin of fresh fruit and I threw together a fruit dip made out of vanilla yogurt and cream cheese with a little added cherry juice to make it pink.

As I gave Alexandra her meal Camden, who is almost 18 months, sat down for some fruit too. Well he wanted something but I wasn't sure what. He kept pointing at the table and I kept handing him things like his water, fork, etc. I guess what he wanted was a muffin tin like Alex. So I gave him a little muffin cup so he could feel like he was participating too. I guess I can consider this his first muffin tin meal. I started making them for Alex when she was 2 so I guess it's about time to include Camden in the fun too!

 The picture is sideways but I guess it doesn't really matter anyways! So we did  yellow, blue, and red fruit - bananas and pineapple, grapes and blueberries, and fruit dip topped with a cherry and strawberries. And Mickey Mouse and friends picks because that's all I have left! Time to do some shopping!!!

 Camden enjoying his strawberries and blueberries in a muffin tin cup (he already had a banana for breakfast!)

Yummy!