Playgroup for March 31

Sorry this is so late! I forgot yesterday in my flurry of preparations for my in-laws to get here to email you all, and I was also hoping for some weather miracle so we could still play outside.... but it didn't happen. So instead of having playgroup at the park we will just be meeting in the church gym to run around and let out some of that spring energy. Bring balls and other toys you wish to share and we'll just chat and make a day of it. I'll post the April schedule next week. Please email me with any ideas you have or activities you want to do as a group.

I thought the Pirate Island outing was splendid and would love to repeat it in the future. For those of you who could not attend, the story time was approximately 40 minutes long complete with puppet show, a mini children actors theater, and a craft at the end. Six moms and 12 kids (well, at least 12 that were able to eat) split a monster pizza (seriously it was 2 feet across and PLENTY of food for everyone) for about $7 a piece and the kids played on the slides and got a few free tokens from the story time for the arcade games. I considered it a great success! And Johnny Deep was our server! Can't get much better than that. ;) I hope to see you all today at 11:00 at the church!

Chili Con Carne

Chili 2 large onions, chopped (about 3 cups) 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 carrots, sliced thin 1.5 - 2 pounds ground beef 1-2 Tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 tablespoons paprika 1 tablespoon crumbled dried orégano 1 tsp dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste two 8-ounce cans tomato sauce 1 1/4 cups beef broth 3 tablespoons cider vinegar a 19-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 2 green bell peppers, chopped In a kettle cook the onions in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, add the garlic and the carrots, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the beef and cook it over moderate heat, stirring and breaking up any lumps, for 10 minutes, or until it is no longer pink. Add the chili powder, the cumin, the paprika, the orégano, and the red pepper flakes and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, the broth, and the vinegar, bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer it, covered, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Add the kidney beans, the bell peppers, and salt and black pepper to taste and simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the bell peppers are tender.

How to cook in a crock pot: cook onions, garlic and carrots for 1 minute. Add beef and cook until no longer pink. Place meat, onions, carrots, garlic and spices into a crock pot. Add the tomato sauce, broth, vinegar, beans and bell pepper and let cook on low for 4-6 hours and stir occasionally.

Minestrone Soup

The soup from the March Relief Society Activity was Vegan, if you were interested in making the same kind.

Minestrone Soup

2 T Olive Oil

2 tsp Minced Garlic

1 Lg Onion, chopped

8 C water

8 Chicken Bouilloun Cubes (For a Vegan option, leave this out and add some salt, start with 1 tsp)

3 tsp Dried Parsley

1 tsp Basil

½ tsp Oregano

1 C Celery, Chopped

1 C Carrots, sliced

1 C Zuchinni, sliced

1 C Green Beans (undrained)

½ C Corn (undrained)

1 15 oz Can Kidney Beans (undrained)

1 15 oz Can Black Beans (undrained)

1 15 oz Can Garbanzo Beans (undrained)

1 15 oz Stewed Tomatoes (undrained)

1 C macaroni shells (optional)

In a large pot, heat oil and saute garlic and onion until tender. Add everything else except the macaroni. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Makes 10-12 servings. To make in a crockpot: Sautee garlic & onion until tender and place in a crock pot with everything else except macaroni. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup

5 Lg baked potatoes- with the skin taken off and chunkily mashed
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
5-6 cups milk
1 can chicken broth
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
5 chopped green onions
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded bacon


In large pot melt butter on med-high heat. Add flour and mash until no lumps. Slowly add milk to prevent lumps. Add chicken broth, salt, and pepper stirring often. When soup thickens, add green onions, cheese, bacon, and potatoes. Heat through. Add more milk if needed to thin out. (can keep in a crock pot to keep warm)

Relief Society Activity Recipes

I have been trying to post all of the recipes from the Relief Society Activities on the blog. If there is a recipe (or a cooking group night) that is not on here that you would like to see, please let me know.

Also, I think that my last Cooking Group will be May (relatively certain unless a job shows it's face). I sent around the sign up on Sunday for a choice between: How to Host a Party, Pizza Night, and American Night. The winners were: How to Host a Party and Pizza Night. We will be having Pizza Night in April and How to Host a Party in May. I'm also going to see if we can learn how to throw pizza dough... we'll see though. I'll keep you posted on that. Thanks ladies for making this such an awesome calling and activity. I've loved it!

Playgroup for March 17th

It's going to be a BEAUTIFUL day tomorrow, and luckily for all of you I scheduled playgroup outside! We'll be meeting at Memorial Park (I know I told many of you Boys and Girls Club, but I was wrong, sorry! That's later) at 11:00, which I think is fitting since it's going to be St. Patrick's day and we'll be at the green slides.... :) If you all would like, I know I get hungry, and my kids get hungry at 11:00, so if you want to bring any GREEN goodies or snacks to share to celebrate St. Patrick's day, that would be cool. Don't feel like you have to, but if you happen to really get into the holiday, please share you're joy.

On another note, we are planning on going to Pirate Island next week for their story time hour and playground. It is a restaraunt, but please don't think you HAVE to buy food. I wanted to do this for the story time to mix things up, not for the lunch necessarily. That being said, if you want to buy lunch there, be my guest! In fact, if some of you want to go in on a pizza to share, let us know tomorrow at the play ground and we can coordinate it. I've sent a link to their menu and website so you can check it out for yourselves. It's located right behind the University Mall where the old dollar theater used to be. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns or need a ride.

Geneen

http://www.pirateislandusa.com/

Playgroup is Wednesdays at 11:00 am and usually runs about and hour.
March 17: Memorial Park (150 N 800 E)
March 24: Story time/ pizza party at Pirate Island--more details to come
March 31:Boys and Girls Club (150 N 1080 E)

Playgroup for March 10th

Playgroup for this week will be at the church in the nursery. The Sunbeams class is doing/going to do a series of lessons about being thankful for animals, birds, fish, insects etc over the next several weeks, so I thought we could compliment this by talking about our favorite animals and where we can find them and where they live etc etc. So if you want to (don't feel like you need to) please bring your favorite stuffed animal and we'll hide them in the class rooms and go on a Safari and talk about the animals we find. I also wanted to do a short coloring activity, but alas I am out of paper and ink, so if anyone would like to bring a coloring page about animals, I'll bring the crayons and some construction paper. Most of the time will be spent playing, the "lesson" will only take about 10-15 minutes. See you there!

Geneen

Playgroup is Wednesdays at 11:00 am and usually runs about and hour.
March 10: Safari Adventure at the church--bring your favorite animal (stuffed or a picture) to our safari hunt in the nursery
March 17: Memorial Park (150 N 800 E)
March 24: Story time/ pizza party at Pirate Island--more details to come
March 31:Boys and Girls Club (150 N 1080 E)

Playgroup email list

I send around weekly email updates, changes etc. for playgroup every Tuesday afternoon, and sometimes Wednesday morning if our plans suddenly change. If there is anyone reading this blog who is not on the email list and wants to be, or knows of someone who wants to be on the list and isn't, please leave a comment with your email address in it and I'll add you to the list. Thanks!

Rex Lee Run on March 13th

I know this race is next Saturday, and that's really soon for those of you who were considering running a 5K or 10K this year (that's 3.1 miles and 6.2 miles respectively), but I just thought I'd post this link for those of us who like to run, want to start running, want to walk the course or push a stroller, or just like to support a good cause. All the proceeds go the the Rex Lee fight against cancer fund, and it's one of the cheaper races of the season ($15 if you register before the race, $20 the day of). I know a few people who are already signed up to run this year from our ward, myself included, so you won't be "alone" in the run. I may not run with you, but I'll sure look for you and cheer you on when I see you. :) All the information is at this website. Pass it on!

http://rexleerun.byu.edu/

Playgroup for March

IT'S MARCH!! Finally! And tomorrow's weather report tomorrow is 50 degrees with a small chance of rain and snow. I have no idea what that really means, but I think it means that we should risk it and play outside! If it turns out to be raining or snowing, we'll just meet at the church instead. Let's meet at the park right across from the church (150 S 800 E) and play play play! I hope the weather is kind to us. This month I'm hoping to start playing outside more, but because March is unpredictable, I'm going to put a tentative schedule out and make whatever changes are necessary as we go along. I've gotten a few good ideas for playgroup outings, so I'll put those on there soon. I hope to see you all there soon!

Geneen

P.S. Everyone is welcome to come to playgroup. Please don't feel like you don't "qualify" just because you don't have kids of the proper age or no children at all. We would love to see you!

Playgroup is Wednesdays at 11:00 am and usually runs about and hour.
March 3: Harmon Park (150 S 800 E)
March 10: Safari Adventure at the church--bring your favorite animal (stuffed or a picture) to our safari hunt in the nursery
March 17: Memorial Park (150 N 800 E)
March 24: Story time/ pizza party at Pirate Island--more details to come
March 31:Boys and Girls Club (150 N 1080 E)