…and this is how it happened.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with part of our family last weekend. On the way home on Sunday the kids asked if we could put up our Christmas tree. Being the brilliant mom I am I said, “I have to clean the house before we can start to put up decorations. As soon as that’s done, we’ll put up the tree.”

They helped clean for about an hour and then this happened when I wasn’t looking:

The kids had energy and excitement to do the tree that night – so we got ‘er done.

That night reminded me that sometimes it’s just best to join in the passion-flow of those around me than to stick to my own agenda.

And that is why our Christmas Tree is up before Thanksgiving.

For Amelia’s Frozen birthday party we chose an art project in the spirit of self-expression and beauty.

What you need:

Plenty of time. It takes 2 1/2 hours for the project to be dry enough to transport home. You can prep the canvases ahead of time if you want to cut off 30 minutes.

We played games like Pin the Nose on Olaf and had a Frozen sing-a-long during the drying time.

You also need a canvas, paint shirt and brush for each person and Elsa-esk paint. We used Acrylic/Master’s Touch Rouge, Lake Blue Titanium White and Phthalocyanine Blue from Hobby Lobby.

1. Prep the canvases with watered down white paint. Cover the front and sides of the canvas with a thin layer of the white paint. Let it dry for about 30 minutes.

2. Scatter small dots of each color of paint on each canvas. Have the artist swipe their brush back and forth to create the feeling of snow blowing. Use more drops of paint to achieve the desired coloring.

The more paint used, the longer it takes to dry. I recommend doing only a thin layer of paint. We did not paint the sides because of our close quarters and lack of dry time.

When the paint is mostly dry, mix a little blue and white together to create a new color for the wording. I showed the kids an example and approximately where to place their letters. They painted the words themselves if they were comfortable doing so.

After another 20 minutes or so to let the words dry, water down Liquitex Basics Iridescent Medium and lightly paint it over the entire canvas, carefully avoiding spots that are still wet. The iridescent paint gives the paintings a snowy quality. If the iridescent paint is thick, the painting will look almost white. I did my own experiment a few days before the party to be sure I knew how much paint and time the whole project would take.

The kids were proud of the final products and excited to take them home to put in their rooms!

If you do this project, I would love to see your finished product!!

Check out my reflections on the movie in my post Frozen Top Ten http://andreajoywenburg.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/frozen-top-ten/

Pasta Sauce

All ingredients and amounts are flexible, dependent upon taste and availability.  If you can think of something else good to add, go for it!  This recipe takes about 45 min. to an hour to complete, but you end up with a huge pot of sauce to use and freeze for later.

For it to be tomato sauce:

5 Quarts of canned tomatoes

• I often use tomatoes canned with peppers and onions from our garden.
• I also usually use one of the quarts to blend with other things and add a tomato paste texture.

For green veggie goodness:

1 5oz package of fresh or frozen spinach, cooked until it looks wilted.

• I prefer to steam it in the microwave using no additional water and preserving all the nutrients in the juice for the sauce.

For wholesome sweetness:

1 package carrots (about 10), cooked until soft

• You can use a bag of baby carrots, which are a lot less work.  I just feel bad for the big guys sometimes.

2 Red Bell Peppers, cooked

• You can use yellow or orange, but red helps with the coloring of the sauce.
• Adding more can only make the sauce sweeter!  Yum.

For protein and a little texture:

2 cups of Sandy Willard’s white beans, cooked

• Or 1 can of any white beans

For savory flavor:

1 whole head of garlic, roasted or steamed

A big bunch of fresh herbs – basil & rosemary or ¼-½  a bottle of dried herbs (Rosemary Herb mix from Pampered Chef is excellent!)

1 tsp. Salt (but really…it’s probably not necessary)

Optional :

2 heads of broccoli, cut small and cooked.

1 package of chopped mushrooms

1 can chopped artichoke hearts

Dump 4 quarts of tomatoes in a large saucepan and set on med-low heat.  Stir periodically.

Clean and cook vegetables and garlic until they are soft.  Blend them in a blender, then add to the tomatoes.

Blend beans and add to the pot.  (I usually blend them along with some tomatoes to make it easier to get them out of the blender.)

Chop fresh herbs (or get out your dried herbs) and add them to the pot.

Add optional chopped vegetables, if you want.  You might need to divide the sauce into two pans at this point.

Let the sauce simmer for 10-20 minutes while your pasta is cooking.

Serve it up and feel great knowing your family is getting a variety of awesome, low-fat nutrients, hardly any salt and NO sugar!

Freeze the rest in bags, according to how much you use at a time.  I usually divide the sauce into four groups – one to serve and three to freeze.  I have also canned this basic recipe (minus the beans) and it turned out great.  But I don’t know much about canning safety, so don’t take my word for it.

Let me know if you try it and if you find any tweeks that I could try.