Happy Birthday Jesus Cupcakes and Manger Food Tray

 I was looking for some ideas for a dessert and food tray for our Birthday Party for Jesus. I wasn't able to find anything on Pinterest, so it forced me to come up with something. It was pretty fun!

What You Need For Cupcakes
Cupcakes of any kind with white frosting. Here is the recipe that I used, http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/09/17/red-velvet-cupcakes/ .

Circus Peanuts (I got mine from The Dollar Store)
Shoestring Potatoes
Butterscotch Chips
Black Food Decorating Pen
Waxed Paper

To assemble the baby Jesus start by melting the butterscotch chips in a mini crockpot or in a small pot on the stove. Be sure to spray the crockpot with Pam before melting the chips. Put a dab of butterscotch on waxed paper and start laying the potato sticks out as the bed of hay.

Add the circus peanut and more of the potato sticks while the butterscotch is still warm, then add the little eyes and mouth.

Place "baby Jesus" on top of frosted cupcake and add the frosting swaddling clothes  .

 

I wasn't able to make my cupcakes the day of the party and found that the shoestring potatoes lost their crispness after sitting for a day and a half. So in the future I would make them the day of.

What You Need for Tray
Long Beef Sticks (I got mine from a butcher)
Cheese for Angels and Star
Small Angel Cookie Cutter and Star Cookie Cutter (obviously I didn't have a star cutter so I had to winged it)
Blue Berries

I cut up extra cheese angels and beef stick pieces and put them on the side.

I added an updated version of the tray now that I have a star cookie cutter. I stacked the cheese angels and star 4 slices deep so they were even with the blueberries.

Celebrating Spring with Flower Pot Ice Cream Dessert

 I am Story Hour Coordinator at a Christian gift and book store and love my time with the kids! I decided to put together a spring story hour to celebrate the season. Our typical story hour consists of a bible story along with two other stories, songs with actions, and a craft to coincide with the bible story. There really is no spring bible story, but I wanted to celebrate the season with the kids and show them how we are like God's plants and need to be fed by God's word. I picked up packages with 6 gladiola bulbs per pack from the Dollar Store and made up these little packets with this simple poem. 

I couldn't find a Christian kid's song to go with our celebration of spring, so I decided to come up with my own. What kid doesn't know the song,"Let it Go", from Frozen! I put these words to the refrain from the song.




                  

                         Let us grow, let us grow                        
                         Let us grow in God's holy word.
                         Let us grow, let us grow
                         Grow to love him more and more!

                         I want to share what God has to say,
                         His Son died for me
                         So I can live in heav'n one day!

Our craft was inspired by something I saw on the Food Network by the Pioneer Woman. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/ice-cream-flower-pot-desserts-recipe.html  I have a limited budget so I used paper cups instead of clay pots and Dollar Store flowers instead of fresh flowers.

Breakfast Enchiladas

Here is another great recipe from my favorite recipe book, "Southern Living All-Time Favorites". This is a great recipe to make the night ahead and serve the next day. This has been a hit with family as well as my eighth grade class (a tough crowd). I love it!

Cheese Sauce Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 (4-oz.) can chopped green chilies
3/4 tsp. salt
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, about 6 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and whisk in remaining ingredients until cheese is melted.

Egg Filling Ingredients
1 lb. package pork sausage
2 Tbs. butter
4 green onions thinly sliced
14 large eggs, beaten
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat stirring frequently for 6 to 8 minutes or until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove from skillet and drain. (Use some of the grease from sausage to to saute onions and cilantro, or melt 2 Tbs. butter called for in recipe.) Add eggs, salt, and pepper, and cook without stirring, 2 minutes or until eggs begin to set on bottom. Gently draw cooked edges away from sides of pan to form large pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5  minutes or until eggs are thickened but still moist. (Do not over-stir.) Remove from heat, and gently fold in 1-1/2 cups cheese sauce and sausage.
8 to 10 (8 inch) soft taco flour tortillas (recipe calls for 8 tortillas, but I've found that it makes more)

4-oz. of Mexican style cheese...I love my cheese, so I just top with as much cheese as I think looks good.  (Recipe calls for shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers, but I've never had any luck finding it.)

Toppings
Grape tomatoes (or any other tomatoes you like) , sliced green onions, chopped fresh cilantro