DIY Doll Food~ Tacos, Hot Dogs, Poptarts, & Crackers

Allison and I decided to break out the clay again and make some more play food for her dolls. This time we focused on lunch and dinner type items. I thought it would be good to do another post since the Sweet Treats Tutorial was a lot of fun to do.

Remember, these don't need to be perfectly formed. Mine certainly aren't, but my kids don't seem to mind, as long as they slightly resemble food. Working with polymer clay can be a little tricky until you get the hang of it.

What you will need:

An assortment of polymer clay packages in different colors

Knife or other small sharp tool

Damp paper towel

To make a hot dog:

Break off a tan colored chunk of clay. Rub it between your palms until it is soft and pliant. Roll it into a ball about an inch in diameter.

Next roll it between your palms or against a flat surface until it is a long hot dog shape about 2 inches in length.

Using your knife or other sharp tool, draw little lines through the sides of the hotdogs to give it the pinched hot dog look.

Break off a darker brown clay chunk. Roll it into another ball about 1/2 inch in diameter to start making the bun. Flatten it into a nice round circle until it is 2 inches all the way around.

Place your already formed hot dog on top of the brown bun. Pull the sides of the bun up around the hot dog and gently press the two pieces together.

Pinch off a tiny bit of red and yellow clay for the ketchup and mustard. Roll each (separately) between your palms until you have a thin strand the same length as your hot dog. Form each color into small squiggle lines and place on top of your hot dog, gently pressing down to form a bond between the clay pieces.

If you notice any finger prints or dings, use a damp paper towel and gently rub them away.

Pop Tart:

Start with a small chunk of gold colored clay. Roll into a 2 inch ball. Press clay into an even flat circle.

Using your knife, cut a square about 2 inches in in length and height.

Depending on the flavor of your pop tart, repeat the above process with another color of clay for the icing, only making this color much thinner.

Cut this new square just a bit smaller than the pop tart crust.

Place thin square over the gold square, gently pressing to make the two clays stick together.

Break off bits of other colors of clay (white, pink, blue, ect) and form little sprinkles for the tops of your pop tart icing. Gently press each sprinkle onto the frosting.

Tacos:

Roll a 2 inch ball of gold clay. Press into a flat, round circle until it is about 2 inches in diameter.

Break off a dark brown chunk of clay for the beef. Roll it into a long rope the length of the taco shell. Place in the center of the shell.

Break off a small bit of red, green, and yellow clay. Roll each color between your palms until you have a long thin strand of each color. Using your knife, cut of small bits of each for the lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

Mix each color together, then sprinkle the mixture over the top of the taco, gently pressing down so the clay sticks together.

Peanut Butter Cracker:

To make the cracker tops, roll out an orange ball of clay about 2 inches in diameter. Flatten clay evenly on a hard flat surface.

Using your knife, cut 2 squares from the formed circle, about an inch in length.

Roll out a small gold ball, about an inch in diameter. Flatten, making the gold clay thinner than your crackers.

Cut a square the same shape as the cracker pieces, then sandwich it between the two orange squares.

Using a toothpick, poke several small holes in the top and bottom of your crackers.

Allison was having fun making her own creations. She made meatballs and onion rings, as well as her own tacos. It so much fun to get the kids involved in making their play things!

Now, place all your food onto a cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 225 degrees for about 15 minutes. Do not over bake or you will get scorch marks on your food. It can also cause cracks. Remove from oven and let cool. I usually don't let the kids play with them until the next day when I
know they are fully set and hard.

Don't forget to check out the Sweet Treats Tutorial more more DIY doll food ideas!

*Note* Any kitchen items used while making your clay projects should no longer be used in cooking with real human food. The clay leaves a residue on the surface of these items that is not safe for human ingestion.

Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells

This combo is so delicious together! It looks like it takes forever to make, but it's actually quick and almost effortless. And it is so tasty!

Ingredients:
1- 12oz pk of jumbo pasta shells
1- lightly beaten egg
2- 15oz (each) containers ricotta cheese
1- 10oz pk frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 32oz jar spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Cook shells according to package directions.
While shells are cooking, combine the egg, ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Drain shells and rinse with cold water.
Fill shells with filling mixture.
Place shells in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over shells. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with garlic bread. 

*You can also sprinkle a little more Parmesan on top of shells just before serving. It gives it a little more added flavor!*

My Kids, Social Media, and Sidewalk Chalk

I just gave my girls a brand new pack of sidewalk chalk. Usually this lasts them a few weeks, so I was pretty surprised when they came in after only one day of use and said they were out. I went outside expecting to see the usual rainbows and flowers, but there were none to be found. What did I see? My driveway turned into a billboard for social media advertising! I'm beginning to think they may be spending a little too much time online.

5 Minute Fudge

A couple of years ago I decided to try and make fudge for Christmas. For some reason I never figured out, it just would not set and turned into a runny, gooey mess. I was so disappointed with my attempt that I haven't tried making it again.

I've been trying to shake things up in the food department here at home, and have been checking out all of the old Taste of Home back issue magazines from the library lately. I ran across this recipe for 5 minute fudge that looked simple enough, so I decided to give it a whirl. Finally, I got it right :)

Ingredients:

1 12oz pk of semi sweet chocolate pieces
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Line an 8x8 pan with wax paper. Place chocolate bits, water, and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat until all chocolate bits are melted. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour mixture in lined pan. Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Cut into squares. Serve.
*You can store in an air tight container for up to 1 week*

Flower Hair Pin (Aerie Knockoff)

I was shopping at Aerie back in December and found these cute little flower hair pins they were selling. They had all sorts of colors available, but since they were $5 each, I wasn’t about to buy more than one. I’ll be honest, I’m not the craftiest person when it comes to fabric and sewing things. It’s just not something I ever really picked up on. But, studying the hair pin, I felt fairly confident that I could make my own for much cheaper.

I set off to Hobby Lobby and got the materials I needed, then came home and tried my hand at it. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with how well I did.

What you’ll need:

Flower petal template located HERE

Sheer fabric (I used chiffon, but any sheer will work)

small piece of felt

bobby pins with a flat, round surface on the end

needle

thread that matches the color of your fabric

hot glue and glue gun

scissors

Directions:

Trace your flower template onto your fabric. *Note- I used the middle petal from the template link above. It’s about 2 inches in size all the way around*

Cut out the flower petal. Repeat until you have 6 total petals.

Fold petal in half, then fold in half again.

Sew a small stitch in the base of of the petal to hold it together.

Cut 1 circle from your felt that is the size of the round, flat end of your bobby pin.

Sew each petal around the edges of the felt circle.

Hot glue the bottom of the felt to the flat round of the bobby pin.

Voila, you have a beautiful flower hair pin that cost about 50¢ to make.

I used a darker color thread here so you could see how I stitched it, but you will want to use a matching color thread or it will show through!

Mine is the the pink. The gray is the one I bough from Aerie.

I also made a purple one from leftover fabric we had already.

Garden Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes

Do you remember when we used to get samples of recipe cards in the mail? I think Taste of Home used to send those out. I remember moving in to our first home and was just getting my feet wet in the cooking department. This was one of the first recipe cards I got, and 15 years later, it is still one of our favorite twice baked potato recipes.

My girls usually split one since I buy the big potatoes, so this is the recipe I use for 3.


Ingredients:


3 large baking potatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup ranch dressing (start with 1/2 cup, add more depending on how creamy you like your potato filling)
1 cup cooked chopped broccoli florets (I just use Birdseye Steamfresh, and chop the tops away from the stems. It's a time saver)
shredded cheddar cheese for sprinkling on top
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil, pierce with fork, and bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked through.
Using a small knife, cut the tops off the potatoes and scoop the potato pulp into a bowl, taking care to leave enough around the edges so when you fill it back up, it can support the filling.
Mix in broccoli, and 1/2 cup of ranch dressing, adding more ranch until you get your desired consistency, salt and pepper.
Using a spoon, fill the empty potato shells with mixture.
Sprinkle tops with cheddar cheese.
Place potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes until potatoes are heated through and cheese is melted.

Valentine's Homemade Dog Treats!

We got busy this weekend making treats for Valentine's Day and thought it would be fun to make some Valentine cookies for the dogs. Allison had so much fun rolling out the dough and cutting little heart shaped cookies out for them, and the dogs LOVED them! I've never seen them go so crazy for a treat before!


We made Peanut Butter Bites.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375'F. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Bake for 15 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container.

These had a bit of crunch, but were still a bit soft in the middle too. If you want a full on crunchy treat, bake for 20 minutes, but keep an eye on them because they can burn easily.

Allison working on training skills with their tasty treats!

Roller Skating!

This winter weather has been crazy! It is making it difficult for us to find things to do on the weekends. Normally we would be planning out sledding and tubing filled weekends, building snowmen or having snowball fights, but since it seems to snow during the week, then it all melts by Friday, we have had to find new activities to fill our weekends. My husband was flipping through the paper and saw that the local skating rink offered roller skating lessons on Saturday mornings. The only skates my kids have ever put on were those chunky Fisher Price plastic skates that you put on over your shoes, so we figured it would be fun to have them go to a real roller skating center and try it out.

A slightly heated debate started over who should get out on the floor with the kids. My husband thinks that if he falls and breaks a leg he can not go to work. I guess you need a fully functioning leg to sit at a desk all day. Apparently I don’t need my limbs because I’m a stay at home mom, so mine aren’t as important. In the end, we both agreed we would both suffer with broken body parts and each of us popped on a pair of skates. It turns out neither of us needed to. The instructors ended up kicking me out of Allison’s area and Mariah pretty much had herself a one on one instructor the whole time.

Allison took to it like a pro. Only a few tumbles, but otherwise, she was whizzing around like she’d been doing it for years.

 

Mariah on the other hand... Let’s just say that by the time we left I was ready to march into her old gymnastics center and demand my money back for 4 years of classes, because they surely didn’t teach her balance. Poor kid had the roughest time, and ended up in tears twice. I don’t think she’ll want to repeat her roller skating adventure any time soon.

I am really glad we went. I was nervous about skating myself, but it’s like riding a bike. Once you learn, you don’t ever forget how to do it.

And how about that Super Bowl? I’ll admit, I didn’t really watch the game, but the half time was pretty good! A couple of the commercials were pretty funny and we had enough food to feed an army! We’ll be eating left overs for a few days. Overall, a perfect ending to a great weekend!