Homemade Sidewalk Paint

It's that time of year, summer's here! Lots of enjoying the sun, sprinkler, fun...for a week. Then the kids start asking "mom, what is there to do? We're bored!" This is where a fun but inexpensive craft comes in, making your own sidewalk paint! Just using a couple of food staples on hand, you have a great way to keep the kids busy and inspired....for a while :)

Homemade Sidewalk Paint

4 Tbls warm water
3 Tbls cornstarch
6-8 drops food coloring

I found using this cheap dip bowl was perfect for making the paint, leaving less clean up for mom, which I love!

First, fill each section with warm water 

 

sprinkle the cornstarch over water

 

 drip the food coloring in and mix

easy!

 

 paint ready to be used

If your paint is too thin, you can always add more cornstarch- a teaspoon at a time- to thicken. It gets much brighter as it dries, and VERY easy to clean up! With a shot of the hose, my whole porch was clean in just a few seconds.

So there you go, cheap, easy and fun, what more could you ask to make your summers a little less boring?

Happy Summer!

Maple Apple Rings

This looked heavenly to me, I'm always looking for ways to incorporate fruit into my breakfast dishes. Light and fluffy like a pancake, with a sweet, soft ring of apple inside. Forget the forks, we found dipping them in syrup was the best way to eat them, yummy! We sat satisfied after our delicious Saturday breakfast, sticky fingers and fully bellies :) Here's how to make em:

Maple Apple Rings

Ingredients

• 2 medium apples, pared and cored
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (to make sour milk, add 1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1/2 cup regular milk) plus more to adjust for consistency
• maple syrup

Directions

Slice apples crosswise into 1/8" thick rings. (a mandolin slicer works great for this, I didn't have one, so just sliced as thin as I could get em)


Whisk together flour, baking power, baking soda and salt. Beat in eggs and buttermilk (or sour milk), mixing just until incorporated.



Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and grease lightly. Dip apple rings into batter and allow excess batter to drip off. If the batter is too thick, add more buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time, until it is thick enough to stick to the apple ring, but thin enough to have excess drip off. You might want to cook a test apple ring to make sure the batter is to your liking before adding too much milk.

Cook apple rings on skillet until golden brown, turning once. Important part- Skillet temp needs to be around med-low... if the skillet is too hot, the outside dough will burn before the apple inside starts to soften.

You'll see the tops starting to bubble (as with normal pancakes) and thicken, this is the time to flip em. Be patient, you want your apple nice and soft inside!


Serve with maple syrup. Enjoy! :)