Best New Year's Eve Kids' Appetizer: Cocktail Meatballs

My sister found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and makes it all year round for her three kids. I love it as a New Year's Eve recipe because it has cranberry sauce, a holiday ingredient, and if you're nibbling at party food all night, this one will stay hot in the slow cooker.

Cocktail Meatballs

1 lb lean ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons minced onion

1 8-oz can jellied cranberry sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, egg, water, breadcrumbs and minced onions together and roll into small meatballs. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once.

In a large saucepan or slow cooker, combine the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Add meatballs and simmer one hour before serving.

momstown Victoria makes Reindeer Antlers and Reads "Finding Christmas" at Scholastic sponsored Tales for Tots

This month at momstown Victoria's Scholastic sponsored Tales for Tots, we shared "Finding Christmas" by beloved Canadian children's author Robert Munsch and illustrator Michael Martchenko. In this story, a little girl is determined to find where her parents have hidden her Christmas presents. She soon discovers that the best surprise of all was in giving the gift of herself!

For our craft we made these easy and adorable reindeer antler headbands! This is a great craft for 3 years and up and a great keepsake with the handprint cutouts!

 

How to make a Reindeer Antler Headband

Materials:

brown craft foam cut into 2 - 3" x 12" strips

1 - 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of brown construction paper

2 large googly eyes

1 red pom pom

pen

white glue

staples and stapler

Instructions:

1. Glue the googly eyes and red pom pom nose onto one of the foam craft strips to make the face.

2. Trace hands on the construction paper and then cut them out to make the antlers.

3. Staple the strips of foam together to form the headband.

4. Staple on the antlers. Hello, Rudolph!

Congratulations to this month's winner of our Scholastic book prize draw! Join us on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 10-11 am at Chapters Victoria for a storytime, craft and book prize draw with momstown! Looking forward to next month's theme,"That's silly!"

momstown Victoria Noon Year's Eve Countdown Festive Tour

momstown Victoria

NOON YEAR'S EVE COUNTDOWN 
FESTIVE TOUR!

Monday, December 31st

10:30-12:30 pm

Join momstown Victoria as we walk through the festive displays from the Inn at Laurel Point to The Hotel Grand Pacific to The Empress, then ring in 2013 with the whole family as we count down to 12 noon!

 

10:30 am

Meet at the Inn at Laurel Point to see Canada's National Gingerbread Showcase

 

11:15 am

Walk through Bear Wear at the Hotel Grand Pacific

 

11:45 am

Countdown to 12 noon together at the Victoria Conference Centre and enjoy some delicious Candy Cane tea with us, generously donated by SILK ROAD TEA! Table will be located through the entrance of 720 Douglas Street in the Totem Pole atrium area.

 

12:15 pm

Wander through the Festival of Trees at The Empress at your leisure!

 

This event is free, but we invite you to donate to the wonderful charities that put on the displays! info.victoria@momstown.ca

momstown Victoria & Mrs. Santa make Fruit 'n' NUTELLA Yogurt Parfaits at Junior Chef

This month our momstown Jr. Chef program was sponsored by Nutella! We had a wonderful time learning to make Fruit 'n' Nutella Yogurt Parfaits with a very special guest from the North Pole! Mrs. Santa happens to be a retired registered dietitian who keeps Santa on a very healthy diet, and she showed us how to make one of her favourite low-fat breakfast recipes using Nutella!

Fruit 'n' NUTELLA Yogurt Parfait
Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 cup granola
1/4 cup NUTELLA
1 cup low fat Greek yogurt (2% or less M.F.)
1 cup assorted berries

1. In each of four parfait glasses, layer 1 tablespoon of granola.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of delicious Nutella.

3. Don't forget to lick the spoon!

4. Add 2 tablespoons of yogurt.

5. Add 1/4 cup berries.

6. Top berries with an additional two tablespoons of yogurt and sprinkle with remaining granola.

8. Serve with a glass of milk or 100% fruit juice - and a smile!

And there you have it, Mrs. Santa's favourite breakfast on the go with Nutella! We couldn't get enough of this delicious treat, and we also enjoyed making Banalicious NUTELLA Pancakes together! For more awesome breakfast ideas with Nutella, visit The Nutella Breakfast Table or check out momstown.ca!

Thank you to Mrs. Santa (a.k.a. Lolita Dumbrique) for helping us with our special Jr. Chef, brought to you by Nutella! Also thank you to our friends at High Point Community Church for the generous use of their kitchen each month! Jr. Chef is a great way to introduce young children to cooking and nutrition, and also a fun weekend family event included in your $45/year momstown Victoria membership! Sign up now for your FREE 4-week trial!

Imagination & Play at momstown Victoria Music & Movement

Once again, Laura Shepherd brought her passion and energy for dance instruction to our momstown Victoria Music & Movement class! Our program started with a warm up and stretch, followed by a series of creative rehearsals that we practiced and then performed together with music! We pretended to be seeds growing into flowers, then wind tossing brightly coloured leaves, creatures diving under the sea, and much more. We also practiced music tempo and volume with an assortment of rattles and tambourines. 

It has been amazing to see our momstown Victoria kids so fully enjoy our Music & Movement class together! Thank you, Laura, for providing such a high quality program for our momstown mamas and kids to get to know one another! Also thank you to Medicine Moves Dance Studio for the wonderful and inviting space where our "tribe" can meet and express themselves freely!

Our membership is only $45+HST per family per year, and yes, dads, grandparents and other family members are welcome too! Register now for your FREE 4-week trial and start joining us at any of our 20+ events to connect and support families each month!

What to do with Leftover Wrapping Paper: Make a Rolled Wrapping Paper Christmas Tree

I had fun making this 'Rolled Wrapping Paper Christmas Tree' at a friend's craft party on the weekend! The inspiration was traced back to My Dream Sample Blox blog, but we created our own version of the craft:

Rolled Wrapping Paper Christmas Tree

Materials:

Assorted wrapping paper, 6 to 8 patterns cut into 20 5" x 8" rectangles

Buttons

Canvas or stiff construction paper 

Pen or Pencil

Scissors

Glue

Picture stand

Instructions:

1. Let's roll! Take a rectangle and turn the nice side down, so the back of the paper is facing up. Make the orientation a landscape (top and bottom are longer than the sides.) Lightly glue the top half of the back of the wrapping paper, and then carefully roll up the wrapping paper into a 1/2" tube. For a tighter and more uniform look, wrap the paper around a pen or pencil, sliding it out as the paper becomes held by the glue.
2. When you're done rolling all the rectangles into rolls, lay them side by side on the construction paper in your preferred pattern. Then take the scissors and start to trim the rolls, making each one slightly shorter than the last, to form the shape of the tree. 
3. Glue the rolls in place, then add buttons or other decorations. For a star, you can cut a shape from wrapping paper and place a button in the centre, or get creative with a bottle cap, etc. Take one of the ends that were trimmed, flatten and glue it to the bottom to make the trunk.

Ta da! What a great way to use up leftover wrapping paper! You could make this into a Christmas card or frame it as a gift. The results are lovely, and each tree is so unique! Now, what to do with all those old Christmas cards?

momstown Victoria Holiday Cookie Exchange: Big Soft Ginger Cookies!

I've been pondering on the perfect cookie, bar or square to bring to our Mama Holiday Cookie Exchange this year. I haven't decided on what to bring yet, but I thought I'd share my cookie recipe from the last cookie exchange I was in. I had in mind the giant, delicious ginger cookies at Sally Bun on Fort Street, and found a recipe on Allrecipes.com that made big, soft cookies with just the right amount of ginger, a bit of crispness on the outside, but still very soft and chewy. The recipe is also a cinch to double or triple, which I strongly suggest, even if you're not exchanging cookies!


Big Soft Ginger Cookies
Yields 2 dozen

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

1. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, egg, water and molasses.
3. Add the sifted ingredients to the molasses mixture and mix well.
4. Shape the dough into walnut sized balls (one and a half inches), and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy! I'm still looking for the perfect cookie to share this year. Let me know if you have any suggestions!