Gingerbread Pancakes

These pancakes taste like gingerbread cookies without the work of rolling out dough or using cookies cutters. They truly taste like Christmas.

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Combine above ingredients with 1 1/3 cups milk, 4 tsp water (less if you want thicker pancakes), 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp oil; set aside. Make a well in the center of the pancake mix. Stir until moistened. Cook on hot griddle. Makes 16 pancakes (4-inch size). You can serve with syrup, although they taste great plain too.

Rosemary Focaccia

Ricky mades this delicious bread for our family. It is perfect for soup or pasta.

3 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 (.25 oz) package instant active dried yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp dried rosemary leaves

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water and 2 Tbsp of oil. Mix dough until pliable. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth.
2. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover, let rise until doubled (45 minutes).
3. Coat baking sheet with oil and gently press dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Brush remaining oil over the top of the dough.
4. Make dimples on the dough. Sprinkle rosemary and cheese.
5. Let rise until doubled (20 minutes).
6. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Marsh Chex Mix

Ricky's family makes this chex mix a lot, and he really likes it. We decided to make it this Saturday instead of our usual popcorn. The boys loved it!

16 oz. chex (we like corn chex the best but you can use any combination of chex flavors)
1 lb trail mix (we used a mixture of raisins, M&M's, and almonds - Ricky's family uses peanuts)
1 1/2 cups Karo syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

• Combine cereal and trail mix in a large, deep bowl.
• Combine the rest of the ingredients in a pan. Cook on medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes at a rolling boil.
• Pour sauce over cereal and mix well.

Snowy Day Hot Cocoa

This tastes delicious when you come in from playing in the snow. We like to throw candy-canes in our mugs and top the drink off with whip-cream and chocolate chips.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 teaspoons vanilla

1. Mix sugar and cocoa in saucepan. Stir in the water.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil and stir 2 minutes.
3. Stir in milk and heat to desired temperature. DO NOT BOIL.
4. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
5. Top with favorite hot chocolate toppings.

Cinnamon Batter-Dipped French Toast

This is our family's new go-to French Toast recipe.

2 cups Bisquick
1 1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
12 slices bread

1. Heat griddle or skillet. Spray with cooking spray.
2. Stir Bisquick, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs until blended. Dip bread in batter (drain excess batter into the bowl). Place on hot griddle.
3. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
4. Serve with syrup.

Christmas for Toddlers: Mary

Today we focused on Mary. The main message we wanted to get across is that Mary is Jesus' mother. We talked about who their mother is, who mommy's mom is, who daddy's mom is, and who Jesus' mom is. We also talked about Mary's attributes (she is kind, faithful, etc).

Christmas for Toddlers: Family Ornaments

One fun activity you can do with toddlers at Christmas time is buy an ornament kit from Michael's. They sell sets of 4 wooden ornaments with 4 colored markers and 2 glitter glue pens for around $2. The whole family can have a fun evening decorating the ornaments, letting them dry and hanging them on the tree. Our boys love finding the ornaments they made hanging on the tree.

Christmas for Todders: Jesus was Born in Bethlehem

Teaching toddlers about Christmas and why Christ's birth is so important can be a difficult task. This year I will share some of the simple things we are doing to celebrate Christmas and teach our boys about Jesus during Decemeber. Each idea is really simple and can be used as a theme for the day. Today the theme is - Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It doesn't seem like much, but it is important. Over breakfast we talked about where we were all born. (For example, a cousin was just born in Viriginia. Grandpa was a baby in Idaho, etc.) Then we taught them that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We also went and looked at our beds. We talked about how nice our beds are, and then learned the song Away in a Manger. We told them Jesus didn't have a bed. He had to lay down in the hay.