Nikki Cole - Busy Moms Helper

Pumpkin Bars

December 22, 2016 by Nikki Cole

November is the month for everything pumpkin and I tried some fun recipes one of which is Pumpkin Bars that turned out to be a super moist, melt in your mouth dessert that everyone in my family asked for seconds and thirds on. Pumpkin Bars are a sweet blend of pumpkin, cinnamon, and a cake like texture, topped with rich cream cheese frosting and is simple to add impressive but quick decorations to.

I know I said that my Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread was amazing but these Pumpkin Bars are a whole new kind of amazing. The bread was great and worked perfectly for a quick breakfast and such but the Pumpkin Bars are an amazing dessert to impress even the pickiest eaters.

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
15 – oz. can of pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Cream cheese frosting

8 – oz. cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin in a mixer.
Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 18” x 12” jelly roll pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and the bars start to pull away from the edges of the pan.
When the Pumpkin Bars are cooled make the cream cheese frosting.
Mix all cream cheese frosting ingredients except the powdered sugar well.
Slowly add in powdered sugar and mix until fluffy.
Spread onto cooled pumpkin bars.
To make a cool design dump some cinnamon onto a plate.
Get any cookie cutter, preferably small, and dip into the cinnamon.
Gently press cookie cutter into the pumpkin bars to make a design.

These Pumpkin Bars were amazing but did take a little work but don’t let that scare you away trust me, I’m working on a post with pies and wow, those are hard. This recipe is a little long but completely worth it and the steps are pretty easy just mainly mixing. I hope this recipe helps out with all your holiday plans and adventures.

Mint Thins

December 20, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Mint Thins are a perfect treat to enjoy on a cold winter night and fun to serve at all those holiday parties. These Mint Thins are impressive and simple to make without making a million dishes and breaking the bank or taking hours to accomplish something that will be eaten in a matter of hours or even minutes. The only down fall? not being able to stop eating the cookies!

Who loves girl scout cookies? Well I love girl scout cookies especially Mint Thins, I can easily eat a whole box in one sitting and not necessarily a long sitting either. Have you started to notice how pricy they are getting for such a small box? These cookies are amazing and now there’s a recipe that is almost exact replica of Mint Thins and are amazing, especially exciting to have the nice mint flavor cookies for Christmas.

Mint Thins are a mixture of cool mint and delicious chocolate that literally melts in your mouth. With this recipe it not only is easy and requires simple ingredients but makes a perfect neighbor or friend gift without hours of baking or shopping to find inexpensive gifts.

Ingredients

¼ cup whipping cream
¾ cup chocolate chips
1 package chocolate almond bark, divided
¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 9-oz. packages of chocolate wafer cookies

Directions

In a small saucepan bring whipping cream to a simmer over medium heat. Place ¾ cup chocolate chips in pan, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in extract, let cool for a minute.
Spoon a small amount onto one side of a cookie, place another cookie on top. Let harden in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
In a microwave melt the package of almond bark in 30 second intervals until smooth.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.
Dip cookies in melted almond bark and place on the cookie sheet.
Let harden and enjoy.

This Mint Thin recipe is also really good for interchanging flavors. Instead of peppermint extract you can change it out to orange, raspberry, or even pomegranate. Different flavors makes different cookies and different exciting treats, these extracts are sometimes found just at a normal grocery store but pomegranate and anything real fancy will be found at a specific baking store.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

November 21, 2016 by Nikki Cole

It’s fall and you know what that means? Yes pumpkin everything! I love pumpkin but not till recently had I ever tried making bread and especially never thought to make pumpkin bread with cream cheese. I now have a new favorite pumpkin recipe of Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread that is a complete melt in your mouth fall favorite recipe that makes a perfect dessert or even a nice breakfast.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread is incredible bread that will be perfect for any dinner, dessert, or even a quick grab and go breakfast, and it is pretty simple to make. With the recipe it only makes one loaf but I hate putting a partial can of pumpkin in the fridge, well I bought the big can that was 29 ounces, anyways so I ended up tripling the recipe, made three loafs but kept the bread mix in three separate bowls so it was easy to split into the bread pans. If you are good at measuring things out you can triple it in one bowl, make just a single loaf, whatever fits your needs.

Bread – Ingredients

1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Filling – Ingredients

1 egg
4 ounces softened cream cheese
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a bread loaf pan with non-stick spray and then dust it with flour, the flour makes it a lot easier to get the bread out of the pan.
For the bread, mix the first 10 ingredients well in a large bowl.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, gently stir in just until combined; don’t overmix.
Pour about 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan spreading it smooth and pushing it into the corners. Set aside.
For the cream cheese filling put all ingredients into a mixer and cream until nice and fluffy, usually about five minutes.
Evenly pour the cream cheese filling mixture over the bread, be careful not to push the filling into the pumpkin mixture but getting it to all the edges.
Top the cream cheese layer with the remaining pumpkin batter, smoothing the top without pushing it into the cream cheese layer and again still covering the cream cheese getting the pumpkin mix to all edges.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until the bread slightly starts to pull away from the edges.
Allow the bread to slightly cool in the pan, then gently run a spatula along the edges and turn over onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Autumn Splendor Centerpiece plus Cookie Recipe

November 20, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Want a fun and exciting centerpiece for your thanksgiving dinner? One that not only looks great but doubles as a dessert too? Well this Autumn Splendor Centerpiece is sure to impress your guests and it doesn’t cost you an arm and leg to make it.

Autumn Splendor Centerpiece is easy to make and can be changed easily if you need or want. All you need is a simple sugar cookie recipe with frosting, a stick wreath easily found at a craft store, fake pumpkin, candle (whatever color), and some little decorations to go around the top which can be left out if you want.

First get your fake pumpkin and cut a hole in the top large enough to fit your candle. I just used a steak knife which seemed to work great but it did make a little bit of a mess with Styrofoam all over. Place your candle in the whole.

Next if you want you can get little decorations to go around the ring of the pumpkin and candle or you can leave it blank. I found some cool little beads I guess you could call them and pinned them to the pumpkin. Just walk around a craft store and you can find some fun things like maybe leafs, jewels, feathers, anything you would like to dress up your centerpiece.

On your stick wreath (horrible name I know but I don’t really know the technical name for it), place a sheet of cellophane to help support the cookies a little better and so people don’t get any weird sticks in their cookies. Make it a little bigger than the wreath because when you place the pumpkin on it it will come in a little bit. Place decorated pumpkin in the center of the wreath on top of the cellophane.

Make sugar cookies and decorate them. My sugar cookie recipe and frosting is just basic – nothing too fancy, recipes below, and I also didn’t spend hours decorating mine because the only people that saw it was my little nephews and nieces. Feel free to get creative and design however you want. Plain leaves look great on this wreath and doesn’t take forever to decorate. You can get as creative as you want or as simple as you want with the Autumn Splendor Centerpiece.

I cut my cookies into different leafs, acorns, squirrels, turkeys, apples, and a few flowers. Then I just put simple frosting on them in colors of red, yellow, orange, brown. I then froze them and an hour before we sat down pulled them out, placed them around the wreath, not too far out on the wreath so they didn’t fall off but did a few layers and placed in the center of the table. It looked great without all the hard work and I had a great centerpiece and dessert tray.

Sugar cookie and frosting recipes

Cookies – Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour

Cookies – Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the extracts and egg.
Mix in baking powder and flour until combined.
Roll out onto a floured surface until about ¼ inch thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes. Let completely cool before frosting.

Frosting – Ingredients

2 cups shortening
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
8 cups powdered sugar
1/8 cup milk
Food coloring

Frosting – Directions

Cream all ingredients except powdered sugar.
Slowly add in powdered sugar.
Can add more or less milk for different consistencies if needed.
Separate into bowls and add food coloring.

Disneyland Foods that are Worth Trying

November 2, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Disneyland is one of my favorite places, if you haven’t noticed by all the posts I do about it. This time I wanted to know if the Disneyland foods were worth the price, and yes I was very surprised by most of them. So here is a list of Disneyland Foods that are Worth Trying.

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Disneyland Foods that are Worth Trying will show you some places to get meals or just simple snacks like the Matterhorn Macaroon, which was amazing! Now some of these are a little pricey but worth getting instead of just bringing your own sandwich or McDonalds outside the park.

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First stop was the Plaza Inn on Main Street USA in Disneyland. This was an all you can eat breakfast with Mickey Mouse Waffles, sausage, cinnamon rolls, drinks, cereal, and a melt in your mouth French toast. We definitely ate way more than our stomachs could hold so we had to stay off some big rides for a while but completely worth it, and it filled us up for hours. With the amazing all you can eat food you also have characters walking around saying hi and taking pictures with you. This is obviously a full meal and it was a little pricey but worth every bite.

My favorite on this list of Disneyland Foods that are worth trying is the Matterhorn Macaroon. This is a coconut, melt in your mouth snack that you will absolutely not want to miss. It is located just inside Jolly Holiday Bakery Café which also provides a great view of the Matterhorn.

Dole Whip from the Tiki Room is also a must have and a perfect treat to enjoy while watching the Enchanted Tiki Room. Dole Whip pineapple ice cream in the style of soft served or a float is sure to quench your thirst for something sweet.

Princess and the Frog is one of my favorite Disney shows so when I heard Tianna’s Beignets were served in New Orleans Square I was there. These beignets are delicious, better than doughnuts, and during Halloween time you can stop by for pumpkin flavored beignets.

Cinnamon rolls at Fiddler Fifer and Practical are warm and very filling. These cinnamon rolls we get every time we go to Disneyland because they are a perfect and quick breakfast. They also serve as a Starbucks so all you coffee lovers will also love to stop in.

Disneyland too hot for some of you? Well cool off with one of Disneyland’s Minute Maid Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. These are cold and perfect for those hot days in the park, and conveniently located at the ice cream carts throughout the parks.

Also located at the ice cream carts you can grab a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich, sure to add excitement to your little kids.

Pizza is always a great dinner right? Well it smells amazing and at the Pizza Port by Space Mountain they have pasta, pizza, salad, drinks, and several items at a reasonable price are sure to fill up your whole family for more fun memories at Disneyland.

Flo’s Café in Cars Land is one restaurant that I never even really knew about, well I missed out. Flo’s is a little pricey but you do get a lot of food and the food is delicious. I got the Brioche French Toast and my husband got the American Breakfast. Both were amazing, now the Brioche French Toast not only sounds a little different than what I am use to but it looked a lot different too but don’t be fooled, it was melt in your mouth, more of a dessert than breakfast French toast, so go ahead and be adventurous.

Need a late night snack? Well it was big enough to be a meal so be prepared to share. Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop in California Adventures has and wonderful Crissy Field Cookie Bits Sundae, hot fudge, cookies and cream ice cream, whipped cream, and lots of chocolate chip cookie bits on top what’s not to love? This dessert was huge which didn’t stop my husband and me from eating all of it but if you can’t eat very much ice cream or sweets find some people to share with, I’m sure it won’t be hard to convince people.

Churros are also one of those things you always get at Disneyland and they make it easy by having a million stands selling them. I think I smelt churros all the way through the park which made it horrible not eating one every five minutes.

Last but not least, our family tradition of going to Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner. Goofy’s Kitchen isn’t in Disneyland itself but in Disneyland Hotel so it kind of works. This is an all you can eat buffet with ribs, pizza, pasta, chicken, salad, fruit, huge dessert bar, and drinks. They also have characters walking around taking pictures and signing autographs and randomly dancing through the restaurant. One of my favorite things there is their Crème Brulee , it is amazing and I think I ate six of them, oops, probably not great on my weight but totally worth it.

There you have it, Disneyland Foods that are Worth Trying, plus there’s millions of other foods in the park that are just as amazing so if you go to Disneyland try to set a little money aside to indulge in some of their mouthwatering foods.

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Why You Should Do a Triathlon

October 14, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Want to start getting in shape and feel like you have accomplished something? I’ve ran half marathons and 5k’s and while they’re rewarding I still feel like I didn’t accomplish anything too great until I did my first Triathlon and this is Why You Should do a Triathlon, plus some helpful tips.

Running has never been real fun for me but after running my first half marathon I was so excited for my next. Sadly after hearing how many people ran the half marathon I didn’t feel like it was all too impressive or rewarding. I thought maybe I needed to do a full marathon, but sadly my knees are not capable right now to do that. After searching and doing a couple more half marathons I decided I was going to do my first Triathlon and I was scared about all of it.

Now there’s different styles of Triathlons, there’s a sprint which is what I did which is only a 500 meter swim, 12.5 mile bike, and a 5K. So still quite a bit distance but not as much as a full or Olympic Triathlon which is double everything. You can also do a relay with friends or family if that’s more your style. I did the Sprint Triathlon and after completing it in 5^th place in my age group I couldn’t wait to do my next one or an Olympic triathlon and this is Why You Should do a Triathlon too.

No I did not train like crazy for this event but I was in decent shape because I have been doing half marathons and such, still not super fast or anything but had a good exercising program. The hardest part was swimming, the event was going to be in a pool swimming laps so I found a pool that did lap swimming and went a few times. Check out your event and see if it is going to be in a lake, ocean, or a pool. Mine we swam in the pool which also offered lap swimming most mornings. Luckily I was able to go to a few times and found out that I am definitely not a swimmer, I sank pretty easily. I just tried making it to each end without stopping and did a total of 10 laps each time, which was the number of laps I would have to do in the Triathlon. If you can’t make it to a pool just focus some of your training on high cardio, elliptical is great because it is low impact but still gets your heart pumping. Also get some goggles, nothing fancy just something you can find at Walmart.

Biking, ok train for this! I didn’t bike hardly at all before the event because biking is so simple right? Wrong! My butt hurt so badly afterwards that I could barely get off my bike to start running, I felt like I was waddling the whole time and looked like a penguin. So practice biking just to save yourself from an extremely sore behind. I used an actual road bike, the ones you see with thinner tires, they coast better but several people went with just cheap bikes they already had. Make sure your bike also has a good water bottle holder because this is where you will want the most water.

Running! I ran quite a bit before the race and I would run a 5K about 3-4 times a week so I thought I was really prepared. No I was not really fast at running but I could run it pretty easily. This is where training from biking 12+ miles right into running needs to happen. It was extremely awkward getting off my bike and starting to run. Like I said my bottom hurt and my legs were so confused at what motion they should be doing, so practice these two together so it’s not completely new to you the day of the event.

Clothing is very important for a triathlon. I ordered a tri suit from swimoutlet.com that was perfect, sadly though it did cost a little bit but came in great. If you don’t want to order a tri suit you can also just wear a swimming suit, something that works well swimming, and slipping on shorts and a t-shirt during transition of events.

Some tips to make your event successful. Most triathlons have orientations of how to proceed through the event the night before, if it is your first time go! There was a lot of useful information and great encouragement. Practice going through transitions, from swim to bike to run so you don’t get all confused the day of the event. Also make sure you don’t spend too long drying off after swimming because the clock continues on so real quick dry your feet, throw on your shoes and go. At your bike have a t-shirt or something with your bib on it so you can just throw that on and not have to worry about trying to pin it on while hurrying through the transition.

Why You Should do a Triathlon? Because it wasn’t as exhausting as a half marathon and you’ll feel like you accomplished something bigger, like three events not just one running event. Most triathlons only have a few hundred people but half marathons and marathons sometimes have over a thousand participants. Why not be one of the few than one of the many? Triathlons will also hold your attention span better because you don’t do just one event you move between different activities which made it go a lot faster than I thought. And if you are anything like me running isn’t so nice on your knees, (not that that stops me) but if long distance running hurts triathlons, especially sprint triathlons, are shorter distances of running but still can achieve that gratification of finishing something people think of as extremely strenuous

Completing a triathlon made me feel like I accomplished a goal, not one I knew I had but something that after completing it realized that that is what I would have regretted if I had not participated. A quote I read that got me inspired to do a triathlon says “Why be bad at one sport, when you can be bad at three?” kind of a weird inspirational quote to get you started but it worked for me and I hope you can accomplish your goals, if it isn’t doing physical activities even just get out there and work everyday to accomplish it. Just remember, I would rather say ‘I did it than I gave up’.

Homemade Snickers

September 12, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Peanut butter and chocolate? Best combination ever! I love peanut butter and who doesn’t love chocolate. Well if you are like me then these Homemade Snickers are for you. These are simple to make and taste even better than the store bought.

This recipe isn’t very hard just mainly waiting for layers to chill in the refrigerator. The recipe makes a whole 9 x 13” pan of delicious, wonderful, and completely your own Homemade Snickers bars. Try freezing them to make a nice frozen treat, and it makes it last longer because you can’t devour it down in one bite. Like white chocolate instead of milk? Just substitute white almond bark and white chocolate chips instead of milk and you can have your own unique Homemade Snickers bar.

Ingredients:

8 squares almond bark (about 2 cups if you’re using candy wafers) divided
½ cup milk chocolate chips, divided
¾ cup creamy peanut butter, divided
¼ cup butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup evaporated milk, divided
1 ½ cup marshmallow crème
1 ½ cup salted dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract
16 oz caramels

Directions

Line a 9 x 13” pan with aluminum foil so you can easily lift the bars out of the pan when finished. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt together 4 squares of almond bark (1 cup wafers), ¼ cup chocolate chips, and ¼ cup peanut butter in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom of prepared pan. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and ¼ cup evaporated milk until dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in marshmallow crème and ¼ cup peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in chopped peanuts and vanilla until well mixed. Spread evenly over chilled chocolate. Refrigerate until chilled.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat caramels and remaining ¼ cup evaporated milk until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally. Spread evenly over chilled nougat. Refrigerate until chilled.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt together remaining 4 squares almond bar (1 cup wafers), ¼ cup chocolate chips and ¼ cup peanut butter in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Spread evenly over chilled caramel. Refrigerate for an hour. Remove candy from pan by lifting foil then cut into bars. If you want you can melt some additional chocolate and dip sides of the bars in so it’s completely covered with chocolate.

Vertical Strawberries

September 1, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Love Strawberries? Well I do too but I never seem to get any, well maybe five but that’s it and I have a pretty good sized patch. With the bugs, mold, large dog who tramples them, birds, and the constant weeds I never seemed to get any good strawberries. Vertical Strawberries will help with all these complications. With a little time, a little money, you can have beautifully hanging strawberries that are easy to get, weed, and grow so let’s get our gardening gloves and get going.

Ok so these Vertical Strawberries did cost me a little bit of money but they’re totally worth it! After just a few weeks I’ve gotten some beautiful strawberries and they’re not buried, smashed, or not even there. Now that it is towards the end of the season I have gotten several of the 1 pound containers from the store filled with my own personal strawberries! The planters themselves also look really nice too which is always a bonus. I made three rows of ten foot gutters and there’s four gutters on each so I have a total of 12 gutters of strawberries but do what you have space for. If you need you can also cut the gutters to a shorter length. I didn’t put any caps on the end of the gutters but now I am wishing I did because the water runs out and takes some dirt with it.

Supplies (for each row)

2 – 4”x4”x8’ wood posts
4 – 2”x4”x10’ wood slats
4 – 10’ rain gutters (I used vinyl round rain gutters)
1” thick elbow or L brackets
1” long wood screws
Dirt
Strawberries (I used mine I already had)
Screw driver
Pencil
2 bags of instant concrete mix
Boiled linseed oil

Directions:

Paint your wood with boiled linseed oil, this helps protect it from all the harsh weather. Prep the area, level your area the best you can and clear out any plants. Dig two holes about 2 feet down for the posts. Make sure you watch for sprinkler lines! I completely snapped one of mine and so we had to spend an extra two hours repairing it.

On the 4×4 wood posts make a mark 2 feet up on the post; this 2 foot section will be in the ground. Sometimes the post won’t go the whole 2 feet down because after leveling mine I had one that was only about a foot and a half. It still will work but it is better to have them level. Mark on the 4×4 posts where your gutters will go, we put our first one about 15 inches up and there was about 15 inches between each L bracket.

Screw in the L brackets on your marked posts. Lay your posts down and put in your wood slats screwing them into the L brackets.

Now get some help and carefully pick up each post and place them in the holes. Each hole needs one bag of concrete, lift a post slightly up to make them level and level each way. Get a leveler and make sure that your posts are level each way before the concrete sets.

Soak the concrete: get a hose and soak the concrete and let it settle then soak it again. Check and make sure posts are still level before concrete sets. It is best to let this sit overnight just so it is settled and not going to get pulled down when you’re putting in the gutters.

Grab your rain gutters and place them along the slats and screw them through the bottom into the wood slats about 3-4 times. On the sides of the gutters screw a few holes so there’s some drainage holes, don’t put a lot only 3 should be just fine.

Place your strawberries in and spread apart, then fill in with dirt.

Water! I never worried about watering my strawberries because the 2 times a week my sprinklers came on was enough but with these Vertical Strawberries in rain gutters I water them every other day especially when it is hot outside.

I really hope this all made sense and your Vertical Strawberries turn out great for you! I also will be putting in some block under the Vertical Strawberries or something that looks a little nicer but that will be a next years project for now so if you have any fun ideas I would love to hear them.

Summer Science Ending with a BANG!

August 25, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Summer is ending! Not really ready for winter but before the end, let’s go out strong by doing Summer Science Ending with a BANG!

Adult supervision recommended. Please use good judgement and safety precautions for this exploding watermelon experiment.

Watermelons are a very popular summer treat and I absolutely love them! Well what’s even better than eating a watermelon? Making one explode! When I was first told about this experiment I thought no way and it’s not going to be cool at all, well I was wrong this experiment is intense and exciting and has you on your toes wondering when it’ll blow, how big is it going to get, and how many rubber bands? Yes you will needs lots of rubber bands and not small ones we had several that were too small and just broke trying to get it over the watermelon.

So yes this is definitely an outside experiment and be prepared to have watermelon all over your yard but trust me, it is completely worth it. Summer Science Ending with a BANG! Is an experiment you can do several times and still be amazed, each watermelon does something different so it always keeps you on your toes.

Pick out a watermelon from the store; it doesn’t have to be the perfect one just a watermelon. You will also need a couple big bags of rubber bands; I got mine at Wal-Mart and they are only a few bucks each.

Grab a bucket or a table and dump out your rubber bands so they are easily accessible. You also might want gloves if you are putting on the rubber bands.

Place the watermelon on the ground or some kind of stand so it is upright and not falling over all the time.

Stretch rubber bands over the watermelon so they wrap around the center of the melon. We stretched usually 4-5 rubber bands at a time. Place more on.

. . . . and more. . . .

It will start to bulge on the ends but it still takes more rubber bands. The watermelon will start to leak juice or even crack. Once the crack gets about 2-3 inches long stand back and it will just pop or do something weird like ours and pop its top then explode! enter video here

Summer Science Cold!

August 18, 2016 by Nikki Cole

All this heat has me ready for summer to end! Well, kind of, I love summer so let’s cool off with Summer Science Cold! where we will make a couple of cold treats to enjoy and hopefully cool us off.

I love summer but after several months of really hot weather it starts to not be as enjoyable. Enjoying some cooling treats helps a lot though. With this week’s summer science we are going to make homemade ice cream and homemade butter. Who doesn’t love ice cream and watching it form right before your eyes your kids will be amazed and then enjoy eating ice cream they actually made. Butter is a little bit of a stretch, yes it is cold but I served it over nice warm homemade bread but it still was fantastic to make and homemade butter seems to always taste better.

Homemade ice cream! This is where Summer Science Cold actually gets really cold. Ice cream is one of my favorite treats and with homemade ice cream I like how it is not super hard but it also is easier to get a brain freeze! With ice cream explain to your kids how freezing works. By filling the bag with ice and also salt the salt helps make the ice even colder causing the milk to freeze.

Supplies:

Gallon size freezer bag
About 6 tablespoons Salt (I use rock salt which is available at grocery stores)
Ice enough to fill a gallon bag
Sandwich bag
½ cup Milk
½ teaspoon Vanilla
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Chocolate syrup, or cocoa powder for chocolate ice cream. (optional)
Toppings!

Directions:

In the sandwich bag mix together milk, vanilla, and sugar. (chocolate syrup or cocoa if desired).
Seal the sandwich bag really well (we placed the sandwich bag into another sandwich bag just in case it broke) and place into the gallon bag.
Fill the gallon bag with ice and pour salt over. Seal.
Shake! You might want gloves or a towel because it does get really cold!
Shake until the milk mixture is solid or at least ice cream like, scoop out of the bag and enjoy!

Homemade Butter will show your kiddos how cream goes through different stages to become butter and how to make it themselves. This experiment only involves a few simple ingredients, some muscle power, and you’ll have amazing tasting butter to enjoy! With this experiment I also made my homemade braided bread to go with the butter. Bread is also a great experiment to show how yeast rises and expands bread.

Supplies:

1 pint Heavy whipping cream (room temperature)
Mason jar
2 marbles (optional)
Medium sized bowl
Salt (optional)

Directions:

Fill a mason jar only about half way with the heavy whipping cream making sure there’s enough room for it to slosh around. Having the cream at room temperature helps it become butter a little faster.
Place 2 marbles in the jar, if you are worried about breaking the jars then you can leave them out, I didn’t have any problems and we shook them really hard.
Screw the lid on tight!
Shake!
After a couple minutes it’ll stop sloshing and seem more solid, if you open the jar you will find whipped cream!
Seal the lid again and Shake!
It’ll get harder and little ones might need some help shaking it. The whipped cream will start the change into what looks like curdled milk.
Shake until you see the buttermilk beginning the separate out and there’s a solid mass of butter.
Remove from jar and place in a bowl. Remove marbles.
Pour a cup of cold water into the bowl and knead out the butter milk rinsing every now and then until water becomes clear. Once rinsed add a little salt if you want and enjoy!

Who knew shaking butter could be so fun! They were having contests of who could shake the longest!

Summer Science Food!

August 6, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Who doesn’t want to play with food, especially kids? With these fun little experiments the kids can eat (most of them) and also see some fun reactions with these fun Summer Science Food experiments.

These experiments do take a little time anywhere between an hour to a week or two but are totally worth it! The smore’s activity is really fun especially for kids to see how to use solar oven and the heat to make food. Now if you’re like me having completely melted chocolate is not how I like my smore’s but the activity was fun to see the marshmallows get soft and the chocolate melt.

Growing Bears

Gummy bears have always been a fun treat for me, they’re fruity and gummy and shaped like cute little bears. Soaking gummy bears in 7up and making them bigger of course I’m up for that! With this experiment it shows osmosis or in basic terms the gummy bears absorbing the 7up while still maintaining its form. This is also a great recipe to make a flavored 7up or add some excitement to kids drinks this summer.

Supplies

Gummy bears
7up
Bowl

Directions:

Put gummy bears into a bowl and cover with 7up.
Leave overnight or at least a couple hours.
Drain gummy bears and see how they’ve grown.

Put gummy bears and 7up in ice cube trays, freeze.
Once frozen put the ice cubes in 7up and have a fun drink.

Wiggly Worms

Wiggly worms are all over the side walk during rain storms and wiggle all over. With this fun little experiment we will make colorful worms wiggle around in a glass. This experiment does take a little patience. Gummy worms also come way too big so slicing them into fourths helps make them lighter and more able to float around so this will require some adult help.

Supplies:

Gummy worms
4 tablespoons Baking soda
1 cup Warm Water
2 cups Vinegar
2 clear glasses

Directions:

Dissolve 4 tablespoons baking soda into 1 cup warm water.
Cut gummy worms into 4 thin slices and place in the baking soda water solution. Let sit for about a half hour.
Pour vinegar into another clear glass.
With a fork fish out some worms and place in vinegar. Bubbles should form and the worms will start to pop up and wiggle around. Only put in 4 pieces otherwise they’re too heavy and it won’t work.

Solar Smore’s

Who doesn’t love Smore’s especially in Summer? I love Smore’s and while I rather my chocolate frozen on my smore this experiment was fun watching the marshmallows get soft and the chocolate melt. Pick a really hot day and show your kids how to make a solar oven to make delicious treats.

Supplies

box with a lid
tape
saran wrap
tin foil
marshmallows
chocolate
grahm crackers

Directions:

line the box with tin foil on the bottom of the lid and the whole inside.
tape the lid so it stands up and slightly hangs over to close but not closed, the idea is to catch the sun and direct it down into the box.
place your grahm cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate on the bottom of the box stacked like a smore.
cover the box with saran wrap.
leave out in direct sun hitting the lid and opening until chocolate is melted. Enjoy!

Summer Science OOBLECK!

July 23, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Summer Science Oobleck! Is it a solid or a liquid? Oobleck is the most unique and entertaining substance you will ever play with. It’s a solid and a liquid and provides entertainment for hours! With just a few simple ingredients your kids will have a blast playing with this funny mess of Summer Science OOBLECK!

This week we will be doing Summer Science Oobleck! No there is not a huge lesson with this but talk with your kids about solids and liquids. Ask them before you make it what they think it will be like. Summer Science Oobleck is about asking questions and making predictions on outcomes while also making a fun mess. Ask them questions like what else goes from a solid to a liquid or liquid to solid?

If you have a little bit older kids you can try explaining Oobleck to them. Oobleck is considered a non-Newtonian fluid, which means it is a liquid whose viscosity changes depending on the amount of pressure. Viscosity is a word that measures the friction in a liquid and defines how fast or slow a liquid flows. Most liquids like water and honey have a consistent viscosity because they will flow the same no matter what pressure is applied. Oobleck is different because if you squeeze it it will form a solid but if left alone it will run off your fingers like a liquid. Because it changes from a liquid to a solid and back it is considered a non-Newtonian fluid.

What you will need:

1 cup water
1 ½ – 2 cups corn starch
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Pour water into a bowl.
Put a few drops of food coloring in if you want.
Dump in about 1 cup corn starch and mix, it is easiest to mix with your hands.
Slowly add more corn starch in until your oobleck is stiff when you try to roll it in your hands. I used slightly under 2 cups.
Play! Try making a ball out of it, splash it around, smack it, drip it, have your kids play around with oobleck trying to figure out why it is a solid sometimes and a liquid others.