Four Fun "Activity Days"

I'm still loving my calling. Over the summer, families are often out of town, so Bishop advised us to only meet once a month. We did a "summer of service". In July we got together to make a care package for our recently "graduated" Activity Day girl who has been very sick. Check out our "box of sunshine." So easy to make- just pick things that are yellow and include some "sunshiny thoughts." 

In August we made dinner for their primary teacher who was moving and having a baby in the same month. Here are the recipes we made:

Cornbread Taco Casserole

Ingredients

 2 packages Jiffy Cornbread Mix

1 ½ lb lean ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 can white or yellow corn

½ cup water

1 can of pinto or black beans

1 ½ cup salsa

1 envelope taco seasoning

2 cups pre-shredded cheddar cheese

cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cook meat and onion in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat until meat is browned, stirring to crumble meat.  Drain well and return to pan.  Add corn, water, beans, salsa, taco seasoning and cheese.  Taste and add salt if needed.  Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.  Mix cornbread according to directions on box.  Spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with cooking spray.  Pour meat mixture into pan and spread cornbread batter on top.  Bake until cornbread is baked through, about 20-25 minutes. 

Sister Harvey’s Favourite Salad

Ingredients

Romaine Lettuce

Iceberg Lettuce

Strawberries

1 can mandarin oranges

almonds

sugar

Poppyseed salad dressing

Directions

 Candy the almonds by putting them in a pan with the sugar and heating them on the stove.  Watch carefully as you stir!  As soon as the sugar starts to melt, vigorously stir until you no longer see any sugar, and then quickly remove from the pan. Allow them to cool a bit. Cut the lettuce and strawberries, open and drain the oranges and mix all together with the candied almonds.  Put the salad dressing on when you are ready to serve

Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 (12 oz) bag of chocolate chips
Directions:

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F for 12-13 min, until lightly browned.

Since the summer we have had two successful activities to start out the year. For the first activity of the year, we decorated journals. I read a few entries out of my own journal from when I was eight, and talked about the importance of personal record keeping. I found some "journal prompts" they could use when they don't know what to write about. We put them in a pocket that they glued to the front inside cover. On the back inside cover, for a getting to know you activity, I had the girls write kind words to describe each other. (For example, Sarah's journal now has her friends' positive descriptions of her.) It was a fun activity. Here's a picture-  aren't these girls cute?

Our second activity in September was a popcorn making night.  We made caramel popcorn and candy popcorn.  (I can't find the recipes I used right now and don't feel like typing them out again- sorry.)  Then we talked about making good choices when we pick what kind of media we will watch.  We learned the song "Choose the Right" (which is part of a Faith in God goal) and then ate popcorn while we watched a little Veggie Tales movie. I can't really take credit for this activity, because I totally copied the idea from this blog. 

I am letting my assistant take care of the October activities.  (An ice cream sundae party where they get toppings for every Article of Faith that they have memorized and a Halloween crafts and treats night.)  I figure I need a month off because... I just had a baby!  I guess I'd better write a post about that, huh?