Friday, October 30, 2015

Daycare Halloween Party 2015

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Apple Cider Sangria

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A Day of Exploring

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Chocolate Caramel Apple Bites


 We're all about apples and pumpkins this time of year here. I had really wanted to make caramel apples with the kids this season, but quickly realized that half of the kids were too young to be able to eat one and the other kids didn't even like them. I decided to instead do bite size pieces of apples for the kids. For the (slightly) younger kids, I peeled some of the apple bites so there wasn't any skin on. This idea work perfectly for the kids I have at daycare (1 - 3 years of age). Even my older boys loved them when they tried them after school. 
Not only were these simple to make, but the kids got to help with the process too!
What You'll Need:
  • Apples
  • Caramels
  • Milk
  • Toothpicks
  • Sprinkles 
  • Chocolate chips (optional)
  • Knife and bowl (for cutting apple and melting caramels)


Start by unwrapping the caramel pieces and placing them in a microwave safe bowl. The kids are more than welcome to help with this part. Once all of the caramels are unwrapped, slice your apple (peeling the skin is optional, I did it so there was less of a choking hazard for the younger than 2 crowd). Once you have bite size pieces, put a tooth pick in each piece and put them on a tray lined with parchment paper.



 After the apples are cut and ready to go on the tray, melt your caramels (directions for melting will be on the bag). We added a bit too much milk to our caramels thanks to a three year old pouring. The sauce still turned out fine and tasted great, just a bit runnier than planned.

Once the caramels are all melted add in chocolate chips if you so desire. Adding the chocolate was a last minute decision for me when I noticed how runny the caramels were with the extra milk. I will say that the added chocolate was a GREAT decision. The melted caramel easily melted the chocolate once I stirred it in.



When the chocolate is all mixed into the caramel, it's time to start dipping the apples! The kids loved this part. I was most nervous for this part because of the hot bowl and hot caramel. Luckily no burns happened and everyone listened to our "hot kitchen rules." After they were done dipping the apple pieces and they were sufficiently covered in the chocolate caramel, I let them put Fall and Halloween sprinkles on them. They covered them VERY WELL with sprinkles!



 We put them in the refrigerator to harden so they could be eaten for afternoon snacks. Much to my surprise, the chocolate caramel never really hardened so it was still more of a thick sauce covering the apple bites. I attribute this to too much milk in the caramels when melting.

Either way, these were definitely delicious, the kids loved them, and they were much easier for the kids to eat since they were bite size!


Friday, October 23, 2015

Weekend Planner


Welcome to our weekly Thursday morning post about what's going on in the Des Moines, Iowa area. We'll share what we'll be doing, great finds, restaurants to eat at, shops to drop some cash at, and just all the great things Des Moines has to offer families.
What We're Doing:
  • Loess Hills
  • High Trestle Trail bridge
  • Promoting Expressing Motherhood
  • Scratch cupcakes
  • Prepping for our 2nd Pre-Trick or Treat Party
Other Happenings:
  • Last weekend to do any (or all!) of our Tour of Pumpkin Patches
  • Night Eyes at the Blank Park Zoo
  • Family Halloween at Living History Farms
  • Linn's Supermarket haunted house. Matt took Harrison last weekend and they both loved it.
  • Junie B. Jones The Musical at the Des Moines Community Playhouse
  • Spooky Science at the Science Center of Iowa
  • Pumpkin Walk. Sunday, Valley Junction.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Night Eyes, Freys, and Ledges Weekend