Because I enjoy my work, I find myself doing a lot of it on the weekends. And because I don’t enjoy domestic chores…well, let’s just say I scrape by. (scrape is the operative word) To remedy this a little, I’ve made myself a new goal: every weekend I’d like to 1) bake something and 2) organize/de-clutter one household thing or area. That shouldn’t be so hard, right? 🙂
This past weekend I made what has been deemed “Cheese Ninjas”. I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (via Craftzine) for whole wheat goldfish crackers. Mine turned out more like delicious cheese cookies vs. crispy crackers, but I don’t think anyone around here minds. (By the way, if you have ninja fans at your house, check out these Ninjabread Man cookie cutters!)
Last weekend’s de-cluttering task was tackling our pantry that we use for art supplies. (Um, yeah. Not so much food in the pantry, but LOTS of art supplies!) However, I made so much space cleaning, in fact, that I was able to designate an entire shelf to…
These were stuffed under the coffee table and piled in a cupboard where no one ever looked, so they have gone largely unplayed with. The art pantry, on the other hand, is usually wide open and very visible. And while Saturday night is our Family Movie Night, Sunday will hopefully become Family Game Night. Gotta create these family rituals while we still can.
Ahhh, a rousing game of Trouble while snacking on Cheese Ninjas with the family. Sounds lovely. Much better than working all weekend.
Got any good board game suggestions? How about healthy/easy/fun stuff to bake?
Labyrinth! It was our family’s favourite, and still is even though I now have two teenagers. (And for older children and adults, Ticket to Ride is a great one.)
We like Labyrinth by Ravensburger, and Blokus. Othello is another favorite, but it’s a 2 person game. I saw those goldfish crackers and was really tempted to try them — we live in France and my daughter hates the cheese crackers here b/c they’re all made with Emmenthal and not cheddar.
We have Family Game Night every Wednesday – and another Invite Friends Over Game Night most Sundays. So yeah, we play a lot of games. 🙂 Our favorite is definitely Ticket to Ride.
Hey what a great selection of games you have!!! You already have my fave, which would be my recommendation for anyone… Scrabble! It’s great as it suits all ages and doesn’t have complicated rules. But just agree what dictionary you are using beforehand,
Enjoy, Fiona x
Oh! I just remembered we have Othello and Pente…somewhere. Must check under beds.
I’m a big fan of Scattergories and Balderdash.
Sorry!
And, while not exactly family, I spent a LOT of time playing Life by myself as a kid. (Acting as different players with varied personalities)
We are fond of board games although have just discovered a fantastic card game called Bohnanza and a cool tile game called Carcasonne. Risk is always good to get the competition going!
We love Ticket to Ride – USA or European edition. You get to be a railroad Barron and build routes across the continent. I love that it throws in a little geography learning – nothing hard, its all right there on the board.
We also like Settler’s of Cattan and just started playing Dominion too. My 8 year old can play settler’s but we haven’t tried her on dominion…
Cheese Ninjaz! I love them!!!
LOVE the ninjas!! My husband just sheepishly told me at the market last night that he loves goldfish crackers, but is embarrassed about it. I think he could shout off of the hilltops that he loves ninja crackers 😉 Perhaps, some matching ninja star crackers? 😉
Those are two great goals to set aside for the weekend! I may join you on those….
As far as board games go, we’ve just recently become enamored with Settlers of Catan – super nerdy, but sooo much fun!
I love those Ninja men and the board game Trouble! I have just about every other game but that one, and that one was a fave growing up. So glad you’re creating these Family traditions, they are so important. When we have family game night my favorite is Sorry! and my husband’s in Yahtzee! My kids will forever be happy with Charades 🙂 Our favorite family snack food is my Kettle Korn. I have an old popcorn popper that I use with 1 Tpsn. veg oil, 1/4 cup corn kernels, and when starting to pop I add 1/4 of sugar. I salt with a fine salt and toss when done. Yum, and enjoy!
I also recommend the Settlers of Catan. It’s a four person game that can go on for an hour or two, but it’s fun and interesting. Great for a rainy / snowy day when you need to keep busy in the house somehow. We also like the card game Five Crowns… it’s sort of a version of rummy.
I’d much prefer to play games than housework! but there must be spring in the air as I too have been bitten by the bug of cleaning/ sorting/ organizing. housework is my least favorite thing to do, but I do love a well organized space! As for games…we discovered Tri bond which we all really enjoy now.
The best is Bannana Grams – small to take on trips or overnights and fun – freeform scrabble.
My guy is 5, so we are just getting into games besides Zingo and Cariboo. Baking though, I have plenty of ideas. I recommend the 6-minute chocolate cake recipe from Moosewood made as cupcakes. They are rich, delicious, and fast. Here is a ggogle books link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=76yiLzTTdfIC&pg=PA322&lpg=PA322&dq=moosewood+6+minute+cake&source=bl&ots=zyLXmz-hQZ&sig=DoW5atluVcKnidTn9Ilflry39Vk&hl=en&ei=0t94TYaMIIfj0gG6q8nwAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&sqi=2&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false
Here is a fun side dish to make during the summer: a fruit salad in the shape of a rainbow.
Red: watermelon or strawberries
Orange: mandarin oranges or cantaloupe
Yellow: pineapple
Green: kewi
Blue: blueberries
Indigo/Violet: grapes
I like to cut up all the fruit, put it in bowls on the table, and then let the kids put the fruit on a round platter in the shape of a rainbow. Once we even added paper clouds at the bottom of the rainbow.
I like those knit designs. And the pen drawings are pretty awesome.
We like to play Small World around here. There are expansion packs, and downloadable expansion packs to print as well.
http://www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/en/
🙂
We have been playing Rummikub for years. Every new friend has been introduced to the game and most people like it.
apples to apples – great great family game, depending on age of peoples (so far, it’s been great for 10 and up).
apples to apples – great great family game, depending on age of peoples (so far, it’s been great for 10 and up).