Operation Baking Gals

A few months ago I came across an article (can’t remember where) about this great program called Operation Baking Gals.  GALS stands for Give A Little Support (so men can play along too!).  It’s a group of volunteer bakers from around the country who bake and ship homemade treats to military men and woman that are currently deployed in war zones.

I became a member of the program back in October, and this was my second time participating.  Teams are formed each month, and how much you want to participate depends on you.  Don’t have the time this month?  Don’t sign up.  It’s as easy as that.  Not a baker?  Send a box of Oreos.  It’s really not what you send – it’s the fact that you sent them something.  The men and women need to know that they are thought of, and that they service is appreciated.

I whipped up a quick batch of Banana Muffins to send, only because I had all the ingredients on hand.  I was short on time, so that’s the only homemade goodie I made.  I didn’t want the care package to look “skinny”, so I included boxes of Girl Scout cookies, peanuts, oatmeal packets, and candy that I had in my pantry. The Daisy Girl Scout troop that meets at our school made Valentines (it was a way for them to earn their Caring and Considerate petal).  I think a little note from a 5 year old would bring a smile to anyone’s face, wouldn’t you?

Operation Baking Gals is a fun way to give back, and would make a super service project for scouts.  If time permits, I would like to do this each month.  I am always looking for people to play along, so let me know if you would to.

Oh, by the way.....the boxes are free from the US Postal Service, and they have this neat image on the side.

Easy Banana Bread

• 4 large bananas (well riped), mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ tsp.salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl.   Add sugar, eggs, and oil to the bananas, and mix well. Sift the dry ingredients together, and add to the banana mixture.   Spoon into well-greased muffin tins.  Bakes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until done (the tops of the muffins will bounce back).  

Until next time.....

Stupid Cupid, Stop Picking On Me

I find myself researching Pinterest all the time to come up with ideas to use at our Girl Scout meetings, and I am never let down.  Three of the activities we did last night were the brain child of Pinterest.  Scouts doesn't always have to be about earning badges, and reading stories.  It should be about having fun, and I think that's what the girls had last night.

Minute To Win It with Conversation Hearts

I have NEVER watched Minute To Win It, but I assume the contestants have one minute to do something.  Duh.  That's what the girls had last night.  They had one minute to stack as many conversation hearts that they could.  It sounds easy, but you have to know that candy hearts aren't smooth, and sometimes they are broken or stuck together.  For one minute, the room was quiet.  The girls worked hard to build their towers, but gravity was not their friend.

The Monkey stacking her hearts

We did another game using the candy hearts.  This time, the girls had one minute to transfer the hearts from one plate to the other by only using a pair of chop sticks.  Several of them said they had used chop sticks before, so they thought that would work to their advantage.  However, I quickly found that they didn't know how to properly use the sticks!  The rules stated they could only use the sticks, and they could not drag the candy from plate to plate.  Again, the room fell silent for one minute as each girl concentrated on their task.  Some girls struggled, and some girls had great success.  In the end, one scout transferred 27 hearts to her plate, and she was rewarded with a bag of Cotton Candy (much to her mother's happiness).

The Love Train

The last activity we did was The Love Train, which involves one of the most important thing about scouting -- teamwork.  The girls lined up (in alphabetical order, so we could avoid a lot of this: "I want to be first"), and I placed a balloon between each girl.  They had to walk across the room together without dropping the balloons.  If one fell, they had to start all over again.  They started off taking small steps, but gradually worked their way to walking "normally" across the room.  Once they figured out how to work together, they found it to be easy.  I was happy that they learned this out on their own without help from the adults!

Choo!  Choo!

We finished the evening with a small craft, and then the girls decorated sugar cookies for their snack.  They were then sent home with bellies full of sugar.

Until next time.....

January Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

It’s Foodie Pen Pal reveal day.  Ummm….do you have any idea that that means?  It’s this really cool program where you send a food package to someone, and in turn, someone sends you a package.  Before you send your package out, you contact your pen pal to get a little information on them: their likes, dislikes, preferences, etc, etc. etc.

You send the package in the mail.  O…M…G….  People still use snail mail.  It's so exciting to find something in your mail box that isn't a bill.

Here’s the package I got this month from Ilona, who blogs over at Ilona's Kitchen.  I let her know that I LOVE POPCORN, but never mentioned my unhealthy infatuation with Cracker Jacks.   Jiffy Pop!  I’ve been telling my monkey about this for months and never bought it.  Thanks to Ilona, we get to try it! The gummy worms were great too -- I actually threw them in the Monkey's lunch bag.   

I wish I had taken a picture of what I sent to Lauren, but guess what? I don’t have to, because she wrote about it here.  I found from her site that she is a health enthusiast, and she told me she liked peanut butter.  It only made sense to send her peanut butter Girl Scout cookies!

If you are interested in becoming a Food Pen Pal, click here.  You do not have to be a blogger -- you just have to love getting surprised in the mail, and be committed to sending a box to another pal.  The maximum you spent on the package is $15, plus the shipping.  It's so worth it!

To Infinity and Beyond

The end of any Girl Scout meeting must include snacks.  There is an unwritten rule stating such.  I wanted the girls to be able to make something, but I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of cleaning things up.  I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head, so I went to my new best friend à Pinterest.  I came across a pin, which led me to this site.  I have since found that a lot of Girl Scout leaders had also pinned it.  It’s a pretty popular one.

When I explained to the girls what we were going to do, I heard a lot of this: “Eww!!” and “That’s gross!”.  They were provided with their directions, and silence filled the room.  It took them just about five minutes to make the snack, and even less time to eat it.  After they were finished, I heard a lot of this: “I liked it.  Can I have more?”.  Bonus fact -- without knowing it, the girls had worked on one of the requirements necessary to earn the Brownie Snack badge.

My Monkey, the astronaut

Astronaut Pudding

Materials Needed:

• Box instant pudding
• Whole milk
• Ziploc bags
• Scissors
• Measuring spoon and cup

Scoop 1 tablespoon of the pudding mix into the bag.  Pour ¼ cup of milk in the bag.  BE SURE THE BAG IS SEALED!  Gently knead the mix until the pudding forms.  Snip off one of the corners, and squeeze out the pudding from the bag.  No utensils are needed – just like how the astronauts eat.