On the last official day of school my kids got off the bus, shimmering with a sugar buzz and the look of children who had been watching Christmas movies for a few too many days...
The official start of the Christmas vacation!
We decided to stay home this year, and to relish in the simple things. Good food, a hot, crackling fire and some cheesy holiday tunes. Besides that, we have kept our expectations relatively in check.
Our tree has been trimmed, our advent calendar hung, and our fridge stocked.
Now, the older I get, the more noticeable the traditions that I held so close to my heart as a child become. My favourite times were my visits to Oma and Opa’s house; where the food, the people and the smells are still so fragrant in my mind.
But, now that we are living so many miles away, and we are a family unit unto ourselves, we are well on our way to creating our own traditions.
So when my daughter hopped off of her school bus asking to make reindeer food, I reminded her that WE leave carrots for the reindeer. That is just what WE do.
But, after a little coaxing she convinced me that not only was reindeer food fun, it was something that the kids and I could do together.
So, our tradition of making reindeer food began.
First, I rummaged through the pantry to find food suitable for birds… eer, reindeer, and I came out with oats, parsley, coloured sugar and millet.
The concept behind the reindeer food is that you make it and sprinkle it on your lawn on Christmas Eve to attract reindeer. Pretty cute stuff.
So, here is the recipe, for adult and kid alike. It is a fun craft, and a neat gift for kiddos if you are trying to avoid the sugar highs.
The official start of the Christmas vacation!
We decided to stay home this year, and to relish in the simple things. Good food, a hot, crackling fire and some cheesy holiday tunes. Besides that, we have kept our expectations relatively in check.
Our tree has been trimmed, our advent calendar hung, and our fridge stocked.
Now, the older I get, the more noticeable the traditions that I held so close to my heart as a child become. My favourite times were my visits to Oma and Opa’s house; where the food, the people and the smells are still so fragrant in my mind.
But, now that we are living so many miles away, and we are a family unit unto ourselves, we are well on our way to creating our own traditions.
So when my daughter hopped off of her school bus asking to make reindeer food, I reminded her that WE leave carrots for the reindeer. That is just what WE do.
But, after a little coaxing she convinced me that not only was reindeer food fun, it was something that the kids and I could do together.
So, our tradition of making reindeer food began.
First, I rummaged through the pantry to find food suitable for birds… eer, reindeer, and I came out with oats, parsley, coloured sugar and millet.
The concept behind the reindeer food is that you make it and sprinkle it on your lawn on Christmas Eve to attract reindeer. Pretty cute stuff.
So, here is the recipe, for adult and kid alike. It is a fun craft, and a neat gift for kiddos if you are trying to avoid the sugar highs.
We used craft bags and layered the ingredients- each bag contains about 1 cup of goodies, so depending on how many you would like to make you can just double accordingly. Here is the recipe for 6 bags.
Ingredients:
2 c Oats
3 c Millet
Food Colouring
1 c Parsley
3 different colours of sugar
Directions:
Divide millet into two bowls. Drip red food colouring into one and green into the other. Start with around 8 drops and mix in. Add more as needed.
In a separate bowl combine oats and parsley.
Once desired colours are reached, simply layer the oat mixture, sugar and millet alternately until you reach the top of the bag. squeeze out the extra air and voila.
After the bags are made, you can write a little poem to accompany the food and adhere it to the back of the bag. The kids each chose to write their own poem, which really adds a nice touch.
I used some adress labels and a clip art reindeer to make little labels for the front, but the same can be done with hand drawn pictures on a piece of paper. Time to get creative!
Ingredients:
2 c Oats
3 c Millet
Food Colouring
1 c Parsley
3 different colours of sugar
Directions:
Divide millet into two bowls. Drip red food colouring into one and green into the other. Start with around 8 drops and mix in. Add more as needed.
In a separate bowl combine oats and parsley.
Once desired colours are reached, simply layer the oat mixture, sugar and millet alternately until you reach the top of the bag. squeeze out the extra air and voila.
After the bags are made, you can write a little poem to accompany the food and adhere it to the back of the bag. The kids each chose to write their own poem, which really adds a nice touch.
I used some adress labels and a clip art reindeer to make little labels for the front, but the same can be done with hand drawn pictures on a piece of paper. Time to get creative!
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