Bread Turtles

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This week is Spring Break here in Arkansas. We are enjoying a stay-cation. (Aka: no alarm clocks, pjs all day, etc.) I also have the goal of putting up Spring and Easter decorations this week, especially since our parents (all 4) and my grandma are coming to stay at our house this weekend for Cougar’s baby blessing at church on Sunday. Before I go too crazy preparing for the weekend, I want to make sure my girls have some fun memories of this break. My goal is one activity provided by me every day. The rest of the time, they are on their own and they like it that way. I do think this week is a great excuse to have extra fun with my kids.

Yesterday, we made bread turtles. I used to make this for them occasionally when they were little. It has been a long time, though! Since they were involved in every step of the process, and because turtles are green, they suggested we make the bread dough green. And we did. Yes, it was the day after St. Patrick’s Day, but No, my children didn’t get the irony.

Here is the simple way we make turtle bread:

Start with your favorite recipe of bread dough. I’d share my super easy recipe with you, but I actually purchased the recipe and signed a non-disclosure form when I did. That might sound crazy, but trust me, the recipe is worth it! I added some food coloring to the dough to make it green.

Now, the rest of these directions are meant to be followed exactly, as illustrated by my use of very specific terms like globs and lumps. I would have taken more pictures during this process, but my hands were covered in dough and it was too annoying to keep washing them to touch my camera.

1.  I sprayed the table with oil spray and I also sprayed my girls hands with oil spray. None of this flour-going-everywhere-craziness.
2. Next, I handed each of my girls a fist sized glob of dough and told them to mush and mash it into a circle, then we laid those circles onto a greased pan. That is the body of the turtle.
3. Then I gave each girl a small/medium sized lump and had them mush and mash it into a circle and attach it to the turtle body as the head.
4. Next I gave each girl a medium glob of dough and told them to split that glob into four circles for the turtles legs. They mushed and mashed these into little leg shapes and attached onto the body.
   
5. One daughter used part of the leg dough to make eyes, which I thought was adorable, but she was the only one who was that creative. She also did not want her turtle shell cut.
6. I used a sharp serrated knife to cut a grid on the turtles backs and poked the knife down into the head to make eyes. I sprayed the turtles down with oil spray so that the dough wouldn’t just smoosh back together while the dough rises.
   
7. I covered them and then let our turtles rise until doubled (25 minutes for my recipe).
   
8. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350*.
   

Promptly, when it was time to eat the turtles, my children started playing with them. I made a big turtle with the leftover dough while they made their little ones. As if on some magical cue, the girls all grabbed their turtles, turned them to my turtle, and started to say “mommy, mommy, mommy” in baby voices. I loved every second and in a rare moment, embraced my children playing with their food.

Of course, that isn’t all, we also made HOMEMADE BUTTER to eat with our turtles. No joke, the best tasting butter I’ve ever tasted in my life. I’m going to share that easy recipe tutorial tomorrow … how is that for a tease?! {See the butter post HERE.}

So, there you go, an easy food craft for kids. Enjoy!

When is your Spring Break? Are you going on a real vacation or will you be having low-key fun at home too?

From my home to yours,
Mary