Check out the amazingly fun art-maker at Kerpoof Scholastics! It’s a great tool for designing and printing your own Platter Pix-like art. (Or you can let the kids do it themselves with your help. It’s very thematic and drag-n-drop.) Have fun!

As the season’s begin to get more and more chilly, and the squash nears the end of its season, we often turn to pasta-bake for dinner. It’s as simple as cooking your favorite non-spaghetti pasta, tossing a few ingredients together and baking.

It’s a one-dish wonder and you may even be lucky enough for leftovers for lunch!

If you have some ingredients laying around (such as a butternut squash), you can simply search for a pasta bake recipe on the web containing that ingredient. You don’t have to follow it to a “t” but it’ll at least give you some inspiration.

Here’s an example of a “bake” we did recently (though there’s a tasty recipe here too):

• 3-4 links of chicken sausage, cooked and sliced
• Half bag of rotellini pasta, cooked
• Half a butternut squash, baked with butter and brown sugar (1 hour, 350 degrees, cubed)
• 1/2 of apple, cubed
• 3/4 cup of fresh parmesan cheese
• 3/4 jar of Alfredo sauce
• 1 teaspon of cinnamon
• A dash of salt and pepper

Simply bake the butternut squash while you get the rest of the ingredients prepared.  Then toss it all together in a baking dish.  Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

Below are some fun and free activities that go great with a Piggy Platter.  Simply download, print them out and let the kids go bananas!

Coloring Pages: Sesame Street, NASA, Nick, Jr., Noggin, Veggie Tales

Hidden Pictures from Highlights:  Print out these pages then cut out the two image boxes.  Place them side-by-side and let the kids go at it.  Then they can color the Hidden Pictures page and put it under their Piggy Platter!

We’ve been scouring the wonderful Web to find some fun, free art that you can print on your own for the kiddos. Then place the art under your child’s Piggy Platter. In most cases, you desktop wallpaper for your computer is perfect for the Platter because it’s high-resolution and built in a “landscape” format.

Disney Images: Choose from Alladin,  Alice in Wonderland, Bambi, Beauty & the Beast, Lion King, Pinocchio, Snow White, Tarzan, Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh

NASA’s Image Gallery: tons of great space photography. Create your own montage!