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Magical Reindeer Food!

A few weeks back when I was all pissed off about holiday schmoliday crap, I briefly danced over the fact that Meredith, Harper, and I toss reindeer food onto the lawn on Christmas Eve.

This year, Meredith decided that she wanted to make reindeer food for all of her friends at school. So we did. And I took pictures of the process so that you can make some, too!

First, you need oats and colored sugar.



I normally add glitter to the mix, but when you're giving stuff away to short people whose reading skills are questionable, you really shouldn't mix edibles with inedibles. In other words, I am in no mood to be punched with a lawsuit because Adam ate a bunch of glittery oatmeal and then spent the next three days in the hospital with a sparkling bowel obstruction. Anyway.

Dump the oats and the sugar in a big bowl and have your kids play with it for about thirty minutes while you drink coffee and catch up on Hollywood pregnancies.



Grab a box of plastic snack sacks, regardless of how terrible they are for the environment. (If it makes you feel better, encourage each child to reuse the snack sack forever and ever, amen.) Print up some labels and slap them onto the sacks, and then put 1/4 cup of reindeer food into each sack. Also, know that Meredith is more willing to help if you refer to the sacks as sackies. I have no idea why, but sometimes you just sigh and go with the Whatever Works thing.



Poke a hole through the sackie and a hole through a holiday card deal (printed at Walgreens in less than an hour!), tie it all together with whatever you have handy (raffia!), and voila! Magical Reindeer Food goodie sackies! (You know I don't say Goodie Sackie in real life, right? I really do need you to know that.)



If I don't talk to you before then, have a Merry Christmas. Or, if you prefer, a Happy Holiday!

Posted by: fluidpudding on 12/21/2007 2:03:13 PM , 26 comments
Submitted by brit at 12/21/2007 2:42:51 PM
    colored sugar! perfect! I always found the glitter somewhat questionable...and you know..in my yard ...for the rest of our lives....
Submitted by jon deal at 12/21/2007 3:02:12 PM
    I might just go out and eat a whole package of glitter so I can show up at the hospital and have the diagnosis be: Sparkling Bowel Obstruction.

    Note: "Sparkling Bowel Obstruction" would also be a cool band name.
Submitted by jen at 12/21/2007 3:02:41 PM
    Yeah...That would have been an awesome little something special to pass out to Holden's class...If this had been posted yesterday!! Now they are on break! Boo!!
    Next year...
Submitted by Nichole at 12/21/2007 3:20:21 PM
    Thanks for sharing! I meant to ask you how one makes reindeer food when you first mentioned it. I was under the impression that the oatmeal was cooked. I'm glad to see that it isn't. We'll be making some reindeer food this weekend!
Submitted by FP at 12/21/2007 3:23:55 PM
    Nichole--Be sure to sweep the food around a bit after the kids go to bed. That way your bases are covered if they want to run out and see if the deer ate the food. (I speak from experience.)
Submitted by Paul is a Hermit at 12/21/2007 4:04:39 PM
    Merry Christmas to you and those Industrious Two!
    I gotta get me one of those Sackies, you know, in case that being good thing didn't work.
Submitted by tut-tut at 12/21/2007 4:34:59 PM
    Ha! Merry Christmas to you; I really look forward to your posts. Have a lovely New Year, too.
Submitted by chris at 12/21/2007 8:15:07 PM
    I love this! We usually just stick out some beer and cookies for Santa, maybe a carrot or two.

    And Merry Christmas to you too.
Submitted by amy at 12/21/2007 8:38:25 PM
    that is great! Thanks- I love learning about other peeps traditions :) yr rad.
    Merry Christmas girl!
Submitted by All Adither at 12/22/2007 12:02:07 AM
    Hey. My weekend breakfast. Oatmeal and sparkly sugar.
Submitted by Mizmell at 12/22/2007 8:10:10 AM
    Your creativity knows no bounds.
    Happy to you and yours..
Submitted by S t a c i at 12/22/2007 9:42:21 AM
    Ha....love it. Merry Christmas to you guys.

    :)
Submitted by Carroll at 12/22/2007 10:43:45 AM
    Many Happy Ho Ho Ho's, and a Festive Fa La La to the entire Pudding Household from here.

    (enamored with capital letters today)
Submitted by Sara at 12/22/2007 2:09:46 PM
    So so SO great! I also love that you make an effort to let the kids know that the food was appreciated. hee hee

    Merry merry, and all that good stuff. :)
Submitted by fidget at 12/23/2007 3:20:57 PM
    ok so the next step is on Christmas Eve when the kiddies are asleep you mix Peanut butter and confectioners sugar. Form into ball shapes and dip in chocolate. Plop wet chocolate balls into clumps and VIOLA! you have edible reindeer poop. Serve to your kids in the morning saying "Hey the reindeer like their food so much, they left YOU a surprise!!" the kids will be appropriately horrified while you chow in reindeer poop.
Submitted by Jan at 12/23/2007 8:04:19 PM
    Just found your blog thanks to Leslie. Great idea on the reindeer food and what a beautiful sweater !!

    Jan
Submitted by Dooley at 12/23/2007 9:30:16 PM
    Like Chris, we once put out beer for Santa. Sadly, we awoke to find Christopher Hitchens passed out on our stoop, his oxford shirt twisted all akimbo, empty Bud can in hand...

    Happy Christmas, Puddins'!
Submitted by FP at 12/23/2007 9:48:23 PM
    Dooley--I HATE when Hitchens shows up begging for beer under the guise of Christmas Caroling. Was he all, "Heh. (Burp.) Religion poisons everything, Mother Theresa! Pass the stout!"?
Submitted by Mrs. Kennedy at 12/24/2007 11:15:48 AM
    Jackson is SO EXCITED about doing this! Also saves me from having to gnaw on a bunch of carrot sticks.
Submitted by supa at 12/24/2007 2:42:42 PM
    God, that's cute.
Submitted by Amy in KC at 12/24/2007 9:26:01 PM
    Next year we are doing this! It will be a much better tradition than this year's 103-degree fevers and nasty coughs.

    And also - how adorable is your Meredith in that photo?? I mean, REALLY. Could not be cuter.
Submitted by Marcia at 12/26/2007 4:24:38 PM
    you are officially the coolest mom ever. Seriously.
Submitted by kari & kijsa at 12/26/2007 10:59:49 PM
    Fabulous! Our kids would love this- they might be convinced however, that they could lure the reindeer back for a second go round on the 27th...mmmm..

    blessings,
    kari & kijsa
Submitted by melanie at beanpaste at 12/27/2007 5:31:20 PM
    This is darling. We will be making reindeer bait next year, no question. My 3-year-old's reindeer obsession is reaching epic, frothy proportions, and this idea will thrill her endlessly.

    Thanks!
Submitted by Angella at 12/27/2007 8:06:47 PM
    This is AWESOME.

    Except? I eat oatmeal every. single. day. I hold it close to my heart.

    But for Santa?

    I could sacrifice some of my precious oatmeal.

    :)
Submitted by HRH at 12/28/2007 7:59:03 PM
    Love the sparkling bowel obstruction--luckily we made it through the holidays without one...next year I am using the colored sugar--genuis!
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