“…(She) got an idea. An awful idea. (She) got a wonderful, awful idea.” Picture me with a Grinchy Grin, clasping my fingers together, manically giggling to myself. My idea? A new, green, hairy? family holiday tradition-Grinch Day! A day filled with cheer, Whos, good (no, GREAT) food, and for a grand finale, the movie, The Grinch 2018-but make it interactive. Also, there’s a catapult involved.

Now I can’t start writing a post about my ingenious activity that involves the movie, The Grinch 2018 without shouting from the rooftop *shout it from the rooftops! Alexander Hamilton!* for the sake of us all, “NETFLIX. WHAT is the matter with you?!!!” *shakes fist* If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please don’t shoot the messenger. Netflix up and pulled The Grinch (2018) movie from its streaming service on December 10th. Whhhyyyyyyyyyy? *karate kick into the air*

No thanks to Netflix, we ended up purchasing The Grinch 2018 from Amazon. You can still rent it on Prime but we figured that it was a holiday must-have anyway so…crisis averted. I’ll stop karate kicking. But you know what? I won’t stop shaking my fist at you, Netflix. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em. Plus my hip keeps popping from the exertion of high kicking.

The Food

Our day of fun started off with some Who Hash for brunch! Start with your favorite hash bake recipe but stop before you get to the “add cheese and bake in the oven” part. I kinda cheated and used Simply Potatoes but it made it much easier! Sometimes #momlife is too busy for intricate recipes!

Brunch: Make your own Who Hash, you adorable little Who

1. Start with your favorite hash recipe. Follow it until you get to the “add cheese and bake in oven” part. My recipe had my oven preheating at 400 degrees. Stop! Here’s where the hash gets Grinchy. Who-ey? Hooey?
2. Put the cheese (1/2 cup of your favorite melting cheese, I used IMO’s Provel ‘cause Saint Louis) in a Ziploc bag. Squeeze 5-6 drops of green food coloring into the bag and seal it. Now time to shake it up! This is a great time to get out some aggression. Shake it up as you think about how Netflix betrayed us all. Shake. Shake it. Shake it like a Polaroid picture. Do a little dance, it helps get you in the Christmas Spirit. Shake what your Mama gave ya! It just won’t taste right otherwise.
3. Pour out the (now green) cheese to top your hash. Pop that sucker in the oven and bake according to your recipe. I ended up baking my hash about 11 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the egg whites have set.
4. Enjoy!

Dinner: A Roast Beast Feast

The main dish: Yeah, uh huh, you know what is is– Roast Beast! Things got bad and boujee in the evening at our house and Adam decided he was going to take a shot at Beef Wellington. This was a first for us and it took Adam THREE HOURS to make! But it was so, so good. I highly recommend you try if you haven’t yet. It’s super savory and the perfect holiday main course if you’re looking for something fancy (takes a break from stuffing face with cheese flavored crisps to lift a pinkie and continue to stuff face, but with pinkie out). But seriously you don’t have to get extra like we did-roast beef tied with kitchen string would 100% pass for roast beast too. Or a ham. Or any large cut of meat cooked with kitchen string. Ah shoot, there’s cheese powder all over my keyboard now.

Sides: Basically I just tried to pick Christmas-y colored foods to serve as sides. Green beans (green), a spinach and arugula salad topped with dried cranberries (green AND red), and a baked potato (p…potato). Get creative here with your favorites.

Dessert: Who Pudding! Have you ever tried bread pudding? It is one of my favorite desserts, but it’s been YEARS since I’ve had some! I’ve never cooked it before either but I figured, why not? It’s festive and tastes like the holidays with its creamy, cinnamon goodness. I made up a big ole pan of bread pudding and told everyone it was Who Pudding. They loved it. More importantly, I satiated my craving. Not in the mood to mess with the hoopla of making a bread pudding? No problem! Make whatever kind of pudding you like best! Not in the mood to make pudding? Go to the grocery store and buy you some snack packs, get home, spoon it into a bowl, and tell everyone you made Who Pudding. Bonus points if you add green food coloring to an otherwise white pudding. Btw I’ve moved on to an apple as my snack now. Balance, right?

The Fun: Interactive Movie!

Time for an interactive movie! Featuring, The Grinch 2018

“Ah, I think I’ve done one of these in college but we called it a drinking game,” you say. I meannn, I’m not gonna stop you but this interactive movie is kid friendly! “You said there would be catapults,” you say. Yes! IT IS TIME! If you have older elementary school kids (3rd grade and up I’d say, but you know your kids), have them build the catapult for you! Bonus learning activityyy! Otherwise, you’re the catapult builder and your little one is your assistant. All you’ll need is some popsicle sticks, a spoon, and rubber bands. Here’s a link to see what I’m talking about: catapult how-to

Prep for interactive movie:

Each person will need: 1 jellybean, 1 piece of chocolate, 3 jumbo marshmallows, and one carrot (baby sized or regular works), a plate (or hard surface) and one stuffed animal. You’ll also need your DIY catapult and something to launch (we used a marshmallow). I also recommend having some yummy popcorn to enjoy after the interactive portion! *bonus mom swag if you color the popcorn green with food dye*

How does an interactive movie work?

Print off a the list of activities I provided below for those who can read. Get your supplies ready. One adult person needs to be the facilitator, and that person needs to have a general idea of what happens when in the movie. I have activities planned below for the first 40 minutes of the movie. I designed it that way so that after 40 minutes of activities, everyone can sit back and relax with some popcorn. Cause let’s be honest, part of the fun for the adults is that the kids are quiet and still. Watch the movie together and follow along with the activities listed! It’s more fun than it sounds, and it’s way way more fun to watch the faces of your kids as THEY have fun!

The facilitator’s job is to read the activities out loud (especially to the non-reading kids) before they occur in the movie so that the watchers know what to do, when. The facilitator also makes sure that the supplies are handed out in time for the activities. Without further ado, the activities!

1. Eat a jellybean when the Grinch only has a bean to eat.
   1. (After this, facilitator tells everyone to build a marshmallow snowman. The hard surface will come in handy here).
2. Knock over a marshmallow snowman with a carrot when the Grinch knocks over the little boy’s snowman.
3. Eat a piece of chocolate when Mr. Bicklebaum says that he uses a hair dye called “chocolate explosion.”
4. Drum on your legs whenever Max plays the drums
5. Stick out your tongue when the Grinch uses Max’s tongue to wet his fingers. Try to keep your tongue out as long as Max!
6. After the goat yells for the second time, take turns giving your best goat impression.
7. Snuggle with a stuffed animal when Max and Fred get into bed with the Grinch.
   1. (The stuffed animal snuggly time should help gets kids calm to watch the movie while munching popcorn and the adults can relax now)

That’s it! Have fun!

I hope that some of these activities inspire you to try out at home over Christmas break! Happy Holidays!

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