Baby Food
May 29, 2009 by admin · 15 Comments
I thought I would share how you can save some money and make your own baby food at home. It really doesn’t take much time at all. A good afternoon or morning and you will have enough done for a good five or six months. You most likely already have all the tools it takes to make baby food in your own home!
With my first daughter I decided to do it to save some money. Now with my second I am doing it for the same reason but also so I can start feeding her organic fruits and vegetables from the beginning to promote healthy eating. Plus I really wanted to control the quality of the food my baby was eating.
I don’t want to give to much information so I will supply you with the two resources I use.
Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
I am now using Super Baby Food for recipes for my two year old. They have ideas for parties, recipes for homemade bubble/playdough and crafts. I use this book all the time! It was a really good investment and will be a great resource for years to come.
I thought I would also include some photographs of my baby food-making day to inspire you to try it!
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Bugs Bugs Bugs
May 25, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
My local library is doing the most fabulous summer reading program all revolving around bugs! Here are some great ideas they have for families:
- Draw a picture of a spider and a web. What would your spider eat? Draw more to go along with it or write a story.
- Draw a picture of the biggest mountain you can see.
- Write about the funniest thing you ever saw an insect do.
- Sit under a tree with your favorite book to read.
- Take a walk around your home and look for butterflies in daylight or moths at night.
- Read a book about fossils in the Cretaceous period (130 million years ago).
- Learn about the life cycle of a butterfly, what is does at night, and find out what butterfly flies 1,000 miles.
- Find a book about the “metamorphosis” of a bee. How does a bee communicate?
- Practice being insects, birds, fish outside.
- Write a short story that begins with “When I got home, my pet tarantula was missing…”
- What insect gives us a food item?
- Visit a museum to see what kind of insects live by the ocean, in the desert, or in the mountains.
- Go outside and cover your eyes. Can you hear any insects?
- Finger play—Eensy Weensy Spider
- Make a map of your room or yard. Plan a vacation trip for an ant or a spider.
- What types of bugs live near you? Draw a picture.
- Find three bugs outside. Do any of them have wings?
- Write a poem about your favorite bug.
- There are 10,000 species of grasshoppers. Read a book about some of them.
- Read a book about monarch butterflies’ migration. Do you have flowers in your yard that attract butterflies?
- With sidewalk chalk draw a ladybug. How many spots will you draw on it?
- Look in magazines or newspapers for stories about insects. Are they helpful or harmful?
Pick out one, two or three to do with your family. I love all of these ideas, especially making a map of a room or backyard to plan a vacation trip for a spider. Which one are you excited to try?
Broken Crayon Craft: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
May 22, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
Broken Crayon Craft: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Remove wrappers from old crayons and cut into pea-sized shapes. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
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Place pieces into a mini muffin tin or any other small mold you have. You could even separate the colors so your kids can choose the colors for their new crayons.
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Bake at 150 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until melted. Note: they will be runny when you take the pan from the oven. (Please excuse my dirty oven!)
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Let set. If they stick to the pan place the pan in the freezer for a while and they’ll pop right out.
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Got Dirt?
May 20, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
This is what we do right before bath and bedtime. Boy do they have a blast!
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Can you believe Mom is letting us do this?
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Muka, muka!
Little Cupcakes
May 18, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
This is my daughter’s favorite food in the entire world. I have even heard her whining “little cupcakes” in her sleep!
She helped me make these this morning and here’s the recipe:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded/grated carrots
- 1/2 cup ground nuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup flax seed
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine above ingredients and mix well. Fill each mini cupcake in the tin to the top. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Top with icing.
For the icing I make a cream cheese/maple syrup flavored icing to go on top. I have an all-natural, no-sugar recipe for frosting and I can pass it along to you if you would like. BUT when the actual cupcake is full of such wonderfully healthy things, I don’t mind at all they have sugar frosting on the top!
Bread & Butter
May 15, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
Yes, bread and butter can be an art form. Cooking is the biggest art form in our home!
I bought this beautiful cookbook called The River Cottage Family Cookbook and it has quickly become my favorite. The pictures are beautiful, the recipes are written with love and it explains perfectly why you should do things certain ways.
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I have NEVER, not EVER made a good loaf of bread until following their directions and recipe. The recipe? No way! You’ll have to buy the book! The girls loved helping me with this cooking task.
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But even more they loved helping me make homemade butter and felt the need to “test lick” throughout the process. To learn how to make your own butter, click here. Get ready for some shaking!
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Mmmm…homemade bread, homemade butter, homemade peach jam from Grandma and delicious honey!
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What could be better, I ask?
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Spaghetti Squash
May 11, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
Want to trick your whole family into eating a huge plate of vegetables for dinner? I do it every week and my family cannot get enough of my spaghetti squash recipe. I feel wonderful serving it to them because it’s about as healthy as it can get and they have fun eating it because it looks just like pasta!
Ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 whole spaghetti squash
- 3 fresh tomatoes
- 2 vegetables of your choice
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and season with olive oil, salt and pepper on all sides. Place the squash flesh side down on cooking tray with foil covering all of the exposed skin. Roast for 45 minutes tp 1 hour or until tender.
- Meanwhile, saute two of your favorite chopped vegetables with oil, salt and pepper. I like to use zucchini and yellow squash but you can use whatever you have on hand!
- When the spaghetti squash is done simply pull your fork through the flesh and it will come out like spaghetti noodles!
- Combine the “noodles” and sauteed vegetables and serve with chopped fresh tomatoes. Sprinkles with fresh Parmesan cheese.
Hope your family enjoys this healthy recipe too!
Fish & Garbanzo Bean Burgers
May 8, 2009 by admin · 7 Comments
These burgers are the best meal I’ve made for my family in weeks! This is a good thing since we’ve been getting sick of the same old fish recipes.
The above picture is of the fish burger I made. I found the recipe in a parenting magazine and boy, was it killer! I used tilapia and it turned out fantastically!
Fish & Garbanzo Bean Burgers
Cooking spray
1 lb fillet of cod, sea bass, or any firm white fish
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1 cup canned white beans
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
Mini–whole-wheat buns or rolls
Romaine lettuce
Tomato slices
Tartar sauce
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spritz baking pan with cooking spray and add fish. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Bake until flaky, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove fish from oven; leave oven on.
2. In a food processor, puree white beans, parsley, 1/4 tsp salt and bread crumbs. Process for 1 minute. (If you don’t have a processor, use a potato masher instead.) Place bean mixture into a large bowl with the egg; crumble in fish. Gently mix with your hands until it’s incorporated, then form into 8 small patties.
3. Coat an ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and put over medium heat. Add burgers. Cook until brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip cakes carefully and place in oven for 5 minutes.
4. Serve on mini-buns with lettuce, tomatoes and tartar sauce.
A Perfect Book for Nature Days: “Gus is a Tree”
May 6, 2009 by emily · 1 Comment
Sometimes people email me asking how they can teach their children to relax in nature when they don’t really get it themselves. I want you all to check out this book because it is the perfect example and explains it in such an amazing way.
Gus is a Tree by Claire Babin; illustrated by Olivier Tallec
Gus is a Tree is about a boy who, while playing with other children, falls asleep beneath a tree and then dreams of experiencing life as a tree. Gus shares the forest with other trees including birches, oak and beeches. He sees an autumn sunset and a wild boar family search for food. Night falls and he senses other creatures–owls, bats, even a dormouse that lives in a knot in another tree. He experiences a refreshing fall of rain and feels squirrels scamper up and down his bark. Then he is awakened by his friends who tell him it is time to go inside from the rain.
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It reminded me a lot of Abby today at Nature Days. She had fun with the other children but after a while I noticed her playing under the trees by herself. I could tell how calm she felt, saw her love for nature and watched as it made her face light up.
This week I have been talking and thinking a lot about the most beautiful place I have been: the Maine seacoast. I remember walking along the coastline for hours–the smells, sights, feel of the air, noises and how I felt inside. Complete bliss. I need to book tickets to Maine now for us all to recharge!
Fair Trade Outing
May 4, 2009 by admin · 1 Comment
Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade retailer that carries handmade jewelry, home decor, gifts and much more. They work with over 130 artisan groups in more than 38 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Fair trade enables artisans to earn a fair wage and provides the opportunity for a better quality of life. The girls and I recently visited their local store and had a fantastic time. They have locations all over the country, Canada and a wonderful selection online.
Everything is high quality and unbelievably beautiful. We stayed in the shop for hours in awe; you could tell everything was made with such talent and love.
For most of the items you purchase you will receive information on who made it and where it was made, which makes the gift even more special. My mother in-law bought these beautiful handmade Lotus Teacups and Saucers that were made by the Vietnamese artisan group Craft Link. I really enjoyed teaching the girls about the wonderful products and the story behind them. What a great cause to support!
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