Strawberry Popsicles

We visited our local pick your own Strawberry patch today.
My favorite pieces of the day:
1.Watching Strawberry juice run down my little guys chin (and shirt and pants...).
2. Witnessing the plethora of warm ripe juicy strawberries.
3. Sharing the experience and excitement with a good friend.
4. Seeing the enjoyment when our Strawberry Popsicles were sampled after dinner.

Recipe below:

I juiced 4 oranges, 4 carrots and 15 strawberries.

We enjoyed the juice, put some in the fridge and 1 cup in the Blender.

Blender:  1 cup juice, 15 hulled strawberries, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon maple syrup.

I placed in the same Popsicle mold we used when I was a child and placed in freezer for 4 hours.

Yum!!

Making Nonnie's Bread Recipe

This old Italian Cooking Book was originally from my husband's Nonnie and my mother-in-law sent it home with me a couple weeks ago.  We tried out the Italian Bread recipe today.

We mixed the yeast mixture with the first 3 cups of sifted flour and the consistency was euphoria for my little guys.  Maybe it is the Italian blood in them, but they also eat quite a bit of dough while baking...

We managed to sift another 3 cups of flour and add to the dough.

Then poked it and pricked it and marked it with a B... (and a straw)

Left it to rise while we napped

Divided it in half and put the rest in the fridge to make breadsticks

Then Rolled it into a big rectangle to fold over.

And let it double

 

Then baked it for an hour, lathered it with butter, and ate it with salad and strawberries from our garden and Spaghetti Carbonara

Watching the Rain

This morning, after getting a quick mow of the garden in, we sat in the garage and watched the rain come in.
The boys sat on their respective seats, ran out to check the sprinkles, then ran back to the safety of the garage.
What fun... to play in the rain.
Then we came in to make the messiest mess of bread making I have yet to experience.  More on that later.

Make your own Eco- Play Sand

Play Sand...
Just like many other parents,  I would like my boys to have an area to play in sand.  Last week I decided that I could not wait any longer for us to decide how we would build our sandbox.  So I bought a long plastic tub with a lid at Target for $9.00, then later went to another store for Play sand.  While unloading the sand into the car I noticed the Carcinogen warning on the bag.  That led to a day of contemplation and I came across a recipe online to make your own.  Here is my rendition of the make your own play sand.

8 parts used coffee grounds (We actually have a local coffee shop that uses fair-trade and organic coffee. We got a huge bag of the espresso grounds that were quite soft and dry) -Free
4 parts Corn Meal ($4)
2 parts white flour ($1)
1 part salt ($.50)

My boys loved the silky smooth espresso grounds. We also spread them around our blueberries and azaleas.

Measuring the ingredients was especially fun!

And they played for an hour mixing and scooping.

I must warn you both boys had white shirts turn a light brown.

You must also make sure it dries out all the way or it can mold.

We leave the lid off in the sun and cover at night or when it rains.

I personally love coffee and the smell. I also like that we are repurposing the grounds.

We have already had a lot of fun playing with our "sand" and it wasn't much of an investment if it does mold...  I will update on how it goes.

Chasing the toad

We have quite a few toads.

This little guy entertained us for a good part of the day.

Then we let him rest...

Beet and Sweet Potato Gnocchi

A very filling dinner and fun to make with little hands.
You need:
1 large beet cooked and peeled
1 large sweet potato pricked and baked at 350, then peeled.
1 cup flour plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp salt
Sauce:
one onion sliced
beet greens
S&P
4 to 6 tablespoons good quality butter

1. Place beet and sweet potato in a food processor.  I have a small one so I did each separately.
2. Add puree to salt and flour in a large bowl.  Mix.  Add more flour if very sticky.
3. Form into 3 long rolls, sprinkle with flour, roll up in Cling Wrap.
4. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1-5 hours to chill.

5. Cut 1/2" piece off of roll and roll in flour.
6. Place on floured cookie sheet and press with a fork for shape.

.

7. When finished cover with plastic wrap until salted boiling water is ready.
8. Saute onion in olive oil with S&P until soft and browned, add chopped beet greens and butter.
9. Cook Gnocchi in boiling water for about 4 minutes or until they float to top.
10. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to skillet with onion mixture.
11. Enjoy!

First Doll for Aria from Vintage Hanky

This past Sunday morning, I awoke early to the news of my nieces arrival.  All my boys decided to sleep in so I created a little doll for Aria on her birthday.

Following are directions for making your own. My directions are "loose" because that is how I make things.  I often use scraps and repurposed material.  My motto, "Use what you have".
1. Sew a tubing for head and shoulders from old white t-shirt. About 1 1/2 " by 3 ".
2. Turn right side out and stuff head tightly with wool.  Tie off head (with strong thread or floss), then fill shoulders.
3. Fold bottom of shoulder seam under and zig zag closed on your machine or by hand.
4. Now take strong floss and tie head tightly in half where eyes would be to add shape.
5. Place inner head inside Hanky's middle.  Fold over and tie floss around head tightly.

6. Now place a tight ball of wool where hands should be.

7. Sew thread in a running stitch around each hand. Sewing through entire cuff a couple of times before tying off.

8.  Now add hair and hat and she is ready to play.

Corn Polenta with mushroom Cauliflower sauce

Grain of the day

(Recipe from early May)

Saturday is the day for corn. While shopping with my boys I thought corn... Ironic since I just read Omnivore's dilemma and thought I might never eat corn again, if I could help it. But I thought corn... Yes, corn cakes with a creamy mushroom sauce. My boys love anything with sauce and mushrooms must definatley be pureed for the texture is abhorred. When arriving home this is how the meal came together.

Mushroom Cauliflower Sauce.

Sautee one onion and 6 cremini mushrooms diced in olive oil

when soft add ½ tsp Herb de Provence, 1 tbls Bragg's Amino Acids,

and 1 ½ cups of left over roasted Cauliflower (or new steamed), and 1 cup of water. Cook to meld and make cauliflower soft enough to puree.

Add to blender with a ¼ cup milk (goat, cow, soy, or unsweetened almond) and 1-2 tablespoons of soft goat cheese. 

Blend adding water if needed.

We sliced prepackaged organic polenta (instead of making corn cakes), placed in a baking tray, topped with sauce and baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Great side with a little grilled chicken. The boys were in Heaven and gobbled up the polenta.

Gardening with young children

I have two boys, almost 3 years old and 14 months.  We spend most of the day in the garden when weather permits.  Some tips I have to keep my little ones active participants in meaningful work.

1.  Always have a spot in the garden that is not planted for digging.
2. Keep different sizes of shovels and trowels in the garden for easy unplanned digging.
3.  Plant extra carrots and beets.  When they would like to pull and pick I help them to thin these veggies.

4. We sow many onion sets (for green onions) and radishes.  I don't mind where these are planted because they are harvested in about 30 days and rarely in the way of other plants.
5.  Save your own Sunflower seeds, preferably multi-headed, then you have plenty for the children to place where they would like.  It is wonderful to have surprise sunflowers in the garden. (I have done the same with regular flax seed).