Foodie Fun: Moon Sand For Sensory Learning!

Much like the dry, dyed pasta, there are so many sensory activities at your fingertips right in your own kitchen!  Today while Pip snoozed at nap time, I made her a big bucket of MOON SAND.  Soft, silky, and cool to the touch but like sand, it can be molded into sculptures, shapes, hand prints, etc.  I think at 2 years and 4 months of age, it might still be a good idea to keep some newspaper under the bucket, or the Dustbuster around. But the older your child gets, the better their gross and fine motor control will be and they will be able to keep the moon sand in the bucket with little to no accidents.  I know I made this for Pip but as was the case with the Calming Jars, I CAN'T STOP PLAYING WITH IT MYSELF!!!

~Ingredients~

8 cups of flour

1 cup baby oil

~Directions~

1.  Mix ingredients together and squeeze with your hands until all of the baby oil is absorbed and evenly distributed throughout.  

VOILA!

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

What's For Dessert? - 4th of July Rhubarb Crumble Pie

It seems as though this time of year is busier and more eventful than the Christmas season! I hope all of you had a wonderfully patriotic Independence Day!  Piper and I attended a killer BBQ at a friend's home and I decided to try my hand at rhubarb. This was totally new for me, and from what I gathered this recipe was a winner!  The best part about it is the freedom to improvise a little and you can cheat by buying frozen rhubarb in the frozen fruit section of your grocery store!

~Ingredients~

Filling - 

1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cups of white sugar

1/8 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

1 graham cracker crust

Crumble topping - 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup of butter (or a 1/2 stick), cut into pieces

dash of cinnamon

dash of cardamom

dashes of vanilla extract

~Instructions~

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  In a medium bowl, mix together the rhubarb, white sugar, 1/8 cup of flour, vanilla extract, and ground cardamom.  Spoon into a graham cracker crust.

 2.  In a food processor, pulse together the 1/2 cup of flour, salt, and brown sugar.

 3.  Add the butter and pulse until butter pieces are pea-sized.

 4.  Spread topping over rhubarb mixture.  At this point, I sprinkled more cinnamon and cardamom on top and dolloped splashes of vanilla randomly over the crumble topping.

 5.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is slightly browned and your house smells like a baking utopia of goodness.  Enjoy!!

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

What's For Breakfast? - German Pancakes

I received an easy and interesting-sounding recipe for German pancakes this morning from Allrecipes.com.  Piper and I jumped on it of course, and it proved to be a really pleasant breakfast dish.  I didn't know what to expect as I had never even heard of German pancakes before, and here is how I would describe it:  A mellow, dense, filling, and somehow sweet (although I don't know how as the recipe doesn't call for any sugar) breakfast that oddly resembles a combination of flan, quiche, and French toast.  I may rename it Germench Fluichoast (pronounced DJUR-MENCH, FLEESH-OST).

First of all you must realize that it is far too early to be doing anything on a Sunday morning besides popping the bubbles surrounding your head while aimlessly wandering through the house with your first mug of coffee.

 Shake it off, now let's get started!

~Ingredients~

1.  1/4 cup of butter  (4 tablespoons), (I used real butter, not margarine)
2.  1 cup of all-purpose flour
3.  1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
4.  6 eggs, lightly beaten
5.  1/8 tsp. salt

~Instructions~

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Melt butter in a medium baking dish.

 3.  In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk, eggs, and salt.

 4.  Pour the mixture into prepared baking dish, in the center of the butter.  It should look like this:

 5.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown!

 6. Drizzle with maple syrup....ENJOY!

Read More...

Hide Full Post...