Food Fun

I've noticed that with kids, they appreciate small spices of fun among the every day.  I'm trying to find ways to add that, but ways that don't require more than 30 seconds of extra love (because I'm too lazy and I don't like messes...)  I've realized that we all have to eat.  Several times a day.  So giving my kids their food arranged more "fun" makes a big difference to them, and takes almost no extra effort from me.  Some things I do:

My kids (me too!!) love pancakes.  They eat them almost every day.  Some fun things we do with them:

smiley face pancakes.  pour the smiley face, let them cook a bit, then pour the circle on top.

Letter pancakes.  Make sure you pour them backwards so they end up looking correct on the 2nd side.

Pour mini pancakes (especially the "baby" ones from drips) and give them a little stack.

And I've discovered two triangles of a sandwich can make lots of pictures

butterfly: the body is a mini bell pepper from Costco with the top (seeds and stem) cut off.  carrot antennae.

Sailboat with blueberry "water" and carrot "seagull".

and wraps are arguably the most obvious:

ok, i admit it.  i let my kids eat fruitsnacks... but I feel better about it if it looks like hair :)

Anyone else do something easy, but fun?

Emergency Preparedness Month: Dairy-Free No-Bake Cookies

SO.  


Little Hazel has had a goopy eye since birth and lately, that has been so extreme that she would wake up in the morning with one eye completely sealed shut with mucus.  :(  I asked about the eye at both her 2 week and 2 month appointments, but the doc just said it was a clogged tear duct- very common in newborns and it should sort itself out.  So, I didn't worry too much about it, though it did make me feel bad for her having to deal with me wiping out her eye every 20 minutes, or so, when she was awake. 

Right after her 2 month appointment (and her immunizations) she became really congested, which I thought was maybe a product of that, but then it kept coming back, and sometimes it would wake her up because she can't breath! (and eating is tricky too!)  

Also, when it's time to sleep- so after having eaten about an hour ago, she would start having a very high pitched cry, and become very squirmy, like she was uncomfortable.  Usually she is gassy, but sometimes she finally falls asleep out of exhaustion, and then would wake up crying 30 minutes later.

I was reading "Happiest Baby on the Block" (because I really liked "Happiest Toddler on the Block") hoping it would give me some tips on how to get her to sleep better.  Turns out, it was a pretty good book (most of the things in it I figured out by trial and error, but had I read it before The Frog, my life would have been MUCH easier..) and he casually mentioned that the number one food sensitivity in infants is dairy and it can make them congested.  It occurred to me that I had been experimenting with cheesey pasta dishes for the past week and we had one almost every night.

The same week with middle-of-the-night booger extractions.
The same week with extra fussiness.
SO, I decided to try going off dairy for a few days, just to see if I noticed anything.
HOLY COW!!  After less than 48 hours, she woke up with NO congestion!!  AND, bonus! NO goop in her eye, AT ALL.  I couldn't believe it!  Not really a clogged duct!

So.  I'm dairy free for a few months and that might put a bit of a damper on my Emergency Preparedness week- I had all kinds of powdered milk experiments I was planning to try out and blog about, but I won't be able to taste them myself if I do so.

The first few days were pretty hard because I had all these cheesy leftovers in the fridge I was planning to eat the next few days and I couldn't go out and buy anything because it's not just that simple anymore.  Timing is everything lately, and I just go to the grocery store if the stars align that morning.  (Or I'll go at night when Jay is home.)  

On Monday night, it hit me when we had family home evening and I couldn't have the treat that ALL normal, delicious, baked goods have dairy in them!!! (except oatmeal raisin cookies, which I will never choose over chocolate chip...)  And suddenly, I had an intense craving for something sweet and chewy and delicious!
However, the kids were just in bed and I had things to do.  I didn't want to spend too much time on this, so I started looking for no bake peanutbutter cookie recipes.  ALL had butter and milk in them.
I started getting desperate.  So I went out to my pantry, grabbed the last can of coconut milk I had, and double checked the Crisco ingredients label and substituted my heart out.  
I couldn't believe it, but they were actually really good!  (and I even took out half the sugar because the amount was so appalling.  I can't even imagine them being any good if they were sweeter.)  AND, it just occurred to me that they can be made using all food storage items :)

I'm including the original recipe and my version in parentheses:
2 cups sugar  (I did 1 cup)
1/4 cup margarine  (I did crisco, and next time I'll try coconut oil or buttery soy spread)
1/2 cup milk (I did coconut water- take a can of coconut milk, unshaken, poke 2 holds in the botton, and drain out the watery part. Serendipitously, It ended up being exactly 1/2 c!  I will save the solids and try subbing for butter in something else later.)
1 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
Directions:
In lg saucepan, mix sugar, margarine (crisco), and milk (coconut water); bring to a full, rolling boil over med heat. (full, rolling boil = large bubbles rising to surface that can't be stirred down).
Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until peanut butter is melted; stir in oats.
Working quickly, drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

They really do have a nice chewiness about them.


(recipe originally from food.com)

Kid Conversation

Though I admit I didn't see what happened, Peach was crying and The Frog was running away...

me: Frog, the fact that you're running away tells me that you did something you know you shouldn't have.  I'd like you to come back and apologize to Peach.
The Frog: But I didn't do anything!
me: Then why did you run away?
The Frog:  Because I like running! It's good for your body.

Kid Conversation

The setting is irrelevant.  I just want to remember that it has been said:

The Frog: Actually, dad, mom's right.

Future Ballerinas?

I installed a mini ballet barre in my laundry room some time ago, and so the kids know about ballet and that I like to do ballet.  I don't have any pictures of them, but awhile ago I walked in the room and they were both standing on one leg and pulling their mouths wide with their pointer fingers (as is typical for Peach).  

Jay: Guess what they're doing.

Me: No clue.

Jay: Ballet.

hm.  I hope I don't look like that...

Anyway, the home I grew up in is now under contract to be sold to someone and they are planning to move as soon as the buyer sells their home.  As a result, my mom has been big-time cleaning out the house and making me take all my old stuff :)  I just received a garbage bag full of these:

 my old pointe shoes that used to be hanging up over my closet.  Not knowing what to do with them, I thought I'd at least take pictures before I chuck them.

 I, of course, couldn't stand it, and had to try a pair on:

 For some reason, it was surprising that they still fit, even though they are all mine...

Of course, this whole activity sparked questions from the kids, and I had to show them what they're for.  So, they wanted in on the action:

 Peach quickly decided they were not for her (which is surprising because she's always traipsing around the house in other people's shoes),

 but The Frog wanted to try them out...

 properly.

maybe we have a future ballerino on our hands?