Two Toddler Crafts

It's another good day at Camp Nini with Great Grand.  After a little muffin & fruit breakfast we made a mobile of fish from paper plates.  His cutting skills are pretty good, even with the string used to hang the fish.  Great Grand cut a V shape out of the plate for a mouth and glued it back on the plate where a tail should be then used a marker to draw eyes on both sides of the plates. I punched holes and threaded the string through the plates.  After I tied a loop on the other end of the string, Great Grand slid them on a hanger.  We hung it from a ceiling fan and watched as they danced around as if in an aquarium of water high over our heads.  Just like the tunnel at the Dallas World Aquarium!

After lunch Great Grand asked if he I had any play dough.  I didn't, but not to worry...I know how to make it!

He decided on red play dough as I measured out the indredients and stirred it on a low burner on the stove.  When It thickened and pulled away from the pan we waited a few minutes for it to cool and pulled out a big bucket of cookie cutters.  I found out his favorite shape is a diamond.  He showed me that it has 4 sides and made rows and rows of them along with a pretty impressive army of gingerbread men.  He likes singing "Run, run, as fast as you can...you can't catch me...I'm the gingerbread man!"

Play Dough Recipe:

• 1 Cup flour
• 1/2 Cup salt
• 2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 Cup Water
• Food Color

We made only one color so all the ingredients went into a medium sauce pan including the cake color.  Red took about 1/2 bottle of Wilton Cake paste and made a lovely vibrant shade.  Some folks use coolaide, which is fine, I just didn't have any.  It only takes about 15-20 minutes to make and keeps for weeks in a zip lock bag.

Now he's sleeping while I write this post.  He was pretty worn out from all the fun we are having together. So am I.

Stuffed Yellow Pepper

This is another great summer recipe.  I purchased some large yellow bell peppers at the market to make this recipe you can use green or red. Hmm, red, wouldn’t that make a pretty meal.   It’s a recipe a beginning cook can easily accomplish.
Recipe for 4
Preheat oven 350 F

• 1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
• 2 bell peppers (I love the slight sweetness of the yellow peppers)
• Spices: 1/2-1 teaspoon of each:  chopped fresh basil, thyme, parsley, garlic clove
• 1/4 chopped onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 6 saltine crackers, crushed
• salt & pepper from the shakers
• 1/2 cup tomato basil sauce, divided (or purchased spaghetti sauce of your choice)
• 4 slices provolone cheese

Slice the peppers in half and clean out the seeds and light membrane.  Place in baking dish cut side up. 
Mix the ingredients together with the meat and about 1/4 cup of the sauce using your hands.  If that’s too gross for you, you can use a fork.  Just try to get the ingredients mixed in really well then press 1/4 of the meat mixture into each of the pepper halves.  Pour the rest of the sauce on top.  Bake 350 F about 30 minutes.  Add a slice of cheese on top of each stuffed pepper, return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes. 
I cook for two, so instead of adding the cheese to the extra two, I cool and then freeze them for another day…another meal.  All I have to do is defrost and add the cheese for 10 minutes in the oven.  This also makes a pretty great meatball for pasta.

Caramel Chocolate Milk

Even a 3 year old has taste when it comes to making milk.  When I opened the fridge to get him some milk he asked “can we put some of that caramel in it”. He was looking at the caramel ice cream topping.  “Sure”, I said.  Then he looked at the chocolate syrup and said, “some of that too?”  “Sure”, I said.  He liked it so much that when his Aunt came by, he asked if he could make some for her too…because “I know she likes caramel.” 

    

                                                                          

We made it four times today.

jeannie

Vintage furniture + Spray Paint = New

I found this little table from a 1980’s project stashed in a corner covered with “stuff”.  I almost set it by the curb but a second inspection led me to update it for my bedroom redo.  That will be coming in a post soon.  Meanwhile this is how I changed 1980 to 2013 in just over an hour.
First I took the table outside and removed the cobwebs, then sanded lightly all over.  I used a kitchen towel to remove all the dust and shook a can of Krylon Ivory Satin paint until the beads inside sounded like they were moving freely.  The first coat was light and ready for a second coat in 10 minutes.  A second coat covered it just fine, so I let it sit for a almost an hour of curing.  It is 99 degrees outside, so that went really well.  Once I felt like it was pretty dry, I used a heavy grit sand paper to rough up the table top.  That’s it!  What do you think?

Basil Tomato and Corn Quiche

     
This quiche is another great summer dish with the abundance of fresh basil in my garden and corn at the market 6/$1.00!  It only takes one corn cob and a few other ingredients to make this easy dish.
Ingredients:

• 1 single pie crust (yes, I took the easy way out and used a purchased crust)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 12 or more cherry tomatoes, sliced and deseeded (you can use other small tomatoes depending on what you have in your garden or what you see in the market)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 1 ear) or you can use frozen
• 1/2 cup loosely packed basil
• 1 can green chilies (or 1 chopped jalapeño with seeds and white membrane removed
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup 2% milk

Preheat oven 375 F.
Place prepared pie crust in pie pan, set aside.
Heat olive oil in large skillet over high heat.  Place sliced tomatoes cut side down with garlic in oil and cook about 10 minutes till brown but not burned.  Gently torn over for 2-3 more minutes. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. Remove from pan and place cut side up  in uncooked crust. 

Layer corn kernels over tomatoes, then basil and chilies. 
Sprinkle on the cheese.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and milk then pour over cheese.
Bake 35 minutes till puffy and lightly browned.  A knife inserted in center should come out clean.

Blog hubs liked this a lot.  I suppose we’ll have it again, and again, and again.

Little Fish, Big Pond

Great Grand, my daughter and I spent a fabulous day downtown Dallas at the Dallas World Aquarium.  We avoided stressful traffic and parking nightmares by riding the Dart Transit Train which was fun and entertaining in itself for a 3 year old.

If you’ve never toured an aquarium, I highly recommend it, and especially this one.


For more of the aquarium photo’s click this link.

Tracking dinosaurs

Keeping up with a 3 year old has been challenging.  He is very imaginative and fun.  On a particular morning we were watching Dinosaur cartoons when he asked if they were pretend or real.  I explained that they were real a very long long long time ago.  “When you were a kid?”  LOL  No, even before that!  I told him the cartoon dino’s were a little different in that they didn’t talk and play together quite like that.  I pulled out a couple of books from my stash and some plastic dinosaurs to play with. 

We played a match game with the plastic pieces and one of the books.

Then we lay on the floor to play dinosaur valley.  We had great fun feeding them pretend greens and drinking from a bowl on the floor. 

Later in the afternoon we cooked mini cupcakes (because little boys like to eat little food) and topped the cupcakes with the dinosaurs.  He thought it was cool but a little silly since “dinosaurs don’t eat cupcakes, silly”.  But the measuring and stirring was a good opportunity for some really basic math like show me 3 eggs, 2 beaters, 1 spoon.  

At naptime one dinosaur slept cradled in his hand.  Sweet!

Kids & monsters

   

We’ve been battling monsters this week.  Apparently there is more than one and they like to take things that aren’t theirs.  They play games and snatch your eyes, ears and voice so you can’t talk about it.   Sometimes they prevent naps and lurk in the hallway.  After a long discussion about said monster, the 3 year old had given a pretty good description so we decided to bring the monsters into submission by making them turn into one dimensional pieces of paper.  He colored on details and pasted on facial features from magazines.  Now the monsters are friends, are contained to the refrigerator with magnets and are participating in a lot less mischief.  We agree the monster can’t do any of those things because he's stuck to the fridge.

Baby Girl shower

I attended a lovely baby shower this weekend.  The theme of course was “Pink”.  Tables were set with white table cloths and a pink Gerber Daisy, long grass & moss in clay pot tied with burlap or pink polka dot ribbon.  Next the the “Mother to be” rocking chair stood an enormous white Chrysanthemum  and a sweet Anne Geddes baby sleeping on it.  ‘Sigh’ 

The refreshments were on three tables.  The first table offered a sausage/cheese dip, finger sandwiches and chips, cheese/bacon jalapeno,  and salami wrapped cheese sticks.  The second table held a beautifully decorated hombre pink flower cake and mini cakes and the third table had a wonderful assortment of pink candies. 

                                     

  

  

Open face Lemon Caprice Sandwich

  
I am finding new ways for me to use basil, since I am growing it for the first time in a pot outside the back door.  The aroma when I brush my hands through it is pretty nice, but I knew it would be great on some recipes too.  Today I had a couple of deli rolls and wanted a really light tasting lunch.  This was a happy discovery for me.   

Ingredients:

• deli roll
• rendered bacon grease or olive oil
• fresh basil leaves
• provolone cheese slice
• fresh lemon, thin slice
• tomato, sliced
• salt & pepper to taste

First collect some basil leaves.  Wash and dry on paper towels.

I sliced a deli roll in half and rubbed it in some hot bacon grease from hubs breakfast.  I could have eaten it just like that!  Olive oil would be a second choice if I had not smelled the bacon cooking.

Then, layer on a deli slice of provolone cheese.
Place a basil leaf or two on the cheese.
Add a super thin slice of fresh lemon.  A mandolin slicer is great for this if you don’t have a steady hand and very sharp knife.
and some tomato slices (all I had was some cherry tomatoes…I thought for sure I had one Roma tomato but couldn’t find it). Drizzle just a little olive oil over the tomatoes and basil and cheese before broiling.

Broil the open face sandwiches in the oven for a few minutes till the bread is browned and the cheese melted. (Note to self, clean the oven today)
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, add a fresh green salad, a tall glass of lemon ice tea and “Hello summer!”

Party links here

This moment, this summer,

this memory

Patriotic Star Gazing