-Lindsey
5.31.2010
Collage Recycled Mags Into a Sign You Can't Ignore
-Lindsey
5.30.2010
Cookie Cutter Banana Pancake Dippers
As quick and easy as any other pancake preparation, using an aluminum cookie cutter as a mold adds much charm and makes the pancakes perfect sized for picking up and dipping!
You'll need:
- Spray cooking oil
-Lindsey
5.27.2010
Crayola Bathtub Markers and Bath Paints (product reviews)
Crayola Bathtub Markers get a lame-o YYY 3 hearts
Why this rating?
- Stains the bathtub. Especially the blue. As you can see in the above pic, we're now rocking a semi-permanent guitar and vroom (aka car) on our tub. My 50 year old bath's porcelain may be especially old and porous, but that's no excuse. Note that I have not yet tried to "magic erase" these drawings, and I do have hope, as the Mr.Clean magic eraser has rarely let me down. -1 heart
- Drawings run too easily. For example, if you draw a cute little cat with the red marker 2 seconds later it looks like a bleeding messed up dying cat. -1 heart
- On top of the above complaints, I don't know if I would buy them again. Therefore -1 heart
Crayola Bath Paints get a respectable YYYYY 5 hearts
Why this rating?
- Doesn't stain the bathtub or my kid.
- Drawings don't run at all - the paints are super-dense and you can even draw on bath bubbles with them.
- I probably will purchase these again. But I'm waiting until Otto is a bit older (maybe I'll try again when he turns 2) because...
- If your wee one isn't big and/or strong enough to squeeze the paint out of the containers (which are like mini ketchup and mustard bottles you find at picnics) then you, as the bath moniter, are going to be spending a lot of time and energy squeezing paint and drawing. Not that that's unbearable, but it is tiring, and doesn't really offer much artistic outlet for your small fry. -1 heart
-Lindsey
5.26.2010
10 Minute Whole Wheat Pita Pizzas
Ingredients:
-Lindsey
5.25.2010
Which Fruits and Vegetables Should I Buy Organic? The Dirty Dozen
Heard about the dirty dozen? These are the 12 fruits and vegetables that are considered the "dirtiest" (meaning most pesticide-ridden) and that should (as recommended by experts, I'm just relaying the info here) be bought organic whenever possible. Even though I'd heard of the Dirty D, I never took the time to find out which fruits and vegetables they were. Except today I did and here's the list:
DIRTY:
- apples
- bell peppers
- celery
- cherries (good to know, this time of year I'm so tempted but I'll hold off for organic)
- grapes (imported)
- nectarines
- peaches
- pears
- potatoes (whoa, very good to know)
- raspberries
- spinach
- strawberries
CLEAN(er):
- asparagus
- avocado*
- banana*
- broccoli*
- cauliflower*
- corn*
- kiwi*
- mango*
- onion*
- papaya
- peas*
- pineapple
Here are a couple of website stories that get deeper into this information (and that I used as sources):
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737389/page/2/
-Lindsey
Sweet Potato & White Bean Smoothies (I'm Serious)
To make the purée cut 1 sweet potato into roughly 1/2" cubes (I leave the peel on, but that's up to you) and steam until tender. Prepare 1/2 cup dry white beans according to directions (or open a can of prepared white beans packed in water). Purée the lot in a food processor until creamy, adding water until you get your desired consistency (the consistency you're going for is baby food).
Note[1] - what you've just made actually is baby food. You can freeze it in ice cube trays, store the cubes in freezer safe bags, and thaw cube-by-cube as needed for use as baby food or in future smoothies.
Note[2] - this is also an excellent addition to most pasta sauces (red, cream-based, vodka, &c.) and doesn't affect the flavor enough to be noticed.
Why sweet potato and white beans? According to foodfit.com, white beans are an excellent source of fiber, folate and a good source of iron. According to nutritiondata.com, sweet potato is a good source of fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese.
Oh, and speaking of Sprout baby food packets... In case you're interested and don't have a local Whole Foods I thought I'd add a link where you can purchase them online. I couldn't find this particular flavor on Amazon but the EcoMom website came up first in a google search and seems to be a good site with a fair price on the packets which are about $1.30 each at the store: http://store.ecomom.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SF-BSPWB-012
A Simple, Fun Twist on Eggs w/ Toast
If you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for new, easy recipes to entice your kid(s) to eat healthy foods and to try new things. One recipe I've found that goes over like gangbusters with my toddler is Eggs in a Basket. Simply put, you're cooking the egg directly into the toast by making a cavity in the center of the toast for the egg to sit while cooking. The end product is cute, healthful, and yummy.
I purposefully make a very sloppy version that allows the egg whites to run onto most of the bread - which means every bite has a little bread and a little egg. I've also stirred the egg before pouring and mixed in some chopped spinach a few times (and managed to add some veggie nutrition to the mix). My son is "tall and skinny with a big head" - as his doctor put it - so I have no issues frying in butter... but a nice thing about this recipe is that there are just no rules; it's so tweakable. If you have a little Martha Stewart in your blood, you could make the shape that holds the egg something very cute, like a heart, star, mickey mouse head, daisy, and on and on...
At my house, we cut the finished product up into bite-sized pieces of "eggy bread" and Otto just loves it.
Below are a couple of links with more official recipes for this breakfast treat.
http://kidscooking.about.com/od/breakfastrecipes/r/eggsinabasket.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Eggs-in-a-Basket
Easy Disposable Snack "Bowl"
We saw the documentary "Babies" and he had a great time; we both did!
Getting ready for the outing I knew I needed to prepare a Movie Theater Survival Kit including things like a pacifier, sippy cup, bag of snacks, etc. But I was concerned that Otto would drop his snack bowl on the theater floor and didn't want to deal with any fumbling around in the dark. So I decided to cut the top 2/3 off of a half dozen brown paper bags. I recycled the tops and threw the bottoms (aka the "bowls") in the survival kit. During the movie, I poured small portions of crackers, cereal, and dried fruit into a "bowl", unworried about anything dropping because if it did I would just go for another disposable "bowl" right away.
At the end of the movie, Otto had only gone through a single snack "bowl" which we tossed in the bin along with my nacho tray. A total success! Hey, I got to eat movie theater nachos, that's a stellar day in my book no matter what else happens.