Oobleck

This is such a fun (and cheap!) activity for the kids to do. I can remember doing this when I was a kid and my kids love it just as much as I did. It's great to whip out when the kids are bored and Mommy needs to get some things done. This is also a great time to talk about how important patience is and to show how having patience pays off in the end. It would tie in great with a bible study on the subject or to demonstrate just what patience really is to a little one who is having a hard time grasping the concept. So, get out a bowl for each kid. In each bowl add 4 tablespoons of cornstarch, 3 tablespoons of water, and a few drops of food coloring. Then let the kids *slowly* mix everything up with their hands. If you touch the oobleck fast it is crumbly and hard, but when you slowly dig your hands into it, it melts and turns into an ooey, gooey SLIME!! Beware, you will have stained hands when all is said and done, but it's worth it!

Melt in Your Mouth Biscuits

This recipe puts Pillsbury to shame! I got it out of an old Amish cookbook, but made a few modifications along the way. If making homemade biscuits seems like too much work for you, here's a tip: When you make these, double, triple, or quadruple the recipe. Follow the instructions until it's time to bake them. Instead, lay them flat in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they're frozen through. Then pop them off the baking sheet and stick them in a zip lock freezer bag and keep in the freezer until you're ready for some super yummy biscuits. Then, bake them for about 30 minutes. Homemade convenience food at it's best!

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter by using your fingers or a fork to smash the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Don't over do it, though. Having a few large lumps about the size of beans will ensure a flaky crust. So after that, add you milk and egg. Blend well. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. It is very helpful to sandwich your dough between two pieces of wax paper to do this so you don't have to worry about it sticking to the table or adding too much flour which can make the biscuits taste bland. Use a round biscuit or cookie cutter or the open end of a glass. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Felt playfood

The past few weeks I've been working on some new playfood for the kids made out of felt. I have been so pleased with the results that I wanted to share with you all my new found love. Let me start by saying that we try to stay clear of plastic as much as possible. For those of you who think that sounds extreme... all I have to say is BPA. This chemical was deemed "safe" by the FDA for years and recently they have admitted that BPA is capable of seeping out of the plastic when heated, into your food or beverage, and then making it's way into your body. Now they're trying to weed out all things containing BPA so that plastic will again be "safe". That's great, but what next? What is safe now will be toxic tomorrow. That being said, we live in the real world and so we cannot completely boycott plastic. We do what we can. Playfood is not regulated any more than any other toy, but it has a huge tendency to end up in the mouths of babes, so we feel like we should take special precautions. Besides that, the texture of the felt food is so much more realistic, it cannot cause a concusion when Eli throws it and hits someone in the head like wooden play food, and the kids appreciate it so much more because they saw the amount of work that went into it. I used left over felt from diaper covers and here are some samples of what I've made thus far:



I started with my favorite kind of food... sweets! I know the egg looks out of place, that was Ava's addition. :) A quick google search will give you all kinds of tutorials, but I don't find it nessecary. The imagination works just as well. I have a huge list of more food to make and I can't wait to get it all done. Mark my words, once you start, you won't want to stop!