Jello Cells...Yum!

To begin our study of the human body, we are learning about cells, the building blocks of, well, everything. We're using:

 
and also Body systems and organs: Covering system, skeletal system, muscular system, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, excretory system, ... system (Step-by-step science series) Really long title for a little paperback workbook!

 We studied pictures of cells and their labeled parts, then decided to make an edible cell. Cuz every lesson is better when you eat it at the end.

 After raiding the refrigerator and cabinets, we came up with stawberry nuclei, gumdrop mitochondria, ribosome sprinkles, and tootsie rolls flattened and curled to look like rough ER. I wouldn't recommend the tootsie rolls - they melted in the jello. We could still see bits of them in there. The ooze wasn't pretty, though.



KID 1 adds ribosome sprinkles



KID 2 drops in mitochondria gumdrops







Our cells are ready for cryofreezing...or cryofrigerating in our case.

 



We put a cell on a glass plate and held a light under it...cool, huh?



Pumpkin Pie Playdough

Happy November! I'm sharing my super-secret recipe for Pumpkin Pie Playdough to celebrate (okay, it's probably not that secret, but it was new to me and has gotten rave reviews everywhere I share it).

Start with this basic playdough recipe, but add a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger or use several teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Put orange food coloring in the water before stirring it into your dry ingredients.

Mmmmmmmmm! Everytime the kids play with playdough, the house smells like pumpkin pie!

Favorite Homemade Play Dough Recipe

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon cooking oil or baby oil
1 cup water

Mix ingredients together. Stir constantly over medium heat until play dough consistency is formed. Cool and knead. Store in a tightly covered plastic container. Add food coloring to the water before adding it to the other ingredients, or knead in colors at the end while still warm (kids enjoy this part!).

We love this recipe and use it for playgroups and projects all the time! A triple batch makes enough dough for 6-8 kids.

Lent for Preschoolers: A Hands-On Activity

We love making our faith a more hands-on experience for our children, especially during important seasons of the religious calendar. Lent can be a tough one to explain in a tangible way, but most kids are familiar with the phrase "Jesus is the light of the world."

Building on this concept, last year I gave my 4-year-old a batch of white playdough and a few smaller balls of colored dough to create his Resurrection Cross. You can read about it on my MotleyMoms post and see a couple of photos of this easy project.

Have fun!

Pasta Bird Nests

My kids love these because they make the usual spaghetti meal unusual. I twist some cooked spaghetti into the oiled cups of my jumbo muffin tin and make a depression in the center to form the "nest." Any flavor pasta works (we use whole wheat blend) and I'd guess pretty much any style works as long as it's long like spaghetti.

I drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle whatever shredded cheese I have on hand and bake at 350 F for 5-10 minutes (just enough to melt the cheese and set the nests).

Meatballs are fun toppers as the "eggs" in the nest, but sometimes we just drizzle sauce over the nests and serve them plain. The kids love 'em!

Old Jeans + Quilt Binding = Cute Apron!

This is the apron I made for my niece (age 9 1/2) for Christmas. She is very fashionable and loves to do cooking projects, so I knew she needed a hip little apron.

I save old jeans for various uses. These were my husband's old Gap jeans. I cut one back pocket for the top of the apron and used the front of the jeans as the skirt. Black quilt binding finished the edges and I used some cute polka dots for the sash. I also handstitched her first initial onto the front bib pocket, but didn't get a picture of that.

It turned out so cute, and she really liked it! Now I want one for myself!

Tricky Chocolate Truffles Kids Will Love

I tried another recipe from Jennifer Carden's Toddler Cafe, but I changed it up a bit. Going off of the "Toddler Truffles" recipe, which uses a can of black beans, butter, sugar and eggs (to name few of the basic ingredients required), I created actual chocolate truffles.

Instead of black beans, I used kidney beans, drained and rinsed (that's what was in my cupboard) and I added 6 Tablespoons of cocoa powder to the recipe. My kids love these! They look, smell and taste almost exactly like brownies, but don't have any flour in them at all!

And apparently scooping anything into a ball for snacktime makes it an instant sensation amongst the preschool set. My son never eats as much fruit as when we scoop melons into balls, and he especially loves to scoop it himself!

Recipe:

1 can dark beans (I used dark red kidney beans)
4 Tbsp. softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I chopped some peanuts in my coffee grinder)
4-6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease an 8x8" pan.

I blended the first 6 ingredients with my stick blender, then added the eggs.

Pour into greased pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the edges begin to look crisp.

As it cools, use a scooper or your hands to form 1" balls. Dust with powdered sugar to make "snowballs." You could also just cut these like brownies.

Enjoy!

Mmm, Mmmm, Good!

My friend Rachel recently loaned me a great cookbook titled Toddler Cafe, by Jennifer Carden, and I have to tell you, it's been fun trying some of her recipes! She even shares some recipes on her blog. Her book has beautiful, full-color pictures of many of her recipes, so it's fun just to look through it...I love picture cookbooks!

One cool idea was to use your waffle iron at lunchtime to make your own paninis. The kids LOVED this! The cheese melted inside and the bread got all textured like a waffle! I even sauteed some sliced apples in butter to go in them with the cheese...mmmmmm, so good!

Yesterday, we made "Peanut Butter Globe Globs" for our afternoon snack. The kids loved rolling this squishy stuff into balls and then coating them in crushed cereal. And they were tasty!

Today I think we'll try the "Toddler Truffles," which look like real chocolate truffles, but are actually made with black beans (and some other stuff!). I've had a sweet treat like this in Asian restaurants and they are GOOD!

If you have an opportunity to pick up Jennifer's cookbook, you won't regret it! I think I need to get myself a copy!

Worms in Dirt...Yum!

We started a compost heap back in Letter Cc Week, and now we can start putting some of that rich dark soil to work in our fall vegetable garden. We're very excited about that!

One of the cool benefits of a compost pile is sifting through and finding lots of earthworms, studying them, singing about them, fighting over them, crying over them because KID 2 ran away with KID 1's earthworm and dropped it in the grass and now he can't find it and needs to throw the World's Biggest Tantrum, reading about them, and, sweetest of all, making "Worms in Dirt" for dessert!

Get a package of chocolate pudding and prepare according to package directions. Top with crushed chocolate cookies (dirt) and gummy worms crawling out. We even served ours in small pots...it just tastes better that way!

This is a great creepy, crawly dessert for October.

Introducing....the Letter "Cc"

Both kids made their letter "Cc" signs using corn kernels...

I "wrote" the letters in glue and they stuck the corn on. Creative and cute! (Our letter signs are made from cardboard diaper boxes, cut into 6x6" squares.)

We're celebrating the letter "Cc" today by cutting cheese and crunching crackers. We only buy big blocks of cheese here...it's much cheaper and the kids love cutting it themselves!















We conspired to clear the clutter from our yard. And KID 1 is learning about composting in the garden to enrich the soil. We love this because it means less waste!

We also created cookie cutter sandwiches and concocted a fun cooperative art piece using bubble solution and powdered tempera paint.

We'll be making cupcakes later in the week, of course, and I'd love to take the kids to a local candy factory to see how their confections are made. Cool, huh?

Can you tell we're kinda crazy about the letter "Cc" around here?

Any more frugal ideas for us to introduce the letter "Cc" this week?

Peachy Keen

Peaches are readily available right now at about $1.49 /lb. in our supermarket. This recipe at kidshealth.org sounds just right: Perfect Peachy Freeze

We used honey instead of sugar.

Do you have a favorite recipe for peaches?

Pizza! Pizza!

Pizza is a Friday night favorite in our family. Not only does it satisfy our appetites, it also satisfies our budget and health requirements! There's nothing better than homemade pizza...especially when the kids get to help.

They love to measure ingredients, mix, knead the dough, and top the pizza. Oh, and they love eating what they create!

We start by making our own dough, a whole wheat/oat/white flour blend that really handles nicely and fills us up better than all white flour. It takes less than an hour to rise, so I can start it around 4:30 and still have dinner on the table by 6:00. This also freezes well in an oiled zip-top bag, so we make a double batch and freeze half. Less work next time!

Ingredients for a single batch:

• 1 TBSP active dry yeast

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 cup dry quick oats
  
• 2-3 cups white flour (start with 2, adding more as needed)
  
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• 1 TBSP sugar (I use a lot, since yeast feeds on sugar and will need more if frozen or kept in the fridge for a few days)
  
• 1 cup very warm water (hot water kills yeast)
  
• 1 TBSP olive oil

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup red sauce (or pesto) We just use regular pasta sauce from a jar...fancy, huh?
  
• 2 cups shredded cheese - Italian blends are good, mozzarrella, smoked provolone
  
• Your favorite toppings - we love colossal-size black olives, red onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic...really just whatever we have on hand. We throw on leftover grilled, chopped chicken breast or sausage when we have it.

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
   
2. Stir in water and olive oil (a stand mixer works, too, if it can handle a stiff dough...switch to bread hooks once you've got your ingredients mixed)
   
3. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto floured surface. As you knead, slowly add more white flour until dough is no longer sticky (it should feel smooth and elastic). Kids love to help knead the dough. You can separate it into smaller lumps for them to work with and combine at the end for a final thorough kneading.
   
4. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in bulk. (If the sunny spot on my back porch isn't warm enough, I pre-warm my oven and then turn it off to let the dough rise.)
   
5. Once dough is doubled, show it off to the kids...it's fascinating! Punch it down and press into an oiled pan (we use a round pizza pan, but a cookie sheet works fine, too).
   
6. Add sauce, cheese and toppings...this part is fun for the kids, as long as you supervise. Our cheese always seems to pile up in one spot!


7. Bake in preheated 450°F oven for 12-15 minutes.
   
   
8. Enjoy!

For more frugal ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Friday...so many links, so little time!



See some of our favorite pizza-making books below. The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza is very cute, and Pete's a Pizza, by William Steig, is a fun read that our kids just LOVE to act out.