Jonah Lisa Land

Le Petit Chef

Since Huck got his Kitchen Helper from my parents for Christmas he's been doing a lot of "helping" in the kitchen.  He loves it and tries really hard to follow directions.  Of course, everything takes a bit more time and I'm using my dustbuster a lot more, but who cares as long as he's not pulling all the books off the shelves or whining for attention while I cook, you know?  I really find it much easier than having him underfoot.

Here he is putting the broccoli in a bowl...

And making honey ginger soy sauce for the salmon...

(That's Stephen.  I do not have "Man Hands")

Simple tasks no doubt, but he has a real sense that he's helping make the meal and his pride is quite evident.

Though I haven't seen any others to compare, I'm convinced that we have the best children's cookbook on the market.  It's a classic by Mollie Katzen of Moosewood Restaurant and Moosewood Cookbooks fame.

The recipes are simple but very healthy kid's fare, but it's the layout that makes this cookbook special.  Here's an example.

I'm looking forward to trying the Zucchini Moons and Carrot Pennies recipes with him--see if cooking them makes him more willing to eat them! 

There are 2 other books in this set.  The first is also for Preschoolers & up and the second is for older kids, 8 & up.

       

And with this idea as a stepping off point, you can also create your own picture recipe book using dishes your family likes to eat.  We'll probably do this in the future.  It's way beyond Huck's abilities right now, but I think older kids, like these, would love doing the art work.   

Getting him in the Kitchen Helper and letting him do something in the kitchen has just been a great way to calm him down, get him focused on something and keep him distracted until dinner.  And as Soulemama (again) points out here, it doesn't even have to be helping with what you're cooking.  Huck is very content with a set of measuring spoons and a bowl of water. 

Next time I think I'll give him some food scraps and see what he comes up with.

Your Green IQ

I almost skipped writing today.  Just not much to say I guess.  How often does that happen?  But I did run across this cool quiz yesterday on Never a Dull Moment and thought some of you might enjoy it, too. 

I do loooove a good quiz.

I was pretty pleased with my score but I also know it's a bit off since I was able to vote that I spent $0 on water--we have a well.  Still, gave me some good ideas of a few other things I can do.  Like I've been meaning to go paperless with my billing and banking for some time but just haven't put in the time to make the switch in my bookkeeping system. 

Of course, when I do, you'll hear all about it.

Another Blizzard

Guess I'm not going to the store today.  No, I learned my lesson last time. 

But can I just say I am sick of all this freakin snow!!!

Living in a world saturated of all color takes its toll on your sanity after 5 months...and counting.

The best laid plans...

Yesterday's update on my TV reduction scheme got me thinking about all the different plans and ideas I've written about on this blog--in a fairly short time I might add.  So in the interest of a little personal accountability, and with a polite nod to reality, I thought I'd update you on how I'm doing with all of them.  As you'll see, I've had wildly varying degrees of success.

Learn to Speak French - Failure
This plan was sort of forgotten right around the time I received the "Learn French in your Car" CD set.  I did listen to lesson one a few times and I can now ask you where the toilet is, but with the possibility of moving to Luxembourg still looming, I should probably recommit.

Ditch Papertowels - Success
We love the cloth napkins and our papertowel consumption has just tanked.  We still have them but we're using them very infrequently.

Use Premade Lists - Huge Success
I'v been really consistent with this and my meal planner and grocery list have saved me time, sanity and money at the store.  Excellent timing too with food prices going through the roof as they have.

Stretch every morning - Unqualified Failure
But at least I set this one up nicely to be able to blame it on my toddler.  Have to speak with him about his responsibilities here and find out if he's willing to stop being such a lazy slob and recommit to this program.

And these 4 from my New Years Resolution post...

Get out more with Huck - Moderate Success
We've done a nice job here.  Been going to Toddler Swim and Gym every Friday morning and story time at the bookstore once a month.  We could go to story time weekly at the library, and I know I keep banging on this, but once the weather improves we'll have a lot more options. 

Take better care of myself - Moderate Success
Well I did get the awesomest haircut ever and buy a few new clothes with some Christmas money.  And I have been <ahem> showering more frequently.  But there's still lots of room for improvement here.

Plan time with my husband - Failure
I think we've been out alone together once since I wrote my New Year's Resolution post.  But when we had our big come-to-Jesus meeting about whether we could afford for me to quit my job, we budgeted for a weekly date night, so this should improve drastically once I'm out of my job.

Buy less, make more - Huge Success
I'm still loving this and doing great with it.  Have a bunch of birthday presents stockpiled and have made lots of neat things for Huck. 

Oh well, I just didn't want you guys to have a perception of me as this Type-A, get-it-done, Wonder Woman.  I make plans out the wazoo, but I often lack follow-through.  The internet can mask that. 

I mean, I try.  But this is reality. 

Welcome.  Sometimes, it's a nice place to be.  Other times, not so much.

Cheap & Easy :: Homemade Felt

I have to admit, I never knew you could do this but it's the easiest thing ever.  If you can wash a sweater in hot water, you can make your own felt.  In fact, some of you may have made some felt by accident a time or two without even realizing it.  I think I have.

The basic process does not require a tutorial.  Take one 100% wool sweater from your husband (preferably when he's finished with it) or buy one from a thrift store for a buck or two.  Wash it in hot water, dry it on high heat.  Boom.  Done. 

Seriously, that's it.  You've just made felt.  Occasionally, you might have to repeat the process, but I didn't.  If you cut it and it doesn't fray, it's felted. 

The larger the sweater the better because it will come out of the dryer so small it'll fit a terrier and you do want enough felt to actually make something fun out of it.

I made a primitive stuffed bunny for Huck's Easter basket out of this purple sweater that was generously donated to the project by my husband--purple is so 2004.  He seems to finally be thinking my craftiness is kinda cool.  He was genuinely impressed by my upcycled bunny.  In the past, my projects have simply left him...perplexed.

You can click "Continue reading" below for a homemade felt bunny tutorial.

TV Trap Action Plan :: 2 week update

Two weeks ago I posted this about how my toddler's TV consumption had gotten out of hand and how I was going to make some big changes, a 7 step action plan, to get things under control.

I'm reporting back to tell you that things are going great and I'm feeling so much better about it all.

In the interest of full disclosure, here's our log.

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

Now, for some people this will still seem like way too much and for others it may seem unattainable.  For us it's a journey.  It's worse than it was for a while, better than it's been lately, and on the way to somewhere new.  Spring is in the air.

All the steps really seem to work well together.  Honestly, I'm not sure any of them would work at all without the others.  Covering up the TV and hiding the DVDs wouldn't do jack if I wasn't filling the time a little better with other activities.  And if we were down on the floor with Play-Doh and the blanket wasn't over the TV, I most definitely wouldn't have his full attention. 

The chicken timer is the surprise hit of the whole program.  Huck loves the chicken.  I love the chicken.

He calls her the TV Chicken and he brings her to me when we turn the TV on.  When she dings and I tell him that time is up (I'm careful to set her at TV show intervals so we don't get any confusing mid-show dinging), he goes over and turns the TV off.  I would never have imagined this.  She's my new BFF.

I'm glad I struck a chord with the original TV post.  It's comforting to know others let things get out of hand sometimes, too.  Here's hoping we all get the TV use back under control without making sobbing, heaving masses of snot out of our children.

The Secret to Really Creamy Hummus

 

Not quite a Comfort Food post but we do eat a ton of hummus in my house.  Last year, while on a trip to New York, we discovered the absolute best store bought brand of hummus.  It's an Israeli hummus made in Queens called Sabra.  So creamy and yummy!  It's like manna from heaven.  But out here in the middle of nowhere it costs $6 bucks for a smallish tub that Stephen and I can polish off in one mid-day snacking frenzy. 

As part of our tighten-our-belts-so-I-can-be-a-stay-at-home-mom scheme I'm on a quest for a recipe that rivals the mighty Sabra.  And my lucky friends, I think I have found it.

See, the problem with homemade hummus is getting that wonderful creamy consistency.  SOme people call it "restaurant style." You can burn up a blender motor trying to achieve that.  But after exhaustive internet research throughout the weekend and a creative combination of recipes and techniques, I have found the secret. 

Not unlike the creation of weapons grade plutonium, it's all about the order of the ingredients.  So without further ado, here's my new magic secret recipe for....

Jonah Lisa's Creamy Hummus

1 15 oz can of organic chickpeas
1/4 cup organic tahini (I might up it to 1/3 cup next time)
Juice from 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp sea salt
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and set aside.  You can spend the time taking the little skins off each chickpea but it's pretty time consuming and not so much creamier that I think it's worth it.  This recipe gets pretty creamy even without that step.

Combine the tahini and the lemon juice and blend until smooth and frothy.  This is the key to getting it creamy, by the way.  You have to combine these 2 ingredients first, essentially cream the tahini, or it just won't blend perfectly with the chickpeas.

*Note: I use a blender because I have a rockin' good one and only a little mini prep food processor.  The down side is there's always a little of the good stuff down at the bottom that's impossible to get out.  You should use whichever appliance you have that you feel is best suited for this.

Add the garlic and salt and blend again.

Now add in the chickpeas about 1/3 of the can at a time and blend until smooth.  Try to get as few skins as possible, this will also help with the texture.  Scrap down the sides of the blender and push the chickpeas down to the bottom as needed.  Once you've got all the chickpeas blended in, add the olive oil and turn on the blender and just leave it for a few minutes.  I like to add in a little water too, to get the consistency just how I like it.

That's it.  I'm sure that using dried chickpeas (soaked overnight then simmered until tender) would make this even better, but I am still after some level of convenience.  Knowing that I can keep canned chickpeas in the cabinet means I'll usually have all the ingredients on hand and can whip this up with no advance notice.  That's perfect for us.

For a fancy plate you can garnish with extra chopped garlic, olive oil, cumin, even pine nuts or slivers of roasted red peppers. Or you can take a page from my book and just eat it with pita chips straight out the damn blender.  We like ours with pita bread, pita chips, blue chips, wheat crackers, our fingers, or even spread on toasted whole wheat English muffins. 

My official hummus taster said, "Mmmmm, hummy!"

 

And just in case you want to play around a little with some hummus variations or other interesting things to serve with your perfect creamy hummus (and also because I doubt you knew such a thing existed) pop on over to The Hummus Blog and have a look around. 

It's a big, hummus-eating world out there.

And if you liked this post, you'll probably really dig my Honey Baked Lentil recipe.  Check it out then...

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Adventures in Big Boy Bed Land: Part 2, the Reckoning

Enough said really.

But that's not how I roll.

Here's the original post where I talk about how we're not doing the crib tent thing because it feels to us like quashing a natural developmental progression blah, blah, blah.  Guess I'm entirely willing to quash away when my own natural developmental progression toward sleeping more than 4 hours a night is under attack.

Somebody with more than one kid please just slap me next time I start talking theoretical smack, m'kay?  Remind that when it comes right down to it, I'll do what it takes to survive, including gnaw off my own foot.

Despite the vaguely accusing glare in this brilliant after-nap capture, he loves his "nent." 

At least that's what I'm telling myself as I drift off to sleep. 

A Greener Easter Basket

What's greener than Easter anyway?  In the Springtime sense that is, not in the resurrection of Christ sense--though I suppose there's an argument for that being kinda green, too.

Big surprise--I'm not wild about the plastic-y Easter stuff in the stores.  Most of it smells like a chemical factory and what do you do with a bright yellow plastic basket once the holiday is over?  Do people keep these year after year or just toss them in the garbage?  I have my suspicions it's usually the latter. 

So, we're doing a mainly natural, green, handmade Easter.  I went ahead and put Huck's basket together last night so I could show you.  Maybe some of you still haven't done the deed and these ideas will come in handy.

I bought the basket for two bucks at the local hospital thrift store.  Once Easter play is over it'll go down to the playroom to hold farm animals or lacing cards or something.  And next year...we'll decorate it and use it again.

Here's what's inside:

4 Books.
Spring is book 2 for us in the 4 season collection by Gerda Mueller.  There are no words in these books, just wonderful pictures with amazing detail.  Huck loves to point out the picture of where the dog has pee'd in the snow in the Winter book.  He's also getting NoBunny's Perfect, the Little People Lift the Flap Book, Easter is Here and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Chunky Sidewalk Chalk. 
There's not a sidewalk within 20 miles of us but we painted the door to the laundry room and Huck's closet with chalkboard paint and all the regular chalk is now in tiny little choking hazard nubbins. I love the size of these.  And they're Crayola, which I heart.

Fairy Rings
I made these after seeing the brilliant idea on The Rowdy Pea.  I strongly encourage you to visit Amanda's Etsy Shop, Dream Child Studio, where you can buy her beautifully finished original fairy rings and other gorgeous, Waldorf inspired, handmade toys. 

I intended to put the beanbags in the basket too but, as you know, I couldn't wait, and those have already been given and used more times than I ever imagined.  So, to fill the gap I made...

A Stuffed Felt Bunny
This is my first ever handmade stuffed animal.  I made it out of an old purple wool sweater that was on its way to the thrift store.  When I get a chance (aiming for next week) I'll put up a post on how to make felt from old wool sweaters and what all you can do with it.  And this was my first chance to use some of the buttons I got from my grandmother!

So that's the Greener Easter Basket.  All handmade, thrifted, upcycled and/or non-toxic (I can say that because I choose to ignore any potential dangers from books and so far refuse to look at where they were made because I prefer to live in ignorant bliss).  Don't worry, he did get a package from my Mom with his (and my) favorite cookies, so we're not completely depriving him of sweets.  The kid hates chocolate though so why bother?

And tomorrow we're going to dye eggs naturally using blueberries, raspberries, turmeric, & purple grape juice.  You can read how to do it on the Food Network.

Hope you have a happy Easter, a great Vernal Equinox and a good Passover next month to boot!

Computer Probs

Having some computer/internet issues today so I'm going to stop the madness and give up for today.  I'll be back tomorrow all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.