Busting Snack Time Boredom

I have about run out of ideas for snack time for my little bus load of children. It's not really a bus load, but the way they move around, sometimes it feels like there's 15 or 20 of them. There's really only four.

Yesterday I broke down and BOUGHT strawberries. I just can't wait for my June berries to grow, so I jumped the gun and bought a half flat at the store. I decided to try to pull things out of my kitchen that we could dip the berries in, without it being called "Chocolate" or "Cream" or anything else really fattening or loaded with calories that would just wrap around my hips and stay there for years. Like the cookies I just made. Life is all about balance here. The lovely part about this dip is you can use it for just about anything. I served mine with strawberries, banana chunks and Bare N*aked Pita chips and it was gooood. It's relatively low fat and low calorie, unless of course you just prefer to eat the whole thing with a spoon.

Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Sour Cream Fruit Dip
Prep time: 5 Minutes
Makes 8 2-Tbsp servings


Ingredients:
1/2 C Reduced Fat Sour Cream
1/4 C Crushed Pineapple
1 Tbsp Sugar
3-4 Whole Strawberries, hulled and diced
1 Tsp Cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine reduced fat sour cream, crushed pineapple and sugar.
Stir until blended.
Mix in sugar and cinnamon to taste.
Dice 3 or 4 strawberries (or more) and fold into mixture.
Serve immediately with strawberries, bananas, pita chips or any other fruit or cracker that may need a pick-me-up, or just serve it as a topping over a bowl of diced fruit.

Options:
For thicker consistency, drain the pineapple before using.


 Nutrition facts calculated at www.Sparkpeople.com

Nutrition Facts  (Dip Only)
8 Servings                           Serving Size: 2 Tbsp
Amount Per Serving
Calories		33.7
Total Fat		1.9 g
	Saturated Fat	1.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.5 g
Cholesterol		5.9 mg
Sodium		7.0 mg
Potassium		40.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		3.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.4 g
	Sugars	2.7 g
Protein		0.5 g

End of Summer Blues

As we were going through all of the summer clothes and putting them away for the winter, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane....to the hot sunny day when my daughter and I spent a fabulous afternoon together making Sunny Day Dresses.

Take my hand as we stroll down the lane, reminiscing the days of summer past.

********


::Post re-published from June 9 2008::

So the sun decided to shine yesterday and I was so smart as to make a commitment to spend the day inside. SEWING. After begging for sunshine for weeks, can you imagine! I am NOT bitter, not in the slightest. :)



I spent the day sewing with, and for my girls. I thought that, at some point (HA!) the sun'll come out (TOOmorRrOW! whoa, channeling Annie there for a sec) and the temperature will rise (like, this very minute) so, why not make some (boy, I am so brilliant) sun dresses?




First we chose the music................... A little, Fiona Apple to help us get into a groovy mood.

Next we dug through the bins, and bins, and yes, more bins, for the perfect fabric.

(notice the sun streaming through my window, how wonderfully it illuminates the bins?)

Then we fluffed them in the dryer, but they still were too wrinkly, so...........

(doesn't the sun do wonders for my heap of fabric?)

I set my minion to work with the iron.

(Oh look, there, yes it is more sunshine)

Because my minion did such a good job ironing all the fabric, I let her pick out the fixin's for her dress.

She chose this cute pillowcase. YES, that's right I said pillowcase. I made my minion a dress from one of the zillions of pillowcases I have in my secret stash.

(isn't the sun shining beautifully in my back yard?)

She is very proud of her new swimsuit cover-up.

I felt this particular pillowcase has, well, the look of a pillowcase (minus the big greasy head print, of course). So for my next dress making adventure, I am going to attempt to make one from a vintage pillowcase and add some more foo-fa-rah and see if that will help make the pillowcase look less pillow-casey. Since I have only slightly less than a bazillion (this is no lie) vintage pillowcases, I am going to be making lots (well maybe, if the rain keeps up) more of these little cutie pies (mmm, did someone say PIE!). BUT, I am going to save this project for a rainy day.

(I spent a SUNNY day inside, with children, sewing things, I might have gone a little nuts, O.K.! )

Child's Garden "Room"

"Garden rooms" are all the rage in city lots, suburban yards and my rural back yard too. We like to make destination spots, complete with reading nooks on teak benches and focal points in burbling fountains. But before I ever read a garden magazine or took a tour of Butchart Gardens with my book club, my mom taught me how to make a room of my own in the great outdoors.

You can make this fun hiding spot for your children this summer.

You will need:

Two or three sampler packets of sunflower seeds. I like to mix it up: Mammoth Russian for the classic eight- to 10-foot-tall yellow sunflower with a brown-black center, closely alternated with Evening Sun for variations in russet, red, brown and yellow, also eight to 10 feet tall. The height range should be close if you mix up the varieties.

Two or three sampler packets of annual morning glory vines. Go crazy with color if you want, but blue is our favorite.

A plot of dirt that's tilled or weeded and loosened with a rake. If you want to use a grassy area, that'll work, as long as you don't mow it once the seedlings start coming up!

Mark out a square, rectangle or other shape (creativity counts!). Let your little ones help with the shape.

Next divide up your seeds so you have an equal number of each type and variety of seed for each "wall" of the room.

Time to plant!

Alternate varieties if you have more than one. The Mammoth Russian is a single-stalk variety, and the Evening Sun has multiple stalks, so this helps fill in the lower areas of the "walls."

Now, the only tricky part of this whole procedure is to make sure that you plant them close enough together to form a wall, but not so close that they don't get big and strong.

We have found that four to five inches apart works pretty well.

Important! In each hole or spot in the row that you plant a sunflower seed, place two morning glory seeds in that same spot. Right alongside.

Check your children's placement of seeds... this will be vital to the roof of the house.

After all the seeds are lined up in the shape of your walls, make sure you left a hole on at least one side for a door!

Finally, cover the seeds with soil, water well, and watch them grow.

As the morning glory vines start, twine them up the stalk of their sunflower pals. After about six weeks you should be able to string a network of twine between the sunflower heads.

The morning glories will twine along the string ceiling and form a beautiful blue canopy for the sunflower house.

I will post pictures of my children's sunflower room as soon as the seedlings poke their heads up.

Hope you have fun with this project. And tell us your kid gardening tips!

Not Your Grandpa's PBandH

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my Grandpa. Well, my Grandma was around a lot too, but it was my Grandpa who introduced me to the finer things in life. One of them was fishing off the docks at Winchester Bay with hot dogs and marshmallows. The second finest thing was the famous Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich. Now, I doubt I have to tell anyone how to make that, because it's sort of self-explanitory. But just for kicks - and to pass on some of my inherited wisdom, I decided to help my son make some first class PB&H. This was so he could stop having to be bored playing with the chickens.


Now listen closely. I have found the secret to not having that crusty, nasty block of honey in the bottom of the jar. Seriously. Bet you didn't know there was a secret. But really - just buy less honey more often. It's that easy! The guy around the corner from my little farm sells clover honey, but I haven't tried to buy it from him yet. I'm afraid of strangers. So, I get it at Winco. If you don't have a Winco, maybe you have some other larger grocery store with bulk food or a "gourmet" section. If you're lucky, you can also score your peanut butter there too. Ours are right next to each other. The nice thing is, it costs the same per pound whether you're getting half of a pound or ten pounds. If you're a price tag reader like me, this will make sense.

First you find the kind of honey that just sounds dang good to you. Or tastes good. That helps too. My pick was Blackberry Honey. At first I didn't want to stop the dispenser because it was jut too dang beautiful. But eventually I did. At about 2/3 of a pound. I put a lid on it, and dated it, that way I could do a little science experiment to see 1. How long before it started to crystalize or 2. How long before it got empty.

Then, I ground up some peanut butter. Dry roasted peanuts in a little machine. Voila!
You must use fresh peanuts, preferrably from a source of origin you wouldn't mind getting eggs from. Old peanuts have lots more mold. You can't see this mold, but it is there. Especially if they traveled a dozen weeks from China in not-well-sealed shipping containers. This particular mold is a carcinogen. Ok, enough about that. Just use fresh peanuts and use the fresh ground peanut butter faster than you would the processed Jif in your cupboard. Plus, your kids will think you're cool and you'll have less sugars, salts and oils to feed them.

So basically, you put a big (we're talking BIG) scoop of this fresh ground peanut butter in a medium mixing bowl. You can use a small bowl, but this is a messy job, so use a medium one.
Then, if you're not concerned about fat and calories, toss in a smaller blob of plain ol' margarine. It makes the peanut butter smoother and, well, buttery tasting and it adds back those oils you saved yourself from with the peanut butter. Ok, you can use Jif, but hey, this is my blog. Or at least my turn to blog.

Then, put a hefty sized dollop of honey in. Isn't this honey beautiful? It makes me want to have bees. But not really. That's like getting sheep to have a nice wool coat. It's not all that easy and glamorous. Did you know you can get bees without stingers? I just learned that yesterday when my husband was introducing the thought of hydroponics to me. Does anyone else think he's insane?

By the way - let your kid dollop the honey into the bowl after you have done the scoop and twirl. This way you don't get honey all over the entire planet.

Now, stir the lovely concoction. I mean, let your kid do the stirring. Then, while he goes to get a damp washcloth, secretly stir like mad behind him to get it all blended nicely. Then tell him what a wonderful job he has done. He will be very proud.

After you have blended everything into a nice, creamy dream, give one piece of WHOLE WHEAT WHITE bread (every mother's dream come true) a giant helping of the peanut butter and honey. Spread it so it looks like something out of a commerical, and top with another piece of nutritious white bread.

I prefer to put some honey straight on my bread. I think it comes from years of being lazy and not wanting to mix it all up ahead of time, but after it sits for a few minutes, it crystalizes a tiny bit into the bread and gives that delightful crunching sensation as the honey bursts into your mouth. I'm drooling.

Then, find someone to lick off the honey spoon.
I found this little squirt to be quite willing.
He is a good boy. Unless he's shrieking.

Assemble your sandwich however you wish.
Just because triangles are the rule in my house, doesn't mean you can't use squares.

I find the lightly salted Kettle Chips to be a delightful accompaniment to any food that is lacking salt to begin with. Toss a few slices of melon on the plate and you're good to go.

Enjoy!