Winter Sensory Bin

Juniper has been really into sensory bins lately. They allow her to play with different textures and the mess is contained in an easily storable bin that can be passed on to friends. I've been making them as a part of her themed prop boxes for the learning opportunity units we are doing. Yes, I am an over achieving pintrest mom. *wink* 

Okay, you got me, I make is shot so I can sit on the couch and knit without interruption. 

Today, we made indoor snow so Juni could play with her winter animals. I scored all of the winter animals (penguins, polar bears, whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, and a sled dog) with 2 people, a dog sled and a sea boat for $5 off of a FB auction. 

The "snow" was made with four and baby oil. I did a ratio of 4 cups flour to 1/2 cup baby oil and used a pastry cutter and little hands to mix it all together. 

The texture is soft and silky. It forms loose balls when squished together. 

The kid seems to dig it and all of the accessories that cane along with it. 

Frost that shit...

It isn't a good cake without frosting. Don't even try to convince me. 

These are my favorite ways to make delicious sugary toppings for my cupcakes. 

Vanilla buttercream:

1/2 cup butter, softened (vegan margarine works as well)

3 cups icing sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla (use the real stuff, please)

1-2 tsp milk (yes, you can use fake milk) 

1. Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer. 

2. Add in vanilla. 

3. Add the rest of the icing sugar one cup at a time and add in 1 tsp of milk. 

4. Check consistency. Add more milk a tiny bit at a time. You can always add a bit more sugar if yiu add too much milk. 

Change the flavor by adding in strawberry purée instead of milk or 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and more milk. 

Cream cheese icing:

1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup of butter, softened

2-3 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powder sugar

1. Beat together cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla. 

2. Beat in icing sugar one cup at a time. 

Add cocoa powder or 2 oz baking chocolate melted and cooked in with the butter. Store iced cake in the fridge. 

Fudge frosting:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp corn syrup

Dash of salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Mix sugar and cocoa in a saucepan. Stir in milk, butter, corn syrup and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 min, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool 30 min. 

2. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. 

Drunken Chocolate Cake

This cake has been nicknamed "drunken chocolate cake" because the first 10 times I made it I was less than sober. It is that easy. If you screw it up - head to a bakery and never ever attempt to make a cake again. 

Chocolate Cake 

(recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker - with my own embellishments)

Prep: 20 min; Bake: 45 min (~18-20 for cupcakes); Cool: 1 hour and 10 min *12 servings or 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour or 2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened 

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 1/4 cups water

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottoms and sides of a rectangle pan, 2 circles with shortening and lightly flour. My trick is to lightly grease then pop in a round of parchment paper (trace from bottom on the pan and cut). Or pop some cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. 

2. Beat all ingredients on a low speed for 30 seconds, scraping e bowl constantly. Do this is the sink! Then beat in high for 3 min until nice and smooth. Pour into pans. Or use a nice cream scoop to scoop into cupcake liners. 

3. Bake 40-45 min for rectangle, rounds 30-35 min and 18-20 min for cupcakes. Cool rectangle in pan. Cool rounds 10 min, then remove from pans and allow to cool completely for 1 hour. 

4. Frost heavily and enjoy. 

Cloth Diapering - Soap/ Detergent

During the time we were cloth diapering Juni, I constantly had to strip. Diapers... We had barnyard stink and ammonia. I followed the advice of blue dawn and extra rinses. I used only "safe" detergent. Hell, I even spouted off that advice myself. My diapers were crunchy, stinky and not absorbing well.

I joined a few Facebook groups. They all praised Tide. They all said the blue dawn thing only worked for grease. Everything I knew was wrong?

I thought I would give their advice a try. I refuse to use P&G products - so no Tide for me. I picked up a super cheap box of PC Ultra Free Laundry Detergent. I used the full amount. Then I prayed. Forrest's diapers came out fluffy. There was no stink! 

A couple weeks later, I decided to try Melaleuca since it is what I use on the rest of our laundry (it gets delivered to my door. I'll leave the Melaleuca praise for another day). Similar results. The diapers were the cleanest they have ever been. I'm a convert. No special detergents around here anymore. 

Side note: I've had very good results with Country Save detergent. It is super cheap, powdered and works well for diapers. 

Blueberry Banana muffins

Muffins are one of our favorite ways to use up fruit that is going bad. 

Tonight, Juni and I made banana blueberry muffins from the Betty Crocker cookbook with some adjustments. Here is our recipe:

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Prep: 10 min; Bake: 20-25 min for regular muffins, 15 min for mini

1/3 cup original Almond Breeze almond milk

1/4 cup melted unrefined coconut oil

1 large egg (can use powdered egg replacer)

2 cups whole wheat flour (also delicious with oat or brown rice flour)

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 mashed ripe bananas

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Heat oven to 400F. Grease bottoms only of muffin tins. 

Beat milk, oil, egg and mashed banana in a large bowl with a whisk. Stir in all ingredients except blueberries until flour is just moistened. Fold in blueberries. 

Divide into muffin cups. Bake 20-25min for large muffins. 15 minutes for mini muffins. Let cool in pan for 5 min. 

Creamy vegan curry soup

This soup has become a fast favorite in our house. Creamy and tasty. It goes really well with my curry chicken salad wraps. 

Ingredients:

-carrots

-celery

-onion

-lentils

-quinoa 

-coconut milk

-veggie stock or veggie bullion cube

-pepper

-cumin

-curry

How to make it:

Cook one rough diced onion, 3 rough diced carrots and 3 rough diced celery stalks in ~4 cups of stock overnight in a crockpot. In the morning, cool and purée this mixture. Return to the crockpot. Add 1/2 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup of lentils (rinse and sort). Add 1 can of coconut milk, about 2 cups of diced carrots. Add some pepper, 1 tsp cumin and 2 tsp curry powder (or as much as you want to taste). Cook in the crockpot until lentils, quinoa and carrots are fully cooked. 

You can garnish with cilantro, vegan sour cream, Greek yogurt... You can also add garlic into the soup, if your husband isn't allergic like mine. 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I made these delicious muffins this week to pass on to a family in need of freezer meals (Juni NAND I stole a few). They are delicious, but not overly sweet. A great treat. I don't have a picture because the muffins are in the freezer. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk (can sub non-dairy milk)

1 egg (can use egg replacer)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 cups whole wheat flour (can use gluten-free)

1/2 cup brown sugar (use less, if you prefer) 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup packed shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

-Heat oven to 400F and grease bottoms only on 12 muffin tin or use paper liners in the tin

-Beat together milk, coconut oil and egg

-Stir in dry ingredients until just moist

-fold in zucchini and chocolate chips

-divide batter evenly in cups (I use am ice cream scoop)

-bake 20-25 min. Let cool in pan for 5 min and then remove. 

Meal Plan #1

There has been some interest in how to meal plan, so I am going to write a few posts on how we meal plan in our family. When possible, we try to buy local from the farmer's market, but this week's groceries were bought at a large grocery store (Co-op). We eat mostly unpackaged/ processed foods, but will treat ourselves sometimes. I keep a well stocked pantry and freezer too. I want to note that there are no major allergies or pickiness in our family. Juniper and I eat breakfast, lunch and snacks. David usually is on his own for breakfast and will take leftovers or get takeout for lunch. My teenage brother is staying with us Wednesday to Friday. 

Meal Planning 101:

-keep a well-stocked pantry, fridge and freezer with the essentials (I'll save that for another day)

-shop your pantry before grocery shopping. Base your meals around what you have at home and what is reaching the expiry date.

-shop sales to stock up on essentials and groceries (recipes can be adjusted). 

So, what are we eating this week? Here it is:

Monday:

Breakfast: grapes, blueberries, yogurt covered raisins, True to Nature granola bar, and milk (almond milk for me)

Snack: Simply Food mango & pineapple fruit bar

Lunch: spinach, green onion, cheddar omelette with buttered toast

Snack: blueberries, goldfish crackers and lemonade

Dinner: chicken, spinach, avocado, Laughing Cow cheese wrap (D had frozen pizza, Juni had Laughing Cow cheese with leftover smoothie)

We went grocery shopping tonight, so we ate what was in the fridge. I pulled out leftover chicken legs, the rotisserie chicken carcus and tossed in the crockpot with water, 2 carrots, celery, onion, leftover roast potatoes, and apple cider vinegar to make bone broth and chicken noodle soup. 

Tuesday:

Breakfast: cereal with milk, fruit 

Cereal from pantry, milk already in fridge, fruit from this week's groceries

Snack: goldfish crackers, veggies and dip

Goldfish from pantry, veggies from this week's groceries

Lunch: ham, cheese, spinach wrap with chicken soup 

Ham from groceries, everything else was already in the fridge or pantry

Snack: smoothie

Using fruit and yogurt already in fridge

Dinner: chicken fingers and ancient grain salad

Chicken from groceries, grain mix in pantry and veggies from fridge

Snack: yogurt with raisins, dried cranberries, hemp seeds, and chia seeds

Yogurt from groceries, seed mix from pantry

Wednesday:

Breakfast: homemade blueberry, banana whole wheat muffins with fruit

Blueberries and bananas from groceries, fruit from groceries, other ingredients from pantry 

Snack: smoothie

Using yogurt from groceries and fruit that may be getting mushy

Lunch: leftover dinner

Snack: veggies, bean dip, crackers

Groceries, bean dip made from pantry items, crackers in pantry

Dinner: beef tacos

All ingredients bought in groceries (except sour cream)

Snack: yogurt with fruit

Groceries

Thursday:

Breakfast: spinach, ham, cheese egg cups with toast

Spinach and bread from fridge, everything else from groceries 

Snack: frozen yogurt

Splurging for froyo

Lunch: ham, cheese and spinach wraps, fruit, veggies and dip, juice box (picnic)

Ham, fruit, veggies from groceries, everything else was in the house

Snack: muffin and fruit

Homemade muffins and fruit from groceries

Dinner: pulled pork, coleslaw, pasta salad 

Pork, buns, cabbage for coleslaw, pasta and veggies for pasta salad from groceries, everything else from pantry or fridge

Snack: homemade ice cream with berries and birch syrup

Using up milk, bought whipping cream, using berries from groceries, other ingredients from fridge or pantry. 

Friday:

Breakfast: blueberry whole wheat pancakes with turkey sausage 

Blueberries and sausage from groceries, other ingredients from pantry or fridge. 

Snack: crackers, Laughing Cow cheese and fruit

Pantry for cracker, cheese and fruit from groceries 

Lunch: leftover dinner

Snack: muffins and fruit

Homemade muffins and fruit from groceries

Dinner: homemade pizza and green salad

Cheese, veggies, sauce, and meat from groceries. D makes dough from scratch with pantry ingredients. 

Snack: yogurt with berries

Groceries

Saturday: 

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit

Eggs, cheese and fruit from groceries. Bacon in the fridge. 

Snack: granola bar and fruit

Pantry and groceries. 

Lunch: leftover dinner

Snack: fruit and crackers

Groceries and pantry

Dinner: stir-fry with rice

Using leftover veggies in fridge from this week's groceries

Snack: yogurt with fruit

Groceries

Groceries for the week (used in meals):

Fruit:

We had 2 apples, 2 orange, 3 limes, 1/3 of a 2 qt pkg of blueberries, 1 cup of grapes, and 1 grapefruit at home before groceries. 

Bananas (7): $2.41 ($1.96/ kg) - use for muffins

Plums prune (7): $0.69 ($3.29/ kg)

Pears Bartlett (3): $1.70 ($3.73/ kg)

Blueberries (2 qt): $4.99 - use for muffins and pancakes

Peaches (4): $2.70 ($3.73/ kg)

_____

$12.49

Vegetables:

Cherry tomatoes: $3.99 - pasta salad, green salad, pizza

Black olives: $4.57 ($26.90/kg) - pasta salad & pizza

Organic broccoli: $3.99 - pasta salad, veggies & dip, stirfry

Red cabbage: $1.47 ($1.52/ kg) - coleslaw, stirfry

Peppers (3): $3.49 - veggies & dip, stirfry, pasta salad & pizza

Snap peas: $2.99 - veggies & dip, stirfry 

Snow peas: $2.99 - veggies & dip, stirfry

Iceberg lettuce: $1.99 - salad, tacos

Mushrooms: $0.88 ($5.49/ kg) - pizza, pasta salad, stirfry

_____

$26.36

Meat:

Pork rib roast (~0.8kg): $9.17 ($11/ kg) - pulled pork

Lean ground beef (1.23kg): $12.78 ($10.34/ kg) - 1/2 for tacos, 1/2 to freeze

Chicken breasts (~12 breasts): $23.27 ($11/ kg) - 1/2 for chicken fingers, 1/2 to freeze

Turkey sausage: $3.99

Ham: $5.93 - wraps, eggs and pizza

Genoa salami: $3.37 - pizza

_____

$58.51

Eggs & Dairy:

Omega 3 Eggs (18): $4.99 - muffins, breakfast, pancakes

Whipping cream (500 mL): $3.19 - ice cream

Mozzarella: $8.49 - 1/2 for pizza and 1/2 to freeze

Greek yogurt: $4.00

Raspberry yogurt: $3.29

Large pkg Laughing Cow cheese: $9.49

_____

$33.45

Bread & pantry:

Calabrese buns (6): $3.49 - pulled pork

Pasta: $2.99 - pasta salad (normally we stock up on sale, but there were no sales and we were out of most pasta at home)

Tortillas: $3.99 - tacos

Taco kit: $5.49 - tacos

Pizza sauce: $2.49 - pizza

Refried beans: $2.79 - tacos

Shake & bake: $3.00 - chicken fingers

_____

$24.24

Frozen foods:

Frozen pizza: $6.99

Frozen lemonade: $0.99

Frozen grape punch: $0.99

Frozen OJ: $1.49

_____

$10.46

Total: $165.51

Cloth Diapering - HE washing

I'm back for round 2 of cloth diapering tips. I've been using cloth on Forrest from about 2 or 3 weeks old. New baby, new house, new machine, new diapers...

Before we moved into the house, we rented a townhouse with an apartment sized stacking washer and dryer. For almost 2 years, that is where I washed my diapers. I had to strip all the bloody time. We had bad ammonia stink. I also had farmyard stink. 

I kept hearing people complain about HE machines and cloth diapers. I am going to give you some tips on cloth and HE machines.

We have a Whirlpool HE machine. It was our one big upgrade on appliances. I wanted a very large capacity machine (someone will inevitably piss all over my kingsize down duvet). It had to be quiet (genius architect puts the laundry room right next to the kids' bedrooms). It had to be easy to use. 

This is my current wash routine:

-Quick Wash with Cold temperature

-Allergen cycle with Extra Rinse (add soap to this cycle)

I hang to dry or machine dry. Haven't had to strip once. 

5 reasons why modern parents need support instead of being told theyare in crisis...

The parenting community on the internet has been abuzz with the Huffpost article titled "The 5 Reasons Why Modern Parenting is in Crisis." http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5552527

Then there was this response: http://sarahockwell-smith.com/2014/07/07/5-reasons-modern-day-parenting-is-in-crisis-according-to-a-british-mother/ and this one: http://www.brandiehadfield.com/#!My-response-to-Modern-Day-Parenting-in-Crisis/ctu0/C20C2D94-EB56-4F6A-8AF6-BC3086CDB030 and this one: http://www.jennifermcgrail.com/2014/07/5-alternative-reasons-modern-day-parenting-is-in-crisis/

There were points I liked in the original article and parts that made me cringe. Or maybe it was the approach. 

D and I are gentle/ positive parents, but far from permissive. Sometimes we don't always respond perfectly. Sometimes we've messed up (I can tell those stories another time). Sometimes Juniper (2.5) can be a brat. Most times it is my fault. 

The first scenario the nanny mentions can be easily avoided by giving the child a choice on which cup they want to drink from. Tantrums can largely be prevented by communicating with our children and understanding age appropriate needs/ responses. It is understanding the root of the tantrum. A 2 yo wants to be in control of their cup color. It takes very little effort to ask "pink or yellow cup for milk?" Children want to assert independence and control that they can't always effectively communicate. Teach your child effective communication. Say "Hey, I hear you want the pink cup. Mommy poured your milk into the yellow cup. Can we use this cup right now and the punk cup next time?" Or "Mommy needs to hear you ask nicely for the pink cup. Can you say 'Mommy can you please pour my milk into the pink cup instead?" The point she made was that some parents parent out of fear - absolutely that is wrong. We shouldn't fear anyone's reaction. We should parent from love. Ignoring a child in a meltdown doesn't teach them to communicate effectively and if doesn't show love. It shoes that they get ignored when they communicate in the only way they know how. 

The second point she makes is the lowered bar. Yes, we can expect more from our children when we help them navigate situations and understand age appropriate behaviour. Want a child to sit through a dinner - talk to them about expectations beforehand. Make it fun and special for them. Preparation is key to pretty much everything. Hours before a dinner out, I will tell Juniper "Tonight we are going for dinner at a restaurant. We are going to have tasty food. You can have chocolate milk, if you want. We need to remember our manners when we eat at restaurants. What do you think a good manner at a restaurant is?" At the restaurant, I make a big deal out of choosing her own meal. I make sure she is included in the conversation (I act like an ass when people talk over me and exclude me too). We go for a walk to wash our hands and look at the art. We play eyespy. I don't expect her to sit in complete silence while adults talk over her about boring things. Preparation goes a long way. So does anticipation of behaviours. Don't take your kid out to eat when they are tired or normally have active play. Don't take them somewhere dark and loud. And when it goes to shit, get the food packed up and head home. Try again next time. 

The third point is the loss of village. I agree with Sarah's response to this. Villages shouldn't be disciplining (I hate that word as much as "punish") - we should be directing children and supporting parents. I have a group of women (and their kids) that we regularly spend time with. If a kid is throwing rocks at the park, one of us jumps in and says "Buddy, do you think you could play with the rocks by making piles instead of throwing? What do you think happens when rocks hit your friends? Remember, we don't throw rocks because we can hurt someone." He throws rocks again - "It looks like you don't want to play nicely with the rocks. You hurt Juni when you through rocks at her. Let's go play with sidewalk chalk for a little while. Maybe we can draw shapes like last week." A hell of a lot more effective in avoiding a meltdown and encouraging positive behaviour than "Don't throw rocks!  I told you not to throw rocks! If you throw them one more time we are leaving!" Villages need to be there for supporting moms who are stressed out, kids who need to run off energy... We all have shitty days. Like the nanny said at the end, we should say supportive things to each other more often. Like "It was really impressive how you helped your child through that meltdown. I know how hard it is to be patient and kind when you are frustrated."

The fourth was all good until self-soothing. No, babies don't need to self-soothe. No one should self-soothe. Crying alone feels awful at any age. When I am upset, I don't want to be left alone to self-soothe. I want D to hug me and validate my feelings. Go to them. Go to them a million times. There is a difference between fussing and crying though. Yes, I let my kids fuss so I can take a pee or eat a sandwich for a couple minutes, but there is no way I will let my child cry without holding them. I will pick up my toddler if she reaches for me. I don't rush over the moment she is hurt and I wait for her response before projecting mine on her. The moment she reaches or calls for me, I am picking her up. I want her to know that when she she needs me, I will be there. I will be there for the little things. I will be there for the big things. I want my kids to know to turn to me and not try to do things on their own. The nanny talks about shortcuts and I view "self-soothing" as just that. It isn't active parenting. Any of those child training methods are shortcuts. Effective, maybe. Best practice, maybe not. For example, if you want a pair of shoes and can't afford them the quickest easiest way is to steal them. The most effective way is to save hard earned money and purchase them. In the long run, you learn more life skills by the later choice. 

Neither a child nor a parents needs should come first. It should be the needs of the family as a whole. There are both selfless and selfish parents who need a reality check. It comes down to being fulfilled so you can fulfill the needs of your children. A mom who gets alone time and support from her partner is going to parent better than the mom who only ever thinks about the needs of others. We are not slaves anymore than our children are obedient companions. We can teach patience with kindness - "I hear that you want something to drink because you are thirsty. We can get something to drink as soon as we pass the next fountain. Where do you think a fountain might be?" It is also fine to expect an older child to wait for a drink for a couple minutes without melting down, but for a 2 yo, you might need to be a little more urgent. And really, if a 2 yo has a meltdown because they are thirsty - is it their fault or the adult's fault for not being prepared? Adults have patience and control over their needs, small children don't. They rely on us to provide. It is about asking yourself about the role you played in your child's meltdown. 

The biggest piss-off about the original article is that it was written by someone who is supposed to be a child professional. Yes, modern parents might be doing things different than generations past - but we don't live in the same world. If past generations were doing things so wonderfully, why are we trying to do things differently? We have nannies instead of having a community of stay-at-home moms or the whole family working together. We are trying to create kindness and compassion in a harsh world. We expect support and guidance, not judgement from those professionals with whom we entrust our most precious creations. We look to you for tips and tools on managing and preventing tantrums and raising future citizens. We are looking for the village. I don't want someone in my village who claims I am a part of a modern crisis. Stay right the fuck out of my village. My village might be full of heathens, but at least we don't have sticks up our arses. 

I, personally, believe parenting is more effective when approached from kindness, compassion and respect rather than control and discipline. I don't want obedient children. Obedient children = adults who don't know how to stand up for themselves. They are the ones in emotionally abusive relationships because love has always been combined with control. They are the ones who who plug away at an unfulfilling job. I want respectful, kind, confident, strong-willed, brilliant, self-aware children even when it isn't convinent for me. 

My strong-willed, highly inconvenient child.