Homemade Slime

I am always on the look out for something that will engage my four year old, and perhaps give me a few minutes to go to the bathroom alone.  A few weeks ago, I was at a friend's house and she had made some slime for her kids.  (Slime can also be called goop, gak, flubber, etc.)  The stuff was awesome, it was just the push that I needed to make it at home.

Slime is an awesome tactile experience.  It is easy to make and super cheap.  My daughter and I had so much fun mixing the ingredients together and watching the slime take shape.  My recipe uses just a bottle of white glue, and a teeny bit of Borax.  Be warned: this is only really appropriate for kids who are old enough to not put things in their mouth, or touch the slime and then put their hands in their mouth.  You also need to be careful when using around wood or carpet as it may stain. 

Homemade Slime

1. Mix 8 oz. white glue with 1 c. warm water.  Add a few drops of food colouring.
2. Mix 1 t. borax with 1/2 c. warm water.
3. Mix the glue and borax together.  It will seem too watery at first, but it will thicken up and be an awesome consistency in just a few moments.

We've had fun using the following with slime: shells, stones, jewels, playdough toys, plastic toys, cutting toys, and little cups for making "food."  Slime makes a great little birthday present, too.  Chez Beeper Bebe has a fun printable for monster slime that will now be part of my go-to gift for little boys. 

 

Have you made slime before?  What are some fun tools to use with it?

Roasted Sweet Potato Burritos

Thanks to Emily, my fridge has the same two printables.  I've been trying to get my life a little more organized since I have less "free" time now that I also have a little baby to take care of.  I dread meal planning, but I love not having to decide what to make at 4 pm every day, so Emily's chart is great for me.

I made a meal last week that is a favourite of mine, and I wanted to share it with you.  This is a recipe that I more or less made up, but I have seen others that are similar.  It's really yummy, and if you love sweet potatoes like I do, I'm sure you will also love it.  If you aren't a mushroom fan, it would be fine to leave them out.     

Roasted Sweet Potato Burritos

 

Ingredients:
2 medium yams, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package of mushrooms, quartered
2 cans of black beans (about 3 cups of cooked beans)
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 TBSP maple syrup (optional, but oh so good)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (also optional, and also good)

Shredded green cabbage, cilantro, sour cream (plain yogurt), and hot sauce to garnish.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Chop your veggies, and throw them into a roasting pan.  Add the spices, and oil, and toss to combine.

 

3. Cover and roast for about 20 minutes until the veggies are soft.
4. Add black beans.  Stir gently to combine.  Top with cheese and return to oven until the cheese is melted.
5. To serve, place sweet potato mixture on a warm tortilla.  Garnish with shredded green cabbage, cilantro, sour cream (I use plain yogurt), and hot sauce. 

When I'm feeling ambitious, I make this flour tortilla recipe.  I typically use 1 cup of whole wheat flour instead of all white.  It's not low fat mind you, but very tasty.  Other wise I use small corn tortillas.  Either way it's yummy and filling, and like most vegetarian recipes, pretty cheap to make.  My husband, who isn't a vegetarian, thinks this would be even better with chicken.  I'd love to hear if anyone tries it that way.

On My Fridge

Whenever I go to a friend's house, one of the first things I want to check out is the outside of their fridge.  I think that the way a fridge looks can tell you a lot about someone. 

My mother-in-law, for example, keeps the front of her fridge totally cleared off.  The side that is exposed is reserved for a calendar, and a few carefully selected items (like pictures of her grand kids).

My mom, on the other hand, has a pretty full front of fridge.  It is as packed as can be - her motto is "there is always room for something else."

So, where do I fall?  I think somewhere in the middle.  Do you want to see?

The bottom half of my fridge is totally empty, because I have a toddler who likes to empty things.  The top half has some carefully selected items, pictures of loved ones, and some current kid artwork. 

I love the blogging world for keeping me organized and current.  My Meal Planner comes from ollibird.com, via How About Orange.  I printed it off, laminated it, and use it all the time.  I have also made lots for friends and family members. 

At lets-explore.net, I found a series of Ways to Play lists for each month of the year.  I printed them off all at once, keep them in a file, and stick a new list up on the fridge each month.  They are great lists for those what to do? moments, and are good for a range of ages.

The Job Planner is my own handiwork.  I used to have a list that I hand wrote on a piece of scrap paper, but since I look at it all of the time, I decided that I should make it a bit more official looking.   You can download your own weekly job chart here.   Again, I just printed it off, laminated, and write with dry erase or washable markers.

I've separated my to-do's into work and fun stuff.  There are the weekly household type chores, and then the activities that I do with my girls.  I don't do any housework on Sundays (and sometimes not on other days either!), so I've got my job chart divided into just six days. 

So, what about you?  What do you have on your fridge?  Any helpful finds from the blogging world, or other things you find indispensible?  Or maybe you are the type who likes a clear fridge? 



Honey Sunshine Muffins

This coming weekend, my little sister is getting married!  Yay!  My brother and his family are flying into town tonight, and then Carlee and her baby come on Thursday.  On Thursday night, there will be 16 (!)people sleeping at my house, on their way to the wedding for the weekend. 

To prepare for all of those people in my house, I have tried to think of some yummy and healthy food items to have on hand.  This will mostly consist of fruit and vegetables, but I also wanted to have some other food items around too.  This afternoon, I made a batch of my favourite muffins, and am sharing the recipe now.

Honey Sunshine Muffins are long-standing favourite at my house.  (We actually call them Monique's Muffins, in honour of my sister-in-law, who the recipe comes from.  I just learned the "real name" a few weeks ago.)  They are loaded with fruits and veggies, have 100% whole-wheat flour, and no refined sugars.  I always tried to keep these on hand when I had a new baby, as a muffin is the perfect meal to eat while breast-feeding. 

The recipe is a bit labour-intensive, but so worth, I promise!

Honey Sunshine Muffins

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbl. Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Honey
2 Cups Carrots, grated
1/2 Cup Apple Sauce
1 Apple, peeled, cored and grated
1 Banana, mashed
1/2 Cup Oil
3 Eggs
1 Cup Raisins

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix dry ingredients together.
3. Mix wet ingredients together.
4. Combine, and stir until just mixed.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

How Art Looks at My House

My four year old loves art.  As I have mentioned before, art for little ones should be about the process of creating something, and not about the final product.  The other day we did some potato stamping.  I intended it to turn out like this:

That's my artwork, by the way.  Usually when I set up an art project for my daughter, we each work on something.  My daughter's artwork didn't quite look like mine did.  It usually doesn't.

In fact, paint mostly ends up all over her hands and arms or in a mash all over the paper.  I am okay with this.  In fact, I love it.  Doesn't mashing paint everywhere sound like fun?  And fun is what I'm going for 99% of the time.

Fun goes hand in hand with learning.  My little one year old takes such a scientific approach to art.  Everything is an experiment.  Paint goes on her face, mouth, and gets examined closely in her little fingertips.  Occasionally paint will go on the paper.  ("Paint" for toddlers should, in my opinion, be not only non-toxic, it should be homemade.  The concoction pictured is made from flour, salt, water and food colouring.)

So how does art look at my house?  It looks messy.  It looks like learning.  It looks like fun.  And I think that's just how it should be.

How does art look at your house?