Week 8 Activity: pipe cleaners

 Ok, I'm cheating a little. This is not a brand new activity- we have been doing it since December. But it was new then, so it still counts :) Reese has really enjoyed this, and is getting so much better at it. It sounds so silly and simple- I just give her my plastic strainer and a pile of pipe cleaners. But we all know how much kids like to stick things in other things, so this is a perfect way to encourage that.

 This activity helps develop those fine motor skills by working the finger muscles as well as hand-eye coordination. Reese needed help the first couple times, but she got the hang of it. We also use this as yet another opportunity to talk about colors.

Other things we have done with pipe cleaners include- making bracelets, making glasses, and putting them in empty water bottles. I have a few more ideas of things to do with them, but I'll save it for another post.

Week 8 Recipe: Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Cauliflower

Recipe is HERE

Um, this was very tastey. I like broccoli a lot, but I don't really love cauliflower. This was a vary easy and delicious way to make it. Spence and Reese liked it to. However, I used thicker shredded Parmesan cheese and it did not work very well. It melts, but not really so you end up with big clumps of cheese and it doesn't mix in or coat. So I think next time I'll buy some powdered Parmesan cheese and try that. But this one is a winner!

Week 7 Activity: Heart Hunt

In honor of Valentine's Day Reese and I did a heart hunt. During her nap, I cut out a bunch of hearts from pink and red construction paper and taped them up around our apartment. When she woke up, I showed her one and gave her a bucket to collect them. She loved running around the house to find them. It was so cute. This is definitely one I will do again with a different spin: maybe Easter eggs, paper apples, a certain shape or letter. Really, you could do this with almost anything.

Here is a video of Reese hunting for hearts. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

Week 7 Recipes: Cilantro Thai Chicken and Ginger Sesame Broccoli

Chicken recipe is HERE

This chicken was ok. I went a little overboard on the cilantro (what!? is that even possible? yes it is.) I think it would have been really good with some rice but alas, Spence and I are doing phase 1 of South Beach so for the next 2 weeks we are carb free.

 

Broccoli recipe is HERE

This was tastey. I always wondered how Panda Express and other Asian restaurants got their broccoli to taste so good. This is how! It was a little too soy saucey for me, so may reduce that next time. But I ate a lot of broccoli tonight and it was delicious.

Week 7 Recipe: Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Find the recipe HERE

So yeah- these are super good. My friend Beth made them at our book club last week and I think I ate like half the bowl. They are so easy AND healthy AND gluten free (which I am not, but still good to know) AND I can eat them on phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. For those of you who have done SB- it sucks but it works so well. Phase one is the hardest and I really miss the spicy crunchy that I get from potato chips and snacks like that. Bu this will TOTALLY be replacing that for me. DELICIOUS!

Actually- I think I'll try this same idea with some different flavors. Maybe use powdered Ranch dressing? Maybe like a taco flavored one? I'll let you know how it goes :)

Week 6: Pom pom fun

This has been a total hit. It was easy- just cut come holes in the top of an old cashew canister (obviously this picture is not mine.) Reese loves to push the pom poms through the holes. We try to say the colors as we go, we have been working on learning them.

Another thing we do with the pom poms is color sorting. I bought a cheap divided serving tray with three sections. I give her a bowl of pom poms with three different colors and she will separate them by color into the different tray sections.

Idea number three. We took an empty cardboard milk carton with the plastic spout. I cut a little door in the side. Reese likes to put them in the open spout and then open the door to take them back out.

Next time we play with the last one, I'll get a picture. But Reese loves the pom poms! 

Week 6 Recipe: Garlic Ginger Chicken

Actual recipe is HERE

So I loved the sound of this- garlic and ginger, can't go wrong! But when I pulled up the recipe it called for some ingredients I had never heard of. Apparently this website is a primal diet like the early humans- meat, legume, fruits etc. So I altered the recipe like- a lot.

It ended up like this- combine 1/4 soy sauce, 2-3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 Tbsp ground ginger, and a squirt of lime juice in a bowl. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan and throw in the chicken. Pour the sauce over it and keep flipping the chicken until it's done.

It was pretty good. I'm not going to make it every single week but easy enough to put together with stuff I had on hand. Enjoy!