The boys made bubble print notecards!
Bubble Art Notecards
Feb 7th, 2012 by leigharev2
Apple Pie Oatmeal
Jan 28th, 2012 by leigharev2
(Makes 4 good size servings)
4 cups water
2 cups rolled oats
1t.. cinnamon
1t.. nutmeg
1/2t. allspice
1/4t. cardamom
1 apple, chopped
Steps:
1. Bring water to boil over medium heat. Add oats and cook until it becomes oatmeal.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the spices and apple. Let sit a couple minutes.
3. Serve in bowl with soy or nut milk of choice.
Insanely Good Hummus
Jan 28th, 2012 by leigharev2
1 small onion, chopped
5 cloves, garlic, minced
2T. olive oil
3c. cooked garbanzo beans
3/4c. tahini
2T. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/4c. water
1/4c. apple cider vinegar
1/4c. fresh parsley, chopped
1t. cumin
salt to taste
Steps:
1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft.
2. Transfer to blender and add remaining ingredients. Blend until desired consistency.
Curried Tofu Scramble
Jan 28th, 2012 by leigharev2
(Makes 4 servings)
1t. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 block extra firm tofu, crumbled
1t. curry powder
1/2t. tumeric
1/2t. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch fresh spinach
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat; add onion and garlic; saute for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add tofu and spices. Cook until tofu is heated through.
3. Add diced tomatoes and spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted.
Serve with tortillas.
(A nice variation: omit the tomatoes and spinach. Add slivered almonds and raisins!)
Honoring A.A. Milne’s Birthday
Jan 28th, 2012 by leigharev2
A.A. Milne is best known as the author of the ‘Winnie the Pooh’ tales. His birthday was January 18th. We had a little unit study that covered a little bit of his biography, and did an art project. Happy birthday Mr. Milne!
A few tidbits…a la Wikipedia
Born: 18 January 1882
Died: 31 January 1956
One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90.
He married Dorothy “Daphne” de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920.
Milne is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and various characters inspired by his son’s stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh.
Christopher Robin Milne’s stuffed bear, originally named “Edward”, was renamed “Winnie-the-Pooh” after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. “The pooh” comes from a swan called “Pooh”.
The fictional Hundred Acre Wood of the Pooh stories derives from Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, South East England, where the Pooh stories were set. Milne lived on the northern edge of the Forest and took his son walking there.
For the art project, I asked the boys what kind of house they would live in if they were to live in the Hundred Acre Wood. Both made treehouses.
Here is ‘R’s: (Sorry for the shadow hands…)
and ‘A’s…
Art Project: Healing
Jan 20th, 2012 by leigharev2
David and I have a friend (Cynthia) whom we have known since we arrived to Sacramento. Her husband, (Anton), was the table leader at the first men’s retreat David went to. They have been friends ever since.
We coordinated one of our Maui trips so we were all over there at the same time and enjoyed a few meals together. Anton and Cynthia joined our small group a few months back.
Unfortunately, Cynthia has been suffering with bouts of extreme pain that literally keeps her bed-ridden for weeks on end. Over the past two years they have run all sorts of tests for all kinds of issues. Finally, they have diagnosed her with shingles, and there is not a lot that can be done in way of treatment. I think they are looking into her having a nerve block soon…
Last week, Anton joined us at small group. He said that their ‘word’ and main prayer for 2012 is ‘Healing.’
I decided I wanted us to do something nice for Anton and Cynthia, and was inspired by Pinterest to do this art project….
Step 1: Tape a word onto the canvas
Step 2: The boys fingerpainted the canvas (Crayola Washable Kids Paints)
Step 3: Let it dry. (I sped up the process with a hairdryer)
Step 4: Remove the tape, and with a slightly moist paper towel, remove and smudges that may have occurred.
Step 5: I need to see if I can seal the painting with an aerosol sealant. I am also debating if I should put the year on it somewhere…
I love what ‘A’ said about the project: “Mom, I don’t use this word very often, but I am in awe over this project…”
Sprouts!
Jan 20th, 2012 by leigharev2
This Daniel Fast really has us on fire for making some changes to our long term eating. We all feel terrific and it makes us want to keep feeling this way. I discovered a little raw foods, vegan restaurant in Sacramento that provides classes on Wednesday nights. I went to my first on last night with my friends, Lori and Eun. The topic was on making your own sprouts. It’s easy and less expensive than buying your own. Here are the notes I took from last night…
Supplies:
-1/2 gallon mason jars
-masking tape to date and label jars
-window screen material-buy in rolls and cut to size
-organic, anima free potting soil ‘Agromin’
-metal racks that allow the jars to rest at an angle
-cafeteria trays
Companies she recommends for seeds, etc.
Sprout People
Natural Trading Company
Nut N Other
Keep all sprouts in a warm, but not hot environment: 60-85 degrees
For: clover, alfalfa, sandwich mix:
-easiest to sprout
-keep out of direct sunlight
-place 2T. seeds and enough filtered water to keep covered
-soak overnight
-have the window screen material doubled over the opening to keep the tiny seeds from escaping
-Next day: shake them up, then dump out water
-rinse, drain and rest at an angle
-rinse, shake and drain 3 times a day
-little tails will grow within 48 hours
-after they have all sprouted, move to a window
-Harvest once they are green right from the bottle
-Put any and all sprouts in a salad spinner if you don’t want hulls. The hulls will rise to the top of the water, skim them off. Drain and spin.
-Wrap in bleach free paper towels and place in the Debbie Meyer green bags in fridge to store.
Most important is to make sure you rinse three times a day so they are always moist, and have food air flow.
For pea shoots, sunflower seeds:
-Do the same procedure as the clover, alfalfa, but…
-when you see a tail as big as the seed, transfer them to potting soil…
-place potting soil on top of a cafeteria tray and pat down. Place the sprouts on top of the soil, leaving a 1 inch border.
-cover with another tray
-lightly water 1x a day, every other day. Keep it covered until the sprouts are pushing the tray up.
-To harvest: Trim the sprouts with scissors. Keep tending to the cut sprouts still in soil and they will re-grow. You can harvest these twice!
Chia Seeds- You can harvest when they are gelatinous for making puddings or crackers, or you can harvest them when they are green to add to salads.
Discovery Museum
Jan 20th, 2012 by leigharev2
We have a small museum in Sacramento that I took the boys to a few days ago, called the Discovery Museum Science and Space Center.
The docent gave the boys a worksheet with 20 questions on it relating to the exhibits. After filling it out, they received a polished rock of their choice.
As I mentioned before, it is a small museum, but full of information. We had to take a break part way through to stretch our legs outside.
The first room we went to had a variety of frogs, insects, turtles, some rabbits, lizards, a screech owl, and a porcupine…
Counting all the walking sticks…
Testing their sense of smell. They had to guess scents that come from nature…cedar, pine, vanilla, cinnamon, etc…
I am always in awe over how small a hummingbirds nest is. Half a golf ball, maybe?
Trying on some wooden shoes…
The rest of the exhibits were in one long room with a little side room that was open and attached. The focus was on dinosaurs, rocks, fossils, and crystals.
This picture is actually my favorite for this reason…at home, I have been teaching the boys about rocks. I learned the the museum had a new exhibit on rocks and that’s why I decided to take them. I did not tell them that rocks would be there and wanted to see if they would make the connection or not.
We were all doing an art activity on dinosaurs, when ‘A’ decided to venture into the side room. I sat back and did not say anything, just observed. ‘A’ started looking at the rocks, then looked at the sign above. He looked back down at the rocks, then made this huge intake of breath…’OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Mom! IGNEOUS ROCKS! They have igneous rocks, mom! MOM! THEY HAVE OBSIDIAN! ‘R’ has always wanted to touch obsidian! Come here, RyRy!!” (I hope I was able to adequately display his level of excitement and enthusiasm…)
‘R’, hugging the sulfur/sulphur rock…
Looking at salt, sugar, sand, rocks, their hands, under a microscope…
Posing next to the metamorphic rocks. The boys had to take each rock and match them to the picture.
Taking a break outside …
This was a fun exhibit. They had a space set aside that talked about two people, a man and a woman. The man was Roy Chapman Andrews. He was the real life inspiration for the character, “Indiana Jones”, even down to his fear of snakes. He also served as a spy during WW1. Here the boys are hamming it up with costumes they had set up…
The woman was Mary Anning, known as the “Princess of Paleontology’. She and her family hunted fossils near their home. She discovered a famous fossil when she was twelve year old and spent the rest of her life as a paleontologist.
This was on crystals. There was a glass case behind ‘R’ that was full of uncut stones and then what they looked like as a gem or piece of jewelry. It was beautiful.
Winter Salad
Jan 17th, 2012 by leigharev2
We are halfway through our Daniel Fast and are burned out on beans! David asked for something with substantial leafy greens. I found a terrific looking salad recipe and modified it to fit what we had on hand. Served with corn tortillas and orange slices. It was just what the doctor ordered!
Salad: Green cabbage…lacinato kale…fennel bulb…red bell pepper…wild rice…sunflower seeds
Dressing: olive oil…apple cider vinegar…dijon mustard…pepper
Queen Anne’s Revenge
Jan 17th, 2012 by leigharev2
‘R’ finished his Lego project! Over 1,000 pieces!
