Salt Painting and Marble Painting!

I've seen both of these ideas floating around on Pinterest and decided today would be a good day to give them a try.

Both are easy but somewhat messy. Still, they were fun and the finished products was very pretty!

Up first...

Salt Paintings


What you need:


White liquid glue
Table salt
Water colour paints or water mixed with food colouring
Spoons
Heavy white paper

How to make it:

I added some water to a small bowl and then dropped in 6 drops of food colouring and mixed. I wans't sure how this would work but it turned out wonderfully. Use less food colouring for more muted colours or more for darker colours.

Give your toddler the glue bottle and let them squeeze it on the paper in blobs and lines (this required some assistance at first).

Then, give them a small dish of salt and a spoon. I placed a sheet of newspaper under the white paper but we still ended up with some salt on the floor and table. Make sure they cover all the glue! Gently shake off the excess salt and throw away or save for another painting (definitely wouldn't want to use for eating).


Then, give your toddler the bowls of "paint" and a spoon and let them go to town with dropping water on the glue!






My little boy did very well with this part but I had to remind him a few times to paint on other parts of the page and to not just make a big puddle in the middle. We also had an incident where a bowl of red "paint" was spilled all over my pants and the floor. Good thing it washes out.

It's fun to watch the colours run, combine and swirl around. And, the salt gives it a shimmery quality.


I gently used some paper towel to blot off the bigger puddles; then, I placed our painting on some paper towel on the counter to dry. I loved the results!


What they can learn:

-Helps with their fine motor skills (handling the spoons)
-Have them identify their colours as you mix them and as they paint
-Also a good way to show how colours mix together to form new colours

Next!

Marble Painting


What you need:

A box or plastic tub
Paints
Marbles
Paper

This one is so easy and my toddler had a blast!

We used an old diaper box and it worked just fine.

All you do is place a sheet of paper in the bottom of your box, add some blobs of paint in different colours and then toss in your marbles and let your toddler shake and tip the box!


The diaper box was a good idea because my toddler like to close the lid and shake the box.

This one is fun because the pictures came out differently each time!

So, there you have two simple and fun crafts to experiment with!

Pad Thai

My husband and I are huge fans of pad Thai from our local market. There was a time (before kids) when we would go almost every week and eat until it felt like we were going to explode. Now, with two kids, it's not so easy a task to manage.

In my quest to find recipes that didn't contain meat I stumbled across this pad Thai recipe and decided to give it a try.

I've adapted it to fit what I did and didn't have on hand.



Ingredients:

1 package wide rice noodles
oil for frying
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar (I used white)
2 tbsp Ketchup
2 tsp paprika
8 green onions, chopped
1/2 head broccoli
1-2 carrots, julienned (matchstick)

Directions:

The original recipe called for placing the noodles in a bowl of warm/hot water for half an hour until slightly soft but still tender. My package said to bowl them so that is what I did. I cooked them until they were flexible but  still a touch hard in the centre. Once they are done, drain and place aside.

In a bowl. mix your vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, and paprika. The sugar won't totally dissolve and that is fine!

In a wok heat (medium-high heat) 1-2tbsp oil and then add in your garlic. Cook until garlic is turning golden then add in your sauce. Bring to a boil and then add your noodles. Stir until the noodles are covered. Add in your broccoli and carrots. Cook until the majority of the liquid has evaporated, then add in your green onions.

Once the noodles have sucked up all the liquid it is ready to serve!

Notes:

My broccoli and carrots were ones I had previously blanched and frozen, the broccoli was still slightly tender at the end, which we liked.

My husband said this would be better with mushrooms and some sort of meat (can you tell he's slightly bitter about this whole non-meat kick?) I think it would be wonderful with some onions, cashews or peanuts, tofu, and some bean sprouts (which was in the original recipe).

I found this to be slightly too vinegary for my taste, my husband didn't think so. Perhaps more veggies would help to cut some of the vinegar.

Overall, this was delicious! Not quite like the pad Thai we would get at the market but wonderful just the same. Definitely a recipe that will be added to my book and done again.

Shake Your Tambourine!

I have an entire cupboard of paper plates left over from my son's birthday party, so a lot of my crafts have been focusing on using those. I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm a bit of a craft hoarder because I hold onto every scrap of paper, piece of ribbon, or nearly dried up pot of paint. But, where he sees junk I see possibilities! Or, at the very least, something we can cover with glue and glitter.

Today, we made paper plate tambourines.

What You Need:

2 paper plates (same size)

paints

rice

glue gun or stapler

How To:

Let your child decorate the bottoms of both plates. We used paints, glitter glue and stickers. Once that has dried, pour rice onto one plate (unpainted side) and then quickly apply hot glue around rim and press the other plate on top. 

By the time I had finished putting the glue on a lot of it was drying, so I added some extra glue to the gaps and it was good to go.

And there you have an easy to make tambourine! Feel free to add ribbon, I would have but my son refused.

We also did toilet paper roll painting! I had an empty toilet paper roll in my craft bin (I knew I would find a use for it!) and saw this idea on another blog.

All you need are paints, a piece of paper, a paper plate and a toilet paper or paper towel roll.

Simply drop some blobs of paint onto a paper plate, dip the end of the roll into the paint and press onto the paper!

My son liked to squeeze the roll to get different shapes and ended up dipping the side into the paint and rolling it along the paper (which resulted in some seriously messy hands).

Easy and fun!

Working on Fine Motor Skills

To go along with our "less TV, more play" I decided to find some crafts or games that would help my son with his fine motor skills. I haven't noticed that he had a problem with them but it's nice to challenge him and get his mind and hands working outside of painting or colouring.

The first one we tried was fun and edible!

Froot Loop Necklaces!


What You Need:

A small bowl of froot loops, or other cereal that has a hole in the middle.
A long strand of thick string
Tape

How to Do It:

Well, first I tried to tie the end of the string around a small piece of kabob skewer to make it easier for my son to thread the cereal....that didn't work. So, I tried to just let him thread it onto the string...that didn't work because it kept fraying. Finally, I wrapped the end in duct tape...but I used too much and it was too thick to thread. Eventually I got the perfect amount of tape wrapped around the end of the thread. I placed the other end of the string into a piece of play dough and then rolled that into a ball; but, you could just hold onto it.

Then, I showed my toddler how to thread the cereal before handing the tools over to him. He would sit there and say, "through the middle", "all the way down" and "ta-da!" when he got the cereal on the string. A few times he was SO close to getting it on but would aim improperly or drop the cereal. It was hard for me to not take it from him and do it myself, but every time I asked if he wanted help he'd say, "No, I do it" And he did do it, most of the time. When he encountered a loop that had too small of a hole or frustrated him too much he simple ate it.

Yes, it's February and he's wearing a Santa pajama shirt. It's his favourite.

And when our necklace was done he wrapped it around his wrist a few times and munched on it for a snack!

We also sorted our rainbow pasta. I gave him coloured bowls in the same colour as each noodle and told him to put the red ones in the red bowl, etc. Working on motor skills and getting him to clean. Awesome.

Our next activity was an inadvertent one when my son noticed my Beauty and the Beast piggy bank and wanted to see what it was. Well, wouldn't you know that led to him sitting on my bed for half an hour putting quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies into the Belle piggy bank! I could hear him say, "big one" or "little one" as he put a coin through the slot and then his little voice yell, "plop!" or "clunk!" as the change fell in.

These activities not only helped my son's hand-eye coordination and motor skills, but they helped me to remember that he can do things on his own and he's not so much a teeny tiny baby that needs his Mommy to do everything for him. Like I said before, there were moments where it was hard for me to not take whatever item from him and show him how to do it or help him, but he never asked and I held back. After only being shown how to do something once he had picked it up and I was reminded, yet again, that he's growing up and able to master and accomplish things on his own. I know this is only the start to many more moments where I realize I have to step back and let him take control but it's nice to know he's capable of doing his own problem solving, even at the tender age of 2.

A Valentine's Dinner

Making roast potatoes a little more special on our first Valentine's Day as a married couple!

Paired with stuffed mushrooms that I made up today but turned out wonderfully!

To Make Them:

Take 6 large portobello mushrooms (3 per person, or enough for one person to have leftovers) and wash them then scrape out the inside, leaving enough mushroom that they hold their shape. Keep the scraped out parts.

In a pan, cook 1/2lb ground turkey, 1/2 onion (diced), a dash of nutmeg, 1-2tbsp worcestershire sauce, 2-3 sundried tomatoes (chopped) and salt and pepper to taste. Once the meat is cooked remove from heat, add in the reserved mushroom and mix together.

Stuff into the mushrooms, top with grated cheese and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes.

I didn't eat them because I don't like mushrooms, but my husband said they were great!

For dessert, my son and I made red velvet cake (from a box) and cream cheese frosting. I don't think my husband has ever tried this type of cake...so hopefully he doesn't hate it! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tortellini Soup

Original recipe here.

What You Need:

1- 28oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
1.5 cups water
1tsp oregano
1tsp basil (I used fresh basil I had frozen and chopped)
3 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped
1 small bunch of spinach, roughly chopped (or 1 package frozen, chopped)
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper
1 small package stuffed tortellini (we used cheese)

How to Make it:

In a soup pot, heat your oil over medium heat. Add in your diced onions and cook until tender and translucent. Add in your garlic and cook another minute.

Add in your stock, water, peppers, canned tomatoes, beans, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate pot, cook your tortellini according to package instructions and preferred tenderness. When done, drain and add to soup. Add in your spinach and cook 3 minutes or until just wilted and soft.

Serve!

This soup was very hearty and tasted wonderful! Ours was heavier on the pasta than is probably needed, but we like our pastas.

This recipe makes a good sized batch, too, so there is plenty for leftovers!

Lasagna Roll-ups

The idea for this recipe came from here. But, I changed them up a bit to better fit our tastes and likes.

What You Need:

1 medium size onion, diced
2 tbsp oil
2 large clove of garlic, grated
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small package frozen spinach (thawed)
1 container ricotta cheese
1 package lasagna noodles (suitable for boiling, not ones you put hard in the oven)
1 tomato, chopped
tomato sauce -- I used sauce I made and froze during the summer but it's about a cans worth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

How to Make It:

Makes 15 roll-ups

On medium heat, heat your oil in a pan then add your onions, cooking until onions are soft. Add in your garlic and cook another minute.

Add in your tomatoes and peppers and then sprinkle with oregano and some salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes are very soft and slightly broken down; peppers should be soft, also.

Set the mix in a bowl in the fridge to cool.

Boil your lasagna noodles according to package instructions. You want them to be done but not too soft. Once they are done place them in a colander to dry.

Squeeze any excess water from thawed spinach. In a bowl, mix your ricotta with your spinach and some salt and pepper.

Once your veggie mix is cooled down mix it with your cheese and spinach.

Preheat your oven to 400F and place some of your pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan.

On a flat surface, take one of your noodles and put it flat. Make sure the noodle is dry or the cheese won't stick as well. Use your fingers to press a layer of cheese onto the noodle, about 1/8inch thick. Sprinkle veggies on top of the cheese and press it down a bit. Then, roll the noodle up (not too tightly).

Place your noodles seam side down in your pan. I was able to fit three rows of five into my pan.

Top all of your noodles with the rest of your sauce and then your shredded cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes and then for an additional five under the broiler or until your cheese crisps a bit on top.

These are incredibly filling and we were both full after 3 roll-ups. My son ate 1. We paired this with homemade garlic bread.

Still in the pan!