Bookworm Wednesday !

Welcome to the first official Bookworm Wednesday post!  This is a neat little book Little Man got from my mom.  

The Book:  It's Time to Sleep, My Love

By:  Nancy Tillman

Why we like it:  It's a beautifully illustrated book with sweet, calming words.  It makes me feel calm and cozy just thinking about it.  The pictures are very interested to look at:  they have lots of "talking points" (Do you see the girl?  She's going nih-night on the panda), it also has a some repeat artwork (like the moon) that shows up on a lot of the pages - makes it great to ask "where's the moon?"  Little Man learned how to say "moon" by me reading this book to him.  Yay for Little Man!  

It did take me a few times reading this to learn the "style" of this book.  It's reads more like an "adult" poem than the typical children's book.  If that makes sense.   

It is a great book that Little Man and I both enjoy.  

Happy Reading.

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link.  I was not compensated to review this product.  I posted about this book because we honestly love it.)

Water & Marker Painting

Today is my first post for Toddler Time Tuesday!  It's part of my weekly series that I just started.  Each week Little Man and I will be trying a new activity.  It might be working on a new developmental skill, arts and crafts, or doing something fun!

This weeks activity was based off some "idea cards" we got for Christmas.  The cards are called Bright and Beyond - Playtime Activities - Age 1
.  Since Little Man is 1, we have the "Age 1" cards but they have them all the way from "baby" to "preschool".  Some of the ideas seem a little advanced for Little Man right now.  But I'm sure within a couple months we'll get there.  

The simplicity of these cards are awesome.  You don't need to go out and buy a lot of stuff to complete the activities.  You will probably find everything you need laying around your house.  This makes it handy if you need to do a last minute activity or if you're on a budget and don't want to go out and spend a lot of money to keep your child entertained.  

The activity we did was called Water & Marker Painting. 

To do this project just draw shapes or pictures on a paper towel with markers. *  Let your little one dip a paint brush into plain water and then show him/her how to put the wet paintbrush on the picture.  They'll have a fun time watching the colors bleed together.  Although I'm not a childhood education expert, I'd have to say this helps with their motor skills and probably teaches them some cause and effect.  

The best part of this project:  it's very clean! I didn't have to worry about him getting paint on the walls, the floor, his clothes, or in  his mouth.  I'll admit that he did get curious about sticking his hands in the water bowl, and we did ended playing tug-of-war when he decided he wanted to pick the water bowl up off the table.  But hey, it's water.  No harm, no foul.  

I also discovered I need to think of more "boy" things to draw.  After years and years of drawing girly flowers, butterflies, hearts and rainbows I think I need to expand my artistic boundaries and learn how to draw more trucks, and cars. hehe

Little Man had such a fun time doing this activity!  He really caught on fast and learned how to dip the brush in the water and put it on the paper. He definitely didn't want to stop "painting". This will definitely be an activity we repeat again!

*  If you have older children, they can draw the pictures themselves.

Shared with:

ABC and 123
Art for Little Hands 
Hands on as we Grow 
Sun Scholars 
Let Kids Create

Chocolate Avocado Mousse - Sweet Stuff Sunday!

Welcome to Sweet Stuff Sunday!  In case you missed it, I've decided to launch a few series to help get my blog rolling.  

Sweet Stuff Sunday will mostly feature "healthy" recipes I've seen and want to try.  It might just be a review of the recipe, or I might alter an existing recipe to make it a little more healthy.  

This week I made Dr. Oz's Chocolate Avocado Mousse.

You can find his full recipe on his website.  But basically the recipe is made with an avocado, bittersweet chocolate, light brown sugar, egg whites, cinnamon, and chili powder in it.  

I initially tried this recipe last year.  I don't remember where I heard about it, but I was obviously shocked by the avocado and chocolate combination.  Kinda sounded weird.  But, because I pride myself on being a risk taker when it comes to eating new foods,  I decided to try it.

Here's the breakdown of what I did.  Again, please click here to view the whole recipe.  

1.  Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate and spices together.

2.  Use a foodprocessor to combine the avocado and brownsugar until it's smooth.

3.  Whip eggwhites until they hold soft peaks.

4.  Add melted chocolate to the avocado and brown sugar mixture and mix until well combined.

5.  Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites until combined. 

The finished product was very good.  The Hubs and I liked it a lot.  It was a lot more dense than your typical mousse.  It wasn't as light and fluffy as I thought it would be.  This is probably because of the avocado.  

Speaking of avocado, you couldn't tell there was anything "weird" about this recipe.  If you have picky guests, or someone who is not into trying new things, you could definately "forget" to tell them this has avocado in it until they're done eating.  They would never suspect anything odd or unusual.

As far as taste goes:  this dessert is very rich.  Very. Rich. The Hubs and I split one of these today and we were definitely satisfied.  I'm a chocolate addict.....and I'm telling ya....It was rich. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have any chili powder on hand.  So I omitted it. That being said, it still turned out great. The cinnamon was a great addition to the recipe and I'm sure the chili powder would have only made it that much better. 

All in all, this is a recipe worth trying.  The Hubs and I really enjoyed it.  It's definitely something we would serve to guests.  

All in all, this dessert is still high in calories totaling to 471 per serving.  (I wrote "healthy" in quotations for a reason) This is more than I thought it would be until I considered the fact that it is made with avocados.  Avocados are high in healthy fats that are good for you as opposed to the non healthy fats in other mousses.  That being said...this is not a low calorie dessert...so diner beware. 

Photog Friday!

Welcome to the first Photog Friday....This week I'm still working on the January Challenge from Fat Mum Slim.  Check out her page to see what other people are doing for their Photo a Day Challenge!  There are some very talented people out there! 

Here are my pictures:

Day 9:  Daily Routine.  Notes for blog, and my recipe binder.

Day 10.  Childhood.

Day 11.  Where you sleep.

Overall, I don't like these pictures too much.  The "childhood" picture has a lot of sentimental value, but overall I don't feel like the pictures "speak" to me in any sort of way.  I feel like my bed looks like a scene you'd see in a scary movie or something about a person in a lonely hotel being all depressed and emo.  hehe  (I guess it's appropriate to have a scary room since it's Friday the 13th)  That's not the feel I get from my room in real life - It's funny what editing can do to change the feeling about something. 

 I downloaded some new (free) picture apps today that I'm excited to try:

-  Pic Collage

-Vintage Cam

-  Photoshop Express

-Color Splurge

After I work with them for a bit, I'll be sure to let ya know how I like them.

Happy Friday the 13th! 

Let the Series Begin!

In an effort to make my blog a little more organized and on track, I've decided to launch a few weekly series!  Woohoo!  In addition to the series I'll still be posting other stuff....but I just feel that these series will help me meet some of the goals I have for the blog. 

Here are some of the series I will be doing:

Toddler Time Tuesday:  Each week Little Man will be trying a new activiy.  Sometimes it will be arts and crafts, sometimes It'll be focusing on some specific sort of developmental skill, or sometimes it'll be just because it's fun! 

Bookworm Wednesday:  I'll post about new books Little Man is reading and tell ya' if we like 'em! 

Photog Friday:  Since one of my goals for this year is to get better at taking pictures I'll try to post new pictures every week in this section.  I'll also try to share any tips I learn on taking better pictures.

Sweet Stuff Sunday:   I lovvve me some sweet stuff!   Each week I'll post a new "healthy" dessert.  It might be a recipe review where I try making someone else's recipe, or a recipe makeover to make a loved (but really unhealthy) dessert just a little more healthy. 

So these are the series I'm starting off with!  Stay tuned because I have lots more ideas that I'll be rolling out soon!

January Photo of the Day: 7&8

Fat Mum Slim's January Photo a Day Challege days 7 and 8:

Day 7:  Your Favorite.  (The Crock pot is my favorite.  The food inside it is good, too)

Day 8:  Your sky.

 To see the Days 1&2, 3&4, 5&6

I lovveee my CrockPot!  It really is a lifesaver!  I must use it around two times a week.  It makes the perfect chicken and veggies for Little Man to eat because everything comes out soft.  It's easy for him to chew it with his little teeth. 

The picture of the sky is really more of the tree.  They sky looks very blue today (none of that smog crud) but I still edited it to make the tree pop out a little more. 

Re-purposing Candles

I love having candles around the house.  They're pretty, they smell good, what's not to like?  However, those little suckers are expensive!  Today I'm going to write about how to get a little more use out of your candles!  By reusing the jar and leftover wax, you'll be extending the life of your candle!

The kind I'm talking about are the ones that come in some sort of glass jar.

Step 1:  Freeze Jar

1.  Put the candle in the freezer for 1 hour (at least).  This will help the wax come out very easily.

2.  Use a butter knife to crack the wax. 

3.  Peel the clear plastic label off the front of the jar.  (it came off really easily when the glass was cold)

4.  Peel label off the bottom of the jar.  (There will still be stickly glue left on the bottom.  Don't worry - just get the bulk of the paper off)

5.  When the jar has come to room temperature stuff a paper towel or napkin into the jar and put it in the microwave for 25 seconds or so.  Use the paper towel to wipe up any wax that was left over in the jar.  (microwaving the jar with the papertowel in it will help to absorb some of the wax)

6.  Use same paper towel to wipe off some of the smoke from the rim of the glass (this seemed to come off easier when warmed.  Don't worry if you don't get it all.)

7.  Soak room temperature jar in warm soapy water for awhile.  Use a spounge to wipe off the glue on the underside of the jar and wash the inside of the jar to get rid of any extra wax. 

8.  Use a paper towel to wipe the rest of the smoke off the upper part of the jar.

Viola: a clean glass! 

9.  The leftover wax can be put into a burner so your house can stay smelling pretty.

10.  The jars can be used for any number of things from storage, to decorations, or even by placing more candles into it.

Shared with:

Today's Creative Blog

Not Just a Housewife