organic

Soap Making with little hands

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This project is a hundred times easier than you think!  So dive in!

Go to bulk apothecary and order a melt and pour soap base, such as Shea butter.

Once it arrives, put in Christmas music, make hot cocoa and get ready for crafting.

Line muffin tins with paper liners or use cute shaped silicone ones for bonus points.  Have essential oils (lavender is especially nice, check they are safe for use on skin), food coloring and dried flowers or herbs.

Take the giant bars of soap, chop them into smaller cubes, around 2 inches in size.  Place in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for 30 seconds at a time until melted.  Stir as needed.

Once completely melted, very quickly add 8 drops of essential oils and 5 to 10 drops of food coloring depending on preference.  Don’t go too slow here or it will harden.

Pour into mold and sprinkle dried flowers or herbs.  Let it cool and use as is, or make a second layer in a different color.  Just pour it on gently and make sure the color/scent goes well together.

This is a very simple project to do with little ones, and a nice Christmas present too.

Kids hate squash?? No more.

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We have a local organic farmers around here that delivery mixed fruits and veggies each week.  This week, we got spaghetti squash.  I know it’s healthy, but we are not huge fans of squash around here.  However, I’ve found a recipe that gets the kids eating it by the bowlful!

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Preheat your oven to 350F.  Cut your squash in half.  Have the kids scoop out the seeds and squishy stuff.  Rub the insides with butter, a couple tbsps of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Place the halves, cut side up.  Cover in aluminum foil.  Bake for about 90 minutes, until soft.  Use a fork to scoop out.

You could try broiling it for a couple minutes without foil  to caramelize the top.  I also might swap brown sugar for maple syrup next time… no idea how that would turn out though.

Enjoy!

Organic veggies provide an unplanned Biology lesson

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The other night, I was feeling like a super mom.  I have a healthy, kid friendly salad on the table, sweet potatoes and chili.  Yum, right?

 

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The kids enjoy a few bites.

As I grab my first hunk of broccoli, I notice a little dirt on it.  … ummm. the dirt is crawling!  Upon closer inspection, I found these:

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After repeatedly retching into the sink, and thorough disinfection of everything… can I lysol wipe the insides of the kids mouths?? (kidding…kinda).

Surprisingly, Caleb just loved the food bugs.  He has since asked for a bug salad for each meal.  Success?

This has made me want to recheck, how bad is broccoli for pesticide residue?  On the Environmental Working Group‘s Shopping guide, broccoli is #28 (#1 being the worse).

While I’m having a look, the top 5 worse offenders are, Apples, Strawberries, Grapes, Celery and peaches.

So we may need to reconsider what we purchase organic… and start looking a little closer before serving those organic fruits and veggies!