Strawberry Clover Cookies

We have been harvesting clover today. I have seen this weed my entire life and never once knew until a few days ago that it was edible and incredible! So we made cookies, of course!

Strawberry Clover Cookies! Healthy!!

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup FRESH white clover blossoms
* 2.5 cups almond flour
* 2 eggs
* 2 Tbsp milk
* 1 tsp. Baking soda
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
* 1 cup diced strawberries
* Maple Syrup to sweeten (your desired amount) -or-  1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

* Add all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix them up
* Scoop out into cookie size dough balls on cookie sheet
* Bake at 350F for 10-12 mins or until golden brown.

Further info:

The entire plant above ground is edible. They have a subtle vanilla taste! When blossoms and leaves are dried and used as a tea, they are medicinal for fevers and colds. Also great for making flower crowns/wreaths with the kids!

Dandelion Lemon Cookies

I’m taking full opportunity of this brief season of flowering weeds. Weeds worth foraging means cooking up. This time it was dandelions in yellow flower form - pre wish making mode.

What to do: Get a bucket and get your little ones to go run after all the yellow dandelions to be found! ...Well not all...save a lot for the bees, please! But gather enough! Enough for this recipe will be about 30 flower heads.

Once you gather them, bring them inside and get cooking!

Ingredients:

* 2 1/4 cups almond flour
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 1/4 tsp baking powder
* 1 TBSP + splash of lemon juice. Add some lemon zest too!
* Pinch of salt
* Maple Syrup to sweeten—-use however little or much you want. I eyeballed this as usual.
* Flower petals

Directions:

* First, extract the petals from the bud and toss in your mixing bowl. (All parts of flower are edible so don’t fret on making it perfect)

* Add all other ingredients to flower petals and mix

* The batter yields about 12 cookies. Place on cookie trays and bake at 350F for 10-12 mins.

THEY TASTE AMAZING!!!

About the benefits of Danelions:

Dandelions are an excellent source of Iron, Calcium, and Fiber. Also, they contain vitamins A, C, K, and B2. They promote healthy liver function and detox. Excellent for eye health, dandelions are also good as a diuretic.

We will make a tea next!! Enjoy your cookies!! I noted earlier the entire plant all the way down to the root is edible....my daughter ate 6 raw dandelion stems. Whoa. Haha! She thought they were delicious but then when she licked the bowl she was like a rabid wolf attacking every little sliver of batter left. Yum yum YUMMM!! Enjoy y’all!

Violet Jam

We don't have a forest school we can be part of in our area...at this time. Therefore; as Ellie's mommy and home school teacher, I take it upon myself to get her out and get her exploring all the wonderful things God has created for us. Violets are not only super beautiful as they grow in patches in the Spring, they are so versatile in the kitchen!

One thing that can be done with them is to make them into a delicious jam!

My 2 year old daughter and I read the book, Bread & Jam for Frances. We then made our own gluten free almond bread in our bread machine. Now, we needed some jam!

In the mountains hiking and in our own yard we found countless violets. We picked them, an overflowing cup full! My daughter quickly learned to identify them and got to it with little help from me.

We brought them into the kitchen, made sure all stems were removed, then set to work.

Ingredients:

* A cup or more of violets (stemless)
* 3/4 cup of water
* Juice from one lemon
* One packet of pectin
* 4 (ish) tablespoons of honey (I used honey instead of sugar. If you rather, add 2.5 cups of sugar)

Directions:

* In a blender or food processor, add violets, water, and honey (or sugar), and lemon juice.
* Blend it up until well combined
* In a saucepan, pour entire packet of pectin and 1 cup of water and continuously stir as water heats to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring, allow pectin to roll in the boil for one minute. Then remove from heat and add to the violet mixture in the blender. Blend for one minute.
*Pour into sterilized canning jars and seal or place lid.

These will set as they cool. Store in the refrigerator or freezer up to 3 weeks.

Poetry + Tea

Tea for two? Why not?! Poetry by candlelight? Of course! That is exactly what Ellie and I are doing as a night time bonding ritual before bed.

Last year, Ellie and I made our own tea cups and saucers as a mommy and me date. These are perfect for our tea time. I lay out my favorite cozy blanket near the fireplace with pillows and light a candle. Ellie has the essentials: her colorful plush giraffe and pink fleece blanket. Ellie likes black raspberry tea. I switch between herbal teas. No caffeine for either of us. Ellie feels so at peace in the setting and sips her tea gingerly as I read to her. I only have Shel Silverstein poems from my own childhood at this time to read and we love them, but; I do hope to add classic poets to our inventory as well. 

After a couple of poems, Ellie says, "Cuddle me. Get snuggled!" So that is what we did and it was oh so sweet! 

Why do we do this? Besides the fact it is an amazing way to bond, research proves reading poetry aloud with your little ones enhances language development, cognitive development, physical development, and social and emotional development. Do some research on this. It goes deep and it is fascinating! Rhythm and rhyme is a beautiful path for the brain to journey down.

Another really cool note is using a candle. Well, I am always using candles because I LOVE them! Candles are a part of my calm at the end of the day. Ellie is so hooked on them as well. She loves to smell them. She watches the flames flicker. Tonight, she told me the flames were dancing and doing ballet. How precious?! The mind of a two year old left to her own imagination is so cool to be surrounded by. The candle does play a soothing role, however; primarily I light it for the connection between the memory we are making and the scent and the connection the two make in the brain. It's very powerful. 

According to Psychology Today, "The olfactory bulb has direct connections to two brain areas that are strongly implicated in emotion and memory: the amygdala and hippocampus. Interestingly, visual, auditory, and tactile information do not pass through these brain areas. This may be why olfaction, more than any other sense, is so successful at triggering emotions and memories."

We use "The Flying Farm" soy candle company's "Banana Pudding" candle. In order for the memory and the scent to draw you back to a time, place, and information, it needs to be a consistent smell. So we will always use banana pudding scented candles at poetry and tea time. 

I am so thankful to have a sister who is so smart and the most amazing mom ever who teaches me how to follow in her footsteps and be a great mommy as well. We will never be perfect but first we seek Jesus, then we seek love, then we seek wisdom and knowledge. This is fascinating information and so so so fun for a precious bonding activity with your child. 

Dr. Seuss Day Home School Activities

I have always ADORED celebrating Dr. Seuss day as a kid! Oh my word. Probably one of my top 5 favorite days of school as a kid. I got so involved with it. Now it's my turn to really get Ellie, my toddler, involved as well!

I don't have all 44 of Dr. Seuss' books but we definitely have a full day's worth of reading of his classics.

To celebrate this zany brainy wacky cray cray day, I first began by making sure Ellie was properly festively dressed! Thank you, Target!! (Boys & Girls, mama!! Get it!)

Of course, the first book we read was "Green Eggs & Ham". And you guessed it - we made green eggs and ham for breakfast! Ellie helped! I was terrified she wouldn't eat them because they were green. However; she actually loves greens so maybe that fear was not sound. Sure enough, she loved them and the ham and ate them up. I think my love of Dr. Seuss began in preschool for me. At my Christian pre-school, they served us green eggs and ham for breakfast. I refused them. I hated greens until my 20s. But after seeing all my friends enjoy them, I decided as a stubborn 4 year old to try them after all. And I loved them, of course! This is when my Seuss love began!

We then went for a short nature walk to collect sticks...more on this later....it's for one of our projects! ;)

Then, we read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". I think this book is Ellie's favorite. She has been saying that all day! It's too cute! After we read the book, we made a Wocket!
We used popsicle sticks, glue, feathers, and googly eyes. Just things we had in the craft closet. She spent more time with this than I had imagined which is so great. She was really into it. She told me all about her project as she created it and was very proud of it!

Next, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck". We read it and made oobleck!! Woop Woop!! Such Fun! A solid hour of heavy play here! Here is the recipe:

* 1/2 cup cornstarch

*1/4 cup of water

*Green food coloring

*Disposable tray

*Wooden spoon

Instructions:

1. Add food coloring to water

2. Put cornstarch in tray

3. add water and stir until well mixed.

(Will be tough to stir)

The science behind this is pretty mind blowing. Oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid. This is a substance that does not follow Newton's viscocity law. Therefore; the viscosity of this can change when under force to either be more liquid or more solid. As you and your little play, squeeze it in your hand as tight as you can. Try to form it into a ball and set it to the side. It won't keep a shape. It keeps shape of its container. You can throw it on the floor, thinking you have a big wet mess, but then can pick it up as a solid form. It's so cool. Another example of a non-newtonian fluid would be ketchup. It becomes runnier when shaken. 

We put toy dinosaur figurines and her toy cow into the substance. Then she went in full hands and feet and even danced in it. 

When you are finished with it-put it in a clear glass and see how the substance is not a mixture but a solution. A separation will happen between the solid and liquid forms after a few hours.

Next, we read "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".

Cat in the Hat is a pretty cool cat. Troublesome? Maybe....but he always cleans up his playthings. So we like him! Messes are fun, anyway! Our first Cat in the Hat project was to make magic dough! (Moon Sand any other day).

Recipe:

* 2 cups of white flour 

* 1 cup Baby oil

* Glitter

*Mix together with your hands in a tray 

Add kitchen things or little figurines to play with too. We added a measuring spoon and a flower shaped cookie cutter. Ellie told me while playing she was making a mountain, snow tracks, making cookies, and a snake. This simple little bit of dough was an open door for the imagination.

The next Cat in the Hat project was a little science experiment time. We made a bubbly potion!
What you need:
* 1 cup white vinegar
* 1 cup olive or vegetable oil
* food coloring
* Turkey baster, or small dropper
* White dishes: 1 deep, 1 shallow

Use the food coloring in the white vinegar.
First we used our baster to draw up the oil, then squirted that into the deep bowl. We then used the baster to draw up a little bit of dyed vinegar and we squirted that on top of the oil. It was very cool to see the obvious separation of the two fluids and little bubbles everywhere. We used a deep and shallow dish to get different depth perspectives. Here is our science behind the project: The oil and vinegar separate because the particles are unable to stick together. This is known as "immiscible". The vinegar is heavier than the oil so it sinks down and the blobs of oil float. I was able to show this to Ellie quite obviously. After showing her a couple of different times, she was explaining back to me which was really awesome to hear. She would point and show me and explain and it was so cool.

When it was near supper time, we made a Cat in the Hat pizza for dinner. I used a recipe of my sister's, therefore; it happens to be KETO for any of those on that diet. 

Recipe:

* 1 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

* 3/4 cup almond flour

* 2 tbsp cream cheese

* 1 egg

* pinch of salt

Instructions

* Mix cheese and almond flour in a microwaveable bowl. Add cream cheese and microwave on high for 1 minute.

* Stir-microwave again 30 seconds

* Add egg, salt, and any desired seasoning. We added oregano and basil. Mix gently

* Form dough on pan in shape of Cat's hat. 

* Add sauce and cheese and pepperonis in a striped pattern like the Cat's Hat!

* Bake in the oven at 425F for 10-12 minutes

While we waited on the pizza to cook, we stacked red solo cups and paper to try and make a tall hat for cat! She wanted to make them really tall, then she wanted to make several small.

The next book we read was "One Fish, Two Fish".

We first made "Yink's Pink Ink Drink!" We basically just made a milkshake. Vanilla ice cream, whole milk, fresh cut strawberries. Blend it. 

Then we played "Ring the Gack!" I just used two old boxes I had set aside for the fire pile and glued them together. Then I took Ellie on a nature walk to collect some good thick sticks! We collected them barefooted in our buckets. Then, I cut some small pinholes in the top of the box and put the "antlers" through! We used pool diving rings to ring the gack. Ellie liked this game!

Then we cut the hair on the head of a "zed". I just used old toilet paper rolls, yarn, and tape. I taped long yarn to the inside of the tube and drew some eyes on the outside with a sharpie. Ellie got her scissors and she got some scissor skills in by cutting the yarn!! Great scissor skill activity.

Next we read "The Lorax".

For this, since we are starting to garden also- we planted a Broccoli seed! (Little trees!)

At bath time, Ellie had a cupcake in the bath. The Cat in the Hat had cake in the tub! 

While in the bath, I read several other Dr. Seuss books! And for her bedtime story, we read "The Sleep Book," of course!

It was such a fun zany wacky crazy day!