Home Grown Montessori: June 2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Veggie Quit and Child's Apron

I just finished up some projects that have been occupying my time (more mentally than actually). I'm still such a novice to sewing so finishing a project, especially a quilt is a HUGE deal for me. I've started a few but never finished since the binding is so intimidating.

I got the idea from Purl Soho and fell in love with the pattern. I didn't buy it from them but hand drew the veggies myself and then used this lovely graded Merimekko fabric that I found from the Crate and Barrel outlet shop in Chicago. I also changed the lines of the quilt doing a free motion for the top part- I'm impatient with somethings, what can I say. After weeks of sitting on this almost completed quilt I found a You Tube tutorial on binding. Wow, this was so easy- I COULD DO IT. I did, and I have to say, it was easy. I can't wait to get started, and finished on my other ones now.

I absolutely loved the graded fabric and bought it just for this project. I have enough to make 3 more quilts and hope to make one for the kids room.

I also copied my sister-in-law's apron she made for my kids, but used twill tape for ties and neck.

Both these will be going to my daughter's school today as gifts for the school.

Shared on: More the Merrier Mondays, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Tuesdays with a Twist, wildcrafting wednesday, Wildlife Wednesday, simple lives thursdays, HomeAcre Hop, small footprint family, Friday Nature Table, fresh eggs daily, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Home, Fresh Bites Friday, Wednesday Fresh Food, Sunday Parenting Party, hip homeschool moms, No Time for Flash Cards, Living Green Tuesday, Montessori Monday, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Food Renegade, Eat Make Grow, Saturday Show and Tell, Kids in the Kitchen, Learning for Life, Mums Make Lists, It's Playtime, All Year Round Blog Carnival

Monday, June 17, 2013

Pumpkin Sauce - 3 tips

I know it's not pumpkin season yet but it is the time to grow them if you want them for later. We love squash of all kinds from zucchini and crooked yellow neck to butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash. From pattypan to delicata and long of Naples.

We eat it sautéed, roasted, in pancakes and breads, and any way I can figure out. I also buy it canned from Trader Joe's. we like to put half a can or so when we make pancakes or French toast. Sometimes i use the leftover milk and egg batter to make pumpkin pots de creme or baked custards.

Last year we loaded up on some organic heirloom varieties from a nearby farm. I roasted a few and made homemade pasta sauce. It made a huge batch which I froze and we've been enjoying it ever since.

Here are 3 ways in which you could attempt it.

1- Buy a jar of ready made good quality Marinara or basic pasta sauce and add a can of pumpkin purée to it. Combine and cook for 15-20 min. Simple, easy, and quick.

2- Make homemade pasta sauce with canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, and celery, and add canned or roasted pumpkin purée and cook for 2-3 hours. You will want to look up a recipe for a pasta sauce. This is somewhat simple but lengthy.

3- Use fresh tomatoes and make your own pasta sauce similar to above and use roasted pumpkin and purée it. This is a solid 2 day process but well with it.

I did not have fresh tomatoes at the time I made my pumpkin sauce so I made it as step 2. I may attempt step 3 this year if I have enough tomatoes from my garden.

This was a few years ago when making homemade pasta sauce from the garden tomatoes.

I've used it as pasta sauce with sausage or ground beef which the kids loved. I've also used that sauce to make "sloppy joe's". It wasn't well received by the kids this way. I hope to try it in risotto and on pizza as well. I'm happy with this sauce because its easy once you have 5-7 jars sitting in your freezer, and it's loaded with veggies and fiber. It's a bit of work but well with it on those hurried days.

The "sloppy Joe's" we made with the pumpkin pasta sauce. Didn't look good but tasted amazing. A little on the wet side for the bread but perfect for pasta.

Hope you get to try it and experiment with any of the above steps and with all the varieties of pumpkin and squash out there!

Next venture- try all this with roasted sweet potatoes instead! I do wish I had space to grow them.

I tried to make my own homemade pumpkin latte, too gritty.

Pumpkin french toast stuffed with marscapone and berry compote.

Pumpkin pots de creme with berry compote.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Reading With My Kids

I have to admit I was not an avid reader as a child. I loved books and loved looking at them, but I wasn't a "bookworm". I preferred my mom reading to me. I used to love short stories, The Famous Five, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to name a few.

However, as I've grown older and started working with children 15 years ago, I began to familiarize myself with lots and lots of children's books, many which have been written since I was a child. I have found that the books today go far beyond fairy tales and orphans. Many of the books I grew up reading ended up having a sad and frightening message for children. Working with young children for most of my adult life, I've ended up in many book stores and libraries. Finding new books to read to them (and myself) have been a joy.

I have to say it really came into full gear when I had my first child. Around 16 months she was captivated by 20 page books. She wanted no part of the 1 word books and images. I don't recall ever getting those for her. She loved stories. She still does. We used to go to the library once a week and pick out books together. I'd have her take the books out of our bag and drop them in the return bin. It was a ritual. I think reading to her and seeing her love books has energized me and given me a new love for reading. My favorite time with my girls is snuggling in bed and reading a stack of books. It makes me happy that my second one is also a lover of books and can share some of the longer stories with her sister.

Above: What Happens on Wednesdays. Below: We All Went on Safari, and I know a Rhino.

Some of the books we were reading at 16 months and the older one signing as she flips through books.

I do have requirements when picking out books both in the library and online. I LOVE the reserve feature since I can cross reference books from Amazon and then put them on my library list. Once we have read them, the ones the kids and I enjoy are then shared on My Library Thing on the right side of this screen.

My requirements for books:
- people vs. animals for characters (there are many exceptions depending on the story)
- beautiful images
- interesting stories of people, culture, places, historic figures
- topics we have talked about, traveling to, or experiencing
- gardening, nature, food, cooking, biographies, science are a few of the topics
- re-read books depending on the season, holiday, or pure enjoyment
- we avoid Disney, Sesame Street, Fairy Tales, Dora, Spunge Bob, Bob the Builder, etc
- Curious George has made it into the house but only the newer ones, it started as a gift and now it's a recognizable character (hence my weariness in starting with the above mentioned ones).
- we read at any point in the day, but select only 2-3 at night time and then lights off no matter what.

As you will note from my frequent Facebook postings on books we are reading, I like to share the books we checked out and my thoughts on them. Currently, I have maxed out our checkouts and have another 13 on a wait list. I hope not to turn the passion into an obsession. We check out many of the same books at least a few times a year. I try very hard not to get behind on returning or renewing, but it does happen. I often joke that I've managed to keep 1 branch open with our late fees (honestly, it's just a joke).

I have stopped asking for books as gifts and we try to stick to the library as much as possible. The occasional book is given and we love it, it's just finding a place for it in this small house that is becoming a struggle.

My first sewing project- the books sling where we keep the library books (it's just not enough anymore.)

We try to stay organized by keeping library books in the room and our books on the bookshelf in the living room. TRY is the key word.

If you get a chance, check out our Facebook page for book reviews and ideas for new books, and keep in touch to get updates on all new book postings. This is easier and faster than blog posts. Usually I post 2-3 books per week.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

2 Year Old Makes Banana Bread

As it is evident from our Facebook page, we do a lot of cooking in this house. And whenever possible we try to involve the children. Sometimes, we cook specifically so that the children can make or have a chance at helping or cooking something they like. Most of these are filed under Kids in the kitchen.

Today, after days of promising the children that we'd make banana bread, I decided to let the 2 year old get to it while the other one was at school. I used a Better Homes recipe but did a lot of substituting.

For the most part, I have found that the children were drawn to real activities than specific toys. Even though we have a "Montessori" type toys, the simple daily activities of cleaning, cooking, sweeping, folding clothes, etc are the most rewarding to them and the ones that give them purpose. They enjoy stacking block and building puzzles but they would drop it in a moment if there was cooking involved.

Hope you're all enjoying the start of summer and find some time for more fun activities indoor and outdoor!

Started off by letting her peel and break up the bananas (3).

She used a potato masher but had trouble with it, so I got started and then let her finish up.

I measured the flour and she dumped it into the bowl. We substituted 1/2 cup walnut meal for flour. She measured the baking soda and powder.

She added the chocolate chips and got started mixing the wet and dry ingredients. We lost about 1/4 cup of it in the process. (see flour on right side of photo)

After, why not treat ourselves to a little sanding sugar that never seems to get used.

I realized it was a good pincer activity, but most of the sugar was in one spot- se la vie!

And to finish up, there is the always required washing of the hands before and after. They like to run to the bathroom for this.

And finally while the bread is cooking and mom is on the computer, why not get some baking done in the play kitchen.

The resulting loaf: a dense looking- amazing smelling, hopefully tasty banana bread. It didn't rise quite as high and I'm assuming it's due to the walnut meal.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Lushous Lemons

Living in Southern California has it's perks. I miss the seasons, but it's an easy trade for fresh food all year round. Moving into this rental house and starting our own garden has been amazing. We keep wanting to do more and to have more land to grow more. Fruit, citrus, and avocado trees would be an amazing addition. However, we've managed to find friends and neighbors we can barter with or who are just so generous that they give it away. I've been fortunate with many who have lemon trees and seem to have a continuous supply.

So, recently with a big box full of lemons I went a bit crazy and made quite a few "lemony" things. I apologize for my terrible and improper way of sharing recipes, but I hope the main idea comes through.

I started with preserved lemons. I mostly went by memory of what my mom and friend did. There are lots of recipes out there and it seems like I mostly did what they all say too.

Cut lemons into quarters but not all the way. Pack in with coarse salt. I buy mine from the Asian stores and this one was particularly larger. I put some on the bottom and sprinkled some on the top as well. Within hours I noticed the juices come out.

I did "zest" some of them, and by zest I used a julianne cutter on some of them.

A week later it looked like this. I did end up adding another two into the jar.

I also used the zest to make two other items.

Candied lemons which I just cooked down in sugar and a tablespoon of water. Unfortunately, I cooked it too long and the sugar solidified after it cooled. So, it was perfect to use in recipes. I used it when I made bread pudding

Current and Candied Lemon bread pudding.
Left over baguette
handful of currents
candied lemon peel
honey or sugar (as you like)
milk
eggs (I used 3)

Mix the wet ingredients (you can warm the milk and temper the eggs if you'd like), then add the broken bits of bread and let soak 10 min. I added the lemon and currents and let soak another 20 min mixing occasionally.

Bake 350 till tops turn golden and liquid is mostly absorbed. (It will puff up so leave some space. I did mine in the toaster oven which is why the tops got a bit burned!)

The other thing I made with the zest was lemon salt.
I mixed the zest with a handful of salt and put in a shallow cookie sheet (toaster for me). I put in on the lowest setting for about 20 min and then left it out for 1-2 days to dry out. There is also a good recipe on Sunset

The left is my salt and on the right is Hawaiian pink salt.

I used this salt as a garnish when I made lemon risotto in the pressure cooker.

Lemon Risotto with Lemon Salt and Truffle Oil
2 cups Arborio rice
5 generous cups of chicken stock or water
salt (if your stock is homemade and has no salt)
Juice of a lemon or two (depending on the size) About 1/4 cup
Zest of a lemon

Add all in pressure cooker and heat and stir without lid till bubbling.

Mix well and close. Once the pressure cooker starts time it for 6 min. Turn off and let it sit till all the steam is gone (about 15 min for my old one). Wait a bit longer, and then mix it quickly a few times. This really helps the starch come out and thicken like risotto should be.

Mix in 1 tsp olive oil or butter and lemon salt. Taste and add salt (regular or lemon) as needed.

Serve with a drizzle of truffle oil on top and a garnish of salted lemon zest. I also served it with the two salts on the side.

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