Happy Second Birthday Little Lana!

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Check out this adorable blog for fun back-to-school lunch box ideas!

You are what you digest, not what you eat!

"The Type of Food that Will Slow Nearly
EVERY Inflammatory Disease..."

Just with in the last year I have been taking a digestive enzyme and when I first started taking one, I could not believe the difference I felt in my overall health. The link below is an excellent article on digestive enzymes:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/21/enzymes-special-report.aspx?e_cid=20110821_SNL_Art_1

After I noticed a huge difference in my own health, I recently put Jake on a digestive enzyme after he complained about reoccurring stomach aches. Digestive enzymes can prove to be very helpful for gas, bloating, stomach aches, etc. He seems to be feeling much better. I also wanted to add this section below from the article that talks about how to boost your enzyme production through food. The article also said "Chewing gum" tricks your body into thinking you are going to digest something therefore you waste those precious enzymes on nothing. The first video in the link above does a great job of explaining the process.

"The very best way to get enzymes into your body is by consuming at least 75 percent of your foods raw. For many of you, you'll have to work toward this goal gradually.

While all raw foods contain enzymes, the most powerful enzyme-rich foods are those that are sprouted (seeds and legumes). Sprouting increases the enzyme content in these foods tremendously. Besides sprouts, other enzyme-rich foods include:

• Papaya, pineapple, mango, kiwi, and grapes
• Avocado
• Raw honey (the enzymes actually come from the bee’s saliva)
• Bee pollen
• Extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil
• Raw meat and dairy"

TEA WITH RUBY!

Maria and I decided to do an annual tea party play date. It was my first real "girly" play date and I LOVED IT!!! We got dressed up, drank tea (actually water!) ate heart shaped sandwiches, played games, did crafts and enjoyed some yummy cup cakes. I couldn't ask for a better morning. THANK YOU MARIA & RUBY!

Working on Fine Motor Skills!

Deviled eggs are my new favorite snack to make. The kids worked on peeling the eggs for a good 20 minutes. I actually got a basket of laundry folded while they were consumed with their yummy snack. They took such pride in peeling the eggs and preparing the filling. This is such a good/easy recipe for kids. Here is our deviled egg recipe below:

Ingredients

• 12 eggs
• 1/2 cup grape seed mayonnaise
• 4 slices bacon
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon organic mustard

Directions

1. Place eggs in a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, and cool. To cool more quickly, rinse eggs under cold running water.
2. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown or bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Crumble and set aside.
3. Peel the hard-cooked eggs, and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks to a small bowl. Mash egg yolks with mayonnaise, crumbled bacon and cheese. Stir in mustard. Fill egg white halves with the yolk mixture and refrigerate until serving.

Indoor Herb Garden

Here is my recent summer project! We actually got fruit from our garden this year and I have loved cooking with fresh herbs & vegetables this summer. I started to get sad thinking about the winter and my endless supply of basil and cilantro coming to an end. Every winter I spend so much money on organic fresh herbs that are in the worst condition. Usually they are wilted and brown by the time I actually cook with them. I decided to create my own indoor organic herb garden. I think it looks pretty too. Its been fun teaching the kids about the herbs and having them retrieve them for me while the mid-afternoon cooking madness is occurring.

A really simple recipe I have been doing is taking a handful of herbs, olive oil, onion, a garlic clove and salt and throwing all of it in a mini food processor. It has made wonderful marinades/rubs for chicken, fish, pasta, potatoes, etc.

Here are some good combos used with the ingredients above. I also like to squeeze fresh lemon or lime depending on the food. You really can't go wrong with these yummy ingredients.:

Fish: Dill
Chicken: Rosemary & Parsley
Pasta, Pizza and Sandwiches: Basil
Dipping sauce for bread: Mint and Basil
Soups: Parsley & Thyme


"Herbs and spices have more disease-fighting antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables. Here's how to rack up the benefits."

Here are a few examples:

Rosemary

Health Boost: Stops gene mutations that could lead to cancer and may help prevent damage to the blood vessels that raise heart attack risk.

Get Cooking: For a delicious chicken rub, combine 2 teaspoons rosemary leaves with 2 teaspoons seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves.

Oregano

Health Boost: A USDA study found that, gram for gram, oregano has the highest antioxidant activity of 27 fresh culinary herbs.

Get Cooking: To spice up tomato soup, add 3/4 teaspoon oregano to 1 can; add 1/2 teaspoon to 2 cups pasta or pizza sauce. Substitute 1 teaspoon dried oregano for 2 teaspoons fresh.

A Hiking/Bug Catching Adventure!

One of my teacher friends organized a weekly summer play date program. Each mom/teacher had to organize one play date for the entire group. Our dates have included bowling, swimming, bouncy houses, the farm, etc. Today's play date was a mini hike at a park and each kid got a bug catching kit to hunt for little critters. We didn't capture a lot of bugs but we had fun trying! :)

A Tent Party: CHECK!

One of our items on our summer-to-do list was an outdoor tent party in the backyard. We were all set to go until we got hit with some mid-day storms. We decided to move our tent party to the basement. We set up a huge 8 man tent and all slept downstairs last night. Even Aunty Nicole and Uncle Josh slept in the basement as well. It actually was pretty fun. Putting aside crabby kids today and a sore back, I really enjoyed snuggling with my little ones last night.

Summer Scholars Week Five: Cooking
(ps. Do you see my little taste tester lingering in the background?)

This week we are having fun with some very messy cooking adventures. I let each kid pick out a meal and a dessert that they could help prepare for the week. Ben picked out the rice krispie treats pictured above. To make them feel more official, we made our own aprons with black felt. I just cut out a large square and one really long one inch strip for the belt. I laid the strip on the top of the large square and folded the edge of the square over the strip and sewed it on. Then we just ironed on letters to spell out their name. The chef's hats are from Party City and conveniently came in a pack of four. The boys were really into the cooking but Lana was not! She just wanted to eat! :)

During the lesson, Lana decided to sneak off and dump out my new purchase of bra/bathing suit detergent all over my bedroom floor. I found her covered in the white powder and then had to make a call to poison control. I am happy to report the detergent was non toxic. Other than a huge mess and a minor distraction from our cooking lesson, she was perfectly fine.

Also, has anyone ever purchased the rice krispie treat measuring utensils and cook book? I recently saw the cooking set at Bed, Bath & Beyond. The little set was really great for practicing our measuring skills. I just subbed out the naughty marshmallows for the ones from WF and used brown rice cereal. They were so yummy!!