Our friend Katarina made this for her son’s room. So cute! Stay tuned – I’ll attempt my own version with a how-to posting in the near future…(with her counsel of course.)
She got the letters from Michael’s & JoAnne’s Fabrics. Then she applied the patterns to them & stuck them to the wall with double sided tape.
While we were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the wall, we noticed some little bags hanging on a hook. Book bags! She took The Hungry Caterpillar and made a bag of what they call “realia” (real stuff) to give her son a richer understanding of the story as well as some additional tactile and visual related stimuli. This is soooooo cool!! (And cute!) Would you buy this if it were sold on Etsy? I would!
First, you got this little caterpillar. He’s hungry. VERY hungry.
He eats through a whole lot of stuff!
And gets BIG!
Builds his cocoon and turns into a BEAUTIFUL
Butterfly!
Katarina: you rock!
Bea had nothing to do with this but she DID like this box.
This post is dedicated to my dear friend Meghan. She and Briar stopped by a few days ago. She’s my inspiration for the kale chips. How did she do it? She suggested, “You should try kale chips.” So I did.
G was watching college football so I thought I’d test these “chips” on him as we are eating healthier these days. Most of the time.
Kale. I used to be scared of kale. Not only did I not like the looks of it, but I didn’t know what to do with it. There are different kinds of kale. Some are bitter, some are curly, some are tasty raw & some aren’t. It was overwhelming! Lately though, I’ve been making dishes with kale and it’s really yummy & easy to prepare!
I looked at 4 or 5 recipes for the chips online and they were all the same basic idea:
Coat potato chip-sized pieces of kale in olive oil and bake. Salt to taste.
Mine turned out excellent. (Unlike some things I make which are not posted.) Here’s what I did:
Gathered ingredients:
INGREDIENTS
1 bunch kale (curly is recommended but any kind will do)
sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
I planned to use the olive oil in spray form so as to go sparingly on the fat but then I said, “What the hay!” and dumped olive oil in. You’ll see. I don’t recommend you do that.
**PREHEAT OVEN OR TOASTER OVEN TO 350**
1. Cut the thick stem out of each leaf.
2. Cut or tear stemless leaves into potato chip-sized pieces.
3. Wash the kale. I am one of those people who is too lazy to wash veg that I plan on cooking because I believe the heat will kill anything on it. But this time I obeyed and I did see some actual earth (dirt) come off. I used a spinner. You can just rinse in a colander and dry with a clean kitchen towel if you don’t have a spinner. But you probably knew that. I add details like that for people who don’t cook or get anxiety about not having all the kitchen tools.
4. Toss in olive oil. I rinsed out & used the spinner bowl to save on dishes! I HATE doing dishes but I love making food. So I try to be strategic. I dumped olive oil in so who knows how much I added? I know how much: TOO MUCH. I would use 2 tbsp next time. Toss to coat leaves.
How much did I pour in there? 2 cups?? A quart?
I tossed the leaves with salad tongs.
5. Spread on a cookie sheet. Some people suggest using parchment paper but since I don’t know what parchment paper is I ignored that advice.
6. Set timer for 12 minutes.
Did I really need a picture of the timer? Heck yeah!
7. See what everyone else is doing.
8. Remove to a plate with paper towels, salt to taste & enjoy right away!
Let’s see how the meatatarian liked them:
He’s a phony. I don’t trust him a bit. Let’s go to someone who can’t tell a lie!
She likes them!! She really likes them!
MORE!!!!!
These are really good but I could’ve eaten a lot more. I would make 2 bunches but they must be eaten right away!
Some alternatives:
1. seasoned salt instead of sea salt
2. soy sauce mixed with the oil instead of salt
3. a dash of balsamic vinegar before you pop in oven
ENJOY!!! If you have any variations on this please let me know! This recipe proves my belief that almost any veg tastes great coated in olive oil & baked. Stay tuned for Toaster Oven Brussel Sprouts…
The new printed Booby Bags came in and I was really excited to sell the first one to one of G’s colleagues. (Thanks, Linda!) I actually sold her a “boy” bag but here is a version of a “girl” bag. I can also do gender neutral!
What your bag includes:
- Canvas tote bag
- “Nursing Mother’s Companion” in my opinion, the BEST reference book for a nursing mom
- Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads (for sore newbie boobies)
- MotherLove Herbal Nipple Cream
- Organic Mother’s Milk Tea (to increase milk supply)
- An adorable newborn onesie hand-stamped by yours truly
- A high quality board book OR toy
- A handmade mini-blanky OR burp cloths
