Betty

Easy Pumpkin Carving Ideas

October 30, 2012 by Betty

No-carve pumpkin designs are definitely easier and cleaner than your carved ones, but with the right tools, carving a pumpkin is not too difficult.

Tools:

You should be able to find these at Walmart or Target stores. They even carry these carving tools at the Dollar Tree stores. Amazon.com also sells them if you prefer to shop online. I got these tools at the local dollar tree for…well…you guessed it…a dollar (no tax in Oregon).

Instructions:

1. Cut a hole in the top for the lid. Make sure to angle the saw inward so the pumpkin lid remains seated on top instead of falling through.

2. Scoop out the seeds and strings. My boys used their hands to pull them out.

3. Some people like to scrape out some flesh around where you’ll be carving to make the carving job easier, but, Bubba didn’t do that.

4. Using a washable marker, draw your design and carve. There are tons of free templates available online. But we wanted to make it simple and easy so we just used a washable marker and drew our own designs.

Here’s one design:

Just a two-teeth happy face.

Using his hands, Chico pulling out seeds and strings.

Over here, pumpkin carving is a family affair.

You noticed the little pumpkin got a round nose instead of the triangle one that I drew? Well, I changed my mind. So that’s the beauty of using washable markers. You can easily wipe off and redo your design.

Kitty and Happy Face sitting side by side.

As a companion to this activity, your family might like to read The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs . This children’s book is great for Christian families that wish to bring the Christian perspective to Halloween. To read the complete synopsis see my post on 10 Fall Books for Children. Another great book I highly recommend is How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara. A great way to introduce estimating and counting your pumpkin seeds.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Cinderella Pumpkins and More

October 29, 2012 by Betty

This past weekend I picked up two different varieties of pumpkins from my local farm stand that are great for baking. So I decided to have my photo session with Cinderella and Sugar Pie. I’ve also included some pictures that I took at a pumpkin patch. Hope you’ll enjoy them!

Cinderella pumpkin, great for baking.

Cinderella and Sugar Pie pumpkins, great for pies.

Left: Cinderella pumpkin, Rt. Back: Carving pumpkin, Rt. Front: Sugar Pie pumpkin.

Pumpkin patch with orange and white carving pumpkins.

Aladdin’s Turban Squash with its striped hat.

Ornamental Gourds.

For some fun and easy no-carve pumpkin ideas, click No-Carve Pumpkins. For other fun fall ideas, click Fall Leaf Rubbings, Fall Nature Walk, and Fruit Stamping.

Filed Under: Photos Tagged With: Gourds, Pumpkins, Squashes

Christianbook.com Online Free Shipping Code

October 25, 2012 by Betty

For a limited time you can get free shipping on orders $35 or more at Christianbook.com. I received the code below via my email and got permission from them to share it with you. If you enjoy shopping with them, one way to get the latest promotions and coupons is to sign up on their email list. By the way, I’m not getting any perks from those guys for sharing this with you. I had really good experiences shopping with them and just wanted to pass on the savings.

Follow these steps to complete your order:

Just place an order of $35 or more before 11:59 PM ET on Monday October 29, 2012, enter promotion code 388679, and choose standard shipping.

Let me know how it goes.

Filed Under: Coupons Tagged With: Christianbook.com

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

October 24, 2012 by Betty

My kids love going to Costco and New Seasons, our local whole foods store. Do you know why? It’s not for the prices and it’s certainly not for the selection. Yup, you might have guessed it, it’s for the food tasting stations. My three year old, Mei, reminds me every time that they have stuff for you to try. Well, on one occasion, we tried a quinoa black bean salad. After trying a few other versions and tweaking them, here’s my version of Quinoa Black Bean Salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups water
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked or 1 15-oz can black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted or 1 cup of fresh corn lightly cooked
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks (save seed content for juicing or smoothies)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (Optional)
¼ cup Italian parsley
3 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup diced red onion: (Optional)

Instructions:

Put rinsed quinoa, water and salt into pot and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer until quinoa absorbs all the water, about 12-15 minutes. Then remove from heat, covered and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a big bowl and let it cool.
While the quinoa is cooling, put chopped onion into lime juice and set aside if you’re planning to add onion. If skipping onion, leave the lime juice alone.
Mix together black beans, corn, tomatoes, jalapeno, parsley and oil into a big bowl.
When quinoa is cool, scoop into salad bowl with beans. Add cumin. At this point, add onion with lime juice or simply add lime juice if skipping onion. Mix well.
Add more sea salt and lime juice to taste.
Serve straight from the fridge or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Notes:

If your kids don’t eat spicy, split quinoa salad into two batches before adding jalapeno and the same rule applies to onions as well. If you prefer, 2 Tbsp chopped green onion could be used instead of onion.

Recipe adapted from New Season’s deli quinoa black bean salad.

Do you have your favorite version of quinoa black bean salad or other quinoa recipes? Do share them in the comments section because I love to try more recipes.

For quinoa soup, read Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder. New to quinoa? Check out my post How to Cook Quinoa.