Fall Nature Walk

October 15, 2012 by

Inspired by the children’ books Leaf Man and Leaf Jumpers, we went on our first fall nature walk this year. Excited, the kids gathered their beach buckets and we headed down our neighborhood streets in search of fall artifacts. They picked up twigs, cones of various sizes and leaves of different colors and shapes. It was just a fun time of observing signs of autumn. As we walked, we had conversations about fall. Buddy saw a tree with leaves that hung down low, and he asked me if it’s a willow tree. It was neat to see them put their book knowledge into real life experiences. Below are some pictures of our walk and projects that we made with our findings. We tried to glue our leaf animals together, but that didn’t work because the leaves were all dried and uneven, so I told the kids that we’ll have the nice pictures for memory and they were all fine with that.

Buddy’s bird

Chicco’s trying to make a butterfly.

Mei’s butterfly that Buddy made for her.

Buddy asked for pipe cleaners for his pine cone spider.

If you’re interested in some great fall books for children, read 10 Fall Books for Children.

What fall activities does your family enjoy? Please share in the comments.

Filed Under: Crafts, Fall, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: ,

No-Carve Pumpkins

October 11, 2012 by

My three kids love crafts, so what better way to celebrate this pumpkin season with some fun pumpkin crafts. I bought some mini pumpkins and provided them with some craft material and here’s what we came up with.

Materials: Pipe cleaners, school glue, googly eyes, scraps of paper, strings, foam stickers or whatever leftover craft material you have at home will work.

I squeezed out some glue on a piece of scrap paper and using strips of scrap papers, they applied glue as they needed. Buddy cut out mouths and noses out of the green construction paper for everyone. But Mei decided to just glue googly eyes all over her pumpkin. Buddy added some arms to his pumpkin with pipe cleaners. The boys wanted some hair for their pumpkins, so I untwined some gardening strings and hot glued some hair for the boys. If you have never worked with a hot glue gun, it gets pretty hot, so please be careful when working with young children.

Here’s a little girl pumpkin that I made with googly eyes, black permanent marker for nose and mouth and gardening twine for braid.

Do you have a favorite craft for the fall season to share. Please post in the comment section.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With:

10 Fall Books For Children

October 10, 2012 by

Fall is upon us! The air is cooler. The days are shorter. And what a better way to usher in the season than to curl up and enjoy some great fall books. Here’s a list of ten childrens’ books that I have found that help us appreciate this time of year. Hopefully these books will spark you and your family excitement about this season of harvest. I was able to find most of these books in our local library. I’ve also linked them to amazon.com for those of you who prefer to purchase them.

 

Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson

I love the layout of the photographs in this book. They are bright and just beautiful. In addition to the great descriptions, this book is excellent on learning the life cycle of pumpkins. I highly recommend it.

 

How Many Seeds in a pumpkin? By Margaret McNamara

A great book not only on pumpkins, but for introducing different ways of counting. This book is about a little boy who really disliked being the last one in line because his teacher, Mr. Tiffin, always makes his students line up by size. One day, Mr. Tiffin brought in three pumpkins and asked his students to estimate the number of seeds in each pumpkin. Everyone thought Charlie’s smallest pumpkin would have the least number of seeds.  But to everyone’s surprise, the smallest pumpkin had more seeds than its bigger counterparts. As a result, Charlie learned that it’s okay to be small. I love the diversity of the students presented in this book. Among them, six were girls and four were boys. They seemed to be ethnically balanced. Very fun illustrations as well.

The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

This book is great for Christian families that wish to bring the Christian perspective to Halloween.  While it’s written for children with pictures, this book creatively presents a Christian message. For this reason, it’s a story for any age. The book tells of a farmer who turns a pumpkin into a glorious sight. In the same way, God can turn us into a new creature, full of light, shining for Him.

The seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons

A great book to illustrate the changes in an apple tree during the four seasons. Arnold takes the readers through the seasons and shows the types of activities he does with his tree. An excellent book for your apple or season unit.

The very best pumpkin by Mark Kimball Moulton

This story is about a boy, Peter who lived with his grandparents, Mimi and Papa on a farm. One day, Peter discovered one little pumpkin that was all alone among the weeds. Every day, Peter took great care of this puny little pumpkin. Then there was Meg, a new neighbor who had been watching Peter tending to his lonely pumpkin. This is a sweet story of patience, friendship and sharing. Pictures in this book are brightly colored and fun to look at. We also love the to-grow-your-own-very-best-pumpkin guide at the end of the book. My kids wanted to grow their own pumpkins next year so guess we’ll be revisiting this book again next spring.

Leaf jumpers by Carole Gerber

Wonderful book to teach children about fall leaves. The illustrations are outstanding with great descriptions of different types of leaves. My kids smiled when they heard what the children did with the leaves in the book. It reminded them of some of the things they did with the leaves too. It also inspired my kids to learn the different trees: birch, willow, basswood, etc. In the back of the book, the author provided some facts for further learning of leaves. Overall, this is a great book for your fall book basket!

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

This book has lots of beautiful pictures of fall leaves. It portrays leaves as a man, traveling where the wind takes him. Throughout the story, as a result of the wind, different leaves come together creating different animals. My big boy who loves making things took to this book. He’s really looking forward to collecting various leaves and making his rendition of leaf animals. Great companion for leaf art projects.

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano

A friend gave us this book as a gift and it’s one of my kids’ favorites. The excellent wording and silly pictures will make your kids and adults giggle and laugh. Turkey doesn’t want to be the Thanksgiving meal, so he tries to disguise himself. Turkey is happy in the end as the family enjoys an unusual Thanksgiving dinner. A fun book!

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

Apple Farmer Annie has an orchard full of apples. From applesauce, to apple muffins, to selling her harvest at the farmers’ market, Farmer Annie shows us what she did with her apples. A simple and straight forward book with colorful pictures.

Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson

The family celebrates this season by working together to make the first batch of applesauce. Excellent, detailed descriptions of how the applesauce was made and the team work of the entire family help us visualize this delightful story. A great story for apple season.

 

What are some of your favorite children’s fall books? I’d love to hear what you and your kids are reading. Please share in the comments.

 

Filed Under: Children's Book List Tagged With:

Papaya Salad in Raw Ginger Vinaigrette

October 4, 2012 by

I love the Vietnamese style papaya salad so when I saw this raw ginger vinaigrette, I couldn’t resist not trying it out. This delicious marriage of raw ginger and almond dressing is packed with tons of protein and other nutrients. Did you know that ginger has lots antioxidants and cancer-fighting properties? Click here to read more on ginger. This salad is so nutritiously dense that it can be eaten either as a stand-alone meal or served as a side dish. I’ve done both.  I’ve served it as a light lunch one day and my three kiddos were totally satisfied. I’ve also added some shredded chicken to it to make my meat-loving husband happy. Everyone agrees that this is definitely a repeater in our household!  Here’s what I did. Recipe adapted from Shape.com.

Ingredients for Ginger Vinaigrette:
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 tablespoons fresh peeled and chopped ginger
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
3 tablespoons tamari (a gluten-free soy sauce)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 small garlic cloves
1/4 Jalapeño pepper with seed (remove if you can’t take the spiciness)
Directions for Ginger Vinaigrette:
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Add more water if you prefer a thinner dip/sauce.

Directions for salad:
Using a Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler (or any julienne peeler), I julienned a zucchini, carrot, and ½ green papaya, covered, and set aside in fridge. When we were ready to eat, I drizzled some ginger vinaigrette on it. Lastly and optional, sprinkle some raw almond slices, cashews or your favorite nuts.

The julienne peeler that I use is called the Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler.

Here’s a close-up picture of the salad. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe could easily be replaced with peanut butter. I love peanuts with bananas, peanuts on bread, and peanuts as my midnight snack. Peanuts have health benefits in themselves, however, peanuts is one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops. They are often contaminated with a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin.

Do you have a favorite version of ginger vinaigrette, or green papaya salad recipe? Please share in the comments.

References:

Ginger Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Cell Growth

Nutritional value of ginger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger

http://www.openeyehealth.com/2011/05/dangerous-mold-in-peanut-butter

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aflatoxin.php

Filed Under: Salads Tagged With:

Brown Rice Chicken Porridge in a Crockpot

October 1, 2012 by

Do you have a favorite dish when you’re sick or have a cold?  Growing up, chicken porridge or congee  was my comfort food. In Chinese, it’s called Jook. Whenever I had the sniffles or any sign of a sore throat, I could be sure that my grandmother would lovingly serve me a bowl of porridge. Just thinking about it brings back fond memories of my grandmother’s cooking. Mmmm… I could remember the fragrant smell of ginger as the porridge simmers in the pot. To this day, I could eat rice porridge any day, and when I do make it, I usually ended up eating too big of a bowl. And thus my comfort food!

I have to warn you that this is not a low-carb food if you’re on a low-carb or the Paleo diet.

This comfort food of mine is starting to be our family favorites.  Last weekend, when we came back from our church retreat, we were all exhausted and some of us were under the weather.   So, I turned to my kitchen and lovingly prepared one big crockpot full of brown rice chicken porridge. Boy, did it hit the spot! Manners aside, my little girl picked up her bowl with her two hands, and poured the last drops of the porridge into her mouth. Then when dinnertime came, my big boy asked if I were serving porridge. My brown rice chicken porridge was a hit! Here are the easy and quick steps:

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
8 quarts of homemade chicken broth or cans
shredded chicken
cilantro chopped
green onion chopped
dash of sea salt
ginger (peeled and cut into thin slivers)
ground white pepper (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Wash brown rice and put it in an 8-quart crockpot and add chicken broth to about 1 ½ inch from the rim of the pot.
  2. Turn crockpot on to low setting and let it cook for about 6 hours. I usually turn it on before I head to bed and when I wake up, my porridge’s ready for me.
  3. We like our porridge thin, so I usually have to add a little more hot broth or hot water before we serve it.
  4. While the porridge is hot, add chicken, cilantro, green onion and slivers of ginger to taste. Over here, we love cilantro and green onion so we put those in our soups generously. All my three kids also liked having the ginger in their porridge.
  5. Lastly, add a little white pepper (optional)

Note: We like our green onion softened by the hot porridge, so I usually put the green onion in the bowl first before I add the porridge.

If you were to order porridge at a Chinese restaurant, it usually comes with Chinese deep fried bread sticks, also known as Youtiao. They are also available at your local Asian supermarkets.

pictures credit

DIY chicken broth:

I generally use one to two chicken carcass and add enough water to cover it, about 8 quarts of water. Any kind of chicken bones would be okay. Add one small onion and five medium slices of ginger. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a very slow simmer for about 3 hours or longer. I’ve simmered chicken for 6 hours and what I got is darker, thicker, reduced chicken broth. When chicken broth is done, use a fine metal sieve and drain the liquid into a big bowl or another pot. Toss bones and whatever’s left in the sieve. This reduced stock is perfect for freezing when you’re not using right away. When you’re ready to use this broth, thaw and add more water to dilute.

 

For quinoa soup, read Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder. For a kale soup recipe, click Zuppa Soup.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Crockpot, Soup, Stew, and Chili Tagged With:
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