My mission, keep the boys entertained & out of each others way..for as long as possible today. Their constant play fighting, although apparently normal & a rite of passage, is simply doing my head in! It’s cute for all of 5 minutes before someone, usually Master 1, is in tears. Either because he is actually hurt or just to get my attention. Both with the same outcome for me – headache!
Determined to minimize that today I started with Toy Story 2, giving me at least half an hour to get myself awake, breakfast, coffee & emails checked. You know, the important stuff for first thing in the morning!
First up, jelly/jello, found the idea on Pinterest. Use it cut up & bury objects for kids to find. I managed to find 2 boxes of the stuff, circa 2010, in the back of the pantry (I must sort through my cupboards…) & made them up a couple of days ago. Took them out of the fridge early this morning so it wouldn’t be too cold on little fingers. I divided it up into 2 smaller bowls & added magnetic letters. Master 2 has been very fascinated with letters the last few weeks so this was perfect. I printed up 2 pieces of paper with the alphabet on it so he could match them up. I gave Master 1 the other sheet of paper & just let him get on with it. I wanted to see what he would do. Turns out, nothing much. Eating, scooping & dumping where the extent of it haha
Master 2 wasn’t too keen to get his hands dirty but he gingerly gave it a go before seeming to lose interest. I quickly gave him a spoon & yogurt tub in hopes he would explore further. He did, but it became more of a scooping & transferring game instead of the sensory one I had planned. Master 1 was keen to try it “nom nom” was all I could hear. Normally I wouldn’t mind but as this was circa 2010 stock I didn’t encourage it! But it kept them busy for 20 minutes so I could get some chores done around them. Tidying up was surprisingly quick & I have stored the remains in the fridge to see if I can tempt them again later today.
Next on my list…Almond Butter. I got the idea over at Chocolate Covered Katie. It’s literally almonds whizzed up in the food processor, for about 10-15minutes. The boys were intrigued to see how the whole nuts became powder & then into butter. I did cheat & add a tiny drizzle of oil in the interest of speed as it took awhile.
Master 2 even asked to taste it, which he never does when confronted with a new/different food! I’m guessing it was because I told him it was our own peanut butter (his all time favourite food group!)
He dug right in & even wanted more! Just in time for morning tea…crackers & almond butter. It was a hit, although rejected at lunchtime! I had 180g of whole roasted almonds which yielded 200g of butter, for $3.94. Peanut butter is about that for a 325g jar so works out a little pricier, but so much healthier &, dare I say, yummier too!
As the food processor was such a hit I decided to whip up 1 more thing…Naughty Girl Vegan Fudge, also frm CCK. I had 250g of shredded coconut so in it went to make the coconut butter, which takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r! Kids lost interest so I was left to finish it up(again, Master 2 tried some coconut but declared it yuck) I added 170g banana as I ended up with a little more coconut butter than in the recipe. In went the cinnamon but only 1teaspoon of cocoa powder. And I threw in some citrus cranberries for sweetness. Spread in a plastic wrap covered container & let set in the fridge. You can guess what I had for my morning tea!
Low & behold, the sun came out!Woohoo! An hour spent outside getting some vitamin D was just what we all needed. even though that included 3 loads of washing for me to hang, it was worth it. And before we knew it, it was nap time, a.k.a Mama’s quite coffee time, to blog….!
AfricanKiwi 