Such Things

A Taste of Summer

I really cherish the seasons and the gradual changes that follow each one.  Of all the seasons, summer has to be my best.  A great summer day can simply be spent hanging out in the backyard, soaking in the sun, playing in the pool and enjoying creative time together.  Outside in the sun, you can get really painty and then wash off in the pool!

Here's a summer snack that I've been meaning to post about.  I found it in a great book called Babies and Toddlers Good Food.  It's in a cookbook typelist in my sidebar.  Make two layers of natural yogurt with a layer of blackcurrant and apple juice in between.  Freeze each layer one at a time.  I often cook out of kids' cookbooks because I like the photos and the kids usually like the food.  They often help me pick out the recipes themselves and love it!

 

 

 

We squeezed in two more days at Pt. Roberts this last weekend.

School starts tomorrow.  Miranda is starting a whole day in grade one and I am starting back tomorrow to teach one and a half days as well (grade 3/4).  I am feeling excited and ready, but still savoring as much of summer as I can. 

I added one of my favourite books about summer on my sidebar under children's literature. Another book which I read to my classes at the start of the year is a most beautiful book called the Cottage at Crescent Beach, by Anne Blades a wonderful Canadian author and illustrator.  It's out of print and on sale used for $182.00US.  It's reminds me so much of our Pt. Roberts days.  

A blessing to all of you and your young ones who are starting school this Fall!

Homemade Crackers

If there's one thing that kids love to eat, it's crackers. But I never feel that great about giving my children crackers because they are full of added starch, sugars, oil and other preservatives.

Have you ever heard of making your own crackers? When we were at the farm, Rachel made these whole wheat crackers from a recipe in the good, old Company's Coming series. This recipe is from Muffins and More. On a side note, I don't actually like most of the recipes in Company's Coming. I find them bland and uncreative, "add a can of this, a can of that", and for some reason she loves to use 1/8 tsp of various spices. However, Jean Pare does have many practical recipes in her various books, such as preserve recipes, breads and obviously, crackers!

The kids loved these crackers and I felt great about giving them crackers with healthy ingredients. If you can't read the recipe in photo above, check out this website with twenty cracker recipes.

Happy snacking!

Snack pack: Mini Muffins

This is a new category that I started to inspire myself by collecting nutritious, simple snack ideas to make my kids' snacks fun and healthy.

The story behind these muffins and the recipe are in my last post.

My kids love mini muffins, well, because they are mini!  Bite-sized and healthy.  Any muffin recipe will do, really.  Throw a couple in a snack pack with some fruit and it's a quick snack ready to go!  (and fun to make together!) 

Please share any snack ideas you might have here, or on my future snack pack posts.  I gratefully collect ideas from friends.  I'm looking for summer snack ideas now that school's out...