Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Sharing Healthy Recipes






Sharing Healthy Recipes: Lacto-fermentation & getting good probiotics into your body
by Kate Skogen 

Lacto-fermentation!? What? Fermenting veggies is something I learned how to do this year and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s easily my favorite way to spend 20 minutes in the kitchen. And if you know me, I do not enjoy cooking. But I know that one of the best things I can do is eat well and feed my family well. Fermented foods is the next step beyond yogurt and your daily probiotic supplement. 

“It may seem strange to us that, in earlier times, people knew how to preserve vegetables for long periods without the use of freezers or canning machines. This was done through the process of lacto-fermentation. Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria” -Weston A. Price Foundation,http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/lacto-fermentation/
Fermented foods are one of the greatest ways to obtain probiotics, alkalize your body, digest your foods, increase your B vitamins, and destroy bad bacteria, viruses, and yeast. Fermented foods pack a powerful punch of live cultures that many people credit for improved gut health immunity, and skin health.
This summer I’m going to delve in sauerkraut, kimchi, and I’m going to ferment every summer veg I can. My favorite easy way to start is with carrots. You can’t mess this up. They’re so easy and yummy. 

GINGER CARROTS

Fill quart jar with carrot sticks (no need to peel). Super fill the jar because you don’t want the carrots floating to the top.  Chop up some fresh ginger and place in jar (more like “shove” in jar.  Add a 1 tsp of salt and ¼ cup cultured vegetable juice.
If this is your first time, don’t worry about adding cultured veggie juice, just add an addition teaspoon of salt.
Fill with water to cover.  Leave 1 inch at top. Check the water and make sure it’s about as salty as the ocean. Add more salt if necessary.
Let sit room temp for at least 4-7 days. Check your sticks daily and when they’re yummy, stick them in the fridge. Technically, they’ll last for months in the fridge, but we eat ours in a week or so! 
Garlic Carrot Pickle Variation: Omit ginger, replace with slices of garlic.

Here’s a great recipe for pickles, too… our other favorite: http://www.johnhicksmd.com/garlic-dill-pickles/
Want more? Check out Sandor Katz’s Fresh Air interview:http://www.npr.org/2012/06/13/154914381/fermentation-when-food-goes-bad-but-stays-good

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Painted Easter Eggs


Painted Easter Eggs

Easter is right around the corner!  The girls are getting excited and insisted that we do an Easter craft this week.  So, we decided to paint some eggs . . . paper eggs.  You will need paint in a variety of colors, white paint, Q-tips, paper plates or plain paper, scissors.  We began by cutting out egg shapes from the paper plates.  I made a template and used that to trace multiple eggs.  Alexandra enjoyed tracing and cutting out the egg shapes too. Then, we put a variety of paints in an ice cube tray, adding some white paint to each mixture to make the colors pastel.  The girls enjoyed mixing the paints to see the resulting pastel color.  After they got their desired colors, they began to paint their eggs using the Q-tips.  Alexandra experimented with polka dots, straight lines and squiggles.  Margo enjoyed painting a Michigan-themed egg with yellow and blue, appealing to her dad's alma mater.  Allow the eggs to dry.  Beautiful.

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Rainbow



Rainbow

On a family drive recently, we witnessed the most beautiful rainbow!  The colors were vibrant and the arc of the rainbow was full.  It was amazing!  And, with St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I knew we had to do a rainbow craft.  You will need tissue paper in the rainbow colors, glue, water, a paintbrush, white construction paper, and a pencil.  Begin by cutting the tissue paper into small pieces, no larger than an inch square.  I placed each rainbow color in its own container for easy gluing.  Mix glue with a splash of water, be careful not to use too much water as it will soak the paper.  For my older daughter, Alexandra, I drew a rainbow with 7 arcs, one for each color of the rainbow.  For my three year old, Margo, I drew one large arc.  We talked about the colors of the rainbow:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  Alexandra carefully painted the glue mixture on the outer arc and placed the red tissue paper on it.  When she finished the whole arc, she painted the glue mixture on top of the tissue paper.  Be careful because the tissue paper might bleed.  Alexandra then continued with the next arc and filled it with orange tissue paper.  She repeated the process with each color of the rainbow.  Margo, on the other hand, placed her colors randomly around the large arc, being careful to paint the glue mixture on top of the tissue paper too.  When finished, we let the rainbows dry.  Then, we cut out our rainbows and taped them on our window.  Who knows, maybe we will find leprechauns and a pot of gold on St. Patrick's Day?!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Monday, March 10, 2014

Puppet Theater







Puppet Theater

Children love to play with puppets!  Puppet play allows children to think creatively, stimulates the imagination and encourages story telling and retelling which are important literacy skills.  We decided to create our own puppet theater to make playing with our puppets even more fun. You will need a tri-fold display board, a ruler, and a box cutter.  We bought a red display board for our theater, but you could paint yours whatever color you want.  I picked up some chalkboard paint too because I thought it might be fun to be able to write the title of the play on the board. Measure a 20 inch by 14 inch rectangle on the middle panel of the display board.  Cut out with the box cutter.  You could embellish the theater with curtains, if you like.  But, I know nothing about sewing, so that was out if the question.  Right away, the girls grabbed some puppets and began putting on a show.  My older daughter, Alexandra, is interested in fairy tales so we found some fairy tale printables online, colored and cut them out.  We then glued them on to craft sticks.  She really enjoyed retelling her favorite fairy tales in the puppet theater, especially Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  This activity was just-right!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Thursday, February 27, 2014







Nonstandard Measurement

As we were enjoying a lovely morning drawing outside, the girls started tracing their feet.  I thought this was a great opportunity to explore nonstandard units of measurement . . . the teacher in me embraces authentic educational opportunities!  You will need construction paper, markers and scissors.  We started by tracing our feet and cutting them out. We labeled the feet with our names and right away the girls were comparing the size of their feet.  "My foot is bigger than yours," Alexandra remarked.  We also labeled the left and the right foot.  Of course, they wanted to trace their hands and cut them out too.  We labeled those as well.  Then, I asked the girls to find five items that were smaller than their feet and five items that were bigger than their feet. They had a great time wandering around the yard, exploring and testing objects. They each returned with ten items and showed me the five objects that were smaller than their feet and the five objects that were larger than their feet.  They were both so proud of their findings!  My older daughter, Alexandra, then wanted to measure how many "feet" our bench was in length.  I asked her to estimate or make her best guess before she measured.  She estimated 12 of Alexandra's feet. Then, she started lining up her feet and found that it measured 7 of Alexandra's feet and nearly 8 of Margo's feet!  What a great way to make math fun!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Olympic Ring Toss


Olympic Ring Toss

We are getting in the spirit of the Olympics around here!  And, this is the perfect activity when you are cooped up indoors due to the weather, as we were today.  You will need six sturdy paper plates, a paper towel roll, red, yellow, green, blue and black paint, paintbrushes, scissors and tape.  We began with a discussion of the Olympic Games.  We brainstormed winter sports and I was surprised by how many winter sports the girls could name, especially given that we live in California. Cut out the middle of five paper plates. These will be your rings.  Tape the paper towel roll on to the remaining paper plate.  I cut small tabs in the bottom of the paper towel roll and used a fair amount of tape to keep it upright.  Paint each ring in the Olympic colors using the red, yellow, green, blue and black paint.  Paint the base however you would like.  Alexandra painted the paper towel roll with blue paint and Margo painted the plate with black paint. Teamwork!  Allow to dry. Set up the base on the floor and stand a few feet back. Toss the rings and have fun!  USA chant is optional!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Lunar New Year


Lunar New Year

We are excited to go to a Lunar New Year party this weekend to celebrate the Chinese holiday with friends.  In preparation for the party, we read a few books that celebrate the Chinese culture.  The girls became fascinated with dragons, so we thought it would be fun to make a dragon craft.  You will need an egg carton, paint (red, orange, yellow and black), paintbrush, googly eyes, red paper, glue and scissors.  Begin by cutting the bottom half of the egg carton in half, lengthwise.  This will be the dragon's body.  Cut one cup off, to be used as the dragon's head.  Paint the dragon's body and head, using the red, orange and yellow paint.  My girls liked to mix all of the colors together.  Paint the inside of the dragon's head black.  Allow the paint to dry.  When dry, attach the dragon's head to the body with glue.  Add goggly eyes to the top of the dragon's head.  Cut a dragon's tongue from the red paper and glue to the inside of the dragon's mouth.  Gung Hey Fat Choy!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

Monday, January 20, 2014

A Good Reminder about Using Cell Phones around your Children

Blog Post

A Good Reminder about Cell Phone Use

Does anyone feel like they need to just put their cell phone down once and for all? Unfortunately, I feel this way sometimes. By chance, I just came upon this great article about cell phone use when with your kids. I thought that we could all use a reminder about this in the day and age of addictive cell phones.... miniature computers at our fingertips every second of the day. It's just too easy to access information with smart phones. I hope this article resonates with you all as much as it did with me.

Want to be a Better Parent? Hang Up the Phone
[ 28 ] August 5, (AD) 2013  | Brandon Vogt

About once a week, my wife and I take our kids to a local indoor playground. The scene is pretty consistent: dozens of kids running around, screaming chaotically, in a place indistinguishable from an orangutan exhibit during the apocalypse.

But something else strikes me each time we go. After setting our kids loose, I glance around at the other parents and almost to a person, each one sits in the same position. They lean forward with their head bent down, eyes glued to a small screen, fingers tapping quickly as if they were playing a miniature piano.

Despite the fact that the most wondrous creatures in the world are zig-zagging and tumbling mere feet away, their attention is locked onto their iPhones. In fact, one day I was sitting next to a mom who was playing Space Invaders on her phone for half an hour. Her son came up to her several times, tugging on her forearm and begging for her to watch what can only be described as a mix between Irish dancing and karate, but she waved him off again and again.

Because she was too busy. Too busy with Space Invaders.

Now I’ll admit that I’ve done the same thing many times. I’ve ignored my kids in favor of cell phones and computers. In fact, I remember one day I was so absorbed in writing an email, that I didn’t even notice my son who kept pulling on my forearm, begging me to play. Whether we’re talking about television, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or text messaging, I’ve chosen all of it over my kids at some point.

However in the past few months, I’ve tried to turn things around. I’ve learned an important key to being a good parent in today’s world:

Hang up!

This short but difficult command can be the hinge of quality parenthood. For example, picture yourself pulling in your driveway after a long day at work. There are two ways you to enter your house. One way is to open the door mired in a phone call, casually waving off the kids as they run to you. Another, however, is to walk in, fully present, ready to play and laugh and listen. If you choose the first way, you signal to your kids that a phone call is more important than them. If you choose the second way, you show, even without speaking, that nobody else matter more.

Now hanging up can be difficult. Sometimes there are calls you just have to take or emails that must be sent right away. But if you need a couple more minutes to finish a call, you might consider parking somewhere else for a few minutes to wrap it up. Sure, you may get home a couple of minutes later than planned, but you’ll be present to your kids from the moment you arrive.

Another way I make sure I’m off the phone is to not accept any phone calls on the drive home. If you pick up a call, you’ll likely continue it. On those rare occasions when I do answer, though, I politely wrap it up as I enter the neighborhood, saying, “Well, I’m just pulling up to the house and the kids are waiting outside…” If you’re talking to a family member or friend, they’ll get the hint.

No child ever says to his or her dad, “You spend way too much time with me! Why don’t you take a couple hours to fiddle with your iPhone or pop off some emails?” But many children grow up wishing their dad or mom had paid more attention to them.

So when you’re talking with your kids, turn off your phone. When it’s time for dinner, put your devices away. If you’re at the park, the playground, a restaurant, or church, choose to unplug.

Pocketing your phone and closing your computer are simple things to do, but they’re some of the most powerful ways to show your kids how much you truly care for them.
 
 
Originally posted at fathersforgood.org



Activity of the Week from Children's Ed Committee

Lego Land

We are big into Legos at our house.  Big!  My girls like to build using Lego sets and then play with their creations.  They rarely take them apart to build other things or rebuild.  Consequently, our house is teeming with Lego creations.  We thought it would be fun to build our very own Lego Land.  You will need Legos, large paper and markers.  We began by laying a large piece of paper on the floor.  The girls had various buildings and houses, as well as vehicles.  We noticed that they had beach vehicles and accessories, as well as mountain vehicles and accessories (from the Lego Advent Calendar).  So, we drew a beach scene and a mountain scene on the large paper.  The girls were having a hard time working together on one paper, so we decided to make two lands, Alexandra-land and Margo-land.  They connected the lands with a Lego bridge.  Problem solved!  The girls enjoyed playing on their very own Lego Lands.  They even added more details to their scenes as they played.  Fun!

Kara Tuohy
MW2s and MWF

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