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Cut cucumbers (skin-on) into spears or slices. Place in a large sealable bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for 2 – 3 days. Enjoy!

The kids & I only just made these today, so they still have 1.5 – 2.5 days left to marinate, but man oh man, they smell so good already, and look so FRESH, I just had to share the recipe! Note: I only had mini cukes available, so I halved the recipe (hence the small bowl in the photo). 

Posted: Aug 29 2009, 21:39 by kelly | Comments (2) |

Filed under: Natural Living | Recipes

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I spent a quite a bit of time rearranging & reorganizing my childrens’ play area yesterday. In the process, I realized that my children have, in their combined not quite 5 years, managed to amass a LOT of toys.  The reason for the reorganization was my intent to move towards a more Montessori approach at home, to more closely follow what they encounter at school (more to come on this, in a future post), which will facilitate more independent choosing of work (play).  Perhaps put more simply: to make sure they can see & reach everything they do want to play with; and to get rid of things that don’t get played with.

The process of slimming down the toy area got me thinking about how the simplest things usually make the best toys. For example, today, we spent the better part of an hour with handmade-by-grandpa blocks, a dozen matchbox cars, and a handful of various miniature animals & little people gotten at a garage sale.  We built block roads with block traffic lights that underwent matchbox traffic jams and road construction, and a block & mini animal zoo with a little people picnic area & monorail. Go, imagination!

In straightening, I realized that some of the most-used toys we have also happen to be the least-expensive, and most-versatile toys (aside from books or arts & crafts – but those are different animals altogether): blocks, Legos (easily purchased used), matchbox cars, and decks of cards.  I discovered several underused decks of cards at the bottom of a box, and it brought back good memories. As a kid, we loved card games. My mom would teach us the rules, give us a deck, and we’d all play for hours. As an adult, Adam & I have played with our friends throughout the years – everyone knows how to play at least ONE card game, right?

This all got me thinking about how with one simple deck of 52 cards, you can really do so much: Go Fish, Memory, Crazy 8s, Old Maid, War, Rummy, Solitaire, Hearts, Poker, Back Alley (Bloopers), and the list goes on…   not to mention 52 card pick-up (haha), 3 card monte, magic tricks, or building houses out of cards. 

Since cards are so inexpensive, versatile, and ubiquitous, it really makes me wonder why these decks have been buried at the bottom of a bin, instead of front & center on our toy shelf!  So, I’ve decided to brush up on my kids’ card game skills with a deck of cards, and start playing more often with the children. My favorite card game has to be one called Bloopers (which, as a complete aside, I looked up online is most closely related to a game called Back Alley Bridge [traced back to WWII].  Here’s an outline of the rules & variations, if you’re interested – GREAT game: Back Alley), and I want my children to develop their own favorite card games.  Its a great skill to have, to be able to pull out a deck of cards, in whatever situation you’re in, and start playing with someone – cards can transcend age, gender, language… and teach turn taking, patience, forethought, strategy, and non-violent competition (alright, Rounders aside).

I’ve always brought along a deck of cards whenever we travel, but I’ve now decided to start carrying a deck of cards in my purse for everyday boring & quiet-situation use (i.e. waiting rooms, brother sleeping in car).  Here’s the deck I’ve chosen for the kids, because once you’re finished whatever card game you’re playing, the pictures open up fun discussions & imagination play: Animals of the World 

So what are your favorite card games? I’d love to hear – please leave a comment.  Thanks for reading!

Posted: Aug 26 2009, 10:28 by kelly | Comments (0) |

Filed under: Children

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(Makes about 15 - 18 small cookies; so adjust up as necessary)

4 Tbs of butter (or substitute coconut oil, margarine, etc. & voila, vegan cookies!), softened

1/4 + 1/8 cup of dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup apple butter (could use applesauce too, but the spice is nice)

1/2 cup + 2 Tbs of white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt (use only if not using salted margarine)

1/2 cup ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Beat butter & brown sugar together until creamy. Add vanilla & apple butter, beat some more.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, and mix until all ingredients are blended.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet (I recommend using parchment paper!)

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes & serve warm.

I've been tweaking this recipe for a few months & finally decided to write it down.  I think its reached the point of ultra-deliciousness, but I'm always open to suggestions.  So, if you make these, please comment & let me know what worked, or what you'd do differently!

Bon appetit!

Posted: Aug 23 2009, 23:45 by kelly | Comments (0) |

Filed under: Natural Living | Recipes

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 UPDATE!  Congratulations to our lucky winner April @MagicDandelions! Thank you everyone for your interest & please visit again in the future for more giveaways!

I thought I’d start off the weekend right by giving away a brand-new, right off the shelf copy of one of our kids’ favorite puzzles; the Geometric Shapes Maze By Melissa & Doug. You can check out the puzzle maze, right here on our SeriousPuzzles.com site:

A great educational wooden puzzle; it reinforces basic color & shape recognition (shape names are printed on the puzzle), as well as developing fine motor, patience, independent work, sequence, and matching skills.  Our daughter’s favorite way to use this is to challenge me to mix it up the “most” and see how fast she can “unmix” it. A great time, all around! 

Melissa & Doug puzzles are crafted by hand using non-toxic paints, and meet or exceed all U.S. toy testing standards.

Would you like a copy of this fantastic puzzle maze?

Here’s how to get one:

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TO ENTER:

Please visit SeriousPuzzles.com.  Leave a comment on this blog; tell me one thing you learned about us or which puzzle you really loved on our site!

EXTRA ENTRIES: (Don’t forget to leave a comment for every extra entry you complete!)

1.  Sign Up For the Serious Shops Newsletter  (please send us a separate email to info@seriousshops.com letting us know you signed up)

2.  Tell me a product from one of our Serious Shops that you would like to see as a giveaway in the future.

3.  Follow Serious Shops on Twitter

4.  Follow me on Twitter & Tweet this giveaway (you can do this once a day!)

Giveaway is open to US Residents only. Contest will end on August 31st at 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random and will be announced here on http://www.seriousshops.com/blogs/ & emailed directly. Winner has 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Posted: Aug 21 2009, 15:30 by kelly | Comments (18) |

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