The Mom Hood

Easter egg filler ideas for girls & tweens

Apr 022012

Easter is coming up in a few weeks (gasp!) and I’ve been on the prowl for fun Easter egg stuffers. We have this fun tradition of putting little things in Easter eggs that are NOT candy. Well, maybe one or two eggs have a Cadbury egg in them, but I like to think outside the…er…egg, and put fun stuff in, especially now that my daughter is a tween.

It can be a challenge to find fun things to put in the eggs, so I thought I’d share some of my successes over the last few years:

- Barbie doll clothes

- small LEGO sets spread across several eggs (and a tip for this – if you do multiple sets, you might want to color code the eggs. I do striped eggs for one set, and speckled for another, so she will know what goes with what)

- earrings – I stock up during Claire’s 10 for $10 sale and get the multi-packs of earrings so I can split it up and get even more eggs stuffed

- mini nail polish bottles

- scratch-off lottery tickets

- cold, hard cash. Or even change. She especially thinks it’s cool to get foreign money that we have leftover from our international travels. Finally, a solution for using all that darned change you couldn’t convert.

- Toobs – with items taken out of the Toob, of course.

Craft: Easy Easter DIY decorations – paper flower eggs!

Crafts 3 Responses »

Mar 262012

Emma and I had so much fun with our paper flower Christmas ball that we decided to make a version for Easter! They are so easy to make, and a little addictive.

Here’s what you’ll need:

-Paper flower scrapbook embellishments

-Quilting pins – we used the pretty colored ones

-Styrofoam eggs

Just take a quilting pin and place it in the middle of a flower, then push in. Difficult, huh? You can add a ribbon at the top like we did & hang it from a little tree if you’d like. Or put them in a pretty bowl and set on your table.

You can check out the Christmas project I did over here.

Maple sugarin’

New Hampshire Fun 2 Responses »

Mar 192012

Last week we had a chance to visit Stonewall Farm in Keene, New Hampshire to learn about maple sugaring! It’s been a fairly mild winter, and even though the sugaring season is just about over, we still had a great time and learned some fun facts.

We had the opportunity to meet some beautiful draft horses and to go on a hayride to see all the trees they tap in the forest.

I wanted to show you the beautiful trail we were on, with all the sap buckets on the trees. But, uh, this is what happens when you’re on a bumpy hayride and the horses start galloping just as you aim your camera:

The kids all got to try their hand at tapping a tree, which was really one of the neatest parts of the whole trip.

We learned that you’re deep enough when you see the white shavings coming out of the tree. Pretty nifty, huh? I think the maple trees in our yard better watch out next year. This is one little girl on a mission to get some sap.

Stonewall Farm has over 1100 taps, so they put the kids to work bringing in all that sap.

KIDDING.

There was also a lovely little farm store filled with maple goodness and other farm-fresh items. I just love that it was entirely on the honor system. So New Hampshire-like.

So, so pretty. We had such a great time and can’t wait to go back for more events there!

Fun for kids: cup and ball…er, washer game

Crafts 1 Response »

Mar 142012

Last week, we had the chance to go to a local party for the Girl Scouts 100th birthday. We had a lot of fun meeting other Girl Scouts and doing activities and crafts. One of the projects the girls got to work on was a cup and ball game made with a water bottle and washer. Emma’s enjoyed this so much that I thought it’d be fun to share how to make it.

Supplies:

Water bottle with cap, cut in half
String or yarn
Small metal washer
Scissors
Duct tape or electrical tape

Directions:

Cut yarn or string to 24″ in length. Poke hole in cap with scissors and string yarn through underside of cap; tie in knot and attach your tape to it to prevent it from falling out. Twist cap on, with the taped knot on the inside of the bottle.

Tie other end of string that comes from the top of the cap to the washer & knot securely. Washer should be hanging on outside of bottle.

Have fun!

Recipe: Peanut buttery peanut butter balls

Recipes 1 Response »

Mar 082012

I finally found a peanut butter that doesn’t make me sick with all its cross-contamination, and I’ve been on a major PB kick the last few weeks. I love my Sunbutter, but it’s nice to have some peanut butter once in awhile and make treats like Buckeyes and Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies. The other day I saw a pin for Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cookies, and knew I had to try them. I think I might have actually drooled on the keyboard just a little. A “cookie” that takes only a few minutes to prepare? Yes, please. I modified it slightly by adding in some peanut flour for an even peanuttier (is that a word?) taste, and woah. It’s like peanut butter bliss.

Peanut Buttery Peanut Butter Balls
adapted from this recipe

1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup raisins
salt to taste
1/8 cup peanut flour

Mix all together in food processor and form into balls. Refrigerate (if you can wait that long, though straight out of the food processor bowl is completely acceptable, just remember not to lick the metal blade). I threw a few into the freezer and enjoyed them cold, also. I can see this being a big treat on summer days, when you don’t want to heat up the house.

The best gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free, egg-free bean brownies!

Recipes 6 Responses »

Mar 052012

I’m always looking for amazing gluten-free treats that don’t use rice flour, since I have a rice intolerance. The other day I came across this recipe for bean brownies. I’d tried using chickpeas before in a brownie recipe, but it just didn’t turn out well. I noticed the addition of oatmeal to this recipe, and thought I’d give it a go. I modified it to be allergen-free and to eliminate the refined sugar. They came out delicious, as you can see from that first row of brownies that’s missing from the pan. I had to make sure they tasted ok before I put the recipe out there, right?

2 cups garbanzo beans (if using canned, drained & rinsed)
equivalent of 2 eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3 Tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (or, if you’re allergic to corn like I am, you can use the substitution listed here – it’s what I used in this recipe)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup gluten-free old fashioned oats, ground
3/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, add garbanzo beans, egg replacer & agave and pulse until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until just mixed.

3. Pour the batter into prepared pan, and smooth to even out in pan.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until done in center. Cover and keep in refrigerator. I find they tasted best when refrigerated overnight.

Snowed in!

New Hampshire Fun 4 Responses »

Mar 012012

Over the last few days, we’ve heard that there was a big winter storm coming. Considering this is one of the lightest winters on record, we were thinking it might be another Chicken Little scenario. You know. Where they warn us about the mountains of snow that we’re going to get, and then we get half an inch, or it turns to rain. Because that’s happened a lot lately. We believe that we are, in fact, entirely to blame for this. You see, we purchased a snowblower after the snow storm of October 2011. And haven’t really had to use it since.

This time they were spot-on, though. It started yesterday afternoon, as we were driving home from Concord, and hasn’t stopped. The final numbers predicted? 8-12″. I thought you’d like to see some photos of our blizzard:

This is the view from our front door. You can see how high the snow is piled on the railing. Beautiful, no?

And our backyard, as taken through the kitchen window. You didn’t think I was going to go out in this just to get a photo, did you?

We aren’t planning on leaving the house, just staying snuggly warm in front of the pellet stove and enjoying the quietness of a beautiful uh, March, day.

Elmer’s #GlueNGlitter Twitter Party on 3/1!

Uncategorized 4 Responses »

Feb 262012

It’s that time again – time for another #GlueNGlitter Twitter Party!

Join us to chat about science fairs, getting organized & spring crafting! We will share lots of useful ideas, and give away two (2) $25 Walmart gift cards, (2) $50 Walmart gift cards, and one (1) $100 gift card to Walmart during the party.

WHAT: #GlueNGlitter Twitter Party to share ideas and conversation with other crafty (and wannabe) crafty people! To top it off, we’ll make it easier for you to go get crafty with awesome prizes: $250 worth of Walmart Gift Cards!

WHEN: Thursday, March 1st from 1 pm – 2 pm Eastern

WHERE: Twitter via TweetChat or our custom TweetGrid and #GlueNGlitter hashtag

FOLLOW: Follow hosts @themomhood, @whipperberry

PRIZES: Walmart gift cards: 2 $25 GCs, 2 $50 GCs, 1 $100 GC

Fine Print: We will be giving away Walmart gift cards. Please RSVP using the linky below (enter the URL to your Twitter profile) to be eligible for a prize. All winners will be chosen using random.org from the RSVP link and winners must be present and participating in the party at the time that they are drawn as a winner. Open to US citizens only. Sorry!

Making changes: dairy-free

Uncategorized 5 Responses »

Feb 202012

I’ve mentioned before that I have adult-onset food allergies and have a slew of intolerances as well. Since I developed these issues when my daughter was 3, I was really hopeful that she would be fine. But, due to some health issues that have popped up, starting today we’re trying dairy-free.

Starting in December, Emma would wake up pretty early in the morning complaining of nausea. She would then get sick a few times, and feel fine. In fact, after a few of these episodes, she’d ask for potato chips. I took her to the pediatrician, who suggested that we try an antihistamine. We did, but she still had these episodes. My instinct is telling me that these episodes might be food-related, but the times it’s happened have really nothing in common food-wise. We decided to try dairy-free to see if it makes a difference.

We went to the health food store this weekend and stocked up on coconut milk, coconut milk yogurt, Daiya cheese and nutritional yeast flakes. We buy very little processed food just because of all my food allergies, so there isn’t that much change to our lifestyle.

Fortunately, Emma is familiar with food allergies because of what I go through. Still, it’s rough for a kid. We’re trying this diet for the next 3-4 weeks and hoping it makes some sort of noticeable improvement.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Crafts 1 Response »

Feb 142012

Are you doing anything special for Valentine’s Day? A few weeks ago, Emma had the idea to make some Valentines to bring to the local county nursing home. We made over 30 of them, and combined forces with her friend’s sister’s Daisy troop to deliver them. Here’s our stash:

We had a great time putting it all together and bringing it to the nursing home. Emma went around with the little girls, helping them pass out their Valentines, then went around with her friend to pass out the ones that she mae. One woman was so moved that she got up and hugged and kissed Emma.

At the end, as we were walking to our car, she told me that she wants to start volunteering there because “They were just so happy to have visitors.” We’re going to check into it and hopefully get something going.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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