Chickpea Chocolate Chip Walnut Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cookies

Getting my kid to eat anything that isn't fruit or crackers is hard work. I keep trying, though, and here is one of my recent successes. Granted, it's dessert, but at least it has lots of good stuff in it besides chocolate. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) are an excellent source of fiber, protein, and iron. The many health benefits are described in better detail here. This recipe uses a whole can! Not only are these cookies packed with good stuff, but they're also gluten and egg free! I found the original recipe here. In the spirit of the season, I used pumpkin peanut butter because I CAN! But it's still delicious with plain pb and no nuts as described in the original recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 8oz can Chickpeas
• 5/8 cup Peanut Butter (the fewer ingredients the better)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt of your PB doesn't have any
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup walnuts (optional ) 

That would be my processor smoking from exertion 

Directions:

Before rolling vs after rolling

• Preheat oven to 350
• Rinse beans and pat them dry
• Grind all ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts in a food processor. 
• Be sure to scrape the sides and get it very smooth and creamy.
• Mix in chocolate chips
• With wet hands, roll into 2 inch balls and then smush flat.*
• bake 10-15 minutes

*Cookies will not spread or settle so how ever you put them in the oven is exactly how they'll come out. 

Thankfulness Book

Here's a fun Thanksgiving craft idea you can make with things you already have at home! It's a book made from brown paper bags. We made it with a holiday theme but the possibilities for personalization and materials are endless.

The idea was to make it look like a turkey, beak on the front and feathers sticking up around the back page, but my niece went her own direction with the idea and made fall leaves instead of feathers and the result was a precious peek into her sweet little world.


We cut out the feather/leaf shapes from empty boxes and packages headed for the recycle bin.The bright coloring and exaggerated images of every day items took on a unique pop-art look when we started deconstructing things. 
It was a great opportunity to discuss the topic of waste and recycling and the fun of finding ways to reuse and re purpose things we take for granted. Sure, we could have gone to the craft store for feathers and things, but it was much more fun to cut the shapes out of packaging we'd normally not take a second look at and turn them into something else. We also got to discuss the less obvious things we can be thankful for such as the box that keeps the Cheerios crunchy or the power that makes the toaster work for the Eggos.

Supplies:

• Brown paper lunch bags
• Empty food containers or waste paper for feathers
• Stapler
• Markers, paint, crayons, etc
• scissors

Instructions:

Little Brother got to make his own book

First decide how many pages you want your book to be.  

Stack the bags on top of each other and fold them in half.

Staple along the fold to make a spine.

Decorate!

Apple Chips

Apple chips! Delicious and easy, I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked. In just 4 easy(ish) steps, I made a satisfying, mostly healthful, portable snack.

Step 1: Buy Apples. Any kind will do. I used Honeycrisp.


Step 2: Slice and dice
 A mandolin would have made this extra easy, but I only had a mostly sharp knife. My chips weren't perfect and pretty, but they still tasted great. Slice them at about 1/16thinches.

Step 3: Flavorings!
I brushed mine with vanilla extract and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The Vanilla gave a slightly caramel flavor.



Step 3: Bake
 200 degrees for 90 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet, flip, 90 more minutes on the other side. Then let them sit overnight in your oven. The next morning I had delicious, portable, crunchy apple chips. 

Popsicle Stick Puzzle

Here's a fun, quick, easy craft even the most novice crafter can do. It's a puzzle made out of Popsicle sticks. There are so many ways to personalize this or make it themed. You can easily make this a quirky birthday invitation or thank you note. Use a photo for the puzzle and send it to Grandma. Even simpler, paint the sticks or color them with markers and then draw a simple shape or picture. Having a bag of popsicle sticks on hand is a great way to always have entertainment on hand for your littles. Even more fun, buy a box of popsicles and work your way through the cool treats to get to the craft sticks inside!

First, line up your sticks and decide how big your puzzle is going to be. Then either print out your image or paint the sticks. If you're using a printed image, glue it to the sticks and let it dry. I used glue sticks for the printed picture and elmer's for the photo. Then use an exact-o knife to slice and dice!

Thanksgiving Puzzle

Thank You Note Puzzle

I put the glue directly on the sticks for this one

I suggest writing your note parallel to the sticks to make the writing easier to print and to read. This way was a bit harder.

Use a ruler and exacto knife to make the cuts

Wouldn't that make a great birthday invitation!

Upcycle - 12 Ways to Reuse Packaging

We don't have a very big craft budget in our house so I sneak trips to Michael's for my own personal stock of paper, yarn, and glue which is not to be touched by the three year old. (haha, yea, right) My poor put-upon poopsie must fend for himself to fulfill his crafting needs. Using whatever we have on hand (not including Momma's stash) is very rewarding and can often be even more fun that having spent big $'s on something I thought he would love. (And it's totally brag-worthy and makes you look like a good parent)

You see, I've actually birthed a cat. 

Expensive specially designed store bought item just for me? Na, I'll just take the box, thanks. Insert grouchy emoticon here.

I'm slowly learning to keep a stock of used packaging materials and empty boxes hanging around. Think my house looks messy? Judge again! It's actually full of inspirational creativity inducing sensory play items, thank you very much. 

I've cataloged some of my favorite ways to reuse and upcycle the cardboard and plastic we consume. Eventually it will get recycled, but today-we play!

Using the packaging we get from our monthly subscription to Green Kid Crafts, I've come up with 12 ways to extend the life of the post-consumer products we accumulate. Thankfully, the packaging we get from Green Kid Crafts is very eco-friendly, using recycled boxes, labels, and envelopes for shipping, as well as plant based products and compostables wherever possible. But there are so many ways to keep using them even after they've transported our craft and science kits safely to us. 

1) Use it as packaging to send something to someone else!
The Green Kid Crafts kits come in zip-lock seal-able bags. Blow a puff of air in there and you've got the perfect cushion for getting valuables through the mail. Include a recipe card inside with a recipe for making ice cream in that very same bag! (See #2) The bags are food safe, so reusing them for snacks or other food items is a no-brainer.






2) Zip-lock baggie Ice Cream!
It's simple, it works, it's delicious! In case you hadn't
heard, it's been hotter than two goats in a pepper patch here in Southern California which also means they want you to use less a/c and fewer appliances to conserve energy. This is a fun way to pass the time waiting for the sun to go down, or the paint to dry, or the rain to stop if you live somewhere weather-ish. I got the recipe from 2 Little Hooligans , one of my favorite blogs to follow.

Recipe:
2 Tbs sugar
1 cup half&half (or heavy cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup coarse salt
Ice
pint sized ziplock (or your GKC kit bag)
gallon sized ziplock

Directions:
Put ice and salt in the bigger bag.
Combine the other ingredients in the smaller bag and seal it.
Put the smaller bag inside the bigger bag.
SHAKEY SHAKEY SHAKEY
It takes about 10 minutes to make delicious refreshing ice cream.
Consider rinsing off the smaller bag with cold water to get rid of as much salt as possible before you open it to avoid getting salt in your ice cream.






3) Cold packs
 There are three easy options here:

• frozen sponge
• gel pack
• dish soap -or-
• 1 part alcohol+2 parts water 

These are easy to hide in the back of the freezer until the next bonk or owie needs some attention

4) No-mess finger painting

Add two colors to your plastic bag.(works best using smaller amounts of paint) Tape it to a window or other flat surface and you've got a fun sensory experience. If you hang it on a vertical surface at eye level, this promotes shoulder strength and postural support as well as developing fine motor skills. 

5) Sensory Tracing Pad. 

Fill your plastic bag with hair gel. Print out or draw your letter of the day and tape it all down to the table. Using their little fingers or a soft implement, kiddos can trace over the shape over and over.

6) Personalized Gift Bags.

This can be as simple or as complex as you have the skill level to make it. Drop the gift or treats in the bag, fold it over, staple some paper over the opening. This is an easy one to make into a holiday themed project,  party favors, or trick or treat options for Halloween!

7) Fly Repellent

Folks, I'm not certain of the science behind this one, but evidently flies hate plastic baggies full of water and pennies. If nothing else, it's another way to entertain yourself and your kid hunting down pennies, counting them, plopping them into a bag full of water. 

8) Snow Globe Craft

No snow where you live? That's okay! Make it an "under the sea" globe, or a "falling leaves" globe for a fall craft, or cut out pictures of your little one's faces and make a "grand kids" globe to gift to the doting grandparents. 

Cut the center out of a paper plate.

Cut up some paper scraps or make your sea creatures.

Blow a puff of air into the bag and put your little guys inside and seal it up. 

Use a few dots of glue to hold the bag in place against another paper plate. 

Staple the plate with the hole in it over the bag onto the other plate.

Decorate.

SHAKEY SHAKEY SHAKEY

9)Car/airplane Cellphone Holder.

Need to occupy yourself and/or your favorite travel partner but don't want to hold up your phone forever while you watch that episode of Dinosaur Train ONE.MORE.TIME?

Pop it in a bag and chip clip it to the back of the seat in front of you. Plug in your headphones and you're on your way to as much mindless entertainment as your battery will allow!

10) Storage

Kids accumulate tons of stuff. Just things. Lots of little things. I love using the Green Kid Crafts boxes for storing things like our crayons or rock collection. They are the PERFECT size for about 20 matchbox cars and the bright green printing on the outside is fun and decorative. 

11) Construction Material

Keep cardboard on hand and you'll always have a great way to burn some time between naps and bed time. Just find a comfy place to sit down and start taping the boxes together. Bring out the stickers and markers and everyone can get in on the DIY action. Build a marble run, or a parking garage with ramps, or an obstacle course for your action figures. 

12) Busy Book

I have a pintrest board the size of Canada full of precious hand sewn busy book pages. I probably could make those. If I took a month off of life, spent $500 at the craft store, and really put my nose to the grindstone. But who has energy for that? Or a month off?

So my pages aren't showing up in a Land of Nod magazine, but you know what? My kid really likes them and uses the book I'm making. Best of all, I can substitute the pages easily as he gets older to keep it interesting. It's cheap, it's easy, it's wipe-downable. 

Simply cover the closed end of the bag with your tape and punch holes in line with the tabs in the folder.

You'll need:

A folder with brad-style closures

Tape (duct or masking work well)

Hole punch

Bags

Page ideas:

Letters

Counting

Spelling

Vocabulary practice

Pictures of the family

Dry-erase tracing

Dry-erase tic tac toe

Sure, it's the eco-friendly responsible thing to do, but conservation can be downright fun!

Salt Dough vs Baking Soda Clay

   It's amazing what you can do with minimal money, effort, and resources! This week, I compared two different recipes to make hand made gift tags. These recipes are usually used for preserving little people's hand and foot prints. Both recipes will work well for that, but I definitely have my preference. I used cookie cutters, clay imprint stamps, paint and sharpies, but this would be a great craft for stamps!

The first is your traditional Salt Dough:

Recipe:

1 cup flour    (1 bag of flour $2.39)

1 cup salt      (1 canister salt $.99)

1/2 cup of water       
(well, in California, this is probably the most expensive ingredient, but you get the idea)

Directions:

stir

knead

roll out

bake @ 200, 3 hours, flip once.

Mix it all up in a bowl and knead it, adding more flour if it sticks to your hands.

Roll out to 1/4 in on a floured surface and either make your hand/foot prints or use your cookie cutters and stamps.

Bake at 200F for 3 hours, flipping once half way through.

We used water colors to paint them after they cooled, but I think painting them before the bake is the way to go. I plan on using pretty sharpies to write the "to and froms" on the front. My precious angel baby refused to take part in any decorating, coloring, painting, or other personalization of the shapes we cut out, but YOUR young artist may appreciate the chance to put his or her own special touch on the gifts they give. 

The second was a new one for me. The website I got the idea from  actually calls it "Better than Salt Dough Clay" because IT IS!
http://www.tipsfromatypicalmomblog.com/2012/12/better-than-salt-dough-homemade-clay.html 

Baking Soda Clay Recipe

1/2 cup Cornstarch       ($1.99)

1 cup baking soda         ($.78)

3/4 cup water

Directions:

cook in pot

cool

knead

roll out 

bake @ 175, 2 hours, flip once

In a pot over medium heat, stir constantly till all ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth like mashed potatoes. I kept stirring it for as long as I could to get as much moisture out as possible.

Transfer to a bowl and cover with saran wrap to let it cool. Once the temperature is comfortable to touch, begin kneading, adding cornstarch as you go if it is too wet.

If it's sticking to your fingers, it's too wet. 

Roll it out to 1/4 inch on a corn starched surface and cut out your shapes. 

I painted them first, don't forget to poke your holes for the ribbon, and then baked for 2 hours at 175, flipping once halfway through. I'm pretty sure mine cracked because I forgot the holes and poked them at the halfway point when I flipped them. 

The final product is a beautiful bright white with smooth surfaces and clean edges. So pretty!