Your Dough is My Dough: Lemon Meringue Playdough

Mom's been using a lot of lemons for cooking lately (stay tuned for a pretty rad lemon olive chicken recipe) and so she's been stocking up on the citrus. One bulk batch started to turn more quickly than we could use for food (shocking, I know) and so we came up with a sweet lemon meringue playdough to use those suckers up. This smells ridiculously good and we recommend rolling it out while it's still warm. You'll want to crawl right inside it and take a nap.

Here's the deal. You'll need: 

- 4 cups flour
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- yellow food coloring as you like

- grated rind from 2 lemons

- 1/4 tsp vanilla

- 1/2 tsp lemon extract 

Round those up and then: 

Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until most of the moisture is absorbed (it will take a bit). Let it cool on some wax paper. Store in airtight container.

cocktail mermaids like lemon meringue

so do dragons and knights

"cooking" with the dough

making a serious crust on some lemon meringue pie

Grub It Up: Turkey and Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppers

I turned the big 3 this past weekend and we spent the last several days over indulging -- everything from too much sweets for us to too much adult juice for mommy and daddy. Needless to say, we are all recovering a bit this Monday morning. So we thought we'd get our heads back in the game and share with you one of our favorite healthy dishes. FYI, it's less healthy when you eat the rest of the container of goat cheese with a spoon. But, you know, I'm only three. Impulse control is still in the works. 

Turkey and Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppers (adapted from The Gluten Free Goddess' Stuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey)

Ingredients

- 1-2 tbls extra virgin olive oil

- 1 lb ground turkey

- 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

- 1 medium red onion, diced

- 1 cup roasted corn kernels (mom pan toasts frozen kernels for a few minutes)

- 2 rounded tbls pine nuts

- 1 cup cooked brown rice

- 1/2 tsp cumin

- 1 tsp paprika

- sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

- 2 -3 tbls fresh chopped cilantro or parsley

- 3 large bell peppers: 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 red, halved and seeded

- 6 tsp prepared salsa

- 6 slices fresh goat cheese

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put a kettle of water on to boil. 

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground turkey until browned. 

Add a dash more olive oil; heat; add the chopped garlic, onion, corn, and pine nuts; stir and heat through. 

Add a cup of cooked brown rice, stir and lightly mix. Add a dash more olive oil, if needed, to moisten. Add cumin and paprika. Season mixture with sea salt and pepper. Stir well to combine the flavors. Remove from heat. Add in the chopped cilantro. 

Choose a shallow baking dish that will fit the halved peppers. Stuff the halved peppers with the brown rice mixture, pressing in firmly; use as much stuffing as you can. Place the stuffed peppers in the baking dish. 

Top each pepper with a spoonful of salsa and a slice of goat cheese. 

Pour about an inch of hot boiled water into the bottom of the baking pan, around the peppers, and loosely cover the pan with a foil tent. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the peppers are fork tender. 

Now the only thing about this recipe we don't love, is that some of the yummy stuffing comes out during cooking and gets not so yummy in the water in the bottom of the baking dish. We've made other stuffed peppers where you boil the peppers in a bit of water before stuffing and cooking them. There's not a whole lot of liquid in this particular mixture, however. So they might get dried out, but we plan to try that route next time. 

Mom and dad had theirs with a simple side salad of spinach, strawberries and balsamic/olive oil drizzle. We are still deciding whether we want to be friends with salad, so we just had strawberries. 

Miscellaneous Madness: Wooden Doll Pin Fairies

I've been on a bit of a fairy kick lately (along with mermaids, princesses, etc.). When Kane found all those acorns recently and we used them to make jeweled acorn caps, mom got to thinking. One of my favorite fairy books, which has lots of little tiny things to flip, unwrap, and break, has several pictures of fairies wearing acorn caps. We actually aren't the craftiest of people -- we like making things, but mom can never figure out what to DO with all the crafts. Art we can display and save more space efficiently. But we continue to play with our Chinese New Year dragons, so mom thought we'd give a fairy craft a try.

There are lots of wooden doll pin fairy tutorials flying around the blogs, but mom doesn't sew and she wanted to try to use things we already had (for the most part). So here's what we came up with. We love them and are busy working on something else for our new friends ....

You'll Need:
- wooden doll pins (like these);
- fabric flower petals (we used these because we already had them);
- acorn caps (if you want a hat);
- butterfly wings (mom bought some like these, but you can also just cut them out of fabric);
- glue (we like tacky glue); and
- markers

Once you've got all your materials, here's how to put your fairy together:
1.  Put a dab of glue on the top of the doll pin and place the acorn on top. Press for a few seconds.

2. While the acorn dries a bit, glue on the flower petals for the skirt. Glue one and then continue around the pin, overlapping them a bit. We liked gluing the center of the petal and then folding the top down to make a double layer of petals.

3. Cut your butterfly wings off of the butterfly body (we were able to gently pull ours off) or cut your fabric wings. Put a dab of blue inside the pin slot and slide the wings in. Hold for a few seconds. Then gently bend the wings back a bit.

4. Use your marker to draw your fairy a face.

And that's it -- you've got your fairy!

Keep It Local: Montgomery County Recycling Center

As part of their discussion of Earth Day, yesterday Kane's class took a field trip to the Montgomery County Recycling Center and they let me come along! Kane had warned us that it was "really smelly" and we would need to wear earplugs because of the loud crushing noises. He was right on both accounts, but it was still a SUPER cool field trip and I didn't want to leave (Kane had had enough of the noise by a certain point, but I was into it).

The tour started out in the visitor's center, which was full of information, including a step-by-step photo illustration of the recycling process occurring at the facility and visual displays of materials as they go through that process. The Center offers group tours for groups of 10 or more, so first we had the opportunity to meet with a tour guide who walked us through the entire process -- even illustrating how some of the equipment works (e.g., magnets that remove metal from the waste stream). The Center is technically a sorting facility. Once sorted, the materials are sent offsite for further recycling and return to various product streams.

see the soccer balls at the bottom? 

After the introduction, we moved on to the really fun part: a tour of the actual facility. Kane refused to wear the earplugs and chose to go hands-over-the-ears, but I put them right in and walked along the catwalk up over the top of the process. You can pretty much see everything in the sorting facility: where the waste comes in to the facility and a digger loads it into the pile for sorting; through the various hand sorters; through the eddy current magnet; etc. And everything is labeled so you can really follow it. I thought it was really funny to spot various items I use at home: chobani yogurt containers, fizzy water, and several soccer balls (just to name a few). It STUNK, but that didn't really bother me. It was a great way to celebrate Earth Day!

Turns out that the facility is open to the public for self-guided tours every day that recycling occurs at the Center: Monday - Thursday, 7:30 - 5:00 p.m. You do not need an appointment to visit and you can find earplugs at the front desk. If you have a group of 10 or more, you can make an appointment for a guided tour, which are available Monday - Thursday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. If you're interested in taking a guided tour, call 301-417-1433.

Grub It Up: Moroccan Pita Sandwiches

So Cam and I have a little yogurt problem. Actually, it's a big yogurt problem. We are obsessed with those brightly colored, organic, probiotic, squeezey yogurts that apparently run mom an $800 yogurt bill every month. First, she scaled back. We got four packs a week (one of each color, for which she had to go to both Target (for the pink) and Whole Foods (for the cheapest price on the blue, yellow and orange)). When it was out, it was out. Then she put her foot down. No more squeezeys. So in just the span of a week, we've developed a new yogurt problem: an obsession with Greek yogurt. Hey, at least it's been on sale for $1 each.

In any event, given that she can successfully bribe us to eat the rest of our meal with the promise of an additional yogurt, she thought a meal based around Greek yogurt itself might really do the trick. And boy did it. We loved these little moroccan pita sandwiches so much that we each had seconds. Mom served them up deconstructed for us so we could dip the "mini burger" and pita in the yogurt sauce ourselves. Delish.

BTW, the sauce is worth making on its own just to dip everything possible in it. We probably would have liked a little less garlic (although mom and dad loved it), but the tahini gave it a nice nutty taste that was right up our alley.

So here you have it, yogurt lovers: Moroccan Pita Sandwiches (slightly adapted from Cooking Light): (FYI, this has a lot of spices in it -- don't skimp. the combo makes the patties)

Ingredients:
Patties:
- 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 12 ounces ground round
- 1 large egg
- cooking spray

Sauce:
- 1 cup fat-free Greek-style yogurt
- 2 tsps tahini (sesame seed paste)
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 garlic glove, minced

Remaining ingredients:
- 4 (6-inch) pitas, halved
- 4 green leaf lettuce leaves
- 16 (1/4-inch-thick) tomato slices

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400.

To prepare patties, combine first 10 ingredients. Divide into 8 equal portions; shape each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, turning occasionally. Arrange patties on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes or until done.

To prepare sauce, combine yogurt and next 5 ingredients (through garlic). Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce into each pita half; top with 1 patty (squish it just a bit), 1 lettuce leaf, and 2 tomato slices. Or, if your kids lose their S when you combine food groups like we do, chop up a patty and serve it separately with the pita and sauce.

Holidaze: 15 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day (this Monday, April 22nd), we thought it would be fun to round up our favorite "greenish" arts, crafts and local activities to share as celebration ideas. How are we going to celebrate? Well, I just asked mom to put together an Earth Day bath (like our Valentines one), so that should be interesting. And we're hoping for some nice weather to get out, stretch our legs and gather more natural materials for a little project we've got in the works. What are YOU going to do?

No plans? Well, try one of these on for size ...

1.  Go for a "hike." We use the term "hike" loosely because we really go more on walks, with lots of snacks. A few of our local favorites are Potomac Overlook Park, Patuxent Research Center, Riverbend Park, Winkler Botanical Preserve and Theodore Roosevelt Island. The Natural Capitol blog is also a good resource for "getting outside, inside the beltway."

2.  Check out a nature center. Some of these places are a tad depressing, but several offer cool opportunities to see local animals and a nice spot to chill if it's hot out (and usually BATHROOMS). The first three hiking spots mentioned above all have nature centers (Patuxent is probably the most impressive), but we also like Long Branch Nature Center and, although we haven't been to the actual nature center yet, we hear Watkins Regional Park has a good one too (we heart everything else that place has to offer as well).

3.  Explore other great outdoor spots. While these aren't nature centers and don't really offer what we consider real hiking, they'll still get you enjoying the great outdoors. Our top spots include the National Arboretum (really almost qualifies as hiking by our standards), Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens (get there early before it gets too hot), Brookside Gardens, Mount Vernon, and River Farm (which has a really great children's garden).

4.  Play Nature I-Spy. Our attempt to play this locally in our 'hood spawned a slightly different version of Urban I-Spy (which you can download), but either way it gets you out and about looking for nature.

5.  Upcycle an old milk or juice container into a bird feeder. We loved making these and watching the birds fend off the goods from squirrels. For the record, I would not F with a city bird.

6.  Make jeweled acorn caps. No idea why we were able to find so many of these recently, but if we could, we're sure you could too. In case you missed it this week, you can find our "tutorial" here.

7. If the weather is warm, use an old plastic bottle to make a fun sprinkler. All you need is an old bottle, a hose and some duct tape. If that's not a recipe for a good time, I don't know what is.

8. Use natural stamps to make great modern prints. We've gone the citrus route, stamped onions, and made cute apple prints too. The options are endless.

9. Get yourself some photosensitive paper and make nature prints. Half the fun is looking for good natural objects to use and the prints develop quickly, which is good for impatient artists. You can check out how we made ours, but we've also heard that simply using dark construction paper will work too (although it takes longer).

10. Don't throw out your art scraps! Use them for collaging on cardboard (so don't throw out all those amazon.com boxes either!). You can see our favorite collage materials here.

11. If you're lucky enough to be near a beach, collect some shells for painting. Watercolors are our favorite thing to use (but not washable watercolors, which don't stay great). On our trip to the eastern shore last year, we painted about a million and a half oyster shells.

12. Experiment with science! We've been conducting all kinds of experiments (click here), including many that use simple things you've got around the house.

13. Use recycled cardboard for marble painting. We've used old paper towel rolls for this in the past, but we've also seen people use cardboard boxes to make neat modern art prints.

14. Save your egg cartons and spin up a beautiful set of cardboard flowers (also handy for Mother's Day, which is right around the corner). I mean, you don't really use your salad spinner for making salad, do you? See how we made ours.

15. Roll a rainbow. When you're done making marble prints, use that paper towel roll again and make a colorful rainbow. You can see ours here.

Fly Away: Chicago: (Final) Part 5: Museum of Contemporary Art

We were so excited to share our acorn jewel caps yesterday that we totally forgot to dish on our final spring break adventure -- the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Normally we check out art museums when there is a particular exhibit mom thinks will be of interest to the kiddos, but mom really wanted to visit MCA Chicago for herself. So we were quite glad to find two exhibits that were right up our alley: the Plaza Project: Martin Creed and Destroy the Picture.

Martin Creed's rotating sculpture spells out the word "MOTHERS" in white neon and you don't even have to go into the museum to see it -- it's right out front. We actually watched it first from the playground across the street (the museum doesn't open until 10, but there is a great little park across the street -- right behind the old Water Tower). And we liked catching views of it from above, inside the museum too. Mom told us it should remind us that mothers are all around -- always watching. I told her that I thought it was a comment on helicopter parenting and she should back off (I didn't really, but it would be a lot cooler if I did). Either way, it was pretty awesome.

The exhibit I liked most was Destroy the Picture. I have a real knack for tearing, cutting, scrunching ... you know, destroying art work as I make it (or sometimes days later). I just like to do it. Mom had no idea that was an intentional art strategy and I didn't miss a beat in trying to convince mom her that was why I do it. Duh. We spent a fair amount of time in the exhibit, looking at the various destructive practices -- I was also quick to try and convince mom I need a blowtorch to really get into the movement.

If you are in the area, both exhibits will be at MCA Chicago until early June -- check them out! And that does it for our spring break escapades ... we'll be back local for a while!