Lemon-Glazed Sugar Cookies

December 21, 20191 Comment

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It’s not Christmas until you’ve made cut-out sugar cookies! This recipe was more of a mommy project, not a kid recipe like some others in our kitchen this holiday season, but kids will love helping to decorate the cookies in the final step.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Earth Balance butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

To decorate:

Chopped pistachios
Sprinkles

To prepare the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Whisk the flaxseed into the water to make 1 flax egg. Add to the stand mixer, along with the vanilla, and beat until combined.
Beat in the flour mixture at low speed until a dough forms.
Shape the dough into a disk and roll between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thick. Use holiday cookie cutters to cut out shapes of your choice. Transfer to 2 parchment-paper lined baking sheets.
Chill the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees F for 11 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets.
To prepare the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest. Spread over the cookies and return to the baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle with desired toppings.

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Let dry completely, and then it’s time for pretty packaging! To gift the cookies, transfer them to wax paper bags and fold over the top. Add a holiday cupcake liner. Use a hole punch to punch through all the layers, then secure with a brad.

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Of course don’t forget to save some for your family… And a few for Santa!

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Melon Balls Edible Sensory Bin

December 20, 2019Leave a comment

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This sensory bin didn’t turn out quite as attractive as I hoped, but the goal of course was fun, not Instagram worthiness, and Veronika sure had fun with it. Originally I hoped to arrange the tricolor visual of round honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon balls in a small tray. But with all my small Tupperware in the dishwasher and short on green honeydew, I set the balls only watermelon and cantaloupe on a baking sheet instead.

I added a few scoops and spoons, as well as a chopstick spear, and set Veronika loose!

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She loved using the spoon first.

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The chopstick was novel, and she lifted the pieces of melon up and down on it.

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I encouraged her to get right in there with her hands, showing her how we could squeeze and squish the melon.

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Of course this led to the delightful discovery that it tasted good.

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And that it made a satisfying “splat!” when thrown against the floor.

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In sum, this kept my thirteen-month-old busy for quite a while, filling cups, nibbling, and enjoying.

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Apple-Roasted Carrots

December 20, 2019Leave a comment

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A little apple juice adds just the right hint of sweetness to these carrots, perfect for toddlers.

Ingredients:

4 carrots
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon olive oil

Peel and thinly slice the carrots, and toss with the apple juice in a large bowl. Transfer to a baking sheet coated with the olive oil.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes, until very tender.

Paint with a Sponge

December 19, 2019Leave a comment

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I’m dabbling into art and paint projects with Veronika, and one fun idea for young toddlers is to paint with a sponge. The sponges are easy for little hands to grasp, and there’s not (too much!) mess.

I taped a thick piece of paper to her high chair, and set out a few sponges. Cut these into slightly smaller piece or even fun shapes like triangles.

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I put two blobs of washable paint on the paper. To my surprise, first she wanted to dip in with her fingers, since she’s resisted finger painting in the past.

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Then I showed her how to dip the sponges into the paint and dab back down. She was a quick study!

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We varied the way the marks looked by sliding the sponges across the paper instead.

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What a pretty final product!

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As a bonus, she loved playing with leftover (clean) sponge pieces in her playroom afterwards.

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Play Tourist in Your Town

December 18, 2019Leave a comment

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I love playing “tourist” in our home town with the kids, finding new ways to appreciate and discover the same place. One perfect way to do this is to head out in search of holiday decorations in December, when the same-old same-old houses suddenly look new again decked in holiday lights. Acting on a tip for the best neighborhood in town, we headed out to play tourist!

We made it special by getting everyone in pajamas first. And Travis got a candy cane!

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Don’t forget to set the radio to the holiday station!

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Travis knew we had a particular neighborhood as our destination, but that didn’t stop us from ogling every house along the way, rating the ones we liked best.

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The recommended neighborhood did not disappoint. There were flying Santa’s sleighs, giant penguins in doorways, sparkling candy canes, and more.

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Travis took it all in with wonder!

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This was such a fun way to appreciate our town anew.

Snowdrift Detective Game

December 18, 2019Leave a comment

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There’s no need for real snow in order to play this game – although we have plenty of that out the door. Instead, fill a container with kosher salt and pretend to unearth the treasures that have been buried in the “snow”.

Travis helped me select a few small items from around the house, including a playing dice, rubber bands, clothespin, key, and coin.

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I wrote down all the words in a list and we glued this to the top of a mason jar lid, so we wouldn’t forget what we “buried”!

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Glue a colorful ribbon around the lid to make the jar feel festive. Now alternate adding kosher salt and the items until nearly full, leaving a bit of room at the top.

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Travis and I took turns shaking the jar and finding everything on the list. What detectives we were!

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Here’s hoping we don’t lose anything in a real snowdrift this winter.

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Rice Garden

December 18, 2019Leave a comment

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Here’s a fun variation on playing with rice as a sensory activity. Rice + bucket + toys never seems to grow old for tots in that 12 month to 18 month window.

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But today, instead of random toys, we made it a “garden” for Veronika to plant – and uproot!

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She loved the variation right away, pulling out the veggies, replanting the asparagus, and more.

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Of course then the fun became emptying giant handfuls of rice on the floor, which was just fine with me since I love how easy rice is to sweep up at the end.

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She kept busy with this the entire time I prepped dinner, crawling through big piles of it by the end.

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Mistress Veronika, not contrary, how does your garden grow? With lots of smiles of course!

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Lentil Stew

December 17, 2019Leave a comment

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Thicker than a traditional lentil soup, this recipe is great for babies practicing with a spoon, so they don’t spill too much broth!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1 small diced onion
2 cups water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup lentils
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion; saute for 5 minutes.
Add the water, bouillon, carrots, celery, lentils, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes. Uncover and simmer a final 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Snowman Craft Challenge

December 17, 2019Leave a comment

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Travis had lots of laughter tackling this month’s craft challenge from Highlights magazine: to make a snowman using anything except cotton balls. This very open-ended project had Travis raiding the craft bin for anything that seemed snowman-like: think white and fluffy. We also thought about accessories: orange for carrot noses, pom poms for buttons, etc.

On his suggestion, I cut out two circles from white felt to be the snowman’s body. From there, Travis veered in a decidedly nontraditional direction!

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First we used old thread and wiggle eyes for the face. Travis glued on a piece of string upside down to make it a sad snowman – oh no!

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Then he decided it was sad Santa (because no one believed in him!), and added red pom poms buttons and a “belt,”

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The snowman got sillier and sillier from there, briefly adorned with holiday-patterned cupcake liners, and then soon denuded of its items.

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Travis thought ripping things off the felt was almost as fun as crafting them on. I guess snowmen do melt!

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Simple Games

December 17, 2019Leave a comment

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I was reminded today simply to look around the house and find items that can become a game for a one-year-old, no newfangled toys or complicated set-up required. And boy did Veronika and I come up with a lot to do!

First up, I pulled out an old art favorite: scribbling on cardboard with jumbo crayons. This is the easiest art project ever for budding artists.

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Then we found fun gadgets around the house; in particular, I’ve learned that toddlers like old-fashioned phones and anything that looks like a remote!

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Or pass a roll of duct tape back and forth. Veronika loved rolling it.

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Or thread pipe cleaners into the bottom of a colander. I thought this might be a bit ambitious at her age, but to my delight Veronika very intently worked at it and loved getting the pipe cleaner right in a hole. She had quite the knack for it!

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And when all else fails, empty water bottles are fantastic fun to crinkle.

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Next we tested if she was ready for stickers. This fine pincer motion was a bit advanced, but she loved watching me transfer stickers from sticker sheet to cardboard, and gave it a few tries.

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