We Draw Animals Tutorial

We finished our third week of school today.  Dare I say we are starting to find our groove? 

I've mentioned to several people this year that if I could somehow find a way to incorporate art into every subject, maybe Gavin would learn to love school... or at least stop complaining about it.  He gets bogged down by math (even though he excels at it) and he couldn't care less about spelling, but the boy loves to draw! 

One of the things we are doing for science this year is  reading our way through The Burgess Bird Book for Children {Amazon affiliate link}.  We read a chapter, or sometimes two, a week, then look at photos of the featured bird in a variety of nature guides.  On a separate day, the kids sketch that week's bird in their nature notebooks. 

When Kathy from We Draw Animals contacted me about creating a how-to-draw tutorial for my blog, I was excited.  My kids love the how-to-draw books they find at the library, but this tutorial would be especially tailored to what they are learning and doing in school every week. 

Kathy designed a hawk tutorial for me (scroll down to see the 6 easy steps), but the website has hundreds of animal to choose from including a section devoted to how to draw birds.  I love that each tutorial on the website is prefaced by a short science lesson with bulleted facts about the animal. And the best part?  Everything on the website is free! A free eBook is also available for download and I've included the link below.

 Click here to download the full We Draw Animals eBook!

Healthy Cupcakes Tutorial

Today's post is a mouthwatering guest post from Pamela of Pamela's Heavenly Treats.  Try to read it without drooling! 

{If you are interested in submitting a guest post, e-mail me and we can talk.} 

 I want to thank Kristin for having me come to talk about healthy desserts.  I started making healthy cupcakes and cookies for my family just to see how they would like it, and they love everything that I make.  So every recipe I stumble upon I tweak it to make it healthy, and 9 times out of 10 it's successful. 

We all love to eat desserts so why not have a healthy dessert?  In my tutorial I will be making Whole Wheat Mini Lemon Blossom Cupcakes, so get a cup of tea or coffee and sit back and enjoy.

We are going to make Mini Lemon Blossom Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.  I used my new mini cupcake pans by Wilton (those are the best cupcake pans).

I have to say mini cupcakes are so tiny, and you only need a little bit of batter because they will go over the top.  So let's get started:

Here are my ingredients:

2 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (recipe in post)

2 fresh eggs

1 tsp white vinegar

1 cup  canola oil or unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lemon zest

Fresh squeezed juice from the lemon
 

Sift all dry ingredients together (the first 4).

Put all wet ingredients in mixer and mix until everything is together.

Add dry ingredients into your wet mixture and mix until batter is nice and smooth.  Start adding your lemon zest and fresh lemon juice.

Fill your baking cups 1/2 full and bake for 10-12 minutes on 350.  Let cool on cooling rack and then frost.

Here is my FRESH, HOMEMADE buttermilk:
  

1 tbsp white vinegar
Fill with milk to make it 1 cup. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and there you have it.

Make sure you crack your eggs in a bowl and then put into your blender.  You don't want any eggshells in your batter.

Here is my beautiful Red blender--my favorite color is red-- and my laptop in the back with all my recipes on it.

Mix your wet ingredients together until well blended.

Sift your dry ingredients together and then mix them into your wet ingredients.

While the batter is mixing, whatever flavor cupcake batter you are making, this is the step to put that in. So I zested an entire lemon and then cut it in half and squeezed the fresh juice into my batter (watch the seeds). Start your mixer back up so the lemon zest and fresh juice can incorporate in the batter.  Taste to make sure there is enough flavor.

Then start filling your cupcake pans 1/2 full.  Don't overfill especially the mini cupcakes because then they will start leaning.

Bake for 10-12 minutes on 350.  Let rest on stove top for about 5 minutes, and then take the cupcakes out and put on your wire stand. Cool completely.

Then frost:

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup cream cheese (softened)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

Lemon zest / fresh squeezed lemon juice

Mix together in blender, put in your piping bag, and make swirls on your mini cupcakes.

There you have it: WHOLE WHEAT MINI LEMON BLOSSOM CUPCAKES. 

I want to thank Kristin - from-my-life for having me.  Please come over and check out all my recipes and pictures of healthy treats at Pamela's Heavenly Treats .

Slingin' Saturday--Backpack Carriers

It's another Slingin' Saturday! This week, I'm giving the writing reins to a guest contributor, my sister-in-law, Sarah!

Since my daughter Eve was born nearly 18 months ago, I have been given two different child carriers from people who no longer have a need for them. One is a Kelty Elite and the other is a Tough Traveler. Both fit like backpacks and the child sits inside with legs dangling and head peering over Mommy or Daddy’s shoulder. My husband and I were eager to have one and we had our eyes on a Kelty. Kelty makes quality, durable camping and hiking supplies. It was for these purposes we wished to have a child carrier in the first place. As it turns out, both packs have come in very handy.

The Kelty is more of an upper-end model with an aluminum frame. It gives more support to the child, and it is more comfortable for the parent to wear as it has more padding and also spreads the child’s body weight evenly across the parent’s back, shoulders, and hips.

Furthermore, it has more “bells and whistles”: a detachable rain shield fitting over the child’s head, a compartment for hiking supplies such as snacks and water, and also adjustable straps that adjust to each child’s size to secure him properly in his seat. For this reason, the Kelty could accommodate a slightly younger child than the Tough Traveler. The drawback to the Kelty (and I hate to list any since I am overall so pleased with it) is that in the heat of the day, it can seem like just too much. On a stroll around the neighborhood on a hot day, all the padding and bulk can really make you (or at least me) sweat. It is designed more for a rugged hike where stability for the child and comfort for the parent is important.



The Tough Traveler is much more lightweight, though also made with an aluminum frame. Its design is more simple, not as strappy or padded as Kelty. And though there are some adjustments for both child and parent, the system is not nearly so complex. It is actually for this reason that I like the Tough Traveler. For everyday use, this child carrier works quite well. For walks through a mall or museum, strolls around the neighborhood or park, even for mowing the grass, it is sufficient. It is more “breathable” than the Kelty Elite. And though it is not as comfortable in the long run, I find that I actually use it more than Kelty because of its simple, lightweight design.

Eve enjoys being in either pack. She loves being close to her Daddy or Mommy and also being up high and seeing things from their perspective. The packs are comfortable enough that she can fall asleep in them.

And I don’t recall a time when she’s ever squirmed because she’s wanted out. The child carriers are ideal for when the parent needs to have a set of free hands, to push another child in a stroller, etc. But the child must be several months old before he is stable enough to somewhat sit up by himself. Each frame is made to hold up to 50 pounds.


Note from Sarah: Kelty no longer makes the Elite style of child carrier, though I was able to find it on Ebay for $50. Kelty’s current models are $120, $170 and $200 for the FC 1, FC 2, and FC 3 models respectively. The Tough Traveler has several models, ranging from $142 to $198.