Pinterest Experiments Part One

I had very good intentions of publishing a cutesy Valentine's Day post featuring some heart shape hard-boiled eggs that I was inspried to try from a Pin. Unfortunately things didn't go exactly as planned and Luc ended up eating a mangled egg as a snack, which was ok for him because lately he just loves hard-boiled eggs and he didn't realize that this time it was actually supposed to be cute.

I've been doing a fair amount of experimenting with ideas that I've found on Pinterest. I know there are  mixed feelings about Pinterest, but I find that not only is it a great way to visually organize my bookmarks, which makes them easier to find again later, and I'm constantly being inspired by other people's amazing creativity and ideas. I'm always looking for new household 'best practices'. Here is a round-up a few of the tricks/ideas/projects that I've recently tried that I found on Pinterest.

1. Heart-Shaped Egg

Verdict: Fail

My egg ended up splitting on the top while at the same time also having indents on the sides where the cardstock dug into the sides of the egg somehow.

I am planning on trying this again, however with thicker card and cutting it down a little lower. How cute would Deviled Eggs be in these?

2. Regrowing Green Onions

Verdict: Success!

I was skeptical but this actually worked and they grow so fast that it's incredible. Mine are ready to use again in little more than 1 week.

Just plunk your white root ends in a shot glass and keep on a widowsill and top up the water every couple of days.

Very cool and budget friendly too! Twice the green onions out of one purchase.

3. Freezing Green Onions

Verdict: Fail

I always seem to have leftover green onions that go bad before I can use them, so I was interested to try this method of freezing them.

At first, this method of freezing sliced green onions in an empty water bottle worked great.

However, after the one week, they were starting to get awfully freezer burned already.

The problem lies in not being able to get rid of the air in the container. Probably better to just freeze in a zip-top bag, being sure to squeeze out as much air as possible. You'll have to break off a chunk to use and they wont' look as nice but they'll keep longer.

4. Homemade Natural Body Wash

Verdict: Mixed

I used Dr. Bronner's citrus bar soap as the base for this recipe, but you can use any all-natural bar soap. It was quick and easy to make, super cheap, smelled great, lathered up well and left us all feeling cleaner than with our store-bought body wash.

However, the texture was just awful. It felt like play slime. It was really gross to touch and use.

I'm going to play with the recipe and see if I can get the texture just right, because this could save us quite a bit of money over time instead of buying natural organic paraben-free body washes.

I'll update if I'm successful with this one! 

Are you on Pinterest? What are your favorite Pinterest tips, tricks, and finds?

The Things They Say

I'm home with Luc because he's sick today (oh, the petri dish that is daycare...) and for lunch I made him a tuna  salad sandwich and I put a couple sweet gherkin pickles on the side. He's had them before but it's been quite some time and when I called him over for lunch he looked at them and said, "Ewww, doggy's poop!". He then proceeded to make grunting sounds and said "I no eat poop" and threw them on the floor. No explaining that they were pickles and edible would make him believe it!

Lunchbox Labels

Luc has a cousin today! He is very cute and has the most adorable chubby cheeks. It's just too bad that he was born halfway around the world in Australia so we only get to look at photos of the little guy instead of getting to meet him in person. :( I'm happy for my sister-in-law and her husband on their new family but it's also sad that we live so far away from one another that our children will never really get to know each other. Skype and email are wonderful,  but they don't really make up for visits only being possible once every few years. Oh well, we'll do the best we can to keep our families connected!

When Luc started daycare, everything was so last minute since I only had two weeks (!) to find a daycare and get everything ready before I started my new job. I ordered some Name Bubbles to label his clothing (which have been absolutely fantastic because they stay put in the wash but are removable is you want to sell your kids' clothes or use them for your next child). Somehow, while I was ordering however I completely forgot to order labels to put his name on lunch containers.

First I tried writing his name in permanent marker. That turned out decidedly ... non-permanent. I tried using a regular label maker to make printed labels. It was easy and they looked great but they just really didn't stand up to the dishwasher and I didn't want to be always stuck hand-washing everything. I then tried using my old-school embossing label-maker like this one, and it worked great! The two Lock and Lock food containers below were labeled about 5 months ago and have been used virtually every day and they still are perfectly legible.

So while, the personalized Name Bubbles are really cute, this not only saved me $20 but I can use the label-maker for other projects. Yay for multipurpose! Also, I rather like the retro look of them anyhow.

10 Favorite Recipes of 2011

This is a list of the Munch recipes from 2011 that I find myself coming back to again and again. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are drop dead easy to make and always welcome at the table or in the lunchbox.

What was your favorite Munch recipe of 2011?

1. Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal
2. 50/50 Bread
3. Chocolate Tofu Pudding
4. Blueberry Banana Mini-Muffins
5. Senegalese Peanut and Tomato Soup
6. Whole Poached Chicken
7. Luc's Favourite Tomato Sauce
8. Baked Coconut Shrimp
9. Curried Chicken and Cheese Balls
10. Honeyed Blueberry Yogurt

Bringing Up Bebe

We've been having some behavioral issues with Luc lately and just the other day I commented to my husband that I want to know the French secret for raising well-behaved children. Every time we've been in France we've been thoroughly impressed by how well behaved kids are, especially when it comes to eating habits.

When we head out to a restaurant in France and the table beside us has children seated with them we know that we don't have to worry about food flying our way, screaming, or anything else our own child does. It seems as though children never make a scene in a restaurant no matter how leisurely the meal... and this happens with no crayons, no kiddie menus, and no portable DVD players. 

I thought I would share this interesting article on the difference between French and American attitudes to feeding babies and child-rearing. So, while I admire the amazing manners that French children display, I definitely adhere more to the American style of feeding/raising children....so I guess I shouldn't expect Luc to behave like anything other than a typical North American kid!

What strikes you as interesting/surprising about this article?

Great Tip for Feeding Toddlers Soup

I love making soups. I love eating soups. However, I do not love trying to feed my toddler soup. But, I also don't like making separate meals if I can avoid it (exceptions are made so that we can enjoy an occasional spicy meal!) . Today there was a great tip on Parent Hacks for dribble-free soup that I'm going to try!

For those of you with toddlers, how do you tackle soup?

The FDA and Food Dyes

The FDA has recently decided not to ban food dyes despite growing research that ties food dyes to hyperactivity in children, a decision that is incredibly disappointing, although unfortunately, not surprising. While I am not American, this decision effects the lives of millions of children (and also, a ban would likely lead to a ban here in Canada too as our government is often largely incapable of independent thought). If you are at all interested, please read this great article from the Huffington Post.

Munch's New Clothes!

Munch has a new look...I hope you like it as much as I do!

Thanks to Erin at Designer Blogs for creating this new design and for being a pleasure to work with.

The end of a SAHM

I want to apologize for not posting for the last little while. I just got a new job so I will no longer be a stay at home mom :(. It's a job that I wanted so I'm happy but I'm also so anxious and feel guilty about leaving Luc. Since I found out I keep spontaneously bursting into tears! The only good thing is that he will be in daycare only 4 days a week instead of 5...anyway, I keep telling myself that that makes it better.

Because I didn't know when I would be returning to the workforce, I am not on any day care waitlists so I've spent all my time the last several days frantically calling places and asking everyone I know for leads. I don't want to get stuck with a place that I don't feel comfortable with because that's all I can find. I'm finding the whole thing pretty stressful. 

If it doesn't work out with Luc in daycare or if it doesn't work out for me with him there, then I won't stay at my new job. It is however, a good opportunity which will benefit our whole family in the long run. We'll see how it works out....

Finding good quality care for Luc is my top priority right now, but I'm working on some new posts, so stay tuned...

Wish me luck! 

Photo of the Day

A picture of Luc eating was featured over at Spearmint Baby as the photo of the day! It's a great blog with kids design, crafts, products and general life with kiddos. Check it out here if you get a chance.