Eat your greens: pesto pasta

My kids have never been the best raw veggie eaters.  We're working on it.  Until they start eating their salad, broccoli and green beans (I'm not giving up!), I have to be more creative with how I prepare and serve veggies, especially green ones, because those are scary.  Pesto pasta is one place we have succeeded.

I have found that it doesn't matter what kind of green I use for the base... I've used basil (in the summer when we have a lot), cilantro, parsley, spinach, even a spring greens mix.  Every batch I make is a little different, I just use whatever we have on hand.  I don't normally measure things out, but here's the basic recipe, you can change it to suit your taste:

Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

1 lb favorite pasta

4-8 cups greens (basil, cilantro, parsley, spinach or other greens)

1 cup nuts (pine nuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans, etc. or a combination)

1/3+ cup olive oil

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

Directions

Cook pasta until al dente.  While pasta is cooking, place remaining ingredients in a food processor.

I normally fill the food processor almost to the top with greens.  I was just running low.

Pulse until smooth.  Add more olive oil if needed.

When pasta has finished cooking, save a couple cups of the water and drain the rest.

Toss the pasta, pesto sauce and about 1 cup pasta water (plus or minus... add more water if the pesto isn't mixing well.)  Then serve!  I hope your kids (and you) like it as much as we do.

Saying thank you

With each of the kids birthdays comes many gifts and well wishes from family and friends.  So I try to spend some time in the days (or weeks) after each one helping the kids thank those who remembered them.  I'm certainly not perfect at it, sometimes we forget, and sometimes a simple phone call or text is all I can squeeze in.  But there is something about a handwritten note that I love.

I took this picture of Will the day before his birthday and thought it would make a cute thank you card.  After printing it, I glued it to some cardstock so I could write a little note on the back.

I also love to have a stash of homemade cards on hand to use for birthdays and thank you's so we don't have to be scrambling at the last second.

Scribble drawings 

Water color

Easter eggs

This week we painted our Easter eggs.  I was trying to figure out the best way to keep little fingers from getting too messy, and these bamboo skewers proved to be the perfect solution.

Hope you all had a nice Easter weekend!

Cinnamon Apple Cake

For Will's birthday I made a Cinnamon Apple Cake.  I'm not a huge lover of cakes, but with whole wheat flour and 4 entire apples in this cake, I can't turn it down.  And it is oh so yummy!  I thought I would share the recipe.

This is a cake that the kids love to help with.  My sister got us this apple peeler a few years ago, and it has become one of my favorite kitchen tools.

After I put the apples on, the kids can grind it through themselves.  

And it makes eating the apples so fun!  You end up with a very long string of apple peel, and a slinky of perfectly sliced apples.  Then all I have to do is dice the slices up.

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup oil

1/4 cup orange juice

4 cups apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped (about 4 apples)

Cream cheese frosting (whip together):

1/4 cup butter at room temperature

5 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter and flour a 13x9 dish.  Combine dry ingredients and set aside.  Whip eggs until frothy, about 3 to 4 minutes then add oil and orange juice and mix thoroughly.  Add dry ingredients and beat with whip at low speed until thoroughly combined.  Fold in apples and pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 1 hour, covering with aluminum foil the last 20 minutes so the top doesn't get too brown.  Cool completely, then frost.

And here's Will going at it.  He used his thumb and index finger to pinch off tiny pieces, taking about 30 minutes or so to finally eat the whole thing.  But he loved every bite!

Easter baskets and egg hunts

A couple weeks ago, a friend referred me to this fabric Easter Basket Tutorial by Sew Lux Fabric.  I thought it would be fun to have baskets the kids could use year after year, so I got to work.  Here's my version of them.  They don't look anything like the ones in the tutorial.  I didn't have lining, batting, or interfacing, but I did have vinyl and bias tape.  So I went with what I had.  (Try not to look too closely at/judge my sewing... sometimes you have to go for quantity over quality.)

I used white t-shirt transfer paper to put the names on the fabric.

Saturday it's supposed to be 52 and partly sunny.  52 degrees!!  The kids haven't been wearing jackets when it hits 40, so 52 might call for shorts.  Definitely outdoor Easter egg hunt weather.  And this year we're going to try something a little bit different.  Each of the kids will be assigned one color of egg that he can find.  That way we can hide each color in age-appropriate locations, and when they're done finding their own eggs they can help each other.  Hopefully doing it this way will still be fun but a little less competitive.  We'll see.

Birthday crown

Friday was Will's birthday.  1 year old!  I can hardly believe it.  We didn't do anything too grand or glorious apart from the traditional present opening and cake gorging.  But we did make him a crown.  I really like the idea of helping the kids make gifts for each other.  It helps them think about the person, and is fun to watch how excited they get when they give the homemade gift.

For this crown, I sewed white fabric onto some vinyl and sewed velcro at either end.  Then I had the kids use fabric paint to decorate it.  I decided to go with something a little longer lasting than just paper.

And here's the birthday boy in all his glory!  It looks like he's super excited to be wearing his crown, right?

Well, truth be told, I think it stayed on his head for a total of 3 seconds before he found it, pulled it off and dropped it on the floor.

 

We did this about 20 times so I could attempt to get a picture of the beautiful crown, with pink hearts and all.  I guess if nothing else this crown gave us a good game to play.  He certainly liked it (the game).  The velcro makes the crown adjustable, so maybe we'll save it for next year.  I'm just sure he's going to love it.

Essential Swimwear giveaway!

Today I'm excited to bring you a giveaway from Essential Swimwear!  If you haven't found that perfect new suit for Spring break, here's your chance.

Essential Swimwear is generously giving away a $50 gift certificate to put towards a suit of your choice!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post (one entry per person, please).
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

You can visit Essential Swimwear online or follow them on Facebook for the latest deals and promotions.

My talented sister Brittney started this company in 2008.  After being frustrated with expensive prices, wrong fits and the hassle of searching online for hours, she decided to experiment with making her own swimsuits.  After a lot of trial and error, she was finally able to sew swimsuits that were comfortable, stylish and flattering and began making them for friends and family.  Word spread quickly, and she began selling hand-made women's swimsuits to more and more people.  After two years of personally fitting hundreds of women, she took the knowledge she gained and began designing swimsuits that could be manufactured to keep up with the demand and increase quality.

Here's a little bit more about Essential Swimwear, in their own words:

At Essential Swimwear, our goal is to create beautiful, elegant and affordable swimwear for women of all shapes and sizes.  We believe it's more classy and appealing to be modestly covered than unnecessarily provocative.  Women should feel empowered and confident in their swimwear, whether they're laying out by the pool, chasing kids around the splash park, surfing at the ocean or swimming at the local rec center.

Our vintage-inspired shapes paired with modern prints and solids create one-of-a-kind looks that work for every body type.  With an emphasis on excellent quality of materials and construction, we are confident your Essential Swimwear suit will be one you'll have in your wardrobe for years.

This giveaway ends Sunday at midnight.  Winner will be announced Monday morning.  Good luck!

The winner of this giveaway is Jill Lau!  She said, "Your sister does an amazing job!"
Enjoy your new suit!