♫♪I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee...♪♫

Lucky for me, my son and I LOVE to do crafts.  Also lucky, is the fact that my boss loves my constant crafts with the kids, and will buy absolutely anything I need to complete another one of my ideas.  I had seen, in one of my parenting magazines, a bumblebee craft out of a water bottle; but it was definitely way too complex for little 2-year old hands.  This is my hands-on, step-by-step of what I came up with:

• After some thought, I figured I could do my own bumblebee craft, using an empty toilet paper roll for the body.  I had the kids finger-paint the roll yellow, but you could also have them glue yellow tissue paper or do it the opposite way and have them do the black first!  
• Next, take a sheet of black construction paper (yellow, if doing it the opposite way).  For each bumblebee, you will need to cut out 3 strips that will fit around the diameter of the roll.  Each strip needs to be from 1/2" to 1" wide.  Let each child glue their strips around the roll, one on each end, and one in the middle.  With the left over construction paper, cut out a stinger for the bee and wings for the bee.  Glue stinger at one end of the roll and the wings on either side of the roll towards the middle of the body.  
• I was initially going to construct the head out of construction paper, but couldn't find an easy enough way to do it while also having the kids contribute to it.  I then thought of foam craft balls!  PERFECT!  Use a foam ball at least large enough to fill the opening of the toilet paper roll, let the kids finger-paint it yellow.  After it dries, let the kids glue on 2 googly eyes, and let an adult stick in 2 cut pieces of pipe cleaner (for the antennas) and draw on a smiley face.  Of course, if your child is older, they may do all of these steps themselves.  Then glue the head of the bee onto the body.  I put glue on the rim of the paper roll and pressed down firmly.  Don't press down TOO hard, otherwise you will crush either the roll or the foam ball.
• Using a hole puncher, punch 2 holes onto the top of the bumblebee's body.  Thread string or ribbon through the holes with enough slack to hang the bumblebee for decoration.
• I have a tendency to try and put songs with the crafts we do, it's the daycare teacher in me!  For this craft, we used the song by the same name!  :)

Zesty Lime Pork Chops

Recently, I've become a little obsessed with the pairing of meats with citrus flavors.  Although these are mainly lime-infused, there is a hint of lemon pepper seasoning in the breading.  The key to packing in the flavor to anything breaded is to season, season, season!  It's the same theory as seasoning your pasta sauce.  I never make pasta without generously salting my pot of water first.  Otherwise, your pasta is bland.  And, in my house, one of our favorite dishes is Pasta e Broccoli, so the sauce relies on the addition of a few ladles of pasta water.  

• Season the egg, I usually put a few shakes of hot sauce in my egg/water mixture.  I don't make it "spicy" as I would like for my son to eat as well.  The key to seasoning, is to add just enough, not to overdo it with any one flavor.  
• Season the flour.  You can season the flour a little more liberally.  I season with salt and pepper.
• Season the crumb mixture.  For this recipe I used Panko crumbs to give it more of a crunch.  Depending on what I'm making, determines what I'll season my breadcrumbs with.  In this case it was lemon-pepper, but it has been oregano, basil, parsley, red pepper, the list goes on forever.  Just season to your taste.  

***Since I have typed most of the recipe as is already, I've decided to ditch my usual format and just keep typing!  If you need the exact quantities for each item, I pretty much use a cup of each: flour and breadcrumbs to start, with around 1 tsp of each of the added seasonings and just add more as needed.  For my egg mixture, it's about 1 egg to 1/4-1/2 cup of water.***

Recently, I've only been using Canola and EVOO for any and all of my cooking needs.  In this recipe, I used Canola to cook my pork chops in, cooking them over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes on each side.  You want your chops to become nice and brown and crunchy!  

After your chops are cooked thoroughly, a meat thermometer is one of the most useful tools in the kitchen; drain on a paper towel.  Squeeze fresh lime juice over the chops and garnish with lime slices.  This is great with rice and corn or any other summer vegetable.  The flavors are so tantalizing that even Eoin enjoyed it and he's not a huge pork chop fan!

"Orange-you Happy Carrots" from Parents Magazine

I feel absolutely terrible for not updating this blog in so long.  Work has been a bit hectic; and now that the summer is here, every weekend there's just something else going on!  I have quite a few recipes that I need to start typing up, and even some toddler crafts that I have done recently with the kids.  We have been so busy, averaging about 2 arts and crafts projects per week!  Right now we're on our bug-theme, so I hope to share some of my ideas relatively soon!  

While Eoin likes a lot of veggies, he does need some "encouragement" to eat a select few.  Carrots are not on his favorite list, and haven't been since he was an infant.  Usually, I will buy a bag of baby carrots for a recipe, use some and then have about 1/2-3/4 of the bag to find something to do with!  I found this recipe in my May 2012 issue of Parents magazine.  It's a quick and easy side dish that the whole family can enjoy!  I will post the original recipe for you.  I, of course, didn't have all of the exact ingredients on hand, so I substituted!  My substitutions are always in italics!  

I tend to read a lot of posts in cooking forums and the like.  One of the most common comments on some of these recipes are that "I really wanted to try out this recipe, but I didn't have such and such" (OR "I don't like such and such").  Recipes are merely suggestions.  Yes, you can follow them exact, or you can take the tips you learn from them and make it your own!  I think as time goes on, I get better and better at this, finding out what I can and cannot substitute for certain things.  For instance, white granulated sugar, honey and maple syrup can be interchangeable, depending on the dish.  This recipe called for honey, which I didn't have at the time.  But it was a carrot dish and had raisins in it, so I opted to sub in some maple syrup to give it the same glaze that the honey would have.  Cooking is a learning experience, and like a fine wine, you'll get better at it with age!  The key is to enjoy it!

Like I have always encouraged, if you do try on of the recipes posted on my blog, feel free to make it your own.  I welcome any and all feed back and comments! 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb packaged peeled baby carrots
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used the juice from about 2 oranges)
• 2 Tbs honey (I used roughly the same amount of maple syrup)
• 2 Tbs golden raisins (I used your run-of-the-mill, dark California raisin)
• 1 tsp finely shredded orange peel

Directions:

• In a large, deep skillet, bring 4 cups water to a boil.  Add carrots; return to boiling.  reduce heat; cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain and return to pan.

• Stir in orange juice, honey (maple syrup), and raisins.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes or until liquid is syrupy and carrots are glazed.  Serve topped with orange peel.