Crispy Asiago Edamame Beans

7 / 15 / 127 / 15 / 12

This afternoon we did something I’ve been avoiding for much of the week… we used the oven {the perks of a much cooler day}. When I came across this recipe from allrecipes.com on Pinterest a little while back, I knew it would be right up my little edamame lover’s alley. We tweaked the original recipe just a tad, and it turned out great.

The best part is that it’s really simple. Here’s everything you need: edamame beans, olive oil, fresh-ground pepper, sea salt, and some cheese (we used asiago).

First things first, run your beans under some cool water for a few minutes to thaw them.

Next, have your sous chef place them all in a large mixing bowl.

Add a drizzle of olive oil…

Your cheese…

A generous grinding of pepper…

And just a tiny touch of sea salt.

Then mix everything together.

Lay your beans out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (who doesn’t love easy clean up?!) and pop them in the oven, flipping them once about half way through.

Take them out when they’re golden brown and have a good crunch to them.

Let cool for a few minutes and serve while still warm. Mmmmm!

Crispy Asiago Edamame Beans

1/2 a package of thawed, shelled edamame beans
1/4 cup of finely grated asiago
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of freshly-grated pepper
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. Lay beans on a parchment-lined baking pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping once about halfway through. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Magnet Fishing

7 / 15 / 127 / 15 / 12

As we were playing with Gracen’s ever-growing magnet collection this morning, a little game we’ve not yet tried popped into mind… Magnet fishing!

It was a breeze to set up. We gathered up a few materials we had around the house – a bowl, magnets, scissors, embroidery floss (any string would do), a large paperclip, and a piece of drift wood from Gracen’s beach sensory bin (a twig, chop stick, or popsicle stick could easily be used instead) – and created a pond of magnet “fish” and a fishing rod.

These alphabet magnets, made by Gracen’s Auntie Roz, worked well because they were very strong but still light enough to be picked up by the paperclip. The only problem was that they were so strong that with a small bump of the bowl, they’d all cling together, making it hard to catch a “fish”. We did try her Melissa and Doug wooden alphabet magnets, but because of their weight and weaker magnets, they couldn’t be picked up by the paperclip. Ultimately, something in between the two would have been perfect (I’m thinking the plastic letter magnets may be the way to go).

WIth our fishing rod built and our pond freshly-stocked with fish, we were ready to go.

Caught one!

After she’d fished standing up for a while, she decided to try fishing while sitting down. Looping the line around the rod a couple of times made this a much more manageable task.

Caught another.

Gracen thought this activity was a lot of fun. As she pulled the magnets out of the pond, she’d remove them from the paperclip, announce their colour (older kids could do colours and letters), and add them to her caught pile (often giving herself an enthusiastic clap afterwards). She enjoyed it so much, in fact, that she insisted that it stay in her room until her Papa returned home from work so she could show him. And that’s exactly what she did.

Sometimes simple fun is the best kind.

♥

Moon Painting

7 / 15 / 121 / 19 / 14

I’ve had tons of fun little activities and cooking projects I’ve wanted to do with Miss G over the last couple of weeks, but all the gorgeous sunshiny weather we’ve been having has allowed for little more than bike rides, outdoor play, visits to the beach, and afternoons at the pool. Darn weather!

Though we’ve been soaking up every moment of our summer, today’s dreariness was a welcomed change. Our house was cool, and we stayed in all morning playing and having fun {without melting}.

The first little activity we tried was what I call moon painting. It’s super simple and involves three basic things everyone with munchkins probably has at home – a tray of baking soda, food colouring dyed vinegar, and a few old medicine droppers / syringes.

See why I call it moon painting? The vinegar and soda mixture bubbles up and leaves little crater-covered splotches when it settles back down again.

Gracen really, really enjoyed this activity. I demonstrated how to using the dropper, and she picked it up very quickly (although it did become harder near the end when there wasn’t as much of the vinegar mixture left). She’d drop a little vinegar onto her tray, then point in excitement as it fizzed up in mound of bubbles. Afterwards, she’d announce the colour of her newest splot.

Pinch…

Drop…

And watch the bubbles!

Moon craters in the making.

We did try using the syringes too, but we quickly learned that they led to great big swamps rather than moon craters, which caused less of a fizz.

So back to the dropper we went.

The end result was a tray covered in colourful craters and a little lady who would have done continued moon painting for the rest of the morning given the chance.

Here’s a little video of Grae hard at play:

And the best part about this activity? Because both vinegar and baking soda are very effective natural cleaners, clean up is a breeze! Who would have thought your little one’s art project would equal a newly-shined kitchen sink?

♥

Small Style {5}

7 / 14 / 127 / 15 / 12

Whew! Finally getting around to a new Small Style post… I got a question from a reader a little while back that was clothing / accessory related, so I thought I’d share:

Gracen always seems to be wearing a hat or sunglasses, or both. How do you manage to keep them on her?

I’ve got to say, it’s pretty much a non-issue for us at this point. In fact, if we’re getting ready to leave the house and she does not yet have a hat on her head, she’ll normally remind me. I think it’s because she’s never known any different. Since the day she was born, she’s always worn hats. It’s something that I’ve always felt was important, and so I made sure to get her used to them very early on. Still to this day, there are very few times that she goes without one, whether it be summer or winter {although I do often take her picture for these posts before putting her hat on}. Sunglasses are much the same. I bought the tiniest pair of sunglasses I could find while living in Kuwait and started putting them on her when she was just a baby. When she’d pull them off, I’d just put them back on, and eventually she stopped taking them off. Now she asks for them when it’s bright out. I know that’s not much help for those trying to teach their little ones to keep their hats / glasses on, but I think the biggest thing is just to keep putting them on time and time again until they eventually become used to it.

Now, onto some itty bitty outfits…

Quilted jacket: Joe / Floral blouse: Joe / Skinny jeans: H&M / Glittered flats: Payless

Giant sunhat: Baby Gap / Button-up sweater: Levi’s / Ruffled denim tank: Joe / Blush shorts: Baby Gap / Gladiator sandals: Joe

Crossover ballet sweater: Baby Gap / Striped baby doll dress: Old Navy / Polkadot tights: Baby Gap / Glittered Flats: Payless / Recycled milk pouch book bag: www.workofyourhand.com (ours was made by Beth B.).

Floral sunglasses: Joe / Striped dress: Baby Gap / Tights: unknown (gifted) / Glittered flats: Payless

Ruffled cardigan: unknown (gifted) / White blouse: Old Navy / {Still very big} floral skirt: Old Navy / Brown tights: H&M / Glittered flats: Payless

Straw fedora: H&M / Floral sunglasses: Joe / Plaid button-up: Joe / Pink tee: Next / Denim shorts: Baby Gap / Pink gumboots: SportTek (can never be too prepared when visiting a farm!)

Black cardigan: H&M (boys’ section) / Polka-dotted tunic (used to be a dress): H&M / Black leggings: H&M / Fluorescent runners: H&M

Coral ball cap: H&M / Striped dress: H&M / Coral shorts: Old Navy / Gladiator sandals: Joe

♥

Soaking Up the Summer

7 / 13 / 127 / 15 / 12

I’m not ashamed to say that we were back at Maple Grove Pool again today… Yes, again. But what’s not to love? Picnics, swimming, splashing, and playing, all while soaking up some vitamin D (doused in all-natural sunscreen and covered by a huge sunhat, of course…) These are the things that summer is made of.

♥

Sleeping Beauty

7 / 13 / 127 / 13 / 12

I don’t know if it’s the fact that our little old house is between 27 and 30 degrees during the day, the fact that she’s just about finished breaking through two shiny new molars, or it’s just the excitement of all of the fun afternoon adventures we’ve been going on, but this little lady hasn’t napped in two days. (Eek!) So today, as we’re cruising home from the pool, windows down, music up, I turn around to see this. My beautiful little lady, fast asleep in her car seat at 5 p.m.

Let’s hope we’re back on track tomorrow!

♥

Toddler Food: What Miss G Eats {16}

7 / 13 / 127 / 13 / 12

Well, I’m finally caught up on our vacation posts and I can get back to doing regular things like Toddler Food and Small Style posts – yay! It’s been a while and I have a lot share, so there will probably be a couple more of these coming very soon…

Breakfast // Cinnamon broiled grapefruit (surprisingly yummy!) Wholewheat walnut bread with all-natural peanut butter.

Breakfast // Wholewheat oat flax pancakes. Bananas and berries.

Breakfast // Strawberry flax smoothie. Mitten toast with all-natural peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and organic raisins.

Breakfast // Wholewheat oat flax pancakes with organic whole milk yogurt and fresh blueberries.

Breakfast // Organic o’s, homemade granola, toasted almonds, and banana coins.

Snack // Strawberries and a baby carrot straight from our backyard. ☺

Snack // Veggie-packed muffin.

Snack // Organic no-sugar-added mango. Unsweetened unsulfured apple rings.

Snack // Fruit cars.

Snack // Raw red onion pieces (not actually a snack, but the girl came back for handfuls of onion so many times while I was prepping dinner that I finally gave her a little bowl. So so so strange, this one).

Lunch // Organic veggie shell pasta and steamed veggies in a creamy garlic sauce.

Lunch // White tuna and old cheddar on multigrain flat bread. Steamed broccoli.

{Picnic} Lunch // Fresh berries. Roasted red pepper hummus, veggies, and, and seedy flatbread. Watermelon chunks. Fresh pineapple. Rice seed crackers and old cheddar.

Lunch // Cheddar-broiled chickpea patty on a multigrain thin slider bun. Steamed asparagus.

Dinner // Roasted chicken. Organic veggie shell pasta and steamed veggies in a creamy garlic sauce. Spicy sautéed zucchini. Grape skewers for dessert.

Dinner // Brown rice roasted chicken casserole. Green salad with seeds.

Dinner // Homemade pizza. (Top: BBQ black bean with fresh avocado / Bottom: asparagus, feta, and turkey bacon)

Dinner // Turkey veggie stew.

Dinner // Barbecued chicken. Grilled asparagus. Baked potato. Peaches and cream corn on the cob.

Dinner // Chicken veggie soup.

Embellished

7 / 12 / 127 / 13 / 12

Literally covered head to toe.

♥

Sand Cone?

7 / 12 / 127 / 12 / 12

Sand cone, anyone? Oh, com’on… You know you want to… How can you resist this little face?

♥

Sand cones made with this cool set gifted to Grae by GC’s good friend, Judy.

Picnic Perch

7 / 12 / 127 / 12 / 12

Today my little lady and I braved the {insane} crowds and visited Granville Island. With our wagon packed with essentials, we quickly picked up our not-so-essentials (fresh bread and iced coffee) and headed over to what I think is Granville Island’s best kept secret – Ron Basford Park (one of our favourites). Even on a day where it took us 45 minutes to find a parking spot and the sidewalks were crawling with people, we were two of six people in the park (seven if you include the maintenance worker mowing the grass). We climbed to the top of the hill, laid out our blanket, and had a peaceful picnic for two upon our perch.

♥

Bedtime Manners

7 / 11 / 127 / 12 / 12

Tonight, just before bedtime…

Mama: Okay, Lovey. Our minute is up. It’s time to get ready for bed.

Grae: No sank-oo, Mama. No sank-oo, sleep. More play, pleeaasch, Mama. Okay?

Well at least she’s polite.

♥

Bug Lover

7 / 11 / 127 / 12 / 12

Visiting the ant family living near our front porch has become a daily ritual as we come and go. This girl loves bugs. She’s very good about not touching them, although she does point very closely while calling out, “Hiiiiiii ant! Hiiiiiii!”

♥

Hillcrest’s Outdoor Pool

7 / 11 / 121 / 23 / 13

In an effort to keep cool while enjoying the sunshine, we tried a new outdoor pool today… The outdoor pool at Hillcrest Centre. It was a beautiful afternoon and we certainly enjoyed ourselves, but I must say, it was no competition for the lovely Maple Grove Pool. While we love Hillcrest’s indoor pool, the outdoor one was just okay. The downsides? The wading area is quite small and the non-slip pool bottom is really pokey. While probably great for safety, it’s hard on your hands, knees, and bottom, not to mention your suit! The other thing I wasn’t super keen on was the {very powerful} spray apparatus. While a ton of fun for older kids, being sprayed in the face while not expecting it was not a lot of fun for Miss G or I, and because of it’s water pressure, there are not many areas where you’re out of its range. The perks? It’s really close to us and the admission also allows you to use the indoor pool which is nice if you need a break from the sun. While it wasn’t our favourite, we’ll probably try visiting again on a morning when there may be fewer older kids and less chance of being the spray apparatus’ target.

♥

Ocean Sensory Bin

7 / 10 / 123 / 24 / 14

Summer has finally arrived in the Lower Mainland and it’s getting h.o.t. (no complaining here – we love it). Being that we like to be outside for the majority of the day (and our little old house heats up like an oven), there needs to be some sort of relief so that Miss G doesn’t overheat. So, when we’re not at a pool, beach, or water park, we’re most likely in the backyard playing with water, ice, or a combination of both. Today, we gathered a few things and put together an ocean sensory bin to splash around in.

Some rocks, a handful of seashells, a few pieces of driftwood, a fistful of greens plucked from the garden, a few floating sea creatures, and a couple drops of food colouring, and you’ve got yourself a mini ocean in your backyard.

These ocean creatures are so neat. We found them for $1.25 each and they have the coolest squishy / stretchy / rubbery texture to them. They feel eerily realistic.

Gracen dove in, and thought it was pretty hilarious that I’d set the crocodile up on a piece of driftwood. She experimented with taking him off and balancing him back on again, and once she’d pretty much mastered it, she moved on to balancing the dolphin and whale atop driftwood islands of their own.

Of course, there was plenty of swimming involved too.

She was just getting started on emptying the ocean out onto the towel when we heard a clattering coming around the side of the house… Grandma Charlotte and her friend, Judy, had arrived for an afternoon visit! And with all kinds of special gifts for Miss G, no less. Needless to say, our ocean fun came to a halt. Presents to open and and Manmaws to visit take priority, obviously. As they should. ☺

♥

You can see Gracen’s ice, rainbow rice, beach, ocean, gardening, moon dough, construction, and bird -themed

bins by clicking on the links.

A Fort Morning & Finding Balance

7 / 10 / 127 / 11 / 12

One of my priorities as a stay-at-home mama is making the very most of my time with Gracen. Now, I don’t necessarily mean that we’re always on elaborate outings and doing involved, pre-planned projects… I just mean that during her awake time, I try my very best to spend my time with her. For me, that’s the reason I’m at home right now. Her. So things like blogging, reading and returning emails, checking Faceboook / Twitter / Pinterest, doing major housecleaning, working on Littlest Lulu orders, and making phone calls wait until she’s in bed for the night or get done during her nap times (as much as humanly possible, at least). While she’s awake, my goal is to be actively present. Sometimes we do pre-planned activities or go on elaborate adventures, and sometimes we do low-key things around our house, yard, and neighbourhood… We read stories, do puzzles, play games, explore our backyard, do art projects, visit libraries, go to the pool, visit places around the city, have play dates, go for walks, and check out playgrounds. But as much as possible, we spend time together. Of course, there are things that just need to get done – shopping for groceries, doing errands, washing dishes, and cooking for example. Although Grae often helps me cook and do dishes, she’s very good about playing independently during these times too, which, in my opinion, is an important skill for all kids to have.

Anyways, late last night we found out we’d be having some visitors this afternoon, which was great. But when I woke up and took a look around my house only to find that it was a DIS.AS.TER, I realized that there was simply not enough time to make the house presentable and shower and get myself ready for the day during Grae’s noonish nap. (Side note: How does this happen?! I think we’re relatively tidy people and I’m the clean-as-you-go type, yet every now and then, I find myself amidst a MESS! I know that some moms would say ‘Who cares about what the house looks like when you have guests over – you’re a busy mom of a toddler!’ and I’m working on getting {closer} to that point, but I’m just not there yet…) Knowing that I’d have to spend part of my day doing things I’d normally do while Miss G slept, I decided that we’d put together something fun to keep her happy and engaged while I zoomed around the house tucking things away, sweeping floors, and tackling dust bunnies.

With the help of a blanket, a flat sheet, a handful of clothespins, and a few strips of duct tape (because what isn’t duct tape good for, really?), we whipped up a little bedroom fort, fit for a queen.

Once we had it set up, we collected a few things from around the house to ‘furnish’ it with… Throw cushions, a tea set, mini books, the Hello Kitty family, and some drawing goodies all found a home in Grae’s fort.

We played together for a little while, and then I got busy cleaning while Grae enjoyed her new space. While it wasn’t the perfect solution, it certainly helped. I got what I needed to get done done, she had a fun morning despite the fact that Mama was a little less present than usual, and we had a great afternoon visit with our guests.

It’s amazing what a sheet-turned-canopy can do, isn’t it?

♥