Weekend Time==Cooking, Snow Angels, Lent Preparation

Coming home from my parents we rushed to the library for the Move and Groove program that we signed up for. Hazel loves it. While there we got a few new books. One of them is The Snow Angel by Glenn Beck.

This story is about a sister and brother who are very upset because their parents are working so much (out of need) and their grandmother keeps spending the night with them. They have been eating macaroni and cheese made by their father (which they claim is not as good as their mother's) every night. Their grandmother tells them a story about a young girl who had similar circumstances--her father was fighting in the war (World War II) and her mother was sewing uniforms for the soldiers and she was home by herself. When her father was home on leave he taught her how to make a snow angel the last day he was home and explained that snow angels are magical. They stay with the person you make them for and watch over them. Therefore, since he made one for her, she wouldn't be alone anymore. She no longer felt so alone when her parents were gone. The sister figured out the girl in the story was their grandmother. Then they talk about making snow angels for their parents, but their is no snow. The next morning the children surprise the parents with breakfast in bed and downstairs hung paper snow angel chains all around.

I folded some white paper like a fan (back and forth) and then sketched a snow angel and cut through all the layers. Then I tried folding it smaller and sketched half a snow angel. These are the chains on the top of the page. Hazel tried to cut some but had a bit of trouble so I helped her and cut it in half so she didn't have as many layers. Sorry the picture is a bit out of focus. (We also started some more crafts to do with books we have been reading, but we will save those until we are done.)

We also started our grass egg shells for Easter. Since Lent started on Wednesday and we were away, we started it a few days late. I had been saving half egg shells from whenever we used eggs. I washed them out and left them to dry. Then I used a safety pin to punch a hole in each one for drainage.

We lined them in a plastic egg carton (which we usually use to put Hazel's paints in when she is painting with different colors) and filled them with top soil. Hazel enjoyed this part and made a bit of a mess.

Then we put some grass seeds in each one (again Hazel had fun and dropped the handful in the middle so we had to spread them out). We added some more soil and water and placed them in the window. Now we need to check the water of them each day and look for growth.

We will share these closer to Easter when we hopefully have some grass. We did this last year and used them as part of our Easter basket center piece. Plus it helps Hazel learn about the growing process.

Yesterday morning we made pancakes. We decided on pumpkin blueberry pancakes. Hazel had a small breakfast with Daddy earlier, but she at almost four of these pancakes with me. Needless to say, they were a hit.

Mixing the Dry Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
2 Tablespoons toasted oat bran (you can use wheat germ as well)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of ginger

Mix all together. Then set aside.

Beating Liquid Ingredients

Then we did the eggs. I separated the egg white and let Hazel crack the whole egg. Then let her beat them while I got all the liquid ingredients together.

Liquid Ingredients
1 large egg
1 egg white
1 can of cooked pumpkin (you could use homemade as well)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 cup fat free milk

Mixing all the Batter

Beat these together with a whisk. Then add dry ingredients and mix. Then add a cup or so of blueberries (we use frozen) and mix. (I find the blueberries hide most of anything you put in there.)

Then heat a pan sprayed with a cooking spray.  When griddle is warm enough pour batter on in small circles. Let cook until edges look a bit cooked and then flip. Press down with spatula to make sure insides cook. Flip a few more times pressing down.

Enjoy!