Easy learning activity, easy meal, easy movin'

Easy learning activity:

Remember growing bean sprouts in preschool or grade school? I saw a really easy way to do it on PBS Kids the other day, so Chickie and I tried it. This has been a HIT!

How-to:
1. Fold a paper towel in quarters.
2. Put it on a plate.
3. Get it wet.
4. Put some dry beans on the towel.
5. Put the whole thing in a plastic food storage bag, and seal it.
6. Put it in a place where it will get some sunlight.
7. Check out the beans daily (or as often as you think of it) to see them growing!

We started last week--I'm guessing Tuesday or Wednesday-ish. We checked the beans the next day and saw that some of them were starting to swell and split. Then we forgot about it until yesterday, when Chickie brought them to me. Success! Those bean sprouts grow quickly!

Here they are this morning. It's interesting to see which bean sprouts are growing most quickly, since we used three types of beans.


Chickie wanted to play with them, and what better way for her to get to explore growing things? Here she is, pretending one of the sprouts is a helicopter. Later, one sprout was a spider. (When we opened up the bag yesterday it was quite stinky. This morning it wasn't bad, but judging by the way she covered her nose, I guess she figured you can't be too careful.)


This is such a fantastic activity for any family, whether you are a working or stay-at-home parent. It literally took about three minutes to put together, and that was with the "help" of Chickie.

Easy meal:

I'm not great at the whole presentation side of meals, but I thought this one turned out pretty dang cool:


This is cheeseburger soup in a sourdough bread bowl. The recipe comes from The CrockPot Lady's blog, where I've gotten many recipes lately. I made mine on the stovetop, simply because I didn't start it earlier in the day. To make the bread bowls I simply took small sourdough boules, purchased on the half price rack at Wal-Mart Supercenter, and used a knife to cut off the top. Then I used a fork to hollow out the bowl. Easy and impressive!

Now, I'd like to say this recipe is healthy, but it's really just borderline at best. The CrockPot Lady did improve it by reducing the amount of cheese, but it's probably not one you'd want to make frequently if you're going for a generally healthy diet. For an occasional treat, though, it really is great. Chickie wouldn't eat it, but that really surprised me.... I think most kids would gobble it up.

It uses Velveeta...and did you know that Velveeta is not sold in the cheese section? It doesn't have to be refrigerated until after you open it! Personally, I find that a bit frightening. Not that I had any illusions about Velveeta being "natural," but it just seems weird that it's so processed that it can be sold right next to the pasta. I won't be buying Velveeta frequently...but I will use the leftover, mixed with Ro-Tel, to make some yummy queso to eat with chips. I mean, we mustn't waste, right? Mmm.

Easy movin':

My friends, we have a mobile baby on our hands. As proud as I am of my little Zoodle, I was not ready for this. He is scooting and rolling enough that he can end up several feet away from his starting point, and he's on his hands and knees, rocking forward and backward, so he'll be crawling soon. Oh, my goodness, it begins....

Hope you have an easygoing day!