Month: March 2011

Failed Craft Projects

We’ve had several craft project disasters this week.

First there was the attempt at making salt dough with regular flour that made me sick. (Evidently breathing in gluten is worse than eating it for people with gluten sensitivities. Who knew?!) Above it as far as we got before the whole thing went into the trash.

Then we tried to make a gluten-free salt dough with cornstarch and that turned out to be a giant mess. We even followed a recipe, but to no avail! After we had tripled the amount of cornstarch and salt called for in the recipe in a last ditch attempt to save it, the whole thing suddenly turned into a feta cheese-like consistency and we knew the project was over.

I thought the whole activity was a disaster, however our daughter loved every moment of the messy, water play. Half-success?

Our next less-than-successful project: we tried to reveal secret messages (written in white crayon on paper) with water color paints. That sort of worked.

Unfortunately it wasn’t enough of a success to merit it’s own blog post or a place in our daughter’s new room.

Good thing we’re all about the process here in our house, rather than the final product.

Sigh.

So, how’s your week going?

Make Your Own Coloring Book

Printables featuring my daughter’s favorite book characters?! Perfect for this little girl.

Lilly, Chester, Angelina, Little Bear, Winnie the Pooh, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Frances…

Every day when we read their stories, we visit with them. To my daughter, these storybook characters are dear friends.

I’m thrilled she loves and admires these wonderful characters instead of drooling over Disney characters or Princesses. (Although that stage is probably just around the corner, knock on wood.)

The best part about these printables? They are free. So many children’s illustrators have wonderful websites and many of them contain fantastic games and coloring pages to download and print to share.

Here are some of our favorites:

+ Kevin Henkes, author/illustrator of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse and Chester’s Way

+ Jan Brett, author/illustrator of The Mitten and The Owl and the Pussycat

+ Eric Carle, author/illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (more Eric Carle printables here)

+ Laura Numeroff, author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

+ Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of Strega Nona

Gluten-Free “Breads”

My level of gluten-interolerance recently took a turn for the worse. As a result I’ve become extra careful not to ingest (or breathe!) any gluten; no more occasional treats here and there. Gluten is officially off the menu and on it’s way to being out of our house! And, wow, do I feel better. It’s hard to say it’s worth it, but my goodness it’s SO WORTH IT.

In response to this, I’ve spent more time finding yummy gluten-free bread-like alternatives. Here are some recipes that we’ve been enjoying lately.

Chickpea Pancakes with White Bean and Basil Tapenade (adapted from the March issue of Clean Eating Magazine and surprisingly not yet posted on their website)

1 cup chickpea flour (I used this chickpea and fava flour mix)
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 cup canned or cooked cannellini beans or white kidney beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Prepare pancake: In a medium bowl slowly whisk chickpea flour into 1 1/3 cups water. Let sit for an hour at room temperature. (Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.) Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and several grinds of pepper to the chickpea mixture.

Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil, pour in batter and cook for 1-2 minutes until edges of pancake begin to lightly brown. Do not flip. Place skillet in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until crisp around edges and light golden brown. Slide pancake onto a cutting board and cut into wedges.

Prepare tapenade: In a food processor, add beans, 1 tbsp oil, 3 tbsp water, basil and garlic and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Super yum!

I plan to make these pancakes even more figure friendly. If my recipe works out, I’ll post about it.

Brazilian Cheese Bread (adapted from here)

1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste)

Blend ingredients in a food processor or blender, pour into a greased muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned. Serve warm.

I definitely blew my calorie count for the day eating these yummies. I dare you to not eat them all up. So freaking delicious!

Vintage Eyeglasses? Yes, Please!

Word to the wise: when an eyeglass designer opens her studio and has a trunk show featuring her designs and thousands of vintage frames, GO! You never know what amazing finds and deals may await you.

Oh, my! We had such fun trying on glasses.

We scooped up these vintage sunglasses for me.

I adore them.

And I’m not the only one!


And, yes, she inherited all that kookieness from me, thank you very much.


We know how to have fun over here in Spritzer Leyba Land.

Museum Map

In the past two months we’ve visited both the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the California Academy of Sciences here in the Bay Area. Both experiences were formative for our three year old and she frequently talks the magical things we saw there (dinosaur bones! penguins! (stuffed) lions! fish!).

Yesterday she announced that she needed a map for her upcoming (pretend) museum trip and so we immediately set about making one.

I was there for spelling help and letter forming support.

She picked the animals, designed the museum layout, and drew it herself (except for one word that I wrote, but I bet you spotted that one already!).

In our daughter’s world dinosaurs are alive and well, my friends. After reading the classic I Can Read Book, Danny and the Dinosaur, there was so convincing her that they are extinct. If Danny can ride a dinosaur around town, than so can my daughter.

After all, as I am frequently reminded, you can do anything in your imagination.