Cooking Chickpeas

I thought I would make this recipe:

Sweet and Salty Chickpeas

And I learned a valuable lesson...it has taken a few times of this happening to make me research it.

**There is a difference between wax paper and parchment paper.**

Here is the link I found to tell me more: http://www.chow.com/food-news/55408/whats-the-difference-between-parchment-paper-and-waxed-paper/

Wax paper, which I have, is not meant to go in the oven. It burns to whatever you are using with it and therefore causes smoke, which sets of fire alarms, which causes your verbal 3 year old to say, "Why does your oven do a fire alarm?" :)

Update: I expected the chickpeas to be crunchy, but they weren't. I'm not sure if this was due to the wax paper removal, mid-cooking, or that it just wasn't supposed to be that way. I am trying to think of ways to use up my sweetened chickpeas...thinking of maybe grinding them into a sweet hummus. We'll see.

Fun with MegaBloks

The girls really enjoy building with Mega Bloks, so this year I have been looking for secondhand bits of blocks. So, tonight as we listened to a yum CD that my sister made the girls we built towers, a green alligator train, letters of the alphabet, steps, etc. Teddy got the privilege of riding the green alligator. In the second picture, Kj is unable to get off of the phone for a short picture. I forgot to ask who she was talking to. Probably her cousin! She thinks of him often...even while building tonight.

Coconut Balls

I'll start the post with L's entertainment while I did some chocolate coating:


So, I decided that I would make a gluten-free sweet holiday treat, and coconut balls were ideal, because they are lactose-free as well. The fact that my grandma used to make them...or was it my aunt...and they were delicious also factored in. But I decided to add an almond as well, to make it a titch more exciting!

My recipe came from my very rarely used Betty Crocker Cookie Cookbook. Rarely used because I rarely make cookies, but I had to have it because it was a cookbook that my mom kept in our house. Some things that your mom has you "just have to have"!


Something I would note about making the coconut balls themselves, is that I would make them in to balls before refrigerating. I think they would hold together better that way, although I didn't get a chance to test that.

My attempt at making the chocolate coating took forever. I do not have a double boiler (an example) and the glass bowl that I decided would be best I gave to my sister-in-law...Aunt A...I might be asking for that back if you don't use it! :) Well, anyways, it took me a long time and the chocolate never really made it to the consistency that I had imagined (a bit runny)... I spent hours on this. About an hour before supper and an hour after.

Here are my coated coconut balls...not pretty but yummy! I haven't actually taste tested the completed product, but I can assume.

Here is my "I'm not a cookie-maker...I am not interested in rolling any more of these coconut balls" product:

And here it is slathered with chocolate on top:

Potty Training...

It's come around again! L has been making very good progress in unofficial potty training and today I asked her if she wanted to wear some panties. Yes, she nodded. Ok...here it goes... That was about 10am when I finally got the girls out of their pjs. It has been an accident free morning!!

My method...which isn't a method at all really. I ask her if she needs to go every now and then. Every once in a while if she hasn't gone, I remind her that she can have a cracker if she goes. Then she decides it is a good idea and goes. :) I thought about a nap without diaper and decided that I would but would put some plastic pants over her panties...just in case. I wasn't going to be too brave!

Other things going on today, but that will come later.

Baby-doll Blankets

My mom had made a twin quilt with these fabrics and had some scraps, so I acquired them. I decided to make baby-doll blankets with them. I think I may send one to my cousin's daughter who has the matching bedspread (almost used counterpane...from 12th grade AP English).

Noah's Ark Crackers

The girls and I made these delicious crackers yesterday. They were as easy as I expected with very few ingredients. I accidentally popped one in my mouth...Mmm...Oops...Gluten. Notice L in the background watching the crackers cook. We all were watching for a bit. I would also like to try these graham crackers.

Fancy Felt

I mentioned previously that my friend let me use some of her textured felt because she had yet to find a great project for it. So, I tried making her some hair things for her. She mentioned that the colors had reminded her of a peacock and I thought I would check Etsy for ideas. Neither turned out exactly as I had envisioned it, but still nice. I also didn't figure out what to attach them to so...there they are for her to do with as she pleases. She also found a great idea on Etsy to try...here.

Potholder

Aunt A found the finished brown potholder at a craft fair and asked if I could make a couple more for Christmas presents. I agreed. It was a fun project to work together on. Here is one of the finished products.

Fun with Friends

I got to visit some friends that I haven't seen for a while. The girls and I headed to their house and did some experimenting. My friend, T, is building a shadow puppet theatre. I think those are the terms you would use. Oh, maybe a shadow puppet stage. She made us a mini one as well to take home. Kj experimented with using cardstock and vellum paper. She made a rainbow and car. Friend T cut out and fashioned Kj's masterpieces into puppeteering tools.


My generous Friend T also let me borrow and use as I saw fit some really pretty bits of felt. They are brightly colored and textured. Have you ever seen textured felt?! I hadn't. So, I looked at my meager felt box and found a projected that I had wanted to work on but had never finished...cutting out felt numbers. I can't decide if I am going to make them into a book, game or just leave them separate for Kj and L to put on their felt board (transportation here).

Scrubber

My grandma makes scrubbers. I never really realized how great they were until I hosted a Norwex Party. My friend, Megan, was telling how nice the Norwex scrubber dish clothes were for getting cooked oatmeal and baked cheese off of dishes. That sold the product for me...only it sold me on my grandma's product... I don't wash dishes without them anymore, but they are wearing out and as far as I know the pattern for my grandma's scrubbers is secret! My mom tried to get her mom to show her and she replied, "You need strong hands for those." And didn't show her... So here is my version. Someday, Grandma, I'll come by to learn the real way!

Here is the Norwex version. I need to find a fresh one of Grandma's to take a picture of.

Also if you need any Norwex products...they are really nice!! Head to Megan's site.

Towel Topper

I received a few kitchen hand towels for my wedding shower. A lady I had worked with made them and said they were really easy to make. Well, I have always wanted to try it, but have never gotten around to it. Now I have! I used this pattern except that I did not attach any trim. For the most part I like the pattern. I do think though that I would decrease differently so that it wouldn't have all the holes.

I thought I might like to try these patterns:

headband

neck warmer

Sometime...