Out and About: Marvelous Markets

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Out and About: Out of the Box Festival

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Things to do: Glow Stick Bathtime

We have a lot of different bath toys and they get swapped around every month or so. Tonight we tried something different. I turned the lights down low and snapped on a glow stick. It lit up the room with a beautiful violet glow. Gwen loved having it in the bath. After awhile she asked for the lights to be put back on.

"off! off!"
"Do you mean lights on?"
"on! is dark!"

She still played with it for a bit, experimenting to see if it would draw on the bath like crayons or fit into a big bit of foam with lots of holes in it.

Afterwords it came with us for story time and even made a showing while she had her pre-bed bottle. She delighted in putting it in and out of my cleavage and under my bra strap. It didn't accompany her to bed though, as it's a soft plastic and would probably puncture with her sharp little teeth. I'll put it in the freezer to slow down the chemical reaction so it has a bit more glow tomorrow night.

Things to Cook: Afternoon Tea Fruit and Veg Smorgasbord

Golden Kiwi Fruit
Frozen Blueberries
Crunchy Mungbean shoots
Frozen Peas
Banana
Chopped Tomato

Things to Cook: Leek, Potato and Hidden Veg Soup

1tbs chopped leek
1 sml potato
1 cup homemade chicken stock (or 1/2 cup commercial stock and 1/2 cup water)
3 tbs chopped purple cabbage
1 tsp chopped parsley
1tbs mungbeans
a little salt
buttered toast for dipping

1. Fry the leek in a little oil till tender.
   
2. Add potato and chicken stock. Cook on medium heat until the potato is just soft.
3. Add cabbage and simmer gently for another minute.
   
4. Add everything else and blend into a smooth soup.
   
5. Serve with bread sticks for dipping.

Gwen has just started to enter the picky stage with her food and was very dubious of this brew at first. Eventually she bravely took a sample bite from the dipped bread after a lot of "yum, potato" sounds from me. She decided that she adored it and yumed it up.

Things to Cook: cheesy carrot pasta

1 cup cooked pasta spirals
1/2 carrot, grated then chopped finely
1 med tomato diced
1tbs finely chopped shallots
1/2 small clove garlic
1tbs chopped parsley
2 tbs finely chopped lettuce or fresh mungbean shoots
1 heaped teaspoon cream cheese
a little oil

1. In a saucepan fry the garlic in a little oil.
2. Add tomato, shallots and carrot, stirring constantly. cook until tomato has softened to form a sauce. you may need to add a little water to keep it moist.
3. Add parsley & cream cheese, mix through on low heat.
4. Add the precooked pasta and stir until coated.
5. Mix through the lettuce/mungbeans just before serving.

Eat with fingers or fork. Yum! A little creamed corn is a nice variation too. If the veges are too obvious for your fussy toddler then add a few more tomatoes to the mix to hide the veg in the sauce.

Things to cook: Spanish Omlette

Kipfler potatoes, peeled and chopped finely.
Sunflower/olive oil
fresh thyme
1 medium tomato, diced
fresh chives
eggs
baby spinach

1. Fry the potatoes on high until almost soft, use a little more oil than you think. the potatoes shouldn't stick to the pan but the shouldn't be swimming in oil either.
2. Add tomato and thyme. Cook on medium heat until the tomato softens
3. Add chives
4. the number of eggs depends on the amount of potato and how many people you'll be feeding. I used 5 eggs here. Whisk the eggs and add to the potatoes. Cook on a very low heat with the lid of the pan on. it will probably take 10 - 15 mins to cook through gently.
5. Add the spinach a few minutes before serving and replace the lid.
6. Slice and serve warm.