The GREAT Easter Egg Dye Experiment

Alright, here it is, the Easter Egg dye experiment!!  I wanted to show y'all the results of my homemade Easter Egg dyes. The eggs we dyed were brown eggs, probably not the best choice, the white ones would have picked up the color way better.  Of course, white organic eggs are non-existent here in Lafayette.  (Wah-wah-waaaaaaah)

Tah dah!!! So I know the colors are super vibrant but again these are brown eggs.  I feel white organic would make the color more vivid.

Here are the recipes I used.

PURPLE

2 c. grape juice, 100%

1 TBLSP white vinegar

4 cups water

Bring to boil, lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

RUST ORANGE

1 TBLSP paprika

2 cu. Water

1 TBLSP white vinegar

Bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

RED

3 small beets quartered

1 TBLSP white vinegar

4 cups water

Bring to boil, lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

BLUE

1 1/2 c. frozen blueberries

1 c. water

1 TBLSP lemon juice

Bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

YELLOW

1 tsp. tumeric

8 cups water

1 tsp. vinegar

Bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

GREEN

1 container baby spinach

2 c. water

1 TBLSP white vinegar

Bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer 15 min.

welcome to our home!

 I have been wanting to welcome y'all in our home for a while.  I just wanted everything done first so now that it is. Welcome!!  This is more of a view of Audrey's world; a Montessori view if you will be

Welcome to Audrey's space in our living room.  This is her Montessori space.  I keep activities on the shelves, she has her art area, and her area where we hand her art.

I love this little area.  That is a homemade chalkboard.  It took scrap wood, a lot of sanding, and homemade chalk paint.  The dry erase board is from that massive red easel thingy.  We took that board out and Carlo made a frame; I painted it.  I rotate what is in her art basket to keep her inspired.  If you can't tell, this area gets used quite a lot!

Audrey's Montessori shelves (sorry for the blur)  I rotate what is on the shelves and move what is on the shelves around to keep things interesting.  This picture was taken a month ago.  Currently, I have moved things all around and changed out some things as well.

these were for Audrey from the Easter Bunny. They are heirloom blocks; and yes, that's French on them!!!  The craftsmanship is really fantastic!

Audrey has really been enjoying puzzles lately.  She loves the sound ones and since numbers are a big thing right now we keep that puzzle out.  I rotate which puzzles are out pretty regularly. 

When I saw Audrey lacing at the children's museum I KNEW I had to get her some lacing beads.  She loves these.  She pretty much has is mastered so I am starting to incorporate small things to lace. 

those are homemade alphabet cards from some free pint outs I randomly found.  On the right are sandpaper alphabet letters. 

Audrey has been having so much fun with these.  You have to match the two halves of the blocks together and then it makes the sound of the vehicle you matched. 

mama's little artist

this is the view from the dining room.  Oh and you'll see her abacus by the fish tank and that basket underneath is all instruments.  She has a drum pad and sticks, marimba mallets, a zumba skirt, 2 different drums, a train whistle, a recorder, jingle bells, and a duck caller.  We have since added Moroccans.  She only gets real wood instruments.  Being a musician that is super important for her to have only the real thing.

This area is in our kitchen.  She has a broom to sweep up messes she makes, and that kitchen was her birthday present.  She has wood pots, pans, plates, and utensils.  She has her green plan toys refrigerator which is loaded with veggies, and wood foods.  On top are leftover spice bottles that she uses for cooking.  In the middle is her shopping cart with her naked baby!   Oh and yes she is in her PJ's wearing my heels.  That step stool on the far right is how Audrey helps me cook. 

this is again, the living room.  That's Audrey's table. It was actually mine and her pink elephant which not only Audrey loves, but ALL of the pups

I know it's a little dark and yes it's messy but hey that's life!! :-)  Another view of the living room.

Indian Broccoli Pizza: MAKE THIS TONIGHT!!

Are you REALLY busy right now, or is it just me who feels that way??  I feel as though the time for making complicated meals, like the ones I make in winter usually has passed.  Our little family would rather spend time outside soaking up that extra sunlight at the end of the day, even though I still hate the time change every morning, OR have a picnic in our living room while watching Finding Nemo, as we did tonight since it was quite chilly out today. sorry the massive and inexcusable run-on.   In any case, here is a WONDERFUL quick and easy meal.  To make this super quick and easy, as in 10 min prep and pop in the oven, I took a few shortcuts from the original recipe that didn't take away from the integrity of the pizza in the least bit.


 Indian Broccoli Pizza

Here's the picture . I suck at taking the before pictures, but as you can see, both pizza's are gone except for this last lone slice.  Lucky me, I get the privilege to enjoy this bad boy tomorrow for lunch.  Oh and Audrey ate 2-3 slices.  She also has a slice for lunch tomorrow along with some balsamic tofu from Whole Foods.






Ingredients:
1/2 bag of frozen organic broccoli florets
2 Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crusts
1 jar Tikka Masala Indian Simmer ( you can use whatever Indian simmer you want this one was mild and tomato based and said "buy me")
1 large ball mozzarella, slice however you want
2 TBLSP mango relish  (this stuff has some heat to it, so I watered it down for Audrey)
2 TBLSP roughly chopped cashew nuts
2 TBLSP chopped cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 375 (that's what it says on the Udi's package so I went with it)
2. Take your broccoli and microwave it to take the freeze off, then cut into smaller pieces
3. Use the whole jar of Tikka Masal and split it between the two small pizza crusts
4.  Add you sliced mozzarella, use however much or little you want. We used nearly the whole thing

5.   Put the 2 TBLSP mango relish in a mini prep processor and add about 1/4 c. water, maybe less. Taste test it and see how hot you want it to be and then sprinkle on the pizza.
6.  Add your chopped cashew nuts and cilantro
7. Pop in the oven and cook for 10-12 min.  You want your mozzarella melty.

holistic pups

I was just reading information on dogs and homeopaths here Why haven't I researched this before???  My puppies were my babies first and I never questioned vaccinating them although I have not only questioned vaccinating Audrey but have bought books, done hours of countless research and well, we will leave it at that.   I am really not sure why I haven't seeing as we are such a green family and ONLY take homeopaths.  We practice well-being.  Why not do that with my two babies?  This came up because they had a vet appointment today.  Yes, I feed them healthy food, chicken soup for the dog lovers soul, and top notch treats. I am just as picky about their food as I am with mine.  They come jogging with me and Audrey 5 days a week and Eli gets a run in on top of the jog 2 times a week.  They even did flyball for a year and half and we still practice occasionally by ourselves that is...  I would LOVE to feed them raw honestly but we have tried to switch shortly after we got Eleanor, but it was tough on their system.  Believe it or not, Eleanor is miss picky, she hates carrots, blueberries, cantaloupe, and a slew of other good for you food, including broccoli.  Eli LOVES it.  I usually give them leftover, well him, broccoli.   In any case, I have found that I should be leary of vaccinations with pups as well.  check out this page, all you puppy owners.  I have found a new research topic it seems and well we may try to switch to raw again.  I read an article, right here,  that made me realize that just like we don't like to eat the same thing every night, they don't either. That shouldn't be a big surprise.  The pups have some big changes coming their way which include the Titer test, and a slow transition to raw, I hope the latter sticks.  Just some thoughts.  Just because this is a mommy blog doesn't mean that doesn't include my fur babies. They WERE here first ya know.  They are still young, I can still change things.  I am glad I found out about this now and not later.  I want my puppies to be around for a long time and don't want them hurt because I didn't take care of them the best that I could have.

our last visit to Joyce before leaving ABQ

the day we got Eli from the rescue! fall 2007

princess Eleanor chilling in our yard

Eli with a flyball injury (dewclaw) and Eleanor before we "officially" adopted her. I had already claimed her as ours though

pretty girl

sleeping with my boy

the Albuquerque dogs

tugging together at the park near our home in ABQ

our first family photo with the babies!

                               

Life of Chaos

I will be back with tons of posts regarding the 1970's dresser we just re-did in 30 min. with less than 16oz of homemade chalkpaint and natural wax, my upcoming 3 day juice cleanse that I am tackling next week, as well as New Orleans Jazzfest that we are attending right after I am done with my cleanse.  For now, I am a ball of chaos since it is the end of the semester, and unexpected things are happening. To let you in on the chaos, I may be accompanying one of my students for their jury and another one we are scrambling to find someone.  The fantastic accompanist my students had, along with students in other studios, is headed to China indefinitely on Monday for a family emergency. We are done May 6th so expect posts then.  Sorry for the hiatus but I will be back with gusto and great force since it will be summer!!

Spring Fun: Part 3....it just keeps going!!

Okay last one of the Spring Fun posts, I PROMISE!   The ASO Conservatory (Acadiana Symphony Orchestra) hosts an annual Festival Eggstrordinare in the Oil Center here in Lafayette.  It is so...fun.  Not only does it support the conservatory but well like I said it is FUN!  They have the Easter Bunny, whom Audrey not only sat on his lap happily, but asked to do so again and again.  They have Easter egg hunts for different age groups.  Kids from the conservatory perform live music throughout the day.  They have booths and fun jumps and cool things like Instrument Petting Zoo. Ya know it's  the type of thing that musical parents think is the COOLEST thing ever!!.  In any case, after spending the morning at the Festival, we headed over the the Baton Rouge zoo.  Can you believe that Carlo and I have NEVER been!!??  We were born and raised in Louisiana, he lived 45 min from this zoo, and I an hour 45!  Anyway, I have to say, GO!!  It's massive and has elephants, something the Acadiana zoo doesn't have and some pelicans, buffalo, 2 types of tigers, Malayan and Bengal, and elk. I don't think the Audubon has the latter three.  Yes, the Audubon is king of zoo's not only in Louisiana, but the U.S .  It still ranks 10 in the nation, and rightfully so. It was the only zoo I had ever been to until Carlo and I went to the Chiang Mai zoo in  Thailand on our honeymoon.  I was determined  to see the panda's!  In any case, it's better than the Acadiana zoo, not quite as awesome as the Audubon, but it has some nice habitats and a lot of room for expansion!  

 

This is the first time Audrey has seen a violin in person.  She has seen pictures and of course recognizes the sound but I can't tell you how unbelievably happy and excited this picture makes me!!!

Did I mention we are thinking of doing a Suzuki camp with her this summer????

painting her own Easter egg

She was adamant about using blue and orange and no other colors!!

all of the booths and where the Easter egg hunt was to  take place.  We were in the car headed to the zoo by the time the hunt started and Audrey was sound asleep.

they had something called toddler town and it was 2 year old sized climbable things and they didn't have but maybe 1 big kid.  It made me a happy mama

marching the the best of her own drum. Climbing up the slide part.

she patiently waited her turn while a little boy "hogged" that seal and the mother took 5 or so pictures.  He kept pushing her away and she did nothing but walk away and wait. It was in that moment, I knew we were doing something right.

my climbing baby

Audrey was so beyond excited to sit on a tiger. She asked at the Zoo in Baton Rouge if she could sit on those tigers!

the elephants  They are working on building them a bigger and better habitat and working on getting another elephant as well.  I was so happy that this elephant  looked and even smiled at me. They are such gentle giants.  I have quite a love for elephants.  They represent good luck.

this wagon is with us at ANY zoo. We aren't stroller people, never have been. I use a stroller for bike rides and jogging, but the wagon it used quite often!!

she couldn't see the elephants from the wagon, but that's no problem when your papa is 6ft.

I wish you could really see this. This pelican kept opening his beak underwater and it kept expanding. It was VERY cool to say the least

buffalo and elf

a portrait of my sweet baby every week in 2013

                                                                           12/52

Since it has been cold outside I have been telling her she needs a hat when she goes out to play.  This morning she told me it was cold and she needed a hat. This is what she grabbed!

                                                                             13/52

bowing her first violin.  She was so...excited, and so was I!!  She is our musical child.

'a portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2013'