Crock Pot Butter Chicken

Since I'm trying to cook with more spices which I talked about when I posted the Basil Curry Chicken recipe before, I decided to try making my own Butter Chicken--and even better, it's a crockpot recipe, so no need to heat up the whole house slaving over the stove top!

Crockpot Butter Chicken--Ready to Eat!

The recipe was super simple, and basically amounts to simply throwing everything in the crockpot and letting it cook! I served mine over some white rice with a piece of naan. It was delicious and made an even better lunch the next day!

Crockpot Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 1.5 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
• 1/2 onion, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons curry paste
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less if you are not a spicy person)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, regular or lite
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream

Instructions

1. In a large glass measuring cup or bowl mix together the coconut milk, greek yogurt and cream. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger and all the spices. Mix well.

2. Sprinkle the onion over the bottom of the crockpot. Add the chicken and then pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken so the chicken is completely covered. 

3. Add the butter and place the lid on the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. 

Once the curry is done cooking, serve it hot over rice and with some naan for scooping and dipping (my favourite part!) This meal was Toddler Approved which is always a nice bonus! For the boy-o I mixed some of the butter chicken up with some of the rice, and put into a tortilla shell with some cheese and gave it a quick grill to make it into a burrito of sorts. He gobbled it right up and I was super happy to have leftovers for lunch the next day because it was delicious!

Garden Adventures, Bubbles, and Sidewalk Chalk

Where we're currently living we don't have any access to a yard, but we do have a balcony. The boy-o really loves to be outside digging in my parent's garden and I wanted to create something here for him to have some space to play as well. So I created him a little garden center out on the balcony with things purchased from the local dollar store. Today was our first real chance to get outside to test it out, and we also blew some bubbles and played with the sidewalk chalk.

The little garden center is made up of a rubbermaid box, some potting soil, two fake plants in little plastic pots, a pewter bird, some marbles to search and find, a little bucket borrowed from the play kitchen, and a little shovel, rake and roller. We also got him a rainbow foam mat that he can sit/kneel on when he's working away. 

He had a wonderful time digging away and dumping the soil over the plants. He got completely covered in dirt and he loved every second of it! Clean-up was a breeze since we were outside on the balcony and I just swept up the spilled dirt and dumped it back into the container!

One of the boy-o's other favourite things to do when outside on the balcony is to blow bubbles. He's getting really good at it now, although it took him a while to get the hang of it. He loves watching them float away, and trying to catch the close ones. Sometimes he even lets mommy blow some too!

Sidewalk chalk is another big hit. Although we have a pretty confined area for him to play in, it's a concrete balcony, so the sidewalk chalk works great. Every time we get out drawing materials the boy-o demands I draw him a train almost immediately. Then he scribbles all over it adding the "hook-ups."

We get lots of nice shade on the balcony too because we have a great big leafy tree right next to us, so I foresee many more enjoyable hours spent on the balcony playing in our new little garden and blowing bubbles and destroying trains.

Bingo Dabber Letters

Now that I'm done with school and back at home with the boy-o I've been looking for some new sensory or educational activities that we can do together, especially when the weather isn't co-operating and we're stuck inside for the afternoon. This is a super simple activity (although a little messy since bingo dabber ink stays on the hands for days...) that we both really enjoyed working on.

It's a great activity to help your toddler get a bit more familiar with the letters of the alphabet and you could use it for numbers as well. Essentially all you need is some blank paper, some bingo dabbers, and a pen or marker to draw some circles on the paper. (We also used our "craft cardboard" to protect the table, and a smock) The circles don't need to be perfect by any means, but they do need to be big enough that a bingo dabber dot could comfortably fit inside it.

We tried a few letters and the boy-o caught on really quickly. I showed him how to do the first one by making a "dot" inside the circle, and that's all the instruction he needed--as off he went filling in the rest of the dots. He did a fantastic job at it, and was really focusing to make sure his "dots" were right inside the circles. After doing a few letters I just gave him a totally blank page to let him have at it and let his creative ideas flow.

We'll definitely be doing more of this in the future! It's also a really great activity for working on hand-eye coordination with your toddler, and when they finish it's such a feeling of accomplishment for them to see their hard work!

Pasta Bake with Turkey Sausage, Spinach and Tomatoes

Following along the casserole trend, we tested out a delicious pasta bake for supper the other night. It combines penne noodles with some sausage, and host of veggies including spinach, coloured peppers, and cherry tomatoes. It's a really nice blend of healthier creaminess and traditional marinara pasta sauce.

We made a huge casserole dish of it, so we had several leftovers some of which we froze--and I'm happy to say that that it freezes really well too! This recipe was also Toddler Approved which is always a bonus!

Pasta Bake with Sausage, Spinach & Tomatoes

Ingredients

-10 ounces whole wheat penne pasta

-1 lb spicy Italian chicken or turkey sausage

-1 5-6 oz. bag baby spinach

-2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 small red pepper cut into strips

- 1/2 small orange pepper cut into strips

- 1/2 small yellow pepper cut into strips

-1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes

-1 cup pasta sauce

-3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

-1/4 cup milk

-1 and 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or mixed blend
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (less or none if you don't like spicy)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.
2. Cook sausage in 1 tbsp butter over medium heat for 12-14 minutes, or until browned. When almost done, add in garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Turn off heat and remove sausage with tongs, placing on cutting board. Slice into bite-sized pieces. Pour remaining butter and garlic into a very large bowl.
3. Place the spinach in the bottom of your pasta strainer. When pasta is done, pour pasta and pasta water over the spinach into the strainer, allowing the spinach to wilt slightly.
4. Chop cherry tomatoes into halves, for a total of 1 cup.
5. Pour pasta, sausage, spinach, peppers, and tomatoes into bowl with garlic.
6. Add tomato sauce, yogurt, milk, 1 cup of the cheese, and spices to bowl. Mix very well. Pour into casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Cover dish with foil.
7. Cook for 20 minutes covered. Remove foil, cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Dig in!

Homemade Slime: AKA Gak to Some

I've been wanting to try out a slime recipe for a while now, but this was proving to be much more difficult than I thought. There are ALL KINDS of recipes floating around on the web about how to make Borax-Free slime, and I can tell you from personal experience that they were disasters.

We tried making it with liquid starch, we tried making it with laundry detergent, and it was all epic fail. EPIC. So I gave in and tried making it with Borax and we all lived to tell the tale. The boy-o didn't even attempt to put it near his mouth, and since I was the one making it, he was never near the original Borax powder, and the amount that goes into the slime is so minimal that I'm not going to worry about it.

I used regular white glue when I made it and didn't have any food colouring on hand the first time I tried making it, but I did add some blue sparkles to it. This gave it a fun sheen, but the sparkles definitely come out, and I've been picking them off him for days--consider yourself warned!

At first he really wasn't too sure about the slime since it was cold and a really different texture than anything else he's used to. He soon got over his hesitation though and started pulling and pushing it around the table. It was a great sensory experience for him. Our slime was quite thick and rubbery, and not particularly "slimy" so the next time I try it I'll add less Borax. (And some food colouring!)

So after a quick trip to the store to pick up some food colouring after the boy-o went to bed tonight, I decided to try making some more slime now that I've got some food-colouring. I made a pink and green one. All of the slimes are simply stored in their own Ziploc Baggies until we want to take them out and play again!

Here's the recipe that we used to make our slime:

Slime:

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup Elmer's Glue

- 1 TSP Borax

-  1 and 1/2 cup Water

- Food Colouring (optional)

Directions:

1. In one bowl mix 1/2 cup (4 oz) glue and 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring if you want colored slime.

2. In the other bowl, mix 1 teaspoon borax with 1 cup water until the borax is dissolved.

3. Add the borax mixture to the glue solution, stirring slowly. You may not need to add it all!

4. The slime will begin to form immediately; stir as much as you can, then dig in and knead it with your hands until it gets less sticky. (No one makes slime without getting a little messy!) Don't worry about any leftover water in the bowl; just pour it out.

Pink and Green Slime

The pink one is a pretty similar consistency to the original white one with the blue sparkles, but the green one is suuuuper slimy, which is fitting I supposed since it's green and all! 

The new colours have been stored away in some baggies too and I can't wait to see how the boy-o reacts to the new slimes and the texture of the green one.

Slime with Borax

Simple Toddler Activity- Q Tip Drop

Having a toddler can be tough sometimes--they don't seem to have an "off" switch, unless they're asleep. This has made it more important than ever to have some "quiet time" activities the boy-o can work on while I'm trying to get jobs done around the house, like making dinner in particular.

This is a bit of a throwback to the Ice Cream Bucket and Popsicle Stick idea, except it's much more compact which is great for travelling and even simpler to make. Basically all you need is an empty Parmesan Cheese container and some Q-Tips. I purposely bought a small clear container of Parm Cheese to make it suit the purpose more, but any of them will do just fine!

The concept is pretty simple.... give them the container with the flap open that has the small holes for shaking (not the large spoon one) and a pile of Q-Tips. Show them how to drop the Q-Tips in the holes and then let them have at it! This is a fantastic activity for working on fine motor control, not only for picking up and holding the Q-Tips, but also getting them into the little holes.

To take it up a notch, we also practiced our counting each time we put one in which is a great way to reinforce numbers while playing. The boy-o had a great time putting all the Q-tips in, and then unscrewed the lid himself to dump them out and started over again!

Because we used the small container size, it'll be really easy to toss in a carry-on or diaper bag for travelling purposes, and when not actively in use, you can just store the Q-Tips right inside the container. Since the Q-Tips aren't actually being used for their intended purpose, I'd definitely just recommend buying them from a dollar store making this simple little activity incredibly inexpensive as well.

Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli Quinoa Bake

We had some broccoli sitting around in the fridge that really needed to get used up, and I really wanted some cheesy carb-y comfort food. The result? A delicious casserole dish that used up that broccoli mixed with some turkey sausage, healthy quinoa, and lots of cheesy heaven. Did I mention it was cheesy?

Casseroles in general are something I love, especially fully self contained ones because I really *hate* having to come up with side dishes, which is particularly difficult since I dislike many cooked vegetables. Although a side-salad would definitely not be amiss with this dish, I wanted cheesy carb-y comfort food remember?

So here's the recipe I came up with for dinner, and it was totally delicious. I split the mixture up into half so I could bake half tonight and then freeze the other half for a weeknight sometime later when I need a quick easy meal I can toss in the oven.

Cheesy Sausage and Broccoli Quinoa Bake

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups of uncooked quinoa (about 3 cups cooked)

- 2 heads of broccoli crowns, dice the florets, discard stem

- 1 lb of turkey sausage, browned and diced

- 1 small onion, diced

- 1 cup of cheddar cheese, plus extra for sprinkling on top

- 1 can cheddar cheese soup

- 1 cup of milk

- 2 TBSP butter

- 3 TBSP all purpose flour

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 TSP curry powder

- 1/2 TSP cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. 

2. Bring water in a pot to boil and add in broccoli. Boil for 5 minutes or until broccoli is a little softened. Drain broccoli and mix in with the quinoa.

3. Add the 2 TBSP of butter to a heated pan and allow to melt. Add in the onion and garlic. Saute for a minute then add the flour, cayenne pepper, and curry powder. Mix well.

4. Combine the canned soup and milk together in a small bowl, and add to the mixture in the pan. Mix well and once the soup has thinned out, slowly add in the cup of cheddar cheese allowing it to melt into the sauce. 

5. Once all of the cheese has been added and melted pour the sauce mixture over top of the quinoa and broccoli. Add in the chopped sausage and mix well to make sure the quinoa mixture is well coated with the sauce. 

6. I divided up the mixture at this point in half to freeze half and bake half.

7. Put quinoa mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle extra cheese on top. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

Enjoy the cheesy goodness!!

Tricycle Diaper Cake

One of my cousins recently had a baby shower, and like us, they were staying #TeamYellow. I always have a hard time trying to decide what to buy for showers because what one mom finds invaluable, might be totally useless to another mom. One thing that every mom needs though is diapers! Diapers although totally necessary, are not very cute or visually appealing. (Although very convenient to wrap!)

I've seen diaper cakes sold before at craft shows and stuff and decided I was going to look for one of those for her. The local baby boutique store had some lovely plain ones that were straight-up cake style, but they were very "girl" or "boy" and had a crap-ton of pins in them, which to me just sounds like a terrible idea in a baby gift. So I took matters into my own hands and decided to make my own diaper cake, that was both pin-less, and didn't damage or ruin ANY of the baby items in the cake. (like crunching all the diapers up into little rolls)

After some wandering around on the web I came across this awesome tutorial for making a Tricycle Diaper Cake. Although this was my guiding inspiration, I changed mine up a little bit. Rather than using a bib to make the "mud flap" I used another receiving blanket folded up, which also gave me the seat at the back. I didn't bother with the bottle part either, but I did add a rider to my tricycle. Since my cousin has asked for the Little Lambs crib set, I picked up a stuffed lamb to ride my tricycle.

The contents for my tricycle included: A Pack of 64 Pampers Size 1 Diapers, 3 Receiving Blankets, 1 Pair of Socks, 1 Stuffed Lamb.

I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to make an how well it turned out, and it seemed like everyone at the shower liked it too. One of my other cousins actually asked if she could use that idea for another shower she had coming up--so I call that a win!

AND, as promised, there isn't a single pin holding things together, and there's no tape on the diapers, and nothing is rolled, crumpled or otherwise unusable. This is a 100% functional shower gift that's also 100% adorable.