Why are kids always sticky?

One of my favorite moments in Gilmore Girls (yes, I'm a fan!) is an episode where Luke is talking about why he doesn't like kids (which, he secretly does). He complains about how they're always sticky and says,

"Me? Raising a kid? I don't even like kids. They're always sticky like they've got jam on their hands. Even if there's no jam in the house, somehow, they've always got jam on their hands! I'm not the right guy to deal with that. I have no patience for jam hands!"

And, I have to admit...this is a legitimate concern. I feel like my kids are ALWAYS sticky. Their hands, their face...it never ends. I'm honestly not sure how it even happens. They eat a cracker, and they're sticky...I mean, what is that?!

Anyway...a few weeks ago, I found out about this new product called Water Wipes. I had never heard of them before. But I was intrigued! We are always on the hunt for chemical free baby/kid products, so this one looked like a winner. 

Just my luck, I was offered the opportunity to review this product! So, I snagged a package of them from Pick 'n Save and used them on a trip. I mean, what better time to see if a wipe measures up than being trapped in a car with your kids, right?

So, initial thoughts: I loved that there are no chemicals, and they're safe for sensitive skin, as my daughter suffers from eczema.

We put these things to the test - wiped faces, hands, bottoms...we had one unfortunate potty experience...but I'll spare you the details. What you do need to know, Water Wipes worked great for cleaning up the mess - and not causing any additional irritation!

Overall - we loved these wipes and will probably buy them again. My only concerns would be that I have read about some people seeing mold growth in this product, but it seems like that may be attributed to the use of grapefruit seed oil...however - we've had our package of wipes for about 3 weeks now, and haven't had a single issue.

Vegan Salted Caramel Dip

Guys...so freaking good!

Now that we have that out of the way, I present to you my salted caramel dip. It's vegan, it's dairy-free, it's gluten-free, it's amazing.

This was so easy too! Here's the recipe:

•1/4 Cup Sugar
•1/4 Brown Sugar
•2t Vanilla
•1/2T Coconut Oil
•1/2t salt
•1 Can (14oz) full fat coconut milk

And here's what I did:

Combine sugars, oil, and vanilla - cook over medium heat until combined and sugar starts to dissolve. Add salt, and coconut milk. Stir until evenly combined.

Now - here's the tricky part. Cook over a medium heat, for 30 minutes - and don't stir.

At the end of the 30 minutes, your caramel should be thicker and darker. Give it a stir, and then continue cooking, stirring occasionally until it reaches the color and thickness you'd like.

I cooked mine for a about 10 minutes longer, and when it cooled it was very thick. A few minutes longer, and I can probably make caramel candies (which I'm going to try....vegan caramel apples anyone?!).

Enjoy!

Baking Elephants

My son is in his second year of preschool, and things are getting intense are the "parental involvement front". Just kidding...kind of.

His class is doing Zoo Phonics, and each week, as they discover a new letter...they have a snack to go along with it. So, For "C" week, someone brought cheesy crackers, for "D" they had D-shaped Donuts...get the picture?

Well, here's the first problem. The mom who had the letter "A" made these acorns out of mini cupcakes, and a vanilla wafer - complete with a chocolate chip for the stem. My son thought they were the coolest thing ever. But, really? Did we have to set the bar that high on the first week?!

 Problem #2. My son's name starts with an "E", so of course, that's his favorite letter - and his choice for Zoo Phonics week. You know how many foods start with the letter "E"? About 4. Eggs, eggplant, escarole...edamame? My options were slim.

 So, I did what any mom would do, and turned to Pinterest. I literally typed in "Zoo Phonics E Snack" - and this project is what I came up with. Elephant Biscuits. They seemed simple enough - so I decided to make a few tweaks and give it a go.

The ingredients:
•Refrigerator biscuits
•Raisins
•Cinnamon/Sugar

 Equipment needed:

•Baking Sheet
•Knife or Kitchen Scissors
•Cutting Board


And we're off... The instructions were pretty simple, two biscuits per elephant. Leave one whole, and the second - make two cuts, so you're left with two semi circles, and a rectangle (two ears and a trunk). Now, keep in mind...we decided to up the ante a little, and used the Grands biscuits...my initial thought process was that then I would only have to make one per kid, instead of 2 per kid using the small refrigerator biscuits.

Next - you just attach the ears to the sides of the whole biscuit, attach the trunk to the middle of it's face - and you have an elephant. Finish it off with two raising eyes, and a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.

Then, just bake at the recommend temp and time on the biscuit package. 

Problems we encountered:
 •Biscuits stuck to the cookie sheet. Instructions said not to great cookie sheet...we did the on the second batch, and it went much better!
 •The trunks puffed up quite a bit...so again, on the second batch we made an adjustment and really smashed them into the center of the biscuit so they didn't separate as much.
 •The raisins didn't stick. We tried pressing them in more...didn't work. So, we just crossed our fingers that everyone's elephant had two little raisin eyes at snack time. Do kids even like raisins?





So - all in all...we give this Pinterest project a "B". It was fun, and pretty easy - but did need a few tweaks along the way. And...in an interesting plot twist...the other preschool class ended up with the exact same snack. Great moms think alike.