Preshool Projects: cereal bird feeder

What a fun and easy project.

Materials needed:
---O cereal
---ribbon

Directions:
1. string cereal on ribbon,
2.  tie in circle,
3.  hang on tree (make sure you hang on a branch with one under for the bird to perch on). 
note:  I tried twine and string first, but they did not make it through the cereal as well.  It worked much better with a thin ribbon with a taped end.

Great workout for those little fingers, not messy (especially if you have a dog to eat up any dropped cereal), no expensive materials, and no worries about the little ones putting the materials in their mouths.  My boys loved it.

What's for Dinner? Chicken and Stock

Last night I baked an Amish Chicken from Straub's.  I first sliced onions from Dry Dock Farm's CSA and put on the bottom on my Pampered Chef deep covered baker.  Then I rolled a lemon and pierced it all over with a fork and put in the chicken cavity.  I laid the chicken on to of the onions and poured homemade organic garlic infused olive oil over the whole bird and topped with sea salt.  I put the lid on the baker set the over at 425 and roasted for an hour, the result was a moist bird that my family loved (I am a vegetarian, so I can't speak for it myself).

After dinner I removed the remaining chicken from the bone and threw the bones and drippings into my stock pot and poured in water to cover.  I brought to a boil then added organic carrots, onion and sage (from Dry Dock Farm), some white wine I had in the freezer from a bottle that wasn't finished, a few whole cloves, salt and pepper.  I reduced the heat to medium low and simmered for three hours.  I then strained the pot and put the stock in the fridge.  Today I will skim the fat off the top and pour into jars to freeze.  The next time I make soup or have a recipe that calls for stock I will reach for my freezer and pull out a high quality stock that I know exactly what went into.

My Favorite Cleaner

one part vinegar
one part hydrogen peroxide
a few drop tea tree oil

I scrub my toilet and tub with baking soda first but use this as my bathroom cleaner.  It's a great multipurpose cleaner and disinfectant.  

Find out more about cleaning with vinegar here
http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7
Find out more about cleaning with hydrogen peroxide here
http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/using-hydrogen-peroxide-for-cleaning.html
and about tea tree oil and other natural cleaners at one of my favorites

http://simpleorganic.net/how-to-naturally-clean-a-house-after-illness-strikes/

Happy (and Healthy) Cleaning everyone!

Nutrimeal Post Workout

It is essential to replenish your body post workout and allow it to repair by eating something low fat with carbohydrates and protein.  If possible we should do this within 30 minutes of completing the workout.  This is when I grab a Nutrimeal shake.  Nutrimeal is a quick and nutritious meal replacement with 230 calories, 1 gram saturated fat, 8 grams fiber, 32 grams carbohydrates, and 17 grams sugar (based on one serving of Dutch Chocolate made with water/ice).  Unfortunately I was out of Nutrimeal the other day and purchased a post workout shake made at my gym.  But, I certainly learned another reason why Nutrimeal is the right choice for me....

Nutrimeal $2.81 per serving

Low Carb protein shake at my gym.....$5.31!!

Read more about post workout nutrition here:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1082

Thankfully my autoship is on the way.