The Littlest Apple is 26 months old.

Next week I’m thinking of trying a new method for presenting activities to The Littlest Apple…something similar to the Workbox System, but adapted to suit our needs.  There were many activities I planned this week that we didn’t do, simply because The Littlest Apple wasn’t interested.  He really just wanted to play, play, play this week, and that’s okay with me.  We played with lots of trucks:

Here are a few of the activities we DID complete…

Made an orange cat using torn paper:

Collage of the week: vacuums and a blender, using the ads from last Sunday’s newspaper.  This kid is seriously obsessed with vacuums and blenders! 

We danced and sang to lots of Laurie Berkner:

The Littlest Apple has also been groovin’ and singing to some of the music from Glee that I downloaded.  His current faves are “Bust a Move” and “Sweet Caroline.”  So funny to watch!

I gave The Littlest a few cards and letters to match up from our Magnet School, and he did it really easily.  I’m definitely going to be using this toy on a more regular basis now for its intended purpose (as opposed to letting him just dump it all over the place!).

The Littlest Apple really enjoyed this Car Color Wheel activity I saw on Little Hands, Big Work.  I kept it simple, using just 4 colors so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed.  For some reason, he refused to line up the green trucks (mostly garbage trucks), but was more than willing to line up the others.  After we lined up the cars and trucks, we counted how many were in each line.

Our week also included a trip to the library and a big sensory tub mess with the new Harvest sensory tub.

The Littlest Apple and I visited the library this week, finally.  It has been a month or more since I took him with me to select books.  I had been going on days when he was at Mother’s Day Out to grab a few books for myself.  When we walked in, he held his little arms up in the air and screamed, “LIBRARY!!!” at the top of his lungs in the very echo-y library.  People turned and stared.  He was very enthusiastic about being at the library.  The Littlest Apple is a “bolter”…he has no desire to stay with mommy and daddy, hold our hands, or stay near us.  He runs off, and definitely has his own agenda about what he wants to look at and where.  This makes selecting books with him at the library very difficult (and a big lesson in patience, for me).  This week was no different, but I managed to grab a couple of good books as I chased The Littlest Apple around the aisles.  We’re going to keep practicing our “library etiquette,” and I’m going to try to take The Littlest Apple once a week when we’re not on any sort of time constraints (easier said than done!).

Llama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney

My favorite of this week’s library selections!  This is our first time reading a Llama Llama book, and we both love this one!  It’s about a baby llama who just went to bed and misses his momma.  He gets upset when she doesn’t come back right away to get him some water and has a tantrum.  She does come eventually, and reassures him that “Mama Llama’s always near, even if she’s not right here.”  I love that line so much!  I was worried that The Littlest Apple would take away from the book that it is okay to yell and scream for mommy, and while he does think that part is funny, he doesn’t yell any more than normal (which is still way too much).

Mr. Cookie Baker, by Monica Wellington

I knew The Littlest Apple would enjoy this once since he loved Baker Baker Cookie Maker so much.  He loves baking cookies with me.  This book has simple text, beautiful, colorful illustrations, and some cookie recipes at the end!  I’m looking forward to checking out other books by this author.

Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day

We’ve had this book since May, and The Littlest Apple is only just now letting me read it to him instead of Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.  I was actually surprised that he sat through the whole book, but there are several different stories in the book that caught his attention.  His favorite stories are about the firefighters and the builders.

Biscuit’s My First I Can Read Book Collection, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

This was a gift from grandparents.  The Biscuit books are for new readers with simple text that is also great for younger kids, and this collection contains four different Biscuit stories.  The Littlest Apple loves this book, and asks for it every day.  His favorite story is Biscuit Takes a Bath.

For more book ideas, check out What My Child Is Reading at Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.

After the Picky Apple tasted Chicken Tikka Masala at an Indian restaurant and enjoyed it, I wanted to try to recreate the dish at home.  That’s a tricky thing to do when the cook has never actually tasted the dish, and The Picky Apple had particular notions about how it should taste.  I remembered bookmarking this recipe from The Pioneer Woman’s website, and gave it a try.  I basically bookmark EVERYTHING she cooks.  She hasn’t let me down yet!  I’m hoping to buy her new cookbook soon, and I’ll definitely be standing in line for her book signing when she comes to town in December!

This was my second attempt at preparing this dish.  I used this recipe for the first attempt too, and we really liked the flavors, but it needed a few tweaks to better suit The Picky Apple’s first taste of Chicken Tikka Masala from the restaurant.  I’ve included my changes and notes below.

Chicken Tikka Masala

from Pastor Ryan via The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 Chicken Breasts
• Kosher Salt
• Ground Coriander
• Cumin, To Taste
• ½ cups Plain Yogurt
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Large Onion
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 piece (approximately 2 Inches) Chunk Fresh Ginger
• Garam Masala  (you can find this at most stores or make your own using the recipe below)
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes (I used crushed tomatoes for a smoother sauce)
• Sugar
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream (I used 2 cups for a creamier sauce)
• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• OPTIONAL: Fresh Cilantro, Chili Peppers, Turmeric, Frozen Peas

Start by seasoning the chicken breasts with some kosher salt. Next sprinkle them on both sides with some coriander and cumin. Then coat the chicken breasts completely with the plain yogurt. Set the chicken on a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about 10-12 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side. Watch carefully so as not to totally char the chicken. It should have slightly blackened edges. Remove from oven.

Next dice one large onion. In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and sauté until they are slightly browned. As the onions cook, mince your garlic. Next, cut off the outer skin and mince or grate a 1 by 2 inch chunk of fresh ginger. Add the garlic and ginger to the onions. Also throw in about 1 tablespoon of salt.

Next you are going to add about 3 tablespoons Garam Masala spice. And if you like it hot, this is also when you will add your hot chili peppers. Serranos work well. Now you are going to add your can of diced tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add about 1 tablespoon sugar. Let this mixture simmer on medium for about 5 minutes.

To a rice cooker add 2 cups Basmati rice, 4 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon Ground Turmeric and 4 cups water. Cover, turn on your rice cooker and walk away. If you do not have a rice cooker, cook your rice as usual but make sure that you use Basmati rice.

After the Tikka Masala sauce has had a chance to simmer for a little bit, add in the 1 ½ cups of heavy cream. Now, chop up your chicken breasts into chunks and stir them into the Tikka Masala sauce. A handful of chopped fresh cilantro is a nice addition if you like cilantro. You can also throw some frozen peas into the cooked rice, give them a stir, and allow the heat of the rice to cook the peas. It tastes great and gives another nice dash of color. Serve the rice with the Chicken Tikka Masala over top. Make sure to have some Nann bread handy, too.

Garam Masala Mix

1 tablespoon coriander; ground
1 tablespoon cumin; ground
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper; ground  (I plan to use 1/2 a tablespoon next time…this makes it very spicy!)
1 tablespoon fennel seeds; ground
1 tablespoon ginger; ground
1 tablespoon cardamom; ground
1 tablespoon nutmeg; ground
1 TEASPOON cloves; ground

On Wednesday I put together a Harvest themed sensory tub for The Littlest Apple using popcorn, small pumpkin ornaments, and silk leaves.  (Wishing I had taken a better photo before The Littlest Apple started playing with it…)

This is not the first time I’ve used popcorn in a sensory tub, but now I am remembering why I stored it at the very very back of my supply cabinet NEVER TO BE USED AGAIN.

This photo doesn’t actually capture the entire mess.  It doesn’t look so bad here, but this was after only 5 minutes of playing with the sensory tub.  It only got worse from here.

How do you mommies that use sensory tubs do it?  Is your child just more contained with his messes that mine, or do you have a super secret trick for containing the mess (that you’d care to share with me)?  I’m not a neat freak by any means (I hear my husband snickering now), and I know that my two year old is going to make messes, but for some reason, the sensory tub on Wednesday just crossed my patience threshold.  Maybe I was just having a bad day: jammed garbage disposal, lots of dishes I couldn’t do, ants, child who won’t eat, sinus headache (and that was all before 9 am!!)

The Littlest Apple loved the sensory tub, but when I caught him pouring the popcorn kernels on the floor (after the above photo), then later kicking the popcorn kernels that were on the floor, we I cleaned up the mess, and hid put away the sensory tub.

I love the idea of sensory tubs and I love that I can change the theme to go along with the season or whatever we are studying.  But seriously, I don’t want to be picking up popcorn kernels for the rest of my life.

So what’s your secret, sensory-tub-using mommies?  Help!

I plan to cook dinner most nights, but inevitably one or more of those nights it doesn’t happen because of forgotten ingredients, me not feeling like cooking, or The Littlest Apple having a major meltdown right about the time I need to be cooking dinner.  These would all be ideal situations for pulling a meal from the freezer.   It helps tremendously when I have meals prepped and ready to go with minimal work.  These types of meals were huge lifesavers when The Littlest Apple spent an unexpected 10 days in the NICU at birth and then had a few months of non-stop screaming in the evenings (aka colic).  Dinner was the least of my worries then, and it was such a comfort to be able to pull out some of these favorite foods from the freezer and get them ready to go in a matter of minutes (and usually with one hand, while holding the baby!).

With the holiday season approaching and lots going on, it would be super helpful to have a freezer full of meals.  I’m hoping to get at least a few prepped and frozen in the next week or so.

Here are a few of my favorite freezer friendly meals:

Easiest Ever Crockpot BBQ Chicken

No photo of this one, but this is seriously the easiest meal ever!

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

All-American Beef Chili

Greek Chicken Pitas

Ricotta Pasta Casserole

Taco Rice

No photo of this one, but this tastes great on a flour tortilla with cheese!

For more freezer friendly meal ideas, check out this week’s Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as MOM!

I’ve read quite a few of Philippa Gregory’s books, including The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Queen’s Fool, among others.  So far I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Ms. Gregory’s books.  I love history, and these novels have definitely spurred my interest in other historical fiction authors as well.

I recently finished The White Queen: A Novel (Cousins’ War).  Since I had this book listed in my “What I’m Reading” Section in the sidebar, I’ve been getting lots of questions from blog readers about what I thought of this book.  Honestly?  It wasn’t my favorite of Philippa Gregory’s works.  The plot itself was captivating, but I did not care for the main character, Elizabeth Woodville.  (I didn’t care for Anne Boleyn either, but she had more of a “love to hate her” attraction, if that makes sense.)

In The White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville catches the eye of the young new King Edward, and they marry in secret.  Never a good idea, especially when you are marrying the King of England.  Uproar ensues, but Elizabeth is eventually accepted as the “White Queen.”  Elizabeth and Edward marry in the midst of the War of the Roses.  Edward first fights his Tudor cousins for the Crown with his two brothers (the House of York) on his side.  Then his brothers turn against him one after the other, and he must defend the crown against them too.  Throughout the story, there are many shifts in allegiance, scheming, backstabbing, power hungry characters.  Last but not least is the mystery of the two princes in the Tower, supposedly kidnapped by their uncle.  Their fate is still unknown by historians, but Ms. Gregory includes her own version of these events.  All of that I enjoyed, just as I did in Ms. Gregory’s other novels based on fascinating periods of history.

It was Elizabeth herself that I didn’t care for.  While she was certainly courageous at times, she also came across as cold, obsessed with revenge and only concerned with the crown, no matter what the cost.  Another element I found tedious was the inclusion of the legend of Melusina, a mermaid-like water goddess.  Elizabeth was supposedly a descendant of Melusina, and Melusina’s legend is woven throughout the novel.  Elizabeth and her mother both engaged in some witchcraft related to Melusina, which I found a little far fetched.

At some point during the book, the narrative switches from Elizabeth’s point of view to third person which is slightly jarring, and reads more like a history textbook account of some of the important battles.  Thankfully, these shortcomings are few, in my opinion.

Overall, if you enjoy Philippa Gregory’s other novels, then you will probably like most aspects of this book.  The War of the Roses was certainly a fascinating time in the history of England, and Ms. Gregory has a knack for selecting soap-opera like plots from history that make for good reading!

This was my first attempt at a shrimp and sausage boil, and it was amazingly quick and easy!  The only thing I will do differently next time is to use a bigger pot…as you can see from the picture below (where the spice ring is near the top) my Le Creuset wasn’t quite big enough.  This is the perfect dish for The Picky Apple and I: he prefers the sausage and potatoes, I prefer the shrimp and corn.

Spicy Shrimp and Sausage Boil

from Everyday Food, July/August 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, halved lengthwise
• 2 celery stalks, halved
• 1 medium onion, quartered through stem end
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons seafood seasoning, plus more for serving
• 1 pound red new potatoes
• 2 ears corn, husks and silks removed, quartered
• 1 pound smoked andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound large shell-on shrimp
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce

In a large pot, combine chile, celery, onion, garlic, 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning, and 10 cups water; bring to a boil.  Add potatoes and reduce to a rapid simmer.  Cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Add corn and sausage to pot.  Cook until potatoes and corn are cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove pot from heat.  Stir in shrimp and let stand until shrimp are opaque throughout, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid; drain shrimp mixture and return to pot.  Add butter, 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning, hot sauce, and reserved cooking liquid and toss to combine.  Serve with more seafood seasoning.

The Littlest Apple is 26 months

With The Littlest Apple sick for most of the week and me getting sick in the second half of the week, we were around the house more than usual.  No Little Gym, no Art Playgroup, no Mothers’ Day Out.  Just lots and lots of time with Mommy!  I need to do a better job of prepping activities ahead of time.  I tend to gravitate heavily toward arts and crafts type things and reading books!  Here are some of the highlights from our week….

Painting with Dot Paints:

The Littlest Apple painted this pumpkin and added leaf stickers:

He spent LOTS of time playing with the Pumpkin Spice Playdough:

Practicing his golf swing….He knows how to swing “properly”, but he was swinging at the ball like this and screaming like a banshee for about 30 minutes straight!

We did a couple of Itty Bitty Bookworm activities based on The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani.

The Littlest Apple LOVES this book, and we read it several times a day all week long.  We also sang the song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” with the corresponding hand movements (not sure of the technical term for those), and this is the first time he’s taken an interest in the hand movements for this song.  He even tries to sing it by himself!

The Littlest Apple enjoyed drawing a spider web. He kept saying “line” “line” and “circle” “circle” as he drew circles and lines.

We attempted to involve The Littlest Apple in carving our pumpkin this year, but he really wanted nothing to do with it, aside from taking the “lid” off, and admiring it once it was complete.  He certainly wanted no part of cleaning out the pumpkin “guts.”

We made egg-free pumpkin cookies.  The Littlest Apple loved rolling out the dough, but did NOT want to share the rolling pin with Mommy….hence his expression below as I’m trying to help.  A major tantrum resulted, and we didn’t get around to icing the cookies as planned.

Hoping to get back on track next week when all the germs have moved on from our house (for now)!  Off to plan and prepare for the week!

Getting ready to bounce like Tigger….(blurry, but this pose makes me laugh!)

Admiring his big (padded) belly….

He only wore his costume long enough for these photos (all of 5 minutes).  I’m so happy we got a few cute ones!

Sharing these with Musings of a Housewife!

I never get tired of pumpkin!  I’ve got so many new pumpkin recipes to try, and I’m hoping to share some of them in the next few weeks.  Here are some of my tried and true favorite pumpkin recipes for those of you who love pumpkin as much as I do:

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Autumn Pumpkin Bread with Pecan Streusel Topping

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Granola

Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake

not the greatest picture…

All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

I’m sharing this post with the Flavor of the Month: Pumpkin at Bake at 350.  Be sure to check out all the other yummy pumpkin recipes!