DAILY RECIPE: Pancake Flour Cake

4 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups pancake flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend eggs and sugar until fluffy. Gradually add flour, oil, milk and vanilla. Grease and flour a rectangular pan, carefully pour mixture and bake for about 30 minutes. Frost with chocolate frosting.

TIP OF THE DAY

When planning a day away from your house pack a couple of ziploc bags with carrot sticks, crackers, grapes, cereal or any healthy food your child enjoys. Slip them into your purse or diaper bag and take them out whenever they get cranky. You´ll avoid having to stop and buy potato chips or other junk food!

ACTIVITY: Homemade Puppet Show

You will need:

Posterboard
Straws
Markers
Crayons
Scissors
Yarn, cloth
Scotch tape
A large cardboard box

Sit with your child and help him/her draw pictures of animals or favorite characters on the posterboard. If your child is younger you can draw them, if they´re older they´ll want to do them by themselves. Color them with markers and crayons. Cut them out. Add clothes and hair with the yarn and cloth. Tape a straw to the back of each character to make a puppet. Write Puppet Show on the cardboard box. Have your child stand behind it and help him create a small show. You can make a small play using a favorite bedtime story or bring out the CD player or IPOD and have the puppets sing and dance. Great idea for a rainy day!

TIP OF THE DAY

Always carry a small grocery bag in your car. Children of all ages tend to collect trash when there´s not a garbage can in sight! This will make it easier for you to keep your car clean. When you get home, simply take the bag to the trash can and replace it with a new one.

DAILY RECIPE: Spaghetti Caprese

1 medium pkg spaghetti or other pasta (cooked)
4 tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cubed mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper, oregano

Put tomatoes in a pot with boiling water for a few seconds. Peel and seed them. Chop into small cubes. Heat the olive oil and add the garlic until browned. Remove the garlic and add tomatoes to the olive oil, cook for 10 minutes in low heat. Add cooked pasta and stir. Season with salt, pepper and oregano to taste. Finally add the cubed cheese and serve warm.

STORYTIME: Day with the Dinosaurs--Part 2

If you decide to go with Oliver to see the lions (Choice A) read on..... If you think Miss Lila will not like you leaving the group, scroll down to read on (Choice B)....

Choice A:

You don´t think Miss Lila will notice you are gone, after all the entire class is there at the zoo. You run with Oliver to the Lion´s Den. Just before getting there you trip with a large rock and fall down to the ground. "Oliver!", you yell. "I tripped with this rock and fell!" Oliver comes running back for you but when he gets there, he looks shocked. "That´s not a rock," he gasps. "It´s a bone!"

If you think it´s just a rock, come back tomorrow for choice C
If you believe Oliver and thinks it´s a bone come back tomorrow to read choice D

Choice B:

You really don´t want Miss Lila to get mad at you so you convince Oliver to stay with the group and go visit the birds in the aviary. As you walk in you see hundreds of birds of different colors flying above your heads. It´s a beautiful sight! Suddenly you see a big brown bird that no one has seen. It looks straight at you and you see that it´s not a bird...it´s a dinosaur...a pterodactyl!

If you scream, come back tomorrow for choice E
If you´re too surprised and just stare at the bird, come back and read choice F

See you tomorrow!

STORYTIME: Which Way to Go -- A Day with the Dinosaurs -- Part 1

This story is about you, you can decide what happens next! In this week´s storytime you will have to make choices about where to go and what to do. Each day you will be given two choices on how to continue the story, it´s entirely up to you. When you´re done, you can go back and try it a different way. Good luck and enjoy your day with the dinosaurs....

Today is the big day. The entire third grade class is going to visit the zoo. You are very excited because you love animals. There is a big yellow bus parked in front of the school. The teacher, Miss Lila, is lining everybody up in pairs. You quickly line up next to your best friend Oliver. Soon, everyone is on the bus and ready to go! When you arrive at the zoo everyone runs off the bus toward the zoo entrance. "Pay attention", Miss Lila says, "stay together at all times. Do not run away from the group. You could get into trouble. We will visit the aviary first, that´s where all the birds live." The entire group starts walking together to the aviary. Suddenly Oliver pulls your arm and says: "Hey, let´s go see the lions first. We can catch up with the group later." What should you do?

Check in tomorrow to continue the story the way you want to! Should you go with Oliver to see the lions(CHOICE A) or do you think Miss Lila will not like you leaving the group?(CHOICE B) Remember you decide!

TIP OF THE DAY

If you live in a two story house you and your family tend to collect things downstaris that usually belong upstairs (jackets, sports gear, backpacks, newly bought toiletries). Place a small box or basket at the bottom of the stairs. When cleaning downstairs drop anything that belongs upstairs in the box. When you, or any older household member is going up, take the box with you. It´s much easier to arrange everything on the same floor than going up and down!

DAILY RECIPE: Aluminum Foil Fish

4 -6 Fish filets
Finely Chopped Garlic
Lemon Juice
Salt, Pepper
4 -6 Aluminum Foil Sheets ( 12 x 12 in or 30 x 30 cm)

Season fish filets with salt and pepper. Place an aluminum foil sheet on a clean, flat surface. Put the fish filet on top and sprinkle the chopped garlic and squeeze a lot of lemon juice. Close the aluminum foil by bringing opposite sides together and pressing firmly. Be sure to leave space for the air to circulate inside the aluminum foil wrap. Do the same for all fish filets. Place on the grill or on a hot pan for a few minutes until you hear it sizzle and check to see if its done. BE CAREFUL when opening the aluminum foil, hot steam will come out. Fish is done when it flakes when you put a fork in it.

ARTICLE: Growing up - Decisions

As babies we make all decisions for our children. What to wear, where to go, who to play with. But as they grow older, we need to start letting them decide some things for themselves. This will serve as a lesson in important decision making later in life. How can we start? Toys. As older babies we can place several toys in front of them and let them decide what to play with and for how long before switching to the next toy. Clothes. Of course we won´t let them wear what they want to Sunday church if we don´t want to see a bathing suit, baseball cap and boot ensamble with a very startled preacher! But if we´re planning to spend the day at home we can start letting them pick out their outfit and gradually teach them what attire is proper for what. Don´t worry, it takes time, but as long as you´re not going to school, a birthday party or a visit with grandparents, why can´t they wear clothes that don´t match? Food. We can´t let them decide what to eat every day, and even when we do, this category can´t be all open or we would be serving pizza and ice-cream daily! But what about this? When going to the supermarket, would they prefer spinach or steamed carrots this week? Would they prefer apple or orange juice in their lunches? These may seem like little things but they really can make a difference in our children. First, they start making decisions and learning the consecuences of what they choose; but also, they are being heard and their opinions and choices are being considered by their family.