Homemade Lemonade Update AS PROMISED!

Well folks the time finally came! I had posted last fall about the importance of delayed gratification for young'uns and for my daughter it was about her wish to have a lemonade stand so that she could raise money for a special toy.

The difficulty was that she'd have to wait until warmer weather arrived before her goal could be realized.

While on a walk in the neighbourhood, I had casually mentioned to a neighbour that we were going to have a garage sale in a few weeks. As we continued on with our walk Eden asked about the concept behind a garage sale...

Me "it's a time when we sell all of the things in our home that we no longer use. It's one way to raise money so that we can buy other things we may need."

Eden "well, can I sell lemonade so I can raise money too?"

Isn't it wonderful how life events have a way of connecting previous thoughts to current thoughts, making the incidentals in life seem purposeful? It's as if the things we say and do are building blocks to the things we say and do in our future.

Naturally we recalled her reason for wanting a lemonade stand however she decided to change the purpose to saving up for her trip to Disney.

Looks like the concept of "waiting" was instilled and she now opts for waiting to spend her newly earned money for a time she knows she'll enjoy spending it.

Eden baked butter cookies from http://nourishedkitchen.com/ using organic ingredients and she juiced 8 lemons to make a lovely batch of organic homemade hibiscus lemonade minus the hibiscus (savvyvegetarian.com).

Her efforts have paid off (no pun intended), and she raised $22! Do you know how many silly bands that could buy her? haha :) Eden is one happy camper and is very proud of herself, as are we. Of course, her little friend came to enjoy the bounty as well, not to mention myself and hubby :)

Going Crackers!

"Momma, remember the crackers we had before? Can we make more together 'cause I really liked them. We can make it our cooking class..."

Is our cooking time together becoming leverage? Since when does spending time in a kitchen become a method of insurance for getting what a child wants. Brilliant! She knows my buttons for sure.

Our recipe this week was somewhat of a metaphor to life. In Eden's little mind she was willing to put the work in to create a food she adores. What she didn't count on was the amount of time needed to create this genius food.

"I think that's a great idea Hun, we certainly can make crackers. Let's check to make sure we have the ingredients."

After all ingredients were scavenged for, it was time to read the recipe all the way through so that we have a complete understanding of what is expected of the task. It turns out that the dough needs to sit for 12 to 24 hours before being able to roll it out and score it.

"WHAT? What does that mean? I can't eat them today?"

"Nope, we get to prepare the dough today, let the dough continue to work it's magic for one night's sleep and then tomorrow after Kindergarten we get to finish the work."

"That takes a long time. I didn't know that."

"Do you still want to make them?"

After a minute of pensive thought she asks, "will they taste like the crackers you made?"

"yes."

"Ok, we'll start it now and finish it tomorrow. But can I eat some right away tomorrow?"

I just loved this situation because it inadvertently taught her about delayed gratification. She had shown disappointment when she realized she wasn't going to get what she expected originally, she evaluated the value of the changed plan, she decided that the end result was worth the wait and thought into the future enough to know that she indeed will get the satisfaction of eating the crackers....she just has to wait a bit longer.

What a life lesson. Some times we need to work hard and spend time towards things that are worth the investment. Somehow, I bet that these crackers will taste even better in her opinion than mine did...not because they are different but because she experienced first hand the sacrifices she made to create them.

Today's cracker recipe was from Nourished Kitchen. Visit www.foodkin.ca for the link, located under "Goodies and Resources" and then "recipes".
Cheers!
Stacey Haley

Who needs playdough?

"Eden, would you like to help me do some Christmas baking?"

"Is it healthy nutritious?"

"Yup, it's a couple different kinds of cookies...sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies."

"Oh sure."

This Christmas season was quite busy with planning for family visits and finding out what healthier options exist for candies, chocolates and other favourites for children. I was able to get my hands on a fantastic resource for holiday cooking using real whole foods and accessible ingredients called "happy & healthy holidays from Nourished Kitchen" and it was fantastic! Check out my recipes section at www.foodkin.ca for the link to this real food blog.

Below I've posted some photos of Eden taking the helm and requiring very little of my help, not even to find the right measuring tools OR finding the next step on the written form of the recipe! Now if only I can get her to clean up as efficiently.....

"Momma when my friends come over can we make hot chocolate?"

"Sure, should we make some cookies to have with the hot chocolate?" (not such a good idea to propose before checking to see if we have all the stuff needed)

"OK!"

"Oh no, we don't have all we need. I guess that's a lesson for planning ahead."

"Well I have a great idea...lets use the leftover pancakes and our cookie cutters!"

How's that for being resourceful eh? Great problem solving. She's starting to use her knowledge of what "dough" is like and what "cookie cutters can do, and applying it to new situations. Eden and her friends had a wonderful time making their pancake cookies. I've posted some pics below under the pics of previous cookie making lessons over the holiday season. Enjoy!

Cheers all & Happy New Year!
Stacey Haley
www.foodkin.ca