How to make slime

I have tried to make a couple of different versions of goo or slime, but most of the recipes I have tried have used borax and/or glue.  Some have been successful, some haven't. 

I didn't like the idea of my daughter playing with a chemical and touching it with her hands or having it near her face.

I came across this recipe via a friend and it is amazing.  It uses all natural ingredients and by adding essential oils it smells wonderful too.

MAKING SLIME!!!!

The recipe:

180gm water
Food dye
1 Tablespoon Psyllium Husks

Heat for 2 minutes in the microwave, stir and reheat again (approx 1 minute), it will be runny but will thicken as it cools.

Add a couple of drops of essential oil, I used spearmint.

Pour into a container
Put in the fridge

When it is cool it will have thickened and be ready for use.

Enjoy

Ann

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How to make Sherbet

Well it's school holidays here and we have been busy doing all sorts of things.

We had a trip to Melbourne to do some shopping, while we were there we experienced the AFL Grand Final Parade.  We were very excited as our team "Richmond Tigers" had made the Grand Final for the first time in 35years.  Isabel got to see her idol from an elevated position (on top of a traffic light control box (big thank you to the Adelaide supporter who allowed her to sit in front of him)).

Then another type of culture when we attended the Australian Ballet's production of "Alice in Wonderland". Lots of wonderful costumes and exciting dances.

During the first week of the holidays we played outside, watched some tv, read some books (we are currently reading aloud "Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren) and did some baking.

We made Sherbet (no not the band, although I did love them as a young girl).

It was very easy to make.

Recipe:

150gm icing sugar
15gm citric acid
10gm bicarb soda

blend together

I halved the recipe and made it in the coffee bean grinder (I use this for my dehydrated herbs).

We taste tested with our fingers, Yummo!  We also tried dipping fruit but that, apparently, was not as much fun as your finger.

We stored the remainder in a small container (hidden in the pantry) and still have some left as a treat.

Enjoy

Ann
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Chocolate Fruit Sticks

My 8yo loves to get into the kitchen and create.  Today she found my hidden stash of chocolate chips and decided to use them.  She had recently been given a small recipe book of her own.  She flicked through it and found the perfect recipe for the ingredients we had, chocolate and fruit.

I left her to her own devices as she knows how to use the microwave (I was close by in case she needed assistance).

She put the (my) chocolate chips in a microwave proof bowl and zapped them in short bursts in the microwave to melt them, stirring after each burst.


















When the chocolate was sufficiently melted she had great delight in dipping the strawberries into the chocolate and placing them on a tray. As it was a messy activity she, of course, had to lick her fingers after each dip.


She decided that the raspberries were a bit too fiddly so I suggested we poke them onto straws to help dip them into the chocolate and when they were set she could eat them like a lollypop.



Any leftover chocolate (whoever heard of leftover chocolate) was poured into chocolate moulds.

We all enjoyed a delicious afternoon snack. 

Enjoy

Ann

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PS - I think the chocolate had time to set before it was devoured.

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Rumballs

Today we made "Rumballs" (or as in today's batch "Butterscotch Schnapps Balls"). They are so easy to make and so delicious to eat and great for little hands who love to help in the kitchen.

The recipe:

1 packet Marie biscuits
1 tin condensed milk
2 tsp cocoa
2 lidfuls of Rum (or other alcohol)
coconut

Mix all ingredients together (except the coconut)
Roll into teaspoon size balls
Roll in coconut

Eat, refrigerate or freeze for a future occasion.

The alcohol is optional if little hands are helping or eating, but for me personally I always add it as the alcohol content of each rumball would be negligible.

A handy hint when rolling the rumballs is to have a sink full of warm water nearby.  The rumballs get very sticky and hard to roll, washing your hands occasionally makes the job a lot easier.

Today I decided to freeze the rumballs. I used a re-purposed meat tray (I'd run out of plastic containers).

Enjoy

Ann

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Children's Baking

This morning Isabel wanted to do some baking, "lets make a cake Mum, with blueberries in it".

At 8yo she is almost independent enough to bake by herself.

So out came her recipe sheets to choose what cake to make, "chocolate doesn't really go with blueberries (today) so we'll make plain cupcakes".  I prepared these a few years ago, I typed up her favourite recipes and laminated them for protection.

Isabel has her own baking utensils.  I was fortunate to win this "Joseph and Joseph" baking set a few years ago.  The colour references in her recipe refer to the measuring cups from this set.

So with a little bit of help from me Isabel prepared her cake batter following her recipe sheet.  She used the microwave to cream the butter and sugar, and had lots of fun cracking the eggs (pretending she was on Masterchef). I showed her how to use the digital scales to weigh the ingredients that couldn't be measured by the cups.

Of course the best bit about baking is the licking of the bowl, spoon and fingers.

With a bit of help she put the cupcakes in the oven and then she did the cleanup, putting the ingredients away, doing the dishes, wiping the bench and vacuuming the floor.


















I helped get the cupcakes out of the oven and we put them on a wire rack to cool.

The icing was cream cheese and icing sugar and of course it had to be blue because of the blueberries.

With the decorations added we sampled Isabel's creation and they were delicious.

We had leftover icing which I put into a container to freeze for future baking days.

I hope you enjoy these ideas. 

Spending time in the kitchen with the kids is a great way to see their imagination and creativity come to life.  Don't worry about the mess, messes are fun to clean when everyone is involved.

Ann

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