Science Day: Cooking and Science

Science Day: Scientists keep learning. They fine tune what they are working on to discover what works best. You can do the same in the kitchen. As a kitchen scientist pick a chocolate cake recipe (or a box mix will do) and substitute the water needed for buttermilk. See how changing one simple ingredient can make all the difference. In this case the cake will be yummier. Seriously it will! The sourness of the buttermilk emphasizes the chocolate taste. You can also try this, substituent buttermilk with regular milk when it is asked for in a chocolate dessert you bake on a normal basis. Do you like this dessert better using buttermilk or not? If you are really up to the challenge you can bake two small cakes, using buttermilk in one and one with water or milk. Have your family decide which they like best.

How to Live with a Messy Child

1)To get your child to clean their room make a game of it. Time them to see how fast they can put away their books in their bookcase and/or how long it takes to put their dirty clothes in the hamper. If you have more than one child have a timed competition. But make it a win-win situation for both kids, like both get 15 minutes extra on the computer or they can make cookies with you.

2)If you have two kids who share a room and one is driving the other batty with their mess you can divide things in half in the room. Each child can have their own shelf on the bookcase. Their own area in the closet and their own drawers. With the top of a dresser do not divide it in half by using masking tape. My cousin did this with me and it ruined the antique dresser. Use a string or ribbon on top.

3)It is hard to get teenagers to clean their room. If they are basically well behaved and that is their only problem you might not want to make a big issue of it. But this is what you can do: Close the door so you do not have to look at the mess. Then set ground rules like, no food can be left on the floor for the ants to get; glasses or liquids also can not be on the floor in case they to tip over; there needs to have a clear path to the closet, window, dresser, and door; dirty clothes piled on the ground will not cleaned; they need to open the window for fresh air sometimes or they need a plugged in air freshener, especially if they have an animal in the room (Caged animals need to have their cages cleaned once a week. The smell of a stinky cage can drive you out of a room. Also, the smell can drift out in the hallway if there is a crack under the door.)

4)Remember just because your child is messy as a kid or teenager does not mean they will be messy as an adult. I was messy as a kid and I am not anymore. I also had a teenage brother who lived in room that looked like he lived in disaster area, plus, his room smelled to high heaven. In his twenties when he got married his wife would have none of that.

To Have or Have Not Juice

I have been told having tall glasses of juice, whether it be orange, apple, grape juice, etc. everyday, more than once a day, is the way of the past for young kids. It's just too much sugar to have. The short orange juice glasses you see served in restaurants are the "in" juice glass again. If your child absolutely loves juice try giving them half water half juice. If they’re having too much of this per day you might try mixing in two ounces of juice with six ounces of water. Some kids just don’t like the taste of plain water.

Movie Review: Ice Age

Movie Title: Ice Age. Animation. Rated PG. PG rating was probably given due to the fighting and slapstick scenes. I saw this movie with a nine-year-old boy. He thought it was funny. As grown up, I thought it was middle of the road. The movie takes place during the Ice Age when woolly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers and Neanderthals roamed the earth. It has a simple plot: A sloth, mammoth, saber-tooth tiger, and saber-tooth squirrel join forces to return a pee-wee Neanderthal to his people.

Overeating Tip

A friend of mine says she eats a small amount of foods like cheese and nuts, or has a glass of milk to make her feel full. She said the fats in these foods make her satisfied so she won’t snack on cookies or potatoes chips. After talking to her I read an article from a doctor who said that if you want to lose weight you have to eat foods that give you fuel and satisfy your appetite rather than just eating surgery fruits (peaches, plums, yes even apples) or eating lettuce and carrots all day. He said people need to have more natural fats. It will make you full and give you energy. Yes, these types of foods do have more calories but he pointed out if don’t have enough calories you won’t feel like exercising because your body is lacking fuel. Which can backfire. When you eat well you give your body fuel and energy to exercise for a fit, toned body. He said what my brother told me years ago, “Stop eating when you are full.” Which is hard when you have cookies around. (You might want someone to hide them from you.) Also, think about this? Are you eating the cookies because you are famished or because you crave something sweet? When you are full, but just want to eat anyway, chew tasty gum, or leave the room that has food in it and start a project to keep your mind off eating more. Another hint: Eat before you are famished so you don’t over eat and regret it. Plus eat, and then wait a bit. You might find you are satisfied with only a sandwich if you give yourself time to feel satisfied. If you hurry and eat a sandwich, then eat a banana, a plum, and four cookies you haven’t given your body to be satisfied with just the sandwich or the sandwich and banana. Also, drink water before you eat. It fills you up. If you forget before a meal at least drink water with the meal.

Scrumptious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies might sound strange, but they taste great!
Make them with with your kids this Thankgiving. Give a batch to grandma and grandpa.

What you need:
1) 1 cup of pumpkin
2) 2 cups of flour
3) 1 cup of brown sugar
4) 1/2 cup of real butter
5) 1 egg
6) 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
7) 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
8) 2 teaspoons of baking powder
9) 1 teaspoon of baking soda
10) 1/2 teaspoon of salt
11) 1 1/2 teaspoons of milk
12) 2 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

What you need to do: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl put in pumpkin, sugar, egg and butter. Blend in electric mixer for best results. In a different bowl put flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix baking soda with milk in a tiny bowl and stir in. Pour one bowl into another and mix in mixer. Add vanilla, making sure it gets mixed in well! Add chocolate chips, making sure they get mixed in dough well, too. Using a spoon put cookie dough on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 11 minutes. Enjoy!

Parenting Tip- Take the Oatmeal Challenge.

A friend of mine had a daughter that felt sluggish in the mornings at school. Yes, she was having breakfast, but it was sugared cereal. For two weeks my friend had her daughter eat a hearty bowl of oatmeal (she could sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on top) for breakfast. She said it made a difference. Her daughter was more alert at school. You might want to test this out for yourself.