fun recipes

In the neverending quest to find new things that Sophia will either eat or be entertained by (sometimes the two aren't so far apart!), I came across two great recipes in the last few days that were moderate successes - so here they are!

Play-Doh

2 c. flour
1 c. salt
4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 c. water
2 Tbsp. oil
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and whisk until well blended. In a heavy skillet or saucepan, cook on med. low for 2-3 minutes until thick. Knead until smooth.

Mine needed exactly 13 minutes of cooking to get to play-doh consistency, so I'm not sure how 2-3 minutes is possible, but that's what the original calls for. I'm actually not sure where I got this recipe - I remember finding it online when I taught at Magnolia, and it was a big hit with the kiddos. I had forgotten about it until I made an awful play-doh recipe my pediatrician gave me the other day (half a cup of oil! you can imagine the mess...), and thankfully I still had a copy of the recipe for the good stuff. Of course, Sophia was totally sketched out by the feel of it, but I bet your little bitties (and you! you know you love the stuff. :) ) will have a grand ole time with it. She has been completely enamored with the plastic spoons and straws we dug out to use with the play-doh, so that's been a nice plus for this afternoon! :D

Loafer's Loaf

(from Feed Me, I'm Yours, a cookbook from the 70's lovingly passed along from Julia)

1 lb. ground beef
1 1/4 cup oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 cup milk
2/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup minced onion
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup grated American cheese

Combine all ingredients. Pack into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 10 min.

I actually followed a suggestion the cookbook had on a different page - make mini-loaves in a muffin tin! I have no idea how long I baked them (20-30 min? It was a bit bonkers that particular night, and I was just peeking and checking til they looked done.) I also didn't have celery salt (who does?), so I just used regular old salt. Bonus? Josh loved these!! He spread ketchup on them and asked that they be added to our dinner rotation. :) Sophia liked the few bites she took (yes, only a few bites....the meds aren't doing jack at this point), but today she's rejected them outright. Ahh, toddlerhood.

I've been to Richmond and back since the last post, and I'll see if I can get some pictures up of Jonathan and Joel's graduation. (Mine came out sadly blurry.) I also had a fabulous, short, and slightly chaotic visit with Julia - needless to say, neither of us had any free hands for picture-taking! Other than that, our summer routine has been just that - fairly routine! We're in the midst of transitioning from two naps to one....whew! That's another post entirely - I'll probably wait til I can put a good positive "hindsight is 20/20" kind of slant on that. ;)