Easter Bags

The Easter bunny is finally going to make an appearance at the Navin household now that Lillian is 3 (this age rocks!!) Instead of baskets that would go unused the rest of the year I decided to make Easter bags for the girls. Lillian's is the red & Phoebe's is the green. Lillian's has since had a button added to it- the button she picked out when I made her come along to purchase some craft items. Somehow Lillian picked the most expensive single button ($1.59). I'll update with the button later...

5 Little Monkey (Puppets)

So, here are the monkey puppets: I think I'll package them with a few dried bananas for fun.

Crayon Wrap

For the upcoming Easter swap I will also make a crayon wrap... here is my inspiration:
http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/01/crayon-roll.html
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

I decided to make mini rolls for on the go. Here they are:

Puppet

Well, here we go again. I have joined another swap- the Easter swap. I'm hoping to put the goodies received into the girls' Easter baskets. And I've decided for this swap I'm going to make puppets for one of my slots. I saw puppets at our pediatirican's office that I thought I could make and then found the picture here: http://images.landofnod.com/is/image/LandOfNod/3710122_AnimalPuppets_F108?$zm$


Here is the first attempt to make the monkey (which I figured would be the easiest)
I obviously need to trim the strings and I think I should probably top-stitch it but even with those things it's not quite as I had hoped it would be.

I think I'm going to look into making a chick using this as a guide

Lentil Recipe to try

Sloppy Lentils

1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
1 medium-size onion, diced
1 small red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1-2 tablespoons chili powder
1-1/2 cups dried brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
One 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
2 tablespoons tamari or other soy sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon light brown sugar or a natural sweetener
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper


1. Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, stirring to coat.

2. Transfer the onion mixture to a 3-1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker. Add the lentils, tomatoes, water, tamari, mustard, brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).

3. Serve on lightly toasted burger buns or over rice or pasta.

Scones

BROWN SUGAR SCONES

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, loosely packed + 1 Tablespoon
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
3/4 Cup Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and salt.
Add and cut in the shortening with either two knives or a pastry cutter to a coarse crumb texture.
Add the milk and maple syrup and stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, finishing up by hand if necessary to form a ball.
Transfer the dough ball to the parchment lined baking sheet and flatten to 3/4″.
Cut the dough into 8 wedges and sprinke with the 1 tablespoon of remaining brown sugar.
Bake for about 20 – 25 minutes or until golden.

I substituted rice milk for the soy milk, honey for the maple syrup and a mix of palm oil/coconut oil for the shortening. And I threw some raisins in too.

Cornbread

I am on a search for a great cornbread. TJ's brand is our current favorite but b/c we didn't have any around I tried making this one from scratch. It was pretty good but a bit dry. Perhaps I'll play with the recipe:

Blue Ribbon Vegan Cornbread?

I was skeptical that pareve cornbread could be moist at all, never mind an award winner. Imagine my surprise when Cook’s Illustrated reported a recipe for vegan cornbread that actually won the blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair… and those folks know their corn.

DANA SLY’S BLUE RIBBON VEGAN CORNBREAD
Serves 9

2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
6 Tbsp. water
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C cornmeal
1/4 C sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. table salt
1 C soy milk
1/4 C canola oil

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the ground flax seed, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the ground flax seed in the water for 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined.
4. Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and canola oil to the flour mixture. Beat just until smooth (do not overbeat.)
5. Turn into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.