The Homeschool Hut

Chick pea Salad

12:30 PM

Yummy, Yummy! Tried this for the first time today, for lunch, and it's a KEEPER! It was so good, and so easy! You definitely have to try it!

Chick Pea "Tuna" Salad

Ingredients:

1 Can of Chickpeas

Green bell pepper

Onion (i used purple onion)

salt to taste

Tofu

Optional:

(Vegan) Mayo

(Vegan) Cheese

I just threw everything in the blender. When adding everything, i didn't measure, and just went by what i thought was enough! So use your taste to guide you! Blend it up for a couple minutes, you don't want it to get too smooth, but you do want a bit of a creamy consistency.

My husband added some mayo and cheese to his and ate his with a wrap. I ate mine straight from the bowl :)

I'm sure there are so many ways to fix this up! Add different seasonings, herbs, lemon, your imagination can really go wild on this one!

Enjoy!

Another Hatchling!

12:16 PM

Baby #2 hatched! Another Tropical house gecko, and he/she is so cute :)

It amazes me everytime how big they are considering how tiny their shells are!

Montessori Pink Series...

12:12 PM

We have started the Montessori pink series, beginning with the short a words...cat, hat, rat, rag, van, ax, yak, etc. We started off with 3 part cards, and now have worked our way into something different. Lei is doing really well with it, and can "spell" each of the words almost right away. I say "spell" because right now we are only focusing on the letter sounds and not the spelling.So he knows CAT is Cuh-ah-tuh, and not C-A-T. He does know the letter names, we just don't spell using them right now.

So far so good :)

We will probably move on to the short e words in a few weeks.

Nutritional Yeast Cheese Dip/Sauce

3:27 PM

I LOVE this stuff! I mean, i really, really, really, like it!

First of all...

What is Nutritional Yeast?

Well, before I was vegan I had no idea what nutritional yeast was and now I LOVE it.

Nurtritional yeast a deactivated yeast -- meaning unlike regular yeast it doesn't make things rise so please, don't use it in baking.

Nutritional yeast is high in protein and most brands also fortify it with B12 and other valuable vitamins and minerals.

Nutritional yeast is commonly used in vegan recipes to replace a cheese taste. It's awesome for mac and cheese, sprinkled on tofu, vegetables, and even oatmeal!

I'm really addicted to it and put it on everything! It's great on popcorn or greens like kale. Slip it in to your mashed potatoes...

I could eat it with a spoon all day long. So give it a few tries if you're not sold the first time.

*I buy mine at Cogias Organic store in the Bazaar, it's the only place i could find it here in Grand Bahama. However, if you do a search in Google, you can many places to order it online.*

Now, down to business...

How to make a simple "cheese" sauce

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unbleached flour

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (i use an actual piece of garlic, minced)

1/8 teaspoon dried yellow mustard powder

1 cup water

1 1/2 tablespoons vegan margarine or vegetable oil (optional, i never put oil in mine...but the recipe called

for it so...)

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients, add water, whisk until clumps are gone.

2. Put in pot with margarine, and heat on medium until thick.

*This is a pretty thick sauce, best for things like alfredo, mac and cheese, etc..*

You can add more water if you make it too thick, but it's supposed to

be pretty thick.

Mixing salsa with this for nacho cheese with chips is great; adding onion

powder and extra margarine works great to use in a scalloped potato recipe;

extra garlic, margarine and parsley for alfredo. I even put scoops of it on vegan pizza!

Crayon Circles

8:21 AM

What do you do with those little bits and pieces of crayons that are too small to color with? Or are all broken up at the bottom of the crayon box? Make crayon circles, of course!

It is so easy, and a great project to work on with the kids :)

We had a few crayons, that were not really being used since we bought a new pack.

Have the kids remove the wrapping off of the crayons. This takes a lot of concentration, and will keep them busy for a little while. After that is done, break the crayons into pieces and put them in a cupcake pan. You can either put all one color together, or mix it up to create unique color combinations!

Turn your oven on 350 , and give it time to heat up. When it's nice and hot, turn it OFF, and put the crayons in. Wait about 10 minutes. The crayons will liquefy, and then you can remove the pan from the oven, Be careful not to shake too much though, or else your colors may mix together. Lay on a flat surface, and wait for the crayons to cool and harden...about 30 mins.

When they are hard, it's time to remove them from the pan. Turn the pan over ( i usually do this on carpet), and hit the back of each cupcake mold, i used the handle of a knife. Give it a couple taps, not too hard, but with a little force! They came out really easily after 2-3 taps.

Now you have crayon circles that are perfect for little hands.

Happy Coloring!

Big Felt Numbers

5:34 AM

I made these big felt numbers for Lei and Little Brother so that they can work on number recognition, and when the time comes, addition. It took me about 2 days to make them, but i was starting and stopping, refilling sippy cups, reading stories, nursing,potty....you get it ;)

Get a few colors of felt. I used the single felt squares from the sewing store, and got about 10 colors. Then using a number template i cut out my felt numbers using one color for the front and another color for the back..