Salt dough ornaments

My very least favorite part of winter is how early it gets dark outside!! Gone are our evening walks to the park and hello to more time in the house. It can really make a person feel cooped up and it's easy for a toddler to get bored and antsy.  So I decided it would help to have a few activities. As I was thinking of things to include doing with our advent calendar ornaments seemed perfect. Enter ... salt dough ornaments.

I used the recipe from Mommypotamus which simply consists of flour, salt and water. It comes together quickly and easily and is fun for the little ones in your life. 

I ended up giving Emersyn her own bowl with flour and water in it to stir and play with and she happily made a giant mess :)  We made the dough and baked them one day and then completed them the next day with glittery paint. Emy's favorite part!

Happy toddler Christmas crafting!! 

Toddler friendly advent calendar

'Tis the Christmas season!

Emy is finally old enough to get excited about a Christmas tree, opening presents, etc. Last year was fun but at 2 years old this year she definitely gets it a little bit more this year. I was always so excited for holidays with kids, it's just that much more enjoyable when you can see them having so much fun and I have such good memories growing up that I couldn't wait to partake in all the merriment with my own kids. I just never clicked when we first had Emersyn that it would be a few years before they can actually participate, ha. So this year ... I wanted to do something she could find fun in an thus, a hunt for a toddler friendly advent calendar. 

I wracked my brain and looked on Pinterest (of course) and I found one where someone had used paper lunch bags to open each day and I knew it would be perfect for Emy. First, I numbered them all and she got to decorate them:

My plan originally was to fill them all with something and then hang them up by the tree but it turns out I wasn't nearly organized enough to have them all pre filled. So I'm not gonna lie, they are all hanging up empty and I simply fill the bag for the day that day. She doesn't know any different ;)

I also write down some simple Bible verses for each day of advent. She doesn't quite get yet what we're reading but we're doing it anyways!

The next step was to think of a months worth of simple toddler friendly activities/treats, etc. For the first half of the month we've had:

1. Decorate the tree
2. Christmas stickers to play with
3. Watch the Caillou holiday movie
4. Drink hot apple cider
5. Make salt dough ornaments
6. Paint the salt dough ornaments
7. New Christmas jammies
8. Make Christmas cookies
9. Read Christmas books
10. A $1 reindeer headband I found at Target with candy
11. Played with some red and green balloons
12. Watched Arthur Christmas

Basically ... I tried to think of simple and cheap ideas that she would have fun with that wouldn't be too much work for mom because mom is busy with a 3 month old as well :) If the particular activity doesn't fit in the bag I put in a "clue" such as a cookie cutter for the cookies or some kind of candy/treat that she opens

More to come!

Thanksgiving 2015

Happy day after Thanksgiving!!

We went to Erik's mom's place for Thanksgiving, aka "Nana's" house.  Erik and I even got to sneak away and go to see the movie Creed. (We love Rocky!)

I'm now ready for all things Christmas!!! Warm cider/tea, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas movies, etc etc etc. I'm planning to make an toddler friendly advent "calendar" since Emersyn is old enough to understand and appreciate things a little bit more this year.  

Here's to the start of "the most wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeear" :p 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... everywhere you go.

This holiday season has really snuck up on me with a newborn and a toddler. The whole "days are long but the years are short" saying is proving to be so true!! Seems like just a few months ago Erik was staying up late on Christmas Eve putting Emersyn's kitchen set together and yet here we are at Thanksgiving with another kid!

We've been living in KC the past month or so while my awesome husband works on the latest project, Komatsu.  Amazing ramen coming at you soon!!!

Annnnyways, I plan to take full advantage of being in KC for the holidays and that will include many visits to Union Station to let 2 year old run around and get out energy while we bask in the Christmas delight, ha. Or something like that. Because dark at 5pm, people. Hashtag stir crazy.

Yesterday it was 60 degrees outside so I couldn't resist going outside to take full advantage of nice weather before it's too cold. We walked to the park and of course Emersyn was thrilled, as always, with "running" and playing outside!

Thanksgiving and Christmas ... here we come!

Back in Action

And we're baaaaack!

At least in some form.  Two kids, two restaurants and much more later, I've decided to come back to the blog world at least a little bit. Now that I'm getting settled in to life with two kids I miss the creative outlet it allows. 

I've tried my hand at having a kid related blog and a food blog and that obviously didn't work either. So here we are back at The Purple Carrot, where everything I feel like posting will be found. Kids, food, family, life, whatever ... Looking back, one of my favorite things about blogging is to be able to look to past years and remember what was going on and having a record of fun memories and different seasons of life.

So here's to another era of The Purple Carrot, whatever it may look like!

Emersyn's 2nd birthday

Happy 2nd birthday to Emersyn!

We are so blessed to be the parents of this sweetheart! She's a handful and has always given us a run for our money mostly in the realm of sleeping. Or more like not sleeping. But she also has the most beautiful smile and personality around! 

Happy 2nd birthday, Emy!!

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

It's the time of year for garden bounty!! So far in surplus I have zucchini. Lots and lots of zucchini. Giant zucchini and small zucchini. Straight zucchini and crooked zucchini. And what do you do with zucchini that's gotten huge in the garden? Make bread, of course!!

With chocolate chips thrown in. You know, for good measure.

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded zucchini

- 1 1/2 cups cane sugar

- 2/3 cup melted coconut oil

- 2 teaspoons vanilla

- 4 eggs

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat oven at 350 degrees

2. In large mixing bowl stir together wet ingredients: zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs

3. Add dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon

4. Divide batter between two 8 inch loaf pans

5. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean 

6. Let cool completely before digging in

Eaten best with a large glass of milk. Yum yum!

Happy zucchini'ing!

Raw blueberry pie (with video)

This past Monday was National Blueberry Pie Day and I got invited onto Kansas City Live to help celebrate with my raw blueberry pie.  I hadn’t made this or blogged about it in over a year so I thought it was time for an updated post about it with better pictures! So here we are. Recipe complete with the Kansas City Live video.  Enjoy!
 
Video

As I said in the segment, this is a great spring and summer pie because it’s no bake, refreshing and so simple to whip up.Thanks for having me, Kansas City Live, it was a lot of fun!

Raw Blueberry Pie
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 cup natural almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (may need to add a little more depending on the wetness of your dates)
- Pinch of salt

Filling:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries (helps if they’re slightly thawed)
- 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey (honey tends to be sweeter so use less)
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- Pinch of salt

Instructions: Crust:
- Blend (or finely chop) almonds, coconut and dates one by one then mix together along with coconut oil and salt. Flatten into 9 inch pie pan.

Filling:
-Place all ingredients into high powered blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Pour over crust and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.