Edible Homemade Finger Paint (3 Simple Ingredients)

Hi guys!

Yesterday was my son's second birthday.  I wanted to go to the park and have a picnic lunch with him, but it has been raining and icky for the past couple of days. We played inside instead. 

Since it was his birthday I wanted to do something fun. I thought as a way to celebrate it would be nice to let the boys do something that didn't exactly get done regularly. I've been trying to get more crafty. The hard part about that is that Logan chews and eats things that are not food. Some examples are things like paper and crayons, and he chews on just about anything. 

For awhile I have seen numerous articles on homemade art supplies, like fingerpaint and play dough. I haven't tried doing those yet because again Logan eats things and I was afraid. That's how I came about homemade edible paint. Of course I googled it. Most articles and recipes called for cornstarch. I don't have any, so I googled it without and came across one done woth flour. 

All you need is:

-1 cup water

-1 cup all purpose flour

-food coloring

The kids loved it. It was very easy to work with and less watery than non-edible fingerpaint. It flowed nicely on the paper. When Logan tried kicking it I didn't have to worry that he would get sick or something, and it was a very easy clean up. The only thing I would do differently would be clothes. I would say that if you don't have a smock of some sort then it's best to let your child do it in a diaper or clothes that aren't supposed to stay clean. Logan got a bunch on his pants and it's been hard to clean off. The floor was easy, but the clothes...not so much.

Below are some of our pictures from yesterday. The paint does not crumble off the paper and it took about 20 or so minutes to dry. 

Below is the link where I originally got the recipe from. She has also added her own thoughts on her mixture. 

http://mamaot.com/2013/04/14/homemade-edible-finger-paint-no-cornstarch-needed/

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Who doesn't love chicken nuggets? Those things can be so addicting. Let's face it though those bagged nuggets from the store or the ones from the drive thru are not our best choice. My boys love chicken nuggets. Sometimes that is all the "meat" my youngest will eat. It is sometimes the only way to get any into him. He will otherwise live off PBjs for his entire life. 

Anyway, so I've been wanting to make them at home because I know they would be so much more cheaper, healthier, and delicious. 

Here's what you need: 

1-1.5lbs chicken breast

Seasoning of choice

3-4 handfuls of bread crumbs 

2-3 eggs 

Coconut oil or your choice of oil for pan frying.

Deep baking pan or large bowl for breading

Steps: 

1. Crack eggs into bowl and beat lightly. 

2. Cut chicken breast into 1 inch pieces

3. Season to liking 

4. Dip chicken into eggs. Let it sit for a bit to absorb.

5. Throw into bowl with bread crumbs, and make sure they are generously coated. 

6. Fry until golden brown or color of choice. Keep in mind the darker the coating the dryer the chicken will be.

7. Serve as snack or meal paired with your favorite sides. We did Mac & cheese and corn. 

Ps. For a little extra treat I added Parmesan cheese to my bread crumbs. So so so good! Mason kept going back for more. Logan loved them!! 

Share your thoughts. Did you try it? Did you like it? 

Homemade Baby Wipes: Update

Last week I wrote about our adventure in making our own wipes. This will be an update on how a week with them went and making our second batch. Our first batch was very to the point of the recipe that I used. They worked well and kept well. No mold and they did not dry out or harm the skin. The wipes were moist enough to clean, but not soaked so as to leave the skin wet. The baby did not break out or have red skin after using. They were very soft and gentle. 

There was one minor problem with them however. When we went to grab, the wipes would stick to one another and rip wrong, so for the second batch I altered the recipe. I added an extra teaspoon of  coconut oil and about an ounce less of water. We are on our 4th day of use and have not had an issue. I will stick to this minor change from here on out. The rash my son did have before switching from store bought to homemade has completely cleared up. We use the wipes for diaper changing, cleaning up messy faces and runny noses. See don't even have to buy boogie wipes anymore. :) 

For those of you who may have tried making your own...how did it go? What pros and cons do you see? Don't forget to store in a cool, dry place! 

Homemade Baby Wipes

I'm not sure when I decided to make my own wipes. Probably, when I decided that I wanted to cloth diaper for the remainder of our diapering lives with Logan, and any children in the future if we had any. I still haven't gotten around to getting a cloth diaper stash big enough to give up disposables all together, but I'm working on it. I decided to switch to make my own wipes because I was noticing my son having a diaper rash that never went away no matter what I put on it. Sometimes his rash even bled, and then I read the news story on a chemical that unscented wipes have. I use unscented wipes and the article said it may cause rashes.

I looked up how to make my own baby wipes. I chose one recipe from Pinterest seeing as most were the same. I used:

1 roll of Bounty paper towels (cut in half)

1.5 tspn of organic coconut oil (Trader Joe's brand)

2 c (16oz) warm water

2 drops of Burt's Bees shampoo/baby wash (found at Target, but can be found pretty much anywhere)

1 bowl (got mine at Target, actually 3 for $1)

Here's what I did: 

I made sure my work area was clean. I rinsed my bowl. I used a mixing bowl to mix together my water, baby wash and coconut oil. The coconut oil was hard so I took a bit of my water and heated it up with my oil so that it could melt. Once My solution was made, I poured it in my bowl and placed the paper towels inside. I covered them with the lid so as to squash the roll and get all of it moist. I then opened it and removed the cardboard piece. After the cardboard was removed it was simple to grab the first one from the middle inside and pull it out. I then transferred them to an old wipes box I had for easier use. All in all it cost me about $13 to make over 400 wipes with NO harsh chemicals. 

This is how they are being stored right now for use. I store in a cool dry place.

I used them for the first time on my son last night. It wasn't an awful poop, but because he is having issues with his milk it was pretty watery. The wipes are soft and didn't turn his skin red as I wiped. They held up nicely I didn't have "poop juice" seeping out into my hands while wiping as with the usual wipes. I only needed 3 and that is my usual. Nothing new or different just gentler and this morning my sons rash was already better. 

I'm waiting on my boyfriend's opinion on them, and then I will post what he thinks.

Here's the news article:

http://www.wfsb.com/story/24433149/preservative-in-baby-wipes-linked-to-rashes-in-some-children

Here's the Pinterest pin:

http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/homemade-organic-baby-wipes/