INK by Scandinavian Child

Tiny Tastebuds: Strawberry Swirls

MeredithL — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:19:58 +0000

Holidays call for more creative treats! I was checking out the new Kid Cook Book for recipes for my Babycook and spied the Strawberry Swirls recipe. I love strawberries and so does Quincy, so it was a no brainer. Plus, it’s more festive than simply giving her a bowl of strawberries!

I used my kitchen scale to weigh out the ingredients, but have included approximate measurements.

Gather:

For the roll:
3 eggs (it’s best if you let them get to room temperature)
about ½ cup (3.5 ounces) super fine sugar
about ½ cup (3.5 ounces) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For the filling:
8 ounces strawberries
about 1/3 cup (2.8 ounces) granulated sugar

For the completed roll:
Confectioners sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Do not skip this step or your roll will stick to your sheet!

Separate your yolks and egg whites. Blend the yolks and sugar in your Babycook until the mixture is well incorporated. According to the cook book, it will turn white when ready. Mine didn’t, so…. Add in your flour and baking powder and blend again. Be gentle, there’s quite a bit of dough in your Babycook now!

In a separate bowl, beat your egg whites and salt until stiff. If your eggs are room temperature this will be much easier. I used a metal bowl and my handy hand-held mixer (it took just a few minutes). Gently fold in your egg whites with your dough.

Spread the dough on your parchment lined cookie sheet so it’s about ½ inch thick. Put it in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes.

While you’re waiting, cook the strawberries and sugar on low, until most of the liquid cooks off and it gets a jelly like consistency.

When your cake roll is done baking, gently flip it onto a CLEAN damp cloth. Gently pull off the parchment paper. It might help to roll over the paper with a rolling pin before you remove it.

Spread your strawberry filling over the cake. Roll the cake and then cut off the ends (if you’d like, so it’s pretty). Wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Before serving, sift confectioners sugar over the roll.

My strawberry swirl isn’t as pretty as the one pictured in the Kids Cook Book, but Quincy certainly didn’t have any objections and devoured her slice in what seemed like seconds. I think I may experiment a bit, including trying different berries. Raspberries would probably be really good too, and they have such a nice zing to them.

Kerri Jablonski

Kerri Jablonski has 3 years of experience as a mom and over 30 years experience in eating! She’s a mom in the know and has pledged to keep this year free of jarred baby food as she prepares to introduce solid foods to her preemie daughter. Kerri will prove that wholesome baby food isn’t always strained peas and can be incorporated into yummy meals for the whole family. Kerri is the main mom in charge and the owner of The Maven of Social Media.

Tiny Tastebuds: Banana Crepes

MeredithL — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:40:44 +0000

Did you know you can make crepes with your Babycook? Well, to clarify, you can make crepe batter. It’s surprisingly easy.

Since Quincy is nearly 18 months old AND it’s the holidays, I thought it’d be fun to try some more creative recipes. It helps that we just got the NEW Kid Cookbook from Beaba too. There are tons of fabulous recipes in it for bigger kids (and grownups) to enjoy.

So we decided to try what our new cookbook calls Bananamania.

All you need to make about 8 crepes is…

1 cup of all purpose flour (about 4.5 ounces)
2 eggs (I let mine get to room temperature)
1 cup milk (I used whole)
A little bit of sunflower oil (I used canola that I had on hand)
Bananas
Chocolate or Nutella (ok, so their recipe says Chocolate, we used Nutella. UM…..)

Blend the flour and eggs in your Babycook for about a minute. Add approximately half the milk and then blend for 3 more minutes. It felt a little odd blending that long in my Babycook when I am so used to short little pulses. Add the remainder of the milk and the oil, blend a little more.

Let sit for an hour, you can thin it with a little water if you’d like.

Heat up your frying pan with a little oil (or your crepe pan if you have one) and pour a small amount of batter in the pan. Swirl the pan so it coats the entire surface. Cook until crispy and golden, then flip to continue cooking. The hardest thing for me was getting the right amount of batter so the crepes weren’t too thick. No worries, the thick ones were still tasty!

Wrap up some sliced bananas and melted Nutella in your warm crepes and enjoy!

Quincy did!

Whether you are cooking a holiday breakfast or just trying to get your kids excited about fruits, crepes are fun and easy to make!

Kerri Jablonski

Playgroups to Preschool: Transitioning To A Big-Kid Bed

MeredithL — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:28:14 +0000

Sometime between 18 and 36 months, you’ll likely decide it’s time to transition your toddler from her crib to a big-kid bed. There’s no “right age” for this important step, but there are signs that your child is ready, and, in both cases, it’s usually the child trying to tell you that she’d like to move out by either climbing out, attempting to sleep in a big bed, asking to sleep in a bed, or being too big for a crib (usually, when children are 36 inches, they can easily climb out of a crib so many suggest that upon reaching 36 inches, it’s time.) Another reason to transition is when your child has potty trained and needs to be able to get to the potty on her own.

We moved Little last week, at 28 months. She was in no way 36 inches, but for some time she had been trying to climb into her brothers’ beds to sleep.

Rather than spending money on a toddler bed (which I have considered a colossal waste of money ever since working at Pottery Barn Kids), we’ve always just placed a mattress on the floor to transition our kids. Placing a mattress on the floor allows the kids to learn how to stay on a “bed”, roll off safely when they do roll (they will), learn how to climb in and out and learn about limitations.

A big-kid bed allows for a lot of sudden freedom—kids have the ability to get up and down whenever they please, the bed can become a new play place, cuddling zone or reading nook and it allows a child to race to the bathroom when she needs to go.

This same freedom can be frustrating for parents and children. A curious child will naturally notice her freedom and experiment. She’ll want to get up from bed, walk around and play, rather than sleep. When you transition your child, be prepared for periods of “testing the waters.”

The best way to prepare your child to transition from a crib to a bed is to practice the same routine that you have for the past 2 years of her life. Make sure that she knows that besides the bed, nothing has changed. You still follow the routine, sing the same songs and read the same books. Then be firm with your child in your expectations. Each time I put Little down for a nap or for the night, I remind her that I’ll come check on her in a few minutes and I expect to see her in bed. Then, I wait those few minutes and firmly pop my head in to check on her. If she’s awake, I tell her I’ll be back in a few more minutes.

It’s also important to consider getting a child’s room ready for this big bed freedom. As she’ll have the ability to walk around the room freely, you’ll want to double check all electrical outlets to make sure they’re covered and firmly attach corded appliances to be safe from tipping. Also, check to make sure any furniture is tip-free and keep all favorite toys and books low to the ground. Baskets on the floor work really well for toddlers. No matter how well behaved a toddler is, she may one day surprise you when she suddenly decides she needs that sparkly stuffed bear and tries to reach for it on her own.

Most important, make this transition a good one. Tell your child how proud you are of her each time she goes to sleep and wakes up again. No matter where you find her.

Julie Meyers Pron is a parenting and education writer, using her experiences as a teacher and parent as inspiration for her daily posts. As a mother of 3 children (ages 1, 5 and 7), a PTO Director and a former MOMS Club President and Vice President, Julie has years of experience and lots of stories to share about toddlers in her Playgroups to Preschool series on the SCI Blog. Julie is also A Parenting Guru for Yahoo! Shine and a member of the Yahoo! Mother Board. To learn more about Julie, visit her personal blog, Just Precious.

SCI’s Holiday Picks

MeredithL — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:38:37 +0000

The holiday season is here!

Below are SCI’s recommendations for your holiday shopping this year.

Svan High Chair

The holidays are the perfect time to gather as a family. Bring infants as young as six months up to the dining table this holiday season with the beautiful award-winning Svan High Chair.

Béaba Pixie Night Light

‘Tis the season for lights! Brighten things up this holiday season with Béaba’s Pixie Night Light. The Pixie has two light settings, meets toy safety standards (which makes it safe for us with even the littlest pixies), and has an ergonomic handle that turns it into the perfect lantern for toddlers and bigger kids.

Béaba 360˚ Spoon

Teaching baby to self-feed is easy with the Béaba 360˚ Spoon. Available in bright, vibrant colors that appeal to children and retailing for under $10.00, this innovative, self-leveling spoon is sure to make the perfect stocking stuffer!

Svan Creativity Cruiser

A unique ride-on-toy designed to help toddlers gain motor skills and develop a sense of balance and coordination by pushing themselves along with their feet. Cruiser’s abstract design nurtures active imaginations and children love to pretend it is something different every time they climb on.

Play with Me Toddler Table & Chairs

When the weather outside is frightful, keep the little ones indoors for some family fun! The Play With Me Toddler Table and Chairs is a child-sized table and chair set designed to promote child/parent interaction.

Tiny Tastebuds: Pumpkin Trifle

MeredithL — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:00:04 +0000

With Thanksgiving just days away and launching into full Holiday mode, it’s been a bit crazy around here. I wanted to make a special treat this week for both Quincy and you! The thing is, I wanted it to be simple because the last thing I needed was something complicated on top of everything else.

I talked to my friend Angela, over at Fab Find Foodie and asked her for a recipe. She suggested Pumpkin Trifle. And let me tell you, not only is it easy, but it’s delicious too.

Make a box of pound cake according to the instructions. Let cool.

In the meantime, gather the following ingredients:

1 can of pumpkin puree (or equivalent fresh roasted)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 box vanilla (or cheesecake) instant pudding mix
¼ cup of milk (portioned out)
Sprinkling of nutmeg/cinnamon and sugar. Or, pumpkin pie spice and sugar.

Using your hand held mixer, blend pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk. Add pudding mix and blend until smooth. Add ¼ cup of milk, about a tablespoon at a time until its desired consistency.

Set aside and wash your beaters, you will need them again.

Put away the container of Cool Whip and mix together heavy whipping cream, confectioners sugar and a splash of vanilla until you get stiffish peaks. (Don’t beat too long or you will get butter!)

Cut the pound cake into cubes.

Layer pound cake, pumpkin mixture and whipped topping in a glass.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Trifle is an easy, Quincy friendly recipe. As long hers isn’t served in a wine glass. See, the wine glass full of Trifle is for me, why should she have all the fun?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Kerri Jablonski

Belly, Baby & Beyond: How to Interview Your Midwife or Doctor While Pregnant

MeredithL — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:34:26 +0000

Meeting your doctor first can help avoid potential problems later!

Why Interview a Doctor or Midwife While Pregnant?

Many health care providers have different philosophies of birth and care in general. Before taking off your clothes and submitting to a physical exam, it’s a good idea for pregnant women to make sure the doctor or midwife is someone they can feel comfortable working with on a regular basis. An initial interview can help an expectant mother make that determination before getting too far into the pregnancy!

What Questions Should I Ask My Doctor or Midwife?

Two of my most popular articles on Associated Content in the past give a list of ideas for questions to ask a midwife and questions to ask a doctor before deciding on which medical care professional you want to settle on. It is helpful to inquire about hospital or birthing policies such as how many people are allowed in the delivery room in the case of a birth center or hospital birth. Also be sure you have asked about a back-up situation and what the back-up’s philosophy of care is, as I know more than one mother who was surprised when her original doctor or midwife couldn’t make it to their birth and the new doctor or midwife had a totally different agenda than what had been agreed on!

How can I Keep a Positive and Open Relationship With my Doctor or Midwife?

Be honest and upfront right away about your feelings and desires. No one likes to be caught off guard or surprised by the unexpected. For example, if you will not agree to an induction before 42 weeks, but your physician routinely scheduled inductions at 40 weeks, don’t play along – let them know that is something you will not agree to without a clear medical reason. Otherwise you are setting up both you and your doctor to be displeased with the relationship.

Call when needed, to touch base about any changes. Pregnancy is usually a time of great health and well-being for the vast majority of women, however there can be complications that arise. If you are between check-ups but notice something odd going on, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call! Most midwives and doctors would rather be able to tell you “That’s normal and it’s ok” rather than finding out three weeks later at a check-up that you are developing high blood pressure.

Don’t quibble over the little things – save your “battles” for what really matters to you. Better yet, find a health care provider that is supportive of your choices and decisions so there is nothing to battle about. The single best way to do that is through your initial interview.

How to Actually Interview Your Doctor or Midwife

Start your relationship with open communication. When you call and schedule your first appointment, tell the receptionist that you want a consultation time and NOT a prenatal exam. That way you have a chance to speak with the doctor or midwife before you are actually their “patient” – which can change the relationship dynamics.

Have your list of questions ready, beginning with what is the most important items for you. When the time is up, you’ll have to let them go and for doctors that initial time might only be ten minutes so be prepared! Start with the questions that are most important to you and work your way down the list from there.

Pregnancy should be a time of excitement, growth, health and well-being. Having an open and honest relationship with your health care provider makes it more likely you will recieve the highest quality of care during your prenatal months. Interviewing a doctor or midwife before is one of the best ways to make sure that you will be able to work well with the doctor or midwife you finally choose.

Angela England is a busy mother of four who helps women and mothers earn an income through web-writing on www.angengland.com. Recently branching out into speaking and personal blog consultations, England stays active in a number of online venues. She is the author of the Making Money Blogging ebook which she wrote out of personal experience as a freelance writer. With articles appearing across several websites and print magazines since launching her writing career, her initial goal of “pizza money” and keeping her kids out of daycare has blossomed into full-time work.

England is the Founder of Untrained Housewife, Editor-in-Chief of Blissfully Domestic,Plants and Bulbs Feature Writer at Suite101, a Type-A-Parent Contributor, and also operates several smaller niche sites. Additionally, she maintains several certifications in her offline life as a licensed massage therapist and a CAPPA trained labor support doula and childbirth educator.

Happily married and living in rural Oklahoma, Angela can be found on both Twitter and Facebook.

Tiny Tastebuds: How To Roast A Pumpkin

MeredithL — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:00:08 +0000

There is nothing quite like roasted pumpkin in the fall. From breads, to soups, to custards, a roasted pumpkin can turn into an array of delicious dishes.

Roasting a pumpkin is super easy. Pick up a smallish (3-4 pound) SUGAR pumpkin at your market. Sugar pumpkins are smaller than the “carving” variety and therefore sweeter.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse off your pumpkin and slice it in half with a large knife. Be careful, it’s harder than it looks. These little sugar pumpkins are dense and also slippery little suckers.

Scoop out the pumpkin guts and seeds and put them aside. Don’t throw them away – roasted pumpkin seeds are yummy! I used a grapefruit spoon to scrape out my pumpkin and it worked out really well.

Place your pumpkin halves face down in a large baking dish with about ¼” of water. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 45-60 minutes. Try not to over-bake!

Once your pumpkin is done roasting, let it cool for a bit and then scoop out the delicious flesh for your recipe needs. You can serve it as is, or puree it to make soups, custards, pie or even pumpkin bread.

Pumpkins are low in saturated fat and cholesterol and are all around just good for you. They are a great starter food too for those of you who want to make your own baby food. What is so great about roasting a pumpkin is it’s very easy to set some aside for your little one and then go on to make a delicious spicy soup, which is what we did!

Kerri Jablonski

Playgroups To Preschool: Hitting and Pushing

MeredithL — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:00:43 +0000

Monday night as I was picking up Little at babysitting at our gym, one of the sitters pulled me aside. “She’s been hitting tonight,” Angela said. “I’m just surprised because I’ve never seen her do it before.”

I took a deep breath. I’d had a feeling. We’ve always commented that Little “holds her own” very well. With two older brothers, she has to keep up with them. She finds ways to get attention and we know she hits at home. She hit me recently, when she didn’t want me to brush her hair.

Of course, I wouldn’t stand for that. I referred to an article I stumbled upon, reminding me that she needs to listen on the first offense. She’ll learn that there are no warnings; that I mean business. Immediately, I put my two-year-old in time out for two minutes. Hitting is unacceptable.

A part of me sighs, though. I mean, it is unacceptable, but she’s two and she’s a very typical two in her behavior. She pushes. She grabs. She says “no” all the time.

Except when we review our rules, “Is it okay to hit?”

“Yes,” she always responds.

Little hates time outs. She cries through them. She used to move to a different spot, which we saw as her way of getting power in a powerless situation. She almost always exclaims that she has to go potty when in time out. She’s learned to hold it in and wait two minutes.

But we’re stuck. The time outs don’t seem to be working. I believe in a firm, immediate reaction. I don’t want to hit her, and I certainly don’t want anyone else to. So what kind of reaction will teach her that hitting needs to be stopped immediately?

When I approached her preschool teacher, she shared that they’ve noticed Little hitting in the classroom recently as well. Pushing, too. They’re trying put a stop to it. Usually, the hitting and pushing occurs over toys. In most instances, it’s because Little is playing with something someone else wants. So when the second child reaches to take it, Little responds by hitting or pushing. Her teacher mentioned that she’s keeping an eye out now and praising Little when she doesn’t hit. Usually that means catching her right before it happens.

At two, she has an amazing vocabulary, but children don’t always access that vocabulary as quickly, especially in the heat of the moment. I talked with licensed Marital and Family Therapist (MFT) Shelby Riley:

Physical aggression is a normal, innate, human response to anger, fear, and even excitement. When kids are very young, they often push or hit when they don’t like what’s going on. They don’t yet have the ability to identify the emotion, name it and problem solve healthier ways to respond. Hitting and pushing are natural, and effective, ways to get their needs met. Pushing a kid down and taking the truck back gets the truck back pretty effectively. It just has other negative consequences that make it an undesirable option. Young children often don’t have the ability that think through the situation in such a layered, complex way. Our job as parents is to help kids learn to identify their feelings by teaching them a vocabulary for them, i.e. “You look mad.” And then teaching them ways to calm the feeling enough to be able to think through safer, nicer ways to get their needs met. Identifying a feeling, soothing it, and problem solving how to express it in an appropriate way is actually a fairly complex process that most young children don’t do naturally. It needs to be modeled and taught.

Her preschool teacher asked how we’re handling the hitting; what our response is. I told her about the time outs and talking about it, and that at the gym, she responds by hiding, so the babysitters have to coax her away. Her teacher said that they’re talking, but time outs probably won’t work for her in the classroom (which is true. Little is far too comfortable in every nook, cranny, seat and corner in the school for a time out. Being sent to the director’s office is a happy field trip for her. So is the Rabbi’s office.)

How did you change your toddler’s inappropriate behavior? What reaction have you seen to best teach her that hitting or pushing is not acceptable?

Tiny Tastebuds: Pumpkin Crackers

MeredithL — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:22:49 +0000

Quincy and I made the easiest treat today – little crackers made out of chickpea flour. I actually think it took longer for the oven to preheat then it did to prepare the dough. Like I said, simple.

We pulled out our NEW!! Babycookin’ Gipsy (isn’t it pretty) and gathered what we needed to make the crackers. According to the Babycook Cookbook it’s called “Socca Nicoise” but we called them pumpkin crackers. You’ll see why in a minute…

For Socca Nicoise you need:

½ cup chickpea flour
½ cup water
a drizzle of olive oil

That’s it.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Simmer the water in a small sauce pan. Then, sprinkle the chickpea flour in the pan and whisk/stir until a dough forms. Cook on medium low until a dough forms and it begins to pull away from the pan (that’s about 3-4 minutes).

Scrape the whole thing into your Babycook and drizzle with olive oil. Pulse a few times to remove all the big lumps.

Press the dough onto a cookie sheet or in a small pie pan.

Bake for 5 minutes.

When the Socca Nicoise came out of the oven, I cut it into Quincy sized portions with a little tiny pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. Perfect pumpkin crackers!

The perfect Socca Nicoise has a crispy outside and a soft chewy interior. Ours probably needed an extra minute in the oven to get a little more crisp, but other than that, it was quite good.

Chickpea flour is a wonderful thing to cook with. It’s high in protein and gluten-free. It’s a great source for your daily Dietary Fiber, Magnesium, Copper, Folate and Manganese. It’s also low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. That’s a lot of punch for little pumpkin cracker!

I think next time we’ll serve it with a little dipping sauce – maybe some yogurt with dill and cucumbers!

By the way, chickpea flour is apparently really great for other kinds of baking too, and as a thickener for gravies… hmmm that gives me an idea…

Kerri Jablonski

Belly, Baby & Beyond: Internal Exams During Pregnancy

MeredithL — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:00:54 +0000

What do internal exams during the last month of pregnancy tell me? Why do I need them?

Some doctors and midwives tend to do internal checks routinely during the last month or so of pregnancy, while others don’t do them at all. Internal exams during the last month of your pregnancy are unfortunately a very poor indication of when your labor will begin.

What do health providers check during these exams?

Your doctor or midwife is checking for cervical dilation and effacement. Dilation is how far the cervix is open and is measured in centimeters 1-10. Effacement is how thin the cervix is – the cervix needs to completely soften and thin out in order to open much more than a couple centimeters.

Unfortunately, while it would seem that a woman who is “already” dilated to a 3 cm would begin labor and have her baby sooner than a woman who is not dilated at all, it just isn’t true. Woman can be dilated, especially in subsequent pregnancies, well before labor begins. Conversely, they can begin labor while hardly dilated at all, be told by their doctor they have plenty of time that morning, and be holding a baby by that night!

What other reasons would a health care provider to a vaginal check during pregnancy?

In late pregnancy a health care provider might do a vaginal check in order to strip your membranes. This intervention irritates the uterus and can trigger contractions, sometimes causing labor to begin. One of the drawbacks to this procedure, however, is that bacteria can be introduced during the check.

Occasionally the sack of waters will even break during this procedure which will automatically put a mom on the clock for delivering her baby, increasing the likelihood of a surgical birth. It is recommended to avoid this procedure prior to week 39, if you choose to have it done at all. Some health care providers strip membranes by routine so if this is something you want or don’t want be sure you’ve checked with your midwife or doctor to find out what they usually do the last month.

While it’s hard to stay patient that last month, for most pregnant women, internal exams aren’t really needed. High risk pregnancies, those trying to avoid a repeat Cesarean, or other reasons your health care provider might recommend having internal checks are, of course, something to discuss with him or her based on your unique pregnancy and needs.

Happily married and living in rural Oklahoma, Angela can be found on both Twitter and Facebook.