making super easy sweet spring rolls

I was really hungry this afternoon and remembered I still have not made the sweet spring rolls with the kids.

Now spring rolls are usually made with meat/veggies. But I wanted to try make it with sweet red bean paste which is a favorite dessert ingredients with the Chinese people. As you see below I brought the paste but you can make it your own or try it with any of your favorite filling. Next time we will make it with veggies.






We like it crispy so we fry it. But you can also steam it.

J enjoys her labor. :) (chopstick or hand, doesn't matter)

making french toast

The kids love french toast so daddy made some for us over the weekend. It was so delicious that J asked daddy for his 'secret' recipe. After writing it down and watching daddy make it over the weekend, J declared early this morning she will make it herself! (that got daddy off the bed in a hurry so he can supervise. :))



I want more, Prime says and sis graciously shared some of hers and off to make some more.

tate's chocolate chip cookies

We made Tate's chocolate chip cookies. The recipe came from GOOP newsletter.

Both kids helped. They took turns measuring and pouring (oh, let's not forget tasting!). We didn't make it quite right. But it still tastes great ; the kids both had 2+ pieces and they are large, albeit thin cookies. I'm not sure how they have such good appetite.

As for me, the chocolate is too sweet. Next time, I will cut the chocolate in half and perhaps use a different kind of chocolate. We used some almond extract in place of vanilla extract and I really liked that though Prime didn't like the smell of the vanilla extract in the bottle but hey, he ate and ate and wanted more.

J and Prime are both staring at the oven. As time went on, Prime yells, they are getting fat! :)

Fresh hot out of the oven, and the kids can't wait. Careful, is still hot!

I told the kids to give a thumb up if they think it taste good and both kids gave it a thumbs up.

We have yet to try to make J's barbie cake as I still need to get some supplies. Maybe we'll try it next week. Right now, every chance the kids get, they go and play with the dollhouse.

Next week, our weekly theme will be outdoor fun.

wordless wed- cooking continues (pasta)

This week's theme- cooking

This is the children's 2nd week of vacation. For this week, J chose cooking. The plan is that she will prepare the food and drinks for her small birthday party. She already have the menu planned out. I will share that in a different post.

Today, we made some super simple things. First, for breakfast, cut up strawberry with whip cream.

Breakfast: oat meal, strawberry with whip cream and milk.

For lunch, J made vegetable soup from "The Waldorf School Book of Soups".

J cutting onion for her vegetable soup

Lunch: Vegetable soup with toast

A great offshoot to this was Prime love the smell of onion and actually ate a little raw onion.

Making lemonade

J is really liking to cook. Yesterday she made eggs, and today she says she wants to cook again. So for today, she made lemonade from scratch.

Here, she is stirring the sugar and water mixture to make syrup. She also learned a new word that is best learned in action, "dissolve".

Squeezing lemons to get fresh lemon juice.

The lemon is all juiced.

Add syrup, lemon juice, and water (plus ice cubes if prefer) and viola, you have yourself a glass of fresh lemonade. Prime drank his so fast I didn't even get a chance to snap a picture. :)

1st week of vacation (theme: play)

Let the fun begin! Today, we kick off our first week of vacation. J says the theme for this week is "play".

The day started with "science"... talking about how the balloon is loosing its air, and is coming down and down, and finally, it just lands on the floor right before our eyes. J drew the face on the pink balloon days ago.

Then we explored fractions using cuisinaire rods since we read a bible story related to tithing 10%. Later, I showed them the Geo boards I brought in Florida and that was a big hit with the kids.

For lunch, J made scrambled egg all by herself. She cracked the eggs, whip the eggs, poured into the frying pan, turned on the fire, put in oil, stir-fried the egg and even scooped the egg out into a bowl all by herself.

The kids also had a play date with their friends in the afternoon. We even shared a dinner together. It was a very full and fun day.

Having fun with the descending balloon.

J is working on the Geo Boards

Prime ties the rubber bands around his finger

J's pattern on the Geo board

Having fun with friends.

Making 'zhongzi' with grandma/ face painting

J made "zhongzi" which is sticky rice with meat/nuts wrapped in bamboo leaves, with grandma.

First you take 2 leaves and make a cone shape, then you pack it with rice, meat, nut mix and close it up. You will need to add reinforcement on the side. This one is wrapped up.

Next you tie it around the bamboo leaves securely.

It took couple tries, but J is getting the hang of it.

The final product. Yum! Thank you, grandma. J and Prime also made noodles with grandma. Prime's noodle were the short and stubby ones. :)

Having fun with face painting - gift from K. J also painted her nails all by herself as a result of the another present received from K.

Is that a pose, J?

And there is my Prime. Oops, caught him with his eyes closed.