Rainbow in a Jar

Inspired by Flax and Twine's Rainbow in a Jar post, we set out to make our own.

(Her photos are WAY better ... so if you're looking for the how-to and the pretty pics that go along with, click over to her!)

We are ALL over craft projects where the "ingredients' are easy to source.  Not having a Michaels or Hobby Lobby can make me crazy when I'm itching for a project. 

Salt - check!

Glass jar - check!

Colored Chalk - CHECK!

(We used some 3D chalk for the project, so Mia was checking out whether it looked 3D inside the jar!)

Brown Sugar Chicken in the Crock

Back again with Stephanie and her 365 days of crockpot cooking.  This time the recipe is HERE ::

What you need courtesy of Confessions of a Wacky SAHM

-- 6 boneless, skinless breast halves

--1 cup brown sugar

--1/4 cup lemon-lime soda

--2/3 cup vinegar

--3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

--2 T soy sauce

--1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 5-6 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

Stephanie's Verdict.

Seriously. Go to the store. This is what's for dinner.

Our Verdict.

We concur!

Fun City Gurgaon and Vasant Kunj

Fun City is not every mother's dream way to spend an afternoon, but it sure makes the kiddos giggle with glee!

There are two Fun City locations in the Delhi area.  The first is at Ambience Mall in Gurgaon (just past the toll plaza) and the newest is at the NEW Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj.

There is no admission charge for the Fun City locations, but you will need to purchase a FunCard to play the games and ride the 'rides.'  You should plan on about Rs 500 for an hour's worth of play per child.  Each game is between Rs 15 - 45 per play.   The cards can be reloaded, and do not to be used in the course of one visit. 

There is also a FunZone at both locations (the tubed climbing apparatus things that are so popular in play places in the United States).  This costs Rs 250 per child for an hour.  They will need socks (so go prepared).  FunZone employees DO have socks to lend you, but it appears that the socks get passed from kid to kid throughout the day.

Our kids have favorites at both FunCity locations -- the roller coaster at Vasant Kunj is too scary, while the boat ride at Gurgaon is "our favorite."

There are bumper cars at both locations, and while the game selection at Gurgaon is much more expansive, note that only about 50% of them work, about 50% of the time.

Notice the socks.  Socks WITH flipflops are not mandatory, but apparently he thinks it looks cool?

There are few choice game that REALLY spit out the tickets (but it's a secret!!).  Finding out which games spit out the tickets are the badge you get to wear when you've spent a couple of hours enduring the headache that is Fun City.

Oh and another thing you should note.  If you've been to a typical arcade place that rewards aimless game playing with tickets, you are used to the machine that munch, munch, munches the tickets while counting the total.  Some places even have a "scale" that weighs the total number of tickets.

Nope.  Not at FunCity!  Here the poor guy has to hand count EACH ticket.  Yes sirree bob.  HAND COUNT!

All of this fun to then spend 30 minutes with crying children at the "Rewards Counter" because they don't have enough tickets to get some plastic piece of crap that will break before we even get home.  THAT is no different than Chuck E. Cheese for sure!

Thanks to Elizabeth for the passing along of her unused Fun City cards when they moved!  It's gotten us through several long summer afternoons!

(Tip :: if you get the unlimited play cards, they are good for unlimited play for ONE hour.  You can use the card on simultaneous games if you have more than one child, but note that you have to wait 60 seconds in between each swipe of the card)

Library Book Hack

Need an easy way to remind yourself of the library books you've checked out?

Take a picture of them ... and put it on your desktop!

I enjoy cleaning out my desktop every week or so, which naturally provides a reminder that those books need to go back to the library!

CrockPot Barbecued Chicken and Cornbread Casserole

CrockPot Barbecued Chicken and Cornbread Casserole

So Stephanie made this on day 235 of her "365 days of slow cooking" journey.

I'd dare say she was crazy, but she was determined ... boy was she determined!

I'm copying and pasting her here ... with a couple of things that we changed.  

If you're a fellow crock-potter, check her out!  If you've been wanting to TRY crock-potting, check her out!  

Her year of crock-potting is over, but the recipes are all still there!

The Ingredients:

--1 pound of cooked, or practically cooked chicken, cubed or shredded

--1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks (we did a regular potato)

--1 red onion, diced

--1 cup frozen or fresh corn

--1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (18 oz)

--1/4 cup hot water

cornbread topping:

use a mix and follow the directions on the box (minus the oil or butter), or if you are overseas and a box of cornbread isn't easy to find : mix together the following:

--3/4 cup corn meal

--1 1/4 cups of flour 

--1 cup milk

--1/4 cup sugar

--1 egg

--1 tsp baking powder

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart round crockpot (for best results). (or if you're like me, you just have one size.  Use that!)

Spray the inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. Cut up the chicken and potato, and add to the crock. Add the corn. Empty the contents of the barbecue sauce bottle, and then add 1/4 cup of hot water to the bottle, shake, and pour that out, too. Mix well with a spoon.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. You don't need to mix well, I just used a fork. Spread the topping on to the chicken mixture.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Ours cooked on low for exactly 6. If you are planning on being out of the house, cook for the shorter amount of time. You can always switch to high to brown the top when you get home.

Stephanie's Verdict.

We all really liked this a lot. I can't wait to make it again, or a different variation.

Our Verdict.

We did NOT care for the cornbread topping ... maybe in the future would use just half so that it creates a canopy for cooking?  It didn't add to the taste and was quite ... dense .. not like a cornbread should be somehow.  We'll likely leave it off completely next time.

Sweet Cornbread

Makes 9 to 12 servings

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup (8 ounces) light sour cream

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. Combine the egg, sour cream, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

3. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Tip: You can also bake in greased muffin tins for 15-18 minutes. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

This is THE best cornbread EVER.  Put some butter ... drizzle some honey?  Divine.  Heavenly.

Garbage ... in India!

Ok so bear with me now ... (and know that it won't hurt my feelings if you just say out loud "this woman is C-razy" and hit the little "x" button on the tab up there!)

I miss gardening. I miss it fiercely.

Most every time I'm out and about in the city of New Delhi, I look around to see if I can't luck out and find some amazing little store that carries soil. Anything that will allow me and the littles to grow a little something-something. 

So far I haven't found a single bag of soil.

Our mali is AMAZING at growing things and it's wonderful and all of that, but there is zero sense of accomplishment when HE does everything!

(See this post for an example of what it can be like having other people do everything for you!)

Anywhoo ... we recently embarked on a project to start some seeds a'growin' and I remembered that I had bookmarked this brilliant and SIMPLE post from Angie on how to start a compost pile.

I grew up with a compost pile.  I don't remember it being anything fancy, which is why I love this idea.  It's simple.  It's cheap.  I can get all of the "ingredients" here in Delhi, and what with the amazing heat here, it should be a quick process, right?

Angie's list of what you CAN compost ::

· Coffee ground and filters

· Fruits and vegetables

· Egg shells

· Grass clipping

· Leaves

· Nut shells

· Shredded newspapers

· Fireplace ashes

(no citrus or avocado peels as they take too long to decompose)

Seriously - this is one easy project.  Start with a trash can ... and read the rest of Angie's post for the rest of the directions ...

I'm dreaming of some amazing soil ... or at least one step up from the current stuff that our plants are stuck into (which very closely resembles cement).

Guess what WE are doing tomorrow?  Clue :: it involves a trash can!