jason + erica: January 2008

Spinach in What?

by Erica

Confession. I can spend hours looking for the perfect recipe. I used to search for any recipe that I thought would taste good. Now, I am trying to be more health conscious in my quest to find new meals to serve.

I received a cookbook from my sister, Karisa, called Deceptively Delicious. The idea behind it is getting your kids to eat their vegetables. Since kids (and members of the Linafelter family) are notorious for not eating their veggies, you puree them and hide them in the food. For those concerned mothers out there, you also put the vegetables on their plate, but not sweat it if they only eat a bite or two since they are getting the vitamins through the purees.

All this to say, that I have been trying different recipes out of the cookbook. You can get a few of the recipes online. Two that are especially yummy and good for you are the Italian Meatloaf (with carrot puree) and Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (with spinach puree). I made the Blueberry Oatmeals Bars last night and they were so good. You cannot taste the spinach puree at all! Plus, I get a kick out of telling people that there is spinach in their dessert:)

Teaching Again

by Erica

I was chatting with a friend and former co-worker last week. She presented me with the opportunity to teach a group of third graders once a week for an hour. I jumped on the opportunity right away!

I have been able to plan a four-week study on children's author Tomie dePaola. I haven't had to worry about meeting state standards or explaining how this supports my curriculum. I get to do activities with them that I couldn't do with a class of 30 students. They are going to eat pasta as I read aloud the book Stregna Nona, write 'someday stories' after reading The Art Lesson, and taste test different kinds of popcorn after we read The Popcorn Book. More ideas are popping into my head as I write. I am very excited!

Pieces of Christmas

by Erica

We are very fortunate to have the time and flexibility to celebrate Christmas with both of our families. Here are some pictures from the Christmas gatherings we attended.