Paper Tree

What can you do with a toilet paper roll?  I rolled up a piece of brown construction paper and slid it into the roll.

At first it was a telescope.  Then the boy wanted to do some cutting... so I had him cut one end of the paper in varying lengths and gently pulling some strands down.  Then it became a tree.  But he wanted leaves too.  So I folded a piece of green construction paper and cut out some leaves (with some leaves connected on one side), and cut slits into the leaves.  Then we just attached them to the branches and voila.  Instant tree.  If you shake the tree, the leaves will fall off.  I guess you can glue them in, but I didn't want to mess around with glue.

It's a quick fun activity and if you have a few more toilet paper rolls and construction paper, you can make a forest of trees.  It's very versatile.  Add some red, orange and yellow leaves for autumn.  Cotton balls if you want snow.

If you're creative, you can probably transform this into a christmas tree.  I envision using green construction paper instead of brown and feather cutting the branches to make pine needles.  Then making and adding decorations.

Ready-made GF Cookie Dough

I was at the Save-On-Foods grocery store earlier this week and noticed that Pillsbury has gluten-free options.  Excitedly, I bought the Gluten-Free Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the Gluten-Free Pie and Pastry Dough.

The dough felt a bit on the greasy side, but it was quick to scoop out of the container and pop them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I baked them in the oven for 12 minutes at 350F and they came out soft in the centre and slightly crispy on the edges.  My son didn't wait for them to cool completely before devouring one.  It tastes ok to me (which means it's sufficiently sweet enough for my sweet tooth and the rice four taste isn't too strong) but because they're so quick and easy to make, I would probably buy them again if I get a cookie craving and didn't feel like making cookies from scratch.  I'll give the pie crust a try next week and maybe use it for little tarts or something.

November 24, 2014: Follow up about the pie/pastry dough.  I used the Pillsbury GF Pie/Pastry dough to make 3 5-inch chicken pot pies.  It was easy to roll out but did fall apart a little when I tried to transfer them into the pie pans.  I cooked the filling on the stove top (cream of mushroom soup, with celery, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, peas and chicken), baked the shell of the pie crust at 400F for about 10-12 minutes, added the filling and covered the pies with dough, then baked for another 15 minutes.  It tasted ok (or as my husband likes to say "interesting" - turned out better than he expected - so it was edible), but it did leave an undesirable after-taste in my mouth.  I think we probably won't be using this dough again any time soon.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures.  I was running behind schedule, started making dinner late... and the kids needed to eat.

Lego panda

I rummaged through my son's room to gather some black and white pieces.  Here's my first attempt at creating a Lego panda.  I don't really have much time to build (uninterrupted) as I'd like but hopefully I'll find some time to make revisions or build different versions later.

Here's a link to my Lego moc page: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/398362