Ultra Low Carb Egg Muffins/ Mini Crustless Quiche

These were inspired by Caveman Keto.

Ultra Low Carb Egg Muffins/ Mini Crustless Quiche

9 eggs
2 T heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 bell pepper, cut small
1/2 cup cut celery
1/2 lb. bacon

Preheat oven to 350.  Put a piece of bacon into each compartment of a silicon muffin tray (12).  Split the veggies and half the cheese between them.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream.  Pour into the muffin compartments.  Spread the cheese over the tops.

Bake for 30 minutes.

 

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Pill Bug Habitat in a Mason Jar

We have killed a few pill bugs by keeping them in a Mason Jar with some dead leaves and fresh leaves.  They lived for a few days, but were all bottoms-up at two days.

This time, they are still alive at Day 3.

I looked on the Magical Internet for how to keep them alive and read that they need wet sand, a rock that's not smooth, a twig, some leaves, and food-- either fresh leaves or some fruit.

Wish us luck at keeping the little bug alive for longer!

 

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Kids' Book Review: The Velvet Kitten

  When my friend told me she was writing a kids' book, I was excited for her.  I am even more excited now that it is out and I have a copy.

The Velvet Kitten by Shar D'Mello Bhatia is a sweet story of a little dog who wanders off at the beach, only to be found standing guard over a tiny abandoned baby kitten.  The story goes on to them bringing the kitten to the vet and a foster mother, then having the cat as part of the family-- with the cat and the dog as best buddies, of course.

There are a lot of words in this book.  I sat down to read it to my 4.5 and 2-year old and started paraphrasing because it is so wordy.  My little son loved the photos, and the starfish drawings on the pages.  My older son begged me to read it again, this time with all the words.  I obliged, and he sat and listened to every word, even the ones describing the day at the beach and the personality of the kitten in great detail- dare I even say hyperbole.  After reading it, I asked what he thought, and he said he liked it, and would I read it again.

The author, local mom Shar D'Mello Bhatia, lives in Walnut Creek.  She is from Bombay, India, and teaches early parenting workshops.  She is donating the proceeds from the book to an animal shelter in Clayton. Pin It

Starfish and Sand Dollars

After seeing starfish at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco (here), there has been some fascination with them and sand dollars~ picked up on the beach.

We recently visited again and the kids touched the starfish this time.



Here is an interior display they have:

We have had to get some books about starfish from the library, and learned some interesting tidbits (like they can pry open clams to eat them, and if a leg falls off, it grows back, plus the leg that fell off will grow a whole new starfish).

In addition, sand dollars have been interesting.  They are less intriguing in the tank at the aquarium (below) than when you play with the white bleached-out ones you find on the beach.

 

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Ladybugs at the Beach!?!

The ladybugs are out in force in our garden.  Every time we see them, we have to let them crawl up our hands, then fly away.

Much to our surprise, we went to Ocean Beach in San Francisco last week and what did we find but three ladybugs! In the sand!



Those, and a river to wade in...

 

 

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Construction Dress-Up for Blocks

My almost 2-year old has been dressing up much sooner than his brother ever did.  Maybe that's part of being a little brother.

 

There was one day, a few months ago, that his older brother got all dressed up in this outfit and set about constructing a zoo out of the wooden blocks.

Since then, the outfit has been fair game.  Whenever we ask if he wants to play with the blocks, on goes the construction worker hat and vest.

 

 

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Honeysuckle

He loves to take the yellow honeysuckle off the vine and suck the sweet center out.

 

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Garlic Stuffed Olives

 

These are green olives stuffed with garlic.  Whenever my little one, almost 2 years old, sees them, he goes crazy asking for them.  Then he pulls the garlic out and eats just that.  Very occasionally, he will also eat the outside, but the real treat is the garlic.

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Strawberry Basket Art

 

This is a strawberry basket, cut into shapes and glued onto paper.  

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Fixing the Pool Vacuum Bag - Polaris

The pool cleaner (like this) is now two years old, and the velcro on the vacuum bag has stopped working.

Instead of fixing it, I added snaps.  I used KAM Snaps which I had for making cloth diapers.  I am hoping it will last at least two more years, if not longer!

Open, with four snaps on each side.

Here it is closed.

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