Literal

At a recent paed appointment the paed got Shmoo to lie down on the bed so that she could do some basic checks. That went fine. The paed then helped Shmoo to sit up on the side of the bed again and told him it was okay for him to stand up again now. So he did. He stood up right where he was, on top of the bed LOL.

Then she wanted him to walk in a line, one foot in front of the other, heel to toe. She demonstrated for him but ran out of space and walked backwards and then forwards again. Of course, Shmoo copied her exactly, doing an odd, wobbly backwards and forwards dance, not understanding what the paed was trying to explain until I stepped in and reworded her instructions.

Lesson for working with ASD kids: be very specific!

Easy Gluten Free, Dairy Free Lasagne

I don't know why I didn't try this long ago, it's so simple and the kids love it (except for The Bean who is very picky and eats little more than plain meat, fruit and a few vegies).

I made a very basic meat sauce (with a few finely grated hidden vegies ;) ) and let it simmer while I made a dairy and gluten free white sauce (just from Nuttelex, GF flour, DF milk and veg stock). I then cut long slices of zucchini using a vegetable peeler and then layered everything (zucchini on the bottom, meat sauce and then the white sauce on top). In the oven until heated through and the zucchini is just cooked.

Shmoo and Loo were keen to try it when I reminded them that lasagne was Garfield's favourite dish, then they tasted it and couldn't stop raving about how yummy it was, and The OH and I thought it was really good too. Loo poked suspiciously at the zucchini at first and asked what the 'long stuff with green edges' was. I told him is was a special type of Italian pasta made from zucchini. Upon hearing the word 'pasta' he happily scoffed the lot down LOL. It wasn't exactly like a typical lasagne of course, but the lovely layered flavours and textures were there. I had wanted to try thinly sliced eggplant in place of the zucchini as well but eggplant is soooo expensive at this time of year.

Served with homemade chips and salad it made an awesome dinner. And a dessert of caramelised bananas with a spoonful of Cocopure raw chocolate coconut butter melting deliciously over the top finished off the meal perfectly :D

Performing Arts

Shmoo Bear

One Ecstatic ASD Kid...

Shmoo has been saving up to buy his first working vacuum for a while now (he already has our old, broken down, early model Dyson). He planned which brand and model he wanted to purchase; where he wanted to buy it from; how much money he needed to save; and how he could earn more money. He saved up his pocket money; the money he made from selling his homemade cards; and the generous 'birthday money' gifts from relatives. Finally he had enough to make the big purchase...

   

 Shmoo was a little over-awed and distracted by the range of vacuums around him. He figured out that he had enough money to buy either the planned for Ergorapido or the more expensive and more powerful Ergorapido Plus (which happened to be on sale, $50 off the RRP). He was drawn to the purple Ergorapido but finally settled on an Ergorapido Plus when remembered that he'd had his heart set on a brown vacuum which, today, was only available in the Plus range. The store also had a special offer going for purchases over $150, so Shmoo got to select a scratch & win card and he won a $10 gift card.

   

 Once his beloved vacuum was paid for, it was straight home to unpack, assemble and test it out. A little skittish about the noise but overjoyed at his purchase all the same.

And the leftover savings and $10 gift card? Shmoo's decided that they'll go towards the third vacuum in his collection: a Dyson handheld :D

Ah, books, wonderful books...

Chia Bread Rolls

 

It has been a long search for a simple, quick, tasty, gluten/dairy/soy free bread substitute that works well as toast and bread rolls. I think I've finally found it! I've been musing over this recipe for chia pan bread for a while now and finally made a small batch the other day. I followed the recipe fairly closely the first time (except I cooked them in the oven as there's no way I'm going to stand there cooking dozens of these things in a pan!). The dough turned out to be rather wet and I added just enough extra potato flour so that it wasn't so sticky but the final product ended up about the size and shape of profiteroles and very dense and moist on the inside. However, the outside was nice and crispy and the taste was great and got the thumbs up from all 4 males, with the kids begging me to make more. The all-'round approval is a rare thing so I was determined to tweak the recipe and make it work.

Today I made another batch, aiming for something like an English muffin in size and shape. I decided to omit the onion but added a little salt. I mixed the ground chia seeds, potato flour and baking powder in the food processor. I then gradually poured in enough of the lightly beaten eggs so that the mixture came together into a ball (probably worked out to be < 2 eggs for every 6 Tbsp of flour). I let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes while I cleared up and prepped the trays etc. I kneaded the dough on a lightly floured surface for another 5-10 minutes, adding a small amount more of the beaten eggs, until it felt like the dough had a good texture - reasonably firm, moist but not sticky. I then rolled the dough out to just under 1cm thick and used a container to cut out shapes. When I had to re-roll the dough I added a tiny bit more egg as the chia kept absorbing and dried out the dough a little. Into a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes or so, flipping halfway.

They turned out pretty good! Could probably still do with some minor tweaking but, overall, I'm happy with them. They were still a bit dense inside but we don't mind that (we've been doing very simple homemade breads for so long now that the air-filled, barely there slices of store-bought bread seem so insubstantial). Next time I might go back to free form shaping the rolls and see how they go. I have some in the fridge and we'll see what the kids think of them as a toast replacement tomorrow morning. The real test, however, will be the ones I have in the freezer. Cooking in bulk and freezing is something we do a lot of so hopefully they freeze well (or maybe that should be defrost well!).

Happiness is...

A quiet room and a patch of sunlight.

Fostering Creativity

I'm all for it, really I am.

And I do appreciate the 'mum'.

Just not all over the walls. In marker.

#-o

Homeschool Group - Imaginarium Science Centre

Yesterday, while I took Loo and Beanie to their ECIS sessions, The OH and Shmoo accompanied our local homeschool group to the Imaginarium to see their 'Body in Action' exhibition. Lots of interesting things to learn about the human body...

   

 Including a demonstration of the digestive process ^^

  

 And the group even got to make eyeballs out of marshmallows and Lifesavers ^^

Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger - Vacuum Cleaner

Glancing over the TV guide, I saw something that made me pause. The OH laughed at me as I enthusiastically exclaimed "Oh oh oh... look", tapping the page in front of me. Well, he stopped laughing when I told him which TV programme I'd gotten so excited over - Bigger, Better, Faster Stronger. A New Zealand show where they 'take everyday household items, look closely at the science involved in their inner workings, then set about re-modelling them to solve problems created by their inherent limitations'. And the theme of this week's episode? The vacuum cleaner.

The OH and I stared at each other, thinking the same thing. How many docos are there about vacuum cleaners? None that we've ever come across. We're recording it right now. We know a certain 7 year old who's going to go nuts over it :D