This cornbread is one of the signature dishes from Angelica Kitchen in NYC and a favorite with the kids.  Quite different from regular cornbread it is a fiber-filled whole grain loaf that keeps the kids well fed and happy for hours and a great way to use left over brown rice.




Ingredients:
3 cups cooked short grain brown rice
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups cornmeal
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
3 cups apple juice
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds




Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked rice, rolled oats, cornmeal, sea salt, apple juice, and coconut oil.  Mix well using a wooden spoon.





Lightly oil a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds (this helps prevent the bread from sticking to the pan and adds a delicious toasty sesame flavor).  Fill the pan with batter, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

'The malleable properties of play dough make it fun for investigation and exploration as well as secretly building up strength in all the tiny hand muscles and tendons, making them ready for pencil and scissor control.'
theimaginationtree.com

I adapted these cookies from Christina Pirellos awesome cookbook 'Cooking the Whole Foods Way'.  They are light and chewy, more like a scone... a delightful snack on a summer day.





Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract



Combine flour, oats, and salt in a large bowl.  Mix in raisins.  Whisk together almond milk, rice syrup, and vanilla.  








Fold all ingredients together.










Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper, leaving about 1 inch between cookies.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes at 375F until cookies are golden and still a little soft.  Do not overbake or cookies will be tough.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 cups carrots, grated
1/2 granny smith apple, chopped

Step 1
Put dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Add almond milk, coconut oil and honey. Mix well.

Step 2
Fold in carrots and apples.

Step 3
Add eggs and mix well.

Step 4
Grease muffin pan with coconut oil.

Step 5
Get all your friends to help you spoon the mix into the muffin pan!
Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes on wire rack. 

Enjoy your muffins!

Ingredients:
one bunch organic curly kale
4 TBS olive oil
2 TBS sprouted chia powder
several pinches celtic sea salt

Step 1 
Wash Kale

Step 2
Rip up kale in bite size pieces

Step 3
Place kale in salad spinner

Step 4
Everyone gets a turn to spin the kale!

Step 5
If kale is still moist, lay it out on a cloth to dry some more

Step 6
Add olive oil, sea salt, and sprouted chia powder




Don't forget an extra pinch of salt!

Step 7
Gently massage ingredients into kale





Step 8
Spread kale out evenly on a baking sheet and bake in an oven at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes

STEP 9
At lunch we go over the process of how we made our meal together and thank everyone for helping. We discussed how kale is rich in calcium and great for our growing bones.  Kale also helps keep us cool and energized in the Summer. 


Everyone says "more please!"

Composting
Mr. Ben and the kids tended the compost pile and fed our friend the rhino beetle 'Cheya' with our lunch scraps.

Art Class

When children 'play' with paint they learn:

*to develop their imagination and creativity
*hand-eye coordination
*to distinguish and purposely create shapes
*to express feelings and ideas
*that their ideas have value
*relationships of space and size (math)
*concepts of symmetry balance and design (math)
*how colors mix to make new colors (science)

A beautiful meal
The kids help prepare a blanched greens salad and butterfly cucumbers.  They love their blanched veggies with a simple drizzle of organic flax oil and ume plum vinegar.