curiosity day

We had planned a curiosity day with little friends on Sept. 16th (H. A. Rey's birthday, the author of the Curious George books). But, thanks to a wonderful power outage at OSSM we had to cancel. I didn't get to reschedule, but thought I would share some of the stuff I had planned. Maybe next year!

*Curious George books
*making Curious George masks
*Curious George matching game
*Barrel of monkeys (if you have the yellow barrel with the red monkeys it goes great with this theme!)
*Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread
-I did end up making this once the power came back on. It got good reviews, but they could have just been being nice. Next time I think I'd like to add more pepperoni and cheese.
*Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Probably my favorite cookie now. I put in 2 cups of chocolate chips though.
*Jack Johnson tunes
*Plus red and yellow paper goods, monkey food, like bananas and oranges, and some Curious George toys

media literacy note: Please talk to your children about the fact that monkeys have tails. If your curious why George doesn't have one apparently it was a sign of the times (check out this article for more info). Most importantly, don't be those people at the zoo who embarrass themselves by calling the chimps or other apes monkeys. Here's a song I used in my classroom to teach students the difference so if you get confused just sing it to yourself:

Ape or monkey?
Ape or monkey?
Which is which?
Which is which?
Monkeys have a tail, monkeys have a tail,
Apes do not! Apes do not!
(sing to the tune of Frere Jacques)

black bean soup

This is what we like to eat on these cold days! It meets my requirements for food...yummy, simple, and Elle will eat it!

Black Bean Soup
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can vegetable broth
1 cup salsa (we use Mild Pace Picante)
1 tsp dried cumin

Blend 1 cup of black beans, vegetable broth, salsa, and cumin. Pour into saucepan and add rest of black beans. Cook until heated thoroughly. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

nana's banana bread

Elle and I have gotten into making banana bread with our ripe bananas. Nobody will touch them once they start to ripen and it's hard to eat them fast enough when we eat so meals in the cafeteria. So I found a really good banana bread recipe and thought I'd share. It's yummy and simple!

Nana's Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in butter, eggs, and bananas. Pour into two greased bread pans and bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes.