The Creative Salad – Page 8 – Crafty fun and homeschool adventures in Sonoma County, California.

July: Now and Then

This month has been a whirlwind of art and dance camps, play dates, and afternoon swims. (We’ve been at our local pool four days a week for the past seven weeks. I feel exhausted just typing that and I’m not the one taking–and loving–swim lessons.)

Summer may be fun and exhausting all at once, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Before the month is over, I wanted to share a quick glimpse at Julys from the past few years:

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Wow, time passes quickly… our little girl isn’t so little any more and, oh, that darling little boy. They fill my heart with joy, that sweet family of mine.

Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream Recipe (dairy and gluten-free, sweetened with maple syrup)

I love indulging in homemade ice cream on a hot day.

Since I’m not eating dairy right now (because our breastfeeding baby doesn’t tolerate it in my diet), I decided to rehash our coconut milk ice cream recipe. It probably isn’t cheaper than buying it from the store, but we get to sweeten the ice cream with maple syrup instead of agave or processed sugar.

Plus, it’s really fun to make with kids.

Here’s how we make it:

Mix together 1/2 cup maple syrup, 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk, and 1-2 tablespoons vanilla extract.

Churn in your ice cream maker for 25-35 minutes or until the mixture thickens, then chill in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and allow it to soften for about 10 minutes before serving.

The hubby likes to add chocolate chips on top; alternatively you could add them to the ice cream maker towards the end and allow it to churn for a few minutes to fully incorporate the chips.

Mix-ins that I want to try in the future include chopped fresh mint from the garden with peppermint extract. My friend Tina even adds a little spirulina to get that minty green color. Love it!

What flavor ice cream are you enjoying this summer? Our local ice cream shop has a lavender ice cream that is to die for.

Peak in the Diaper Bag(s)

I am one of those people who love those “peaks in your pursue” type of posts.*

What can I say? I’m fascinated by what people carry around with them. We all have different things that we love or consider essential or, um, horde.

Which reminds me, I tossed all used tissues and dirty diapers before writing this post. (You’re welcome.)

We recently switched diaper bags. My sister originally bought us the Skip Hop Versa Diaper Bag, Black, but almost immediately the plastic zipper broke. What a bummer!

I contacted Skip Hop and they were awesome about it. They immediately issued me a gift card for the bags full retail price (which was more than she had originally paid since we bought it on sale) to use towards whatever bag I wanted on their site.

Enter the Grand Central.

It’s larger, yet less awkward and much easier to carry on my shoulder than the other bag.

And it holds so much more.

Before we could just barely fit this much into the Versa Diaper Bag:

Now I’m carting around this much stuff in the Grand Central with space for even more:

We easily fit:
a changing pad, change of clothes, sun hat, too many socks, fleece booties, wipes, cloth and disposable diapers, blanket, teething bracelet, sunscreen (for the girls, not the baby), mama’s purse (with wallet, cell phone, and keys), camera, gum (again, for the girls), deck of cards, stuffed animal lion and cat rattle.

Not pictured but usually in there:
Baby K’tan carrier, mama’s water bottle, silicone teether, baby jacket, wet bag.

(In writing this I realized we don’t even own typical diaper bag “essentials” like bottles or pacifiers.)

Do I really need all of the items pictured above? Probably not, but such is life. We can’t help but carry around extra baggage, whether we mean to or not.

* (Have you seen this series of diptychs? Love them.)