food, Food Review, kids

Roseville Farmers Market

Hi y’all!

Today I went to the farmer’s market with the kids. It’s a cute little farmers market in Roseville and they do it in the Whole Foods parking lot. I haven’t been to this particular one in probably 8 years but not much has changed.

The vendor that sells the stuffed Paratha and Chutney is still there! And it’s as good as I remember. A large piece of spinach paratha was $6 and an 8 oz container of cilantro chutney was also $6. I find this very reasonable as it is very delicious! They sell different kinds of paratha, samosas, naan and different chutneys.

The first thing that the kids saw was the kettle corn so of course we had to buy a small bag of that. It’s a decent sized bag probably about 20 oz. It’s a perfect balance of sweet and salty and was $6.

Next up we saw olives that looks pretty good, and were in a salt water brine but a little too pricey for me, one jar of Kalamata olives was $12.

The kids were thirsty at this point but they left their bottled waters in the car. If you do go to a farmers market I highly recommend you bring your own drink not many of them served water or have drinks for kids. Although next up we did see a boba tea vendor who was also selling pork buns potstickers and other Asian food items. I purchased a boba milk tea for me, the kids tried a sip but did not care for it. I thought it was very well made and was only $4, very reasonable.

The pork bun was not a BBQ pork bun which is more of a traditional dim sum, and what I was expecting. The steamed white bun was tasty however inside was a pork filling that was very similar to a potsticker filling. Not what I was expecting although it was tasty. I probably would not buy it again because my idea of a pork bun would be the traditional Chinese cha siu bao. It was also overpriced! It was $3! Normally for Chinese dim sum, it’s about $3 or $4 for 3 buns.

Next up were the cookies. I was very surprised to see that the package said they were made in a home kitchen. When I researched farmers markets before they had told me everything food- consumable had to be prepared in a commercial kitchen. I guess they made some changes in 8 years.

The cookies were from Foresthill Cookie Company, and they were $2.50 each or there was some deal if you bought about six cookies. Considering they were so big, a very large cookie I only wanted to buy two for my kids. My kids sampled them and my son decided on the birthday cake cookie. My daughter wanted the Oreo, chocolate cookie which was called the Oreo dirt clod cookie LOL. It also looked similar to that. These cookies tasted like pure sugar. Not much flavor, in fact it just tasted like a big sugar cookie to me. If I close my eyes and take a bite of each they taste pretty much the same. The owner was friendly and my kids were happy to get a cookie.

Next up where the fruits and vegetables. I usually like to buy something different or unusual at a farmers market. And the next and that I went to had figs and immediately I thought the recent Instagram Picture by Jennifer Garner where she was roasting figs with a balsamic glaze and goat cheese. It looked amazing however I’m not a big fan of anything goat related. However I am a fan of flatbreads so I am seeing a fig, caramelized onion and feta cheese flatbread in my future for dinner tonight. I saw a recipe on Pinterest so if I do make that I will come back to this and Link it for you. I have some naan in my freezer but I’m going to probably make just a simple traditional flatbread.

The ladies that were selling the figs also had some yummy looking cherries. They told me if I purchased two containers I could get the third for $2. Seemed like a good deal. My son picked out the red traditional cherries oh, and I got the figs and cucumbers. About eight mini cucumbers, half of which were a little too bendy for me and did not seem crisp. However I think if I use them right away in the next couple of days, maybe do a cucumber salad, I think they will be okay.

I would have purchased more but at this point I was at almost $50 and surprised that I spent so much money.

Lastly I picked up two small artichokes for $1.50 each. A little high-priced but I think a very nice size for me and the kids. I think I will cut them in half, use a little olive oil, salt and pepper and grill them.

I will post some pictures of my creations and links to the recipes when I’m done. I hope you return to check out what I make with our farmers market finds!

Have a great day!

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Crafting, kids, Mom Life

Forky Kids Craft – Toy Story 4 “Forky” Toy

Hello Again Ya’ll! Happy Friday! Am I Southern? No, but I just love saying Ya’ll. It sounds so much better than “you guys”. 😉

So the other day my kids got a spork in their school lunch and didn’t use it. So, immediately I thought, oh my gosh, we could make Forky! Ok, most of you moms are like, “Wow! She’s so crafty!” and the rest of you are probably like “What the heck is a “Forky”? or what the heck is a spork? haha 🙂 Well, a spork is a cross between a fork and a spoon. It’s to be used for either purpose and to save on having several utensils.  A “Forky” is one of the new characters in Toy Story 4 if you didn’t know. Don’t worry, no spoilers here. Just some good, clean crafting! Funny thing is they have a kit you can buy to make your own “Forky”. I saw it on a You Tube video and then saw it online at Michael’s which is around $14, but I again was able to find what I needed in our craft tote to make these little guys for free!20190614_2306188889450931147566309.jpg

So let’s get started…here is what you will need:

1 spork
Red, white and blue clay or you can use wax sticks (and instead of clay, you could use salt dough!)
2 googly eyes (small and an extra small one)
1 red pipe cleaner
1 large Popsicle stick

  1. Take your clay and roll it into the shapes for the eyebrow (unibrow) haha and the mouth. The other style of mouth can be a circle, but my kids preferred a smile. If you don’t have the clay, you can use salt dough and color it with food coloring.
  2. Next glue those 2 on with strong adhesive. I used the Tombow glue in the green/white bottle but the E6000 craft glue would work great.
  3. Glue on the 2 eyes.
  4. Next take the red pipe cleaner and bend the ends back and forth to make 3 fingers on each side. Then wrap it around the spork body a couple of times so it is secure.
  5. Then cut the Popsicle stick (tongue depressor) in half, trim as necessary. Mine were 2″ long each.
  6. Take the white clay/dough and make a little volcano shape and stick the spork in it.
  7. Stick the Popsicle sticks to the clay, glue if desired.
  8. If you want, draw on a rainbow just like Bonnie had on her Forky. You can also color the cheeks red then wipe to show a little pink. We did not do that step.

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That’s it! Your kids will have their very own “Forky” and LOVE it!!! Mine did!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and pictures! Let me know in the comments below if you do!

Happy Crafting!

Charlene

Crafting, kids, Mom Life, Parenting

Clothespin Alligator Craft

Hi Ya’ll!

One thing I’m doing this summer to keep the kiddos busy is having a craft day!…Or two or three or four 😉 You may have heard of “Make it Monday” or “Try it Tuesday”? Well that’s what we do on those days. Mondays we make something and Tuesdays we try something. I have a whole list of projects and fun things to do with my 5 and 7 year old. Wow. Are they really that old?? Gone are the days of finger painting and water table fun. Now it is on to bigger and messier things like making slime, bath bombs, painting rocks, and making cool crafts.So I saw this cute alligator clothespin craft and thought, I can make that! I even had all the materials on hand in our craft bucket. So read on to see what you need to make this cute little guy! And please come back soon to see what else I’m “cookin up” this summer to keep my kids busy! (and LESS screen time!!!)

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You will need:1 green pipe cleaner
1 clothespin
1 strip of green construction paper (1/2″ x 5″)
2 small googly eyes
1/4 tsp. green craft paint
Hot glue or a strong adhesive like E6000
black fine tip pen (Sharpie is best)
Newspaper, scrap paper or a craft mat to use under painting surfaceStep 1 – Lay down the newspaper or scrap paper to cover your surface where you are crafting.
Step 2 – Paint the clothespin with the green craft paint and let dry. Paint a thin coat so it dries quickly. It should only take about 10 minutes to dry.
Step 3 – Cut 1 piece of pipe cleaner to about 3 inches and the other to 5 inches. Bend the ends around to look like a curved foot. If this is too big for you, trim the feet to the desired length. I started at this length and trimmed them down. Take the hot glue or strong adhesive and put 2 dabs on the bottom of the clothespin, 1 on the back of it and 1 in the middle. Quickly stick on the 2 pipe cleaner pieces.
Step 4 – Use a black fine tip pen to make 2 dots at the front of the clothespin for the nose.
Step 5 – Use a dab of glue about 1/2″ above the 2 dots and stick on the googly eyes. If using the hot glue wait a few seconds for the glue to cool since the eyes will melt a little when sticking to the hot glue.
Step 6 – Take the construction paper strip and fold it accordion fold back and forth or even square folds.
Step 7 – Glue the construction paper right above the eyes to the back of the clothespin and cut off the excess.Done! There you have an adorable alligator clothespin. You can use it as a chip clip or cut up an old magnet and glue a strip to the back so you can use it on the fridge to hang up important artwork! 😉

Happy Crafting!

Charlene