April 20th brought a day of sunshine- finally! Off we went to the much anticipated “Farm Baby’s” exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo.
This zoo isn’t as great as Brookfield Zoo https://www.brookfieldzoo.org/(which I grew-up living only 5 minutes from but it does have some nice ‘natural’ exhibits.
One of our favorite things to do while at the zoo during “Farm Baby” time is feed the goats.
Grilled Pizza is where it’s at! On of our favorite menu nights is BYOP (Build Your Own Pizza). Sometimes people stare blankly at me when I tell them this. I think once you try pizza on the grill, there is no turning back! The dry heat makes it a perfect condition to cook in. You don’t get all the grease that delivery pizza has. I’ve made my pizza crust from store bought and homemade. Each to their own, ability and more importantly- time factor.
We had our good friend’s the D’s over for a luncheon grill. It was fun to see the different combinations and the kids joining in. You can cook them directly on the grill- or as we prefer (easier clean up), we use a base. Pictured are two pizzas that our 2 year olds made.
The Boys are Vegetarian, and I only eat chicken and turkey so we use lots of veggies. Try grilling your veggies first and then adding them onto the pizza as a topping. Think outside the box when you think of toppings and sauce. Who said pizza has to consist of red sauce and cheese? Why not a spicy black bean pizza? I am looking forward to using toppings from my very own garden!
Crust Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2/3 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Preparation:Combine water, oil, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes or until it bubbles. Mix flours and salt together thoroughly in a food processor or mixer. Add water mixture while blending. Let mix for 2 minutes. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Place in a large oiled bowl and let stand in a warm place for 2-3 hours. It should double in size. Once the dough has raised, lightly flour two cooking sheets. On a floured surface roll out 1/4 of the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Place on cooking sheet. Repeat process until you have four rounds. Place one pizza on a clean, oiled and preheated grill. Grill pizza crusts for about 1 minute on until the bottom is brown. With tongs, gently flip it over and grill for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from grill and repeat with remaining pizzas. Let cool. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and return to a preheated grill for about 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. It’s best to grill one pizza at a time.
Long before his first shuffle, hop, toe- Nishad danced his way into my heart. While I was pregnant with him, I would glide across the living room with my hands wrapped around my tummy doing a duet with him. For the first month of his life, he only heard our voices, and classical music. The combination of having dancing in his blood and an early exposure to classical music (pre-natal) is why I think he is so musical.
I enrolled him in a dance class for two sessions. He wasn’t as excited about it as he was dancing in the basement with Mom- little does he know Mom’s connection to dance.
I had to laugh though, as he knew more than he let on while in class… I have videos that would have made his teachers head spin. haha… Now, that is the bias, proud Mamma in me! 🙂
April 4th. A Day at Como Zoo and Conservatory in Saint Paul. The the flowers are blooming despite the conditions outside. It started to rain mid-way through the zoo, so we ‘escaped’ in the conservatory…along with everyone else from the zoo! Como Zoo and Conservatory remind me of a downsized Gateway Park in San Francisco. The zoo and conservatory are free- though donations are accepted and appreciated. At fist I was worried to let Nishad freely walk among all the beautiful flowers- I was worried what would happen if he picked a flower… Then I quickly came to the realization that I’m sure that he wouldn’t be the first child to do so if he did. Part of learning is exploring… So, I let him explore. He leaned over and smelled many flowers. Even gently touched a few- he didn’t pick even one petal.
We were also there in time to view the Corpse Flower. This rare tropical plant is native to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Due to over-harvesting and habitat loss the corpse flower is vulnerable to extinction. When it blooms it smells like rotting flesh for two days. Lovely, eh? I can see why over-harvesting was a problem!