How To Survive TSA for the Holidays
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- Don’t pack anything they won’t let you bring on board.
- Don’t carry wrapped presents. They may unwrap them, and even if not, your wrapping will look fresher if you do it when you arrive at your destination. (Or “wrap” them in an eco-friendly, sewn bag!)
- Carry TSA-friendly kid snacks. One staffer actually had me open every SEALED squeeze pouch of applesauce and eat a little. You never know what they’re going ask you.
- Pack an empty water bottle to fill up from the water fountains on the other side.
- Empty your pockets. Take off your shoes. Take off your belt and sunglasses. Hold your ID/passport and ticket in your hand. Get these things ready before you get to the conveyor.
- If there’s a family line and you have kids, pick that lane. Both TSA and other passengers will be thanking you under their breath.
- Carry your child through the metal detector and opt out of the AIT scanners. Know your rights about pat-downs.
- Load your items on the conveyor in this order: shoes in bin, belts/sweaters/extra items in next bin, laptop in next bin, carry-on bag. If they want to rescan your bag, this won’t hold you up on getting dressed on the other side.
- Double, triple, quadruple -check you have everything with you before you leave the checkpoint. On the plane is too late to realized you’ve left behind a loved toy or your cellphone.
Purple Oatmeal
A fast, healthy and fun treat for those purple-loving little ones. I love oatmeal for our breakfasts because it’s gluten-free, a good source of low residue fiber, and can be sweetened with everything from honey and maple syrup to simple fresh fruit. I prefer rolled oats for their speed of cooking, but the patient spouse-unit always goes for the steel-cut oats. Whichever one, this is a toddler and baby favorite for us. Read the rest of this entry »
Knit or Sew Your Own Bags
Happy December, everyone!!
I recently needed a few more toy bags to contain the toy clutter madness. (There is a special place reserved in Hades for inventors of toys for small children with more than 20 pieces. Other than Legos.) A bit of searching turned up dozens of tutorials, but here are my favorite.
Sewing bags is fast and easy. I’ve used everything from old diaper flats (toddler adventure bags) to fancy boutique store fabric (knitting project bags).
Knitting a bag is a bit more work, but worth the effort. My recent favorite is a knitted and felted bag that fits our glasslock containers, perfect for a toddler lunch since the wool insulates and protects the glass from bumps.
Related:
- Sewing: A Tote from 2 Rice Bags (deeplyunfashionable.wordpress.com)
The 20-minute No-Roll Quiche Crust
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Seriously, this was the longest part of the process since my old oven took so long to heat up. (Much thanks to the spouse unit for our new Super Duper Oven-o-Matic!)
- 1.5 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 tsp salt (or garlic salt, seasoning salt, etc.)
- 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
- ground dried herbs (optional)
Mix the above ingredients in your quiche or pie dish with a fork until well combined.
Use your fingers and press into the bottom of the dish and up the sides. Aim for a 1/4-inch thickness, but don’t worry about it being perfect. Think “rustic”. 
Next, you have two options to keep the crust from bubbling up with air pockets.
1. Butter or oil a piece of foil and lightly lay butter-side down inside crust. Pour in a cup or two of rice. (The toasted rice can be reused like this or cooked as usual, where beans get a funny taste.)
OR
2. Prick all around the sides and bottom of crust with a fork. Swing by the oven every few minutes while it’s baking and prick any upstart bubbles that appear.
As you can guess, I tend towards the second technique most of the time. Not only is it faster, but I find the use of foil here wasteful. (If you have a good eco suggestion for me on what I could replace the foil with, please let me know in the comments! I love cooking with the toasted rice this makes.)
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. All done!
This is a perfect crust for quiche. I toss in my fillings and eggs, drop the oven temperature back down to 350, and stick the dish back in for another 30 minutes.
Really, try making this crust. If you’re new to making crusts, you’ll be proud of making your own on weeknights and gather confidence for rolling out a pie crust.
Related articles
- Apple and Cheese Quiche (savorysaltysweet.com)
- Ham and Asparagus Quiche (nancycreative.wordpress.com)
- Vegan Mushroom-Onion Quiche (epicureanvegan.com)
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I love making these, even if I sometimes find them a lot of work to eat. Pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, are super healthy for you, though – somewhere in the top 25 healthiest foods to eat. So I keep on making them and eating them. Read the rest of this entry »
