Hearts and Chocolate

Happy Monday!! Today was a beautiful but super cold day today!  The girls and I visited one of our favorite places-- the Natick Community Organic Farm.  We haven't been out there since the snow really began to accumulate and we were amazed at just how different our little farm looked in the deep winter.  We visited with our animal friends and were amazed to see my favorite-- Mama Pig-- wading through the snow while we shivered in full winter garb.  I guess that layer of fat really does make a difference.  We picked up free range eggs freshly  laid by our chicken friends for the egg eaters of the family and headed home for crafts and lunch.

Later, the girls did some watercolor painting for a craft project I had planned:

After the paintings were finished, I cut them into heart shapes.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that I love a good bunting.  I think I have made one for every season at this point, but we didn't yet have a Valentine's bunting...until today!

This turned out much prettier than it looks in the picture (darn flash).  I'll have to take another tomorrow.  Anyway, this is a great way to use kids artwork that you can't bear the throw away.  Cut heart shapes out of the paintings, and sew them to a ribbon or tape them to a string and voila!  So colorful and pretty.

Afterward, we decided to try a recipe that I saw online here .  The recipe is for raw vegan doughnut holes and it was a big hit with the kids!  You just mix a cup of ground flax, three tablespoons of Maple syrup or agave, and two tablespoons of cocoa powder.  Add a little coconut oil if it isn't moist enough.  Mix it all together and it is surprisingly delicious, besides being super healthy.  Sure, we rolled ours in a  little powdered sugar, but still!  This is going to be a go-to snack for the kids when they are begging for something sweet.

Yum!