Grammar Lessons ~ Rice Krispie Treats (Rice Crisp Cereal Bars)

I just use the Grammar Lessons from Montessori R and D manuals.  In fact, just this morning I pulled out the cute little pouches of grammar cards that dd hasn't touched to make them more visible.  My mistake for clearing an area and putting them in a little drawer in the shelf work cubby.  We'll see what she does with them today.  Anyway, if you don't have a manual and want to introduce the parts of speech, Zelda has posted some introductory presentations for those here.  I saw the noun, article, and adjective but she may have more.  Thanks, Zelda!

http://homeschoolescapade.blogspot.com/

Here is the (free) moteaco language album for 6-9:
http://www.moteaco.com/albums/language1.html

What's Cookin'?

I wanted to make the grotto for St. Bernadette's feast day but wanted to give it a healthy twist. I found Perky's Crunchy Rice cereal to take the place of Rice Krispies. Why? Well, here are the ingredients for Rice Krispies from the Kellog's website (they already had in all caps):

RICE, SUGAR, SALT, MALT FLAVORING, IRON, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), NIACINAMIDE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D [and BHT is added to packaging to preserve freshness]

Here are the ingredients for the Enjoy Life product (Perky's Crunchy Rice Cereal)(they had the all caps):
Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Honey, Salt
NO TRANS FAT, NO ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS, KOSHER PAREVE, GLUTEN-FREE, CASEIN-FREE

Kellog's added all those vitamins to pump it up to 25% of daily  requirements (and 50% for iron) but I'm not using this for sustenance; I'm using it for junk food.  I'm okay that Enjoy Life did NOT add them in and that it naturally has 10% thiamine; 15% niacin; 4% iron; 6% zinc; 2% riboflavin; 10% B6; and 10% magnesium; and 6% pantothenic acid.

Next challenge: marshmallows. I found this recipe to try except I'll have to substitute the corn syrup (with honey??) or maybe even try leaving it out:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/106/Marshmallows

Here is another recipe I found googling.  In it she mentions using homemade ones for the bar treats so maybe my plan will work after all (I would nix any corn syrup/cornstarch).  If I could get dh to like homemade then we could get the Jet-Puffed mallows out of the cupboard:
http://biscuitpusher.blogspot.com/2008/10/rice-krispy-treats-with-homemade.html

So, to compare, here are the ingredients of dh's marshmallows in the cupboard plus who knows how they were manufactured:
Corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, dextrose, water, gelatin, artificial flavor, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (whipping aid), artificial color (blue 1).

Homemade marshmallow ingredients:  water, gelatin, sugar, salt, vanilla (plus corn syrup if you include that).  Wow.  So it's basically whipped gelatin and sugar.

As it turns out, I only have 2 packs of gelatin left over from the jello the other day since I had added an extra packet.  I'll try a 1/2 batch of marshmallows today (with no corn syrup) and see if it works.  That way they'll be ready for tomorrow's grotto.

Anyone else see the irony that yesterday I posted about making homemade breakfast cereal (and that I *never* buy boxed cereal) and today I'm using store bought for a feast day treat???