A Little Astronomy, Delicious Minestrone Soup with Swiss Chard, and How to Make Fun Cheap Toys

The equinox is here which means Spring is too! If you're lucky enough to have clear skies in the evening you should take the kids outside to do some planet gazing. Venus and Jupiter are still amazingly close together and can be seen brilliantly bright with the naked eye. It is a very impressive sight, and a good tidbit of wonder and science for the kids.

For other cool sky happenings in 2012, including Venus crossing in front of the sun on June 5, check out this article by Scientific American.

Recipe:

Minestrone Soup with Kidney Beans and Swiss Chard

For any remaining cold days and nights this healthy soup will hit the spot! Packed with so many great vegetables, this truly is a power meal and comfort food all wrapped up into one. If you're more partial to pasta in your minestrone soup, omit the beans and add some rotini instead, or keep in the protein and have both.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red or white onion
2 organic carrots, peeled
2 organic celery stalks
1 fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves
1 lb. Swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves coarsely chopped
1 organic potato, peeled and chopped
1 large can (14 1/2-ounce) diced tomatoes or about 4 med. diced tomatoes
1-2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 cups of kidney beans
4-5 cups broth or water + bullion
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-low heat. Put the onion, carrots, celery, fennel, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until everything is diced. Add these to the heated oil, and saute until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in Swiss chard and potato; saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, rosemary, and enough broth to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, blend 3/4 cup of the beans with 1/4 cup of the remaining broth in a processor until almost smooth. Add the pureed bean mixture, remaining broth to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until the potato pieces are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the whole beans and parsley. Simmer until the beans are heated through and the soup is thick, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Project:

Create Inexpensive Toys Using 1 Key Ingredient: Chenille Pipe Cleaners

The beauty of pipe cleaners is their colors, their fur, their pliability, and their cost: just pennies a piece. A pipe cleaner toy or art project can be done anywhere and with little time or preparation, therefore it can become easy meal time entertainment, or a time filler when you and the kid(s) get bored. Other benefits of pipe cleaners is that they are super cheap (99 cents for a good sized bag) and nice and small, so they are easy to store when you aren't using them. You don't even need to be a good artist to make cute things. So start bending.

What You Will Need:
a bag of assorted colored pipe cleaners

What You May Need:
goggly eyes
o shaped cereal
egg cartons
cotton

What You Can Make:
letters
shapes
butterfly on a stick
people
glasses
sheep
animals with egg cartons
bracelets with cereal

P.S. Or let your imagination be your guide.


"Astronomy's much more fun when you're not an astronomer." -Brian May