the good stuff

Recently, I was testing projects from a kid's book on being an "eco hero" for work.  The book had plenty of interesting 'green' facts, motivating reasons to change your lifestyle, and practical ways of doing things to be healthier and greener.  One of the projects had natural food dye as an ingredient in a play dough, so off I went to Whole Foods to purchase some.  Yikes!!!  3 little vials for $20!  What?!  Who would...!? Why are they...?!  The colors were very pretty, like easter eggs only maybe a little brighter.  Now, the idea of naturally colored playdough is really in line with my philosophy, so I'm not sure why I've never thought to make them before.  I don't want my darlings eating artificial colors - I mean, where do they go once they are in there?  I see nothing blue coming out the far end, right?  Turns out (after a little tinkering), making natural playdough can be simple and beautiful AND CHEAP!  Here is a recipe:

1 cup flour

1 cup brightly colored juice (blueberry, cherry, pomengranate, grape, etc.)

1/4 cup salt

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Put all ingredients in a pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the dough comes together.  This only takes a few minutes.  When cool enough to handle, squish and knead until smooth.  Voila.  Store in a container in the fridge.

A lovely yellow can be made by using the recipe above, replacing the juice with water, and adding a teaspoon of ground turmeric.

Update:  I just made a chocolatey brown using, you guessed it, cocoa.  Follow the turmeric version, but add 4 Tablespoons of cocoa in the turmeric's place.  It smells good, looks just like cookie dough for your young pretend bakers, but is too salty to eat!  A great addition to the above palette.

What's not to feel good about when you hand this over to those little lovelies?