Eyewitness DVDs

Through the years I had the privilege to present a wide variety of Eyewitness DVDs on this blog. The Eyewitness DVDs would be great in this time of social distancing to allow your kids to learn on specific subjects like plant, insect, ocean, birds and so on.

I have two other ones that I would like to present this morning. 

EYEWITNESS DVD INSECT

Like it or not during our spring, summer and fall seasons (at least in Canada anyways) we are surrounded but a wide range of insects.   Discover a world of creatures that are industrious, sociable, and environmentally useful.   Unfortunately for some of them, we do not have the patience to have them around us buzzing constantly in our ears.

But there is much to learn on these creatures.  This DVD will allow you to explore the wonders of the insect world through macro photography and 3-D graphics.  You will observe a queen wasp building her nest, a caterpillar devouring a leaf, a damselfly nympho emerging as an adult and so much more.

EYEWITNESS DVD WEATHER

Weather is something we experience day after day in life. Sunshine. Rain. Snow. These are only a sample of what weather is.   Sometimes it can be deadly like lighting, extreme winds, hail... 

This DVD takes you on a tour of Earth's turbulent atmosphere and reveals the forces that make our day a nice one or a disastrous one. 

Conclusion

Both of these DVD can make a wonderful unit study for your kids when learning from home - whether you are a veteran homeschooler or a new one (voluntarily or not due to Covid-19).

Each DVD are about 25 minutes in length and are packed with information that is interesting and educative at the same time. 

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me these DVD for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Everything You Need to Ace…

Back in August last year, I had the opportunity to review three titles in the series Everything You Need to Ace.   I had received the English Language Arts, the World History and the Science titles.

My husband was so impressed with these books that he asked if there were other titles in the series.  “Yes – Math and American History.” , I answered.  “Try to get them as well.”

It is pretty rare that my husband will take the time to check out some books I receive to review so for him to suggest that I get the other two titles is pretty meaningful.

The BIG FAT NOTEBOOK™ series is built on a simple and irresistible conceit—borrowing the notes from the smartest kid in class.  Inside each of the title you will find every subject’s key concepts summarize in small chunks of information so that you can digest that your own rhythm.   And to make things a bit easier on everyone the critical ideas are highlighted in neon colors, the definitions are explained, doodles illustrates the tricky concepts and mnemonics helps to memorize.  Finally you will also find some quizzes at the end of each chapters to help you cement the information in your brain.

Math

Everything You Need to Ace Math . . . covers everything to get a student over any math hump: fractions, decimals, and how to multiply and divide them; ratios, proportions, and percentages; geometry; statistics and probability; expressions and equations; and the coordinate plane and functions.

The math book has been a great reference for us – especially in the pre-algebra lessons when my son forgets how to do a calculation like the Pythagorean theorem.

American History

Everything You Need to Ace American History . . . covers Native Americans to the war in Iraq. There are units on Colonial America; the Revolutionary War and the founding of a new nation; Jefferson and the expansion west; the Civil War and Reconstruction; and all of the notable events of the 20th century—World Wars, the Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and much more.

I was hesitating about this specific title because we are Canadians.  But come to think of it, this book is a perfect summary to discover what happened during the history of America.   And since they are our closest neighbors why not learn a bit about them.  

My Thoughts

This series of book is amazing.  Each title is a great addition to your personal library whether you homeschool or not.   Right at the tips of your fingers you can get information about English Language Arts, Math, World History, American History, as well as Science.  

I would like to suggest some other titles to Workman for future publications: Geography and Canadian History.   I am sure that these two subjects would be popular as well.

I give my two thumbs-up for the titles in the Everything You Need to Ace series.  They are great resources to have at hand when you desire to verify some concepts, learn new facts or simply read for the fun.

Everything you Need to Ace books are available on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

   
  
  
  
  

 

Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Allen for sending me the above mentioned books for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

The Mystery of History Volume III–Renaissance, Reformation and Growth of Nations

I am delighted to present you a fabulous history curriculum which I know will not only introduce you to historical events but will also give you some information about the growth of the Christian faith through the years.

The Mystery of History curriculum is for all ages – younger students (K-3rd), middle students (4th-8th), and Older students (9th – 12th).  Depending of the age of your child you will find fun hands-on crafts, games as well as research projects for them. 

This is the third volume of a series of four.   The first book covered from the Creation to the Resurrection.  The second book concentrated to the history of the Early Church and the Middles Ages.  This book covers the Renaissance, Reformation and the Growth of Nations.   Finally the fourth book specifically presents the Wars of Independence to the Modern Times.

The purpose of this blog post is to present what you can expect to discover while using the Mystery of History Volume III curriculum.   At the end of January, I will write another blog post to present how we have used the curriculum during the months of August 2016 to January 2017.   What is particularly interesting for us is that our homeschool coop will also cover the Renaissance period this year as one of our units.   So receiving these items in time for us to discover and learn about Renaissance is definitively a blessing. 

This specific volume will cover the people and the events from 1455 to 1707.  Not only will you learn about the Inquisition, Christopher Columbus, Michelangelo, Martin Luther, and many more but you will also see how Renaissance and the Reformation influenced Europe, which empires became wealthy in West Africa, learn about the Mogul dynasty in India among other things. 

As you can already realize this historical curriculum covers so much that you can’t help to anticipate what will be in the pages you read as you use it.  

Volume III of The Mystery of History has been divided into two books – a student reader which contains 84 lessons with colorful pictures, and the Companion Guide which includes the pretests, hands-on and research activities for younger, middle, and older students, memory card ideas, biweekly quizzes and exercises, timeline helps, maps, and supplemental books list.

The reader is also available as an audio book (which we also received and you could use with the text in hand or simply take notes or color while you listen to it).   The author herself is reading the text and background music adds life, drama and more meaning to the lessons. 

Volume II also offers a Super Supplemental Collection (in CD or PDGF format) which offers you challenge cards, coloring pages,  notebooking pages, and a complete folderbook set. From what I have looked at right now, I particularly like the notebooking pages that contains questions that the student have to answer.   I will be using this particular set of notebooking pages in the months to come.

Other items we also received that will be included in the review  are:

Rand McNally’s Historical Atlas of the World will provide information on all time periods and help the students to complete the mapping exercises in the series.   It contains over 75 colorful, thematic maps which also include literacy, languages, religions and more.

Rand McNally’s The Atlas of World Geography provides 65 physical and political maps of our present world which includes all nations and continents.   You will be able to quickly see information about population, land use, climate, all presented with charts, graphs, and tables. 

The Mystery of History Tote Bag could become an essential item in your homeschool journey.  This canvas bag display The Mystery of History logo and possess strong handles, a pen/glasses holder and a vinyl inner lining which gives it strength, durability, and protection for what you can carry in it.   My first impression of this bag is highly positive.  The bag is sturdy and is beautifully made.   I personally plan to use it to bring my journaling bible things at the RV (on a regular basis until mid-October) as well as carry much needed books at coop in the fall.  

Please note that even if it is recommended that you have gone through volumes I and II before tackling this one, it is not necessary at all to do so.  You can see example of activities with this book at the Mystery of History website.

Needless to say that I am looking forward to explore what all these products have in store in the months to come as we embark on a journey of discovery with Mystery of History Volume 3 – Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations. 

If you are interested in getting Mystery of History Volume III – Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations, you can get these at your favorite homeschool suppliers. Prices are as follow:  The Reader 59.95$, The Companion Guide  Paperback 39.95$  CD 29.95$  PDF 29.95$, the MP3  CDs 52.95$   Downloads 12$ for each quarter (there are four quarters) with or without music, the Super Supplemental Collection CD 64.95$ PDF 59.95$, the Rand McNally’s Historical Atlas of the World 14.95$, the Rand McNally’s The Atlas of Word Geography 16.99$, and the Mystery of History Tote Bag 10.00$.  Note that all prices are all in US dollars.

As I mentioned above, I will be using this curriculum for our history this year and plan to write a more detailed post on how Mystery of History Volume III was used in our homeschool. This blog post will be written sometime at the end of January 2017.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the author of Mystery of History for sending me the above mentioned products for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Give Your Child the World

Give Your Child the World – Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time
Written by Jamie C. Martin
Published  at Zondervan

About the book

Young children live with awe and wonder as their daily companions. But as they grow, worries often crowd out wonder. Knowing this, how can parents strengthen their kids’ love for the world so it sticks around for the long haul?

Thankfully, parents have at their fingertips a miracle vaccine—one that can boost their kids' immunity to the world’s distractions. Well-chosen stories connect us with others, even those on the other side of the globe. Build your kids’ lives on a story-solid foundation and you’ll give them armor to shield themselves from the world’s cynicism. You’ll give them confidence to persevere in the face of life’s conflicts. You’ll give them a reservoir of compassion that spills over into a lifetime of love in action.

Give Your Child the World features inspiring stories, practical suggestions, and carefully curated reading lists of the best children’s literature for each area of the globe. Reading lists are organized by region, country, and age range (ages 4-12). Each listing includes a brief description of the book, its themes, and any content of which parents should be aware.

Parents can introduce their children to the world from the comfort of home by simply opening a book together. Give Your Child the World is poised to become a bestselling family reading treasury that promotes literacy, develops a global perspective, and strengthens family bonds while increasing faith and compassion.

My Thoughts

I will honestly tell  you I did not know what to expect…  actually I thought that this book was about teaching your kids how to think globally.   But after receiving the book and taking some time to explore the pages in it, I have in awe and impressed by what I have found in  it.   Let me tell you why the book is interesting for homeschoolers.  By the way the author of this book blogs at simplehomeschool.net,  has three children with two of them being adopted and that her own home life represent four countries – England, India, Liberia, and USA.  

First of all the book is divided into two parts – one contains three chapters on Falling in Love with the World while the second section is more specifically titled Read the World.   The first chapter is essentially the life story of the author and her family – how they came to be together.  The second chapter of the book will give you some ideas on how to bring the world in your home with décor, meals, maps, study and many more ideas that will encourage you to discover the world from your home.  The third chapter of the book (and last one for the first section of the book) explains how the author has developed the story-solid foundation and how you can use books of all genre to expand your global experience of studying the world.

The second part of the book offers books ideas based on ages (4-6, 6-8, 8-10, and 10-12) on specific themes like multicultural books, Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East, North America, Latin America, and finally Australia, Oceania, and the Polar Regions.  I am beyond ecstatic with the list of books provided within the pages of this resource.  As part of our homeschool coop we cover various units throughout the year.  For example the units we will do next year are New France, Light & Sound, Christmas in France, Renaissance, Astronomy and Oceania.   This book will allow me to select specific titles for the Christmas in France and for the Oceania units.  I couldn’t ask for a better resource in my hands.

My only disappointment is that there are no suggestions for teens in this book.   I would have liked to see books suggested for this group age.  It would have made it even more interesting for me as I have a teenager that has decided to pursue homeschool during the high school years.  Apart from that small disappointment, I find the book to be a wonderful resources for families who want to discover the world from the comfort of their home and with books that will allow them to explore specific regions of the world.

Give Your Child the World is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Nelson for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Spelunking at Bonnechere Caves

This past week, we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.   Since we were at our campground located near Eganville, we were trying to figure out what we could do with the kids on our special day.   I approached Bonnechere Caves to see if it could be possible to visit and an agreement was made.   I will be honest is telling you that I always wanted to check out these caves since we were camping at Logos Land Resort for over 10 years but it never happened.   Originally we had the idea of visiting Bonnechere Caves on the day of our anniversary which is June 6th but the rainy day on June 5th ended up the day we took the tour.   It was perfect in many ways and we had a blast exploring the caves.   

Bonnechere Caves is located near Eganville next to the Fourth Chute Falls.

The caves were discovered in the late 1800s by a guy while he saw these holes near the chutes. 

Looking for adventures, he explore the area and found this hole in the ground which he decided to explore by simply attaching rope on a tree and slide through it.

And he entered the cave to explore it…  but before I give you too much on his explorations – which is after all the story you will learn while visiting Bonnechere Caves – let me tell you more about the tour itself.

The first part of the tour will introduce you to fossils found in the area (not only in the cave).   We somewhat arrive a bit late for this part of the tour but we got a private presentation at the end of the tour which was very thoughtful from the tour guide.

After this presentation, we are guided toward the area where you can see the caves via the river nearby and to the entrance of the Bonnechere Caves.  The entrance is easy to access and wooden stairs have been made for visitors.

Throughout the tour, you will hear the story of the first explorer of these caves.  I will not tell the story as it wouldn’t make it interesting for you if you decide to visit Bonnechere Caves.  However, we found the story fascinating and very interesting to follow.  Now only do you get the history of the caves but you also get the snapshot of the person who explore the caves.  You will also learn how to be more secure when spelunking and how it is important to never be alone when doing so.

At one point, our tour guide needed a volunteer.  Our son, Dominic, stepped up to the place and inserted his hand in the hole found on the wall.    There is a story linked to this hole in the wall but again it is part of the tour so I won’t spoil the mystery surrounding this particular place.

At some point during the tour we arrived in the bat cave.  Unfortunately at this time of the year the bats have left the cave for the spring/summer so there was no little brown furry friends to observe.  If you want to be able to see the little brown bats, it is suggested to go in the fall which is when they come back to nest for the winter.  This is where they would be found.   When the first person to explore the caves arrived at that point there was over a thousand bats hanging there.  Nowadays, there are about a hundred of them coming in the fall.

The next thing that you can do if you are not claustrophobic is to go through the path that was taken by the original spelunker of the caves.  The area is not too bad to walk though you might get your shoes wet at some places due to water accumulating in some areas.   There is one section that get very tight and can be frightening for some. But it was fun to retrace the steps of the person who first visited the caves.

At one point, we stopped and we could see a rope crossing the path.  I thought that it was an area not opened to visitors but we learned that at some point pumps were used to remove the water from the area further in order to explore more of the caves.  So in the spring, the pumps remove the water and in the falls the pumps are stopped.   It would take about three days for this section to be filled with water.  At this point in the story, the tour guide will warn everyone to stay together and will demonstrate how dark the caves can be without light.     Let me tell you that it was pitched dark…

Finally at the end of the tour before exiting the caves through another entrance, you have the opportunity to take a picture.

Once the tour is finished, you can get back out in the woods.   Be aware that you will have a bit of climbing to do with the help of a staircase that has been added to help the visitors.  The area is almost magical and reminded me of scenes in the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit or the Narnia movies.

The tour for the Bonnechere Caves starts daily (rain or shine) and happens every 20-30 minutes.   Plan to spend about one hour for the tour alone.  However, you can explore the above ground site to see the original hole where the first explorer went through or the falls nearby.  By aware that it is extremely recommended to stay on the paths due to the presence of poison ivy.

In case you are wondering how easy it is to walk in the caves, I can assure you that it is beautifully setup for anyone who desires to explore.   The paths are sturdy with wooden trails (except for the excursion to retrace the path of the first explorer which has patch of water here and there…) and the lighting is making the exploration easier to do.

We were extremely blessed to have been able to visit the Bonnechere Caves in exchange of a review.  However, for a family of six like ours the fees would have been almost 90$ which is expensive for us.  And I know numerous homeschool families with many children who would enjoy doing a tour and spelunk as well.  It is a great way to discover caves in the area.   It would be interesting if a special family fee would be put in place in order to facilitate large families to come and visit.  However, they do special pricing for homeschool groups if you desire to organize a field trip.  Homeschool groups qualify for school rate which can be seen by going at the Teacher’s Info section on their website.

Nevertheless, exploring Bonnechere Caves will cover history, spelunking, security, and learn a bit about the bats that live in the caves and the beavers that were found in the caves at some point.    It is a great field trip to do with your kids.  Bring a picnic and explore the area afterward.  There are beautiful falls close by and many other things to discover in the Ottawa Valley.  

Bonnechere Caves is located at 1247 Fourth Chute Rd in Eganville, ON.   If you desire directions please visit their page which listed directions from Ottawa, Toronto, Algonquin Park, and NorthBay-Petawawa-Pembroke.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Chris for allowing us to visit Bonnechere Caves in exchange of a review. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own. All pictures posted on this blog post were taken with our own cameras.

Dr. Jay Wile’s Elementary Science Curriculum

As a homeschool parent, I always want the best for my kids no matter what is the subject.   Though we have explore science in the elementary years with products from another well known publisher, I was somewhat dissatisfied with the way things were going using that curriculum.  There was much reading but not enough hands-on I found.    I knew I wasn’t the only one with this sentiment and I was delighted when I learned that Dr. Jay Wile had decided to write a science curriculum for elementary ages – a five book series that will encourage younger students to explore and experience science following the historical timeline we are so familiar when we cover history.

The first book of the series is titled Science in the Beginning.  This book uses the days of creation as a way of introducing a wide range of scientific concepts including the nature of light, energy conservation, the properties of air and water, introductory botany, our solar system, basic zoology, and some aspects of human anatomy and physiology.

The second book of the series is titled Science in the Ancient World. The course covers the scientific work of natural philosophers who lived from about 600 BC to the early AD 1500s. It concentrates mostly on what these ancient scientists got right, but it does spend some time discussing what they got wrong, because even the mistakes that scientists make can sometimes advance our understanding of the natural world.

The third book of the series is titled Science in the Scientific Revolution. The book covers the scientific works of natural philosophers from 1543 to the end of the 1600s and discusses a wide range of topics including astronomy, human anatomy, medicine, botany, zoology, heliocentrism, geocentrism, gases, pressure, electricity, fossils, microbiology, binary numbers, gravity, conservation laws, and the laws of motion.

The fourth book of the series is titled Science in the Age of Reason. The book covers the scientific works of natural philosophers from the early 1600s to the early 1800s and discusses a wide range of topics including astronomy, medicine, botany, zoology, chemistry, geology, human physiology, electricity, conservation laws, and weather.

Finally, the fifth book of the series is not yet published as the book is probably being written at this point in time.   However, the book is expected to be titled Science in the Industrial Age and will cover from the end of the book of the Age of Reason to present day.

I really like the fact that these books are written with the perspective of history.   You can easily intertwine them with either Story of the World, Mystery of History, or Tapestry of Grace.  As a matter of fact, Dr. While has provided a comprehensive guide on how to use his books with each of these history curriculum which is very handy to have.  Once all the elementary books are done by a student, it is expected for him/her to be well prepared for junior high school science.

Over the next few months, I will present each of these books in more details.  In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about the series written by Dr. Jay Wile for the elementary levels, please visit his blog to read more about them.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Berean Builders for sending me the above mentioned products for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Dr. Eureka

Dr. Eureka
Blue Orange Games

About the game

The brilliant Dr. Eureka has important experiments for you to complete!  Pick a challenge card, 3 test tubes and 6 colorful balls to solve his scientific formula.  Carefully move your materials from tube to tube without dropping them, and position them as illustrated on the challenge card.  This brain teasing party game can be played solitary or competitively. 

What we thought

First and foremost, the game reminded me of the Tower of Hanoi challenge.   Let’s face it – it is a challenge that can be stressful in a competition mode.   Nevertheless I like the originality of the game as it is a great way to explore the Tower of Hanoi concepts.

The game is for one to four players (a bit disappointing for a family of six but it’s okay because we could always do a mini tournament of three people at a time and compete that way against each other).  

I will admit that my kids were a bit stressed at first – going to fast in trying to complete the challenge.   Balls were rolling on the table and so on.   The game is quite simple to be honest.  You pick a card which illustrate the challenge to complete.  Using your skills you replicate the tubes but moving the balls from one tubes to another.  You can flip the tubes upside down to make it quicker in order to complete a challenge.  Once a challenge is won the card goes to the winner.  The first person who win five points (cards) is the winner.   So the game can be quite fast – about 15-20 minutes of play time.   When you come to think of it, I find this is the perfect game to allow the kids to switch mode between two subjects while homeschooling.  For example, if doing their mathematics has been difficult, this game would allow them to change their thinking a bit before doing something else that might require some attentiveness.

So we setup the game to play and the kids decided to pose before starting the challenges.

There was lots of errors at first but after a while, the kids were able to get the hang of it.  We played on the table which made the balls bounce when it slipped out of the test tubes.   A fellow blogger suggested to play on a carpet on their review but when you house doesn’t have any carpet it is kind of difficult.  Besides, I personally prefer to play at a table where you can be sitting comfortably.   You just have to slowly speed up your technique and make sure you know how to handle the test tubes and the balls to finish first and yell “EUREKA!”

Here’s a close up of the technique of switching the balls from one test tube to another.

Challenge complete!

The game will help you to develop fine motor skills, visual perception, focus and attention as well as processing speed.   And I have seen these being developed the more the kids were playing the game.  For example, the visual perception is essential to make sure you have the same thing as the card… a slight difference came make you loose the challenge and the card.

When my husband came back from work, the kids proceeded to tell him about the game.  He sat down with them and looked at it.  He concluded that the game would be good for dyslexics like himself and two of my kids because it would help them to concentrate and make sure the balls and tubes are place properly in order to win the challenge.

As parents we were impressed with the game as it helps to develop visual perception, focus, attention, and processing speed.   The younger two really enjoyed it but my second born wasn’t too thrilled at first.  However, with time he warmed up to the game and now I think he can see the benefits of playing it especially if it can help him with the attention he needs while doing school.

Dr. Eureka is available for purchase at your favorite gaming store – even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

Disclaimer: Thanks to Blue Orange Games for sending me the game. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Oven Baked Falafels

This past two weeks, my husband was off work and it was very nice to have him home.   My husband loves to cook and this time he decided we will try making falafels.   We made a first batch following a recipe he had found on the internet but we needed to cook them in oil.   Last week, we decided to make meatballs and used mini muffin pans I had (2 twenty-fours and 2 twelves).   Hubby really liked using the mini muffin pans for the meatballs and already we had a ton of ieas on how to use them.   To be honest, these pans were barely used anymore.   But with a family of six and our big batch of cooking we make, these pans were not enough.

So one day, hubby thought it would be nice  to make more falafels but this time we would try to do it in the oven instead.  But to make more falafels and using the mini muffin pans, we didn’t want to stay inthe kitchen for too long.  So we decided that it would be a good idea to purchase more mini muffin pans.   I checked on Bed Bath and Beyond to see what was available and we discovered that a pan making 48 mini muffins existed.   We had a few of 20% off coupons so we decided to check to Wal-Mart before going to Bed Bath and Beyond.  Wal-Mart did have the 48 mini muffins pan but the price was higher than the one at Bed Bath and Beyond with the 20% off coupon.  So off we went to Bed Bath and Beyond in order to purchase a couple of 48 mini muffins pans.

Back home, we proceeded to prepare our mixture.  We had also purchased fresh parsley and coriander for the recipe. We had a bag of chickpeas that had been in the water since the previous day.  You will need a food processor to make this recipe.

Oven Baked Falafels

2 cups of soaked chickpeas
4 cloves of garlic
1 small onion, finely chopped (or half of a big one)
1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/8 to 1/4 cup of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 1/4 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 pinch of ginger

Before anything else don’t forget to do the following:

1) Chop garlic

2) Chop the parsley

3) Chop the coriander

4) Chop the onions.

 

Once all your ingredients are prepared, incorporate all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork to blend the flavors.  For the dry chickpeas that had soaked all night, we decided to add 1/4 cup of lemon juice and mix some more.   

Take your food processor out and put the ingredients in it.  On pulse settings, slowly bring the mixture to a mush (Do not bring to humus consistence!).   Once this is done, transfer the mixture in another bowl and continue with the rest of the ingredients until you have gone through all the soaked chickpeas.

It is now time to make the falafels.   Our first time, we asked the younger three kids to make the balls which my husband cooked in the oil.  But we prefer not to have too much oil cooked food so the mini muffins pans are handy for this.   We filled each of the mini muffin holes with the mictures until the two pans we had purchased were full.

Bake at 400 degress for 30 minutes.

 

To make you sandwiches, use half a pita bread, spread tahini and a bit of ranch salad dressing, place cucumbers and tomatoes in it.  Use two falafels cut in two and roll it to eat.   Delicious!

BON APPETIT!

 

Note:  Once we went through the soaked chickpeas we had, we decided to use the cans of chickpeas that were in our cupboards.   Make sure you rinse these thoroughly before using them in the recipe.   We also skipped the lemon juice step.   And it will take 35 minutes to cook the falafels if you use the canned chickpeas.

In case you are wondering which mini muffin pans we have purchased, we used the Wilton Mini Muffin Pan – available on amazon.ca and amazon.com as well as Bed Bath and Beyond and Wal-Mart.  We have since purchased another one for our bulk cooking and plan to purchase a few more eventually.