We have made our yearly Easter pilgrimage to Moab and are thoroughly submersed in the dirt by now, I’m sure. So this Friday I wanted to share our Science Friday from LAST Friday afternoon. (I’ve received some questions as to our schooling situation, and we do not homeschool, though I respect those who make this decision for their children and their family very much. We happen to have 1/2 day Fridays at our elementary, so we’re still able to do Science Friday projects nearly every week.)

This project was so much fun and VERY easy to pull off. As with recipes, I like to gather everything I will need ahead of time, plus at this point I really need to gather TWO of everything.

You’ll need:

• Dirty pennies
• Vinegar
• Salt
• Jar with a lid
• Strainer
• Bowl
• Eye dropper (or medicine dropper)
• Toothbrush
• Towel

We’ve all seen the dark tarnish that pennies take on over time. Pennies are (predominantly) made of copper. Over the life of the penny the copper oxidizes due to its reaction with oxygen in the natural environment (there are other oxidizers, but oxygen is a predominant oxidizer). This oxidation causes copper oxide to form on the pennies.

By dipping the pennies into a simple acetic acid solution (vinegar + salt), you can clean your pennies and remove the copper oxide tarnish. A fun, safe, easy chemistry experiment for your kiddos!

1) Grab your dirty pennies. 2) Set up your work station on the kitchen table. 3) Mix 1 Cup of Vinegar with 1 teaspoon of salt in your jar or container with a lid. 4) Add five or more pennies to the mix. 5) Secure the lid to your container tightly and SHAKE! 6) Check out your pennies progress inside the jar. 7) Strain your pennies over a bowl.

8) Lay your already clean pennies out on a towel. Use the eye dropper to put a more concentrated amount of vinegar and salt on each penny. 9) Scrub your pennies with a tooth brush to see if you can remove even more copper oxide. 10) Rinse. It’s that easy! Instructions with pictures below.

XX, Megan

1) Grab your dirty pennies. As you can see we raided the piggy bank for these puppies!

2. I set each scientist up with their own work station including: jar with lid, strainer, bowl, eye dropper, and towel.

3. Put 1 Cup of vinegar and 1 tsp salt into each jar.  4. Add five or more pennies.

5. Shake. Shake. Shake.

6. Progress. You might not be able to see from the pictures, but the pennies are brighter and shinier already!

7. Strain. Pour your solution and pennies through the strainer. Take some time to check out the results.

8. More. If you want to see if you can get your pennies even CLEANER, lay them out on the towel. Use and eye dropper or medicine dropper to put the solution directly on the pennies.

9. Scrub.

10. Rinse. And repeat! (If your budding scientists want to clean more change like mine did 🙂

Another win from/for The Scramble*. One of the great things about The Scramble’s meals for our family is the introduction of NEW meals every week. There isn’t time to become bored or tired of one dish. Of course, there are favorites that I’ve saved, or special dishes we simply love to share with guests. The great thing is that this meal planning service meets your dietary needs while simultaneously expanding your dinner-time horizons.

Fish is a great example of this. I really love fish. But before the scramble I had only a few solid recipes to fall back on. NOW… In the Spring and Summer programming of The Scramble, there is a fish option almost every week! Major win for our family as it brings this lean healthy flavorful protein option to our plates more often than we otherwise would make time for. It’s so so easy!

XX, Megan

Ingredients for main dish

• 1 – 1 1/2 lb. flounder fillets, or other firm white fish
• 1/8 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper, or to taste
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs (use wheat/gluten-free if needed)
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juice only, about 2 Tbsp., plus additional for serving
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, (about 1 clove)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard (use wheat/gluten-free if needed)

Serve with Farro or Pearled Barley and Asparagus with Pine Nuts.

Start: Begin by boiling your chicken broth for the Faro or Pearled Barley first if you are serving it. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Bake: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray (you can see that I was out of foil, so I just applied the spray directly to my baking sheet). Salt and pepper the fish to taste. Top each portion of fish with the bread crumb mix below.

Mix: Bread crumbs, oil, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, kosher salt and mustard can be mixed in a medium sized bowl. Again, apply equal amounts of this to the top of each fish portion. Bake the fish for about 10 minutes until it is white and flakey. You can also broil the fish for the final two minutes of baking to achieve a more brown crisp appearance.

Saute: Once you put the fish into the oven, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet. Add 2 tbsp of pine nuts and toast them for 1-2 minutes. (Don’t let them get too brown! They toast pretty quickly.) Add the asparagus (washed, ends trimmed), and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of lemon if you have any left over from the fish.

Remove: Take the fish out of the oven. Give it another squeeze of lemon on the way to your plate and…

Wha-la!

You can see that there is a bit of a difference in the face of the first boy looking at the fish and the second. This is simply to let you know that certain recipes still have differences in palatability from one kiddo to the next. My oldest loved this fish so much he is twirling his fork about! 🙂

*The Scramble is a meal planning service to which you can subscribe here. For a fantastic price you will receive 5 weekly meals which means 5 recipes (main course plus a side dish), complete grocery list, the ability to tweak the number of people you are making for, and full nutrition facts. PLUS tips as to how best to PREP your meal beforehand, add a punch of FLAVOR, and how to SLOW COOK almost every recipe if you’re especially slammed that night. This wonderful service really does live up to it’s name. You can come home at 6 p.m. and be sitting down to a DELICIOUS, HEALTHY, HOME COOKED meal by 6:30 p.m. most nights.