“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”~ T.S. Eliot~
I started this post at the beginning of January but, alas, did not get around to finishing or posting it. Before I knew it. Chinese New Year had arrived, and once again, I lingered over the keys, trying to get this first post off the ground. Again, life swept me up and away. It’s not like I had nothing to say. I have been bursting with things to share, but until today, it felt like every moment was spoken for.
Finally, today, as fluffy, white flakes, fall gently on our still wintry landscape, the day feels peaceful. It feels empty. The perfect environment to write a blog post. As I type, I can hear the kid’s muffled laughter. After lunch they asked, “can we shovel the drive way?” I can just imagine what it looks like now; here and there cleared areas and crunched footprints of snow everywhere. My husband, David will smile when he arrives home.
I love Pro D days, when the teachers are in class, and I’m home with our children. I daydream about what it would be like to keep them home full time. We spent the morning doing more math, writing, reading and music, than they do at school in a whole week. Yet I know, for our children, school is an important part of their learning. Did you know that I started working as a lunch time, school supervisor last fall? Yep, that’s my new gig. It’s also one of the reason I haven’t had time to write. I’m needed, smack in the middle of my day. It cuts any hope of my creativity in half. But it’s been good.
I watch children during lunch hour and realize school is far more than teaching academics. I observe children making and keeping friends, thinking up games and negotiating rules, treading sometimes roughly on other’s feelings, and I help them consider their words and guide them towards saying a humble, “I’m sorry.” I’m there to advocate for those who need help speaking up and watch as they smile, with an obvious sense of accomplishment, when they have been heard. Who knew one hour a day would allow me to see our future, or what it could look like.
Kids are good!
And while I often have wondered if we should be homeschooling our children, (everyone has to find what is right for their children) I see that our children learn far more being out in the world, than I could teach them at home. But that is a blog post for another time. For now, this precious day allows me to have time to be creative, and for our children, to have time to delight in an endless, wintry day.
Bonus: our drive way is partly shoveled.
No, today isn’t on writing about the merits of school, teaching social skills, but about the New Year.
Happy New Year!
Is it still a New Year? Maybe not according to Western dates but based on the Chinese New Year date, it’s still relatively a new year. And According to the Chinese,
THIS IS MY YEAR!
It’s the year of the PIG!
Yep, that’s me! I was born in the year of the pig and I’m proud of it. Many of the traits a pig supposedly holds, resembles me.
” People with Chinese zodiac Pig sign are considerate, responsible, independent and optimistic. They always show generousness and mercy to endure other people’s mistakes, which help them gain harmonious interpersonal relationships. However, sometimes they will behave lazy and lack actions. In addition, pure hearts would let them be cheated easily in daily life.”
Okay, I added that last one, but I would say that describes me almost to a tee, especially the sluggish part, which sadly, describes my writing of late.
OINK!
Also, one of the pig’s lucky numbers is “8.” Since we have eight children, I’d say that is a very lucky number indeed. At least for me. Many would say two is good. And many these days would say zero is their number!
Whatever your number is, rejoice!
Eight is my number and without it, I wouldn’t have as much to blog about. So here I am, back to my blog, even though the New Year is well tarnished and my New Year’s resolution, “to write more,” is rather rusty. It is, however, still relatively early in 2019 and there is much to accomplish and experience this year. And so today is the beginning of a new year, and a new day.
And that is how I am going to navigate my days….all 312 Days — or — 44 Weeks and 4 Days until the end of this year.
Who’s counting?
Each one is a hope, filled, gift.
Speaking of gifts, before I plow any further into this year, I want to glance back to the last time I wrote, which was the end of 2018. I wanted to share a peek into our holidays, and also share with you the highlighted recipe of our Christmas season. Cinnamon Buns!
The first batch of the season!
Ever since our oldest daughter Alyssa was a baby, making Cinnamon buns has been a holiday tradition. I’ll never forget that first Christmas, when I plunked her into one of our double sinks, layered with a thick warm towel and gave her some sweet dough to play with. As I stood beside her, kneading the dough, Christmas music wafting from the stereo and the warmth of the kitchen surrounding us, little did I know as a young mom, I was creating a tradition that would continue for many years. It seems appropriate to share that tradition now and also the recipe for future generations to enjoy.
I felt really blessed this past Christmas, to have seven of our eight children at home for the holidays. So much so, that I made not one, but two batches of “sticky buns,” as my mom used to call them. Now I know these aren’t the healthiest thing in the world to eat, but another thing that I’m conscious of as I grow older, and that is, I’m not going to live forever and there are some things in life that are worth making and eating. Cinnamon buns are that for me. Besides, I’m going to be writing about making Buddha bowls next, and if you eat 90% healthy, and drink lots of water, then I figure some cinnamon buns are more than okay.
Here are a few snap memories of our holidays and my cinnamon bun recipe. I have to thank my mother in law, Doreen, whose been gone for over a decade now, for she gave my husband this cook book when he left home. This book, “Five Roses Guide to Good Cooking,” is well loved and ratty and has been a staple in my cook book collection for years now.
This book has been in my recipe drawer for years now and is always my go to book for those old classic home cooked meals…thanks Grandma DoreenMerry and Bright was the theme for our holidays
Our Siamese cat Ryuuki waits and waits for his people to arrive
Thankfully the weather stays nice until everyone is safely home
The little girls read to pass the time until the big brothers and sister arrive homeCards arrive and I start to decorateAnd I decorate….our skimpy trees that we got from the mountains are BEAUTIFUL!
The angels bring everyone home safely…thank you Tamara for my newest Angel holding the Christmas wreath…she is called, “Magnolia,” and she brings a “gathering of blessings.” Thank you Tamara, for you are one of those blessings.
And then they start coming home….
Clark arrives home on his birthday, Dec 20th, in time to blow out the candles on his cake (2+6)= 2 decades and six years… and then we are off to attend little girl’s String Christmas concert…Clark even plays when the whole group gathers to play the classic Christmas songs. And we get the attic ready for the next kids to arrive
Then more of our children return home; Alyssa from Victoria where she has been teaching and writing
And with Alyssa, Harrison arrives home. A belated birthday celebration kicks off the holidays. Harry turned 20 on the 19th of Dec. We are so happy to have you home Harrison!
The garage, aka, “Santa’s workshop” was non admissible ….but Finally it was Christmas Eve and time to pull out the ancient book that I’ve had since my childhood….yes now an antique! ha…and time for the tradition of opening up jammies on Christmas eve and reading, “The Night Before Christmas.” Take it away David! And always, my parents are with me I’d like to say the stockings were hung, but in our case they have to lie down as there are so many of us! Yes, I’m a minimalist…but in the stockings are underwear, new socks, tea, coffee, and a few toys for the little ones…oh and chocolate…can’t forget the sweets And the little girls find what Santa was working on in his workshop. Santa made a fireplace too, and a kitchen island, and beds. Mrs. Claus made stockings for the fireplace and bedding for all the beds. There are hearts on the stockings and on the bedding. Two new little Chelsie dolls are wrapped under the tree, ready to be placed in the doll house.Two Chelsie dolls, one with a puppy and one with a kitten, were wrapped for the girls under the Christmas tree…perfect for their new house! Another Santa work shop project was.a new shelf unit so Alyssa can keep her writing organized….Alyssa, now you can put something you aren’t using out on the curb!And we eat….thank you Mr. Turkey!
And the kids put on a Christmas concertAnd we eat…..And we play games…Harrison liked our new Monopoly Ultimate banking game…right down his alley as he’s studying businessAnd Eat!!!
The girls played and played with their new dollhouse And played more Ultimate banking~~~And we have friends over..Clark with his school friends, J and D…maybe someday they will have a law practice together? And finally the snow arrived…and we were enveloped in peaceful whiteAlyssa, always a resourceful photographer, pulled out the ladder and started our 2018 holiday shoot….of course outside, brrrrr! but it was fun!Victoria Hope, is our youngest, but she would tell you only by 5 minutes but her twin Kathryn, would remind her that they were 5 LONG MINUTES!
Kathryn Mira was asking for her two front teeth for Christmas If there was another name for Joy, it wold be William…our Will lights up the world with his smile and hugsA few days before Christmas our just turned 16 year old, Grace Elizabeth said, “cut off my hair mom”…and that’s what I did. As sad as I was to see her long chestnut locks drop to the kitchen floor, I have to say, “Grace you are growing up more beautiful every day…inside and out!”Harrison,”we miss you, we miss you, we miss you”….but we know you are loving being away from home and rocking it at UniversityClark, what I just wrote above under Harry’s pic, ditto for you. We miss you! We are so proud of all you are accomplishing at U of A. Alyssa is our oldest and ultimate creator in so many ways. Check out her latest blogs and videos on her own site. ARReynolds~writer~photographer~artistNote: all the pictures here were from my camera, but I must ask Alyssa for her copies as she is a true photographer. Here she is working her magic.There we are…the Reynolds gang. Although our son Mitchell is missing…..he is however next to my heart. For the holidays he remained in Victoria, where he was working and saving money for his upcoming trip to Australia. Merry Christmas Everyone!Bringing up the rear in this photo shoot and protesting, “you don’t want to see my face!”, is my husband David…you are, the ultimate Santa! And then there is me Hope/aka Lee…..I’m all about plaid this year and I dragged out this old scarf from the days we lived in “Hope,”…did it belong to one of my older sisters? If any of you are watching or reading the “Outlander series, you know why I’m mad for plaid. Sisters… how much Scottish do we have in our ancestors?
And that, in a nutshell of picture memories, was a bit of our Christmas 2018. When I think about it now, I feel warm. The love in our home, the memory of the laughter, the joy on the faces of our little girls, seeing their dollhouse for the first time, the smell of cinnamon drifting from the kitchen, the magic felt when cello and violins come together to play endearing Christmas music, eggnog latte’s….I want to thank my family for the best gift of all….staying connected!
And now without further ado, the recipe that I want to share to all who read my blog. My recipe for:
Doesn’t this one look heart shaped!
Cinnamon Buns
Ingredients for the sweet dough
2 packages of active dry yeast (each pkg is a little less than 1 tbsp….so if you use bulk yeast like I do…just under 2 tbsps)
1 cup of lukewarm water
2 tsp sugar
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
6 cups of Five roses All purpose flour (or whatever you use)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Opt: 1 cup of raisins or currants…we opt out as some of the kids don’t like them
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Instruction
Sprinkle yeast into lukewarm water, add 2 tsp sugar; let stand for 10 minutes, then stir.
Scald milk; add butter, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm and add softened yeast; mix together.
Add half the flour, 3 cups, to make a thick batter, add the 2 tsp of cinnamon and if you are using the raisins, you add 1 cup at this time. Add eggs and lemon rind and beat well.
Stir the remaining flour, using only enough to make a soft dough that does not stick to hands or bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and satiny~about 10 minutes.
Me kneading for 10 minutes…really hard on the handsBut well after Christmas the kids still wanted to have their sticky buns with some hot cocoa when friends came for a play date
Place the ball into a greased bowl; turning it over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. About 11/2 hours.
Thank you to my niece T and my older sister B for the tea towel you brought me last summer….”we must all RISE to the Occasion”
Punch down and knead lightly. Shape with a rolling pin into long rectangular pieces. (I find I can get two long rectangles with this recipe) Brush tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
The little girls like doing the sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon…next year I’m getting them to knead!
Starting at the long side, tightly roll up, pinching the seam to seal. Then with a serrated knife, cut 11/2 inch pieces and lay them on a prepared pan. (I lightly spray with cooking oil) Brush melted butter over the buns and cover and let rise in a warm place for another hour or until they double in size.
The little girls top the buns with butter before they start their second rise
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 10 minutes and then lower to 350 degrees, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. My oven is hot and I find that I need to watch the buns closely. I bring them out when they are golden brown.
I frost them while they are warm using a cream cheese icing and sprinkle them with chopped pecans, walnuts or as we did at Christmas time, crushed peppermint canes.
And our kids enjoyed them so much at Christmas time, that I’ve been making them every couple of weeks since then…once when they had friends over after school and you would think I was a genius as their friends told them, “your mom is an amazing” I’ll take that!
Nothing says Christmas to me more than Cinnamon Buns…the gooier the better. One final note, years ago, I made these with my hands but now I use my kitchen aid mixer for most of the dough mixing, although the 10 minutes of kneading is all me. The next time I make them, I’m handing that task off to my younger kids and get them into the art of making this sweet dough. It’s a new day after all.
The little girls head off to school after Christmas break with their new scarves I made them for Christmas….they turned out not bad for a rookie knitter….watch out…everyone is getting a scarf!
Well dear ones, that is my long, held post and I can’t tell you how glad I am that it’s now written and ready to publish. So much has been going on at the homestead since the holidays. I started into New Year decluttering big time, inspired by Marie Kondo’s Netflix show on that subject. Then once we started to declutter, I realized our walls were really, REALLY beige.
I think this picture shows the clear definition of beige and graceful grey…I love the new grey…in some lights it looks almost greeny and then in other’s bluey….whatever, it reminds me of the lake colours in the winter.
Alyssa’s been telling me that for years. Funny, I didn’t see it, but suddenly, “Naturally Calm,” was driving me crazy. I asked Santa to take off his red hat and replace it with a painters cap. The next time he visited Home Depot, he brought me Behr’s palette of greys. As I type, Santa, aka, David is in the process of painting our interior. “Graceful Grey,” for the most part…don’t you love the name?
Stay tuned!
Also, I want to tell you about my latest discovery, “Buddha Bowls.” Yes, I know, I know, those of you who are hip and urban say, old news, but hey, we’ve been doing them all along and I want to blog about it. Who knew something we’ve been doing for years now would be so cool! They are the one stop meal for all your daily nutrition and when you are a busy mom, you need one stop and few dishes. I will be blogging about it soon, so I hope you come by for another visit. As your New Year unfolds, one joyous day at a time, may it be full of peace and love.
And to close my post, here is Will.I.Am singing, “It’s a new day.” Even though this video was from 10 years ago and our political environment is much different, I believe with a positive attitude and holding the vision for how we want our world to look, we can change much. It starts with you and me, teaching our children well…all of us together. So come on and start singing with me, “it’s a new year…it’s a new day!”
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Have you ever noticed when you do one thing, several other things fall into place at the same time? It’s kind of like the above quote, “A Manifesto for a Simple Life;” when we stress less for instance, we laugh more. Recently, it occurred to me that by becoming a more sustainable family; growing our own food, making our own meals from scratch, concocting our own cleaning and household supplies, that we are naturally moving in the direction of becoming a zero waste family too. And going in the direction of zero waste, melds perfectly with a vegetarian lifestyle and minimalism. And all of these things naturally move us in the direction of supporting our earth.
Now I don’t want to give you the wrong impression; we are still far away from where Bea Johnson’s family, is at, check out her book called, “Zero Waste Home,. But we have come a long way from the days of ordering two large pizzas every Saturday night and putting out two cans of garbage each week. (P.S. even though those pizza boxes went into the recycling, you know darn well, that anything with cheese stuck to the lid is going to end up in the landfill.)
If you are reading this blog, you are probably like- minded and jive with what we are doing and like us, have stopped using plastic water bottles long ago, in favour of reusable ones. You probably have invested in a good quality hot beverage cup, and even take it when you visit your favourite coffee shop; ’cause most places give you a discount when you bring your own cup now. You probably bring cloth bags when you shop and have ditched the tetra juice containers for your kids too. They were never the healthiest choice anyway. But I’m wondering if you have taken your zero waste to the next level? (I know some of you have, as I spied my sister C’s bamboo toothbrush on a weekend retreat last fall. She has always flowed in the green stream)
I thought I would share a few things that our family has chosen to do, which are not drastic steps but easy- peasy ones that anyone can incorporate. You may already be doing them. Bravo! They do make a big difference in our garbage output.
Five Easy Things to Help Our Planet Earth
Stop using paper towels. Instead, cut up old bath towels and kitchen clothes and turn them into rags to clean with. I use old socks that have lost their partner, (if you are a large family, you can relate) to dust with and I have some great micro fiber clothes my sister B gave me. You just wet them, wring them out and clean; only elbow grease is required.
My little yellow plastic stacking set up for my cleaning rags. (This stacking bin was my mom’s and is ages old) As my oldest son Clark says, if you have things that are plastic, just use them! Notice the black socks…great for dusting and remind me that I should do it more often~
Get rid of the kleenex boxes. We use homemade handkerchiefs instead. I actually feel so pampered when I have a runny nose and use one of my beloved hankies to blow my nose with; like I’m a princess. It’s such a relief on the pocket book and the recycling bin, not to fill it with empty kleenex boxes. Remember, just because something is recycled, doesn’t mean it’s the greenest way to go.
Beloved hankies make me feel like a princess.
Paper Napkins are a thing of the past. We only use cloth napkins now, or as my eight year old says, “my sleeve works great too!” This was an easy first elimination and several years ago, my sister J, gave me some lovely cloth napkins that we use all the time, but you can easily make some from fabric scraps.
Paper lunch bags and Plastic Sandwich wraps. Again, this was an early change for us. Each family member has a reusable lunch bag, and when I have old sheets, I whip up a new batch of snack/sandwich bags. In the old days, or so I have been told, a hard boiled egg, or baked potato etc, would be wrapped up in a cloth napkin and tied and that would be lunch. When I help out at my children’s school, I’m always so surprised to see so much packaging; granola bars, goldfish crackers in little bags; and don’t even get me started about the packaging involved with the lunchables! We can do better, all it takes is some planning and some reusable containers/bags.
Made out of an old cotton sheet, little bags make great sandwich and snack bags
Like an assembly line, the children all have their own thermos, water bottle and sandwich holders. The cotton bags keep their wraps from getting mushy next to their veggies.
No more plastic garbage bags; You know those white ones that we put in our household garbage cans? I don’t know what your set up is, but we have a black garbage bin attached to the cupboard under our kitchen sink. When I open the door, it swings out and I dropped my garbage inside.
I know too easy and eventually I want it gone/empty, but until then, just getting rid of the plastic white bag is an easy first step in eliminating some plastic. Every day I just dump the contents into our main garbage can in the garage and put the pail back under the sink. Did you hear about the story of the young sperm whale that washed up off the coast of Spain in February? The whale was found to have 64 pounds of garbage in his digestive system; including plastic trash bags. If we all just stopped using plastic bags in the world that would be a huge step in saving our planet…and the animals we share it with.
As EARTH DAY approaches (April 22nd), join me in thinking about five more things that we can give up in favour of a healthier life, a healthier planet and a richer experience on earth. On this journey, I’ve discovered that I still have far to go before I’m living the life that I have imagined, however living mindfully inspires me to do more. I feel empowered knowing that we all vote with our consumer dollars and I’m consciously aware that change happens only when we start using those dollars wisely.
And before I close I wanted to share a recipe that I made recently for a healthy, triple berry muffin, without SUGAR! Talk about doing something and then there being another spin off. I love baking for my family but I’m passionate about eliminating crack , oops, sugar from our diet. I think we can do one thing and allow something even bigger to come into our lives. Good health! Happy Children! a Blessed Planet!
Triple Berry, No Sugar Muffins
2 1/4 cups flour…I like to use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp orange rind grated
1 cup mixed frozen berries
2/3 cup butter melted
2/3 cup liquid honey
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk…I use almond milk
Directions
In a small bowl mix the berries with the cinnamon.Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the rest of the dry ingredients, along with the grated orange rind.
In a medium bowl, mix the butter and the honey. Add the slightly beaten eggs and the milk.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture.
Now fold in the cinnamon and berries.
Remember to only mix until combined…muffins do not turn out well when over mixed
Spray muffin tin…and for regular sized muffins, spoon the batter filling each tin about 3/4’s. ….however I like mine bigger.
Finally, if you want a bit more of something….try a sprinkle of cut up walnuts…a healthy addition too.
Bake in preheated oven 400 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes
Although this recipe makes 12 regular sized muffins…I like them big so I double the recipe and it makes 18 muffins for our family….but oh, they go fast so get ready to make another batch soon.
I used the triple berries from Super Store and some honey that I’ve had in the cupboard for ages….what a hit!
I made these muffins last Thursday, on wear a sports jersey to school day, in memory of the Humboldt Bronco’s. The kid’s didn’t bat an eye when I told them they were no sugar muffins….”can you make more?” is all I heard.
Since I will start work later this week at my seasonal gardening gig, and this will be my last blog post for the week, I thought I would share a YouTube video called, “Earth Day.” I hope it inspires you to take a moment and look around your part of the world…and bless it. This is our home, let’s take good care of it, if not for ourselves, for our children and their children, and all the creatures great and small who we share the world with.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
I know it’s a lot of food all in one place but we need serious comfort food around here.
It snowed last night.
Again!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate living in a climate where there are four seasons, but this year, I’ve had enough snow. I’m done with winter. I want the snow to melt, for the sun to warm the air, and for some buds to start forming on our trees.
Anyone that isn’t buying into global warming, and the fact that we may have gone too far damaging our Mother Earth, isn’t living my reality. Nor are they recognizing what’s going on all over our planet; sea levels are rising, there’s unusual flooding, the glaciers are melting, storms are raging, and then there are the droughts. In my part of the world winter is going on and on. We are ALL experiencing extreme weather conditions.
At least where we live, we only have to deal with snow storms and icy conditions in the winter, flooding in the spring, forest fires in the summer and then comes fall. That’s the season where we pull up our socks, so we can do it all over again.
Yeah, it’s much worse in other parts of the world so I shouldn’t complain. But watching this winter go on and on, when in the past I would be doing my spring garden clean up, just gets me thinking about how fast things are changing climate wise.
As I popped another chew-able Vitamin D, I picked up our local newspaper. Reading the article on the front page, made me smile and brought a tear to my eye.
I love living in a small community where the big story is “Men brave icy waters to save deer.” As it turned out a group of Okanagan men jumped into action just in time, to ensure a deer didn’t meet her demise in the icy waters of Okanagan Lake.
That story warmed my heart and while I’m still annoyed at the lingering winter weather, I’m happy that I live in a little town where first, a story like this makes front page, and second, there are good citizens who will risk their own lives to save a helpless animal.
I think I can endure winter a bit longer. Maybe this is yet another letting go moment. I mean there isn’t anything I can do about the weather conditions. I can either be grumpy about it, or find something good about it and today, I’m going to smile. It may be winter but there is goodness here.
With that perspective, I looked out at the snow gently falling, like soft angel feathers and I felt sheltered. I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit more into this season; a bit more into this moment.
Besides shifting my perspective, I also am choosing to make our family a warm meal so when they come home tonight we have some comfort food. Since it’s Friday, there’s not a lot in the fridge but with some creativity I can come up with something. (Lately, I like to stretch as far as I can before going shopping; to see how inventive I can become with what we have in our fridge and cupboards and you know what?–there is always something to make to feed our family.
Tonight, in an effort to eat Vegetarian, which helps our planet , I’m spinning our normal meat based, “Shepherd’s Pie,” and using some “Yves Veggie Ground Round.” This is a hamburger- like product and is a good source of protein and low in fat. It’s also really cheap compared to hamburger. I buy a large package, which has four small packages inside. We get three or four dinners for a total of ($10.00) which is amazing. The big news is that eating vegetarian meals helps our planet…see link above. It’s also been known to fool meat loving individuals in our family. When they have to ask me, “is this meat, or your soy thingy,” then you know it’s good.
If you are looking to drop hamburger from your family’s repertoire, but want to ease gently into a plant based, I’d recommend trying the Veggie Ground round.
Come on into my kitchen and we can whip up dinner tonight. I’m thinking the menu will be “Shepherds Pie, a spinach salad, and some cornbread muffins. And for dessert, a mixed berry coffee cake. My sister J brought a bag of frozen raspberries from her harvest last summer, and I have a few blueberries still in the freezer. Making comfort food in the winter, makes me happy.
Let’s get cooking….
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
2 packages of Veggie Ground (The package I buy has four small packs and I use two small packs)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 tbsp of flour
1 cup of beef broth, (you can substitute this with a vegetable broth…I buy the organic jars from Costco)
11/2 cups of mixed frozen vegetables
Ground pepper
3 cups of mashed potatoes, (I make mine with lots of garlic and some dill)
Garnish with paprika
Directions
(Peel potatoes, cook them and mash them)
In an large iron skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil until lightly brown, add the veggie ground and break it up, cooking it well. You can season here with pepper and a bit of salt.
Add the flour and mix well, cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add the beef broth, frozen vegetables and season again with ground pepper.
If your potatoes are mashed, don’t forget to add a nice seasoning…we like to add some dill or garlic to our potatoes.
Now fill a large casserole dish with the veggie ground round mixture and top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling hot.
This recipe feeds 4 to 6 people but when I add salad, and cornbread it feeds eight. If our older kids are home, I would just add a bit more ground round and mashed potatoes.
Cornmeal Muffins
Ingredients and Directions
Mix 3/4 cup cornmeal with 1 cup of milk and set aside
Sift together, 11/4 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/3 cup sugar, set aside
Stir into the cornmeal/milk mixture, 2 beaten eggs, and ½ cup of melted butter(cooled) or vegetable oil and 2 tbsp of liquid honey. Now add the liquid to dry ingredients.
Don’t over mix, it’s okay if there are a few lumps.
Fill prepared muffin pan, filling each cup to ¾’s
Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges
Eat immediately with some butter….yum….or later with some jam.
And now for dessert:
Berry Coffee Cake…this is a recipe that I’ve made for years and it’s always great but lately, I’ve been making it with coconut oil and I’ve noticed there are never any leftovers. It is a bit more dense but worth the flavour.
Ingredients
1 cup of frozen berries….blueberries or raspberries work best
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup butter…or coconut oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
11/2 tsp vanilla…or you can use some coconut extract and some vanilla…it’s great together
11/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup milk…I used some almond milk and it turned out great
Directions
Toss Blueberries with cinnamon and set aside
Mix coconut oil or butter with sugar until creamy, add eggs one at a time.
Mix dry ingredients
Add alternatively the milk and the dry ingredients to the oil and sugar mixture, then fold in the berries
Put in a prepared bundt pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean
Cool in the pan to allow the berries to set before removing from pan
Once cooled, flip the bundt pan onto a rack and allow it to cool further.
Finally, place it on a serving dish and sprinkle with some icing sugar, or a lemon glaze.
On Friday nights we like to watch “Planet Earth” episodes with our kids on Netflix but I’m thinking they might like to see the following video first. We can make a difference on this planet by the choices we make every day. Today, I’m choosing to settle into the season a bit deeper, to make a vegetarian meal for my family and to get our family talking about the ways we can walk the earth a bit more gently.
Check out the video below. Maybe you can share it with your family and it will generate some meaningful discussion.
If you’re not interested in listening to some of my thoughts, and just want to make some great banana muffins, then scroll down and I’ll meet you at the bottom of this page.
If you ARE interested in hearing my reasons for NOT home-schooling, then continue on.
Warning though, it’s a bit of a novella. You may want to get a big cup of tea.
Let’s chat.
If you’re in this parenting gig too, you may be able to relate to some of my thoughts on the topic. If you are trying to decide how you want to educate your children, this post may give you a glimpse into what has worked for us, is continuing to work for us, and why we chose to make the choices we did/do.
What prompted this whole post, was partly my last post in January. It feels so long ago now. I shared feelings of floundering, ever since our twins started grade one last fall. After almost twenty eight years of raising children, having the house empty was a first for me.
I’m afraid I’m not one of those parents that sings, “hallelujah,” when kids go back to school after the summer break.And on the last day of school in June, I’m one of the first parents to be standing outside the school, arms wide open, a big smile on my face, gleefully welcoming summer AND our children back home for two glorious months.
I’m waving at my dearest friend Tamara, who has stood next to me waiting for her kids too.
Choosing to send them to school is hard for me.
Every day.
This morning, when I went into William’s still dark bedroom at 7 am to rub his back and whisper, good morning, he told me that he hadn’t slept well last night. “Oh really,” I said containing my excitement. “Do you think, maybe, ….you need to stay home?” I asked, silently hoping he would agree. “No, I want to go,” he said, with a stretch and a yawn. “We are making some stuff for ground hog day.”
~Sigh~
“Okay, cool,” I said, feeling a bit deflated.
Then later, as the kids sat around the island, eating their fruit and oatmeal and I was warming up some baked beans for their lunch thermoses, Will said something totally out of the blue. “Mom, if you knew this was the last day that you had on earth, what would you do?”
WOW!
Where did that come from?
But looking at my son, his blonde curls messy from sleep, wearing his, “Happy New Year” pj’s with a dog blowing a horn on the front, I’m not surprised. He lives in a state of light and often asks deep questions. I looked into his questioning blue eyes and told him,
“If this was the last day I had on earth, I would want to spend it with my kids.”
That must have touched him, he got up, reached his arms around my neck and pulled me in close for one of his smacky kisses.
Oh YEAH!
I don’t like sending them to school.
I would rather spend every day of their childhood with them.
Right now, as we move forward raising our last four children, I’m reevaluating my life. I’m trying to figure out who I am at this stage in my life and decide how I want to spend my spare time when our children are at school. Part of me wants to return to work full time. After all, the kids are gone for almost seven hours every day, five days a week. I can only clean the house so much; and I’ve discovered that in this tale end of my life, scrubbing floors and dusting is not how I want to spend my time. But as I type this post, I realize that educating our children isn’t just about sending them off to school each day.
It’s about being there when they get home and continuing the learning….in all ways.
Another reason this subject came up, is that recently one of my favourite vlogging families uploaded a video that spurred my thoughts on the matter. Like a dog that needs a walk, my thoughts have been mulling around my brain, words trailing like a leash, anxious to be picked up and allowed to run.
PLUS, this blog isn’t just about becoming more sustainable, being environmentally aware, and earth friendly. It’s evolving into a place where I can submerge my thoughts to a deeper degree and plunge into the ground, reflecting on how, a mom like me can really help our planet. A light bulb recently exploded and the notion of educating our children is where it’s at. After all they are the next guardians on earth. Also, I like the idea of connecting with other moms.
Moms like me.
Darci Isabella, is such a mom.
She has a large family; like me. She grows her own food; like me. She juices and eats healthy; like me. She has chickens; like me. She is on a minimalist path; like me, She has a soulfull faith that guides her; like me. And she home-schools her children.
Not like me.
She is also, much funnier than me!!!
And can use power tools!
She recently uploaded a video titled, “Developing Positive Self Esteem,” but the seeds of this vlog, deal with her choice to home-school her children. As I watched it, I started thinking about why we chose NOT TO home-school. If you want to have a peak at the video, click on the hyper link….or click below.
Isn’t she the greatest!!!! I really love watching her videos. They are fun, upbeat, and EDUCATIONAL. Also, her children are lovely in every sense of the word and she shares them generously with the world.
Before I go further into my post, I have to say that I don’t want this to be a debate about home-schooling versus public education. Not at all. Each has it’s merits. Each family is unique, as are their children and their learning needs. Also, I realize that we all have different ideas and goals for our children. For instance, my mom just wanted her four daughters to just graduate from high school, since she had been unable to do so. Our over all goal, is to keep enough doors open, so our children can decide which one to enter when they become young adults. The big is that they be happy, well, and peaceful.
So our answers to the question…….
Are we going to home-school?
Are we going to use public school?
Are we going to use a private school?
will be different for each of us.
IT’S ALL GOOD!
In Darci’s case she shares a rather humiliating experience that happened to her as a teenager in public school. What made this event worse, was she felt that she didn’t have an adult to confide in.Then, she shared another experience when her first daughter was bullied in preschool and the teacher didn’t react in a proactive manner. How unfortunate. I’m sure, she had other reasons and experiences too but after that last one, she said she decided to home-school her daughter and her subsequent children. It worked for her.
And is continuing to work for her, as she has older children and younger ones; like me.
Watching her video, got me thinking about how our own life events/experiences influence us and how we choose the various paths we take in life. For instance, my father was killed in a truck accident when I was five years old. I’m terrified when my husband has to travel by vehicle on business. But I let go and trust. When our older children got to driving age, my instinct was to sell our vehicles (my mom did that when I turned 16) and prevent them from driving.
But again, I let go and trusted.
Do I like letting go?
No!
Was it scary?
Yes, absolutely!
But it’s part of this parenting gig.
I wasn’t going to let my fears dictate which path our children would take. Although if you were to ask our children, there have been several times where I have been overly protective with regards to them driving with other parents, other teens, etc and that fear raised it’s ugly head. Hey, we can’t be perfectly brave all the time.
Trusting and letting go starts the moment our babies are born and continues as our children learn to walk, talk, and head in the direction of an independent life away from us.
Isn’t that what we want for them?….an independent life?
But hey….before our kids took off driving, we made sure they had professional driving instructors prepare them for the road ahead.
And in a way, that’s why we are choosing NOT to home-school. We feel that public school provides them with the experts in every field of study, who will teach them everything they need so they don’t crash in life.
Just like Darci, our oldest daughter had a lot to do with the education choices we made. Alyssa, arrived in March 1990, and was born with a congenital brain abnormality. She had an agenesis of the corpus callosum. When we were released from the high risk maternity hospital in Vancouver, where she was born a month early, our pediatric neuro-surgeon, told us there were no studies with regards to our daughter’s potential. He planned to follow her case and see her in the first year, but the last words he said to me on discharge were:
“take her home and treat her like normal.”
WHAT?
I’ve written about this experience in another post, so I won’t go into detail, but you can imagine, with that diagnoses hanging over our heads, the last thing we did was take her home and treat her like we hadn’t heard…missing corpus callosum.
Hence, my foray into the world of science and all it knew AT THE TIME, regarding stimulating brains.
AND this was BEFORE internet!
In every way Alyssa developed beautifully as a baby, but not having children before meant we didn’t know what was normal development. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Alyssa often calls herself the”experimental child,” but isn’t every first child that? In our case, not only were we ignorant regarding normal baby/child development, we didn’t have a clue what to expect from our child. It was a whole new world for us, and scary at times.
We, therefore decided to try a bit of everything to stimulate her brain and expose her to all sorts of learning situations. We will never know for sure but I believe all the years of swimming, piano, and Irish Dancing, played a large role in rewiring her brain. All that movement between the right and left hands/arms and feet stimulated the right and left part of her brain.
Alyssa the summer before Kindergarten when she was five. She was developing normally in every way
By the time Alyssa was ready for kindergarten, she had been exposed to a multitude of activities and experiences. At times, I felt like we were overwhelming her. She was a gentle and peaceful little girl, who quietly went along with our game plan. From early on, I knew some of her favourite moments were when we curled up together in bed at night, reading about fairies and make believe lands.
Alyssa on her first day of kindergarten in Sept 1995
We thought the sun rose and set on her and she was brilliant. But that diagnoses, lingered above us always. To us, every decision we made was generated from a place of moving her forward and helping her to reach her full potential.
If I had been a trained teacher, I may have contemplated keeping her at home but I knew others, some with masters in their fields, were waiting at the school and ready to teach her. How could I not provide the best education for her in every area of study. Also, the area where we lived (we are still here) had/has an excellent elementary and high school, with high academic success. Keep in mind too, this was twenty two years ago, home schooling wasn’t as big as it is now.
So with the decision made, we said goodbye, let go and trusted and she entered public school.
Alyssa waiting for the school bus with her little brother Clark. It’s not always easy going to school!
And she didn’t look back.
She THRIVED!
In kindergarten she met her best friend. Even though those girls have moved to different parts of the world, they remain BEST friends to this day. I often think, had I not put her in school, she would have missed out on having Brianna in her life.
Sadly, Brianna and her family moved to Mexico when they were in grade 5 but they kept in touch over the years and in the summers when her parents would return for a visit, the girls picked up exactly where they left off. Two years ago, Brianna married and Alyssa was her maid of honour. Soon she will have her first baby and I know who will be a special Auntie to this wee one.
Sometimes our friends, especially our girl friends, are as close as a sister would be and for years, Alyssa only had brothers so her friends were really important to her.
From left to right…Brianna, Alyssa, Ameila, and Maureen….Alyssa needed her girl friends with no sisters for many years…now she has three sisters although they are way younger than her
And by the time her little brother Clark was ready to start school, we were convinced school was working well for our family so we registered him too for public school. Alyssa set the tone. Clark was bright lad, an early reader, curious about everything, and educators recognized this quickly. He was placed in the high potential learning program early on, where further stimuli was provided to challenge him.
We did not however leave the education solely in our school’s hands. We feel that they can provide a well rounded base for our children but we wanted them to be further stimulated.
When Alyssa, and her subsequent siblings came home from school, and it’s something we still do today with our youngest children; we have a snack, we chat about our day and then the children go and spend about another hour to an hour and a half, working on their music, their math and any homework they have from school.
If you want to see how Canada’s education ranks in the world, check out this National Post article which ranks Canada number 7 . Great! but in the area of math, we still need to work harder….or smarter.
Here are a few tools I use daily to have our children practice their math skills.
We use the IXL math site, and the Xtramath program to stay on top of their basic math skills.
Also, if we are going to be out after school and there may be any waiting time between activities, I make sure to provide age appropriate material. I often print off a few of these math sheets which the children whip off quickly from the K5 learning site.
I know, I know, you would think they would learn enough math during the day but they don’t. Even though math is everywhere from telling time first thing in the morning, to baking with mom, to estimating how much snow fell overnight, it’s something we need to keep working on. Practice, practice, practice, is what I have found in creating success in math for our children.
After dinner, it’s bath and then we enjoy reading with our children, one on one and then we read in group settings. The little kids and I just finished reading, “Little House on the Prairie,” and now I’m reading, “Little Women,” to the twins. David and William cuddle together and are currently enjoying reading the “Harry Potter,” books.
Grace followed in her siblings footsteps by loving books….Alyssa used to say, “she’s a genius!” of her baby sister
In the summer we always have a family book on the go. I remember reading “Lord of the Flies,” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with our elementary age children and was happily surprised to realize they understood the underlining meaning of each book. You can never underestimate children’s ability to discern complex issues. Sometimes they get it easier than we do as adults. We complicate things and our judgments get in the way.
Clark far left with his battle of the books team…he should be smiling BIG…’cause they were the district champs, Alyssa also participated in the Battle of the Books competition and her team won for the district two consecutive years
So yeah, math and reading, ARE huge in our house.
The other decision we made early on was to ask our children to pick one physical, and one fine art activity, outside of their school hours. Although they often did more than that, as they were passionate about several things and didn’t want to give anything up. For instance, Mitchell loved cello and guitar so he had lessons in both, as well as being involved in a guitar group and the music school’s string orchestra. As if this wasn’t enough, he was also on the rep soccer team. This wasn’t uncommon for any of our children. They all learned to balance and time manage from an early age and several of them have told me that learning to do well in school, while juggling extra curricular activities, conditioned them to be able to take on a full course load at University, as well as working part time. Alyssa worked on her ARCT in piano while doing a full course load at University.
Alyssa is all smiles after a piano festival…here is a certificate for first class honours
Alyssa danced all through her childhood starting with ballet, tap and then she Irish Danced for eight years. I will miss watching her ringlets bounce to the an Irish Reel.
Above she is with a few of her Irish dancing group at a community event
Alyssa on piano, Clark on violin and Mitchell on cello…later Harrison would join them as the second violinist in a few years…here they are playing at a school event. The song was “peaceful day”….but practicing this piece had been nothing but…still good memories!!!
Over the years the kids were in various skiing programs but I think they still loved skiing together the best…except the year Alyssa hit and tree with her head and had to be taken off the mountain in an ambulance!
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If you are wondering how we as parents juggled it all, financially anyway, we had the mind set that there was no do over. Our thought was that our children would have one childhood only to explore their interests and passions and figure out what they loved, and we would have to be creative paying for it all. It’s interesting how when you commit to something, all sorts of material assistance comes your way. I also became a master at time management and organization. Some years, we were literally flying from activity to activity and we made a lot of financial sacrifices. It wasn’t easy living on one income and yes, there was stress some days but when we reevaluated with our children at the beginning of each school year what their goals are, those were the choices we made.
Mitchell juggled playing cello and guitar, and all sorts of sports. Above he’s holding an award from a cello festival and below, he’s trying out a new guitar…I miss hearing him play both
Achieving success in these areas, built self confidence and strong positive self esteem, for all of us.
An unexpected bonus to these extra activities were that our children developed deep and lasting relationships with some of their teachers and coaches. These were valuable mentors in our children’s lives. Life lessons were taught every day. For instance, when our oldest daughter was preparing for a piano festival one spring and starting to get really nervous about it, her teacher said these words,
“Alyssa, you have worked hard on these pieces and you are ready to perform them. What you need to do now is just relax and let the music out.”
We have been fortunate.
Grace graduating from preschool above. YES, I did think this was a bit much but it’s something they do at this preschool. She will graduate next from high school in 2021.
I understand why some parents choose to home-school their children so they can protect them from what could be perceived as negative experiences, such as bullying or peer pressure. Maybe they would prefer their children also aren’t exposed to ideas and concepts being taught that they may not agree with. But at some point we need to let go don’t we? At some point we need to let our children figure out how to manage in the world and also decide what ideas resonate within.
I believe it’s these moments in life, these negative, not feel great at the time moments, that teach our children the most. I WANT them to experience these too. How else are our children going to learn to cope in the world? These moments provide a rich opportunity for them to think about how they are feeling, make choices on how they will react, and how they are going to solve the problem, whether it be a bullying situation, or a social issue as a teen, or learning to advocate for themselves with a teacher.
We experienced that last one with our son Mitchell when he was 10 and 11. He had a grade 5 teacher who had a notorious reputation for being a strict, control hungry bully. We would have preferred that he be placed in a different class but our thought process at the beginning of the year was, “well, in life we have to learn to get along with all sorts of people.” It certainly was a year of growth and it had an ending that was unexpected.
Mitchell had good self esteem going into grade five and he was a straight A student. His teacher told him that he didn’t give anyone straight A’s out of principal, no matter how hard they worked…and Mitchell worked hard. His teacher was unfair, not respectful of the children and ranted on for what felt like hours to Mitchell about insignificant issues. He wanted to get on with learning.
One day Mitchell had enough when his teacher again was harshly critical of a classmate and he finally spoke up. The teacher was shocked that anyone would challenge him and a power struggle ensued. Mr. P fired back using intimidation and threats, but Mitchell kept calling him on his negative actions pointing out inequity. It was a rough time and at one point Mitchell came home telling me he had had enough. He wanted to be home-schooled. Believe me, I thought about it but in the end I’m glad that we encouraged him to hang in there.
We tried to talk to the teacher but he just denied his actions and blamed it all on an unruly class. Not getting anywhere with Mr. P. we had no choice but to take our concerns to the Principal, who I’m sure was aware of the nature of this teacher. Although this teacher had been at our school for years, he did not return the following fall and we never heard officially if our complaint prompted his removal. Many parents thanked us for stepping forward but it was really Mitchell.
Our sweet boy was always quick to recognize inequity and stand up for what was right
The point of all of this is our son learned a valuable lesson from a difficult public school situation. He learned that he could stand up and speak his truth. He also demonstrated to his classmates how you can do so respectfully and in the end make a difference.
Would I have liked for Mitchell to have had a better teacher that year.
YES!
BUT it taught me an important lesson too. That negative situations teach us more than we think and we shouldn’t be fearful of them. I have a rock that Mitchell painted that year that has the words, “respect,” “kindness,” and “hope,” on them. It a door stop in the summer time and as I whoosh in and out with my kids in my glory months, I’m reminded about a little boy’s courage and perseverance for justice.
If he hadn’t gone to school, he wouldn’t have had that in his education pocketbook.
Who knows when he will cash in on that experience.
As I write this post now, our first string, as our basketball loving son, Harrison, likes to call our first four kids, are out the door. They have now graduated and have moved off to University and beyond.
Grace, William, Kathryn, and Victoria are still on the court.
Our oldest daughter, Alyssa, graduated in 2008. She now has a bachelor’s degree in English and in Education. She was our first teacher and taught us how to be parents. She is now a qualified teacher, world traveler, writer, photographer, pianist, and so much more. She’s brilliant! (you are my sunshine and daddy’s sweet feet)
Our oldest son, Clark, graduated in 2011. He now has a Bachelor of Science Degree and plans to attend law school in the fall. Clark was given my surname, which means, “scholar,”which I find interesting as he is always on the quest towards learning. As a little blonde headed lad, he picked up every stick, rock, and bug for observation. He now teaches at our local Science Centre and encourages kids to ask hard questions and find the answers. (he was my little monkey..always curious)
Mitchell, graduated in 2014 and will obtain his Bachelor’s of Science Degree, majoring in Psychology, later this spring. Mitchell has always been a happy, looking for fun kid; wanting to try out everything. He’s also been the kids who has gone to the emergency room more than any of our other kids from all his sport related injuries. When he was little he had a commanding presence, and moved through his life knowing exactly what he wanted. When he was three years old and I was telling him to do something, he looked up at me and said, “you aren’t the boss of me.” Thank you for teaching me that I was only a caretaker of your body, until you could head out into the world on your own. You also taught us a lot about “respect, kindness and hope.” (you will always be my “bear”)
And that brings me to the end of our first string. Harrison, who won the most sportsmanlike award in basketball in grade 12. He learned a lot about being a good sport being the middle of our pack of kids. As a young child he always wanted us to play board games with us but would cry desperately if he lost. In high school though he learned a lot about the value of winning and losing during his years playing on the high school basket ball team. Our kid’s high school is well known for their strong academics but let’s just say, if you develop character more when you lose, then Harrison and all his basketball teammates are abundant in character, for they lost just about every game they played….okay, maybe not every game but it sure felt like it at times. Harrison graduated in 2017 and is currently attending his first year of Science at University, heavy to the business courses since he plans to claim that as his major in year three. One other thing I want to tell you about Harrison is that a few years ago, we got a new cherry red “LG” washing machine that played a jaunty tune when the cycle ended. When I would ask Harrison how his day went at school he would say, “LG Mom!” which translated meant, “life’s good!” Yes l’lil Piggie, life is good with you in it.
Before I close, I did want to say that our parenting started with a strong foundation and the belief that one parent should stay home. Also, we adopted an attachment- parent type of lifestyle, ie: breastfeeding, allowing self weaning, co-sleeping, wearing our babies, keeping them close and listening to their cues.
William in a rare moment where he wasn’t attached to me in his sling. The words above his head couldn’t be more true. “To our children we give two things, one is roots, the other is wings”
We found that by the time our children were ready for preschool/kindergarten, they had a good sense of trust and confidence and were ready and happy to head off to school. It’s our belief that when you provide a strong base for kids and maintain it throughout their childhood, it gives them the trust and confidence to explore their world.
Now I have to say that when William was about to start school, four years ago,I did revisit the idea of home-schooling. Interestingly enough, it was my fear that prevented me from doing so. Public school had worked for all our other children and I didn’t know if I could provide him with everything that he needed to be ready for life. He was intensely curious and extremely social and we felt that keeping him at home would limit him. I admire the families who do choose to home-school, because they are brave and in a way they are taking the roadless traveled, which I have always admired. I know that this can inspire the next generation of children to forge new avenues in life. Times are changing and this world needs the next generation to be free thinking and open to new ideas and ways of working in the world.
My final thought on the matter is:
Whatever choice we make for our children, as long as it comes from a place of love, it is the right one. ~Lee Reynolds~
I’d like to dedicate the following YouTube video, called, “Light~Sleeping at Last,” to my eight beautiful kids.
“I’ll will always hold you close, but I will learn to let you go.”
And now, as if this blog wasn’t full enough, I want to share my banana muffin recipe with you, which in my opinion, is the perfect snack to go along with a fruit smoothie when the kids come home from school.
The children took some of their muffins to share (more on the side) to their violin group class last Monday
Here are Will, Kate and Tori trying out my Banana muffins and a fruit smoothie which are a perfect after school snack
Hope’s Banana Muffins
Ingredients
3 large mashed, (ripe) bananas 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 slightly beaten eggs 1/3 cup coconut oil or margarine…melted 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup flour 1/2 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
(Topping: walnuts, coconut and brown sugar)
In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add the sugar and beaten egg. Add the melted coconut or margarine. Mix well
Set aside. In a medium bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix them well. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until only just combined….do not over mix.
Spray muffin tins and fill with mixture, 3/4 to the top.
Top with a sprinkling of walnuts, coconut and brown sugar
Place in preheated oven at 375 degree for 15 to 20 minutes. I like mine only until the toothpick comes out clean…the aroma in the kitchen as they are cooking is delectable!!!
Enjoy.
Thank you for coming to visit today.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
What does the wisdom of Gandalf, blessing today and carrot muffins have in common? Well hang in there and I will try to tie them all together. I’m sorry that I haven’t been writing more on my blog. I have been rather depressed since Christmas. Ever since everyone went back to their own lives full of wonderful experiences and interesting activities. I’ve also been sad over the state of our world.
On a personal note:
Our oldest daughter, Alyssa, (also a passionate LOTR fan…for those of you who are not, that stands for the “Lord of the Rings” which are books written by J. R.R. Tolkien) is back living and working in Victoria as a teacher and a writer. (Check out her latest post on her blog, A.R. Reynolds)
Our oldest son, Clark is working at our local Science Center and patiently waiting for law schools to knock on our door. Fingers crossed that he will be returning to school in the fall; not that I’m in any hurry for him to leave home but I know the next chapter of his life is beckoning.
Our son Mitchell, who just turned twenty two yesterday, (Happy Birthday dearest son) is in his last year of Science at the University of Victoria, and later this Spring he will graduate with his bachelor’s degree. Who knows where he will go with his Science/Psychology degree but there is a need for mental health professionals in Canada ( in the world really) right now, so I’m sure he will find this an exciting and flourishing field to continue to study, or work in.
Our third son, Harrison, who just turned 19 before Christmas, is in his first year of University and he seems to be handling a full course load of Science/business courses. I never hear from him so I know he’s staying busy with school. When I run into his friends, some who have remained in our little town to attend our local University, they tell me that from the snap chats he sends out, “he’s having a very good time away from home!”
Hmmmm…..a mom letting go moment here. I’m happy you are enjoying University life Harry.
Grace, who just turned 15, is probably the busiest of us all. While maintaining straight A’s in school, she is also working on her grade 9 piano, her grade 7 voice, she has a voice festival coming up, sings in the school choir, and plays on the school basketball team. The later came TOTALLY out of left field, when she told us back in November, that she was going to try out for the junior girl’s team. (never having played before!!!) Shockingly, she is following in her older brother Harrison’s footsteps with adept ability. During their last tournament she won, “most valuable player,”and was given a t-shirt/Gatorade as a prize. She strongly played her post position, made several baskets, including two back to back free throws and assisted numerous times. Who knew? (Goes to show we all have unknown talents and gifts)
Our son William who is eight, is no couch potato either. He plays cello, and is involved in the group string orchestra at our local music school. He is also swimming in our local swim clubs “grassroots program.” Last night he came home smiling and waving an upcoming swim meet registration form. He also enjoys being a part of the chess club at school.
Finally there are our twin daughters, Kathryn and Victoria. For six year olds, they are busy in their own right, learning to play piano and violin. Next week they have been invited to join the beginner violin group at our music school.Although we didn’t register them for another round of swimming and skating lessons, which they were doing all fall, (me smiling as that was a bit much) we have been getting them out to skate at our new and improved outdoor skating rink. I think they like it even better than lessons as they can free skate, doing whatever they want while racing their Dad and older brother Will. (Next time I’m joining them)
Kathryn
Victoria
Then there is my husband David, who doesn’t share much about his work except to say, “more projects have been pouring in,” with a grin on his face. I guess that is why he heads out the door to get to the office for 7 am each morning
David, truly my better half
So you see, everyone is busy with their own lives.
Then there is me.
I’ve kind of been floundering since the twins started grade one last September. I think I understand one aspect towards parents who choose home-schooling. It’s really a delight keeping them close and watching them learn and grow. I truly admire these families.I’ve been asked a few times lately if I home-school our children and I think I will write about our education choices in a future post and perhaps give you some links to tools and resources we use to support our children’s learning but for now suffice it to say—-
AFTER I waved goodbye to the little ones, who took the bus this morning, I decided that I HAD to break the monotony of my daily routine.
As you can see from the distant hillsides, we still have tons of snow
OR I was going to go crazy!!!
INSTEAD of coming in and cleaning up the kitchen, which was a MESS from a whirlwind morning of cooking oatmeal, making a fruit smoothie, and making lunches, (yes I should have made them last night), picking up bathroom towels and pj’s off the floor, throwing my first load of laundry in for the day, unloading last nights dishes from the dishwasher, gathering up garbage from everyone’s bedroom, and making beds; that is just a snippet glimpse into my morning routine,
I chose to feed the cat, not really a choice since he was loudly meowing that he was hungry, AND I took the chickens their breakfasts. (those chickens eat better than most people in the world, just saying) After that, I disregarded the mess and made a BIG cup of black tea, with a splash of vanilla unsweetened almond milk, took a bowl of leftover oatmeal, and headed back to bed.
I never do this!!!
Take the gentle path. ~ George Herbert~
Nope!
That has not been my path………
My oldest sister B often says to me, “be gentle on yourself.” I don’t know if she meant for me to crawl back into bed after the kids left for school but I know when she says this, she means she wants me to take life easier.
That is not in my DNA!
For some reason, the mantra I hear lingering years after my Dad died, when I was five years old is:
“Work hard!”
But…..
I think there is great wisdom in my oldest sister’s words. Thanks B! I wished I listened to them more.
But today, I’m all ears.
I am here, laptop in hand, sipping comforting tea, eating oatmeal loaded with nuts, seeds and fruit, and cuddled under my cozy comforter. Ryuuki, our Siamese cat is doing his front paw kneading routine, getting ready to curl up for a good sleep. He looks at me with his big blue eyes and says, “it’s about time you joined me in the good life.”
Ryuuki is a good teacher how to live life gently.
We should all listen to our big sisters, and our pets.
With their hateful words and actions, they draw us closer towards midnight on the doomsday clock. Thanks to these two leaders, (can they be called that???”) a panel of scientists and scholars said just yesterday that the world is as close as it has ever been to a so-called doomsday scenario. A nuclear war which will end life as we know it on earth. For some reason, I think about the Lord of the Rings trilogy set in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, when I read or hear any news about Trump and the Korean Dictator. At times, it’s so bizarre that it feels like a fictional nightmare. But this is really happening on our earth right now.
I try to look away but then my crystal ball shows me an image of my children. Small and sweet like the hobbits in the LOTR’s. William’s laughter is light and tinkling and his eyes shine with joy, and the little girls respond with giggles of mirth. Their images replace Trump and Kim Jong-un and the doomsday clock. I can see our children playing music together and hear the harmony flowing out of the ball and into the world.
Clark playing violin with his little sisters, Kate on the left and Tori on the right
And I wonder, how can a depressed, middle age mom, help to change the world, when I don’t even have the energy to clean the house today. How can I shift the darkness that hovers over my heart, over our planet, and threatens to invade my home? As I asked these questions of myself, I thought of the words of Gandalf.
“It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
And that is where my small acts of kindness and love come in….and I start to tie in the whole blessing aspect of my post.
“Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you…if you bless a situation,it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it.” ~Emmet Fox~
Blessing the circumstances we are living with in the world, is our pathway to changing it. Accepting the situation and WHAT IS, doesn’t mean we are complacent towards it. No! But it is the first step in the path towards moving forward and changing our circumstance.
In my own personal life, things are changing. My children are growing up and moving out into the world. They don’t need me quite as much. That’s a good thing. That means David and I are raising strong independent people. This is a blessing. Lately, I’ve been thinking about getting back into the work force but when I think about trying to balance everything again; work and home life, I cringe.
Is that the right path for me”
After seeing two career opportunities that interested me recently, both of which I’m qualified for, I shared my thoughts with my husband. He looked at me for a long time, contemplating my words and my desire to move down a new path but after what felt like a long time, he said,
“You underestimate your value in our home.”
Huh?
He further went on to say that everything I did at home, enabled everyone else to accomplish great things.
Wow!
I do that!
Really?
As I was in the kitchen pouring a second cup of steaming tea just now, I dropped the job ads in the recycling bin. I must admit January is a slow month. I need more sunshine. Also, I know my garden will be calling to me in a short while. I have great plans for expanding our vegetable garden. Adding a few more chickens to our flock and maybe planting a mini grape vineyard. Once spring comes, David and I will be working on our second rock wall above the pool and getting it planted. In the meantime, we have to finish the attic renovation before Harrison returns in late April. And then there is always the opportunity to work at my gardening gig from late April to mid June. My boss did invite me back at the end of last season.
There is a lot to bless today.
I sit up a bit straighter in bed, that dark ball slips further from my fingertips. And yet, that heaviness holds on like a tight strap around my heart, squeezing any happiness I may feel.
I know I’m not the only one feeling this way.
Judging from all the protest marches occurring in the States, and various places around the world, I’m not alone in wanting positive change in the world.
But what can I do about it?
So many questions….
And then something I heard recently on the CBC radio hits me. I wish I could remember the name of the guest speaker, but I was driving at the time and I couldn’t write his name down. He was a spiritual teacher who said, there is power in sending a different message out into the world. One most people wouldn’t think of but has tremendous power.
Loving kindness
Hmmmm.
During that CBC radio segment, seeds were planted in my heart and I know that by taking the time to be gentle on myself today, it loosened the straps of darkness holding me hostage. Although, I’m personally not in a place to send loving kindness to men who move through the world as ego, power hungry lunatics, I AM willing to send them a blessing.
A blessing of kindness.
If I really want to be about helping our planet earth, then it starts from a place of accepting these men are in power, understanding that we are on the brink of a pending apocalyptic event, and fear and hatred is not an effective emotion right now. These feelings never solved anything.
Blessing others and sending loving kindness is the answer. And if enough of us take a moment to bless our earth and all that is happening within it, and especially those who vex us, I know this is the key to the positive change I want to see in the world.
Who knew that the most effective form of protest was a blessing.
This is where I need to be right now.
My family needs me at home…even if I am in bed writing this morning.
Maybe it’s the way out of my depression too.
There is GREAT wisdom in choosing to take a gentle path in life. Maybe more of us need to cuddle up in bed with our cat or puppy by our side, sipping hot comforting tea. I’m blessed to have this option. But most of us can incorporate some kindness towards ourselves into our day.
No matter what path we are on, we need to take gentle steps. Steps that aren’t fraught with rocks, easing ourselves towards more joy, more kindness, and definitely more love.
Bless today!
And what does all of this have to do with Carrot muffins you may ask. When we bless our day and those in it, we bless what is. We accept our circumstances and in doing so there is a exhale of surrender. We let go. And with that letting go moment, trust whooshes in. You know that saying that the Universe can’t abide a void. When we let go, trust flows into our life and goodness follows it.
And like the law of attraction, when we live in a state of goodness, we attract more of it into our lives.
Goodness comes!
And THAT is where the carrot muffins come in.
My Goodness!
Because after a morning of writing, sipping tea, and generally, being kind to me, I filled my cup up. I’m able to give back. I’m able to send blessings out to the world and particularly to two men that I feel need a whopping bowlful of it for how they have been behaving. And for my family, well, when my kids come home from school this afternoon, they are going to smell warm spices wafting out of our kitchen and find a large red plate loaded with carrot muffins waiting JUST for them.
Yes, as Mother Teresa said, “I can do no great things, only small things with great love.” And so today, I can write about being sad, about blessing my situation, about blessing those who vex us, and about moving in the direction towards change with an expectation for only goodness.When we send love out, we are really loving ourselves.
Because if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times; “We ARE, all connected!”
Please join me in a sec in my kitchen and we can make some muffins. I need to get up now, bath and get my house whipped into shape. Gee, who knew I would have so much energy after a morning in bed! While we bake let’s listen to the following YouTube video. As I was writing this post and talking about the spiritual leader I heard on CBC earlier this month, I remembered an email I got from my sister C. (I know, I’m blessed to have THREE wise and gorgeous sisters) Anyway, I guess the Universe REALLY wanted me to get this message. The link to the YouTube video she sent is a guided loving meditation from Ajahn Sona, who I met many years ago during a weekend retreat at the Birken Monastery.
No matter what your beliefs or faith, when you come from a place of love, there is great healing.
The first time I listened to Ajahn Sona’s video and sang along with him, “All I ask of you is forever to remember me, as loving you,” I cried and cried. Tears just flowed. I was thinking about my mom, my dad, about my sisters and their families. I thought about each of our children and hoped that they ALL know, that if I said nothing else to them in this lifetime, that they hear THESE words, from me. It”s such a healing message. Then as I said these words to my loved ones, I was hearing them say these words back to me.
My sister C, I heard you gently singing them to me. Thank you!!!
And get ready to sing, and cry……if you can’t see the video below, click on the hyper-link.
I know I wove in and out of various topics today in this post, but if you remember nothing more, remember my love for you and my intention to contribute to the world in a loving way. As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you are unable to comment directly on this blog, you can always send me a message on my Facebook page.
Love is where it’s at people~the rest is just filler.
And speaking of filler…..here is my carrot muffin recipe.Let’s bake!
Hope’s Homestead Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup of carrot/apple pulp (when I made my juice yesterday I saved the pulp but if you don’t have any pulp from left over juicing use 1 cup of applesauce instead)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
2 cups flour (I like to use 1 cup whole wheat/1 cup white flour…using just wheat makes it heavy)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of grated carrots
Topping Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 allspice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
In a medium bowl mix the 2 eggs, 1 cup of carrot/apple pulp and/or 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup almond milk and 2 cups of grated carrots.
In a large bowl mix the 2 cups of flour, the 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt and the spices. (1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice)
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients but only until just combined. Over mixing will create a heavy muffin….and we want light muffins with nice texture
Place into greased muffin tins…..I fill to the top as I like big muffins. This recipe makes 18 nice size muffins.
Sprinkle the topping, sugar, spices and walnuts on top of each muffin.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes to 20 minutes…or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool slightly and then turn onto a cookie rack to cool….but only long enough to EAT!
A couple muffins for me to go along with my tea…while I edit this post
And a plate waiting for the kids to come home
As you munch on muffins, I hope you contemplate how you can take a gentle path. And as you move through your day, say your blessings.
Blessed be my blogging family!
Until we meet again, may you be well, peaceful and happy.
Have you been joining Deepak, Oprah and me in the 21 day, “Hope in Uncertain Times.” meditation series? If so, I’m so HAPPY! You are probably heightened to how the feelings of hope sustains you in your life. I can’t imagine life without it. Doing this meditation series has inspired me to write a little piece on “Hope and Me.” (And then share my banana bread recipe with you)
Maybe it will get you thinking about times in your life when hope kept you going.
I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s; a time when peace marches were common, and a book called, “Silent Spring,” by Rachel Carson, ignited the environmental movement like nothing since , “Henry David Thoreau’s book “Walden’s Pond,” which had been published over 100 years earlier. Suddenly, like a tidal wave changing an idyllic landscape after World War two, protests erupted all over the world regarding social issues, environmental concerns and race equality. What lay grounded beneath us all, was a thread of hope that if we all pulled together, we could evoke change.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will ensure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ~Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring”
John Lennon’s song, “Imagine,” was a powerful song for that era, “I hope someday you join us and the world will live as one.”
Has a lot changed since then?
Is there still hope in the world?
If you asked my son who has a degree in Environmental Science, you would think all hope is lost. I think David Suzuki shares his opinion and yet, without hope, what remains? We need to keep believing that what we do makes a difference on this earth.
Is there any other way to live?
“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost‘s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.” ~Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring.”
There was a time in my life that felt hopeless but as long as there is life, there is hope. At least we can keep moving in the direction of being conscious of our choices and deciding how we want to live our life. With hope, or without.
So, without further ado, here is my piece called, “Hope and Me.” It’s a jig saw memoir piece and if you linger afterwards, what goes really well with a little bit of hope? well of course a steaming cup of hot tea and a slice of banana bread still warm from the oven!.
Using a well- known quote of Oprah’s, “what I know for sure,” is that, hope sustains us. Somehow, lying, quietly under the surface of my childhood, the seeds of hope survived. A childhood filled with neglect and loneliness. After my father was killed in an Esso truck accident in 1965, when I was five years old, my mother, also left this earth. Oh sure, she was present physically. But my memory of her is as an empty shell, moving gently with the tide of our days. After Dad died, I also lost my safe and comfortable life.
Adding to the grief, a year later we left the only hometown I had known, ironically called, Hope. We also left two of my older sisters; one who was finishing high school and the other who had just started her banking career. My mom, older sister J and I moved to a nearby city called Chilliwack, which was named for the indigenous tribe who originally settled there and in their language it meant, “quieter waters.” I’m sure mom wanted us to make a fresh start in a city that didn’t know our sorrow, on the shores of a bubbling brook, instead of a river flooded with pain and pity. But a black cloud followed us wherever we went, always threatening to rain tears.
The dark oppressive worry of money hovered overhead as well, and when most children are ignorant of the weight of money, I was acutely aware of its lack. I will never forget when our hot water tank burst and we desperately needed to have it replaced but there was no money for that. My mother’s worried brow covered me in a heavy coat of anxiety. I can remember going to school wondering if others could smell poverty on my skin. Then one night my mom left my sister J and I, to go to bingo with my Auntie Geordie, who was also a struggling single mom. The next morning I found mom humming in the kitchen. She had won the exact amount needed to replace the hot water tank at bingo.
Mom used all her energy to keep the roof over our head, working hard at her hotel front desk clerk position. She often worked the shift that started at 4 pm so she wasn’t there for long when I came home from school and I didn’t see her in the mornings either, since she was sleeping after working the night shift. When she was home, not knowing any other way to engage with her, I would act out or be whiny. It must have been like fingernails on a mother’s chalkboard back. She would put up with it to a point and then suddenly without warning, she’d fly out of her carefully, controlled shell and yell, “Debbie, go to your room and don’t come out until you’re going to be happy.”
As a result, I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom. I would draw pictures of perfect families; starting with a tall Dad and then a bit smaller mom and finally, I would draw children, lots of children; boys and girls and babies, lots of babies. In many of my drawings, looking back at them years later, for my mom saved just about everything, I noticed there was often an angel floating above the families. Was I even conscious of drawing one hovering above at the time?
I remember on several occasions, being sent to my room rather violently, my mom grabbing a piece of my hair and hurtling me towards my bedroom door, which prompted intense feelings of anger and sadness. Feeling unwanted, I would write long, drawn out goodbye letters, hoping my mom would feel remorseful about pulling my hair once she discovered me gone. Then I would stuff my pillowcase with books, my favourite Suzy Q doll and a small, shabby pink blanket. I would escape through my open window and crawl over to the hydrangea bush in our front yard.
It was there, in the shelter and shade of that large shrub, that I would sit on my blanket, with Suzy Q by my side and we would be swept away to other worlds reading books. The ground smelled earthy and comforting and when the hydrangea was in bloom, with its large blue lacy like blossoms, I could spend hours under such graceful beauty. Eventually though, hunger would win out and I would crawl back through my window and notice my goodbye note undisturbed.
No one has missed me at all.
And such was my childhood. Books helped me escape my loneliness. Sara from, “The Little Princess,” Mary from “The Secret Garden,” and my all- time favourite, “Anne with an e, from Green Gables,” became my closest confidants. Anne said, “Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” And reading outside in the garden restored my soul, so I could endure life. I hoped that like the delicate hydrangea bush that sheltered me, that my life would one day blossom beautifully.
As I pen this childhood memory, a lifetime has elapsed allowing me to draw on many experiences. In hindsight yes, my childhood was sad and lonely but it’s always been during the darkest moments in my life that I have grown the most. Losing my dad, taught me more about life than a lifetime with him in it. And spending my darkest days under the hydrangea bush inspired a love of gardening. When I’m sad all I have to do is go out into nature and I can find my way home again.
If I had one of those childhood drawings to show you today, you would see that I am the smiling mom in the picture and beside me is a strong and tall man. My husband David is my oak tree, his branches reach out wide, sheltering me from life’s wind and rain. Above his deep roots, I blossom and thrive and together we provide a safe home for our family to grow. He is dad to our 8 incredible, deeply loved children.
They were with me when I was small, little seeds of hope just waiting underground, lying dormant until the sun warmed the earth. They sustained me.
And my mom you ask, who knew, she was with me always, in the only way that she could be and hope sustained her too. And since she has been gone for 5 years now, I’d like to believe she is the angel watching over me.
What I know for sure is that hope sustains us and I wouldn’t want to live any other way.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..The End
Well, that is one of my life pieces and someday, who knows, maybe I can put the whole picture together. Writing this blog has been not just a way to inspire others to look at ways they can live their life more mindfully, but I hope when I share intimate stories like the one above, it also gets others thinking about the dark days in their life and despite it all their roots burrowed deeper, looking for the nourishment of hope, allowing them to blossom into the person they are today…. beautifully.
And what else sustains us? Good comfort food. For me, banana bread has always been right up there on that comfort list. How about you? And recently I made loaf after loaf of it and it was consumed as fast as it was on the cooling racks, so I think I’m not alone in my feelings about it.
The base recipe I use is from my, “Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking.” Although I have tried many banana bread recipes, I keep coming back to this one. It always gives me THE PERFECT TEXTURE, that I love in banana bread. A good tip for making great bread is to wait until you have REALLY ripe bananas for great texture and taste. Not always easy in our house as we eat our bananas as fast as they come in but occasionally they do get a few brown speckles on them.
Banana Bread (Note: I double the recipe below and make two loafs as it goes FAST!!!)
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter (or sometimes I use coconut oil)
2 eggs
1 cup (2 ripe bananas) mashed bananas
1/3 cup milk (I use almond milk but coconut milk would be great too)
1 tsp vanilla (since I double the recipe, I use 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp coconut extract)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts if desired…I use walnuts and you can throw a handful of coconut in as well
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 9×5 or 8×4 inch loaf pans. In large bowl, beat sugar and margarine/butter or coconut oil until light an fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add bananas, milk and vanilla. Blend well. In small bowl, combine flour, nuts baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Add to banana mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into greased pan.
Bake at 350 F for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely, then wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.
Yields 1 loaf…16 slices.
(For a variation you can add 1 cup applesauce instead of bananas,and add 3/4 tsp cinnamon with the flour)
These were the first loaves I made recently
I can deal with anything when I have a cup of tea and a slice of banana bread, how ’bout you?
I made so many loaves that when I made the loaves in this picture, I hardly had any flour left. I only had enough for 2 cups but since I was doubling my recipe, I put 2 cups of oatmeal in the food processor and made 2 cups of oat flour and although it was still delicious…the loaf didn’t rise as high.
And for a peak into the homestead;
What’s been happening around here lately?
Lots of juicing
Lots of drinking said juice…almost forgot to snap a picture of this drink…it was so good and almost gone when I remembered to share it with you…the ginger, apples and carrots make it ZING!
The little kids have been building bridges with spaghetti at the Science Centre…I know, William Einstein!
More bridges..this time with marshmallows…Victoria Einstein!
A future structural engineer for sure…less marshmallows, more angles for strength, Kathryn Einstein!
And then the real work of late:
David starting to chain saw our 25 year old plants. If you are wanting to know what the best chain saw is for your homestead, check out this article from Mother Earth News
We are ripping out 25 year old plants from the beds above our pool since the landscape tie wall has deteriorated. Last week, David was chain sawing all the plants and those who were able, (the older boys and I) were hauling them down to our lower lawn area. Since then, we had a wonderful company in to chip the whole works and now this week it’s been all about digging up the roots and monster stumps.
Even though our son Harrison had started working at Home Depot part time, he also came out to help every chance he had. The weather has been cloudy, cold and rainy for much of April (In the picture above you can see the wall collapsing.)
Wish I couldn’t have kept all chippings from this pile…it would make great mulch for our new beds
Every thing is up, except the stumps…now the real work begins
Our oldest son Clark has been an amazing helper with regards to this project. (I’m thankful he’s been going to the gym and lifting weights all winter long!) The next step is taking down the old wall and rebuilding a new one. Then comes the fun part….replanting. This time though we will be planting herbs, some flowers and LOTS of food. I’m probably the only one planting edibles around my pool in our subdivision but it just makes sense if we are going to water anything, that it will be food. Since this area gets hot, hot sun all summer long, I think we will try to grow watermelon, cantalopes and maybe some grapes up the deck support posts.
My sister J came for a visit today, (waving Hi J…you always make my day) and asked what I will use to amend the soil since it’s currently not great. I’m going to use the “Back to Eden” gardening method and plan to mulch it heavily with wood chips, amending the soil only around each hole I dig for my plants. The cedar will eventually decompose and thereby improving the soil. Click on the hyperlink above if you want to watch the Back to Eden film.
The next project is also building some raised garden beds in our lower lawn area. The goal is to lose the grass and increase the garden space.We plan to also build 4×4 raised bed for each of the little people. One of our twin daughters, 5 year old Victoria, recently told us that when she grows up she wants to be a farmer so she can feed children all over the world. She heard that children go hungry all over the world and she doesn’t understand how that is possible. The solution seems so simple to her; just grow more food. Seems simple to me too. If we all did our part, even in our small backyards, no one would go hungry again.
What are you growing in your back forty this year?
Thanks for coming to visit. I hope something you have read here lifts you up, brightens your day and keeps you focused on your dreams. I told my sister J that I would REALLY like to write happier, more light filled posts and my next one will be that. In my next post, check out the amazing coconut cake I made recently in honour of my sister J’s birthday.
Now that is something to be happy about! Sisters and cake. Oh, there is so much good in the world!
Until we meet again, may hope sustain you, and may you be well, happy and peaceful.
“Deep quiet encircles, covering us in a soft blanket of endless peace and warmth, but underneath, something is stirring, inspiration is growing and soon it will shine it’s light.” ~Lee Reynolds~
January is still very much with us, with it’s endless cold days and drifts of snow covering our world. We are out almost daily. Work, school, after school activities, grocery shopping, all do not stop, even though my inner voice says to be quiet, still, restore myself, and listen from within. Yesterday, I heeded that call, and thankfully, it was Saturday and the day was completely ours.
There was food in the house, no birthday parties to attend, no Saturday skating lessons, no basketball practice, and my husband David was out of town on business, and not beckoning the kids to ski with him. Besides, a few of the kids have had an annoying cough that lingers and lingers. I had kept Will home from grade one on Thursday and Friday to see if he would recover faster. A day relaxing, doing whatever our heart desires was appealing. And so we all went with it.
After Harrison”s successful bread making session the previous week, and our children’s quick consumption of said bread, I decided it was my turn to create some comfort food. I didn’t want to make plain ‘ole bread again though. I wanted something even more memorable. That is when my eyes found the cinnamon in the spice cupboard.
. “The spirit of delight comes in small ways” ~Robert Louis Stevenson~
Memories of Christmas holidays past flooded through me as I recalled baking cinnamon buns with our oldest daughter Alyssa, who for the last 2 years has been in London on her grand adventure. Ever since she was a year old and still small enough to fit in my kitchen sink, we have been baking cinnamon buns together on Christmas eve. Watching her delightful smile as she bit into the first mouthful of bun, made the day long baking effort worthwhile. When I think of her, I think of books, cats and cinnamon.
My mom Ethel was a lover of cinnamon too. I can remember as a teenager, mom taking plain old bread, spreading butter on top, sprinkling sugar and cinnamon and toasting the pieces in the oven until the house was rich with a spicy aroma. She would cut the bread in strips and I would dunk pieces of cinnamon toast into decadent hot cocoa. Those were the days we lived in a century old home in the Creston Valley. Some of my favourite childhood memories were from my days living in the Kootenays.
From experience, I know it’s those simple things that create a memorable childhood. Something I desire to create for my children. And so, while we don’t live in an historic house, just a 25 year old California rancher, that has been renovated to appear “old school” inside, we can make lasting memories.
I know we can still create that feeling with food, music, candles lit at dinner time, and old fashion entertainment, like playing cards, telling stories, curled up in bed reading books and something my kids did all day yesterday afternoon as I baked….building with blocks.
If you want to join me in making 3 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread, scroll down, but before we start to bake I wanted to share a few exciting events that have come across my path in the last week.
Moments of Inspiration
While at the little girls “Strong Start,” program last week, I was talking to the teacher and was asking her what she had planned for the upcoming Spring. One of the things she was excited about was a program called, “Hatch a Chick.” With funding money, she has arranged for fertile eggs to be brought into the class where they will stay warm in a table top incubator. The eggs remain in the class for 21 days, until they hatch. Once the chicks have hatched, they are put into a brooder box with a heat lamp and they remain in the classroom for 5 days to allow the kids to observe them. At that time, the farm from where they originate, takes them back. I had heard about this program last fall and I have been hinting, STRONGLY, that this is something I wanted to do. (our local Teach and Learn store provides these kits)
Later that same day, I went in to pick up William from school and I started chatting with his grade one teacher. During the conversation I happened to ask if she knew about the, “Hatch a Chick” program and she became very excited and motioned me over to her laptop computer. On the screen was a sticky note that said, “order chicks.” I had to laugh over the timing. It never fails to surprise me when the Universe presents an opportunity that will bring a dream of mine to fruition.
I went home and asked David if we could purchase the program for the grade one class (saving Will’s teacher from having to ask for funding and maybe being turned down) AND if we could keep the chicks for our urban homestead once hatched. He was not thrilled. Sadly, he doesn’t share the same urban homesteading dream that I do. Yes, he likes the idea of growing more of our own food, he likes helping our environment by using less water, less non-renewable energy resources, he likes us composted our garden and kitchen wastes and recycling materials. He likes when we really think about our needs from our wants and consume accordingly. But when it comes to living animals….he is a reluctant urban farmer. It’s true the kids want pets but they aren’t thrilled about cleaning kitty litters or feeding their animals.We don’t have a dog but I’m sure it would be a fight to get them to walk one. When I assured him that I would be responsible for the chickens, he agreed. Sometimes your inspiration may effect other people and you have to figure out what they need to make it work for them.
So dear blog readers….I am excited to say, we are going to finally move a bit closer to becoming even more sustainable by having chickens in our urban backyard. FINALLY! Our subdivision is actually in a rural part of our larger city and the motto is, “rural living at it’s best.” I don’t exactly know what that means. Bigger lots perhaps, more privacy maybe, but for me it’s going to mean space to have some CHICKENS.
I will blog about it more of course as we are now talking about chicken coops and appropriate chicken runs, cool automatic watering systems and feeders. I have about 50 books on hold right now at our local library and I’m excited to plow through them all. I had no idea there were that many books even written about urban chicken keeping. The chicks are due to arrive around the end of April to the first of May…hopefully plenty of time to get a home built for them.
Another moment of Inspiration
The other thing that came up last week, is a writing workshop that I read about in our local paper. Right away, I was intrigued and knew I had to attend. When I read the facilitator is from Hope, B.C. (where I was born) and her writing has been inspired from that locale, that clinched it for me. The current book I’m working on was inspired by my time living in HOPE. Literally and figuratively.
In addition, the premise for the workshop will assist me in getting down and finishing my novel. But you know in your gut when things are right and everything is lining up don’t you? I felt little bubbles of joy bursting forth as I read the day of the workshop is on the day when the little girls schedule is free. For 4 year olds they are very busy. Swimming, skating, ballet, kindermusik and usually a morning at their Strong Start program as well.
Now all I needed to arrange was someone to care for them. I forwarded the workshop information to my husband and when he came home from work that night, he had not only booked off work so I could attend the workshop, but he had signed me as well.
Then there was a hiccup and I thought it wasn’t going to work for a bit. I received an email saying I was on the wait list. The promoters had apparently received more interest than they had planned so they finally decided to run a second session but the day I was interested in was totally booked up. I was sad but hopeful and finally, I received word that one participant had decided to move to the other day, freeing up room for me. I was JUBULIANT! Things work out when they are meant to be.
Then there was one more moment when I knew everything was perfect. Why I still need this sign I don’t know but David and I had gone to Harrison’s basketball game mid week. We had dropped him off early and we had a 1/2 hour to kill before the game. I suggested we drive over to a local coffee place and pick up a coffee for him and a latte for me. Now, this may not be a big deal for most people but we don’t treat ourselves normally. I was thinking how we could better spend the money. It all adds up. I was thinking about the deposit I had put on the chicken program, on my writing workshop and frankly I was concerned about money.
With these thoughts swirling in my brain, David and I returned to the high school gym and looked for a place to sit on the bleachers. The first section was already full when we arrived, so I motioned where we could go with my latte cup in hand. We climbed to the top of the bleachers so I could sit against the hanging gym mats and that is when I noticed something silver and shiny, sparkling behind my seat. It was a dime. Of course!
For those of you who don’t know me or who haven’t read my blog, I have to tell you that when I was de-cluttering and on my minimalism path last spring, I was finding dimes, EVERYWHERE. I took them a sign from my angels that we were moving in the right direction and money was always flowing into our lives. When I picked up this dime and showed it to David he just smiled. The next day David found out that he would have to go out of town for work on the weekend and of course, that would mean extra money coming into our home. Again, I am never surprised by how the Universe is ALWAYS working for the greater good, sending me inspiration and signs along the way that I am on the right path.
Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness.
~Dr. Wayne Dyer~
Interestingly enough, I have been reading a book that my sister C had recommended last year. It finally came available from our local library and again, I couldn’t be more surprised over the timing. The book is called, “Big Magic,” and is written by Elizabeth Gilbert, who you may remember is the author of the popular best selling book, “Eat, Pray, Love.”
I loved that book. Recently, listening to CBC, I heard that some people thought it was too “navel gazing” which I thought was interesting. Maybe I’m not such an intellectual reader, as I thought it was uplifting and a sweet story.It made me want to cook authentic Italian food, and learn to speak the language, it made me want to meditate for long stretches and practice my yoga, it made me want to appreciate the love of my life a little bit more because, unlike Elizabeth who had to travel to Bali to find her love, mine has been walking closely beside me for most of my life. Sometimes we have to look into another person’s life to see what is in our own backyard.
Anyway, like “Eat, Pray, Love,” I am enjoying, “Big Magic”…..creative living beyond fear.” What is most timely about this book is that I’m currently reading it while living in the deep peace of winter, quiet and calm, but open to any and all opportunities the Universe is sending my way. Inspiration is always at my doorstep. Always knocking, asking, do you want this, experience that, adventure there? It’s up to me to be grateful for these opportunities and remember to always be thankful. To graciously say, “No, that isn’t for me,” or “yes, yes, YES, I wish to do or have that.”
I believe we are souls first, living an earthly experience. We have free will to make choices but if we stay connected to our soul, and shut out our ego, we are able to tap into the most creative part of ourselves while following life’s inspirations. We can be our best selves and live our greatest life.It’s all up to us.
Living IN SPIRIT is the true magic.
And now, it’s time to bake. Years ago, we had a bread maker which I thought was the cat’s meow….does that expression date me? It was great when we had a family of 4 but now that we have a family double that size and more, one tiny loaf of bread doesn’t go far. I gave our bread maker away years ago, as it was just sitting in my cupboard. I have learned to make homemade pizzas, homemade dinner buns, and over the years I would occasionally bake some bread, but I never found the perfect recipe, UNTIL recently. I have now moved into the realm of baking bread ever since Harrison made it last week for our family. Those four loaves of bread went faster than Will sledding down our driveway. .See my post called, “Sledding Soup and Homemade bread.” for the recipe.
Yesterday, I made something that I know will become a family favourite. I found the recipe on Foods.com website. When it was called the best Cinnamon Raisin Bread and received 5 stars, I thought that is exactly what I have been looking for. I was not disappointed……..here’s the link, “World’s Best Cinnamon Raisin Bread.”
I’ve written out the recipe on my blog with pictures so you can easily follow along….if you haven’t baked bread yet and want to make something that will surely be a winter comfort food, I hope you try this recipe….BE INSPIRED!
1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 eggs
1⁄2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup raisins
8 cups all purpose flour…I used 6 cups of white to 2 cups of whole wheat)
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted (approx.)
Directions
Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat.
Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees.
4. Dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1 tbsp of sugar…..yeast doesn’t activate without sugar) and set aside in a warm place until the yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes.
5. Then mix in eggs, sugar, butter, salt, raisins, and add the cooled milk slowly so you don’t cook the eggs.
6. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
7. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, until the dough is smooth…a bit glossy
8. Place in a LARGE, buttered mixing bowl and turn it to grease the surface of all sides of the dough.
9. Cover with a damp dish cloth and let rise in a place without drafts. I allow mine to rise on the counter next to our stove…under our upper cabinet lighting….they give off a warm glow….allow to rise for 11/2 hours until the dough doubles
10. Once it has risen…..roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle, 1/2 inch thick.
11. Moisten the dough with 2 tbsp of milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.
12. Mix 1 cup of sugar and 3 tbsp of cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly over the top of the moistened dough.
13. Roll up tightly,…the long way.
14. The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.
15. Cut into thirds, and tuck ends under and pinch bottom together tightly.
16. Place the 3 loaves into well greased pans…9×5 size and lightly grease tops of the loaves…..you can use Crisco or butter to grease the pans and grease the tops
17. Let rise in a warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour (This recipe can make 4 loaves as well….I just baked another batch and rolled it out a bit longer and cut the dough into 4 sections….it made 4 nice size loaves…great…..as it gets eaten REALLY fast)
18. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (the original recipe called for a 45 time but my new oven is efficient and did the bread perfectly in 30 mins….WATCH CLOSELY…if I had waited for 45 minutes my bread would have been really dry) or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped.
19. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack
20. Melt butter and spread on the tops of the loaves with a brush.
21. After about 20 minutes, lay the loaves on their sides and remove from pans.
22. Allow to cool completely before slicing….one loaf was almost gone by the time I remembered to take a picture for my blog…..these loaves go fast! and 22 steps is WORTH IT!
My older son said this bread reminded him of our cinnamon buns…..so I think we found a winner. As I write this, we are down to our last loaf….and the kids are looking forward to having cinnamon raisin toast for breakfast tomorrow morning. Wish you were here for breakfast!
Want future inspiration? Over Christmas I stumbled across a cool couple who are living with their family of 5 off grid. Recently, the homestead wife, Esther, made bread and you can watch her on their Youtube channel. Their site is called, “Fouch-o-matic Off Grid.” I’d love to introduce you to this lovely couple who make me happy and inspired whenever I watch one of their videos. Check them out and help support them by subscribing to their channel.
If you can’t see their Youtube video below, click on this hyper-link…..
Oh sweet January. In past years, I haven’t embraced it as fully as I am doing this year. Each month seems bittersweet and the days are flying by all too fast for me. I thought I would slow things down a bit and say yes more.
Yes, to staying in bed on Saturday mornings, luxuriating in the slow pace that I have created. Yes, to curling up in my favourite chair, sinking into a good book, while my little ones are engrossed in playing a game of their choosing. Yes, to letting all the kids head outside for one more play in the snow, even though they “should” be practicing cello, piano or doing home work.
I can hear them laughing and shrieking with glee as they slide down our driveway. It’s snowing too hard to stay on top of shoveling it. I can nest inside, making a pot of aromatic chicken and wild rice soup….and maybe there is still a loaf of homemade bread to accompany it.
This feels so good, savouring another winter month and experiencing all the senses of the season. Shorter days, full of white and dark. Magical moments watching the snow gently fall, feeling the excitement bubbling from our little ones as I bundle them up for another adventure making snow forts, snowman, and of course, their favourite, sledding in our yard. Does life get any better than this?
No matter where you live in the world, you can choose to make the days richer. Slow them down by saying yes to what you love.
Today, I made the most delicious chicken and wild rice soup. It was amazing. Now I make a lot of soups. Almost every week in the winter I make at least one big pot and lately, I have been experimenting with whatever we have in the house, THAT, is what goes in the pot. This makes for some interesting combinations. Today, since a few of our family members have had a persistent cough, I thought what we needed was an old fashion chicken and rice soup. Easy on the tummy and apparently, chicken soup is good for colds.
It was just what we all needed. I pulled out the last loaf of bread Harrison made on the weekend. He had made 4 loaves and there is one loaf left…. it’s only Monday. Then I threw together a green salad and voila…dinner was served. So say yes to sledding….or whatever you do in your part of the world and say yes to making a big pot of heart warming soup with homemade bread. It’s really that easy.
Hope’s Chicken and Wild Rice/quinoa Soup
Ingredients
*1/4 of extra virgin oil * 3 chopped garlic cloves *1 finely chopped onion *1/2 cup chopped celery *1 cup sliced carrots *3/4 cups all purpose flour *10 cups of chicken broth *3 cups of wild rice/quinoa *1 cup of cooked and cut up chicken *1/2 tsp chili powder *1/2 tsp cumin powder *1/2 tsp mustard powder *1 tsp dried parsley *1 tsp dried basil *Sea salt…to taste *Ground pepper to taste *2 cups of milk Optional….I used what I had in the house….but had I had some fresh mushrooms and broccoli….I would have chopped them and put them in….use what you have……what you LOVE.
Directions
1. Throw one chicken breast into the oven and cook for 45 minutes at 400 degrees
2. Cook 1 cup of wild rice/quinoa…equates to 3 cups once cooked
3. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot, stir in garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for 5 minutes until onions are translucent. (If you have mushrooms….add them next…saute for another few minutes.
4. Add flour to the pot and stir well. Gradually add the 10 cups of chicken broth.
5. Heat well, bringing almost to a boil…reduce heat and simmer while the chicken and rice and quinoa is cooked.
6. Add the cooked wild rice and quinoa, along with the chili powder, cumin, mustard powder, parsley, basil, pepper and salt.
6. Once the chicken is cooked, cut up into small pieces and add to the soup pot.
7. Add 2 cups of milk and heat through…simmer until you are ready to eat.
And now for the recipe for the bread that my 17 year old made on the weekend…..he is taking Foods 11 on line and this was his first foray into bread making….the loaves turned out beautifully!
Harrison’s Homemade Bread
Ingredients Lots of flour….roughly 5 cups of white….1 cup of whole wheat…keep mixing until it’s the right consistency 5 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon salt 4 tablespoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup of sugar 4 cups of lukewarm water Directions: (note these are Harrison’s directions) Add 4 cups of lukewarm water to bowl, add ½ cup of sugar.After mixing water and sugar together add 4 tbsp. of yeast.Let proof for 10 minutes.
Once yeast is bubbly and frothy… add 1 tbsp. of salt, 5 tbsp. oil, stir, then add flour 1 cup at a time, until you reach the desired consistency of dough you are looking for.
Now turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until you get a smooth ball of dough that is not sticking to the table at all.
Next, grab your second bowl, lightly coat it in oil, and place your ball of dough into it.Cover, and let rise for 1 hour.You are looking for your dough to at least double in size.After the dough has risen, you will punch it down, and turn it out onto a floured surface again.This time we are going to divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll them into a log shape to fit in the bread pans.
Grease your bread pans with butter, place your dough in the pans, cover them and let rise for half an hour.Then put your bread in the over at 375F for 25 minutes.Flip them out of their pans, and apply a very light coat of butter to the crust of the bread. This is to keep it soft, and to not dry out.
The little ones came in from sledding and had their hot cocoa with Harrison’s homemade bread….January is SWEET!
Our oldest son said this was one of his fav soups…high praise!
While the soup was simmering, I made a batch of oatmeal/raisin cookies, full of spices. The house smelled marvelous!
Sledding in new snow, baking bread and making soup……..
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
“Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.”
~Henry David Thoreau, quote from Walden~
I’m one of those writers that needs to totally immerse herself in life to have anything worthwhile to say. Only in doing that, do I come back to myself. Henry David Thoreau needed to escape to Walden’s pond and connect with the simple rhythm of the world in order to find himself. I on the other hand, need to be enveloped in chaos, before enlightenment captures my soul.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here. You know you have found your passion in life, when time is meaningless when you are doing what you love, or when you are where you desire to be. For me, when I’m with my busy family, deep in the garden or sitting on my yoga mat, I am inspired. What is your passion…when are you on kairos (heaven’s) time?
When there is so much to say, the words fly off my keys and my heart sings. It’s been such a busy fall, helping the kids transition back into school, and adjust to their extra curricular activities. I have hardly had a moment to contemplate life. In living it, the richness rushes forth. This is really two blogs in one since so much has occurred. Is it REALLY the middle of November already? Well, if you have a few minutes and want to catch up on life around here, grab a cup of tea and join me. First, here are some images that encapsulate fall 2015.
Grace and Will off to catch the bus in October…thankfully it stops at the bottom of our property!
The little girls started ballet this fall and they love to dance…everywhere! Victoria who couldn’t skip when she started worked so hard and in slow motion she went around the house, knee up, hop on straight leg, foot down, lift other knee up, hop, foot down….finally she got it and now skips all the time.
Will started cello lessons this fall and this time, I’m learning with him on Mitchell’s cello…we are working on hot cross buns and twinkle twinkle right now
We celebrated David’s birthday just before our Canadian thanksgiving weekend
Found this car wash in Surrey B.C. when we went to the coast to do some shopping….we call Harrison, “Harry.” I made David go around the block to capture this picture of our Harry and “Good Clean Fun!”…if you knew what a great sense of humour our 16 year old has….you would totally understand…plus he’s a great kid!
While we did take the kids to the coast to do some back to school shopping…yes I KNOW we were late for that…but anyway, the little kids hated shopping and the only redeeming thing was finding this dog mannequin at the Old Navy store.They could care less about clothes…hence you see them wearing the same dresses and leggings in this picture that they always wear, ….but you know, kids really get it….you don’t need a ton of clothes, just fun experiences in life.
The best part of the trip was going to Stanley Park in Vancouver to see these beautifully carved and painted totems
The really sweet things in life….making memories with family
David savoring being at the edge of the ocean…..our life’s happy place…this is English Bay in Vancouver
A moment before capturing this picture, Grace was at the edge of the beach and a rogue wave covered her feet, drenching her in cold water. She recovered nicely enough to smile for this picture
Harrison and Will were finding rocks to skip
A highlight of being at English Bay for the little kids was meeting a dog named, “Gracie May.” She wanted to play ball with them but she was very strategic regarding when she would drop the ball. They loved her and her owner was kind to let the children play with her….she said Gracie May enjoyed them very much too by the smile on her face and wag of her tail..
Our last day at the coast and this picture outside of our hotel which also happened to be the same one we came to in the summer when I had my eye surgery….I love Holiday Express for families…..the kids loved the breakfast room and the pool
On our drive home we stopped at Hope, where they have the cheapest gas, and also happens to be where I was born and lived for the first 6 years of my life…..do you like the name of the restaurant? That’s sometimes how I feel about my kitchen back at home….drive in and out. ….I love the mountains behind the building…something about mountains and trees is very comforting…we are like Salmon…we return to the home where we are born!
Well, those are a few pictures of moments from fall 2015.
For the last two weeks, blog inspirations have been pouring into my brain, however life endlessly over shadows my ability to sit down and write. Finally, it’s a somewhat quiet Saturday morning. Ha! The kids have been fed. Not by me, but by David, who had to get up early to have the winter tires put on our van. This is one of those chores that are in the guy realm as far as I’m concerned. Not that I don’t know how to change a tire, thanks to my brother in law J, who taught me by making me rotate the tires on my first car many years ago. It’s just that I would prefer not to sit around a drafty tire dealership on a Saturday morning and for some reason this doesn’t bother David.
Anyway, the little kids are still in their jammies playing, and by the sounds of it are having a rousing card game of “Fish,” in the family room. As I type, this is what I can hear, Will: “Do you have any 8’s?” Girls: “Go Fish!” Will: “Kate, you do SO have an 8 because I just saw one.” Kate; “Ohhhhh okay,” and then silence. The little girls are just four but they have known their numbers since they were 2….I would highly recommend introducing the leapfrog “Numberland” DVD to your little ones if they are interested in learning numeracy. Kids naturally like to count things, their collection of rocks, their teddies, their cars….Anyway.
Where was I? oh yes, after a lovely bath, where I was able to linger for a decadent 10 minute soak before guilt enveloped me, I thought I’d better get dressed. I gathered my thick, white spa like robe if you will, around me and was planning to get dressed but entering our bedroom, the ruffled and comfy looking bed covers called to me. I plunked down on our yet unmade bed, pulled my laptop out form underneath, where I had left it the night before after doing my 21 day mediation with Deepak and Oprah who are with me, each night before going to sleep. (check out the link…this month it’s on….become what you believe)
What we believe about life and ourselves has tremendous power…believe life is sweet and you will receive only that…a sweet life
Once I had the laptop turned on I madly start to type, my fingers flying on the keyboard. There is so much to share and so little time.
My son Harrison just passed my room and asked, “blog?” and I uttered ahum….hopefully he will entertain his brother and sisters with some more card games, while he eats his breakfast and I can get this written. It can’t wait another day.
First, since it’s been so long since I wrote, and this is a “homestead blog,” I wanted to share with you something that has saved me a lot of time putting my garden to bed this fall. When the nights became too cold and my plants were obviously not producing any longer, (end of Oct here) I harvested what I could salvage. I picked the last of the tomatoes, peppers, brought in my spaghetti squash and pumpkins, dried as many herbs as I could; parsley, rosemary, oregano, basil, lemon balm, peppermint, sage etc. and picked the last of my kale, spinach, swiss chard. Which in short order, will turn to mush otherwise and I want to have my “own” organic greens for my fall smoothies. I also was mindful to save more seeds, like my beans, pumpkin, squash, and flower seeds that I wanted to grow again next year. Both marigolds and nasturtium are easy to direct sow in spring. This sounds like a lot but in actuality, I went out for an hour or so each day and accomplished a lot in 2 weeks.
Careful to save some pumpkin and squash seeds to plant next year
I put my surplus pumpkin seeds in a large bowl, added some olive oil, garlic powder, cumin and a bit of real chili peppers….see peppers also drying to the right and dried them for 8 hours….what a yummy snack full of fibre! Next year I’m going to double the spices though….more garlic…but then I like more garlic on everything…maybe some nutritional yeast would be a nice cheesy taste too.
(Check out this blog for the benefits of eating pumpkin seeds…The Sprouting Seed)
After this final harvest and gathering, I cut down my plants and let them sit and begin the decomposition process for about a week. Once they withered to 1/2 their size, I transferred the remains to my compost bin. All of our pumpkins also went into the compost bin….it’s AMAZING how much a square bin can hold. I finally ran out of room though so rather than bagging it and sending it off to our landfill, I waited until the remaining crops had decomposed a bit more and gently dug a few holes in my garden and raked everything remaining into the hole. Then covered it up with dirt. (none of these plants were diseased)
leaves on top of our many pumpkins…this will make such great soil for next year’s garden
I also mowed my lawn as late as I could, catching the grass clippings and also the leaves that had fallen, which saved a lot of raking. These mulched down nicely and again, I gently dug a few holes. This time into the part of my garden that needed more amendment. The denser soil with rockier aspects would really benefit from this mulch. When I started my garden several years ago, it was hard to find a worm, but over the years by using this method each fall and also adding grass mulch around the plants throughout the growing season, I found that my soil is now rich with earth worms.
The black plastic compost bin that we use for composting kitchen scraps was also full, so I decided to also dig a few extra holes and over the last few weeks, I have been putting my kitchen scraps along with some raked leaves in the holes and also covering them with soil. This process is called, “trench composting.” and is very effective.
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to drop a bucket full of kitchen scraps; egg shells, potato and carrot peelings, the core of apples and pears, banana peels, David’s coffee grounds. It puts a smile on my face because not only am I feeding my worms and all the various other organisms in the soil but I’m saving my landfill from needless waste. To think of planting my next year seeds and started plants into rich, fluffy soil is thrilling to me. Am I weird?
I want to also thank my sons Harrison and Will for digging in the last of the garden waste. I had left many of the tomato plants for them to dig into the ground and it was really lovely watching them work together in the garden. Sometimes it’s good not to do it all yourself!
Anyway, if you are wanting to save yourself some time this fall, think about how you are putting your garden to bed and cleaning up your yard. Make it easy for yourself and follow Mother Natures lead….let in lie where it falls.
So when I wasn’t out doing fall chores, I was in the house doing some fall clean up and de-cluttering. As you know I did our big sweep towards minimalism last Spring but with 8 of us currently living in the home, I have to be diligent, as all sorts of things creep into our house. Plus, the kids grow out of clothes and I like them to be passed on to others. Several times I took a big bag of clothes to the goodwill and also to some friends who have younger children than ours. It’s always a nice feeling to clear house and know things aren’t going to waste sitting in a box somewhere.
What else was going on this fall, oh yes, Halloween. This year, I was really wanting to keep the expense down but the little girls didn’t want to wear anything in our dress up trunk, even though I tried valiantly to persuade them into being princesses, AGAIN. Thankfully, Gymboree had all their costumes on 50% off and we picked up a cute garden fairy and butterfly costume for something that I felt was reasonable. Plus, the upside is they can wear them for dress up all year and then hopefully switch costumes that the other didn’t wear next year.
I wished I had had better lighting…my old camera had broken early this fall and most of my fall pictures are not great….but you get the sense of their costumes etc….Kate is the butterfly and Victoria the Garden Fairy
Will was harder to convince. He didn’t want to be a knight, a pirate, a king, a ninja, or a wizard, all costumes we had in stock. When we took him to the store he couldn’t find anything he was remotely interested in until one day, driving by the 7 Eleven, he asked yet again if he could have one last Slurpee before winter arrived. I uttered the words he knew were coming, “sorry NO,” but suddenly a light went off and I uttered these words, “Will,….. would you like it if I made you a Slurpee costume for Halloween?”
His face lit up immediately and said excitedly, “Yes, that would be GREAT!” Then, as I continued to drive, I wondered how in the heck was I going to pull this one off. Thank heavens for “Google,” and the fact that I was not the only parent in the world who had the same idea.
Here is one picture I found that gave me the inspiration to use a pool noodle for the straw and tulle netting material for the Slurpee frothing out of the top of the cup…. I used the Medium size Slurpee cup as the model for Will’s cup design
Although ours turned out nothing like anything I saw, nor were the materials the same. Our costume cost less than $10.00. We used two full sheets of blue poster board, inserted some white paper on the sides to give the cup some shape, rolled white paper and taped it at the top to resemble the cup lip. I then hand drew and cut the cup’s design from construction paper we had on hand and printed off and glued the 7 eleven logo on the cup. It looked really authentic.
Sorry again about the light in this picture…did I tell you for my birthday I got a new camera?…but sadly I have missed capturing some great shots of Will’s Slurpee costume….but this one does give you the idea
(As much as my little guy loves a good slush drink….here’s the down low on them, sugar is the least of the negatives…7 Reasons to never drink Slurpees)
The final touches were adding the red tulle netting coming out the top of the cup and yellow straw (pool noodle). Finishing it all off, I painted the words, “so Chill,” on Will’s cheeks and the costume was complete. He wore it to his school’s costume parade on the Friday before Halloween and had many compliments. I think I accomplished my goal of keeping some of the costs down for our kids, to celebrate what they have come to think of as the most fun “holiday” of the year.
Sadly, this is the best picture I have of Will….of course he was just hopping around here before going out on Halloween…it’s hard to capture a Slurpee blur even with the best camera.
I’m not so crazy about Halloween. It’s not the idea of it being spooky or anything like that. Some parents I spoke to before the event said they didn’t approve of it for religious reasons. Another, said she didn’t like the idea of kids going around begging for candy…although it doesn’t have to be candy is what I told her…it can be a pencil, some stickers, a bag of healthy popcorn. I remember as a child loving to dress up in something that dragged along the ground appearing older than I was, in disguise if you like. Also, it was just plain fun being out when it was dark, the air crisp and cold with the pungent smell of burning pumpkin in the air.
The day before Halloween I decorated our front door with pumpkin lights, a new black spider (made from a black garbage bag stuffed with newspaper….the legs are strips of garbage bag and are really scary as they blow around at night) and some cobwebs…oh and of course we had pumpkins scattered every where in our front yard. We are also one of those houses that play scary music…..sounds like the soundtrack to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
As a parent, I’m just not a fan of the sugary treats. Now I know that is part of the allure for children. It was for me too as a child, although my bag was usually full of apples, peanuts in the shell and those stick in your teeth caramel kisses. I’m dating myself. Of course apples would get thrown out now for fear of razor blades and peanuts are a complete no, no, due to nut allergies being so prolific. But there has to be a middle ground right?
Although as a parent, we can all choose how to handle the candy once received. One parent I know buys the candy, in exchange for a toy. Another set of parents I know, put all the candy into a communal pot and only pull it out once a week on their family movie night. And yet another parent told me that she lets her kids have totally autonomy over their treats. She felt that taking away sugar would only create a hyper desire for it and it would be good for them to learn how it feels to overdose on it. She was using it as a teaching moment….by the way, she is a health care nurse.
All these ideas were interesting. What we have chosen to do over the years is talk to our children about what we love about Halloween and what we don’t. Teach them about the downsides to sugary treats and how it adversely affects our bodies even though it tastes good. My mother lived a good long life and I like her motto…”everything in moderation.” Upon coming home from trick or treating, we let our children sort through the treats and then we help them choose a few treats they could eat during our fireworks display which is held at the beach below our house. Since we live in the sub-division right above the beach, we have first class seats for this affair. It’s the highlight of the evening in my books.
It’s also been our tradition to make my classic sugar cookies, sometimes a pumpkin pie or carrot cake. If we know we are having friends over we make a big bowl of homemade popcorn and invite them to join us for the viewing. This year Grace had a friend sleepover since it was a Saturday night. After the fireworks, they had a hot tub and then went down to our Hobbit’s hollow media room to watch a scary movie.
My classic pumpkin sugar cookies….and the little ghost Will had made in his grade one class
This year Grace made up her own costume, she was dressed up like a scary Victorian doll…although her ringlets had already dropped in this picture….she is on the left if you don’t recognize her. Apparently she wasn’t scary enough as several of our neighbours told us that they saw her when we came around with the little kids
Well, that was our Halloween….but getting back to the sugar, it seems like the smaller the child is, the more our neighbours heap upon them. They get extra if they have a great costume too. So our little ones ended up with a lot of treats. After they emptied their treat bags, I put the candy into a large basket for each of them and after dinner each evening, instead of having our usual dessert of fruit, or baked goods, they got to choose 2 candies. What I liked about this was right after eating their candy, they had their bath and their teeth were brushed before bedtime story time.
What I didn’t like about it was that our son Will, who seems to react quickly to any onslaught of sugar, was a bit wild during bath and teeth brushing time. Thankfully, by the time we all pile into bed for story time he had settled down but David and I always steeled ourselves with tons of patience for what we knew was coming after the consumption of sugar.
Then this past week, yes 10 days to 14 days after Halloween 3 of our youngest 4 came down with colds/flues despite the fact that I had started giving them their fall/winter dose of cod liver oil. Each year it arrives like clockwork. When I went to the school this past Thursday to pick up Will after he had thrown up, (apparently he had coughed so deeply that this had occurred) I came upon our school Principal who was cleaning up the aftermath, (the janitors don’t work during the day apparently) and I told him that I was so sorry but it always seems to occur 10 to 14 days after the start of the big consumption of Halloween sugar. He agreed that the sugar doesn’t help the immune system one bit.
Yesterday Grace stayed home from school. A child that normally has perfect attendance and last night after reading stories, Kate promptly threw up on my bedroom floor as she was heading off to bed (thank heavens we have wood floors!) By the sounds of the kids this morning, everyone seems to have recovered nicely. Will still has his cough but they are all making enough noise to assume they are well. Isn’t it amazing how fast kids start to feel better. They have their usual BIG energy back which makes me happy but it has inspired me to write a post about sugar….it’s merits and it’s downside. It’s really NOT the sweet part of life but our food industry makes us think it’s nothing.
Before the kids had even gotten sick I was doing some research on the topic and found a great documentary produced by our CBC’s Fifth Estate. A production called, “The Secret of Sugar.” It was so well done they even won an international Emmy award for the documentary. Although I knew that sugar wasn’t good for our bodies, or our brains for that matter, after watching this documentary it was truly alarming that our food industry is being so insidious and has no conscience with regards to our children or human kind as a whole. It’s all about money isn’t it?
If you haven’t watched this, I would encourage you to do so and with our mass buying power we can perhaps influence food production and the ingredients that go into our food.
Here’s the link..it’s fascinating. (See the hyper link above if you can’t click on the link below) to see “The Secret of Sugar.”
Now after this eye opening documentary, I thought I would share a link to an article on the best sugar alternatives. Some people don’t realize there are other choices to sugar other than perhaps honey. You can choose to use agave nectar, black strap molasses (which most of our grandparents used) or maple syrup and then there is also raw cane sugar which is not as refined a white sugar but still not any better for you. Something I know my oldest daughter would approve us is dates to sweeten anything….one of her fav treats are dates. Personally, the closer to nature our food is is the healthiest choice and then perhaps reducing the amount we use and getting accustom to a less sugary taste.
I have to laugh after saying this, because on Remembrance Day this past week, I made a big dinner and then baked pies for dessert. Something my family hardly ever gets. I paid a lot of attention to making the apple pie because I haven’t made many apple pies in my life, but when it came to the pumpkin, I kind of threw it together as I have made dozens of these over the years. I am kind of known for my excellent pumpkin pies, sorry if that sounds kind of braggy…the key was using more pumpkin pie filling and less sugar in my books.
Anyway, I was so proud of these pies and after dinner many decided they were going to have a piece of each but when my family dug into the pumpkin they all made a face. I had chosen to have just a piece of apple so I didn’t know what they were talking about until I took a little taste and then I flashed back to my pumpkin mixture and realized, I had totally forgotten the sugar. It wasn’t bad per say….just, well, really pumpkiny and not what you would expect. Me laughing, remembering Grace’s face after taking a big bite.
So the point of all this is it’s nice to make some of our food taste a bit sweeter for a treat, but each of us has to decide how sweet and what we are going to sweeten our food with. If I had had enough maple syrup on hand, I think I would have added that to my pie for a change and I’m sure it would have enhanced the flavour beautifully.
Here’s the link to Best Sugar Alternatives article and I’m prefacing it here before I give you my pumpkin muffin recipe so you can choose what you want to put in your muffins…maybe a healthier choice than sugar.
And now, if I haven’t spooked you into baking, I’m going to share my pumpkin muffin recipe. I made it for my children’s pajama day at their Kindermusik class. I wanted something that was breakfasty as their class is later in the morning and also something that said, “this is autumn time.” It was the day before Halloween and the little girls were getting really excited about dressing up in their new costumes.
Victoria is all dressed for jammy day and ready to go to her music class…she is an admirer of muffins
The girls eating the muffins later in the morning at the music school’s Kindermusik class
My kids are starting to look a bit orange as they have been eating a lot of pumpkin, squash and carrots this fall…..maybe they would have gotten even sicker had they not be pumped with so many great foods. (not to even mention all the green drinks we consume) I guess what it all comes down to in life is balance. Healthy foods and always making choices to move towards a better option, not just for our health but for the benefits of our children’s growing bodies.
If you want to try a really great harvest type comfort food…try these moist muffins. Hope’s Pumpkin Muffins
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour….use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white
1 cup sugar….refer to sugar alternatives link above….this recipe would be great with honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 nutmeg
1/4 cloves
2 eggs or egg alternatives
1- 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin
1/2 cup of vegetable oil….my sister J would probably love using coconut with this recipe
1 tsp of vanilla or maple flavouring extract
handful of walnuts to garnish the muffins….omit if serving to people with nut allergies
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Lightly spray 12 muffin tins or place 12 paper liners….if I’m serving my family, I omit the liner to save a tree…okay a branch but it all counts…I line if taking outside the home
1. In a large bowl, add dry ingredients; flour, sugar, (if using honey or other wet sweetner…add this to the wet) baking soda, salt and spices and mix really well.
2. In a medium bowl mix the eggs to a froth and then add pumpkin, oil and flavouring extracts….add the honey or maple syrup etc. if choosing to not use refined sugars.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well without over mixing. For light, airy muffins stir until everything is just combined.
4. With a large spoon fill 3/4 of each muffin cup. Place a whole walnut on top
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick…I use a turkey skewer (again to save that tree) comes out clean.
Once done, let the muffins sit and cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then gently remove muffins from each tin….let cool on a rack. Serve warm with hot tea or cider…..nothing says harvest like a delicious pumpkin muffin.
They are so easy to make….good thing as they don’t last long
My number 1 food critic, thumbs up for the muffins
Well harvest time is over, Halloween is over. It’s time to settle in and get ready for longer nights. Time to reflect on the year and the abundance of sweet memories.. Our family is already on the mend and hopefully we are wiser and will continue to make better food choices. Maybe this is something we can all work towards. For the good of our health, our family’s and for the world.
Each Halloween David carves a pumpkin for each child….this year we had one extra!!!…don’t get excited we are not pregnant….we had an extra pumpkin given to us…the more the merrier I always say
Before I end this blog, this is a very special day in our family since my brother in law D has a birthday today…so….Happy Birthday D!. You bring sweet music to our family.
My sister C and my brother in law D…..Happy Birthday!
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
~Henry David Thoreau~ Walden
Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and most of all…healthy.
“Hence I cannot be silent, and indeed I ought not to be, about the many blessings and the great grace the Lord has deigned to bestow on me.” ~Saint Patrick~
And oh, like St. Patrick’s quote above, “I’ve been surely blessed!”
Stepping away from de-cluttering for a moment, to celebrate the up and coming St. Patrick’s Day, I also take a moment to remember my grandmother, (my Dad’s mom, Flossie,) who was born in Canada to Irish Immigrants. They had left Ireland to find new opportunities for themselves and their children. The Kilfoyle family, raised 6 children in their new land and I’m here, their great granddaughter, a century later to remember them and my heritage.
I’m singing in the kitchen because David came home from his trip out of town late last night and one of the first things he did for me today was to repair my dryer. Yeah! I couldn’t be happier. Isn’t it funny how things you normally take for granted, all of a sudden become a big deal when you don’t have them any longer? I’ve missed my dryer AND my husband this week. (I am blessed~thank you~)
Hanging our laundry on our deck and on our standing drying rack all week, really took me back to a simpler time. A time when laundry was hard work. I certainly felt a connection to my great grandmother Kilfoyle, who with 6 children must have done her fair share of laundry.
So as I’m humming happily this afternoon, I’m gathering the ingredients for my version of Irish Stew, some Irish soda bread, and for “bessert,” (little Victoria’s term for a treat) I’m making apple sauce cake from an old recipe that I have. It compliments the meal nicely.
The day is blustery and the lake is filled with white caps. As the little ones play outside this afternoon, (it’s Spring Break) please join me in making a delicious Irish Stew.
Okay, let’s start chopping for that is the most consuming thing about making Irish Stew. Do you want a cup of tea? ….now I’m using beef and not a lot today as you know I’m on the road to being a vegetarian but also a minimalist, ha. The traditional Irish stew would use lamb and I understand from my daughter Alyssa, who is in the U.K. teaching, that there are sheep everywhere. For this Canadian, beef is more readily available and besides I just couldn’t eat lamb anyway. (no judgement for lamb eaters out there)
Hope’s Irish Stew
Ingredients
2 tbsp of olive oil 2 pounds of beef..(I used a sirloin cut…add more if you want it really meaty) 2 medium white onions 2 stalks of celery 4 large carrots, chop into round bites 1/2 of a large turnip chopped into bite size pieces 10 medium sized potatoes..chopped into nice chunks 2 cups of stewed tomatoes 4 ounces of tomato paste 1/2 cup flour 4 cups of beef broth Salt and pepper 1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce (I use Lea and Perrins) 1 tbsp rosemary 2 bay leaves 2 cloves of garlic fresh parsley for garnish…it’s just starting to grow in the garden now Directions
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add beef chunks and cook until brown. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a saucepan, add onions, celery and garlic. Cut until translucent. Add flour and mix well.
3. Add tomatoes to the browned beef, along with all seasoning and worcestershire sauce. Finally, add.the onion, celery, garlic and flour mixture.
4. Add beef broth and tomato paste to the above
5. Add potatoes
6. Add carrots and turnips
7. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer on low for 2 hours or until the veggies are cooked
8. Serve hot with a sprig of fresh parsley on top.
While the stew is cooking, you can make the Apple Sauce cake and the Irish Soda bread.
Start the Apple Sauce cake first, since it takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook and it needs to cool before icing. That is, if you choose to ice it, as it’s very moist and lovely plain.
Apple Sauce Cake
This recipe came from my Robin Hood flour (no sift) baking book that is falling apart since I use it all the time. It’s packed with great recipes. This recipe book was given to me by my mom…..thanks MOM!
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp allspice 1 cup chopped walnuts (can also use raisins which I would love but my kids would not enjoy as much as nuts…your choice…what does your family prefer?) 1/2 cup soft margarine…part butter 3/4 cup brown sugar…use 1 cup if making your own homemade applesauce 1 egg 1 cup applesauce (it takes about 3 medium apples to make 1 cup of applesauce)
Directions
1. Grease and flour an 8″ inch square pan 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F…or 325 if using a glass pan 3. Measure and stir thoroughly all dry ingredients. Add nuts or raisins 4. Cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar gradually. Beating well after each addition. Add egg and beat well. 5. Add the dry ingredients alternatively with the applesauce until well combined. 6. Turn into prepared cake pan, spread evenly 7. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the your toothpick comes clean. This can vary depending on the moisture in your applesauce. Cool really well and serve plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or whipping cream or you can ice it with a butter icing.
I iced the cake and replaced some of the milk and the vanilla extract with Baily’s Irish Cream liquor (we buy little bottles for just this occasion)…yummy and perfect for St. Paddy’s Day
While the cake is cooking, make the Irish Soda Bread.
Remembering the Kilfoyle’s, Irish Soda Bread
This bread goes really fast in my house as it’s has a lovely texture. Consider making two loaves.
Ingredients for one loaf 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tbsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp white sugar 4 tbsp unsalted cold butter 1-1/2 cups buttermilk….if you don’t have buttermilk, here’s how to make it at home 1 large egg Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour an 81/2 round cake pan 2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. 3. Cut the butter into the flour very gently until it resembles oatmeal 4. In a small bowl, gently beat the egg and then add the buttermilk, stir to combine thoroughly 5. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and then pour in the buttermilk-egg mixture. Combine the two mixtures, stirring very gently with a wooden spoon until it forms into dough. It will be wet and sticky. 6. Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and generously dust it with flour…you may want to have a cup of flour close by to dust your hands and slowly work it in to this dough. Very gently form the dough into a ball and then transfer it into the prepared cake pan. 7. Lightly press the dough so that it spreads to the edges of the pan. With a sharp knife, cut an “X” into the top of the dough. Bake for 30 minutes. 8. Remove from the oven when the toothpick comes out clean Enjoy warm with a bowl of Irish Stew
It’s DINNER!
Mad rush to the kitchen as everyone has worked up a great appetite today. Thanks for joining me this afternoon.
And here is what it looks when it’s all pulled together.
The photo is of my great grandparents, The Kilfoyle’s and their 6 children
And it wouldn’t be a great Irish meal without a glass of ale…sorry no Guinness here but we do have a good glass of stout beer….
“Slainte Chugat!” which is cheers and good health wishes from my husband David to you. He really needs a good strong ale since he he has been working 12 hour days for a week now and yesterday he put in a whopping 17 hours as he worked all day and then drove home from up north, Just in time to fix our dryer, declutter his dresser and closet (that is what he was doing when I was cooking today) |and now when I’m writing my blog, he is putting the little people to bed. Do I love this man!
What are you going to do on St. Patrick’s Day! Wear green, (so you don’t get pinched) and maybe you will make a big pot of Irish Stew. Irish blessings and……
And before I close, I thought I would share a great you tube video I found of some very talented fiddlers. You know I have a soft spot for strings. My son Clark said he’s going to play some Irish fiddler tunes for me on St. Paddy’s day, but until then, I hope you enjoy this video. If you can’t click on the video below….click on this hyperlink. Traditional Irish Music, Lilla Akademien’s violin ensemble
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Thanks for popping in as I’m excited to share a few tips I have discovered on my early “moments” towards minimalism. The first one became very apparent to me yesterday when I woke up bleary eyed from a brief four hours of sleep the night before. (I had been writing my first blog about minimalism and finally posted it at 3 am)
Some people have asked me where I find time to write with our busy life with currently 6 kids in our home and two others that I try to stay connected to outside the home. Well…..
Like anything that is important, I find the time. I love to write and although for most of my life as a mom, I have put my needs at the bottom of the list, over the last decade I have learned that this doesn’t have to be the case.In fact, having this mindset is actually detrimental to our family as I get crabby when my needs haven’t been met. I’ve put myself last for so long however that even a tiny bit of “me time” can fill my bucket to over flowing.
I have found time over the years to go to my yoga classes, take a few evening courses, and even have the occasional long walk all alone. On days when the kids and house needed more attention, even doing a few yoga poses or sun salutations perked me up. My writing though is something that I really have to make a concerted effort to create time for daily/weekly, in order to release all the ideas and thoughts ready to erupt from my brain.
I paid the price yesterday though when I was surviving, yes that is an appropriate word for yesterday on only four hours of sleep. And like any day around here, it was jam packed and I needed to really be in the game.
Have you ever noticed that when you don’t get enough sleep, nothing seems to go right for you. Life is full of obstacles and shadowed with difficult moments, almost like the fog that clouds your brain. Things that you normally find solutions to in milli-seconds takes minutes, or longer.
Therefore, my TIP # 1 for beginning a minimalist journey is to NOT be minimal with regards to your sleep. This is one area that you need a huge amount. A bit ironic, that on the path to being a minimalist, you NEED something big in your life. But yes, sleep is one of them.
As I whipped through the house while the girls were at preschool and perhaps “whipped” isn’t the best verb to describe the way I cleaned the house yesterday morning, I took a large basket with me so I could gather up things on my path that I knew for SURE we didn’t need any longer. I noticed that my decisions for those things were slower than I believe I could have been, had I been well rested. Plus, my pace was definitely slower than my usual speedy, efficient self.
As a previous, fitness instructor, I have a mind set that my house cleaning can be a form of work out. As I bend down to reach for something, I do a squat, as I travel up the stairs, I run, sometimes taking two steps to really work my legs and give me a burst of cardio. When I’m making beds, I lift the sheets way up high, shaking them to air them out but also working my arms and shoulders. Okay, you get the idea and often people have said to me, after hearing I have 8 kids, “wow, you’re in great shape.” I don’t really know what they expect a mom with many kids to look like, but I often reply with a laugh, “my kids are my personal trainers and having a large family requires more work so that may explain why I may appear fit.”
I digress, the point is, that optimum sleep is paramount, if one is to be an efficient minimalist.
The other thing I also noticed was that I wasn’t eating the best. The morning started with me just grabbing an apple as I headed out the door taking Clark to the University bus, then back home to gather up the others, taking Harrison to high school and then Grace and Will to elementary school (yes, I know not very environmentally conscious/green, all that driving, but Grace was downhill skiing with her class yesterday and she had a lot of gear to take to school) and finally I had to take the little two to preschool. Upon returning home, AT LAST, since I was moving slower than usual, I didn’t stop for a good breakfast but plowed right into the work. Cleaning the kitchen, gathering up laundry, making beds. Yes, not eating… is not the best idea.
Since Will had invited a friend over after school, I made special oatmeal cookies, loaded with trail mix type filling. I also made a large snack plate to be brought out of the fridge when they arrived home later in the day. It had cut up veggies and fruit, some crackers and cheese and of course several of these large cookies on the plate. It was close to 11 am so I raced back to preschool.
After collecting the little girls, we went to the recycling center to drop off all the bottles we had accumulated and then the library where many of the books on minimalism were on on hold for me. Can I say enough about our library? I LOVE IT!….and although I love books, I can see that as long as I’m close to a library, I can let go of my books.
Here’s what I picked up;
Yeah!.. the book above will be an easy read and down below is a link to one of this author’s youtube videos.
The book above was written by the two guys I wrote about in my last post….although they don’t share the same lifestyle that I have (with a large family) I really like them. They remind me of my nephew, E, who lives in Vancouver in Yale town and enjoys a lovely very urban lifestyle. (he also has a minimalistic approach since he has a studio apartment.
The book above is written by a woman who is a mom like me….I listened to an interview she gave on the web and she had such a down to earth manner that I really resonated with….I’m looking forward to reading her book….
and because I knew that part of my quest for minimalism had to do with my diet, I also picked up these books as well. AND
I love Deepak….as you know I participate in all the group meditations that he and Oprah put on….there is one coming up again in March and the focus will be on “success.” Check out the Chopra’s center to sign up.
After lunch (I fed the little girls but didn’t stop to eat) we went to pick up our University son and brought him home as he was going to greet Will and his friend V, after school, while I picked up Harrison from high school, collect Grace and all her ski stuff and then take her to her swim club session. To keep me going, as I was in and out of the house driving kids around, I grabbed a few of the cookies I made and a little bowl of fruit and veggies.
When I finally came home, as I was making dinner, I ate another cookies, okay, maybe two. Then, since I was still starving, I basically inhaled dinner not really “aware” of what was going in my mouth as I chewed and as we all hurriedly talked about the things each of us had on our plate for the evening.
After dinner as I was cleaning up, I knew I still had a full evening ahead with bathing the little kids, telling stories, working with Will on his reading, checking in with Grace on her homework, tucking in little people, making lunches, you get the picture and since I was running out of steam, I opened the box of chocolates that D had given me for Valentines as I was cleaning up the kitchen….I ate one chocolate and then two and finally three!!!
I said goodbye to Harrison, with a mouthful of chocolate. He was off to play another basketball game and since I had attended the one the night before, I let David see last night’s game. Then after the game, Harrison had asked if he could go to the February Valentine’s dance at school. Thank heavens I didn’t have to get him to those activities but since my number one helper, “my husband” was out for the evening, it was up to me to pick up the slack. So to keep going, my body ate another chocolate as I yelled for Will to start the bath water running.
That brings me to TIP #2 beginning the minimalism journey. After reading everything I just wrote, you probably are thinking tip #2should be ridding ourselves of activities….but no…that will have to be something we consider down the road. In these early days, my tip # 2 is, prepare healthy meals, eat slowly, savour your food and even if you have a busy day like I had yesterday, be mindful of the moments when you are eating.
On this journey, I want minimalism to create fuller, richer moments in every aspect of my life and getting sufficient sleep and eating consciously, with joy for I do love food, these must be the foundation for my life to flourish.
No matter your lifestyle, I would think this would be the base for a good life but in addition to North Americans having a lot of stuff cluttering up their homes, I think it’s safe to say that we as a society don’t get enough sleep. We certainly don’t have the best eating habits. (what do you think?)
After I put the little ones to bed, I quickly performed all the evening chores I needed to do in order to allow our morning to flow smoother. Then exhausted, I went to bed. Even though I was very tired, I started reading the new book I had picked up from the library, “Clutterfree with Kids,” by Joshua Becker. While it was very interesting, by 9:15 my eyes were really heavy. I set the book down, sprayed some lavender mist on my pillow that my sister C had given me, put some peppermint drops from Saje that my other sister B had given to me (because I used to be addicted to Vicks under my nose at bedtime….a story for another day about clearing up our addictions) and I dropped off to a blissful, deep sleep. Oh sweet dreams.
I woke up this morning refreshed and ready and excited to start a new day. The first thing I did today was take my green powder drink, make some oatmeal/quinoa cereal and I brewed a pot of Mother’s Helper tea from David’s Tea and while I sipped my first cup, I made some bran muffins. The cookie jar is still packed with the cookies I made yesterday but today, I ‘m going to have a good bran muffin as a conscious, well deserved snack before we do the piano and voice lessons, the basketball practise etc. (yes we do have to do something about the activities)
As I write this blog, it’s later in the morning, I’ve done my morning chores and while the girls play with their dollhouse, I thought I would pass on these two tips to you.
Get enough sleep and eat healthy meals and snacks
Well I’m off to do some deeper cleaning with a large basket under my arm. My intention is to start my deep cleaning with the thought, “do I need this and do I love it?” foremost in my brain. Wish me luck!
Hey and before I close I thought I would share the bran muffin recipe I have been using for years. It was the first muffin recipe that I ever made as a newly married woman. I hope you like it too and in a way, it’s kind of appropriate for the minimalism path since it clears out your colon REALLY well. Nothing like the feeling of cleaned out inside too right?…okay maybe too much information but hey…..when we start talking about paring down, shouldn’t we also be thinking of what is inside us as well?
Hope’s Minimalism Bran Muffins 11/4 cup of flour….I use 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of white flour 11/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 baking soda 1/4 salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 ground nutmeg 1/4 all spice 11/4 cup milk…..almond, rice, cow…whatever you prefer…I like almond 1/4 vegetable oil….or coconut is great too 1/3 cup molasses 1 egg 1/2 raisins 11/2 cup of a bran type cereal……I have used All Bran and that is I believe where I got this recipe years ago….of the cereal box
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together
2. In a large bowl, combine cereal and milk. Let stand 4 minutes or until cereal is softened. Add oil, molasses and egg. Beat well. Stir in raisins.
3. Add flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Portion batter evenly into 12 lightly greased muffin-pan cups.
4. Bake at 400°F about 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean
These muffins will help keep things moving…..I also like to sprinkle some ground flax on top of the muffins before they go into the oven and that really helps me stay regular.
Oh….and one final tip as it goes with helping things in your colon get flushed out….drink water~as you are working through your stuff. In fact, often during the clean up, you may reach for food as a distraction, but instead, drink a full glass of water, nice and slow and appreciate how far you have already come. Be SIMPLY GRATEFUL.
If you want some more minimalist inspiration, check out this youtube video by Joshua Becker (more joy on owning less) who wrote the book that I’m currently reading, “Clutterfree with Kids”. He has a typical American family with 2 kids and is now a minimalist. (Note: he does talk about his spirituality in the longer video above…click on the hyperlink above to see it. When he references God etc, it may be interesting to watch your reaction. For me…..I think the road to minimalism can create more time for us to contemplate our connection to Source and our soul’s journey….unless you don’t want to that is….as my older son says…..becoming minimalist can allow more time for no reflection at all…..just being)
Well, I’m off to tackle my spice cupboard….what are you working on?
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
I’m back! After a month long hiatus from my blog, I want to declare I am well. My computer however needed serious healing with the local computer geeks…but it now seems well too. While it was being repaired though, I was able to plough through my latest book club selection by Caroline Myss called, “Entering the Castle… Finding the Inner Path to God and Your Soul’s Purpose.” (This book was inspired by St. Teresa of Avila, who was an extraordinary 16th century saint and contemplative master. She wrote “The Interior Castle” which was a guide to finding your soul.) A glimpse into the writing from this book……
“Contain your experience with the divine so that it does not escape you but rather shapes you. Be silent. Silence will help you avoid engaging in the games of competition and illusion that regularly seduce us in the outside world. Silence also helps you avoid distraction. It helps focus the busy mind—the mind that always has to be doing something, thinking something, the mind that always has to be otherwise engaged lest it become introspective and allow the soul’s voice to override its own. The silence I am describing is a silence that you use to contain the grace you receive when you enter the Castle of your soul. This quality of silence allows you to engage in discernment. You carry this silence within you, even when you are with others. It allows you to hold your center amid the chaos of your life; it keeps you clear so that you do not do or say things you will regret or make decisions out of fear.”
Caroline Myss
Source: Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your Soul, Pages: 38-39
Our book club meeting was cancelled last night because our hostess, L, had a houseful of sick children and an ailing husband. (I have been there!) That’s okay, as it gives me more time to go back and work on some of the “soul work” that the book suggests. Do you ever find it interesting that when you are working on connecting with the divine, that stuff comes up to make you work all the harder to align yourself and your actions with your highest self? WEtLL, I have had a boat load of crap hitting the fan around here all month and I am very conscious of how unsettling it is to me. I guess that is the thing about raising your vibration. All of a sudden you are hyper-sensitive to negative energy fields AND how you are reacting to them. Let’s just say, I have been caught up in the drama a bit more than I would have liked. Okay, here is where I breathe in and whisper “Om” and exhale slowly.Peaceful breathing. I’m not going to go into details over everything that has transpired, for there is always something in life to suck us in and take control of our sacred self and don’t we love to vent! In retrospection, I’m so grateful for the blue screen which signaled the shut down of the hard drive on my computer, for I wouldn’t have taken the time to REALLY read this deeply moving book or been listening to my soul which is gently reminding me that all is well. In our darkest moments, the brightest light shines. Although I was aware that the key to communing with my soul was practicing a daily ritual of silence, meditation, and prayer, this book reaffirmed what I already knew and helped to get me back on track. It carried me through some rough patches this month. In the past, my prayers have often started with a thank you, but then they would go on asking for protection for my family, friends, and world. While reading “Entering the Castle,” I have come to realize that within the walls of my castle, I am always protected. There is NOTHING to fear. My prayer is now just a humble thank you. It is a blissful thank you. It is a tearful thank you, as I’ve been reminded that I am perfect exactly as I am and always, ALWAYS loved. All is well. On this earth school, we get side tracked as we bump up against walls and try to figure out how to scale them. We forget that the draw bridge to our castle is always down for us to cross and we can enter at any time to be restored and filled with the love that is waiting there, just for us. Then when we re-emerge to our “real life,” we are over flowing with light and love and wherever we go we shine.
I’m going to spend a lot of my weekend in my castle, restoring my energy. In silence, as much as one is able with 6 children in residence. In quiet contemplation throughout the day. I may head out for a walk in nature sometime throughout the weekend and then when my legs are tired, I’ll return home to make myself a pot of spicy chai tea. My favourite thing to drink this time of year. Maybe I will even whip up another batch of cranberry orange scones.The last batch I made last week were literally inhaled. A favourite room in my castle is filled with floor to ceiling dark wood bookshelves, loaded with books. A crackling fire is filling the room with light and on either side of the fireplace are comfy chairs. Between the chairs, is a small table, perfectly suited for a tray with a pot of tea and a plate of scones.
It is there, when I sit opposite my soul and open up boxes from my past. Memories of humiliation, hurt and ridicule. It is there I empty the boxes, letting go of fear, anger, and scorn. Not just inflicted upon me, but also when I was the perpetrator of pain. I become humble. My wounds finally heal and divine grace overcomes me. Peace and a sense of of belonging fill me and a connection to all things in time and space overwhelm me. Tears of gratitude flow. And then I leave that room after saying a thanksgiving prayer and open another door, peeking into another castle room where more soul work can take place.
What does your favourite castle room look like? What restores your soul so you can heal and go out into the world and fill it with more light? You are not alone.
Princess Victoria and Kathryn in their castle in our family room
Before I close, I want to share my delicious scone recipe with you so you too can whip up a batch and perhaps while you are sipping your tea and enjoying a scone, you will think of me and know you have a soul companion while you are on your journey. Your soul’s journey. (BTW..scones are a Scottish quick bread originated between 1505 and 1515. Scones are named after the Stone of Destiny (or Scone), the place where Scottish kings were once crowned…….kind of an appropriate thing to take into your castle is what I was thinking)
These scones were eaten quickly while still hot, yummy!
Hope’s “Castle” Cranberry Orange Scones Ingredients 2 cups of all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar and then 2 tbsp of sugar for topping 1 tbsp grated orange peel 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/3 cup cold butter 1 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup orange juice (I squeeze the orange that I used for the peel)…save 1 tbsp for the glaze 1/4 cup half and half cream 1 egg 1 tbsp milk for the topping Glaze recipe 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar 1 tbsp of orange juice 1 tsp of cinnamon…Alyssa loves this addition Directions In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, orange peel, baking powder salt and the baking soda. Then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Set aside and then in a smaller bowl combine cranberries, orange juice, cream and egg. Add to flour mixture and stir until you have a soft dough. Pour onto a floured surface and then knead gently. Pat dough into an 8 inch lightly greased pan…I use my cake pan. Brush top with milk, then sprinkle with the sugar. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Let sit for a few minutes and then turn over onto a wire rack. When slightly cooled, drizzle the glaze over the warm scones. Cut into triangles, serve nice and warm,,,,and don’t forget to set aside a few to take into your castle with your pot of tea. “Let your Castle become a sacred ground beneath your feet. Live the power of your soul. Listen to and follow the voice of your soul. You are not alone. No higher purpose in this life exists than to be called into a mystical relationship withe the divine.” ~Caroline Myss~…last page from the book
“Let nothing disturb you Let nothing frighten you All things pass away God never changes Patience obtains all things He who has God lacks for nothing God alone suffices.” ~Saint Teresa of Avila~
Leeds Castle in the U.K. (interestingly, as I was writing this blog post, my daughter unbeknownst to me was touring Leeds Castle…WOW!
And all manner of things shall be well~
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful. Blessings from Hope
This is what the lake and surrounding hills looked like on Christmas day 2014..so much for a white Christmas
And then, this was a picture from our deck yesterday, January 5th, 2015. Looks like winter is finally here
And not only has winter finally arrived but yesterday and today were SNOW DAYS!
I don’t remember a time in the last 20 years when we received so much snow or there was a snow day declared, although in 1998 we did have a snowy Christmas. That was the year that Harrison was born on December 19th. It was also the year that my husband D. brought Harrison and I home from the hospital on the 21st and then promptly went to bed with a terrible flu. He didn’t get up for 10 days and when he did, he had a terrible cough for months later. Our oldest, Alyssa, said she remembered that Christmas being really snowy and it was probably because with a new baby in the house and a sick husband, I had the three older children, then 8, 5, (almost 6) and 2, (almost 3) outside a lot helping me shovel the drive-way…although being still young, they were probably sledding in our yard.
Anyway, it’s been a while since we had a snow day. D, couldn’t even go to work on the first day so what did we do?
Well, the little kids did some colouring in their new books.
Will tried to read a really funny book he received for Christmas…
And Clark and Harrison shoveled….
And shoveled…..
And Shoveled…..and these were just a few of the pictures I snapped of them digging us out.
Of course D and I also took our turns. After all we do own 4 snow shovels so this white stuff is not unheard of…but we don’t usually get such a large snowfall all at once.
The four younger kids loved it and were thrilled with their first SNOW DAY break.
So let us remember this early January snowfall. Both Mitchell, who is back at University and Alyssa, who is in London teaching, are not going to experience sore aching backs from shoveling this year. We miss them both a lot!
I loved having two days added to the end of our holidays where we could just hang out, get used to waking up earlier and I was able to wrap my head around the fact that soon it will be business as usual…back to school, basketball games, piano lessons, jazz band practice, preschool, swimming,…well you get the picture. A busy life.
This time was an extension to the magic I felt over the holidays. Snow, pure and crisp laying a blanket on the world and for a moment we could breathe deeply and be still.
Me, in repose on the sofa, looking down the lake, while sipping some hot tea.
Of course I also took advantage of the fact that I didn’t have to drive kids anywhere. On Monday, I un-decorated the house…is that a word…”un-decorated?”
It’s always kind of sad taking down decorations, as I love twinkling white lights all over the house. Normally, I’m usually in a rush and pack everything away quickly but on Monday, I was able to linger over the sentiment that our ornaments hold. The Popsicle stick ornament, shaped like a tree with a picture of Alyssa holding our cat Ninja….the fall of 2000. We had to say goodbye to our dear Siamese cat and you could see the tears in Alyssa’s eyes in the picture and the love in Ninja’s.
Then there was my Hope Angel, given to me by my best friend Tamara while we were trying to conceive and a soft white teddy with silver thread in memory of our soulbaby we lost the next Christmas. The Christmas of 2002 though, had a little angel holding a sign that said, “It’s a girl!” That was the Christmas, Grace Elizabeth arrived. I put away golden cello’s and wooden violins, little girls in ballet shoes and on skis, little teddies kicking soccer balls and playing basketball and then there were the 6 stars, representing our 6 children at the time. Of course, we had to buy two more when the twins were born in 2011.
It was a joy, going down memory lane and carefully packing away all the Christmas decorations with care. Then while shoveling the driveway late yesterday, I noticed something in the snow and when I went to pick it up it was a snowman ornament holding a pair of skis. On the skis it said, “Clark, 2000.” He would have been involved in the Nancy Greene Ski program that year and it was our custom to choose ornaments based on our children’s hobbies or interests. It must have fallen off the real Christmas tree, as we were taking it out and putting it in the snow bank.
A memory from Christmas’s past and our oldest son who was downhill skiing
This truly was a beautiful tree….of course I say that every year!
Today, we did more shoveling and the boys put the Christmas tree boxes (10 Rubbermaid) down in the crawl space. I had all the kids strip their sheets on their beds and in between washing clothes and bedding, I made yummy muffins. This is a recipe that my sister J really liked as there is a delicious crumble on top of them. If you are looking for a great berry muffin recipe check this one out….
Hope’s Fruit Blast Muffins…for a large crowd Ingredients 3 cups of flour….I use 11/2 cups of whole wheat and 11/2 of white flour 11/2 cups of sugar…again, I use half brown sugar and half white 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp baking powder 2/3 cup vegetable oil….coconut oil is very nice 2 eggs 2/3 cup of milk (whatever you want, almond, rice, cow) 2 cups of berries…I used blueberry today but a mixed berry blast is lovely Then for the topping…add the following to a medium size bowl 1 cup of brown sugar 2/3 cup flour 1/2 cup of cut up butter 1 tbsp of cinnamon Mix them all together with a pastry cutter…or a fork
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin tins or line the cups
2. Combine 3 cups of flour, 11/2 cups of sugar, the salt and the baking powder.
3. Place the oil into a 2 cup measuring cup; add the eggs and then enough milk to fill the cup.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and then fold in the blueberries.
5. Fill the muffin cups right to the top and then sprinkle the topping mixture
6. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven or until the toothpick comes out clean. 7. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 5 minutes and then put on a cooling rack….enjoy warm.
Note: This recipe made 22 big muffins…but if that seems like a lot…you have to try them…they disappear really fast…and of course you can always take a few freshly from the oven to your neighbours, who may be feeling kind of isolated and “snownly”
Muffins are ready guys…come on in and warm up.
Make muffins and they will come…..
Well, tomorrow our kids go back to school, from our kindergarten son to our University son, all classes are scheduled to be going. The little girls go back to preschool and after school, the avalanche of activities begins anew. Am I ready for the New Year? Not really. The holidays and this snow day experience reminds me that slowly down is precious. I wish we could have snow days, every day, but maybe we can keep the feeling of unwinding, and turning inward all year long. It’s an idea.
Wishing you a year full of snow days.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful
This was a shot from our deck at 7:30 this morning…our first snowfall of 2014
To put you in the mood as you read this blog post, play the following YouTube video clip. It’s from one of my favourite Christmas movie’s called, “White Christmas.” It’s called, “Snow.” (click on the hyper-link if you can’t view below)
Snow, white and fluffy, reminding me of the ivory snow flakes I put into my homemade laundry soap, softly drifted down from the heavens last night. I felt the possibilities of such in my bones, as I went to pick up the children from school yesterday. At the time, only heavy wet rain drops were plopping on my windshield but later, when I had to take Grace to her Christmas choir rehearsal, it had changed to the white stuff. Oh the first snowfall of the year is glorious.
I LOVE snow. A peaceful feeling and memories of childhood envelope me, as I’m in awe over our first snowfall. One of my favourite memories from childhood, was being bundled into my red one piece snow suit and going outside with my family to play in the snow. This was when we lived in Hope, B.C., back when my Dad was still alive. We made a massive snowman, taller than my dad and he even had a lap for me to sit on. Pictures of me with my three older sisters and Dad, and of course our snowman, are treasured photos now.
The smell of crisp, cold winter days also fill me with joy, as I remember the times when my step Dad, Bud and I would go and feed our horses. As our green Ford truck would come into view, our horses would lift up their heads and snorts of mist would puff from their noses, as they sauntered over to meet us at the gate. My horse, Blondie’s velvet nose would push me in the tummy, and she would nuzzle me until I gave her the carrot or apple in my pocket. Knowing she was as happy to see me, as I was to see her, made those cold, snowy days, magical moments. She of course is long gone, along with my father, and my step father but as snow falls, my thoughts of them bring them alive once more.
Last night, the little ones had a hot tub before going to bed. As we lifted the hot tub cover, steam rolled up into the night sky. Safely, under the cover of our upper deck, the children floated around and their excited voices echoed into the blanketed white. “Can we go and play in it”? They asked? “Sure,” I said, so they climbed out wearing nothing but their birthday suits. They ran to the edge of our deck, gingerly touching their naked toes on the white ground, and then they ran back to the hot tub, giggling, filled with glee. My step Dad, Bud would have looked at me and said, “making memories.”
At bedtime, all warm in their fleece jammies, we read a story called, “Big Snow” by Jonathan Bean. It was about a little boy who while “helping” his mother do some holiday cleaning, was antsy as he kept a watchful eye on the progress of the winter snowfall. He was hoping for a big snow. Inside, he is underfoot, turning white sheet changing and tub scrubbing into imaginary whiteouts. I love when his father comes home early from work and the whole family goes out for a walk in the deep snow.
It was the perfect book to read to our children on our first night of snow. I hope they have magical memories of this special time of year.
This Saturday morning, I had to get up early and take D to the hospital where he was undergoing a colonoscopy. Groan! Yes, I know, not the most fun procedure in the world and certainly not delightful to prepare for. I felt truly bad for him as he was up most of the night. I’ve just returned from dropping him off at our local hospital and also taking our oldest son, Clark to his job at the Science Centre. There was a sleepover there last night and Clark is on the first shift this morning, getting the kids their breakfast, making flubber, etc. I’m sure they will be talking about snow and perhaps looking at snowflakes through a microscope, exploring the marvelous world of science. Serious fun!
I’m going to make a quick batch of my light and fluffy waffles for the kids. Harrison was at a birthday party last night. Do you call it that when teens are turning 16? It was suppose to be a sleepover but at 10:30 he appeared home and as he poured himself a bowl of cereal, he said they had done everything he had wanted to and he knew his Dad was going to the hospital in the morning and I may need him. Yes, there were moments this week when I had to shake my head at some of his teenage judgement calls, but then he rises to the occasion, like last night and I think, “okay, maybe he will be ready to learn to drive soon.” He turns 16 next month. I have a month to ponder that.
So I’m making waffles this morning and realized I haven’t put a breakfast recipe on my blog yet. Do you want a great waffle recipe? This one has a few extra steps than the basic waffle recipe but it results in light and fluffy waffles. Waffles your family will remember as being the best they have ever eaten! So make up a batch for your family, serve them near a window, so they can eat and enjoy the magic going on outside, no matter where you live in the world. Making Memories!
Hope’s Light and Fluffy Waffles
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
3 eggs
1¾ cups whole milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 oz (½ stick) whole butter
½ tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
Directions
Pre-heat your waffle iron to its hottest setting.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a glass bowl and the yolks in another.
Melt the butter over a low heat, then remove it and let it cool
Beat the yolks thoroughly. Whisk in the milk, oil and melted butter.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Then add the sugar and continue mixing until you get nice stiff peaks. (This makes the waffles fluffy)
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently until combined.
Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites to the batter, don’t over mix.
Spray both surfaces of your waffle iron with cooking spray.
Pour ½ to ¾ cup (depending on your waffle iron) batter onto the iron and close it.
Cook until the waffle iron’s indicator light shows that cooking is complete, or until no more steam comes out. The finished waffle should be golden brown and crispy.
Lift the waffle out of the iron with a pair of tongs and either serve right away or transfer it to the oven to keep warm.
I add some fruit, some syrup and sprinkle it with icing sugar and serve it to the girls.
The little girls have been wearing their bear hats all week…Bears love waffles!
Me yelling, “Harrison” come and get it….I really have to start using a bell at mealtime
My older kids love weekends when we make waffles etc and take time for breakfast
Grace is always up for a smoothie
Add a fruit smoothie to the breakfast and you’ve given your family a healthy start to the day along with memories of icing sugar sprinkled waffles on snow covered mornings. Fruit Smoothie
This is the one I make most often as all my children love it.
Add some crushed ice to the bottom of your blender…I use about 1- 2 cups.
Then I fill 1/2 of my blender, about 4-6 cups with whatever milk we have on hand….almond, rice, or cow’s milk…let your taste be your guide
I then add 1 – 1 1/2 cups of yogurt…strawberry or blueberry is our choice
Add a banana and then frozen fruit…we like blueberries and strawberries. The more you add the fruitier the smoothie…also my girls like more strawberries for a pink colour smoothie ….but lots of blueberries looks great too…not to mention loaded with antioxidents.
Blend it until everything is well combined and serve.
(Note…I like to add some ground flax seeds for extra fibre for my smoothie but some kids don’t like it)
Well, blog readers, I hate to leave you mid blog but the hospital just called and it’s time to pick up D and bring him home. I’m going to add some scrambled eggs to his breakfast when he gets home. He must so hungry since he hasn’t eaten since Thursday night!
While I’m off, I’m going to leave the little ones home with Harrison and Grace. I’ve promised them a special video to watch while I’m gone. Have you ever watched the “Snowman” movie? I’m adding a link below and maybe you can watch it with your family on the next wintery day. (unless you live in Florida like my good friend, K)
The music is hauntingly beautiful and reminds me of when my older children were playing their violins and cello, with our local Carriage House String Orchestra. Alyssa also, played it on the piano and I wonder if Grace, who is now taking voice lessons, will sing it in the future. Tingles cover my arms as I listen, knowing angels are listening to it with me. Wrap yourself up with warm memories and know, each moment you are making more magic in the world.
Okay, I’ve got to run but I hope you enjoy this movie and the music as well. Here’s the YouTube video of “The Snowman.”...for young and old. (click on the hyper link if you can’t view below)
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Last Friday, I experienced another law of attraction experience. The day started much as it always does with a hurried scramble to deliver all the children to their various school settings. While the twins were at preschool, I spent the morning doing some birthday shopping for D, whose birthday is on October 9th. I went from place to place looking for just the right gift. He is difficult to shop for since everything he would REALLY want is expensive but there is always his favourite things; Starbucks coffee, a good book and socks. Everywhere I went though I saw things I would LOVE if it were my birthday, but it wouldn’t be my birthday for another month.
I collected the little girls who were all excited about their upcoming Pumpkin Patch tour and as we drove home they asked me what they would do at Davison Orchards. (the farm we would visit the following week) I told them that Mr. Davison would take them on a wagon ride up into his pumpkin patch where they could select their own pumpkin. They were thrilled. “REALLY mommy?” they asked. “Really,” I said. Their eyes were shining as they said, “Wow!”
Our pumpkin harvest from our little ‘ole pumpkin patch
I guess they would much prefer to travel across town, pay $7.00 each to have a tractor ride up to a field and choose a small pumpkin of their own, than head into our backyard homestead and choose one of our many pumpkins for their very own. We have been abundantly blessed with pumpkins this fall, even though I only planted one pumpkin plant. Regardless, I was pondering how excited little children get over the smallest things and how the smallest things makes them so joy filled. Hmmmm.
While the little girls ate their lunch and chatted about the things twins talk about (still often their own language in many ways) I flipped through our Friday edition of our Morning Star. (our local paper) There wasn’t really anything interesting in the paper but when I went to pick up the pile of flyers I had set aside before reading the paper, one flyer caught my eye. On the front of the flyer was a picture of the food processor of my dreams. I know, I know, REALLY, a food processor. Yes. That is one of the things that I dream about.
When I made my energy bars awhile ago, I wished I had a better food processor as the kids were complaining that the dates weren’t cut up fine enough, although I liked the chunky texture, but I knew even my hummus would turn out better with a higher quality food processor. I couldn’t even imagine how delightful my coleslaw would be with a new food processor. I try to live in a place of gratitude. However, there are days when I’m presented with something I REALLY want and when that occurs, I say, “yes THAT is what I want. I put it out into the Universe and let it go. Then I return to being happy in the moment TRUSTING it’s on it’s way to me.
Last Friday, was no different. I looked at the food processor in the flyer, which was on sale, 50% off it’s regular price, AND if you spent over a certain amount the store would give you a $20.00 gift card on top of that. This was a great deal. I went through how I could manifest this food processor NOW, but then remembered that D’s birthday was the following week and I still wanted to pick up a really nice gift for him. Something more than coffee, a book and socks. The food processor would have to wait. I looked at the flyer longingly one more time and put it on my desk.
As the afternoon wore on, I got busy making a homemade pasta sauce. The kids came home from school and I started to make my crazy bread recipe when the doorbell rang. As one of the kids opened the door, I heard familiar voices. My sister J and my brother-in-law, B, in for a visit. Oh yes! I brought them into the kitchen so we could visit, as I continued to work on my crazy bread. We caught up on the latest in each other’s lives and they mentioned they were really stopping by to give me the last of our mom’s legacy.
My mom, E, died in February 2012 from a stroke. Although her death was sudden, we knew she was failing fast from dementia and her quality of life was quickly changing. She was becoming more fragile each day and it was really a blessing that she left the earth so quickly and with my sister J beside her as she took her last breath. Mom had been frugal most of her life but was generous to her family while she was alive and beyond. I wasn’t expecting anything in the way of monetary funds after all it was 2014 and all the earthly proceeds had been processed shortly after she had passed, but here J and B were with a final gift from mom. They left the bills sitting above my desk in the kitchen, J, telling me not to forget about the money.
My Mom, E, who taught me early on to count my blessings. She lived in a state of gratitude and grace.
After they left, I finished my crazy bread and then took the folded bills and sat in my mom’s old wing chair in my family room. Gratefully I said, “oh mom, you continue to give.” As I unrolled the money and counted, I heard the words, “now you can buy the food processor!!!” Those words seemed to come from the chair itself and were spoken with as much excitement and joy as when our little girls talked about their upcoming pumpkin patch tour.
How fast does the Law of Attraction happen” F A S T!!! Well, in this case it was really fast. I have had other experiences that took what felt like a lifetime. I have learned that there is a process that needs to be followed. Mostly, it has to do with wishing, believing, trusting,and letting go. And then feeling the joy of knowing it’s on the way. Anticipating whatever you dream about is almost as much fun as having it in your arms. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are using the law of attraction all the time. Each moment of every day we are presented with choices, do you want this, or that?
I started studying it when I was trying to conceive our last few children and I’m a strong believer, especially when you can manifest something NOT of this earth and then it comes into your arms. If that can occur, then we are limitless and can achieve anything we want,
It’s lovely to dream but even better when it comes true. Thanks Mom!
And look what is sitting on my kitchen counter today? And the cool thing is along with the food processor, I also received a $20.00 gift card that enabled me to buy a little something more for my husband’s birthday. Bonus. The Universe always gives us even more than we can EVER dream!
So what do YOU want? Close your eyes and make your wish. Blow your dream out into the Universe knowing it is already on it’s way to you. Rejoice. When it comes to you, whisper, “Thank you.”
Now to bring you a piece of my Friday manifestation here is my Crazy bread recipe…perfect for any pasta dish.
My kids love this stuff! It has looked prettier but when J and B were here I forgot to cut it before I baked it so it was not in nice rectangles as usual….oh but I would MUCH rather have visits than perfect food…next time J and B…you have to stay for dinner!
Hope’s Crazy Bread recipe
I make a large batch because it goes fast..and my kids like to snack on it the next day…but you can half the ingredients if you have a smaller family.
Ingredients
5 cups flour 5 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 5 tsp yeast 450 ml hot water
Topping;
125 ml (1/2 cup) melted butter 2 tsp garlic powder
30 ml Parmesan sprinkle basil and oregano Preheat oven to 425 F. 1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and yeast. 2. Add hot water to make soft dough. 3. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. 4. Cover with a damp paper towel. Let rest 5 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, combine melted butter and garlic powder 6. Roll out dough to 1 cm thickness. Cut into shapes. 7. Using a pastry brush, brush on half of the melted butter and shake on the basil and oregano 8. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. 9. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Watch closely. 10. Remove from the oven. 11. Brush with remaining melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Our Friday fun dinner, pasta, salad, crazy bread…and for D and I, a nice glass of red wine. Salute!
Another manifestation for me is this blog….I dreamed about it and every time I finish a post, I have to pinch myself, it’s really real. I hope some of the stuff I ramble on about touches your life and you remember to let go and let God. Enjoy your life.
(Noe, if you are having problems connecting with the YouTube videos below, check on the highlighted links below) If you want to learn more about the Law of Attraction check out this YouTube video. It’s a story Oprah tells about a strong woman not giving up on her dream.
And if that story isn’t inspirational enough, check out Oprah’s story on the art of allowing, the key is in surrendering.
Absolutely amazing hey! Allow Miracles to happen.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Tis the season. Soup season that is. Nothing says home, more than coming in the house after a long day to smell a delicious aroma drifting from the kitchen. Knowing it’s healthy and satisfying makes it our family’s fall comfort food. After a season of raw vegetables, salads and fruits, it’s like putting on a wool sweater to warm your body.
I was inspired to make this soup when Harrison woke up feeling under the weather. He had had his braces tightened, was feeling headachy and on top of that, felt like a cold was on his doorstep. I knew I had to make something easy to chew and filling. I went out into the garden to be inspired and when I saw the butternut squash, gleaming in the sun amongst the dying vines, I thought PERFECT!
(I planted 6 butternut squash plants in an area that wasn’t ideal. I had pulled up yucca plants from this area and I didn’t get all the roots up so I had little yucca plants growing up all around my squash this summer….but despite the competition for water and sun, the squash prevailed. Sadly, we won’t have any to store for the winter as we LOVE squash and have eaten almost all of it. Next year, I’d like to plant twice the squash for our size family.)
I probably focus on our 15 year old Harrison’s growing needs the most lately, since he literally grows a 1/8 of an inch every night. Okay, maybe that is an exaggerations. Let’s just say, his basketball coach is going to love seeing him this year! Anyway, I get worried when his braces are tightened as his food consumption drops a lot.
Then I came inside to rummaged around the pantry (noticing that many of my bottles needed to be topped up and it’s generally disorganized….another blog post for sure) and found some ginger root. I had purchased the ginger to make some tea but had forgotten all about it. Another PERFECT ingredient. I also dug some boneless chicken thighs from the freezer and although this soup is lovely with just vegetables, I find adding some pieces of chicken and broth very satisfying, especially for our son who basically lives on smoothies for days after he has his braces tightened. If you are a vegetarian, of course please disregard the chicken aspect and use vegetable broth.
So without further ado, let’s get cooking.
Hope’s Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup Ingredients
1 butternut squash (peeled, seeds removed, and cubed)
(note, you can use 2 butternut squash instead of the carrots
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large carrots
3 tbsp minced fresh ginger
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 cup thinly sliced onion
3 large garlic cloves
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 lb chicken
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked rice (I used a Basmati because Harrison loves that…but personally I prefer a nutty brown rice
Chopped fresh parsley
Sour Cream for a topping, (opt)
Directions: Put the rice on and while it’s cooking;
Peel, the squash, remove the seeds and cube. Peel and chop the carrots. Mince the ginger, set aside 1 tbsp for later, and then crush 1 garlic clove.
Pour 2 tbsp of olive oil on a baking sheet and add the squash, the carrots, 1 crushed garlic clove, 2 tbsp of ginger, 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg and sprinkle with sea salt with freshly ground pepper. Coat all really well in the oil and put in the oven to roast at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. If you are using chicken, you can cook it on a separate pan while the vegetables are roasting. While the vegetables are roasting, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add 1 cup of chopped onion, 2 of the remaining garlic cloves (minced). Cook onions and garlic until translucent. Add 1 tbsp of minced ginger, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg and 1/8 of a cup of brown sugar. Cook until carmelized.
Transfer the onion mixture to a soup pot, add the chicken and cook well until both are sizzling, add the chicken broth at this point. Bring to a boil, then add the rice and the roasted vegetables.
Add the chicken to the onions
Add 8 cups of chicken broth…less if you want to puree it
Add your roasted veggies and your rice
The magic in this soup is layering all the seasonings, otherwise it will be bland. Finally, if you aren’t using chicken, if you wish, you can puree the soup in your food processor. I wanted our soup to have soft chunks for a filling main dinner soup. It would make a delightful fall soup prior to your entre. For our family, soup, salad, a rosemary dinner bun and old fashion rice pudding for dessert was perfect.
Ladle your soup into a bowl, add a sprig of parsley and a dollop of sour cream which is refreshing and a nice complement to the ginger. This is a warming soup full of flavour. Enjoy!
As if that wasn’t good enough….finish it off with some old fashion rice pudding. Oh my, talk about comfort food or WHAT!
This was the creamiest rice pudding ever! Harrison ate his portion and before bed he sat down to finish off the rest of the casserole dish.
I don’t know if it’s more enjoyable to eat all this wonderful homemade stuff or to hear my family’s contented sounds as they consume it.
This to me is one of the best parts of nurturing my children. Watching them appreciate food and grow.
If you are also interested in making the Rosemary dinner buns here is the recipe.
Rosemary Dinner Buns Ingredients *1 tbsp white sugar *1 cup warm water *1 package active dry yeast or 1 tbsp (I buy Red Star active dry yeast from Costco ) *1 tsp salt
Our rosemary plant next to the Kale
*2 tbsp softened butter
*2 tbsp rosemary….I went to the garden and picked it fresh
*1 tsp Italian seasoning
*3 cups bread flour…although you can use an all purpose as well
*1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*1 beaten egg (opt)
Directions
Dissolve the sugar in warm water in a medium bowl, and mix in the yeast. When yeast is bubbly, mix in salt, butter, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and Italian seasoning. Mix in 2 cups flour. Gradually add remaining flour to form a workable dough, and knead 10 to 12 minutes.
Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl, cover, and allow to rise 1 hour in a warm location.
Punch down dough, and divide in half. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper. Shape dough into 2 round loaves, and place on the baking sheet. I like to shape my dough into balls and put on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary. Cover, and allow to rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Brush loaves with egg. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brow
The Rosemary buns were such a nice flavour, next to the warming squash/ginger soup.
Finally, if you are a lover of Rice pudding, then you have to try this recipe. I actually had Harrison make it while I was making the soup and the buns. (he wasn’t feeling that bad) We have been working in the kitchen together for years. I like to encourage all of our children to help me in the kitchen from the time they are small. We like to make muffins, pancakes, cookies; things they are excited to eat.
Once they are around 11 or 12, I like to get them working on main dishes and of course teach them to cook the foods they love. Harrison was more than happy to make this dessert for this meal and ended up eating the majority, which was good since he hadn’t been eating much since visiting his orthodontist the day before. This is an excellent recipe to make if you have left over rice. I just made extra rice, when I made the Butternut Squash and Ginger soup.
Okay, get ready for comfort food extrordinaire……
Old Fashion Rice Pudding * 3/4 cup uncooked white rice, * 2 cups milk, divided * 1/3 cup white sugar * 1/4 tsp salt * 1 egg beaten * 2/3 cup raisins * 1 tbsp butter * 1/2 tsp vanilla extract * 2 tsp cinnamon * 1 tsp nutmeg
Directions
Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; stir rice into boiling water. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a clean saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
After cooking the rice pudding on the stove top, pour it into a casserole dish, sprinkle it with cinnamon and nutmeg, put a lid on top and put it in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until it thickens. Pour into dishes with a little piece of mint on top. It’s a wonderful finish to this evenings meal.
We doubled the recipe for our gang but this is perfect if you have a family of 4, unless you love rice pudding. Then there is never enough!
Put in a fancy dish, add a sprig of mint and it looks like something from a restaurant
I hope you try this delightful trio of recipes. Thanks for coming today, it’s always a pleasure having you in our kitchen.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
It’s around the table and in the preparation of food that we learn about ourselves and about the world. ~Alice Waters~
It’s a gorgeous September Saturday here in the Okanagan. Welcome!
View of Kalamalka lake from our deck
I’m thinking it’s the perfect day to prepare my black bean burgers so they are all ready to barbecue tonight.
Please come in and join me in my kitchen and we can prepare them together.
The first thing we need to do is saute 1 large onion in a skillet with about a tbsp of oil.
Once onions are tender and translucent, place in a large mixing bowl and let them cool.
When they have cooled, add the following ingredients:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
11/2 tbsp chili powder
1-19 ounce can of black beans, drained, rinsed and roughly pureed
1 tsp oregano
1/4 cup parsley or cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup almonds, roasted and chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and chopped
3 cups of fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
5 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups of oats
Mix all ingredients really well,
I like to add my eggs one at a time and mix really well.
then shape into patties. Dredge lightly in flour.
These burgers hold their shape really well and make enough for my large family plus lots to freeze for another night
You can cook these burgers a number of ways. You can bake them in the oven on a greased pan at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or you can heat vegetable oil in a large pan and brown them on each side until they are heated through and ready to eat. We like to barbecue them. They keep their shape and often I’m grilling zucchini, corn etc to serve along with the burgers.
Tonight, since I have some red dynasty cabbage still in my garden, I’m making a coleslaw to accompany them.
We like to slather guacamole on our buns, along with tomato and lettuce…I like mine totally loaded with everything I’ve listed plus some red onion. Let your imagination with toppings inspire you.
Since the burger has cumin and chili powder in it, it’s got a southern flair and I like to serve some tortilla chips on the side with lots of guacamole for me, some of our kids like salsa
It is so rewarding making the burgers, the buns and the slaw all from scratch…Delicious too!
If you want to make your own buns like we do…here is my easy to make burger bun recipe..although I also use this recipe for dinner buns all year round as well…with my burger buns I just make them a bit bigger and the recipe below makes about 10 BIG buns.
Hope’s quick and easy burger buns
Ingredients:
Serves: 12-15
4 1/2cups flour
4 1/2teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup milk
3/4cup water
1/2cup margarine or butter
1/3-1/2cup white sugar
1/2teaspoon salt
(opt: cheddar cheese, dill, rosemary, or any herb you would like)
Directions:
Mix 2 C flour& yeast in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, heat milk, water, oil, sugar& salt to lukewarm in microwave.
Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough (2 – 2 1/2 Cups).
Add grated cheese or herb of choice is you wish here…
Mix well until dough is soft and slightly sticky, then turn out onto floured surface and let rest under a large greased bowl for about 15 minutes.
Form into balls, top with sunflower seeds and ground flax and let the buns sit on a baking sheet for a further 45 minutes to rise.
Bake in preheated 400 degree oven 12-15 minutes.
Side note, I like to add a mix of ground flax seed and oats and sprinkle them on the top of these buns before they start to rise…you can you any combination of seeds etc of your choice. My kids also like a cheesy bun so I will also put grated cheese on top as well as in the mix. The smell in the kitchen is fragrant and homey. I’m so glad you came today and joined me in preparing food for our families.
Finally I should say if you have a large gang like I do this recipe makes enough for one meal AND another to freeze for another night. (which we busy moms need) I made 16 large burgers from my recipe today and they are BIG, the little kids just eat 1/2 a burger each.
I made some homemade lemonade to accompany the dinner tonight. It’s an end of summer celebration
I want to thank my friend Alison for inspiring me to make these burgers. When the twins were newborn, she came over with a large container full of delicious food, along with freezer bags full of black bean burgers and lentil burgers. Lemon pound cake…oh it was absolutely the BEST gift a new mom could receive. I know I phoned her to thank her but I don’t think I ever told her how AMAZING it was to receive. Since then, black bean burgers are our regular summer fare and take me right back to when the babies were tiny and I needed to eat A LOT to keep my milk supply strong.
So this post is dedicated to her and other generous people who go out of their way to give of themselves. Don’t even get me started about my best friend Tamara, who brought me tons of healthy muffins, even though she lived a days drive away from me when the twins were born.
These are the earth angels surrounding me and they inspire me to give back. How can you help another person as the summer ebbs away? Maybe you can make a batch of black bean burgers for your family and give the other 1/2 of the batch to a new neighbour, or friend in need or invite a new family to join you for dinner.
To Alison and Tamara, you are earth angels! Thank you for being there and helping me stay healthy when our twins arrived. People like you are the light workers we need on earth.
Thanks to my blog readers for joining me today.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Okay, maybe it was crazy to start a blog and start writing about my homestead right in the middle of summer. I mean, gesh, as though I’m not busy enough with my 8 kids, summer camps, having family come to visit, agreeing to take care of the neighbour’s flowers (and I’m not talking about a few pots, they are everywhere, but don’t get me side-tracked) as well as hosting a long weekend family re-union (which was amazing and so worth every moment…I have to write about that in another post)….all while I’m trying to stay on top of my garden and the harvest.
Recently, I went out to check on what was growing and was absolutely shocked to find, not a few zucchinis ready but a basket of them and more ready only a day or two behind. (What do you do when you have a dozen zucchini in a few days time? This past spring I worked at a wonderful garden center as a garden consultant, where I kind of got known as the veggie lady because I was imparting my gardening knowledge with gusto (often would get hungry just talking about growing veggies) to those who wanted to grow things they could eat.
Early in the season we had single zucchini’s for sale and those got snapped up….smart people, or not. Later, our growers provided zucchini’s in a 6 pack. Each time a customer came in and asked where our zucchinis were, they would moan and groan when they saw our lovely, healthy 6 pack of zucchinis. They didn’t know a good thing when they saw it.
I told them I would give them a few great recipes to go along with the 6 pack and they just smiled. Most people left with the beautiful zucchini 6 pack but said they were going to find me and drop the extras on MY doorstep. Ooohhhh that made me want to sell them all the more…..or so I thought at the time. The way I look at food though is you can always do something with the extra bounty and if not, there are always people looking for food. Even zucchini.
As I write this post though, I wonder what was I thinking to plant 6 zucchini plants in “my” garden and don’t get me started on the butternut squash or the pumpkins growing right next to them.
“One” of the pumpkin growing on our homestead
But again, I transgress. What I intented this blog post to be about was sharing a couple of great recipes if you too are blessed with a summer’s bounty of zucchini.
After I brought a few of the green giants into my kitchen, I started by grating them with my food processor. Then I pulled out my recipes. Yes, I still have them in old fashioned recipe cards.
I thought I’d make some loaves for eating right now, freeze some, and make a delicious chocolate zucchini cake that I could also throw in the freezer for our upcoming family re-union. I was also able to fill several large freezer bags with grated zucchini so in the middle of winter I could remember the blessings of summer. I just love the smell of zucchini leaves, don’t you?
Here’s a few picks./pics from my garden…..I hope you In JOY!
Zucchini Bread
Preheat Oven to 325 degrees
Spray 2 loaf pans with a non stick vegetable oil spray
Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups of sugar (1 white/1 brown or you can use honey)
1 cup of vegetable oil….lately we use a lot of coconut oil but I used a sunflower oil this time)
2 cups of grated, glorious, under appreciated zucchini
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups of flour (I like to use 2 white unbleached white to 1 cup of whole wheat)
2-3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
opt….we love nuts…so we add 1/2 cup walnuts to our bread
Beat eggs until frothy, stir in sugars, oil, zucchini, and vanilla
Mix dry ingredients really well….then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until all combined.
Pour into prepared loaf pans
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.
Let sit for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan and then turn out on cooling rack.
We like to eat it warm from the oven and I put the second one in the freezer or share with a friend.
And here is the finished product….yummy.
Now I also wanted to share another recipe we made but sadly I didn’t take any pictures of the results as my kids ate it so fast that I didn’t even have a crumb to show you but oh my gosh, this was a delicious, moist cake so here is the recipe for our chocolate zucchini cake.
Hope’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredient
2 cups of flour (again….I prefer 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of unbleached white)
2 cups of sugar (1 cup brown, 1 cup white)
3/4 of cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
4 eggs
11/2 cup of vegetable oil….(and again you can use coconut oil if you prefer)
3 cups of grated, glorious zucchini
3/4 cup chopped nuts…we use walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
Grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
Add eggs, one at a time and oil. Mix well, then fold in the zucchini and nuts until they are well distributed.
Pour into pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes and done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and eat…or spread with a chocolate glaze.
We made a chocolate glaze for icing. Some icing sugar, cocoa, and coconut oil…oh yummy. In Joy!
If you are blessed to have a bounty of zucchini, like us, I hope you try these recipes. If not visit your local Farmer’s market and I’m sure you will find them plentiful at this time of year.
You can also grill your zucchini or do what we do, just cut thinly sliced pieces, drizzle some olive oil on top, add some garlic, fresh basil and oregano…(I have to blog about my herbs another time) and garlic, and of course some parmesan cheese, All my kids love this and it goes with so many other foods, make some quinoa, wild rice, a green salad and you have a complete meal……and gosh anything that is easy, healthy and stretches our budget is what I love so I can spend more time with family or my garden.
Stay tuned as I want to share my sun ice tea recipe next. It goes great with my zucchini bread and is a perfect choice when family or friends pop over for a summer visit.
Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
AND
L
