Mom, the Repair Woman

I anticipated many facets of motherhood and the many roles a mom fits into on a daily basis, but one job I never imagined I would participate in so often is that of Repair Woman.  Over the years, my kids have broken or had precious items fall apart on them quite consistently and they always come to me to see if it can be fixed.  Many times I have been able to repair broken items with my favorite tools: hot glue, Crazy glue, and needle & thread.  For the times when the repair is impossible, I put the item in a hidden cupboard and wait to get rid of it until it has been forgotten.  Recently, a bigger "oopsie" occurred than usual which resulted in Arianna's Bitty Baby having one of her legs detached (and she wasn't the one responsible for it, either).  This definitely was not an easy repair as it is quite difficult to put a needle through the hard plastic leg (by pressing it on a flat, hard surface each time), pull it through with pliers, thread it through the cloth part of the doll, and repeat, all the while trying to keep the loops semi-tight where the cloth and plastic meet.  Thankfully, Bitty did get her leg back and the great joy of my daughter after seeing her doll returned to a better state was worth the effort. 

The detached leg.

Needle technique, rough though it may be.

The finished product; not terribly pretty, but re-attached, nonetheless.

A happy girl.

Bitty's cast.

A Bountiful Harvest . . . Although I Didn't Grow It Myself

You can see how big these pumpkins are when a 3 and 5 year old are sitting on them.

Each year, our girls want to stop and buy pumpkins at Bates Nut Farm which is not far from our house, but during the month of October, the road going to and from Bates has an insane amount of traffic.  They have fields of very large pumpkins called "Big Macs" and several years ago, we bought one for $10 which was a steal considering the pumpkin was about 75 lbs.  Over the past few years, however, the price has gone up to $1.00 a pound.  My hubby, however, was biding his time and decided to stop by the day after Halloween to see if there was a deal on these monster pumpkins.  As it turns out, the Big Macs were free for the taking if you could manage to wrangle it into your vehicle (minus the wheelbarrows that are out during October).  I ended up being the happy recipient of three Big Mac pumpkins, which is a lot of free food. 

One of the 3 Big Macs my hubby brought home.

I have heard many people over the years say that you can't eat the big pumpkins, but I can tell you from experience that is definitely not true.  The Big Macs are not super sweet, but they are in the squash family and have a lovely taste once they are baked and pureed.  The meat from this pumpkin can be used in everything from pumpkin soup to pumpkin muffins and pie.  Yum!

Part of the pumpkin after cutting up and baking much of it.

The beautiful pumpkin puree.

A Last Minute Halloween Costume

Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters U.



Some years back, we were given a really great Sully costume from Monsters Inc. and a Mike Wazowski costume, as well.  The Sully costume continued in stellar form, but unfortunately, the Mike costume's big plastic eye got cracked and then just went downhill from there.  Since Monster's University came out the summer, the girls wanted to revive the monsters costumes.  So, we needed a new Mikey costume and we also wanted to make Sully look like he was from Monsters U.

In order to accomplish our quick, costume update, we went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 2 green t-shirts ($3 on sale, each), flannel, and a blue visor.  For Sully's fraternity shirt, I just freehanded the letters with a pencil and went over them with yellow fabric paint.  For Mike, I cut out each piece of flannel in its proper shape and then glued each piece on in order with fabric glue (which dries in 24 hrs.)  I used sparkly, silver fabric paint for Mike's retainer.  Then, I drew the MU with an eye on the blue visor and painted that on, too.  And, voila, we had Sully and Mike for Halloween.  I think they made pretty cute monsters!

Creative Minds

I love how kids' minds are still so creative and imaginative.  Unlike so many adults that have lost a sense of imagination and play, children are less inhibited when it comes to creating things.  As a parent, I want to fully encourage creativity in my children, especially as they are getting older.  Many entrepreneurs and successful people in our world are ones that have been creative and think outside the box.  I want my children to know that making good use of the brain God gave them isn't just through rote memorization and the accumulation of facts, but also and especially through exploring, analyzing, and experiencing the world around them. 

Selah's result of playing with math manipulatives

Selah's person.

 

Arianna, creating her own notecards to send to friends

A flaming soccer ball.

A stenciled duck with added details.

A ninja, with an added "puppy print" (done with fingers and a stamp pad).

 

 

 

 



Wordless Wednesday 9-18-13

 

 

Plenty of Love to Go Around

The puppies are just 10 days old, but they are certainly well-loved already.  They are also being socialized and getting accustomed to being around kids and adults.  There are two great benefits to this:  (1) the puppies will be more tolerant pets from their early exposure to children and better socialized by living in a family environment, and (2) my girls get the awesome and fun experience of seeing puppies from birth right on through to the super, fun puppy stages before they leave our home for new homes of their own.  I'm so glad my girls have had the chance to see baby animals growing up as part of their own childhood experience; yes, it is educational, but it also just outright fun to see the absolute sweetness and cuteness of a tiny puppy or a newborn chick. 

Vegan Latkes

I had never made latkes before, although I had thought about it many times in the past, but just never gotten around to doing it.  Then, my oldest, Isabella, was looking through a potato cookbook from the UN that my mom bought us as a gift and she determined to make latkes for the family for dinner.  I found a vegan latke recipe on Alicia Silverstone's blog, The Kind Life .   She found the recipe on another blog called, Girlie Girl Army.  Here is the link to their recipe for delicious vegan latkes.
I wish I had taken a picture of this meal, but it was eaten up so quickly that we didn't have time to take a picture.  All of Isabella's younger sisters were either requesting that she make another batch immediately (even though we had almost doubled the original recipe) or make them for their special birthday meal. 

We didn't have parsley like the original recipe called for, so we used fresh thyme out of our garden and that was a great substitute.  Also, I not only used a colander for squeezing out the grated potatoes, but I also put them in a tea towel and really squeezed out the excess liquid which worked really well.  The latkes have such a wonderful flavor with the onion and herbs that hey don't really need a topping, but we had applesauce, chipotle Vegenaise spread, and sauerkraut out for anyone that wanted to mix it up a bit.  We were also thinking that a plain, non-dairy yogurt would be a good alternative to sour cream as a topping, too. 

Sleeping Like a Baby

This is how small a 6 day old pup is, the size of a 10-year-old's hands.

Sweet, little green collar boy.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Baking with just plant-based foods can be tricky at times and has required quite a bit of experimentation on my part.  Sometimes, a recipe turns out really well, though, and is worth sharing.  Livia, our 5-year-old, wanted to make some cookies yesterday afternoon, so I decided to modify a "Crisco" peanut butter cookie recipe ( I like Crisco for the occasional piecrust, because it turns out so flaky, but otherwise, it isn't a fat I would recommend for baking). 

Karlie's Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 c. creamy, all-natural peanut butter
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. applesauce
1 c. loosely packed brown sugar
1/4 c. white, granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. soymilk (or other dairy-free milk)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/8 c. of very warm water + 1 Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer (beat together until it is the consistency of very stiff egg whites)
1 c. white, all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (or less, if desired)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine peanut butter, coconut oil, applesauce, brown and white sugars, soymilk, vanilla, and egg replacer mixture in a large bowl.  Whisk together until thoroughly combined.  Combine flours, baking soda, and salt.  Add all at once to the wet mixture and stir together with a spoon until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.  Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet (or put parchment paper on the cookie sheet and give it a light spray with canola oil cooking spray).  Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of a fork.  Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 8-9 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown.  Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet.  Remove cookies to cooking racks to cool completely.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on the size of cookie).

Note:  Vegan chocolate chips mixed in at the end before baking would be wonderful in this recipe.  (I didn't have any on hand, or I would have put them in this time around.) 

This was super easy to make, bake, and the whole family loved them.  We'll definitely be making these cookies again!

Puppy Love

The puppies are 4 days old today and still so new.  My girls have been so wonderful, always helping out with the puppies to be sure they stay safe, get equal chances to feed on their mama, and are loved on by our family right from the get-go. 

Isabella holding the "blue" collar boy, or "Little Boy Blue", as I call him.

Selah, making sure everyone has a place to eat.

Selah, my animal lover, with one of the puppies.

Little Boy Blue - what an irresistibly, darling face!

First Day of Fifth Grade

Our oldest, Isabella, started school yesterday.  She is finally at the top of the pecking order at her Elementary School (which is just grades 3-5).  Isabella was a little nervous/excited for the big day and it was sweet to see her head off to another year of learning ready to go and wanting to do her best!

Her goofy pose.

The standard 1st day of school picture.

Arriving at school.

And she's off . . .

A Cheer for Plant-Based Eating

My 3-year-old really likes to watch "Go, Diego, Go" and sing songs from Dora and Diego around the house.  So, the other night after a yellow coconut curry dinner that everyone was wild about, my 10 and 7-year-old decided to remake the Diego song for me into a plant-based eating cheer/song. 

 

 



Speeding Toward a New School Year

Dakota, 3.

Isabella, 10, and Selah, 8.

Arianna, 7.

Livia, 5.

The summer has flown by and we are closing in on another school year.  The girls continue to grow and mature.  Dakota is 3, and even though she is our "baby" of the family, she isn't a baby any longer, but a smart, determined, and funny toddler.  Isabella, just 10 and going into 5th grade, is definitely in the tween years.  She loves the Kindle reader we gave her for her birthday and has not only read all 7 Harry Potter books this summer, but has also just started on The Chronicles of Narnia.  Selah, 8, is gearing up for 3rd grade by also doing lots of reading, and also helping Mom out with the animals and volunteering to help out when a job needs to be done.  Arianna, 7, remains as zany and energetic as ever.  She is always looking for a project and loves painting and drawing.  She also just started soccer this fall and is really into it.  Livia, 5, had her big 5th birthday party this summer (a family tradition).  She is sweet, inquisitive, and ready for a year of at-home learning with Mom before going to kindergarten next year.  I love my girls and the women that they are becoming! 

Sprouted Bean Bulgur Burgers

I do a lot of cooking at home by experimentation and using ingredients or leftovers I have on hand.  We have a bag of sprouted beans in our pantry that come from Costco.  These beans are really handy because they cook up in 20 minutes and can be added to a variety of dishes.  My kids don't really love the sprouted beans just on their own, so I have started to incorporate them into other dishes.  They work really well in vegan chili and as a supplement to an Indian style curry with vegetables.  Recently, I thought they might make a good base for a vegan burger and the burgers turned out quite well. 

 

 

Here is the general recipe that I used for making the burgers, but it can be modified using whatever you have on hand.  First, I boiled about 1 1/2 cups of the sprouted bean mix with about 1/2 cup of bulgur.  This would work with another grain, too, if it needs to be cooked for approximately the amount of time that you are boiling the beans.  I boiled the bean/bulgur mixture together for approximately 30-35 minutes until the water was absorbed in the mixture and it was starting to get a little mushy.  I took the mixture off the stove to cool and added garlic powder, dried onion flakes, and seasoned salt and mixed it well (For just adults, I would add additional spices and or/chili; chipotles in adobo sauce would go really well in the mixture, too.).  Then, I finely chopped half an onion and half a red bell pepper (some corn kernels would taste good in this mixture, too) and added it to the beans.  I dumped in a lot of panko crumbs to the mixture, about 1 cup, and then added water to all of this for moisture and mixed it all together (veggie broth would taste good, too.).  The original batch was a little dry, so when I finished up with the leftover mixture, I added more water before forming the patties.  It shouldn't be so dry that it is crumbling apart and it shouldn't be a mushy mess, either.  It needs enough liquid to stick together and to form patties.  This batch made 12 burger patties.  When I am ready to cook them, I get out a non-stick pan or griddle and spray it lightly with canola or olive oil cooking spray.  Then, I fry them up nicely on each side until both sides are golden brown.  Fix them up just like you would a burger on a bun or bread with all the fixings. 

 

My daughters really like this burger and our middle child that always speaks her mind said, "This is the best vegan burger I've ever had!"

Mini Pizzas on the Go

We have pizza night at our house on a regular basis.  Eating a plant-based diet has not changed our pizza tradition, either.  We use our homemade 1/2 whole wheat dough, pizza sauce, and pile on the veggies for a full and satisfying pizza, and occasionally we will buy a vegan cheese for a little extra something on our pizza.  We like the Daiya mozzarella-style shreds, and we also tried the Follow Your Heart block of mozarella-style vegan cheese and that was pretty nice on pizza, too.  I while back, I was reading a magazine or on the internet and came across the idea to make mini pizzas in muffin tins.  I made them this way several times last spring during softball season when we needed a  meal that was portable and could be taken on the go.  Unlike a usual, messy pizza slice, these little mini pizzas are very manageable and much less messy if you need to take them in the car.  The girls also just like to eat them at home, too, because it is a variation on the usual pizza theme.

I spray my muffin tins with a spray canola oil before putting the pizza dough into the tins to avoid sticking.  Then, I grab a small ball of dough and stretch it with my fingers into a small circle.  Fit the circle into each hole of the muffin tin.

Then, spread a small amount of your desired pizza sauce (many times, this is marinara at our house) on each  circle.  Top the way that you like.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes, or until the crust is baked through and the ingredients look done.

The kid's favorite, olive pizza.

The parents' version, with lots of veggies.

Yum!

Don't Overthink the Salad

When my girls requested salad last night for supper, I told them it would have to be a really simple one and they said, "Great!". So many times, I don't make salads because I don't want to clean and chop my veggies or I don't have lettuce on hand, but I realized that it doesn't have to be a chore.  The key is just using what you have on hand and putting a simple dressing on it.

Here is last night's salad:  tomato, cucumber, kalamata olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.  It was delicious and super simple to make . . . and everyone ate a nice portion of raw veggies!

Back from Summer Vacation

Our first day of summer vacation started by taking our 2nd daughter, Selah, down to Children's Hospital for a week where she received antibiotics via a PICC line that aren't given orally.  This was followed up by giving the second week of antibiotics at home via the PICC line on our own after being instructed on the proper technique by an at-home-care nurse.  This, of course, was not how we planned to start the summer, but over the past year we have come to accept that there are situations that have to be accepted and walked through as part of our journey of having two daughters that have bronchiectasis (a chronic lung condition stemming from permanent lung damage).  During that time, I never once got back on the computer to blog and after that, I just disconnected from my school year routine for awhile along with the rest of the family while on summer vacation.  With a husband that is also a teacher, we really do live on the school schedule, so summer is our big time for kicking back and taking a break from the routine, doing household projects, and taking road trips.  Now, however, that is all quickly coming to an end.  School is quickly approaching and  my calendar book is filling up with appointments and events.  I will have new blog material as I start on a new adventure of sending to of our girls to a charter school where the majority of the school work is done at home, all while welcoming another litter of new little goldendoodle puppies into the household in the next couple of weeks. 

Another big part of our summer has been food preparation and eating.  No matter how the routine changes, feeding a family of 7 takes time and is always a big part of my day.  It has been a year now since we began eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet and the more we eat this way, the more excited I get about continuing to explore this way of preparing foods and enjoying the tasty results.  So, I will try and post food ideas and recipes here, too, to share our love of plant-based eating. 

May Photo A Day 5/29/13

"Kiss"

 



May Photo A Day 5/23/13 - 5/28/13

5/23/13 - "PJ's"

 

My favorite warm, fuzzy fleece pajama pants.

 

5/24/13 - "Go"

Go to the rodeo and ride a sheep.  Arianna at Friday night's rodeo.

 

 

5/25/13 - "Us"

 

5/26/13 - "Fave Thing To Do On Sunday"

Snooze.

 

5/27/13 - "Can't Live Without"

 

Our daughters' respiratory therapy machine.  They use it every day to stay healthy.

 5/28/13 - "What You're Doing Now"