Where?

Ah, I am still here!  We have a closing date on our new home in Indiana, but no pack and load date. Still kinda in limbo {eye roll here}  Still, there's only a couple of weeks left in Galesburg and all of us are ready for the move. Dyno Dad has put about 10k miles on his truck since October, driving back and forth every every three days (three days on, three days off schedule).  Pretty stinky, that.

So it's finally the new year. I've been thinking about what I'd like to accomplish this next year.


*Do P90X again (dont' take off any time between starting a new 90 day routine, and don't skip YogaX)
* Dust off novel and submit to an agent
*Eat better-->more green smoothies and juices
*Buy Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seasons 6&7 (Shut. Up. We're all allowed our guilty pleasures, no?)
*Get writing again
*
That's all I have right now.

Gettin' Crafty With It

Just a few photos of the Christmas gifts I'm frantically trying to complete before the big move. (Still in limbo here, if you're wondering. Hopefully that will change on Monday)

This is a paint bucket I cleaned and decoupaged with sheets of music, mostly from an ancient copy of Handel's Messsiah. I used Mod Podge to stick, and then covered the entire can with a light coat. I also painted the rim and handle pink, and inside there's a pink octopus.  It turned out pretty well, I think.

Here's another can decoupaged with color copies of a childhood book. This one turned out real cute. The paint cans didn't take too long too do, an afternoon and evening. A very satisfying craft. (Emily called me the Recycle Queen, but I would't go that far.)  I have two more cans drying in the garage. Evidently clear plastic paint cans can be purchased at craft stores, but I'm of the opinion that you should reuse whatever you can, even stuff that's usually thrown in the garbage or even into the recycling bin.

This decoupaged box is nearly finished; only a little more sanding and then I will pollute the house or garage (hmmm, poison the dogs or my children..?) and spray it with a sealer, as Mod Podge can be tacky unsealed. The top is several layers of Mod Podge, enough so that the top is entirely smooth. Some people have said it looks painted, but at any rate, it looks awesome.

I'm also refurbishing tin cans into buckets for the boys' teachers, hence the Recycle Queen moniker. Tomorrow we'll make cookie ornaments using a recipe from The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, along with egg yolk paint. Should be fun! And messy.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

You may have heard of chia seeds--more than likely from those commercials on television in which you can order a terra cotta head of Elvis along with a packet of tiny chia seeds and after planting and watering, voila! Elvis with a hairy head. Fun, right?

Even more fun is eating those little gray/black seeds. According to the always infallible Wikipedia:

Chia seed may be eaten raw as a whole seed and is an excellent source of omega-3 and dietary fiber (both insoluble and soluble).[citation needed] Ground chia seed is sometimes added to pinole, a coarse flour made from toasted maize kernels. Chia seeds placed in water or fruit juice are consumed in Mexico and known as chia fresca. The soaked seeds are gelatinous in texture and are used in gruels, porridges and puddings. Ground chia seed is used in baked goods including breads, cakes and biscuits. Chia sprouts are used in a similar manner as alfalfa sprouts in salads, sandwiches and other dishes. 

And some more info before we get to the fun part: http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/345/127/ This is the Chia Cheat Sheet by Angela Stokes of RawReform. Quite a nifty page.

Now onto the yumminess!

I've been eating a bowl of chia pudding nearly every morning for the last week. I was skeptical at first, but quickly became a fan! Even Dyno  Dad likes it (although he did say 'yuck' when he first saw it in his bowl).

Everything you need to make breakfast!

Almond milk, cinnamon, dates, pecans and chia seeds.

 Breakfast Chia Pudding:

1/3 cup pecans (or any nut) soaked overnight

2-3 pitted Medjool dates, soaked overnight

3/4 cup almond milk (or water)

2 Tbl chia seeds

cinnamon to taste

1. in the morning, pour water off pecans and dates.

2. Blend dates and pecans with almond milk, adding as much cinnamon as you like.

3.Pour over seeds and stir. Wait a few minutes, then stir again.

4. Continue to stir and wait until pudding is as thick as you like it.

5.  Eat!

This pudding is fulling, yet light. It's kind of an odd feeling in your stomach. K eats a spooonfull of chia seeds with a glass of water for a quick breakfast most mornings. As the seeds absorb water 10-12 times their size, it makes for a full tummy.

So, who's going to try chia pudding?  Chia seeds can be found in grocery or health food stores. I used Bob's Red Mill Chia seeds.

Pickled Ginger

Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad spent last weekend searching for houses, which is not as fun as one might imagine. It involved a lot of driving, from around Naperville to Indiana Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But--we had a pretty nice room at the Westin (yay for points!) and ate some real tasty food each night.

Friday night we ate at Holy Mackerel!, the seafood side to the famous restaraunt Harry Caray, which we didn't try. Harry Caray was the voice of the Chicago Cubs for many years, which I didn't know. I don't really pay attention to sports.

Then Saturday, after a much more productive day (we found a house we like) we travelled back to Chi and ate at Ra, a sushi bar. I'd never had sushi before, but was willing to try it. It was delicious! We had both raw and cooked sushi, and I have to say that the pickled ginger was out of sight!  My fave was the spicy tempura shrimp. The yellowfin tuna and salmon was also good (raw), but i didn't really care for the California roll. I'm not a big fan of Nori.

So all in all it was an enjoyable weekend. The kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa trick or treating and making cookies and generally having a great time.

I have four pint jars of pickled ginger sitting on my counter. Now all I need is some sushi....

I'm a DIY kind of gal

Image by NourishingCook via Flickr

Yup. Been missing in action. Did ya miss me? Didnt think so. It's gotten pretty crazy around here in the kitchen. First off, Dyno Dad scored a promotion--Yay for DD! So we are finally leaving The 'Burg!  I think we all have mixed feelings about that, as the new job is in Chicago. Yep. North to Alaska--ok, not really, but I think it's gonna feel like Alaska this winter.....

I've been having fun in the kitchen with my new cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, a b-day gift from my big sis.  I've been experiementing with lacto-fermented foods. Most people's experience with fermented food is has been limited to saurkraut.  Therre's a whole world beyond simply saurkraut. Not to mention that thse types of foods are insanely good for your gut.  So I've made Fermented Bean Paste (called Bean Dip for obvious reasons), and after three days on the counter K and I tried it---tasty! Garlicky and made us wish for a bag of tortilla chips. Mmmm.  Due to be transferred tot he top shelf of the fridge are two pints of Garlic Carrots.

I also made cream cheese! I am serious, people. All it took was to drain a carton of plain yogurt in a cloth lined colander until all the whey dripped out.  Ta Da!   Cream cheese identical in taste to the stuff in the box, I kid you not. It's just a little softer than  the commercial stuff. Guess who won't be buying cream cheese in a box any more?

I'm a DIY Girl.

Just Say No to the Cloves

Yesterday I was looking through my recipes for something to make and ran across No Bake Flax Snacks, and thought, 'Cool. I like flax, I always wanted to make these' blah blah blah. As you can see from the photo, the recipe called for ingredients most people would have in their home. There's one thing missing from that photo, and one thing added.   It called for 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cloves, plus cinnamon. Now, if there's anything most people know who bake a lot, it's that cloves are very strong. Strong enough to over power just about anything. (think Christmas candles, ornaments, etc). Cloves are even stronger than nutmeg.

Anyway, so I followed the recipe, hesitating over the amount of cloves, and in the end just cut it down to one teaspoon.  MISTAKE. I should have left all of it out. So I made another batch, this time leaving out the cloves and adding a couple tablespoons of cocoa. Much better. Jake and NoBo took some in their lunches today.

Here is the recipe with my changes:

No Bake Flax Snacks

3\4 cup ground flaxseed
3 Tbl whole wheat flour
1 -1/2 cinnamon
2 Tbl cocoa (approximate)
2 Tbl peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (approximate; probably a tiny bit more)

Combine first for ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Addd peanut butter and honey and knead thoroughly by hand. Tear off bits and roll into small balls. Store in refrigerator.

--from April 97 Prevention magazine



And the moral of the story is: always trust your gut, even when you're cooking.

Can I just say..

Wow. That's all there is to say today, the first full day of school. This morning was sheer chaos--not so much when I had to get the boys ready, but when K and E and Dyno Dad were up. This was even with having lunches fixed the night before (except for Dyno Dad's; my fault).  I was downstairs printing off notes for their lunchboxes and kinda lost track of time. Oops. But all's well that end's well, right? And everyone got out the door with ironed pants and lunches and backpacks.

Now Foo-Foo and I have the house to ourselves, and it's strangely quiet......