Big Kids in Baby Wraps

I have found another use for my multiple baby wraps - kid hammocks!  One of the ladies at The Little Seedling suggested I try it, she promised it would help us get through winter.  Oh how grateful I am for her suggestion.  It is a perfect spot for quiet time.  I usually have at least 2 set up at any given time but have capacity to get 5 going at once (that is if we happen to clear the kitchen table).

Here they are in action - baby wraps are my favorite mothering tool!

Best of Valentines 2011

Remember these from last year?  I love when children create messages from the heart.

Here is a sampling from what was exchanged last night:

Maryanna drew the horse for me and glasses for Paul.  I especially love James' note to Archie the dog, even if Archie's been throwing up all over the place today.

You may not be able to read the red one, it reads:  "To: Henry, Hello Henry, I love you, I'd rather have you then a chocalate chip cookie - love, Peter"

Here's what Paul presented me........chocolates wrapped in dental floss.  These are so yummy and exotic that they actually have instructions on how to eat them on the outside of the box.  My favorite? Tibetan pink salt and goji berry.

This was To:  Him   Love, Me   - Made by them.  A little scrap journal to write down thoughts.  He loved it!

We ate crepes then danced off all the sugar with a family dance party.  And just so you know, family dance parties make the best flip videos - I'll post one sometime.

Lots of Little Love Notes

In celebration of Valentines we have set up a little postal system in our home.  It has been running almost  two weeks and the kids have been busy earning their postage, scribbling notes and taking turns as the postal worker.  

Here is Clara in uniform doing her postal duty.  The postal hat was made along side the recent birthday crowns.  

When the flag on the little mailbox is up the postal worker collects the note and puts it in the pouch then delivers it to an individual mailbox.

The pouch was sewn out of an old pair of ripped church pants and the letters were just stamped on.

Here are the mailboxes all assembled with felt and hung with grommets and ribbon.

I have to say the girls have been the most enthusiastic about this activity and beg for little jobs to earn postal stickers..... but with only a few more days until Valentines the boys are starting to catch up.  We will read them aloud to each other during our family Valentines party on Monday night. 

And if you are wondering where this idea came from, it was Ms. Mortimore's 2nd grade class.  Paul and I were in there together and the Valentine's Village she created with a working postal system is among one of our favorite shared memories from elementary school.  Paul actually found the exact Valentine I gave him in 1983 in a box in his parents basement, he gave it back to me in 1995 and it is now in a box somewhere in our basement.  When I find it I'll post it.

Here's what we had for dinner

I am posting food again because it was requested by a few individuals.  This is soaked and cooked quinoa topped with stir fried veggies and a bit of beef.  It was delicious but not everyone loved it so there was enough for both lunch and dinner. 

For those who do not love what is cooked, I only request they take two bites.  That was suggested by my pediatrician and we have seen gradual success in pickiness decline.

Back to the meal.  This started with a few beef bones - these are local, grass fed, organic from an excellent supplier,  Garry Kuneman at Natural Local Foods Express.  I buy most of my meat there and highly recommend it.  

Here are the beef bones. After searing them, I placed them in a crock pot with an onion, some garlic, peppercorns, baby leaf and covered it all with filtered water.  After 12 hours on low the meat was falling off the bone and I was left with several cups of rich broth.

I strained the broth, reserved the beef (even knocked out the bone marrow because it is good for you) then let it cool overnight in the fridge so the fat could be easily skimmed.

Just like the millet and most grains, quinoa (which technically is a seed) should be soaked overnight.  The reason for this is to help break down the phytic acid which can block the absorption of vital nutrients.  I read about this in Nourishing Traditions but also just found this report.  So if replicating this recipe go ahead and rinse 2 cups (or half if it is only for a few people) of quinoa then soak covered overnight in filtered water with a splash of buttermilk, whey or lemon juice.

The rest of the cooking was done just before dinner.  Here I am in action chopping piles of veggies:

First start cooking the quinoa the same way I cooked the millet, sauteing in garlic and onions and adding broth.  For two cups quinoa use 4 cups broth.  Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered stirring as needed.  

For the stir fry, again start with chopped onion and minced garlic - I like garlic so most likely used at least 5.  If I'm pressed for time I'll use my garlic press but I like the flavor better minced (probably because the garlic press is more like a juicer).  Toss this around in a hot wok with a bit of oil (I use olive or grape seed) but when if it starts to stick add a few spoonfuls of broth.  

For variety I like to add leeks and green onions - go ahead and toss them in.  Now a bit of fresh ginger, don't over do it because it can be strong - mince it, don't juice it.  Toss it all together and when the yummy smell starts to fill your kitchen add diced carrots and zucchini.  At this point you may want to spoon a bit more broth to help the carrots cook faster (they should be very small and uniformly chopped).  

When the carrots begin to soften toss in some chopped mushrooms then finely chopped collards, kale or spinach.  As they start to wilt add in the reserved minced beef (and marrow) from the broth bones, sprinkle with a little  sea salt or Braggs and top onto the finished quinoa.

Here it is again steaming off the plate.  You may even see Peter in the far background with forehead to fist in dread, so if you're not interested no hard feelings.  But this is definitely my kind of food - it is what I crave and if we didn't have a sesame allergy would have toasted some for the top.  

In the end Peter did eat it, but not until he sprinkled it with a little dried kelp.  I don't think it tasted good that way but happy he ate his share.  

"You're growing up so fast"

"You're growing up so fast, it seems like just yesterday you turned 30".... that is what William told me as he sewed a birthday crown for me (all by himself!).  

I got to wear the crown to my free breakfast at the Northside Grill here in town.  It was a good exercise in self consciousness as I also wore it to the thrift store next door.  For my birthday we picked up another sled, the complete set of Little House on the Prairie and a wool dress for to refashion.  Henry got to join us and as always it is a treat to have time alone with just one child.

But what I want to remember about this outing is looking back at him alone in the car it hit me that he is a little clone of Paul, complete with a happy countenance and big blue eyes.  These little moments of realization often bring tears to my eyes and this time I had a camera in hand to capture it.  

Paul chauffeured me to Zingermans to pick up the next birthday freebie of 1/2 dozen bagels.  I don't really like bagels but knew some of the kids (and of course Paul) would enjoy them.  The employees there all gave me a high five for wearing the birthday crown and the women behind me in line kindly suggested I didn't look much older than 28 - I'll take that but still don't mind growing up.  I like the feel of my mid thirties, I feel I'm finally growing into myself.  

I did moan about a wrinkle a few weeks ago but James offered me this:  "You know mom, you are really maturing, and that is a good thing".  He is right and actually pretty mature himself for recognizing it.

Paul's parents were kind in giving me a gift certificate to Habermans and the day to spend alone with Paul.  We made our way around town on foot through an unexpected blizzard.  Paul patiently waited as I picked out a new pair of earrings. We then strolled down to Crazy Wisdom Book store where I was treated to delicious herbal tea and picked up the CD "Feeling Good Today" to enjoy with the kids.

By the time we made it to the cupcake shop (another birthday freebie) the snow was really coming down.  

From there we opted for carry-out from Frida Botidas but Paul convinced me, even in a blizzard you cannot pass up on a free cone at Ben&Jerry's.  First time I ever had an ice cream cone while out in the snow, I chose "Chocolate Therapy" (mix of chocolate cookies and pudding) and it tasted great topped with fresh snowflakes.

When we got home the girls announced they had set up a party for me.  It was a tea party with real juice and my old German doll I got when I was 5 was invited too.   I brought her down from my closet and brought up a few mini cupcakes. I busted out the new CD, rocked out to this song and it was a real girl party.

What really surprised me was the vegetable scavenger hunt Maryanna arranged.  We loaded the dollies in the stroller and tore apart their room looking for hidden veggies - luckily they were only hand drawn veggies (otherwise it would have been a nasty surprise in the weeks to come).

And finally a birthday serenade from Paul (isn't this photo William caught hilarious!)

And blowing out candles.  What a wonderful day and life it has been!

Birthday Crowns

Birthday crowns are a fun tradition we have adopted this year.  They are so fun and simple to make that we put a few together for our cute little cousins.

William and James stayed up one night to help assemble these.  I don't have very clear instructions because I don't think you need any, but here are a few tips anyways.

Cut out any shape crown, I did 7 point crown here but saw several other examples on etsy.  Cut out your main color first with regular scissors and when you are sure you like the shape go ahead and use the pinking shears.   Sew crown top of the background color, it can just be a long rectangle so don't worry about matching the exact shape, just be sure it is pinned flat so no bubbles appear. This is a great project for young sewers!

Now go ahead and trim the outside border edge with the pinking shears.  

Now you are ready to embellish and that is the fun part.  We used magnetic numbers as a guide.

I like layering different combinations of colors and just used a small zig-zag (or bar tac) on the tiny shapes.  Here they are again laid out flat with added Velcro.

But they look even cuter on.

  

Black Bean Turkey Millet Chili

I like to record our food successes here because sometimes I get in a food rut, this one was good because it hit the spot after playing out in the cold.  I also like the way the millet stretches the meat.

Just using what I had on hand and seeking advice from Foodily (thanks Gemina!) here's how I may want to recreate it again:

Day 1:  Soak (12-24 hours) a couple cups of beans in a glass bowl with a few Tbs. buttermilk (or you could use whey or lemon juice).

Day 2:  Rinse the beans and cover with fresh water in a crock pot.  Add an onion, few cloves of garlic, bay leaf and a splash of oil.  Cook on low for several hours - I filled to the max so it took almost 24 hours this time.  Now rinse 2 cups of millet and soak (12-24 hours) in a glass bowl with a few Tbs. of buttermilk and cover.  Start thawing out 1lb.  ground meat.

Day 3:  Strain the beans, set aside.  Strain and rinse the millet, set aside.  Chop 2 onions, 1 pepper, 6 cloves of garlic (actually I used more).  Heat a bit of olive oil in two separate pots, toss half the onions and garlic in one and the other half plus the chopped pepper in the other larger pot and saute.

In the pot without the pepper throw in the millet and allow it to toast up a bit with the onions and garlic, when it starts to stick go ahead and add 4 cups of water or broth and simmer down until you are happy with the texture (you may have to add more water), be sure to stir along the way to prevent sticking.

Meanwhile, cook the ground turkey in the other pot.  When it is finished reserve some in a separate bowl for Henry and George (or anyone else who is sensitive to tomato and spices).  Now add to the pot 1 large can of crushed tomatoes and 1 smaller can of diced tomatoes (Paul didn't like the chunkiness of the tomatoes but it was easy enough for him to avoid them, I liked them).  Also throw in 1 bay leaf, and season to taste with oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

One of the recipes suggested a splash of red wine vinegar but I did not try it this time because I forgot, I suppose it is to soften the acidity of the tomatoes.  Simmer for at least an hour.  At any point during the simmering you can gently stir in your cooked millet, just don't forget to reserve some separately for the little guys who can't have the works.

Top with what ever you have on hand.  In this case we were lucky to have a pint of sour cream from our dairy farmer and that may be what made it so good.  I also liked it with a sprinkle of cheese and avocado but would have also liked cilantro, lime and chips - next time.

Though it takes a few days to plan, it is worth soaking both the beans and millet because it enhances the flavor, nutrition and digestibility.  This got us through two dinners (and one quick breakfast for me!) this week and just like most chili tasted better as leftovers.

Now, here's something else that is worth trying on a cold day - tucking a dog in bed.