Muffins and Smoothies: The perfect vessels for fooling kids to eat healthy.

My youngest two kids have always had constipation issues. I'm sure they'll be thrilled that I chose to share this on the internet. We have tried, and been quite happy with using fiber gummies to supplement picky diets, but it never feels quite right to me. I am one for getting to the root of a problem and changing life choices or habits rather than using an easy fix and continuing down a broken path.

I have found that muffins and smoothies are amazing delivery systems for healthy food. You can hide damn near anything in there and kids will be none the wiser. The last few weeks we have been enjoying a recipe for Left-over Oatmeal Muffins, from Soulemama's blog. They are super easy, tasty, and I can boost the fiber by adding lots of dried fruit and ground flax seed. Tomorrow, (since one of the two is currently severely backed up), we will be trying a recipe for Strawberry Flax smoothies (with spinach! Shhhh) that I just made up.....I hope it's actually good.

Any way, without further ado here are the recipes for the muffins and smoothie. The muffins are kid and mom approved. The smoothie is pending approval ;)

Leftover oatmeal muffins:
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp sugar, honey or maple syrup
1 cup additions (dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc.)

Mix flax with water. Let stand 5 minutes. Add oatmeal and milk. Mix thoroughly. Add egg and sugar. Add everything else. Mix well. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Strawberry Flax Smoothies:
1 cup plain (homemade) yogurt....sorry, I had to brag about my yogurt.
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup raw spinach
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 a banana (would be good but bananas are not local so ours won't have it)
2Tbsp flax
maybe a little milk or something if it needs it.

Put all that stuff in the blender. Boom! It's a smoothie. You're welcome.

Healthy and cheap ways to clean house

I tried to think of a way to make this post sound more interesting. Cleaning isn't exactly exciting to me, but it is neccessary, and since we have three kids and two dogs, I spend a decent chunk of time each week cleaning up. Most household cleaning supplies are not really eco friendly. They are also mostly toxic, and pollute not only the water system they're dumped into, but also the air in our homes. I don't particularly like the idea of keeping a bunch of toxic chemicals around when I have curious children and less than intelligent animals roaming around. To top it all off, cleaning products are expensive! I can't imagine how much money I have spent on various cleansers to do a variety of different jobs, and their eco-friendly counterparts are almost double and sometimes triple the cost of conventional supplies. For years I have used white vinegar and water to clean most things, and baking soda as an abrasive. We recently switched to Dr. Bronners liquid castille soaps for our dish soap, shampoo, and we also use it for our reusable wipes. I was still spending too much money (in my opinion) on laundry soap and dishwasher detergent. My sister-in-law, and a close friend both make their own laundry detergent using borax, washing soda, and one form or other of grated bar soap. I got the recipe, gave it a try, and have been very happy with the results! It's pretty easy to make, safe for the environment, and saves tons of money! After a bit of research I also found a recipe online also using borax and washing soda with the addition of citric acid and kosher salt to make dishwasher detergent. I used this with some success for a few days, but we have very hard water, and no amount of tinkering with the recipe has helped. I'm back to seventh generation stuff for now, but I hope to one day find a recipe that works! Without further rambling, here are the recipes for laundry soap and dishwasher detergent.
Laundry Soap:
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap, or 1 bar Ivory soap, OR 1/2 bar Dr. Bronners soap (I use lavender scent) grated.
Mix the grated soap, washing soda and borax in a bowl with a spoon for about five minutes, or until it's thoroughly mixed. You could use the food processor too if you like. Use about a tablespoon per load. Easy as pie, and super cheap.

Dishwasher detergent:
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 cup citric acid (I used Ball Fruit Fresh in the canning section. Some people use a packet of Kool-aid, and some use a product called Lemmi shine)
1/4-1/2 cup kosher salt.
Mix it up. Fill the rinse agent compartment with white vinegar (works as well as Jet Dry).

A New Chapter

Earlier this week we found out that our offer on a farmette was accepted! We are extremely happy to start this new chapter in our lives. Right now the possibilities are endless. I look forward to a summer filled with back breaking but rewarding labor and a lot of learning. Some of our long term plans involve goats, chickens, growing as much of our own veggies as possible, berry bushes, art studios, patios, and even a private vineyard...I'm getting carried away. I do know that this is an amazing opportunity for our family and if it weren't for the love and support of extended family it would be much harder to make this a reality right now. That is also one of the main things I look forward to in this venture. A multi-generational household. What an awesome way to strengthen family bonds and teach children a wonderful sense of community within their own family! We have so much to learn from one another. This year will be busy for sure, but also filled with positive change. With all of the adventure in store, I hope to be able to improve on my blogging and hopefully inspire folks to embrace a more earth and family nurturing lifestyle. It has been nothing but good for my family, and continues to foster emotional and intellectual growth. I look forward to posting pictures of our work in progress, and sharing this beautiful experience with all of you!

Strawberry Bourbon time....almost.

Today I planted peas. I think sugar snaps are probably one of  my all time favorite things to grow. I remember eating them right out of my parents garden when I was young. They taste like spring time! Any way, I planted the peas, and this weekend or next I will start my potatoes, which I am growing in trash cans this year. So, while I was out there planting, and digging, and cursing my asshole dog for digging a huge hole next to the garden fence so he could eat old eggshells out of the compost, I started thinking about summer, and food....again. And after I thought about how I would trade my dog for just one summertime tomato, I started thinking about strawberry season, and more specifically, the strawberry bourbon I "made" last spring. We picked a ton of strawberries last year. So much that I have just this week used the last of the frozen berries! Any way, that bourbon was amazing, and there was pretty much nothing to it. I just cut up some fresh ripe berries and put them in a quart sized mason jar, which I then filled with Maker's Mark bourbon. I think I managed to let them sit a full twenty-four hours before I had some. I will do this again soon, and it will make me happy. Hopefully, I will be able to sip on my bourbon while eating some super fresh sugar snaps!

Anticipating Asparagus

Our garden from 2010

This year of local eating has been pretty lucky for us. We've met some wonderful farmers who share our goal of preserving the environment, we have read many labels at the grocery store, and learned a whole lot about where our food comes from. We were also lucky that here in Virginia, we have had a mild winter, and have been able to buy many vegetables from a farmer who is just fifteen minutes from us! Pretty amazing. While I'm grateful for the dark green collards, kale, and broccoli, and beautiful cabbages and sweet potatoes of winter, I am so ready for asparagus! I saw it at the grocery store the other day. All bundled up with it's friends in a nice tidy row with water droplets shining on it's sleek and slender green surface. It was beautiful, and I was oh so tempted, but I reminded myself that April is just around the corner, and promptly wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth as I set off to get the milk that I came for. Longing for asparagus reminded me that it is time I started my own vegetable seeds for the season. I ordered them this year from a company called "Vegan Seeds" who advertise their seeds as a sort of post apocalypse repopulating the food source type of deal (weirdos...ahem) anyway, they were cheap, and organic and non-GMO, so I bought them. They came in a nice Mylar bag (for long term storage) and were simply labeled with printed instructions for planting and saving seeds. As long as they actually grow, I'm a happy customer. Any way, tonight, I got out the little seed starting pots, grabbed a bag of potting soil, and fired up the grow lights. So far, I started several varieties of tomato, cucumber, and zucchini. If the rain would just let up for a couple of days, I would put the peas in the ground, and in a couple of weeks, the potatoes! Then the beans, and herbs, and lettuces!

The girls first lemonade stand

I am for the first time in a long time, ready for summer. Normally I'm not a huge fan of mosquitoes, 100 plus degree days, long periods of drought, and high electric bills, but eating seasonally has given summer an appeal that it lacked before. I plan to look at it through rose...or tomato colored glasses this year. I also plan to take more photos since my sweet husband bought me a new camera for Christmas this year. Yes, lots of muddy hands holding earth worms, budding vegetable plants, harvest baskets over flowing with the bounty of the season, and probably some beach and pool photos mixed in as well. And maybe, just maybe, I'll look back on those pictures when it's cold and harsh in the winter, and we aren't so lucky to have lovely dark greens, and beautiful cabbages, and I will once again look forward to summer!