Cranberry Pear Salad

Favorite recipe from my sister-in-law. She often brings it to family gatherings...and gives me the leftovers. ;) We had it tonight with baked potatoes/toppings. It's similar to the Green Salad with Autumn Fruit I mentioned a few days ago.

Cranberry Pear Salad

lettuce
dried cranberries
pinenuts or sliced almonds
pear, cut into small chunks
feta cheese, optional

Toss together, amounts to taste.

**Dressing:

1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. oil
4 T. sugar
4 T. cider vinegar

Mix well and pour over salad when ready to serve.

(**I usually use less oil and sugar and more vinegar. But this is good, too.)

Grocery Spending Challenge, Week #5

We're done with grocery shopping for the month (I think!), so I can reveal our results...

Total groceries for the month, feeding 4 big people & 2 little people = $240.36
This is without couponing, which I don't generally do. (I've rarely found anything we eat that comes on a coupon!)

My goal was $200/month, so technically we didn't reach our goal. Although we just bought some items that we could have easily put off, so I guess I gave up the spending challenge in favor of getting one errand off my "to do" list. ;)

Costco was the downfall, if you want to call it that. I asked DH to stop on the way home from work to get:

1, 2lb loaf cheddar cheese
raisins
oatmeal
milk
bread

He brought home all of the above, plus:

8 pk ravioli (what's with that??? we never buy ravioli!)
2 more cheeses
1 more box oatmeal

I've got jobs coming up and will be terribly busy for a bit, so I'm glad he went ahead and got extra. So much for the challenge. ;) I can't say that we really did anything different this month than we do normally. This is in the bottom range of what we normally spend/month, which makes sense given all the garden produce. If I'm figuring this right, we're eating really well for about $1.30/person/day. Not bad.

How did other "Spending Challenge" families do? Feel free to comment with a link to your results.

Off to plan next week's menus...

Enjoy the weekend!

Green Salad with Autum Fruit

We had Green Salad with Autumn Fruit** for dinner alongside Fresh Tomato & Basil Pasta. I had thirds on the salad. :) It's yummers!

I'd never tried the salad before, but decided to after the recipe came in my Simply in Season email. If you want a new recipe each week, sign up!

**I assume the link will only contain this recipe for a few more days?? Not sure.

What Is Balance?

I need to preface this by saying that I need a nap. But I need to write more. I don't often have kid days where I consider pounding my head against the nearest brick wall, but today might be in that category. If you can't relate, I don't want to know.

But on to writing...

First, as background, you must read Reasonable Limits. LOVE this piece. In it, the author talks about striving for balance in her life.

Sometimes I think I'm seriously out of balance. But here's the thing...

I am doing EXACTLY what I want to do with my life. I want a houseful of kids (which, incidentally, says a lot considering my morning!) I want the garden, the healthy cooking/eating, the family time, homeschooling. And, although it's sometimes hard to fit in, I also enjoy the periodic challenge (usually a couple times a month) of working outside the home. It is stressful, but it makes me think in ways that I don't usually get to at home.

But I am BUSY. ALL. THE. TIME. I feel like I always have a "to do" list ten miles long. (Even when I don't have time to make a list, it's still in my head. Last night I even dreamed about one of my friends' moms coming over to help me organize my house. Pathetic, I know.)

Contrary to the article, I do not feel like I'm obsessed with my children in an unhealthy way. That's pretty balanced, I think. (If you're my friend and reading this, let me know if I'm wrong.)

But I totally struggle with what is "reasonable." What is balance? Does the fact that I'm busy all the time mean that something is out of whack?

I mean, come on. Let's look back a few decades. Take the women of the 30s or 40s...they certainly didn't have recreational time. They didn't have all the modern conveniences we do. Just gardening, sewing, cooking, and doing the laundry took up most hours of the day. So were they out of balance?

I relate to the author when she says, "Some people think I do too many things. I feel like I don't do enough." I know there is more I could be growing. Canning. Cooking. Learning. Teaching. Writing. DOING.

I do feel gratitude for the good I'm experiencing, although sometime I have to "feel gratitude" at 100 miles an hour in order to sneak it in. I often think how fortunate I am to have what I've always wanted. Yet I sometimes find myself reading aloud to my kids, thinking about what it is I need to DO next rather than enjoying the moment. I try to live in the present, but it's hard...and the more busy I am, the harder it is.

Like the author, I am HORRIBLE at keeping things organized. Countless stacks of papers and books pile up in my office. My kids gifted me with boxes of their unwanted stuff that I'm supposed to sort--what to garage sale, what to give away, what to keep for younger siblings. I still have piles of adoption paperwork to sort. Homeschool curriculum. Job-related materials. Stuff-n-stuff.

At the moment, it feels worthless to even try. In the time I sort through one pile, GG will create another ten piles. If I stay with him, playing "Clean up, clean up..." we're at least down to minimal GG damage by the end of the day. Though looking around in the late afternoon, I often wonder what DH will think when he walks in the door. "Do I have children or mini tornados?" This letter from a Dr. Laura listener makes me feel slightly better. Slightly.

Yesterday I related so well to the woman who called into your show saying she felt frustrated that she could never get any tasks accomplished. As she spoke my list of 367 things to do ran through my head. I nodded frantically as she spoke the exact feelings of my heart.

You told her "your house is a toy box until the kids are in kindergarten". and then explained that all she needed to worry about was that the health department wouldn't come and take the kids away, there was food on the table, and there were clean clothes to wear but most importantly that she was relating to her children and making sure that they were being cared for and loved. Those words changed my life, they were just what I needed to get all the weight of that giant list off my shoulders. Suddenly I could breathe!!

I excitedly called my husband to tell him and that dear man said to me "that is what I've been trying to tell you. I don't care if there are toys on the floor or if we have left overs for dinner. I care that the kids are happy and most importantly that you are smiling".

Today each time I've felt stressed and overwhelmed I've reminded myself that my home really is a toy box and the two small boys making all the messes are what really matter in life.

But back to the original blog article...

I hugely struggle with decluttering. But here's the thing. I have children ages 3-19. I'm homeschooling. I have a preschooler. I occasionally work from home. Out of necessity (at least perceived), I have a lot of STUFF.

Take yesterday for example.

I have a little basket of eye droppers, film canisters, squirt bottles and mini containers. While I was chopping/freezing produce, I took the basket out, added it to the "doctor kit," grabbed a couple dollies, a dollbed and blankies. The boys had a blast. Eventually, they took it outside so they could do more with the water and less with the doctoring. But they had SO. MUCH. FUN. Yeah, it's "stuff." Yeah, I hardly ever use it. But it was perfect in the moment.


Here's the next piece I relate to:

I seem to have an issue with a skewed idea of what I want to do and what I can actually do in real life. In my mind I wish I could do so many things and just don't have the time. Living with a feeling like I always have an unfinished 'to do' list puts me in a negative situation as I always feel like I'm not measuring up, not doing well because it never is done.

For me it's not so much that I have a skewed idea of what I can get done. (At least I don't think.) It's that I know exactly how much I can get done. Then I fill every little second of that time until there is nothing left. I'm not sure how long a person can continue that route and still call herself "balanced."

Frankly, I have no time to declutter right now. It's all I can do to take care of kids, garden, cook, do laundry, and, yes, WORK.

I feel an urge to rethink "what is reasonable."

So is your life balanced? How'd you manage to get there???

Simply Sustainable

Simply Sustainable, to be published by Herald Press in 2010, will help readers meet the challenges facing the earth and our communities by offering realistic alternatives to many of the consumer choices they make everyday. The learning and experience of contributors from around the world will offer tested and proven methods to better care for God’s creation.

Want to contribute as a writer, reviewer, or tester? Visit the website.

What Do I Do All Day???

My day, in a nutshell...

5:30am
Get up to see why Lizzi is up. Go back to bed.

6:30ish
Get up. Stay in bed that long, hoping that GG sleeping at my side will fall back into a deep sleep. When he does, I get up.

6:30am
Eat, say goodbye to DH and Lizzi.

7am
Greet boys as they get up. Make them breakfast. Get dressed, eat more breakfast, drink coffee. Fire off a work (yep..."real" job coming up) email or two. Dress little boys. Say goodbye to Anakin.

8:30am
Start homeschool with little boys. Read aloud for quite a while. Help LilDude with his insect pop-up book. Watch a video on internet about insects to confirm a fact on his page. Learn that we were both wrong! :) Supervise as he writes a rough draft and final copy of one page and draws rough draft and makes final copy with Prismacolor pencils.

Make one job-related phone call.

10:30am
Go out with the boys to gather eggs. Pick plums at the neighbors. Harvest broccoli and red peppers. Boys alternately help and drive cars around the backyard.

11:15am
Eat lunch. Go back out to play for a bit before nap.

12:30pm
Nap for all. I sleep for about 45 minutes. Boys, for about 75 minutes. I get a couple work emails answered in the extra few minutes.

1:45pm
Water flowers at my parents'. Decide we need to eat some of their lettuce tomorrow.

2:15pm
Boys sit down to do "school work" while I freeze red peppers and broccoli. GG draws and LilDude does math. When they're done, boys play with doctor stuff. They love to use all the little bottles, droppers, and tubes I've saved. They go outside to use water in their droppers to heal their dolls. Then they take dolls on rip-roaring ride in the cars and crash enough times that babies have to return to the doctor.

3:15pm
Lizzi home. Talk with her. Read books to little boys.

4pm
Anakin home. Talk with him.

4:30pm
Feed kids dinner. Lots of leftovers!

As I write, I'm holding GG who is watching a Mei Mei Chinese video on one side of my screen. Time to go feed DH and clean up the kitchen... ;)

Rest of the day?

Catch up with DH.
Plant raised bed with the kale and mustard seeds that DH brought home.
Start on a jog.
Find snake on the road.
Run home to get boys to see snake.
Finish jog.
Shower.
Bathe kids.
Read stories.
Bed.

It's been a good day! I'll have to save this for ten or twenty years. Wonder what I'll be doing then???

Red Peppers, Broccoli, & Changing My Menus

I keep changing my mind.

I'm so happy when I make a weekly meal plan, but lately it seems fruitless...or perhaps fruit-filled veggie-filled????

I make the menu based on what's generally in season. But then when I go to the garden and find something either growing in huge abundance or at absolute peak, well, then...all plans go out the window. I'm changing my weekly menu to include the gorgeous, new lettuce growing at my parents' home. I need a couple more fixes of taco salad before winter. I definitely won't be buying lettuce then.



Gardening today? Red pepper and broccoli harvest. I left the green peppers to let them continue growing, but picked the red so they wouldn't get overripe. I've never had such an abundance of red peppers before. One was bigger than a softball.

Did you know that red peppers are just green peppers left to further ripen on the vine? I didn't until I started growing them. It's also the reason I've had trouble growing them...sometimes they rot before they turn all the way red. Or they don't have time to get fully ripe before the weather turns cold, which has NOT been a problem this year. If it stays this warm, I'll wish I'd planted a second garden. Here are the peppers ready for the freezer. I just slice and bag for pizza toppings, stirfry, etc.


With the broccoli, I cut into stalks and blanch (immerse in boiling water) for 3 minutes. Then plunge in cold water, drain, and spread on a towel to get a little more moisture off before bagging for the freezer. Great for stirfry or a quick side veggie.
Yesterday I planted one of our raised beds with lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, and bok choy, hoping that it grows all winter under glass. Still need to add kale, but ran out of seeds.

I came to a realization today. I have almost no recreational activities of my own. I occasionally read. I write my blog. But other than that, I think kids and gardening/food preservation are my recreation. A time for everything... :)

Prayer by Jane Austen

The bolded section of this prayer by Jane Austen was read in our church yesterday. I'm posting it for my own self-reflection. I hope it's helpful to someone else as well.

Father of Heaven! whose goodness has brought us in safety to the close of this day, dispose our hearts in fervent prayer. Another day is now gone, and added to those, for which we were before accountable. Teach us almighty father, to consider this solemn truth, as we should do, that we may feel the importance of every day, and every hour as it passes, and earnestly strive to make a better use of what thy goodness may yet bestow on us, than we have done of the time past.

Give us grace to endeavour after a truly Christian spirit to seek to attain that temper of forbearance and patience of which our blessed saviour has set us the highest example; and which, while it prepares us for the spiritual happiness of the life to come, will secure to us the best enjoyment of what this world can give. Incline us oh God! to think humbly of ourselves, to be severe only in the examination of our own conduct, to consider our fellow-creatures with kindness, and to judge of all they say and do with that charity which we would desire from them ourselves.

We thank thee with all our hearts for every gracious dispensation, for all the blessings that have attended our lives, for every hour of safety, health and peace, of domestic comfort and innocent enjoyment. We feel that we have been blessed far beyond any thing that we have deserved; and though we cannot but pray for a continuance of all these mercies, we acknowledge our unworthiness of them and implore thee to pardon the presumption of our desires.

Keep us oh! Heavenly Father from evil this night. Bring us in safety to the beginning of another day and grant that we may rise again with every serious and religious feeling which now directs us.

May thy mercy be extended over all mankind, bringing the ignorant to the knowledge of thy truth, awakening the impenitent, touching the hardened. Look with compassion upon the afflicted of every condition, assuage the pangs of disease, comfort the broken in spirit.

More particularly do we pray for the safety and welfare of our own family and friends wheresoever dispersed, beseeching thee to avert from them all material and lasting evil of body or mind; and may we by the assistance of thy holy spirit so conduct ourselves on earth as to secure an eternity of happiness with each other in thy heavenly kingdom. Grant this most merciful Father, for the sake of our blessed saviour in whose holy name and words we further address thee.

Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Harvesting Winter Squash

I need help.

I'm reading conflicting information on storing winter squash. I just harvested a wheelbarrow load of butternut and acorn. The acorn are ginormous. (And hiding under the butternut in the photo.) I hope they taste okay as I'm reading that big = stringy. But I don't think they were ripe when they were smaller, so I'm not sure what I could have done to change the outcome.

Anyway, storage questions:

1. Do I wash them first? You can see that they're dirty. Will washing them increase the likelihood of mildew or decrease it?

2. Where do I store them? Some places say cool, dry (like 50 degrees) and others say warm (like 70-80 degrees.) Tomorrow it's supposed to be a high of 90 here, so I need to figure out where to put them.

3. How do you decide when butternut and acorn are ripe? I always look for a creamy color on the butternut when the leaves start to sorta wilt. But I'm not sure that's correct. And the acorn I always figure should be dark green with some orange on the underside, but I'm wondering if I let them go too long this year???

Anyone want to enlighten me?

Jodi Picoult books

Lizzi recently hooked me on books by author Jodi Picoult. I've read Keeping Faith and My Sister's Keeper. Anyone else hooked???

Taco Soup

Fast food at our house? One pot Taco Soup. I throw in odds and ends, but here's the basic idea:





Taco Soup

1 lb hamburger
some chopped onion, to taste
some chopped jalapenos or green peppers, optional, to taste
2 cans kidney beans, drained
2 cans stewed tomatoes (I use 1 qt, canned)
2 cans corn, undrained (I use about 2 c. frozen, thawed)
1, 16 oz can tomato sauce (I use 1 pt. canned)
1 pkg taco seasoning (I use bulk, Costco)

Fry hamburger in large pot with onion, peppers til hamburger is cooked. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 15 minutes til flavors are blended. Optional: serve with grated cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream.

Fast, easy and good!

Depression Cooking

Clara, a grandmother in her nineties, introduces a whole series of recipes on YouTube on "Great Depression Cooking." Here's "Poorman's Meal." Clara is a hoot. And the "Depression Cooking" info is fabulous. The only hilarious thing is that a lot of what she does looks very, very familiar. LOL. I guess I'm closer to Depression cooking (but not depressing cooking) than I would have thought. :)

Thanks to Owlhaven for alerting me to these fun videos!

Book: Lucky Girl

Mei-Ling Hopgood's memoir, Lucky Girl, fascinated me. Born to a Taiwanese family already filled with girls, she is subsequently adopted by an American family and raised with two brothers (who, incidentally, are adopted from Korea.) As an adult she meets her Taiwanese family and begins the long, complicated process of learning to know them. One of the first difficult news items? Her birth parents adopted a boy even as they relinquished two of their birth daughters for adoption. In numerous visits, she learns to know her birth sisters...as well as the many "skeletons in the closet" that are a part of the family she left in infancy. Highly recommended reading.

Meal Plan - Grocery Spending Challenge Week #4

Hehe. Well, DH went to Costco. So the Grocery Spending Challenge $ spent so far this month just doubled. Total: $180.71

Good news? We have plenty of food around here. Bad news? To make the spending challenge ($200 for the month for us), we have less than $20 to spend in 11 days. The only think that we'll seriously need to replenish is milk. So we'll see... Bottom line? Costco is dangerous! ;)

I modified our menu from last week if you want to check out my note about 7-year-olds and Eggplant Burgers.

Here's the plan for this week:

Today (Saturday)
Breakfast: granola
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Taco Soup

Sunday
Breakfast: at church, bring platter of grapes
Lunch: Eggplant Burgers (Simply in Season, p. 140.)
Dinner: Sunday night usual...popcorn and fruit

Monday
Breakfast: remaining breakfasts will come from this list
Dinner: Zucchini Casserole, tomatoes, grapes

Tuesday
Dinner: LEFTOVERS!

Wednesday
Dinner: taco salad

Thursday
Dinner: Leftovers

Friday
Dinner: Tomato and Basil Pasta & Green Salad with Autumn Fruit (Simply in Season, p. 190.)

Canning...Photo of My Pantry

Can I breathe now? :)

Canning is almost done. Still want to do grape juice. A little freezing. But the biggest jobs are complete. I captured a photo for the "lazy days" (ha!) of winter. I think filled jars on the shelf look pretty. It makes me feel happy just to stand there and gaze at them.

What's in there?

32 quarts cherries
21 pints, 5 quarts salsa (which will all get eaten, believe me...I've heard rumblings that I didn't make enough!)
30 pints tomato sauce
21 pints, 1 quart dill beans
15 quarts grape juice
39 quarts green beans
30 quarts peaches
10, half-pints peach chutney
19 quarts tomatoes

...and my freezers only have room left for the chickens due to be butchered next week.

Vacation, anyone??? :)