The thing I dislike about most smoothie recipes is that a lot forget to list the quantity it makes.
Today I made it up from whatever was around. Let it be known from here on out that it is purple and it makes about 24 fl oz — that’s THREE 8 oz mugs!
Blender smooth, drink up!
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Since starting school, Julia hasn’t been as good about eating her produce so I’m trying to figure out other ways to get it into her. So I came across the Green Smoothie Challenge while looking for smoothie recipes.
Julia and I decided to adapt the first recipe like this:
It made about four (8) ounce glasses and we all had one. The last went in the fridge. It was ok. I prefer a fruit juice base rather than water, Paul said he could go either way, and Julia was just happy it turned pink once the berries went in. Before that it was a pale green.
Posted in Drinks | Tagged banana, blender, drink, green, raspberries, romaine, smoothie | Leave a Comment »
I was recently cruising the Osceola Gardening Almanac. I like the breakout of 3 mos at a time. There’s also the monthly breakout by Orange County Extension Office.
I think I might manage a small 2 ft x 8 ft herb bed. That would be nice. I like what fresh herbs do for cookery.
I didn’t think I was going to get anything at all for fall season, and I’m resisting the urge to bite off more than I can chew. The sensible thing is to spend more time planning for spring planting but I’m itching to start now that the landscapers regraded my lawn and hauled in all the mulch.
Here’s the general sketch for the 300 sq ft garden to come.
Heather came over and helped me get the first set of beds put in. Now I have to start filling.
The garden shelf is all crazy with things shoved into it willy nilly and the trellis pieces leaned on it. But I marveled over how a few volunteer tomato plants from the second shelf were shooting for the roof despite being neglected.
One even had a yellow tomato fruiting!
Posted in Garden | Tagged almanac, calendar, Garden, kitchen garden, SFG, square foot garden | Leave a Comment »
This morning Julia told me that she wanted to sleep some more. “I don’t WANT to go to kindergarten!”
So I pulled the Mom Classic of going selectively deaf. “Get up. You have to eat breakfast.”
Paul didn’t get her to bed on time last night and she’s grumpy. But Julia is actually adjusting well and she’s having a lot of fun at school with her new teacher and classmates.
She woke me up on “first day of school Monday” an hour before schedule breathless with anticipation. “Mommy! It’s time for kindergarten! We’re going to be late!”
Me?
The first day back to school after walking her in, I took another mom friend to breakfast to celebrate the summer being over. For SAHMs, summer is the crazy time of the year. Boy, was I was feeling it! Running ragged, cranky, low on sleep…
I did nothing that first day. One of my rare days OFF from everything!
Over the next few days I slowly got back into catching up some volunteer work. I marveled over being able to sit down to a task, work through it all the way, and then turn my attention to something else. Without interruption. Without endless questions.
I’m excited about what I’m doing again. I feel productive again instead of all my attention going to the “childcare giving” portion of my SAHM gig.
I even got my teeth cleaned!
Over the last few days, I’ve actually been able to stay awake and be pleasant in the afternoon because I’m not running after a lively 5 year old for 12 hours solid. I look forward to going to pick her up and the short walk back home when she bounces along babbling with enthusiasm about her day. It charms me and I gain a new sense of appreciation for my child.
Today is Friday, so I turn my focus over to the house.
Which is a wreck, of course. It went to hell in the summer.
I’m not crazy about the clutter, but there are bits to it that I do love. Paul’s tireless paper models at the dining table means eating dinner on it is hard, but it also means he gives Julia an enviable army of dinosaurs.
“Are these going to be here forever?” I asked.
“No, they are for Julia. And you know sooner or later she’s going to smash them up and they’ll have to go.”
Knowing that, he’s still sitting there most nights gluing things with tweezers.
I don’t have that sort of patience. Mine is a different kind.
I’ve been having landscapers out here to grade the lawn, mulch, and tidy around to set me up for a larger kitchen garden space. Julia and I had a good time over the last two years building it up to 100 sq feet and figuring out how to to cope with growing food in this zone.
Over the summer, I broke it down early. In the last few weeks I’ve had landscapers regrade the lawn away from the house to improve drainage. They also mulched that whole side section — something like 17 ft x 50 ft — and built me a small retaining wall.
I was secretly pleased when I heard them admiring my soil. My mom the flower gardener envies my soil but now professionals appreciated it too. Florida tends to be all sandy and difficult. I’ve been actively trying to build up our soil though. Some days I feel like the crazy compost lady instead of the crazy cat lady.
My hands today are going to be busy with tidying clutter away and general housework. But my head is out in the yard, contemplating…rearranging…planning for the raised beds and what I’m going to grow.
I love Fall. For us here in Florida, it’s the other Spring. A blank slate, a fresh start to new adventures.
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Still working on the crazy living room boxes. While tidying I tossed Julia her doll.
“Here’s your baby… catch!”
“Ugh! Don’t hurt her!” she yelps.
Which made me snicker because I thought about my BIL. He took his daughter’s doll and hung it with rope, got his wife to take the Polaroid, and left a ransom note when she was little.
His kids are all grown up, and now he’s a grandparent who plays jokes and tricks on them instead.
Paul tells me about all the tricks and jokes he played on him and the rest of his siblings too. Those stories are practically legend now. Zooloo Monster anyone?
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Me: Can you get me the nail clippers. I have a weird hangnail thing…
J: If I get them will you trim my toenails?
Me: Sure.
J: OK, then I will look in the bathroom. (runs back) Mommy! They aren’t there!
Me: That’s ok. We can wait til later.
J: (voice of doom) You don’t understand! Without nail clippers we won’t SURVIVE!
Me: Um… do you know what “survive” means?
J: Not really.
Posted in Life | Tagged conversation, Julia, kid | Leave a Comment »
INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS
Night Before:
Cover and leave out overnight.
Next Day:
Whisk into the mixture from the night before. Let it stand for five minute.
Cook in skillet over medium heat for about 1 min per side. Spritz skillet with oil as needed throughout cooking. Makes about 32 pancakes using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop per pancake.
PHOTO ESSAY
Here’s what the initial sourdough starter mix looked like after sitting out overnight.
Next, I added the remaining ingredients.
Whisked it all together.
It poofed up quite a bit. Almost to the top of the bowl when at first it was not quite midpoint.
For pancakes mostly the same size, I like to use an ice cream scooper that holds about 1/4 cup.
After about a minute the pancake that is ready to flip in the back has gotten “big bubbles.”
Can also tell by the edges going “dry.”
Nice golden color once flipped.
This particular recipe makes 32 pancakes if you use the 1/4 cup measure to scoop out the batter. (Actually 33 but everyone knows the first pancake always comes out goofy so it doesn’t really count.)
I’ll probably halve it when I make it again. It’s a lot of pancake! While I can freeze some, reheated pancakes are never as good as right off the skillet.
Plus the delicate crispness on the edges and light sourdough flavor is too good to not have freshly made. These were really yummy!
Posted in Breakfast | Tagged Breakfast, flapjack, pancake, sourdough, starter, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment »
I am resisting the urge to do anything housework-y right now. It’s 10:22 PM. What I ought to do is make myself some tea and think about doing something relaxing. I’m trying to learn not to be so Type A. Each and every summer day doesn’t have to be crammed full of things.
This is summer. We’re supposed to be enjoying each other and time off or at least, time for low-key before school starts.
I got up at 8 AM and took Julia to her swim class. I popped into the grocery store and made us lunch and then did some computer work — email, notices, article, etc. Popped some laundry in.
I went out to the yard and let Julia mess about…
…while I tackled one overgrown bed. It took about 10 minutes, which is why I love Square Foot Gardening. Even after weeks of neglect, I can bounce back quickly because the soil is so fluffy and easy to work.
I got it cleared and the raised bed dismantled and pieces put in the patio. I have two more beds to clear and the seedling shelf to tidy before the garden guys come out to grade my lawn and mulch my new kitchen garden area out.
Julia harvested two volunteer banana peppers. Also the perpetual marigolds.
Then I went to babysit a friend’s kids while she took off for a doc appointment. Then again to the grocery store to get the few things I forgot, made dinner.
Played with my kid and got her to bed. A good day.
Posted in Garden, Life, SFG | Tagged Garden | Leave a Comment »
I hand juiced the grapefruit and then whizzed it with 1 cup blueberries with the stick blender.
I’ve had a headache all day and I’m trying to cut the brain fog. It helped somewhat.
Posted in Cool Stuff, Drinks, Fast Food | Tagged blueberry, cold. cool, drink, grapefruit, smoothie | Leave a Comment »
Today’s dinner variaton was a Nava Atlas Zuchinni Polenta recipe from Vegan Express. She also has it posted on her blog.
We adapted it somewhat so Julia could help make it and so I could use up some yellow squash though.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the polenta into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Spread the bottom of a shallow 9 inch pie pan with a little of the marinara sauce, then arrange the polenta slices in a single layer.
Sprinkle grated squash over the polenta.
Then pour the remaining sauce evenly over them. (You won’t use all the sauce from the jar!)
Sample the cheese.
Sprinkle the surface evenly with the cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, then uncover and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serves 4 generously.
THE VERDICT
Julia’s comment?
“Mommy, my life is changing. I am having learning experience. I really don’t like this polenta.”
Can’t say I blame her… while the store bought tube polenta makes this quick and easier for Julia to help, I wasn’t crazy about the Marjon brand we used either. Like it better when I make the polenta myself. So this recipe will have to be played with some more.
Posted in Entree, Fast Food, Potluck | Tagged crookneck, marinara, nava atlas, polenta, summer squash, zuchinni | Leave a Comment »
