We celebrated our sweet baby girl's first birthday last week- oh baby girl, how can you be 1 already? We are so blessed to have this little joyful, sweet, happy little love here with us and it was a joy to celebrate her- first a day with just our family, a few small gifts and dinner outside (with her first taste of homemade ice-cream, which she liked very much!) and then with a couple close friends and family with little ones- she loves her little friends!   I didn't finish her birthday sweater in time (but I wrapped it anyway and she wore it as a vest for a bit till I get the sleeves finished!) but I managed to make her crown, and Ari finally finished the bunny he has been knitting her over the last year! She got a swing for her birthday and she likes swinging in the living room- especially when we put a dolly in with her! 
Willa Rose, we love you so very much and are so grateful you came to us. We are so lucky to get to watch you grow. Happy birthday, baby.

Hello again- I am having a hard time getting here these days, arn't I? It has felt so full and busy lately, somehow getting to this little space has been hard to do.

This time of year is so beautiful up on our little mountain farm. It is lush and green and full of bird song and blossoms. We are loving every minute of it.

 

baby baby baby... how we love you! (her just-woke-up-from-a-nap face just kills me!)

These days with my little ones are so full. Full of noise and mess and pure magic. Like today-beginning by being leapt upon by two little boys who start the morning full speed and love to crawl around the bed (and on top of me,) with their sister before I've even managed to fully open my eyes. 

Then there was sipping my tea while watching my 8-year-old lead my little, almost-walking, almost-one-year-old around the house holding her hands in his, both of them grinning. Then there was sharing breakfast with two special guests- King Arthur and Spider Man, who had a very engaging conversation about swords and webs and the special powers each embodied. They jumped out of their seats to demonstrate. King Arthur could pull the wooden sword out of the laundry basket stone with ease- which Spider Man could not do even with full effort. However, King Arthur could not climb the walls, which Spider Man was happy to show he- quite literally- could do.

They then transformed into road workers- with a quick costume change- and headed out to the garden to work on the pathways. There was laundry to sort and fold inside with a busy little helper who enjoyed pulling it out of the baskets and emptying her brothers underwear drawer onto the floor, all while chatting away in her delightful babble.

There was some handwork time together with the boys (now transformed back into themselves,) who were wanting to finish their gifts for the baby's birthday- sewing and fingerknitting and pompom making, and pulling bits of discarded pompom fluff out of said baby's mouth. Then their was lunch with the boys who were again another set of characters- a kung-fu fighter and an Australian railway worker- only this time they insisted I join the game as a British restauranteur- complete with my (greatly exaggerated and embarrassingly terrible- but apparently highly entertaining) British accent. There was much giggling as well as a terrific spontaneous rendition of the song "Kung-Fu Fighters" (by the kung-fu fighter himself- not by me,) and the boys headed outside to listen to a story on the iPod in the backyard for quiet time, still in character.

There was packing a picnic lunch and gathering up the fiddle and the diaper bag and the sun hats and the warm sweaters and finding the already packed bag of soccer gear and water bottles left on the front seat of the van by my wonderful and thoughtful husband. 

There was a little boy's final fiddle lesson of the season and him playing "Twinkle" and "Cabbages" proudly for our whole family, and then a picnic by the river, and a baby tossing her hat in the river (to be rescued by a quick brother,) and a game of hide and seek with a new friend at the park and piling back in the van to the soccer field for practice. There was taking the baby to the little toddler park nearby, and her very first try at a swing, and watching her grin and then recount the experience later with adorable arm movements and a sort of "weeeeee" sound. There were tired kids to get into bed, and a baby who dozed in the car and then was up till past ten wide awake, and Papa dancing her to sleep to that same CD he has danced all his babies to sleep to, and watching him carrying her up to bed, so sweetly snuggled into his shoulder. And there was staying up too late looking through photos of my baby girl's first year in preparation for her birthday, feeling the swells of emotion as I looked at images of her birth and her tiny newness and her growing little self. And there was another cup of tea and tired parents off to bed well past the hour that they should.

and that's just one day. One busy, full to the brim day.  One day in this noisy, messy, beautiful, and utterly charmed life.

Feeding our families

Healthy party food

I have party food on the brain right now as Ari's 8th birthday party is coming up and I need to get a plan for food! We always are trying to strike a balance at parties and gatherings  between keeping the kids eating as healthy as possible and letting them enjoy treats now and then. When we host parties we try and keep the food wholesome, but fun. While we were on the GAPS diet we had a few events to plan for, and found that we could find lots of food that everyone could enjoy that still fit our dietary requirements. It can get interesting when different families have very different food limitations- one gathering I remember from that time had vegan friends, us GAPS folks and friends that keep kosher. I think the only things we could all eat in common was the veggie tray and the coconut creme dessert topping! Now we eat most real foods, but members of the family still avoid cow milk and wheat (to avoid sore bellies!) so that is reflected in the kinds of food we choose for parties.


Some healthy party foods we enjoy:
- fruit kabobs 
- organic popcorn (we like it with butter and nutritional yeast)
- goat cheese and grain-free or rice crackers
- dips such as hummus, or olive tapanade
- local, grass-fed salami or sausage
- veggie tray with homemade yogurt/mayo dip
- chicken skewers
- olives and pickles
- watermelon
- punch made with juice and bubbly water and berries
- grain or gluten-free cupcakes or cake
- homemade goat milk or coconut icecream

for treats for goodie bags and such we usually stick with dark chocolate and the odd health-food store treat like maple candies or organic jelly beans. Sometimes we just buy a few nice bars of dark chocolate and some fancy foil wrappers from the kitchen store and wrap the squares up individually to make them go farther and seem more like a treat. We have made our own candies too, though for parties we tend to purchase things so the to-do list doesn't get out of hand.

 Ari has requested chocolate cake for his party (and we made him a chocolate cake on his real birthday too- lucky boy!) and I am going to use this delicious recipe for gluten free quinoa chocolate cake that I got from a friend who brings it to gatherings (much to my children's delight as they are used to having to forgo most cakes and party treats because of the wheat.) It is moist and rich and delicious and doesn't taste like quinoa at all. Just plain chocolate goodness. It makes great cupcakes too.

Chocolate Quinoa Birthday Cake

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa (cooled)

1/3 cup milk 

4 whole eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup butter (melted and cooled)

1 cup date sugar or rapura

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 In a blender, mix eggs, milk and vanilla and blend to combine.

Add the quinoa and the melted butter and then blend until smooth. 

Mix cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together until well-combined.

Divide the batter between two greased pans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool. 

frost and enjoy!

Enjoy a visit to the kitchen's of the other mamas in this blog series: 

Melanie from Our Ash Grove

Renee, from Heirloom Seasons
 
Melody, from Bespoke
 
Jules, from A Little Crafty Nest
 

 Sarah, from Our Island Home
 
Tonya, from Joyful Living

 
Heather, from Shivaya Naturals
 

Oh hello there! Somehow another month has past us by- these days have been going by so quickly, full of activity and spring. Willa has started crawling in earnest now, and things got a little busier around here with all that she is able to get into and explore- though it is great fun to have a busy little one crawling around our feet again! The snow is gone and we've had days of sun and of rain, but we are all so thrilled to be outside much of the days again. Today we did a big yard clean up and Ari took his homeschool work to the picnic table and Willa crawled on the grass and ripped up dandelions and watched the birds and Dori cooked down some imaginary maple sap into imaginary syrup in the playhouse and we soaked up the sun. Ah spring, how we love you!

Feeding our Families~ April


 
























End of winter cooking-
I have been having a hard time thinking of what to write for this series, as I often find the act of feeding my family to be a little less inspired at this time of year. Of course I do it, and we are all eating well enough, but late winter is just a hard time to be in the kitchen for me. The root cellar veggies are dwindling (and wrinkling!) and we are all a little tired of rutabagas and potatoes. We've eaten the favorite cuts of meats from the freezer and many of our standard winter meals are feeling rather less exciting than they were in the glowing days of autumn. And as the light changes, I find I want to be spending less time in the kitchen and more time in other pursuits- or at least in dreaming about the other pursuits that I will get to once the snow melts!

But still, there are little bellies to fill, and somehow meals need to be made, and I do manage to cook them, and not to mind too much. So I thought I would write about this then- how to feed our families when we don't have much energy and inspiration to feed our families! So here are a few thoughts on how to make sure everyone gets fed during the less-than-inspiring-wrinkly-veggie season.

 Plan (a little,)

I have to admit, my meal planning follows the same curve as my kitchen inspiration- meaning that it doesn't happen  much when I'm not it the cooking mood. But I do have a sort of master plan that helps guide me in my less inspired moments and that helps even if I don't manage to sit down and plan the week of meals as I always intend to do. This is just a sort of guideline of meals- types of meals for different days of the week. For a long time I only planned out breakfasts and dinners this way, but I've recently added in lunches and afternoon snacks to this plan. I am amazed at how much freer my head space feels when I don't have to be worrying what the next meal will be, or scouring the fridge for ideas while a hungry child tugs at my sweater sleeve. I also find having a basic meal plan posted on the wall really helps avoids arguments from my kids about what we will be having. My picky eater seems particularly reassured to know what is coming for the day. Our basic dinner plan is this:

Monday- eggs

Tuesday- red meat

Wednesday- beans

Thursday- fish

Friday -chicken

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday- pizza or burgers or soup or whatever

and then when I am really organized I actually plan out what exactly we will be having in each category and what veggies and side dishes we will have with each. This happens maybe half the time these days.

 Get Help-

My kids are big enough now to be of some real help in the kitchen, and Ari is especially interested in cooking these days and I am often amazed how much he can do when I think to ask him. I am hoping to hand over more and more kitchen duties to the kiddos, but for now, getting them to help in the ways that they are able lightens the load a bit, and it's fun too. (was Dori ever that teeny?)

Cook Big

I have been getting into the habit of doubling or tripling recipes lately whenever I am making something that freezes well, and then popping it in the freezer for another day. I am always so happy to bring out that container of soup or pan of quiche or casserole on those days that I have not been able to pull together a meal. I also try and cook big batches of chicken broth, beef broth, and beans to have on hand for other quick meals.

 

Simplify

When I am feeling uninspired in the kitchen I find I need to keep things really simple. At other times I enjoy long, experimental cooking sessions and trying lots of new and exciting recipes, but at times like this I know I need to keep it simple. I have a list of quick meals that are easy to prepare and that my family likes, and stick mostly to those. Some of these are:

Farmer Supper- a name I made up to try and convince my little farm boys to enjoy a quick bowl of greens and sausages, and it seems to have worked as this is one of their favorite meals. Local grass-fed sausages sliced up and cooked with a heap of kale makes a good supper- especially with some sauerkraut on the side.

Dahl and rice- we use a recipe I found in an old mothering magazine, and my kids always enjoy it.

Eggs- my kids love having eggs for supper and they are perfect for the days I just can't manage much else. Frittata, scrambled eggs with raw veggies, poached eggs over veggies or migas are all hits and super fast and easy.

bean bowl- I found this idea during our GAPS days and it has become a standby. All I need to do is thaw out a jar of cooked beans and chop up a few toppings and we have a meal. I also keep sprouted corn tortillas in the freezer for quick fajita, taco, quesadilla, type suppers with eggs or fish or leftover meat.

picnic supper- I actually had forgotten about this one until I found the picture above- make some crackers or bread and boil some eggs and just pull out a bunch of stuff from the fridge and cupboard- raw veggies and fruit, cheese, pickles, olives, canned salmon, or salami or whatever else I can find. Eating it on a blanket in the living room makes it taste extra yummy.

And now that it seems spring might be here, perhaps some of my cooking-love will return. In the meantime, we will likely keep eating lots of eggs!

Come and check out what these other great mama's are cookin'!

Melanie from Our Ash Grove

http://ourashgrove.blogspot.com

Jules from A Little Crafty Nest

http://alittlecraftynest.typepad.com

Melody from Bespoke

http://www.littlehomeblessings.com

Sarah from Our Island Home

http://sarah-ourislandhome.blogspot.com

Tonya from Joyful Living

http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com

Heather from Shivaya Naturals

http://www.shivayanaturals.com

Renee from Heirloom Seasons

http://heirloomseasons.blogspot.com

We had a little taste of spring there for a bit, but winter is still holding court around here. Ari has been going out for a morning ski every day (saying- "this might be my last chance!") and he is just whipping along with his new skate-skiing skills on that firm ice crust out there. Admittedly, I have not been getting the rest of us out as much as I should- the same paths we tromped all winter are feeling a little old these days, and my energy for getting baby and kids bundled and out the door has dwindled. But we are keeping busy with lots of projects and creations and book reading and playing together. Some days the kids even get dressed! (I'm realizing that almost all the pictures I've posted of my kids lately they are wearing their pjs. To my credit, they do get dressed (almost) every day, but since I tend to get the camera out more in the mornings when the light is nicer, there are a disproportionate number of pj shots. That's my story anyway. Though it is true that it is sometimes well into the day before the kiddos bother to get dressed or I bother to encourage them. We'll call it a homeschool perk.)

We did a big spring clean/baby proof/ furniture shift last week, and it is amazing what a little refreshing can do for the head-space. The kids are loving the new space, and the new toys that have been cycled from the packed-away boxes (and I am loving a brief hiatus from the teeny plastic bits that all got packed away this time,) and lots of fun creative play has emerged. And cycling out old books for ones that haven't been seen in awhile has made for lots of quiet reading moments. We also have a new nature table space and a new homeschool corner, and an area for Willa to play with all the baby-friendly toys and books. She is getting into stuff now, and she's a busy little girl- though she hasn't started a full crawl yet. The bum-scootch is serving her just fine for now it seems.

And oh, her sweetness. Her sweet, sweet, sweetness. I can hardly stand it sometimes. Last night I was rocking her to sleep, singing to her, holding her sweet little self in my arms, her soft soft hair and warm little head against my face, her body calming at the sound of my voice and I just had this urge to simultaneously stop time right then and there- forever rocking my sweet girl- and also to go downstairs and scoop my other babies out of their beds so I could rock all three of them in my arms together. Of course this is hardly practical, considering the long gangly limbs and big squirmy bodies of my boys, not to mention they would probably balk at being rocked to sleep. But still, there was this deep sense of realizing how fleeting this is, how precious it is, and how each one of them is growing up even in this very moment of holding them tight. Growing up. Growing out of my arms and into themselves. What beauty and joy and heartbreaking wonder it is.