::What I am pondering September::

~*~My bedside reading~*~

::Parenting & Lovely::

10 Things that will make you happier at home

What my son's disabilities taught me about having it all.

 The Perfect Home at Simple Mom.
Homeschooling the little kids

::Watching::

We love the Vegan Zombie.  At my 12yo request, we got the ingredients to make Cheeze Sticks.

Finally going to try the Memory Box.

::Healthy::

Some Natural Whooping Cough Remedies

Hot Garlic Ginger Lemonade at Recipes to Nourish

Vitamin C and Whopping Cough at Mothering

The Vitamin C Treatment of Whooping Cough from Vaccination Council.

How to make Thieves Oil from Mountain Rose Herbs.

::Waiting::
Oh my goodness, I cannot wait for the Autumn Edition of Rhythm of the Home. 
 

::Announcement::

I am so excited to tell you about my latest venture.  And, it could not have come at a better time.  Just in time for my New Year, My Birthday Celebration.  I have been working on blogging more.  I NEED an outlet and some me time.  I don't like spas or shopping.  Writing and Sharing are my favorite things to do.

If you enjoy blogs of larger than average families.
If you enjoy seeing how moms of many handle every day life.
If you think big families are crazy.
If you want to see how they do it without punishing, being Baby Wise, or being push overs.

Please visit us at 

Mothering Many with Gentle Grace

::Friday Moment::

We went bowling!

She had never been bowling!

He had a blast!

July Week 4 Menu

Another Monday, Another Menu.  I seem to never make everything I plan.  Either someone changes their mind, the weather is too hot, or my normal is to make too much food and have a fridge of leftovers.  I wish I could freeze more leftovers.  But, everything I freeze seems to end up a strange texture.  I did just repeat breakfast and lunch this week.  I need some things to be automatic. 

Breakfasts this week are cold cereal or oatmeal or hashbrowns, tea

Lunches are green smoothies, nut butter sandwiches or leftovers
Monday 7/30 It looks like tonight won't be too hot.  Canned or frozen soups with Bread and Earth Balance.
Tuesday 7/31 Falafel, flatbread, hummus, garlic sauce and whatever veggies I can scrounge

Wednesday 8/1 Pasta and veggie meatballs

*I need to work on cupcakes for tomorrow, as well.  I am officially Vegan for the month of August.  Which makes all store bought cakes and treats out.  I have Vegan Cupcakes take over the world.  I think I am going with the cookies and cream, tiramisu, and maybe some white cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles. 
Thursday 8/2 This is my birthday.  So, we are going out for Thai Food.  I know it is probably boring but I am getting the orange tofu.  It is not that sticky overly sweet orange sauce.  It is a light and thin orange sauce with fresh orange slice and deep fried tofu.  What is not too love!

Friday 8/3 I imagine leftover cupcakes for breakfast are probably in order today.  Dinner should be homemade pizza with whatever veggies I find around the house.  I am really craving a barbecue pizza.  So, I might do that with gardein.  The sauce is half barbecue and half marinara.  The toppings are gardein, jalepeno, red onion, and your choice of cheese. I use Follow Your Heart or Daiya. 

::Our Weekly Moment::

Inspired by Soulemama

A photo from my week.

Getting ready for a new year

I consider my new year to start on my Birthday.  Shouldn't everyone?  I have been thinking, praying, wondering, and conspiring over my birthday wishes.  

I plan to spend the month of August following The 30 Day Vegan Challenge.  Which I am sure you have seen me posting about already.  I have been desiring to go Vegan again.  I have felt drawn towards it.  Then Colleen posted about her challenge.  And, I thought.  "Wow, that would be the perfect birthday present to myself!"

I am working on joining a group of ladies who have larger or really big families.  We are married and single, rich and poor, main stream and hippie, homeschooling and out of homeschooling, working and moms at home.  It is a varied bunch but we all have one thing in common.  It isn't something we see often in larger families.  The one thing we have in common is we are all committed to being Gentle Christian Mothers.  None of us claim to be perfect.  We are just centered on the gift of Jesus, Grace, and a job well done.  It isn't always easy.  Sometimes we have to extend the Grace to ourselves.  I will hopefully be announcing where to find us soon. 

July Menu

I thought I would share my menu plans for this week.  I ran out of greens this morning.  So, I need to make a shopping trip.  I figured I might as well make a menu.  I have been terrible about menu making lately which leaves a bunch of cranky kids and a tired mama around 4pm. I tend to leave our weekends open.  It is a good chance to try something new or just eat up all the leftovers in the fridge and freezer.  During the winter I often toss leftovers in the crockpot on Sunday and pray for soup!

I have been faithfully drinking green smoothies daily and I feel wonderful.  Plus, I am actually meeting my nutrient goals.  They are usually two kinds of fruit, Kale and water.  I sometimes throw a couple of dates in there.  Not exciting. But, it tastes good and keeps me full.  The dates have way more calories than I thought, so I have been laying off those. 

And, don't forget to sign up for The 30 Day Vegan Challenge. I don't get anything for letting you know about it.  Well, I get the satisfaction :) Early Birds pay only $20 dollars for a whole month of support from a really great speaker.

7/23 Monday (recalling this one from my perfect memory)

B: hashbrown patties, cold cereal

L: Green Smoothies and nut butter sandwiches

D: Black Bean Burgers, homemade fries, tarter sauce

Snacks were fruit, half a sandwich, or leftovers from Sunday's Dinner

7/24 Tuesday (Happening as I type.)

B: Cold cereal, Veggie Sausage patties, toast and someone may have had leftover banana cake.

L: nut butter sandwiches, leftovers from the last two nights which include baked squash, pasta, Trader Joes veggie meatballs and homemade fries

D: Curry red lentils, rice, potato samosas

7/25 Wednesday

B:Oatmeal, green smoothies

L: Salads with Goddess Dressing

D: Canned or frozen soup and Grilled Cheese with Follow Your Heart Cheese

 

7/26 Thursday

B: Pancakes, green smoothies

L: nut butter sandwiches or left overs

D: Tacos and Rice

 

7/27 Friday

B: Leftover pancakes or toast, green smoothies

L: nut butter sandwiches or leftover tacos

D: Homemade Pizza, Bunny Love Carrot Chips, Soda

The Vegan Challenge

I am so excited about August.  Mostly because it is my birthday.  A bit because August is my favorite month of the year in the Pacific Northwest.  

My birthday present to myself is The 30 Day Vegan Challenge. I will let Colleen speak for herself.

Eating in July

My mom dug out the hand cranked ice cream maker for the fourth.  It was a lot of fun.  The last time my kids had hand cranked ice cream, we only had the older three.  I think they were 2, 5, and 8 at the time. 



We had our very first bakery cookie this month.  Around here all the grocery stores give the kids a free cookie.  He hasn't been able to really handle one yet.  He was just shoving everything in his mouth and not taking bites.  But, he was very patient and sweet and took wee little bites as we shopped.



Here she is making her strawberry shake.  She loves adding everything to the vitamix on her own.  The boys tried to correct her.  But, she was very certain it was a shake.  Of course, I told them all they were wrong.  She was definitely correct!




This was an awesome salad made of everything I could find in the fridge.  Lettuce, red onion sliced super thin, jalapeno and garlic stuffed olives, bunny love carrot chips, tomato, avocado, and sprinkled with spike and pepper.  We had Goddess Dressing with it. 



And, dessert. We love peach crisp.  I use fresh or frozen peaches if  I can find them.  But, I admit I keep canned peaches in my pantry just for crisp.  We love to make up extra to eat for breakfast, too. 

{Friday}

I finally caught a Friday moment and remembered on Friday....

We ran errands. We played at the park. We had a picnic. We nursed under the sun.

Cornbread with jalapeño, cilantro & daiya cheddar

Cornbread with jalapeño, cilantro & daiya cheddar, a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

Yummy! Yesterday was a cold and rainy day in Washington State. I know you are thinking, well that sounds normal. But, it hasn't been. We have had a lovely winter. And, our weather has been summery and short loving for the last month.

So, a few days of rain (albeit not too cold rain) left us yearning for chili and cornbread.

This version was made from the recipe on the Bob's Red Mill Cornbread bag. I made it vegan by using egg replacer and melted Earth Balance. I added some Daiya cheddar and chopped jalapeno because my kids love jalapenos. We buy huge jars from Costco and they can eat 1 a month. My favorite tip for making cornbread in a cast iron pan is to put a glob of coconut oil in the pan.  Then put it in the oven while the oven preheats.  you get a good rise on your cornbread and a yummy crust.

Double kitchen duty

I upgraded my phone recently and it could mean you see more posts here. I am trying to fit everything into very long and full days. I am solo parenting and working on ways to make every minute count. Having a nifty phone to text friends or my sweet hard working husband quickly is nice. Skypeing with a portable device is close to the real thing.

Tonight I made a pot of veggie pasta which I added kale to. The second pot was for the meaty eaters. I had some leftover kale and ripe bananas. So, I tossed them in plastic bags with frozen blueberries to make smoothie packs.

And, this post is being typed on my iPhone while I nurse my very distracted 15 month old.

Yummy drinks!

Just a quick tidbit. We have been really enjoying our long and crazy days. I have been spending less time in the Internet. Trying to focus more in my home. Some of it is out of necessity due to family changes. Needless to say I have been using and allowing more convenience foods. I started looking for some healthier choices. And, I love this Kombucha. I used to have my own brew a few years back. I love the taste but I never thought about such wonderful flavors.

Sleeping on the Job...

I know.

Someone is still reading.

We have been busy. Playing, sleeping, eating, learning...

Things like blogging are on the end of my to do list.

We have been enjoying each other. We have been getting used to a new phase in life and preparing for yet another move. Going back to California seems out of reach. But, totally considering Austin, TX. We are in search of sunshine.