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Book Review – Long Way Down

March 15, 2019 by amanda Leave a Comment

I decided to pick up Long Way Down on a whim. I saw that the Knitters Book Club had selected it as their book for March, and it sounded interesting. It was available through my library for free, so I downloaded it right away.

The premise of this book is that a young man’s brother has been shot and killed, and now he is going for revenge. The book takes place over the course of 60 seconds in an elevator. At each floor another character enters, and more of the backstory is told.

I don’t even have words for how beautifully this book is written. I was listening to the audio version and I had NO IDEA that it was written in prose. The narration is flawless. If you get the audiobook, I highly recommend that you also listen to the interview with the author at the end. It is excellent.

I noticed that many people recommend pairing this book with The Hate U Give. I agree that the books have certain parallels, but this book can easily stand on it’s own. I’m looking forward to hearing my teenagers’ thoughts on this book, and if they feel that the books should be read together.

I rated this book 5/5 without hesitation, and I really encourage you to pick it up. The audio version is less than 2 hours long and flies by. If you’re like me, you’ll be sad when it’s over.

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Filed Under: Book Talk

Book Review – Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

March 13, 2019 by amanda Leave a Comment

Anytime I walk into the library, I have to check the “new releases” shelf before I go anywhere else. A lot of times I find new-to-me authors and books that I wouldn’t have otherwise sought out.

I had never heard of Anne Helen Peterson before picking up this book. I’ll admit that I didn’t even realize that Buzzfeed had serious authors… so I guess I went into this book with some preconceived notions. I was really wrong. This book is concise, engaging, and it really challenged me in ways that I didn’t expect.

The book is broken up into 10 chapters, each focusing on an unruly celebrity who is viewed as being “too much” in at least one area of their life. The first chapter, “Too Strong” is about Serena Williams and is an excellent way to open the book. Anne Helen Peterson covers how Williams’ gender affected the way that she was treated and how her race was used against her. Both the chapter on Williams and the chapter on Nicki Minaj address the fact that women of color are treated differently and held to different standards than white women in the same field. After reading the first chapter, I knew I’d definitely finish this book.

Some of the women in the book will be known to all (like Hilary Clinton and Madonna) and others might not be (Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson were new to me.) I don’t think this makes the book any less insightful. I still enjoyed every chapter and each one left me thinking for days and noticing the subtle ways that society judges these women and other women like them.

I’d definitely recommend checking out this book. Even when I didn’t necessarily agree 100% with the author, I still found myself challenged and seeing new perspectives. I also loved that the format of the book made it easy to read a chapter, take a break, ponder it for a while, and then return to the book.

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Filed Under: Book Talk

Easy, healthy (and plant-based) breakfasts for families

December 4, 2018 by amanda Leave a Comment

Winter is upon us, and we’ve been craving warm, hearty breakfasts. Our mornings can be pretty busy, so I’ve found that the key for me is having a few go-to recipes that everyone in our family enjoys. Here are a few of our current favorites. I’d love to hear some of yours too!

Banana-Oat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Banana-Oat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

OK, chocolate chip pancakes don’t sound particularly healthy, lol… but hear me out! This recipe is filled with whole grains and it happens to be vegan if you’re into that. If not, you can easily use cow’s milk in place of the plant milk. I use a cast iron griddle and they come out PERFECT. My griddle gets so much use and is so well-seasoned that I don’t even need to use any oil in it. It’s my favorite pan in the whole house. 

Even though pancakes definitely take some time in the morning, I’ve found that this recipes reheats wonderfully. That means that I can make a big batch and we can eat off of them for a few days, which is pretty perfect.

Old-fashioned Oatmeal

The meal that we probably eat the most during the week is just a big ol’ pot of oatmeal. After finding out the startling numbers for how much Round Up is in our oats, I have been trying to buy ones that are organic (or at least aren’t Quaker!) I know we can’t completely avoid these environmental toxins, but I would at least rather have 10 parts-per-billion instead of 1300. 

I usually make my oats very much like Sadia describes on the Pick Up Limes blog. I cook my oats either in water or whatever milk I have on hand, using twice as much liquid as oats. Then I cut up a banana or two and let it cook in the liquid with the oats. This makes the banana all caramelized and yummy. I throw in some goji berries and let them plump up while it cooks, too. Once the oats are done cooking, I add nuts/nut butter and berries to the top of each bowl.

Skillet Granola

We love granola of all sorts, but skillet granola is a special, magical thing. It is ready in just a few minutes and it is so easy to customize. It’s perfect for using up bits-and-bobs of nuts/seeds/dried fruit and it is delicious over milk/plant milk/yogurt.

Also, I know the name is “Skillet Granola”, but we make ours up in our dutch oven and it’s fabulous. There’s enough oil in the recipe so nothing really sticks and I feel like the cast iron helps it to really brown nicely.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (with or without the chocolate chips)

This recipe has been an old standby for years. Much like the pancakes, these muffins store beautifully and can be eaten over a few days. If you don’t have whole wheat flour (or just prefer white flour) you can sub it out and it works just fine. My kids REALLY love if I make them into mini muffins.

Sweet Potato/Apple Crumble

This recipe is one that I got off of a parenting board back in 2005. That seems like a lifetime ago! It’s basically a normal crumble, but it includes sweet potatoes with the apples. You dice them both up and cook for a bit, then you add the oat mixture on top and let it crisp up. I love topping mine with cashew cream and my kids are a bit obsessed with our Whip It, so they tend to put whipped cream on there.

Pinterest is always my friend

For some extra ideas, I tend to keep my food boards on Pinterest quite full. I have them separated by meal, but my breakfast one is what I use the most. I made sure that each of these recipes was pinned on there and I am always adding more.

During the summer, eggs feature much more heavily on our menu because our chickens are laying then. We don’t supplement our chickens with light, because we want their bodies to have a natural break. That means that winter is focused on lots of whole grains. If you check out my pin board, you’ll see the difference in seasons as I pin a bunch of egg recipes vs a bunch of grain ones. 😛 

I’d love to hear about some of your favorites. I am always trying new things and the best way to find them is through personal recommendations!

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Filed Under: Thoughts

Making my own “mystery” knitting club

December 1, 2018 by amanda 1 Comment

Oh man… it’s that time of year again. The time when I see all of the beautiful new knitting club subscriptions open up and I start to drool. 😛 It’s so fun to receive new yarns and patterns every few months and I’m just a sucker for a good subscription club.

My secret plan all year was that I’d finish my year of Cold Sheeping and then reward myself with a club (or two) to help freshen up my stash. In the past I’ve done clubs by Ysolda, Martina Behm and A Verb for Keeping Warm… and I’d honestly love to do any of them again. I was thinking that it’d be really fun to be in Sincere Sheep’s “Made Here!” club and that might be my big splurge.

But then, the responsible part of my brain took over. 😛 I started thinking about all of the amazing club projects that I still haven’t even cast on from previous years. I decided I’d gather them up and see if I have enough to make my own personal club. I’ve heard of people on Ravelry who have done something similar.

Lo and Behold! In an embarrassingly short amount of time, I gathered the yarn and patterns for 12 projects. I put each project in a bag and threw them all inside of a big bin. Now I can tell my kids to grab a project for me each month and I can work through my backlog. I figure that once I’m done with these 12, maybe I’ll sign up for a club to replenish what I’ve used.

The yarn and patterns that are ready to go are:

  1. Fraxinus
  2. Plum Leaf
  3. River Wrap
  4. Lacustrine
  5. Leftie
  6. Bellarose
  7. Alyva
  8. Sprial Escape
  9. Morning Trail
  10. Lightning
  11. Smooth Sailor
  12. Toranja

So, for now, the responsible part of my brain has won. The real trick will be getting through one of these projects each month. I’m looking forward to the challenge, though!

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Cold Sheep Update: I haven’t bought yarn for a year!

November 26, 2018 by amanda 2 Comments

After years of following along in the Stash Knit Down group on Ravelry, I decided last November that I’d bite the bullet… I’d go “Cold Sheep” (buy no new yarn) for 1 year. It helped that my dear friend had come to the same conclusion, and we decided to make a friendly wager. The first person who bought yarn would have to buy a skein to give to the “winner”… I love competition, so it was on!

I feel like I should mention that I have a little bit of an advantage… my “stash” also includes 8 adorable, baa-ing pets that happen to make wool. This means that I have a stash that’s constantly renewing itself. I do not need to buy yarn! If I need yarn that bad, I can always spin it up. Sure, it’ll take a lot longer, but I obviously didn’t get into knitting/spinning because I need instant gratification, LOL.

3/8ths of the reason that I have no excuse for buying yarn

In this past year, I’ve completed 54 projects for a total of 17,131 yards(!!!) but my stash still has a LONG way to go. I have quite a few sweater-quantities of yarn that I want to use up, including one that I spun during Spinzilla this year. (Pictured in the top photo.)

I thought for sure that when I hit the 1-year mark, I’d be ready to go on a buying spree, but the reality is that this year has taught me that I’m really content with my stash. There are so many skeins in my stash that I love, and they’re still waiting for me to get around to them. Knitting from stash has forced me to be more creative with yarn substitutions and patterns. It has taught me that there will always be more yarn, and I don’t need to get sucked into the fear of scarcity just because I see a pretty skein. If I don’t get that one, there will be plenty of others.

This week my friend broke her streak and bought some yarn. She sent me a gorgeous skein of Must Stash Yarn as my prize. I contemplated if I wanted to end my streak too, but I still don’t feel ready. I thought the Black Friday sales would be too much to resist, but they just weren’t that tempting.  

I don’t know how much longer I’ll go, but I’d like to get my yarn to at least fit in my small set of IKEA cubes. With the fact that I keep making yarn from my wool, I don’t know if that’s even an attainable goal. I might need to start selling the stuff that I spin (or other yarn from stash) in order to make that happen. The good news is that my stash is 17K yards lighter than it was this time last year, and I feel really happy about reducing my consumerism at least a little.

If you’re thinking about Cold Sheeping in the new year, I say “Go for it!” You might realize that it’s not for you, but I bet you’ll learn some new things about yourself during the process. I definitely did!

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Filed Under: Arts/Crafts, Knitting, Thoughts

This week in our kitchen

November 23, 2018 by amanda Leave a Comment

I always love to see what’s happening in other people’s kitchens. Here’s our week of dinners for a (mostly) plant-based family.

Monday – Jackfruit burrito bowls from Whole Foods (I tried these during Knit Night. You can buy them from the hot bar at our local Whole Foods.)

Tuesday – Coconut Chickpea Curry with rice, homemade tortillas and a salad

Wednesday – Veggie fajitas (like this recipe, but with a bit of soy sauce and maple syrup mixed in, which took it over the top)

Thursday – West African Tofu in Peanut Sauce

Friday – A basic veggie stir-fry, kind of like this one

Saturday – Farro and Chickpeas in Honey Lemon Butter

What have you been making recently?

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Filed Under: Meal ideas, Thoughts, Vegetarian

Farm life and loss

October 1, 2018 by amanda Leave a Comment

In our 4 years at the farm, we’ve definitely experienced loss, but today we’re experiencing something a little different. I just sold one of our animals for the first time, and I’m surprised by how similar the emotions are.

When we moved to the farm, we knew there would be losses. We inherited a flock of 15 chickens with the house, and they had dealt with recent deaths due to predators and poor health. On top of that, they had too many roosters for the flock size, so one of the first things that I googled was “what to do with extra roosters”. When I scrolled down and saw an article about a “killing cone”, Joe and looked at each other, wide-eyed, like “OMG. What are we getting ourselves into?!”

Once we moved in, we greatly reinforced the existing coop, bought a new (far more secure) coop, and then eventually built the giant coop/run that we now have. We managed to give away the spare rooster to the neighbors, so no killing cone was needed. Still, there have been deaths. Most were due to old age, but we’ve had a few losses due to predators too, and each one has been very sad.

Since we’ve dealt with these kinds of losses, I didn’t expect such sad feelings when I sold one of our llamas today. The reality is that we only wanted 1 llama for guarding, but we ended up with 2 because the llama that we loved also had a nursling, and it seemed wrong to separate them. Now that nursling is bigger than her mama, 3 years old, and ready to move to a flock of her own. Still, it’s hard!

I’m a member of a Shetland sheep Facebook group, and the topic recently came up about selling your sheep. I felt a bit relieved to see so many responses about feeling really sad when they go, even when it’s the right decision. One member said that they just try to remember how happy they were when they first brought home their sheep, and they remind themselves that they’re giving that feeling to someone else.

And on that note, the silver lining…. With one less (GIANT) grass eater, we’re starting to make room for lambing again next Spring. We have a few sheep to sell (that’s going to be even more sad!) but then we’ll be ready to welcome new life as well. (Bouncing baby lambs!) I guess this is just how the world works, isn’t it? There is death and loss… and there is new life and fresh beginnings. <3

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Filed Under: Farm Life, Thoughts

Late summer days

September 7, 2018 by amanda Leave a Comment





As summer comes to a close, I thought I’d share a few scenes from our recent days. We’ve been canning, harvesting, spinning, bread making, and just trying to soak up the final bits of summer. I’m running another 50K race at the end of the month so I’ve been getting lots of time on the trails. I’ve made up big batches of bread and butter pickles, dilly beans (the ones above were just settling before I took the lids off) and tomato sauce. I’m working hard to get through this year’s wool and knitting up a storm.

This time of year is always bittersweet for me as the days get shorter and the leaves start to turn. Each year seems to pass faster than the one before it. Still, I’m loving all of the bounty and how green everything is. I’m enjoying every single run where I don’t have to be bundled up, knowing that soon I’ll be wearing 3 mittens on each hand. 😉

I hope that these harvest days are treating you well and you’re soaking up the sun! <3

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Filed Under: Farm Life

Race Report – Elk Meadow Winter Trail Race

February 27, 2017 by amanda Leave a Comment

Race: Elk Meadow Winter Trail Race
Location: Evergreen, Colorado
Gear:
Skirt Sports Go the Distance Tight (Stargaze print)
Old Navy Go Dry Funnelneck shirt
Brooks LSD Thermal Vest
Brooks Cascadia Trail shoes
Kahtoola MICROspikes
Skirt Sports Technical Trucker
Ultimate Direction Ultra Vest


It has been almost 3 months since my last trail race, and I’ve really missed it! After my 50-miler, I needed a break. I feel like I’ve finally recovered, and it is nice to feel like I’m back in the groove. 🙂

The race start

The Elk Meadow Winter Trail Race is produced by the same group that does the Fear The Deer Half Marathon. I had no previous experience with them, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The communication leading up to the race was great, including detailed trail conditions and lots of reminders. A couple of details changed in the weeks/months leading up to the race. They initially advertised a beanie, but instead decided to give out a race shirt. The start time also changed. I didn’t mind the changes, although I do love a good beanie, since I have a million race shirts. 😉

Packet pickup was smooth and easy. It was hosted at Boone Mountain Sports, and they offered a generous discount to race-goers. The pre-race emails mentioned that the first 15 full cars could get premium parking spaces, so we all crammed into Joy’s SUV and made sure to arrive nice and early.

The initial climb - taking it very seriously ;)
The initial climb – taking it very seriously

The weather was clear and cool. My phone said it was 15 degrees (with a “feels like” temp of 5) when we started. Luckily this race starts with an uphill climb, so that helps you to warm up quickly. 😉

When it was time for the race to start, we were given a few brief instructions. There were no aid stations on the course, but there were photographers along the way. They explained that the first 3 miles would be uphill, and that they’d be pulling you off of the course if you couldn’t finish them in 50 minutes. I’m honestly not sure how they would’ve pulled you off of the course, since the trails were open to the public as well as racers. I’m guessing that you could’ve just taken off your bib and kept going. They also mentioned that there was a 2.5 hour cutoff for finishing, but it sounded to me like it wouldn’t really be enforced if you made the 3-mile cutoff.

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Elevation profile (miles 3-5 were tough!)

The race started like most trail races. It was basically single-file, and the pace was really comfortable. We had no problem getting to the 3-mile cutoff with plenty of time. The conditions, however, might’ve been tough if you weren’t used to running in snow/at altitude or didn’t have the proper gear. The trail climbs gradually over the first 3 miles, and then gets much more steep.

The course was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The views were amazing, and it seemed extra magical with the snow everywhere. I’d run these trails before (during the Bergen Peak Half Marathon), but in reverse. It was fun to see them from a different angle and in such different conditions. I remembered the trails as being a bit rocky, but also covered in pine needles. I’d twisted my ankle pretty badly during the Bergen Peak Half, so I was extra cautious this time. The snow made it so it was very hard to tell if you were going to land on a rock or on a soft surface. Everyone in my group was wearing traction (I use Kahtoola MICROspikes), but the snow was soft enough in many areas that we didn’t need them. As always happens with spikes, we gathered some pretty impressive snowballs on the bottoms of our feet, but that’s still way better than slipping on ice.

Colorado is so pretty!

We nearly missed several of the turns along the course. Luckily there were a few volunteers who pointed us in the right direction. It seems like they removed the signs before we reached them… or maybe we just didn’t look in the right place. Either way, we definitely weren’t the only ones who struggled. We were told that the early leaders took at least 2 wrong turns during the race (one that gave extra miles and another that shaved some off), and we ultimately took one wrong turn at the end that shortened the course. This was acknowledged in a Facebook post from the race directors, and they took full responsibility. Mistakes happen, and sometimes it is hard to know where to put signs, especially in the snow. I trust that they’ll do a better job with that the next time.

All in all, I really enjoyed this race. The short course wasn’t a deal breaker for me, and the trails were gorgeous. I would happily run this race again or run another race put on by the same people. I understand that sometimes mistakes happen, but they’ve been really responsive and open with communication, and that’s what matters the most.


For anyone interested, here’s a short video from the course 🙂

Winter running is so magical. Laura (@payettepigtails) took this video during our race this morning. It was so pretty out! (I’m the one closest to the camera.) #trailrunning #skirtsportsambassador #skirtsports #running #evergreen #bergenpeak #momsrunthistown #motherrunner

A post shared by Amanda (@hippiemommy) on Feb 25, 2017 at 3:09pm PST

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Filed Under: Race Reports, Running

Spring on the farm

February 10, 2017 by amanda Leave a Comment

I know, I know… It is still winter, but it is almost feeling like Spring around here. 🙂 Colorado has a weird way of teasing you. Today it is 80 degrees out, but tomorrow we’re expecting snow.

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PeanutButter and Laurel

Still, here on the farm, we’re in full “Spring” mode. We’re clearing the garden and getting it ready, growing veggie and dye plants under lights in our sunroom, our sheep are pregnant(!), and plans have been made for incubating our Spring chicks.

Our rented ram, PeanutButter, just went back to his home after 2 months here on the farm. He is less than a year old, but he approached his job as a stud with MUCH enthusiasm. For the first few weeks, he hardly ate or slept because he was so focused on his task. Once his work was done, PeanutButter calmed down and spent lots of time in the pasture snuggling with the ewes and hanging out with our guard llamas. He learned that he really loves to be scratched, and the kids were so sad to have to send him home.

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Some of my finished objects and WIPs for this year

Now that PeanutButter is gone, things are a little quieter around here. I’ve been working on decluttering a bit. As I organized my craft supplies, I realized that I had an embarrassing number of knitting WIPs on my needles. Now I am trying to clear at least one project off of my needles each week. So far I’m keeping up with my goal, which feels awesome. I’ve also cast on a bunch of new stuff, but we won’t talk about that for now. 😉

Finally, I’m getting back into the swing of training for my races this year. After finishing a 50-miler in December, I lost my running mojo for a while. Although I felt better than expected after the race, I just needed a mental break. The long hours of training in the months leading up to the race had left me a bit burnt out, and I needed to rediscover my love of running.

Now that it has been 2 months, I’m ready to get back into the groove of training. I signed up to run Leadville again, and my official workouts started on the 1st of February. My training runs have felt awesome, and it is so nice to have a fresh start.

In everything, I’m really enjoying the shift of seasons. The quiet that came in the darkest months, and the new growth that is starting as Spring draws nearer.

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Filed Under: Farm Life, Knitting

Getting Your Family to Eat More Vegetables

January 17, 2014 by amanda 2 Comments

There is one thing that almost every diet (vegan, paleo, Mediterranean, traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic…) agrees upon:

We should all be eating more vegetables!

As a busy mom, I understand that veggies can take extra prep work and have longer cooking times than other side dishes. On top of that, I think every mom has felt the pain of working hard to prepare a new veggie, only to have everyone pass on it and for it to end up in the trash. I am going to share what I’ve learned about getting veggies cooked efficiently, on the table, and used up by the end of the week.

The vegetable “crisper” is a graveyard for produce

If I just put my veggies in the crisper drawer, probably 50% of them end up going straight to the compost bin at the end of the week. That is why, if possible, I need to prepare my veggies BEFORE they go into the fridge. I looked up the numbers, and my experience is not unusual. Estimates are that half of our fresh produce ends up thrown away. That’s a pretty sad number. We put a lot of resources into growing food, so I’d much rather have it go in my belly!

Produce tastes best when it is cooked fresh

It wasn’t until I started reading An Everlasting Meal that I considered how much better my produce tasted when I prepared it the same day that I brought it home. The beautiful carrots from the farmers’ market were limp and soggy after just a few days in the fridge. However, if I came home and roasted them, we could eat them that day or reheat them sometime over the next few days. They tasted even better after being roasted, and the texture was still just as great as if I’d eaten them the first day.

Preparing and cooking in batches saves time and energy

Sitting down and peeling squash or chopping broccoli can be a pain, especially if it is the only thing I’m cutting. If I, instead, cut and roast all of my veggies at the same time, I am able to save both my own energy (less clean up and time spent throughout the week) and household energy (from only running the oven once for all of my veggies.)

My Veggie Prep Routine

The first thing that I do is preheat my oven to 375, and prepare my veggies to roast. Pretty much everything gets diced up, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper before I cook it. Then I sprinkle on any other herbs that I want.

I like to group my veggies by the size/shape that I cut them, and then I roast them together. That helps keep the cooking times similar.

This week I had parsnips and celeriac, which I cut into sticks and roasted together in a pan. I also had a big batch of carrots, which I coined and roasted in a second pan. Then I had a romanesco and broccoli, which seemed to work well in a pan together, so they were my third pan. I also had leeks and potatoes, which I diced up and roasted in a fourth pan. These four pans all fit in my oven at once, and were all happy at the same temperature. I threw in whole sweet potatoes that I had as well, and my oven was pleasantly full. About an hour later, I had veggies ready to go for the week.

While all of my roasted veggies are cooking, I wash, chop, and put my greens in a container. Having my greens already washed and chopped means that I am SO much more likely to use them throughout the week. For a long time, I bought bagged greens, because I found that I was more likely to make a salad, toss them in a soup, or whip them into a smoothie if I had them ready to go. Now I do that for myself, and the taste is so much fresher than the bags at the store.

By the time my veggies come out of the oven, I can have the kitchen cleaned up and the bulk of my work done for the week. I love that. I toss the finished veggies in mason jars, and I am good to go!

Having veggies prepared means you eat more of them

I am a homeschooling mom to four kids, and we have a full schedule. If I have food ready to go in the fridge, it is easy to reheat what I have and make a healthy lunch. If I don’t, it is far more likely to be a day of gluten-free sandwiches and fruit…. maybe with a pre-made Trader Joe’s salad, if I had the forethought to buy one.

On the other hand, if I have veggies already made, I can pretty much guarantee that we will eat them with every meal. You don’t even need to heat them up. They make excellent salads at room temperature, and can easily be tossed in anything from eggs to rice or noodles to make for an instant meal.

Near the end of the week, I simply take the vegetables that I haven’t used, and toss them in a soup. Sometimes I make smooth soups. Other times I just add them to stock, throw in some kind of meat, and let it all simmer together. Herbs make anything better, so I just experiment and see what happens. Homemade stock is obviously great to have around, but sometimes I cheat and use organic vegetable broth cubes. They are good in a pinch, when my soup needs just a little more flavor.

Kids eat food they see often

I had a revelation when I read French Kids Eat Everything, I considered the culture of food in our house. The truth is that we hadn’t done a great job at making new foods exciting (as opposed to scary) and we didn’t offer them nearly enough times before we gave up. Research indicates that you need to offer a food up to 15 times before you expect a child to eat it. Having vegetables around, all of the time, is one of the keys to getting kids to try them and eat them. They need to see you eating and enjoying them.

I Want to Hear From You!

Which time-saving meal prep tips have helped you? I am always looking for new inspiration as I strive to make our family as healthy as possible! 🙂

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Filed Under: Meal Planning, Nutrition

5 Ways to Stay Healthy in Cold Weather

January 8, 2014 by amanda 2 Comments

This week, as arctic air grips the nation, we are all trying to find ways to stay warm and healthy. In traditional cultures, especially Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, much importance was placed on maintaining balance in your body. When it is cold outside, it is especially important to keep your body warm. With a few small changes, you can make a big difference.

Avoid Cold Drinks

When you drink something cold, your body has to spend a lot of extra energy bringing it up to a usable temperature. In TCM, they use the mental image of your digestion being like a fire. Drinking or eating something cold is like throwing cold water into a hot pan. It creates a bunch of steam and requires a large amount of energy for the pan to become warm again. That’s not a good thing when you’re trying to keep your body functioning at its best.

Instead of iced drinks, consider drinking your water warm or at room temperature. Better yet, make some nourishing herbal infusions, and warm your body while also giving it tons of vitamins and minerals!

Avoid Raw Fruits and Vegetables

I know. This one can be shocking at first. January is a time when Americans LOVE to start juice fasts, raw food diets, and all sorts of cold-natured eating plans. However, when you look at what people traditionally ate during the winter, it is warming food that is easy to break down. These foods help nourish your body through the cold months.

Instead of eating your veggies raw, lightly stir fry them. If you are in the mood for fruit, try baking or simmering it. I like to chop up apples, throw in pumpkin pie spice and a little water, and simmer it together on the stove until the apples are soft. From there, you can eat it as-is, or mash it up a little and serve it like applesauce.

Eat Warm Stews and Slow-Cooked Foods

When fall arrives, we naturally seem to start craving slow-cooked foods like stews and roasted vegetables. Winter is a perfect time to eat these heavier foods that don’t appeal during the hot summer months. Some favorites meals around our house are this Harvest Blessings Soup or a Dutch Oven Pork Roast (or any roasted meat, for that matter.)

For warm breakfasts, consider making oatmeal overnight in the crockpot, or a delicious congee. Congee is a nourishing food used in TCM. It is kind of like a rice pudding. We love ours with goji berries and a little maple syrup.

Use Warming Herbs in Your Food

Consider how you season your foods, and choose spices that will warm your body rather than cool it. Some great choices include ginger, cloves, cardamom, and turmeric. Try to keep the spice level at “medium” or below. You want your food to be warming, but not so hot that it makes you sweat and ultimately cools your body.

Get Moving!

Finally, I know that cold weather can make you want to hibernate, but movement is one of the best ways to warm your body and keep things from getting stagnant. Take this as a great excuse to get up, turn on some music, and dance around the living room with your kids.

 

I hope these tips help you and your family stay warm this winter. Spring will be here before we know it, and then it’ll be the perfect time for all of those cleanses and fasts. 😉

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Filed Under: Herbalism, Nutrition

Glorious summer!

June 23, 2013 by amanda 3 Comments

This summer has been absolutely dreamy so far. We’ve been building forts, soaking up the sun and salty air, playing board games for hours at a time, reading amazing books, and crafting our hearts out. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, and we have finally been here long enough that we are finding our “clan” and have plenty of like-minded friends to hang out with.

Some of our current favorites are:

Bird Bingo

Bird Bingo – This game has been getting hours of play each day. My oldest is a passionate birder, and it has been great to see everyone else (including the adults) expand our bird-identification skills and have fun at the same time. I also love that reading is not required, so all of my kids can play together.

Qwirkle – Another great board game that is great for all ages. This one allows kids (and adults) to work on strategy, matching, and simple math. We all love it!

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Creativebug (and their awesome summer series for kids!) – Creativebug has been a favorite site of mine for months, and we are loving it even MORE since they are offering a ton of great workshops for kids. I have the monthly subscription, and I have taken workshops on embroidery, quilting, dress making, soap making, stamping, upcycling, you name it… They are taught by some of the best teachers (Natalie (Alabama) Chanin, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Karol, Kaffe Fassett, Rebecca Ringquist, Rad Megan, and so many more.) This week the kids and I worked on a quilt, an embroidery sampler, a table runner, and a teepee all inspired by Creativebug.

The picture above is of a wholecloth quilt that I am making, based on one of Anna Maria Horner’s Creativebug classes. The long orange stitches are basting stitches which will come out when I’m all done. 🙂 On the front you can see how I’m quilting around the motif, and the back shows just my stitches in my cotton thread.

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The glorious beaches! – We’ve been spending at least one day a week unplugged, feet-in-the-sand, enjoying the beautiful Pacific Ocean. We usually go with friends, and often have the beach to ourselves for at least a good part of our day. Summer camps are incredibly popular in this area, which means that there still aren’t many families out and about, even though school is out. We’re happy that it isn’t crowded, but I feel a little sad that so few people around us are getting to enjoy all of the natural beauty of our area. Soon the fog will be rolling in, and these sunny days will be few and far between on the coast.

Project Based Homeschooling – We’ve always loved project-based learning, and Lori’s book and blog have been a long-time source of inspiration. I signed up for her upcoming master class, and I can’t wait to dig deeper.

This summer, my 11-year-old has decided to focus on an astronomy project. He is reading a ton of books on astronomy, mapping the night sky, and writing about what he sees each evening, inspired by websites like earthsky. We’ve been learning so much!

My 9-year-old is working on version 3 of her dog encyclopedia project. She has worked for several years on compiling information on breeds, illustrating, and writing a book. Each version of her book has been more refined and used additional sources. This year’s book is already looking amazing! I can’t wait to see the end result.

My 5-year-old decided that her project will be learning all about sewing. We’ve been reading lots of books and getting even more time with hands-on learning. It has been great.

So what are you and your family doing this summer? I’d love to hear more. Feel free to drop me an email or comment below. I always enjoy being inspired by other families!

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Filed Under: Crafts for Kids, Homeschool, Homeschooling, Musings, Sewing

From Frazzled to Focused

May 25, 2013 by amanda Leave a Comment

I’m not sure what initially motivated me to pick up this book when I saw that it was available for review. I wouldn’t self-identify as “frazzled,” but I am always interested in being more focused. I am an organizational junkie (and sometimes I wonder if I prefer the theory to the actual doing.) Something about the description led me to believe that this book would be one I’d like.

In From Frazzled to Focused, Rivka Caroline leads the reader through exercises to organize and “systemize” his or her life. She focuses on areas in the house (broken down by room) and activities (like meal planning and scheduling.) The book is aimed at mothers with young children, although many of the ideas could apply to anyone. Rivka is witty, and even though we obviously live very different lifestyles (she’s in Miami Beach), I appreciated her self-deprecating humor.

Although I cringed at all of her systems and plans at first, I realized as I went through the book that I already do a lot of what she recommends. I read the book slowly over a few weeks, and noticed that by the end I’d naturally adopted many of her techniques.

If you’re looking for a quick, fairly light read on organizing your home and your time, this book could fit the bill. 🙂

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Filed Under: Book Talk, Homekeeping, Parenting and Family Books, Self-Improvement Books

Growing my craft

March 11, 2013 by amanda 1 Comment

I love making New Year’s resolutions. This year, I felt really stuck, though. I just couldn’t figure out how to put my hopes for the year into words.

Last year, I focused on quantity — I wanted to get 12 different groups of 12 things done. The year before that, I also focused on quantity — knitting up at least 50 items. This year I wanted something more meaningful, not just a numeric goal.

Over the past few weeks, I finally figured out what exactly it is that I want to work on: I want to get back to being more of a do-er. In the crises mode of the past two years, through my mom’s diagnosis with leukemia, her treatment, our big move to a new state, and my mom’s death, I feel like I’ve been treading water in terms of the things I am able to do for my household. I was able to maintain the skills that I already knew, and continue to do those things for my family, but I haven’t been able to grow my skill set. This year, I decided that I really want to learn new things and continue to find ways to be more of a producer rather than more of a consumer.

I’ve found so many fun projects to work on this year that are growing my skills, and I am loving it. I’ve started working on reverse applique and hand-sewing my own clothes. I bought my supplies through Alabama Chanin, and I have found the process so relaxing and fun. Here is one of the shirts that I’ve been working on. Once I finish backstitching around the stencils, I’ll cut out the top layer on the inside, to reveal the cream material underneath. I can’t wait to model it!

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I was also inspired by French Kids Eat Everything to really dress up my table and have a nice tablecloth. I looked on etsy, and found so many beautiful ones, but decided to give it a try myself. I’m currently working on hand-stitching a border around the oilcloth that I bought, and I am loving it.

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Also, I was inspired by the doll blanket that I made my daughter for Christmas to try to make a king-sized version. I know, it is crazy, but it is the perfect project when I just need some mindless crochet.

The doll version
The doll version
The "grown-up" version
The “grown-up” version

So, are you working on anything new? I love inspiration!

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Filed Under: Arts/Crafts, Crochet, Sewing

The Post-Church Christian

March 5, 2013 by amanda Leave a Comment

The Post-Church Christian is a book written by father and son, both of whom have served as pastors in Evangelical churches. It addresses many of the reasons why the younger generation is leaving the church, and how the older generation views their choices. It is written in a conversational style, with the son going first, presenting the view of “millennials”, and then the father going next, presenting the “boomer” view. In the final section, they combine their points to discuss the future of the church.

As neither a millennial (I miss the cutoff by a mere 18 months) nor a baby boomer (by, uh, about 15 years), I thought this might be an interesting book to read. I figured that I could hopefully see the value in the points made by each side.

In the first section, showing the millennial viewpoint, Carson Nyquist covers many of the big reasons why his generation is turned off by the church. If you browse through my previous posts, you’ll probably find them all listed, LOL. His first issue is the church’s lack of authenticity in sharing sins. Quoting Jon Acuff, he says,

Have you ever been in a small group with people that confess safe sins? Someone will say, “I need to be honest with everyone tonight. I need to have full disclosure and submit myself in honesty… So you brace yourself for this crazy moment of authenticity and the person takes a deep breath and says… “I haven’t been reading my Bible enough.”

Yes, we’ve all seen it. When my husband and I first started attending The Refuge, we talked about how awesome and also incredibly uncomfortable it was that everyone there was really, truly open with the kinds of sins that you never heard mentioned elsewhere. Even the pastors! It was mind-blowing.

The book goes on to mention Jon Acuff’s idea of “giving the gift of going second”, meaning that if you honestly share your struggles, the ugly ones that no one normally mentions at church, it is much easier for the next person to be honest. I saw this at the Refuge, and it rocked my world. I will never look at faith communities the same, and I now have a much higher standard.

Throughout the rest of his section, Carson addresses other frustrations with Evangelical culture, including the lack of integration of faith life and everyday life, pop culture/copycat Christianity, the fact that Jesus wasn’t a white Republican, and the church’s stance on homosexuality. I found myself nodding along to many of his frustrations.

The second section, written by Paul Nyquist, covers the “boomer” response to the millennials. One of his main arguments is that the millennials need to forgive the boomers and have grace on them, both because we are all part of an eternal family and called to forgive. I found his argument really compelling. He also discusses how the younger generation will make mistakes itself and soon be passing the torch on to their children and be looking for forgiveness themselves. He apologizes for the mistakes made, and tries to explain the boomers viewpoints and why they’ve chosen to run the church in the way that they have.

The final section brings both voices together, with a vision for what the future could bring for the church. Paul asks again for reconciliation and forgiveness, Carson reminds millennial readers that they will also make many mistakes in trying to follow God as best as they can, and that grace is needed for all of us. They both do a good job of wrapping up their points throughout the book and bringing it together in a cohesive way.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this book. It is a quick read, and although I’ve either said or heard many of the general ideas covered in here, the authors took fresh approaches to many of them and kept my attention throughout. I really like the format of the book and felt like it gave me a better understanding of both the generation in front of and the generation behind me. I love the conversation that they’ve started, and I hope that it continues.

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Filed Under: Christianity

The End of Sex

February 23, 2013 by amanda 1 Comment

I love reading books for review, and I was instantly intrigued when I saw the title of Donna Freitas’ new book, The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy. Now that I’ve finished this book, I feel like I have many new ideas about how I want our family to approach the topic of sex.

Donna Freitas uses The End of Sex to describe the findings of her research on hookup culture on college campuses. Hookup culture is defined by the absence of relationships and emotions in sexual encounters, with a hefty dose of alcohol added in for good measure. 😉 Freitas uses the students’ own words to explain how college students are expected to hookup, and the huge pressures within the culture for students to have no feelings for the person with whom they are hooking up. The students explain how dating no longer happens on campuses. In the majority of cases, students either didn’t know anyone who has ever been on a date or they only used the term to describe “serial hookups”, where you hookup with the same person, but still don’t spend time with them when you aren’t intoxicated or having a sexual encounter.

She polled students in a variety of settings — public and private secular colleges, private Catholic colleges, and private evangelical Christian colleges. The results of her study were fascinating. With the exception of private evangelical Christian colleges, the hookup culture was virtually identical on college campuses. Freitas found that private evangelical colleges have an alternate scene – a purity scene – which was filled with its own quirks. Having attended a private evangelical college, I didn’t need any further explanation. 😉 She does, however, suggest additional resources for people who want to read more about the culture of purity.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book is that Freitas looks at many different angles of the subject, including ways that different students have attempted to “opt out” of the hookup culture, and programs that have worked (and failed) at college campuses across the country. One of her biggest points is that students realize that they want to have GOOD, meaningful sex, but often don’t know how to get it in the midst of hookup culture. Young men are encouraged to act out macho roles, pretending that they only care about getting a lot of random sex. Young women are encouraged to play out fantasy roles, inspired by pornography, at theme parties every weekend, and feel extreme pressures to neither appear “needy” nor to want more than semi-anonymous sex.

I feel like I am walking away from this book with a much stronger understanding of the sexual attitudes that I want to teach my kids. Freitas’ research shows that students who feel empowered to make a stand to wait for meaningful, good sex are much more likely to avoid the depression and emptiness that many describe as part of hookup culture. She encourages the reader to not only reconsider religious, conservative abstinence-only programs (which do not influence a majority of college students), but to equally scrutinize the far-left curriculum which focuses primarily on avoiding STIs, pregnancy and rape as opposed to being selective about sex. She feels that there is a need for education that shows students that there is a middle ground, and that it is important for both sides to adjust the rhetoric for the sake of the students.

I really enjoyed this book, and I’d recommend it to any parent. It has not been many years since I was in college, but I know that the culture has shifted a lot in a short time. This book adds much to the conversation about young adults and sex, and it is well worth the read.

As I mentioned, I received an electronic copy of this book to review for NetGalley. I was not otherwise compensated, and I was under no obligation to give a good review.

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Filed Under: Book Talk

No Easy Choice

February 18, 2013 by amanda Leave a Comment

I am not sure what led me to request a copy of No Easy Choice to review. Maybe I chose it because it deals with birth, which is a topic that I always love.. after all, I am a midwifery student, birth doula, and mom of 4. Maybe I chose it because the author is a Christian, and I was curious to hear her take on ethical and moral issues. Maybe it was that I was drawn to the idea of a book that asks the difficult questions about when life begins.. Whatever the reason, I must say that I was really blown away by the quality of this book.

Ellen Painter Dollar uses this book to share her story of living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) — a dominant genetic bone disorder that causes bones to break, often without warning — and the impact that OI had on her decision to become both a wife and mother. She passes OI on to her first daughter, and then grapples with the decision of whether or not to use reproductive technology, including preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to attempt to ensure that she will carry a child who does not have this trait.

Besides being beautifully written, Dollar does a superb job of explaining the views on both sides of the debates. She goes far deeper than just the question of whether or not life begins at conception, and explains why focusing on that one issue can lead you to overlook dozens of equally important questions.

The way that the reader is taken on the journey is beautifully crafted, and I can honestly say that I will never consider the ethical choices surrounding reproductive technology and even the pro-life and pro-choice movements the same again. I recommend this book very highly.

I received an electronic copy of this book to review for NetGalley. I was not otherwise compensated, and I was under no obligation to give a good review.

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Filed Under: Book Talk

French Kids Eat Everything

February 18, 2013 by amanda Leave a Comment

After reading several heated threads about this book, I decided that I needed to read it ASAP. I have to say that I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, and it has given me new insight into cultural beliefs about food that are decidedly American (but I thought were universal.)

As the longer title suggests, this book is about a family who moved to France, revolutionized the way their family ate, cured their picky eaters, stopped snacking, and then ultimately moved back to North America and realized that it was much harder to maintain when you’re outside of the French culture.

First, let me say that this is not the same author who wrote French Women Don’t Get Fat. That’s a whole different lady, making a whole different point.

This author, Karen Le Billon, married a Frenchman and decided that it’d be fun to go live in France for a year. At first, it was hard for her to adjust to the way of life in France. She was one of the few people at the supermarket. The locals shopped at their local fresh market that was held downtown. At the market downtown, you tell the vendor which day/meal you plan on eating a particular food, and they pick the perfect item for that timing. It is a slow process, and very personalized.

As she adjusted to the ways of shopping, she also learned that the French approach food education with their children completely differently. They encourage the kids to view new foods as exciting, rather than scary, and expect for kids to need to try foods many times to develop a taste for it. They don’t snack, as that makes the child less hungry for real food at the meals. They also view mealtimes as a special occasion (with most people still going home for hot lunches, their biggest meal), and eating on the go is a big no-no.

The author also learns first-hand that school lunches are a whole different beast in France. There is only one option, the kids sit at tables with tablecloths and real silverware. The meal is a traditional 4-course meal, with a cheese course and everything, and there is NO personalizing the meal. The idea is that if you are given good food, you should eat it. They view the idea of giving kids a choice in what they eat as stunting — leading to having an adult population who is still picky like toddlers.

One thing that I didn’t expect, but really appreciated, is that the author is coming from a background of what she considers attachment parenting (although it is bordering on permissive), and she has no desire to adopt the parts of French culture that are far from AP, including the appalling low breastfeeding rate in France. I didn’t feel like she took an overly rosy view of French culture, but I did like how she took the things that worked and found ways to use them in her life, both in France and when they returned to North America.

I think this book is well worth the read. It has yummy recipes in the back, including a killer mousse au chocolat that we made. Her descriptions of how food is approached in France were really eye-opening for me, and have changed the way we approach mealtimes. Definitely check it out if you get the chance. 🙂

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Filed Under: Book Talk

National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia

January 27, 2013 by amanda Leave a Comment

Well, not every book can be a winner.

My kids LOOOOOVE animal encyclopedias. They read them like novels. We were at Barnes and Noble a few days ago when my kids found the National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia and begged us to buy it. We ended up surprising them with it later. Tonight I asked my son how it is, and he said, “It is nice, but a lot of the pictures are wrong.”

We sat down, and he showed me a picture of a Ground Squirrel that was labeled as a Prairie Dog. I agreed with him that it was a Ground Squirrel, but a fairly innocent mistake. Next he showed me a picture of a King Vulture that said it was an Andean Condor. There was definitely no mistaking that one. Next he showed me this page:

Red Ant?
Red Ant?

Erm, yeah… That’s pretty bad.

He went back to reading, and just a second later noticed that the Sea Nettle was labeled as an Urchin, and the Urchin as a Sea Nettle. I’m sure he’ll find more mistakes as he continues to read it.

What a bummer. I expected them to have better editors at National Geographic. 🙁 If your kids want an animal encyclopedia, I definitely recommend on passing on this one.

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Filed Under: Book Talk

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