Busy Hands Homestead

We have been waiting to harvest our carrots.   This is the first one we harvested.  The kids pulled it out of the ground. This carrot is not the sort of carrot you will find at the grocery store.  It is fat.   It is huge.   It has five fingers.   It is the kind of carrot that makes it into Ivory's lunchbox.  The carrot is chopped up with peanut butter ready for the dipping.  From-our-garden-cucumber, peach, and a home baked whole wheat bread sandwich  - peach jam (freshly made) and almond chocolate spread - and one tiny chocolate oatmeal cookie round out the rest of the lunch. I like this school lunch thing. More on the lunch box: This is Ivory's  Planet Box .  I ordered it for her this summer.  It has woodland fairy magnets and a purple lunch bag in which it rides to and from school.   I know they are pricey, but I view it as an investment.  It is stainless steel, has few pieces...

Half-awake I stumbled down the stairs early this morning with Sylvan on my hip.  He had requested a trip to the bathroom.  As much as I wanted to just roll over and tell him - "You are wearing a diaper.  Just pee in it." - I figured that would counter the daytime potty training efforts.  So I stood up, picked him up and we went to the bathroom.  He went right back to sleep and I stared at the clock: 4:30.  I might as well get up. By the time the Ivory and Sylvan both joined me down stairs I had put the finishing touches on G is for Garlic , and was tediously painting rows of kernels on I is for Indian Corn . By 9:00 we were mixing up our second batch of Whole Wheat Pretzels and were two loads of laundry into the day. By 11:30 I was parking my bike under the tree and Ivory helped me unload the groceries (WIC run!) out of the bike trailer. By 1:00 Sylvan was down for a nap, my list is half checked off (the laundry is hung) and I am trying not to...

I remember walking the home from my first WIC appointment. I felt happy and proud. I had taken the initiative and was contributing something to the well being of my family.  Over the next two years we have walked through the tunnel or over the pedestrian bridge to check in, say hi, weigh the kids, annually measure iron levels and print out new vouchers.  I look forward to the visits - because - I get to chat about kids and food with folks that deal with kids and food. I don't feel that using the vouchers is difficult.  I just try to come up with a way of using this resource in a manner that is compatible with the nutritional goals that I have established for myself and my family. (No Corn Syrup, No Hydrogenated Oils, as much real, unprocessed food as possible)  Along the way I have tried many different things. Some of those things I have not repeated: African Ground Nut Stew for example - good - but we have some peanut butter based recipes that h...

Over our Sunday morning cups of coffee Adam and I penciled a list for the day.  Our list had a few chores around the house, but was mostly comprised of delicious food things to make and bake.  The weather is cool and wet and it is planting season again.  This means our Sundays are full of food preparations and our week days are spent apart.   I ran off to the grocery store to pick up a few things while Adam tackled the first food item: Caramel Rolls.  While Adam picked up things around the yard, I rolled up  my sleeves and crumbled together butter and flour to make pie crusts.  I picked the meat off of the bones of last night's roasted chicken , baked butternut squash, boiled sweet potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and broccoli, wilted kale, crumbled up bacon to make my version of the Big Sky Pie that I found in the Missoula Magazine (Page 10) last winter.     Adam started the Braided Swish Cheese Loaves ...

We were late.  REALLY late. I started out the day with best intentions.  I made banana pancakes while the children still slept, woke them and got them fed in plenty of time to leave the house by 9:30am.  We really were going to leave the house at 9:30, and then I got stuck.  Stuck on my want for Ivory to have her bug cage for the Bug Bash day at camp. For her birthday, Ivory received a bug cage, and Sylvan, in little brother fashion, promptly stepped on it and tore a giant hole into one side.  So, while the children were eating, I pulled it and a thread and needle out and attempted to patch it.  I wove my needle through the mesh while Sylvan desperately tried to wrench it from my hands. Photo credit:  Ivory West - I had no idea she was playing with the camera.. and yes, there is Sylvan's sneaky hand trying to grab the box away from me.  Sewing it was much slower and much more difficult than I imagined it would be.  When I got t...