A Place Like This......

The Summer Season Has Begun

Over the weekend it was time to: 

• Fire Up The Grill

• Try and get a spot on one of the spinning chairs.

• Play some music. E brought home is ukelele from University. They wanted to sing John Mayer songs and all I could think of were Hawaiian ballads or better yet , my Tiny Tim impersonation. Can you believe none of the kids knows who Tiny Tim is or that he tip-toed through the tulips?
• Along with that music, it was time to plug in the electric motored boat. So one day soon we will putt putt around our little lake.

• After all of this activity, it was finally time to eat a feast.

And we saved the best for last, 

• Put our feet up. 

And with that dear friends, the summer season has officially begun. Hope you had a great weekend.

What's For Lunch: A la Dr. Seuss

Oh this past week saw much activity on the Dr. Seuss front. Over at Jump into a Book we hosted the most incredible giveaway of 30 Dr. Seuss books. I'm happy to announce that the winner is a second grade teacher in Florida, Dana Elting.  I can only imagine the surprise on her student's faces when they see all of those books walk into their classroom. I'm sure there are many happy reading moments ahead for many storytimes to come.

Friday was Read Across America day and I went to read to the third grade over at Ft. Craig School of Dynamic Learning. The Lorax was in order and afterwards each child got a lorax mustache, made a recycled truffla tree, and wrapped a penci in a very special sweater. It was lots of fun and every was dressed in a Seuss sort of way. 

After many discussions within my own family about green eggs and how that could really happen, I sort of had to take a stab at it myself. Today's lunch is green eggs the momma version. No food coloring or other "tricks" just good old food. If you don't mind I'm skipping the ham part for a couple of reasons. One I don't like or eat ham and second it would be just too much for my 15/20 minute lunch.

 

Ingredients

•  
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • salt & pepper
  • ¼ cup feta chesse
  • ½ cup fresh spinach, washed,dried and chopped fine
  • 1 pinch thyme
  •  olive oil

Directions

1. Gradually mix the milk into the flour, whisk until smooth.
2.  Eggs, thyme, salt& pepper.
3. Whisk until very well blended.
4. Stir in the cheese and spinach.
5. Heat skillet, add oil.
6. Over medium heat pour in the egg mixture, allow to firm on the bottom, with a spatula disturb the eggs and flip so you continually get the uncooked egg on the bottom.
7. Do not over cook the eggs.

What's For Lunch: Oprah Style

Greetings friends. Sorry for my absence last week. The flu bug hit my house and therefore my blogging but don't worry. All of us have recovered and are getting back to normal. 

Before I dish on some incredible news, go put some water on because today's lunch has pasta in it. Don't forget the salt and olive oil.......

Today I'm honoring the goddess of television Oprah Winfrey. Last week I received a newsletter/email update from Oprah saying she was taking her life class on tour. There will be two tapings in St. Louis Missouri and two tapings in New York City. With the speed of lightning I filled out forms for all four show tapings, naming my friend Susie as my guest, and hoped for the best.

For about 12 to 15 years  now or maybe even 20, it depends who's telling the story, Susie and I have always known that one day we would get to meet Oprah, we would be on or at her show, and we would be together. That day has finally arrived. On March 26th Susie and I will be at the Live on -air taping of The Oprah Winfrey Life Class Tour.

Just this morning we discovered that our friend Kim also has tickets to the show and creative wonder teacher and blogging friend Shannon Kinney is on the waiting list for the same show we have tickets too. Wouldn't that be great if Shannon and I could meet? If ever you feel like taking an incredible and inspiring find your "self"  class, Shannon's Inside Out is the one to take. It is so creative and nurturing. I just loved it ! But I digress back to lunch right?

Today in honor of the joy and excitement of going to see Oprah, today's lunch is on her. This is one of her favorites and will quickly become one of yours. It's delicious. Almost verging on divine. 

 Vegetable Carbonara 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 12 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 slices turkey bacon, chopped
• 1 cup chopped seeded red bell pepper

Preparation

1. Cook peas and asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; drain. Plunge into ice water; drain. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Combine pasta and vegetables.

2. Combine cheese and the next 3 ingredients (through eggs) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add hot cooking liquid to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan. Add bacon to pasta mixture. Cook bell pepper in drippings for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta mixture; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove pan from heat, and stir in egg mixture. Return pan to low heat; cook for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly, stirring constantly.

The original recipe is from Cooking Light.  I only used 2 eggs instead of 3 and I also added zucchini and yellow squash. I substitued bacon with Turkey bacon. 

Here's wishing you a happy lunch. I'd love to know what you're eating for lunch this week. Please just leave me a comment with a link to your post and I'll come drop by for lunch. Bon Appetit y'all.

The "What's For Lunch" Project

It isn't usually an annual tradition that I get the doldrums in winter but this year I have them. The item which is annoying me the most is lunch. Yep, that's right you heard me. Though there are 7 days in a week, I have a lunch menu which encompasses 4 things, which means I'm eating repeats. Not only is my lunch menu short three days but I've been eating the same 4 lunches for about 15 years. I kid you not.

Don't think it stops there, each one of my children have their 4 special lunch items and their father/my husband ,aka "Fiber Boy" often times skips lunch or eats a veggie sandwich. Clearly we need help. 

Are any of you in a lunch rut? I'm sure not but I'm hoping you'll help me out of mine. I'm on a mission to bring back lunch. 

So by gosh or by golly I'm out to change "what's for lunch" over here.

Please Welcome:

The "What's For Lunch" Project

Starting next Monday, I will be posting my new "what I'm having for lunch", complete with recipes.

Please join me on Mondays by posting what you're having for  lunch on your blog. I'll have a Mister Linky at the end of my post and you can just link to your post there.

Remember the school lunch menu that would come home on Fridays or be posted in the daily newspaper? 

On Saturdays I'll post a Master Lunch Menu with all of your links, giving all of us new inspiration for our mid-day meals.

Please leave a comment below saying "I'm in !!!"

So here's to lunch !!!!!

 

 

Holiday Wishes from The Traveling Tribe

So here we are on Christmas Eve. Our family, aka. The Traveling Tribe, has come from all over the globe to be together, Canada, France, USA, Lebanon, and Sweden. We're heading over to my nephew and nieces where we'll prepare a wonderful feast filled with all of our family favorites. Here's wishing you a wonderful holiday season, however you choose to spend it. May you be surrounded by family, friends, and the people who love you most. Happy Holidays!

thanks Imad for the instagram photos. 

Dip in the Cooking Pot Day

Today I'm out and about gathering all the good food to prepare for tomorrow at our family feast. December 23rd is a day of gratitude, a day when we take a piece of fresh bread and dip it into the pot of great smelling and cooking food. For all we are about to eat, for family and friends, and good health we are truly thankful.

Wishing you a very happy dip in the cooking pot day.

photo by taken by their cousin Imad. Merci Imad.

Strawberry Fields Forever

What would you think if I sang out of tune,

 

Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,

Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

Strawberries are in y'all. We're off to make jam. Have a great day!

Rose Jam

I think by now you've figured out that everything is in full bloom around here. Between the smell of the honeysuckle and all of my roses blooming, the fragrance around the house is almost unbearable......in a good sort of way.

 
My zephrine rose which smells like raspberries is flourishing and so before the bugs get to it I thought I would pull a few blossoms off and make some rose jam.

Carefully we cut the roses.

 
 
Carefully we pull the petals off the rosehip.

 
Measure out 6 cups of rose petals.

 
Soak them in water for about an hour.

 
Pick up a handful of rose petals and squeeze the water out of them.

 
Bruise and squeeze the petals well.

 
After you've brusied one handful of petals, place it in the tray and sprinkle a little sugar so that each petal is touched by sugar. Keep repeating this process until all the petals have been brusied and sugared. They can be in the same tray. Cover and refridgerate over night. Save the remaining sugar for the following day.

 
Place the remaining sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan. dissolve contents over a low heat. Stir the rose petals into the mixture and allow to simmer 20 minutes.

 
Bring to a boil and continue to boil for about 15 minutes until the mixture thickens. If you have a candy or jam thermometer, cook and stir until the jam reaches 221F or 105 C. Remove from heat and stir in one box of pectin. Place in a steril and warm jar.

 

                                              Rose Jam Recipe

• 6 cups red, pink, or white rose petals.
• 2 cups of sugar
• 4 1/2 cups of water
• juice of 2 lemons
• one box of pectin

* Very important tip. Do not use roses which you have sprayed with insecticide. Your roses should smell very fragrant and be chemical free.

 

 

 

Giveaway from Little Acorn Learning

 A little over a year ago I virtually met Eileen Straiton from Little Acorn Learning. The moment I received her e-newsletter, I immediately felt nurtured by her daily creative caring. As the year has progressed I've had the honor and pleasure of collaborating with Eileen on her newsletter and working as a contributing author for the Little Acorn Enrichment Guides.

Her bright energy, kindness, good humor and creativity never cease to amaze me. I thought you might like to meet her too and so today she is visiting and at the end of this post a giveaway for your very own edition of the April Enrichment Guide.

 

Tell us a little bit about you and your family.

 

My husband and I have four daughters ages 17, 10, 6 and 4.  We live in a small town in Connecticut and strive to create a home filled with warmth, love and creativity.I run Little Acorn Playgarden out of the lower level of our home.  I also publish the Little Acorn Learning guides which support parents, homeschoolers and caregivers in their work with children. Our daughters attend our local school and enjoy coming home to our playgarden each day.  I work hard to enrich their lives with nature, crafting, baking, song, artistic activities and domestic tasks.  I like to call us ‘waldorf afterschoolers’ and the term inspired me to create a new monthly enrichment program for other parents and teachers working with school aged children. My husband, Brian, works full time and also enjoys woodworking and creates many fun project with our girls in his workshop. 

 

2. What led you to starting a day-care center in your home and how long have you had your nature based daycare?

Before my work with young children, I was a direct mail advertising executive working crazy hours.  I desperately wanted to find a way to be home with my daughters and was frustrated with the childcare offered at many of the centers I visited.  After a brief time of freelancing from home, I decided to open up my playgarden and created the childcare program that I had dreamt about for my own children.  Our little ‘school’ opened in 2005 and I have been so lucky to have such wonderful families that also support me in finding balance as I raise my daughters. 

 

3.       How did you first become introduced to Waldorf?

I rediscovered myself after becoming a mother and sought out anything I could find on how to provide my children with a healthy childhood.  I was naturally drawn to the beauty and truth behind the philosophy of Waldorf Education. It not only supports the healthy development of a child’s physical being but also that of the child’s soul.  I feel this is so very important, especially in the times we live in now; to develop the whole child – head, heart and hands.

 
 

 

4.    What inspired you to start your own publishing company?

Little Acorn Learning began as a monthly childcare program that I used in my own childcare center.  I decided to offer my monthly ‘guides’ to others who work with children each day and the response was amazing.  The guides offer crafts, recipes, songs, games, book recommendations and caregiver inner-work for the well-being of the adult. 

In addition to our original monthly guides we have added natural childcare menus, seasonal celebration ebooks, ecourses and our new monthly enrichment program which has taken a unique form of almost an ezine with contributions from amazing writers and bloggers based on weekly themes.

 

5.    I know everyone is going to want an answer to this next question, Where do you find time to get it all done?”

Finding balance is a real challenge for me.  I struggle just like all working parents to manage home, family, work and self-care.  I often have to shift things around to make it work.  I get overwhelmed sometimes – many times.  I remind myself often that my main responsibility is to be a good parent and wife.  That will always be my most important job in life… the rest is just a bonus. 

 I am very lucky to have a husband who cooks dinner many nights and helps with dishes, baths and bedtime stories when need be.  He is a wonderful father and I’m so grateful to have him.  I also have great kids who do their part around the house when asked and are very responsible. 

 One thing I am working on now is finding time to include more silence in my life.  As you can imagine, working with children and having a large family makes that very difficult.  I have begun by including walks alone, yoga classes and time outdoors into my schedule.  Nature heals me and brings me back to center when life gets too crazy. 

For a chance to win the April Edition please leave a comment below. The Giveaway ends on Friday at 8 pm EST.

 

This is a completely enchanting edition for the whole family to enjoy. Eileen says:"The Afterschool Enrichment books are different from our regular 3 day and 5 day lesson plan guides... the Enrichment books follow the
rhythm of a weekly theme with the flexibility that teachers, homeschoolers and afterschooling parents need to enrich their children's
Waldorf learning experience at home or school.  Our new Monthly Enrichment Guides are filled to the rim with crafts, recipes,
activities, stories and inner-work suggestions and they follow a weekly theme to keep your home or school following a seasonal rhythm.  
They are not structured like classroom lesson plans, as our Childcare Lesson Plan Guides are and keep older children in mind along with
the caregiver.  They are created so you can use the ideas as time allows without having each day specifically planned out for you

 For more information about April's Enrichment Guide have a look here.

 Comments are now closed. I want to thank everyone who participated. We'll have a winner announcement soon.

Dinners on Me.......

Last week I wrote about our Family Dinner tradtion and your responses we so kind and positive. Many of you asked for the recipes and I am only too happy to share them with you.

Hummus

 

• One can of chick-peas
• 4 large serving spoons of Tahini
• 1 to 2 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 large serving spoon of  yogurt
• 1/4 cup of water, more if needed

This is the quick version of this recipe. If you would like to make hummus from dried chick=peas, just soak the chick-peas over night in water with 1 tsp of baking soda. In the morning boil them for 15 minutes in water. Drain them, throw them in an ice bath, peel the skins off and proceed as follows.

1. Rinse your chick-peas really well.
2. In a blender mix the chick-peas, tahini, lemon juice, yogurt, and water.
3. Pulse for a few times and let the blender run for about a minute or so. If the mixture is too thick add small amounts of water at a time.
4. Place in a bowl, make a well and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top.

This tastes so good with warm pita bread.

 

Next let's make Lentils and Rice

 

• 3 onions
• 1 1/2 cups Lentils
• 1 cup of Uncle Ben's Rice
• Cumin, salt and pepper
• Olive oil and corn oil

1. Saute one onion in the bottom of the pot you'll be using to cook the dish in.
2. After the onion is getting brown, place the lentils on top.
3. Add enough water to cover the lentils 1/2  an inch. Bring to a boil, turn down to medium and let boil for 15 minutes.
4. Add 1 tsp of cumin, salt, and pepper.
5. Add the rice.
6. Add more water, covering 1/2 inch above the rice. Place on medium and let cook until the rice is done. You may have to add more water and that's ok. Add just a little bit at a time. Another trick I use is to place a lid and pull it off the stove to let it steam the rest of the way done.
7. As your lentils and rice are finishing up, dice the remaining onions and saute them until crunchy brown. Though they may look burnt, they aren't. They'll taste very sweet. Remember not to salt your onions or they won't crisp up.
8. Place your lentils and rice in a serving dish and pour the crispy onions on top. Ta dah, you're finished. My family loves to eat this with yogurt as well.

Add a salad and you have dinner Bon Appetit!