Hippie kids snacktime

One of the Hippie Kids favorite snacks is homemade kale chips.  No, I know that kale doesn't sound that impressive as a snack, but when you know about all of the nutritional benefits of this wonderfully obscure green you will want to do what you can to have your kiddos eat it too!  Kale is a member of the cabbage family, and it
 is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory.  Kale is very high in beta carotene,vitamin K, vitamin C , lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium.  Considering that this is what it looks like, one can see how it would be difficult to get children (or husbands) to eat it:


However, if after taking the central stem out you happen to have some olive oil, sea salt, and nutritional yeast on hand, you can make a crunchy,slightly nutty, salty snack that is VERY addicting!

Once the central stem is removed, you just need to toss the kale leaves with the above ingredients until they are all coated with the oil (not dripping) and have a nice sprinkling of salt and nutritional yeast on them.  I pop mine in the dehydrator for about 45 minutes, but you can also put them under a broiler for a few minutes.  Just make sure that you check on them so that they don't burn...burnt kale smells "nasty" as the Seeker had no problem informing me before we had the dehydrator!

The finished result doesn't look much different than what you started with:

But is sure is much more enjoyable!!

Once I start eating these, my body actually craves them and it is hard for me to stop (it's also hard for the Hippie Kids to stop, they ask for them constantly when they're in the house)!  We also like to crunch them up over salads and pasta dishes to boost the nutritional value even more.

Be Well,

Review for Wordtoons

Being a homeschooling mom, I occasionally have the opportunity to receive freebies in exchange for a review. The most recent freebie that I was sent was Wordtoons. This particular product is the brain child of Wayne Logue. Wayne has been a cartoonist/illustrator for almost 2 decades and is now studying for his BA in Linguistics English Language Teaching and Education....ah, a teacher in training creating a tool to teach with, I LOVE it!!!

I was super excited to receive a sample of Wordtoons in my e-mail inbox because The Risk-Taker loves to draw. In fact, I find doodles of all different persuasions in the margins of his schoolwork when I am grading it. Drawing is his form of self-expression, and I was anxious to let him loose with this project.

The concept behind Wordtoons is simple.The program takes words and turns them into that particular object. For instance, DOG becomes:

Can you find the letters in the drawing? AMAZING!!!

There are many other words to explore and a few uppercase letters that turn into objects/animals as well. The review from The Risk-Taker was that: "This is the coolest schoolwork I've done all year!"   I now find doodles of "dog" and "boy" all over my whiteboards...I think these are the easiest and fastest for him to draw.

As an added perk, The Explorer (almost 5) is completely drawn in by the process (pun intended) and is learning more spelling due to this program. His thoughts on it were: "I LOVE this!".

I give Wordtoons two thumbs way up and went to the site to buy the full version. I am very anxious to see what Wayne has on the horizon for us!!

As I sit and contemplate...

As I sit and contemplate the past year (I know that it is a few weeks late, but better late than never, right?) I am coming to some realizations about my life.

1)  I am HORRIBLE at updating this thing.
2)  I love my job of homeschooling our children, providing nourishing food for our family, and managing our home, BUT
3)  I feel guilty and stressed that my Go With the Flow Husband is saddled with the responsibility of providing for us financially, I HATE seeing him stressed out.
4)  I don't spend enough time spiritually on myself with prayer, meditation, journaling, reading, and contemplation.
5).  Physical exertion is an absolute necessity for me in order to feel balanced and not edgy.
6)  If I can carve out time for the above acts in my life, then I feel that I may be able to continue on my balance beam while juggling the many balls (I was going to go for a dramatic image hear and say juggling chainsaws, but I thought they may be overdoing it) that I have accepted as my calling in life.
7)  I believe that I have another calling that has been added to my plate that will remain "mine" for now, to roll around inside my head and become a part of the fabric that is my crazy quilt before being unveiled to you.

I have always been a list-maker, I like a nice organized list.  It is easy to see what needs to be done, and what you have accomplished by those little tick-marks that you can place with satisfaction after completing a task.  That being said, here is my list on (hopefully) how I will remedy the above musings.

1)  Make it a task to update on here at least once a week and make sure that this task gets a tick mark.
2)  Continue with homeschooling (organize the boy's binders, take more time to read out loud), continue feeding my family nourishing, whole foods in ways that make it fun interesting for them, become more adamant in my home managing skills/lists.
3)  Offer encouragement and thanks to my Go With the Flow Husband for his part in allowing our family to be together more. 
4)  Carve out time for myself every day to spend in quiet to grow spiritually.  This may mean waking up well before the boys, or using time after they are in bed (which can be hard because there are many times that I crash right along with them).
5)  Make my running/exercise time a priority, yet again.  When I push this to the back to make room for everyone else I become edgy and my insomnia returns...translation:  wife/mom that can work out = happy wife/mom = happy homelife.
6)  Slightly touched on above:  MAKE TIME!!  If I have to wake up an hour or so before the boys do, so be it.
7)  Continue praying about/exploring this idea.

Whew!!  TWO lists made, and a list awaiting me on the table for today.   It is time to start making those tick marks.

Peace & Namaste (I recognize the Divine in you that is also in me.),

Laundry...the bane of my existence

You may have heard me lament on my laundry situation before.  With three, well four if you count my Go-With-The-Flow Husband, crazy, active boys in my life it seems as if the laundry multiplies by leaps and bounds.  Just when I think I have caught up with it, it's spilling out of the hampers yet again.  As one can imagine, I go through A LOT of laundry detergent.  Now I have been using the Ecos Brand laundry detergent for a number of years now due to sensitive skin issues with myself and the Risk-Taker.  It really is not that pricey, but I decided that we needed to cut that expense out of our budget and I searched for a cheaper, yet just as effective detergent for us.  Here is what I came up with:

Now, I know that this doesn't look like much in the way of laundry detergent, but let me tell you about the process that all of this undergoes.  First off, I grate about 1/3 of the Fels-Naptha soap and melt it in about 3 pints of hot water on the stove.  I then added 1/2 cup each of the washing soda and the Borax.  This mixture is then stirred until thickened and then removed from the heat.  I put one quart of hot water into a  2-gallon bucket and added the soap mixture to it.  This mixture is then stirred completely and hot water is added to top it off.  This mixture needs to set for 24 hours in order to "gel".  After 24 hours it is ready to use, you may need to add more hot water to the mixture if it is gelled too much, and you will need to mix before each use.  I poured my mixture into empty detergent bottles that I already had.  It takes approximately 1/2 cup of this mixture to wash a large load of laundry...the cost per load of laundry is approximately .03!!  Our clothes are wonderfully clean, no fragrances have been added, and we save money over the long run!!

I know that it is "weird" to do this sort of thing, but so far these "weird" things work for us!

Now, if I could just find a way to have the laundry folded and put away I would be a happy camper!

Dinner on a whim...Cream of Anything Soup

While trying to figure out what would grace our dinner table last night I was struck with a craving for a thick, creamy soup.  Since Go-with-the Flow Husband has been trying to lose some weight and has decided to go the no carb route (and won't listen to me tell him that whole grain carbs really are ok, in moderation) it has become increasingly difficult for me to make dinner.   However, planning and executing last night's meal wasn't too terrible. 

I found a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower in the refrigerator and decided that they would become that thick, creamy soup that I was craving.

I chopped these up to yield approximately 8 cups worth of the cruciferous vegetables.

*Note:  These are the veggies that I had on hand, but 8 cups of any veggies will do, I've used asparagus, potatoes, spinach, etc before.  You can be as creative as you wish!

While I was chopping the broccoli and cauliflower I had 2 tbsp. of butter melting in a large stockpot.  To this melted butter I added one chopped onion and one chopped celery stalk and sauted until tender.  Once the onion and celery were tender (and smelling divine), I added 3 cups of  homemade vegetable stock and the chopped broccoli and cauliflower.  I brought it to a simmer, covered the pot and let it continue bubbling for 10 minutes.  During this time I prepped my Vit-a-Mix in order to puree the veggies once they were soft.  I could really use an immersion blender to help prevent me from pouring the veggies back and forth, but alas I do not have one in my cabinet yet.  Once the veggies were soft I pureed them in batches and put them back in the pot.  I then made a roux from 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour.  To the roux I added 2 cups of milk and stirred continuously over low heat until it was thick and bubbly.  This was added to the pureed veggies and the whole pot was then stirred and seasoned with some white pepper and salt.

I serrved this soup with the option of sour cream dollops on top and slices of homemade cheesy bread.  It was a hit...well, not so much with the Explorer...he is having 4 year-old moments with ALL food lately, but he did finish in order to have the all coveted dessert!

I am so bad at this...

So I was "gently" reminded by my friend, Granola Mom 4 God, that she has been staring at the same page on my blog for the past month.  Every time I try, in earnest, to start this project again it falls by the wayside.  It is not because I don't care, it is because I am intimidated! 

It is very intimidating for me to write my thoughts and actions down.  I am not sure why this is.  Perhaps it is because I am a "private" person, perhaps it is because I don't want to be judged, perhaps it is because I don't have the words to express myself...who knows?

The past month has seen some difficulties for us, but we are pulling ourselves back together and finding it easier to move on....family does that for you, and for my family I am extremely grateful on this day (all days, really, but today in particular). 

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." ~Desmond Tutu

Flu vaccine for my family? I don't think so...

I know that there are many opinions out there on modern medicine, and while there are many good aspects we are still wary of quite a bit.  Take the Flu Vaccine, for example.  After listening to the media and doing our own research, we are very much against giving our children this vaccine.  Take a look at this video: 




We are not willing to give this to our children due to these reasons.  We have found ways to combat the flu in our home, and while we may get a small strain of something, we get rid of it in 2 to 3 days.  We always try to keep our family's immune system in tip-top shape by utilizing a whole foods diet, but at times things happen. When they do happen, we have natures toolbox to help us out...it hasn't failed us so far.  Granted, if my children were to get extremely sick and I couldn't nurse them back to health on my own I would most certainly seek medical advice.

The Explorer had a fever and diarhea two weeks ago, and after much rest, many cups of warm honey chamomile tea laced with coconut oil and raw, local honey, and use of Young Living Essential Oils he was on the mend after 48 hours.

Our methods may not be everyone's cup of tea (pun intended), but thus far they have worked for us and we enjoy the fact that we do not need to run to the doctor's office for every sniffle, cough, and sneeze.

Be well,