There are many things I want my children to know before they grow up and leave our house. I want them to learn to sew. They need to learn to clean up after themselves (see HERE), and how to clean a house (see HERE). They need to learn how to manage their finances (see HERE, HERE, and HERE). … Continue reading
4-Ingredient Healthy Donuts (Paleo, GAPS, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free)
My 9-year-old son has started making us dinner once a week. Last week, he decided that he wanted to make donuts for dessert to go along with his meal. Since my boys have never had a donut, this was a very exciting prospect for both of them.
Together, my 9-year-old and I came up with this recipe. (We modified it from another recipe I jotted down years ago – unfortunately, I don’t know its original origins).… Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Emerson
Everything has its beauty. What singular beauty have you noticed and enjoyed today?
“To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature… Continue reading
A Gift of Mystery Squash
I love winter squash. When a friend offered me some mystery squash, I gladly took three. She explained that a large harvest of volunteer squash had come up in her garden. She had no idea what kind of cross-pollinated squash they might be.
While she warned me that what type of flesh lay inside was a mystery, I felt inspired by Ma in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter:
“Hurry and get the work done,” said Ma.… Continue reading
Don’t Pass Up your Chance to Vote
Election Day is this Tuesday, November 6. My ballot this year was long, including national, state, and local representatives and issues. So many of these issues, on all three levels of government, are big, important, and will impact our day-to-day lives. My friends in other states tell me their ballots are similar.
Some people think only the presidential elections are important. … Continue reading
Roasted Root Medley
Earlier this week a dear friend gave me three rutabagas from her garden. I hadn’t cooked rutabaga before, but I was excited to give it a try. I treated the rutabagas like I treat many root vegetables: I simply cut them up, along with some carrots and parsnips, and roasted them in my oven. They turned out delicious, and the dish was so easy to put together.… Continue reading
The Hazards of Cooking with a Child
The other day I was baking with my 5-year-old. We were making Grain-Free Bread (recipe HERE). He was helping me scrape down the sides of my stand mixer (I have an old model of THIS) when suddenly the spatula he was holding went right through the beaters. Yikes!
Thankfully he let go of the spatula as soon as he felt something was off. … Continue reading
Healing Lip Balm
I make my own Healing Skin Salve (recipe HERE), Amazing Face Serum (recipe HERE), and Diaper Cream (recipe HERE), so it probably comes as no surprise that I’ve also made my own lip balm. I first made a version of this recipe at a workshop hosted by some local bee keepers. The recipe worked so well, that with a couple slight variations I kept it as part of my natural body care routine.… Continue reading
Simple Homemade Applesauce
As promised, once my boys picked all of the apples off of our tree [see HERE], we processed them to make a big batch of applesauce. Applesauce is so simple to make, and delicious to eat. For us, it was a great way to make use of our harvest of super-tart apples.
Applesauce is one of those things that is made almost entirely to taste (well, when you make it yourself instead buying it pre-made), so I’ll describe how we made ours below.… Continue reading
Encouraging Innovation: Building an Apple Harvester
My 9-year-old loves inventing and building things. Sometimes he sees an idea somewhere and decides to build or make something similar of his own. Sometimes he sees an object, figures out a way to improve upon the design, and sets about creating his own improved version. And, sometimes, he sees a need for something and comes up with a way to meet that need through something he imagines and then makes.… Continue reading