Blueberry Lemonade

I made blueberry jam last week using Pomona Pectin and honey and organic blueberries. We had a wee bit leftover in a jar for snacking and such. Since the recipe also called for 1/4 cup of lemon juice I decided to juice the entire bag of lemons before they went bad. Juicing lemons means one thing around here, lemonade! And sitting next to cooling blueberry jam it was an easy jump to blueberry lemonade for my 4 year old.

I was hesitant at first but sometimes you just have to try things with your kids. Even if it is lumpy lemonade. We set about to mixing lemon juice, spoonfuls of jam, water and a bit of sugar to sweeten it up. And I'll be jiggered if it wasn't pretty dang good! If you think about it blueberry pie is better with lemon and so are muffins so why not blueberry lemonade, why not indeed?

Blueberry Lemonade
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups cold water
2 TBSP blueberry jam
sugar to taste
mix the juice, water, and jam with a whisk
taste and add sugar until sweet enough
add ice and enjoy

Lumpy lemonade and a happy boy are a nice combination on a hot day. Or a summer day in Alaska.

Peace and Love--

There Must Be 50 Ways To Eat Your Veggies

Just make a new plan Stan

Step out the back Jack

You don't have to be coy Roy

This post started out as a guest post for Creative 2X Mom on how to inspire children to eat more veggies but I couldn't get the tune "50 ways to leave your lover" out of my head while numbering them. And it has been noodling around in there for a while.

Eat some more greens Gene

How about a zuke Duke?

Try a roasted beet Pete!

I decided to expand my list and share it with my 8 million daily readers(HA!). If you feel like sharing a favorite tip or idea that I don't hit please feel free to leave me a comment, I'm always up for more veggie loving secrets.

The number one question I get asked in person and on my blog is “how do you get your kids to eat vegetables?” My short answer is easy “I expect them too” but the long answer is, well, long. Here we go:
1-eat raw vegetables with them on a daily basis

2-let them see you eat them, share in the goodness with them

3-let them help you prepare the vegetables, we have a serrated butter knife and one or both of my little boys make crudites at least once a day, this is simply chopped fresh vegetables they clean and 'cut', have them work close to you so you can keep an eye on them, their joy in working with you and preparing part of a meal will have a profound impact on their relationship with vegetables

4-let their crudites be available before the rest of the meal like an appetizer

5-join a CSA, farm fresh vegetables really do taste best

6-take them to pick up the vegetables at the CSA, let them help pack or un-pack the box up-be excited!

7-provide 2 vegetables with each meal, then they have a choice, mine usually choose both but having a choice is important
8-sometimes those choices will be the lesser of two evils and so be it, you don't need to pussy foot around likes and dislike, this is what we have pick one and eat it

9-we require each person has to have 3 bites of each dish from dinner, they can have seconds of their favorite ones, they can not eat 3 bites of everything and then only more of bread or steak, moderation, perhaps more steak and a slice of bread then more vegetables are required
10-regarding the 3 bite rule, usually by the time they eat 3 bites they have forgotten they "don't like it"

11-we remind them that they should take those bites because you NEVER know when your taste buds will change and you might be missing out on something you like!

12-if other adults HATE VEGETABLES speak with them in private and remind them that their choices will influence small children and to please refrain from making snide rude remarks about certain things-in other words grow up! if mommy or daddy say "ew _______ !!" chances are one of the small souls at your table will repeat it

13-avoid carrots who have spent time on a lathe these 'baby' carrots are usually old and tasteless, try real fresh baby carrots for the ultimate treat!

14-fresh, local, organic is best
15-frozen comes second
16-canned is a distant third
17-highly processed last

18-grow a small box garden-like Square Foot Gardening
19-let them grow one too, each of my little boys has their own 4x4 garden bed, their vegetables are the best!
20-try growing a straw bale garden, they require minimal work, seem to produce a great crop and make their own compost at the end of the season
21-go vertical with peas, mammoth dill, cucumbers and pumpkins in a planter with a trellis, dill does NOT vine but it grows up nice and tall and tastes great fresh
22-try a topsy turvy tomato planter, they even produce in Alaska, the ultimate endorsement
23-get seed catalogs in the dead of winter and browse them with your children, the garden dreams shared in January make the anticipation of a garden pot, barrel, planter or bale a pleasant pastime
24-sprout seeds for eating, alfalfa, carrot and mung bean grow well, taste great and pack a WALLOP of nutrition, the ultimate micro farm in a jar!
25-learn to roast vegetables, kids can help clean and cut, stir in a bit of oil, sprinkle with salt and roast until slightly browned and tender, roasting brings out a sweetness and flavor that surprises even vegetable connoisseurs
26-put up some of your garden harvest, even a small garden could produce a pint or two of piccalilli or green tomato relish
27-again let kids help, putting up the harvest is a great way to spend the day together, even the littlest of kids can wash, scrub or cut (with a kid safe knife!) vegetables, they can measure too! pride in ownership goes a long way in encouraging them to try new things
28-if you really don't have any space look for a local community garden area where you can have a small garden bed
29-ask someone with a garden or room for one, if they would consider sharing their space with you
30-spend time on a farm
31-go to a u-pick farm, we grow lots of veggies but still visit in the fall to stock up on anything we were not successful in growing (zucchinis anyone?)
32-put vegetables in front of them everyday
33-constant exposure ensures they will have had plenty of chances to become familiar with all kinds of vegetables
34-attend a farmers market with kids and let them shop, making choices for the family between this zucchini and that yellow one means they are already invested in it before they are asked to eat it
35-let them visit with the grower, my experience has shown me that most growers at a farmers market are more than willing to talk to kids about being a farmer
36-be willing to try new things yourself, is kale new to you? well guess what you need to eat 3 bites
37-try new recipes! you might just surprise yourself with a new take on an old favorite
38-even those veggies you hated once can be enjoyed if you are as open to them as you are asking your kids to be
39-learn to grill veggies so summer dinners can be easy, grill baskets are great
40-put them on sticks, raw or cooked veggies on skewers are a hit
41-avoid ranch dressing, it's just really not good for you, it's full of MSG and lots of fat that kind of cancel out the goodness of veggies
42-if you use ranch now slowly wean your family off of it and then 'accidentally' run out, oops did I just say that?
43-salads with salsa rock, just sayin'
44-Taco Salads make a perfect vegetable filled dinner, amazing what a handful of cheese and stale tortilla chips can do for a salad
45-don't sneak them, in what good does that do? they don't get the full benefit of the food and they don't learn to love them
46-don't be afraid to add them in odd places, I do use pureed carrots in bean soup, it makes a nice base! try it with other vegetables and leave out the salty chemically enhanced broth for superior flavor and health benefits
47-avoid the temptation to label vegetables as good or bad food, they are simply food to be eaten
48-rewards for eating them are never a good idea
49-Relax! Don't make forcing vegetables down their throat the ultimate goal!
50-The ultimate goal is to have fun and enjoy your kids while bringing them up to enjoy a healthy lifestyle

So, yes indeed, there are 50 ways to eat your veggies.

Peace and Love-

Just Another Meatless Monday #18

One more day to enter my Le Creuset Giveaway and you can earn an extra entry today by linking in you favorite meatless meal new or repeat! I love Le Creuset and I love to give it away so won't you join in and link up? I hope you do.

I have some really exciting cool news that I can't share just yet. But let me assure you it is making me weak in the knees to think about. Woo exciting!

During my crazy week we didn't eat a lot of meatless meals but with our basil plants in high production pesto pasta has been a quick and easy staple. I feel like pasta with just pesto is a little naked and my kids look at it like "that's it?". Apparently they did not fall far from this tree.

Pesto Pasta Plus
1/2 recipe for pesto-I make pesto without cheese, recipe follows
16 ounce box of organic rigatoni
1/4 cup walnuts
2 ripe organic tomatoes
fresh ground pepper

cook pasta according to package directions
while it's cooking toast the walnut in a small skillet over medium high heat until deeply browned
then chop the tomatoes coarsely
when the pasta is cooked al dente drain it and then return it to the pot
place the pan on the warm burner and add the pesto, the warmth from the burner will help the pesto meld with the pasta
serve big bowls of pasta
top each bowl with a sprinkle of toasted walnuts and a spoon full of chopped tomatoes

Vegan Pesto
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 cup basil leaves
up to a 1/4 cup of good olive oil

whirl garlic, salt and walnuts in a food processor
add basil, whirl again
with the processor running slowly drizzle in olive oil until it is to the consistency you want

My kids eyed this warily but the additions really spruced it up and they ate it happily. I love it, the husband who likes tomatoes didn't care for the cold tomatoes over hot pasta. And I know this about him but I keep thinking I'll get him to like cold tomatoes on hot food as much as I do. No such luck but I will continue this experiment until he gives in.

Why not link a favorite recipe or post? I'd love to have you along for the ride! Just grab the button, leave your link and  go visit some new blogs! Make sure to leave a comment to say hi too!


And remember anyone linking in to this Just Another Meatless Monday needs to leave a comment on the Le Creuset giveaway!

Thrifted Sunday, the Real McCoy!

Somehow with being off balance I still find myself drawn to thrift stores and rummage sales. It's like I can't NOT stop in and see what treasure I might find. I had one afternoon to myself last week, no kids, no anything, just me and the thrill of the find.

I started in my hometown and found these wonderful old Holly Hobbie pictures. Holly and Robby Hobbie. I didn't realize she had a brother or remember maybe because these are from my decade. These are a present for my sister who doesn't read my blog, she'll get them for Christmas this year.

Another Pyrex treasure for me, I love the split design for fridge storage, it makes living without plastic so easy!

This is a brand new NordicWare Anglette pan! Although I think this is a great pan I plan to list this one on ebay, I'm slowly chugging along in sales trying to make enough to pay my way to BlogHer Food '10.

Look at this beautiful teapot! It's marked Lubiana made in Poland 2 and I absolutely LOVE the shape.

And then in the last store I stopped in before getting a cup of coffee and sitting quietly by myself I found the real McCoy! Sitting forlornly on a shelf surrounded by cheap made in china junk was this regal beauty

A real McCoy pitcher from the '70s. Ahhhhhhhhh love it! And I'm going to sell it too.


So those are my treasures and finds for the week. If you are ever interested in any of my finds they may available on ebay, just ask! My seller id is laura706mnf and you can perform an advanced search on my id to find all my auctions.

I'm linking up to

 
and ApronThriftGirl


Peace and Love-

Oh I'm still here!! and I'm Making Salted Caramel Shortbread

Did you think I left you? Ran off and with another blog? Nope! Just doing a little fundraising for our new charter school and it kind of ate my life. Ummm weren't we just speaking of balance? Yes, it ate my life but it's over and I am finding my balance right about now. We made a nice chunk of money in 3 hours so it was worth it and now ahhhhhhhhh nothing. BALANCE.

I made an awesome delicious mistake for said fundraiser: Salted Caramel Shortbread. First I forgot to buy chocolate to make Twix-tacular bars. I refuse to go to the store except under extreme duress or we are out of milk. Then I left the shortbread bars in so long that they almost burned, not quite, just very very browned. And lastly in a fit of my-cupboard-door-won't-shut-itis I chucked out the dregs of a bottle of corn syrup because golly who uses corn syrup anymore right? So very browned bars meet no chocolate meet no corn syrup meet the only can of sweetened condensed milk in the house...what to do, what to do. Well I did what anybody would do, I salted them. What, you wouldn't do that? Well I did, and they sold out FAST! So fast I didn't even get a picture.

Salted Caramel Shortbread--oven 350˚

1 cup cold butter
2 cups flour-I use whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
teaspoon of salt**if using unsalted butter
1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
Celtic Sea Salt or kosher sea salt

in a food processor combine 1 cup butter, flour, 1/2 brown sugar and salt if using
pulse to combine
when it is mixed it may not look too much like cookie dough but regardless press it in too
a 9x13 baking dish lined with parchment paper
then bake for 20-25 minutes watching carefully the last 5 minutes, you want a well browned cookie base but no flames!
while the cookie base is baking combine the milk, remaining butter and sugar in a heavy sauce pan over medium high heat
stir until it comes to a boil
then reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 7 minutes
remove from heat after 7 minutes and set aside until the shortbread cookie comes out
pour over the cookie base while it's hot
let it cool for 20 minutes or so
then sprinkle on a very small amount of Celtic Sea Salt press lightly if needed
chill until set
cut into squares (eat the rough edges) and serve or package up and sell

Don't forget to enter the Le Creuset giveaway, it ends Tuesday!

Must. Sleep. Now.

Peace and Love-

Le Creuset Giveaway

I'm doing it again. I'm sharing the love with my readers, followers, blog rollers and hermits alike! The Le Creuset love that its! The lovely charming folks at CSN have generously invited me to host another giveaway OR review a product in my home. I love my readers so much I'm giving away more Le Creuset! CSN has over 200 stores and you can find anything from bathroom vanities to Le Creuset to lamps!



This time I chose the fantastically cute Tomato Casseroles to give away:

How dang sweet are those?? Pretty dang sweet!

Actually I'm giving away a set of 5 of the Petite Tomato Casseroles to ONE lucky winner.

Rules and small print and general regulations.
#1 First entry must be completed to count in the drawing. You MUST go to CSN and check them out. Leave me a comment telling what you would pick to give away or review. That's entry #1, if you don't do it none of the other entries count, sorry you gotta play by the rules!
#2 if you follow me you can leave a comment for a second entry
#3 if you subscribe to my feed leave a comment for another entry
#4 blog roll Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, leave me a link for the fourth entry
#5 if you write a post and link to the contest you can earn a 5th entry
#6 if you post to Just another Meatless Monday you can leave and entry for that too, actually if you linked up to yesterdays you can have an entry for that too!
This giveaway ends in ONE week next Tuesday the, 29th. Good luck

So there you go my TOTALLY selfless giveaway, all for you my readers! HA!

Peace and Love-

Just Another Meatless Monday #17

I have been waiting to share this recipe with you for a LONG time. Why? Because I needed to remake it and get a good picture of it that's why. Funny thing is I don't think these picture do it justice. Dang.


I tasted these at a farm party this past spring and embarrassed myself with my gluttonous inhaling of them. I asked for the recipe and luckily Peggy was able to jot it down quickly for me before we all went our separate ways for summer.

She called them Swedish Meatballs. I don't know about about you but Swedish Meatballs look disgusting and definitely NOT a barbecue nugget of goodness. My dad always came home from Moose Club dinners with Swedish Meatballs and Lutefisk on one plate and blarf I NEVER ate them. So to say I was surprised to see their name was Swedish Meatballs would be an understatement. My husband upon trying them said well without the barbecue sauce on them they COULD be Swedish Meatballs. I'll take his word for it, thankyouverymuch, I have no desire even now to try Swedish Meatballs in their white gravy that could possibly have lutefisk floating in it. So what to call them?

Vegetarian Barbecue Bites
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup of crushed corn flakes
3/4 cup chopped walnut
4 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
2 TBSP oil
barbecue sauce to cover or for dipping**recipe to follow**great recipe for barbecue sauce without hfcs in it!

mix all the ingredients except oil, let stand for 30 minutes
if making barbecue sauce you can assemble it now and let it simmer on low
then over medium high heat heat 1 TBSP oil in a frying pan
 make 18 patties or meatballs out of the cheese and walnut mixture
cook 9 at a time until they are browned on both sides
put them in a 9x13 baking dish
cook remaining patties the same way
pour barbecue sauce over the top
cover with foil bake 15-20 minutes

barbecue sauce
2 TBSP tomato paste
2 TBSP apple jelly or apricot or blueberry
3/4 cup of water
1 clove of garlic minced
1 drop smoke flavor if desired
drop or two of soy sauce
1 tsp of salt
dash o' pepper
dash of tabasco*optional
whisk altogether in a small sauce pan
cook over medium low heat until reduced and thick
taste and add more of any ingredients you might prefer, I like extra garlicky or soy sauce
feel free to play with it and make it yours
adding water if it is too thick to spread

So I love these and could eat them oh about every day, seriously good food! Peggy, who I got the recipe from is a true blue vegetarian and was raised that way, said this recipe is a staple for her family. She even makes them ahead and freezes them for quick nuggety style lunches, I like that idea. So Peggy even though I KNOW you are not reading this, thanks so much for the recipe, it is a hit at our house.

Now I know some of you are thinking what the hell is with this recipe because the ingredients are so incongruous but really it works! And no one can guess what they are made of, they feel meaty when you bite them, they look nuggety and they taste fantastic! Please if you ONLY ever try one recipe from me let it be this one, yes they are that good.

What have you been cooking? Why not inspire someone this week? Be sure to grab my button and pop it in your post to let everyone know where you are sharing you recipes!


And be sure to drop in tomorrow for a big giveaway announcement! Want to play Wheel of Fortune to figure out my giveaway? _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _.......

Peace and Love-

Thrifted Sunday

I have been hit or miss lately with posting but not with thrifting! I have decided to make enough money on ebay and etsy to send myself to BlogHer Food '10 and maybe the foodbuzz festival too (shhh don't tell my loving husband about the 2nd one yet) so thrifting has taken a new different turn for me. I look at things from a sellers eye trying to figure out what will sell and what won't, so far so good. I've made some money above and beyond what I spend, that's a plus!
But truly I love the thrill of walking in and not knowing what I'll dig up.
Like this lamp, I love the shape of the base. The shade was torn but it's a real fabric shade with wire not a plastic sheath that can be crushed. For a dollar I have a new lamp. With a bit of creativity I'll sew a new shade.

This mirror was treasure from a garage sale last weekend makes the perfect nightstand addition. Not as a working mirror but just looking good.

 mama in the mirror

 Mmmmm glass bake mug 10¢!! Can you believe it? I've never seen the pattern before but I like it! The little vase is pretty and perfect for cut flowers. I love to fill my house with flowers even dandelions, it's an inexpensive way to brighten the day if you can grow your own.

This little bowl makes a perfect back drop for our perennial Sitka roses, they have such short stubby stems! I float them in bowls everywhere. And they bloom like crazy from now until it frosts. I love the way the top of the bowl is almost translucent. Is this milk glass? I think so, the rules of milk glass are vague and it is unmarked.

Little Bo Peep, I found your sheep! I think these are adorable, too bad I don't know anyone having a girl! Vintage nursery kitsch, yummy.

Ohhh and I found this at a rummage sale:

LOVE LOVE LOVE! My poor husband. When I showed the box to him, I said "oh with a coat of white paint it will be perfect" he looked faint for a minute until he figured out I was joking. Heh.

I spent this evening making jam. Strawberry and Raspberry, 3 batches total. Mmmm I love to put away summer delights for winter use. Do you? Do you have questions about canning? Ask away!
linking up with :

So many awesome thrifty finds over there!


Peace and Love-

Sausage Sauerkraut Stew

Ah yes Solstice is coming, 20 hours of daylight is enough to make anyone slightly crazed. I forgot what month it was and how it affects me. I wake up feeling guilty for sleeping through so much sunlight, yet it's only 7am. But the sun has been up since 4am, the rooster NEVER shuts up and I'm still tired. Sheesh you'd think after deeply examining my life and how I can get back on track I might have noticed what the date was. Oh well, we'll soon be working our way back towards normalcy.

The gardens are thriving, we've had cool weather so our kale, broccoli, cauliflower, veronica romanesca and sugar snap peas are loving it. The corn is not too thrilled with the cool weather, we're not growing it for corn though. We have it for our four year old who LOVES to grow corn.

No zucchini yet, not baby zucchini yet, no SIGN of baby zucchini yet. What do you expect from a master gardener whose greatest shame is NOT being able to grow zucchini? We do have a baby pumpkin though and a 3 baby cucumbers. 2nd picking of mustard is almost ready. The bok choy and swiss chard are almost there and I can hardly wait. Carrots are almost 3 inches tall and thinned out nicely. Anybody else feel like a murderer thinning vegetables? The chickens like it though.

I'm not growing cabbage though. I should be given my love of sauerkraut, both eating and making but I'm not. We have 2 giant cabbages in the boy's gardens but those belong to them. Oddly one seems stunted a bit and the other is thriving, someone might need a side dressing of compost to get it going.

Remember I made sauerkraut a few months ago? OK 3 moths ago. Well after fermentation I checked it to see how it was going and the cabbage was molding. I used a specialized crock from Lehman's Non-Electric and I think the exterior glazing was cracked. The exterior of the crock was covered in salt and the liquid from the cabbage/salt/pounding combo was gone. Now I had it covered quite well on top so I think it leaked slowly, evaporated and left it's salt behind. I'll try again when the price of cabbage goes down with the harvest of fresh cabbage. I love to eat local polish sausage and sauerkraut together  either on a bun or in a stew. My kids actually like the sausage stew combo, your kids might too.

Sausage Sauerkraut Stew
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 pound potatoes, I used french red fingerlings but german butterball would be grand
1 pound polish sausage link, sliced in to rounds and then halves
2 cups good sauerkraut
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 TBSP dijon mustard
1/2 cup cubed mozzarella

in a medium dutch oven over high beat bring the chicken stock and water to a boil
meanwhile wash and chop potatoes to about 1 inch cubes or bite sized for kids
when the stock is boiling add the potatoes, reduce heat and cook until al dente
turn the oven on to 400˚
while the potatoes are cooking heat a frying pan over medium high heat and brown the sausage, keep cooking and stirring the sausage until the potatoes are done
as soon as the potatoes are al dente remove from the heat
scoop the browned sausages in to the potato pan
use some of the potato cooking water to deglaze the sausage pan, scraping up all the lovely crispy tasty bits of flavor
stir in the garlic and mustard
pour this back over the sausage and potatoes in the dutch oven
add the sauerkraut to the dutch oven, stir gently and return to the heat
bring to a quick boil and pop it into the oven
bake for 15 minutes
sprinkle on the cubed cheese and bake for 5 more minutes
serve with crusty bread to sop up the juices

Really if your kids turn up their noses at sauerkraut it's kinda natural it's fermented cabbage! But this dish is a winner. Both of my little boys ate the sausage and potatoes and then sauerkraut.

Peace and Love-

Birchtree Charter School

15 months.

That's how long I have worked on this project. Meetings, endless meetings, hours and hours of time from my life given to make this school happen.

From my first meeting in a walking cast right after ankle surgery, to speaking in front of the school board, to hiring committees, parent education nights, summer camp committee, social media manager and fundraising chair and so many big scary things I never wanted to do. But did anyway because choices in education are important to me and to all kids who don't quite fit in.

The culmination of 15 months of working and worrying have resulted in this: The Borough Assembly passed our chosen location. Perhaps they were swayed by the fact we weren't screaming at them about coal mining, also on the agenda tonight. Or maybe we were in and were just overly prepared to defend our choice. Whatever the reason the results are the same, my boys, loves of my life, joy of joys, my wildebeests will be attending a Waldorf Inspired Charter School 15 minutes from home.

Now that's something alright.

Peace and Love-

But I'm Still Thrifting

Because I haven't gone COMPLETELY off the deep end. I actually missed the start of the Colony Days Parade (don't tell my husband) the other day because I was browsing in my local BA.

The I hit the mother of all yard sales with the coolest stuff ever. EVER. I spent too much money on an art deco couch for my new studio that I don't have yet. OK maybe I have completely lost it. Actually the sale was at a friends sister in-law's house and I didn't want the matching couch and chair (oops yes it is a chair and couch, cough cough) until someone looking at the house that was for sale too sat in my chair. And my hackles went up. "Ummmm it's sold" I told the lady when she asked how much. And it was and I am. It is the cutest little set and when I get my studio it will be fabulous in it. And of course now that I have waxed poetic about it I don't have pictures because my truck was full from me thrifting earlier in the day (cough cough again)

But I do have this:

Yes indeed I have found the ugliest Kewpie Doll ever made.

Oh and I found these owls.

Owl #1 is marked Pride Creations 1973 and he is a bank- I love his colors!

Owl #2 is marked Mann 1976 Japan

I originally thought I would sell the owls but have fallen in love. They may make it on to Etsy yet but for now they are chilling on my desk in the living room.

Is the summer getting to you? Or are you in control?

Peace and Love--