Snippets

Our school year begins Monday and I am still doing last minute preparations so this blog post is just little snippets of our lives the past couple of weeks. I have to thrown in here just how excited I am for this school year. I have been a rather reluctant homeschooler up til now (I am not saying I am head over heels still, but I am getting there). There is something about this year that has me so enthusiastic about schooling. Maybe because it is Little L's first real year, or how much I planned out, or maybe even the crazy strict homeschooling laws here that will keep me in line (somewhat joking there). I don't know, but I am going to embrace it! We'll start our day off with a special back to school surprise breakfast treat - waffles with whipped cream. 😋



Little L has been having fun digging for treasures on the banks of our creek. There is one special place her calls his mine where most of the treasures are found, especially after the flooding. He has quite a stash of old glass bottles from that mine but the ones you see above I just can not get clean. The top photo shows how they were when he dug them up and the bottom one is after I scrubbed them with baking soda, vinegar and thieves soap. I got them mostly clean but as you can see in the one bottle there is something stuck inside. Kevin thinks it might be old hardened stove polish (that is what the bottle once held). Any thoughts on how to get it out?



Made my first ever sauerkraut thanks to a great group of ladies I joined at our local library. It was very Home Fires-esque. I look forward to the next meeting. I was the youngest one there which was a bit funny but eh, that's okay. This is from the group's flyer:  "FULL CIRCLE FUTURE HARVEST is a group of like minded people that meet throughout the year to discuss what WE CAN DO to improve our lives as well as those around us. The programs are presented by the group and community members, including Master Gardeners and healthcare professionals. The group promotes the importance of having healthy soil and growing non-genetically modified seeds to produce nutritious fruits and vegetables, as well as explores the use of functional medicine. Applying these practices to our lives help us attain and maintain a higher quality of life."



Little L's latest creation out of Kevin's old construx - a helicopter. It has already been taken apart and made into a corn combine. He is obsessed with those right now. In September he gets to go visits one of Purple Grandma's friends and ride in one as he harvest the corn. That will be quite the big day for him.



There is a big possibility one of our chickens might be a rooster. This is Egger, one of Little L's chickens. We are a bit nervous about the outcome of this if Egger really is a rooster. Thankfully we live out in the country where we are zoned for roosters so either way we won't have to find him a new home. Phew!!

Snippets

Real Food on a Budget

Most of you already know of my love for real, organic food. I have been carrying on and on about it in this space for years now. I am also pretty sure you know of the importance of budgeting in my family - more people means more love but also more money spent on food. Let's face it - eating healthy, real food and saving money don't exactly go together, unless you think about the money you'll save in the future on doctor's bills. However I am talking about the present. The time when we only have X amount of money to spend on groceries that need to last us Y amount of days.

I confess as hard as I try to budget (and believe me I put a lot into it - hours each week), there are weeks where we'll eat like kings for a few days only to find out we are short on money towards the end of the week and end up having to eat ramen noodles to get by. We are essentially undoing all the good of the real food we previously ate with the processed junk. Ridiculous, right?! I just find myself confused and thinking something's gotta give.

With that in mind, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that one of my favorite authors is coming out with a book all about eating real food on a budget. 😍 Lisa Leake's new book 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget is available for pre-order now and will be released on Tuesday August 14th. I had the pleasure of getting an advance copy in the mail just the other day (I may or may not have jumped up and down and squealed like a schoolgirl when it arrived). I have been reading through it every chance I get. The recipes all look incredibly scrumptious and I look forward to trying them as soon as possible - the Southwest Salad is calling my name. For my fellow vegan and vegetarian friends this cookbook has quite a few recipes to meet our needs and most can easily be adapted (ie. use homemade sprouted almond milk in place of the cow's milk). It contains recipes for other dietary restrictions as well. Equally exciting though is the entire first chapter. Lisa shares her budgeting tricks, ways to lower your grocery bill, and meal plans that even include average costs as well as a meal plan template. She also has a supermarket coast comparison chart that really opened my eyes. Granted prices vary depending on where you are living but it still gives you a good idea of where to shop for particular items. Every family that wants to eat healthy but feels like they never could due to expense needs a copy of this book. It really can be done!

Here is a sample recipe from 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget. Click on it to see a bigger version.




For once I look forward to sitting down and planning our meal plan and budget for the upcoming week. I feel like perhaps now I can finally conquer the beast that is eating healthy while staying within our means.

I am giving away a copy of Lisa Leake's first book (a big game changer and personal favorite of my family) 100 Days of Real Food on my Instagram account. Be sure to check it out!

Real Food on a Budget

Our Wild Garden of Eatin'

Blurry but such a sweet moment Blackberry leaves Blackberries Blackberry flower Salmonberry Thimbleberries hiding in the rhododendron Thimbleberries Chickweed

It is funny how sometimes the things that you are wanting are literally right under your nose, but you don't even notice they are there. The children and I were lamenting over the loss of our little Idaho garden. Sure, we grew a tomato plant in a pot here so we would have something but that doesn't quite fit the bill now does it? We knew there would be at least one summer without a garden as we found our home so we were prepared for it, but that still doesn't take the desire away. We all missed our garden snacking and getting our hands in the earth. Then one by one we all started to see our backyard here in new light. It seemed as if each day a new edible plant appeared. First it was the salmonberries and plantain then thimbleberries started to appear and now blackberries are taking over a small corner. We harvested some chickweed from the forest and starting growing it in a pot, too. Well, what do you know? We have our own little wild garden of eatin'. Can't wait for blackberry season. Bring on the jam, cobblers and pie! Any other blackberry ideas?

p.s. - That was C's first time wearing her baby brother in the Tula. As you can see they both loved it. Also, you may have seen on IG that Baby F is now refusing naps. However he does enjoy tricking me by running into our bedroom, climbing into bed and tucking himself in. Then he just sits there giggling like crazy. Silly boy!

Our Wild Garden of Eatin'

In the Grand Scheme of Things

Kevin, the girls and Nara went on a four day camping trip with AHG last week leaving me with the boys and our flock of animals. I had exciting plans to get some much needed deep cleaning and organizing done in the house. Actually, I would have been happy just playing catch-up with my housework - my bathtubs haven't been scrubbed in a couple of months now *gulp* did I just admit to that over the internet?! But none of that happened. Baby F got another tooth (one of his top ones) and has another ready to come through at any moment, making him very uncomfortable and unable to sleep. He woke up at two o'clock in the morning each day and wouldn't nap the rest of the day. Needless to say, I gave up on my plans halfway through day two. We did get some light homestead work done like digging up and roasting our dandelion roots, harvesting lemon balm for ourselves and our neighbors and canning some squash and pears for Baby F so I felt a little accomplished. But do you know what did happen? Lots of brother bounding, laughing, reading, playing, snuggling and memories that will, at the very least, stay with Little L and I for some time to come. And at the end of our time together when Kevin and the girls arrived home, everyone was genuinely happy to see one another (there was a lot of bickering going on in our home for some time before the trip). That time apart was the balm their hearts needed. I am so grateful for it.

My priorities were set straight and I was reminded of what matters most (although a clean house would have been nice!). I may not have accomplished what I had planned but I think we accomplished so much more in the grand scheme of things. Because what really matters most is not a clean house or perfect garden but the time spent with the ones you love most.

p.s. - Kevin told me all about Nara being an incredible guard dog for all the AHG girls at camp. I can tell she must have been working hard because as soon as they came home she was passed out on top of all the camping gear. Sweet girl!

In the Grand Scheme of Things

Welcoming Autumn

 I had the greatest of intentions to type up a post about our not too distant future tonight but oh that sweet little baby of mine was just so warm and cuddly that I fell asleep along side him as I nursed him down. I always feel so discombobulated the rest of the evening when that happens so I best not try to write too much. We'll just stick to simplicity tonight instead.

Autumn is officially here! Time to break out the woolies!! Also time to fight colds. Baby F has one that just doesn't want to go away. We had a beautiful rainy day that just begged all of us to go outside and play. The Mountain Home autumn winds have come, too, so I am rescuing anything delicate left in my garden like our Chinese lanterns that we grew for our Martinmas nature table.

Our local youth center kicked off autumn with an apple camp for the younger children. I took the boys there and Little L had a good time. I think he was just happy to be out with me alone (well, for the most part - Baby F slept through it). I am trying harder to spend more one-on-one time with each of my children. They need it, and so do I . That really is the best form of discipline in our family ("discipline" which comes from the Latin word "discipuli" meaning student. Not to be confused with "punishment" which comes from "punier" meaning "to inflict pain". This words are not synonyms, although they are often used that way, especially by those who think some don't "discipline" -ahem. Sorry, this topic has been on my mind lately and has me spending a lot of time re-reading Parenting with Grace.)

Moving on...

Purple Grandma sent K a birthday box last week and in it was some organic Blue Sky Alpacas cotton yarn for me. Look at the price tag on them - what a score! I used that same yarn for Little L's baby blanket and loved it. Now to find a project for it...and Little L's baby blanket, come to think of it. It has been missing for months. Oh and speaking of generous gifts, our neighbors stopped by the other day with some spruce branches from their latest trip up in the mountains. Our home has been filled with the incredible smell of spruce ever since as I have been making tea with it.

How about you? How are you welcoming autumn?

Welcoming Autumn

Ambitious

Gluten-free vegan doughnuts - it can be done thanks to Chloe's Kitchen! Bull snake Amaranth Orb Weaver

I am trying to convince Kevin and our budget (ha!) that we need an apothecary hutch. I think the evidence of such a need is overwhelming, I mean just look at the photographs above! My herbs and supplies are taking over our kitchen. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a real wood hutch in our price range yet but hopefully if I am patient enough one will present itself. I am looking forward to finding another fixer upper/painting project!

Little L found the book Mortimer's First Garden at the library recently. It is really a sweet book and I think we might have to add it to our collection eventually. I had to laugh when I read it to him though, as the mice visiting our garden have not been as patient and kind as Mortimer. In fact, they devoured our entire patch of wheat as well as our beans. I always try to plant extra for the animals and insects but these guys were being just a bit too greedy for my taste. We put down these live catch traps and have already caught and released five mice. Our wheat may be gone but I pray we can save the rest of the garden before the season is over.

On a similar note, we have wild amaranth growing in our yard this year. It is getting quite huge and trying to take over but I am hoping we can hold out on pulling it until after it has bloomed. I really want to try dyeing wool with it. I know C would love the pretty pink it is supposed to make.*sigh* I do believe I have too many ambitious thoughts at the moment and I have yet to finish K's birthday gifts for next week. I guess I'd better hop to it!

p.s. - Thank you for all of you input on the website issues. I am hoping to look into the viewing from a phone issues over the weekend.

Ambitious