Heart On My Sleeve

Sneakin' In More Green!

2012-02-09T17:07:00.001-09:00

Dearest Child of Mine, Why must you fuss, and fight, contorting your precious features into grimaces that would frighten the most hardened horror film fan when I try to feed you healthy food? Don't you understand that I love you and the food I work hard to prepare is not just tasty, but will help you grow up healthy and strong? Sincerely, Your Tired Mother So, I know I am not the only one who

Healthy In Disguise

2012-02-04T18:49:00.001-09:00

Can I just give a shout out to all the mommas who struggle, like me, to get her kids to eat veggies at meal time? Do you stress like I do, that they aren't getting the necessary nutrients in a natural form, to make a difference? Me too. Well, I love, LOVE when I find a recipe that is healthy, but no one raises a fuss at the dinner table. I love many of Rachael Ray's recipes. She's cutesy in kind

Losing Sleep....

2012-01-20T10:58:00.000-09:00

There are so many reasons why a person can have difficulty getting the sleep that every body needs in order to continue functioning at optimum levels. Moms adapt to less sleep out of survival of her young as well as herself. Yet, the one that is getting me now, is absolutely crushing me. Stress. The dark unknown of things I have no control over. I toss and turn, evaluating how I went about a

Life Is Too Precious

2012-01-11T16:54:00.003-09:00

One topic I feel very passionate about, is abortion. It is a terrible thing in my eyes, for any woman to so disrespect her body's amazing ability to create life, to have so little compassion for another life, the concept is foreign to me. So many have been deceived into believing it is just about their body, and therefore their right to do with it as they please. Yet, on the flip of a coin, you

Wonderful Things To Nosh On

2012-01-04T16:09:00.002-09:00

Of course, being pregnant, food is a very important thing. Not just that it is good for me, but that it tastes divine and satiates my cravings. Lately, avocados, artichoke and beets have been heavily represented (low in beta carotene?). So, my search for the perfect dishes featuring these things has been on going. I found, an amazing little cafe, that could be easily (and tragically)

The Potential of 2012

2012-01-03T22:07:00.000-09:00

Happy New Year!So much happened to my family this last year, that I can't even imagine what 2012 will have in store. Of course, there were bumps in the road and some of the valleys seemed so deep, and that we would never get back on the mountain top. Yet here we are. Still together and still smiling. We welcomed another member of our family, a 3rd boy, into our world in March of 2010 and we

The Season Is Upon Us! (Gird your loins!)

2011-12-14T02:12:00.001-09:00

I am off and on going through spasms of the nesting phase. As in tearing the entire classroom apart and being up until 4am putting it back together. I've rearrange/reorganized and luckily got my kids to assist in getting both their rooms in order. Their bathroom is less... boy (read: sticky, dirty, and unhygienic). The floors have been swept and mopped after patiently waiting for the chaos of

Arguing with Insulting Squirrels

2011-10-30T19:22:00.002-08:00

I admit it. Sometimes, I latch onto a topic and it can really consume my thoughts. I research it and try to fully understand it and then... I get into arguments. I don't mean to start out arguing with people, but I'm sure you've been in the same situation. You know something to be true, and then some wisenheimer comes up and challenges you with a circular argument. You add new information

Bacon

2011-10-17T23:55:00.003-08:00

Bacon stands alone as one of the top great inventions in food. It can stand alone or be added into almost any food and that dish will be better for it. From the simple perfection of a BLT.... a moment to adore the lovely BLT... ... to the surprisingly wonderful Bacon Chocolate Bar, bacon DOES make everything better! The wonderful guys at J&D's have made it their life's work to infuse our lives

Crusty Genious

2011-10-17T22:52:00.004-08:00

How many times have you, my fellow bakers, been disappointed by soggy crust? You bake a lovely pie, and by virtue of the fact that it has fruit or pudding, and those are wet ingredients, the bottom of your pie is soggy. Of course, it doesn't affect the flavor, but still, you were striving for flaky and crispy throughout the crust. Well, I think I have a solution! My searches on how to combat

When the Going Gets Tough....

2011-10-14T01:11:00.001-08:00

You know how bad things seem to happen in clusters? You can't just stub your toe. You have to then, in the process of hopping about in pain, step on an errant lego piece with your unhurt foot, which effectively takes you down where you bruise your knee. It never fails. Me, I grit my teeth, and huff and puff and usually try to blow it off. I'll hobble back to bed, and maybe sigh at how clumsy I am

Baby Bell #4

2011-09-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, you read that title correctly. We are now expecting another baby in May 2012. Surprised? We were a little, but not really. We have been using Natural Family Planning since having Lachlan and the month we conceived, my husband and I had sort of playing this "should we or shouldn't we" game. My cycle had been a little wonky end of July and into August, so I think it was a combination of

Homeschooling In Full Swing!

2011-09-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have thrown myself into homeschooling and am up to my eyeballs in worksheets, coloring page printouts and scheduling. On top of that, I am trying (not really succeeding either) to stay on top of housework. Good gravy! Sometimes I think, "What on earth have I gotten myself into!"However, I am convinced that this is better. They are learning about things that have been forgotten in public school

Watching Them Grow

2011-08-17T11:55:00.004-08:00

They are growing too fast! I can't keep up! No, not the weeds in my garden, my boys. If I could go back and soak up a little more time with those chubby faces, I would. Now, I am watching my baby turn into a toddler. He is just so adorable! Seems only yesterday, he was a big roundness in my belly, then a squirming babe in my arms. Now, he is taking off, squealing at the cat and telling daddy (in

White Bean w/Roasted Garlic Dip

2011-08-01T20:06:00.001-08:00

So, with the temperatures soaring and needing to round out a meal without adding any cooking time to an already hot house, I set out in search of filling sides that didn't require cooking, and consisted of stuff I already had in the pantry, so I wouldn't have to cool off the sweltering car and run to the store. Here is a dip that I was amazed to find so flavorful and easy I had to restrain myself

Count Your Blessings!

2011-08-01T17:05:00.003-08:00

From time to time, when I was growing up, my mom would sing this simple song and I could hear the joy in her voice, grow. I was thinking about this song today, watching my soon to be 18mos old sleep in my arms. He's been a complete turkey for the past week or so and I realized more teeth were coming in a couple days ago. While that explains it, it doesn't make him any easier to deal with. He gets

What A New Pair Of Boots Can Do...

2011-07-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

I am kind of in between the rough and tumble, and a bit of a priss. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, and working up a sweat doing honest work, while being truly grateful for indoor plumbing and the occasional latte. I've worked in a seafood processor (Icicle Seafoods, Inc.) during tanner crab season (3rd from the right, 3rd again,), and that specific job gave me a real appreciation for hard

How Do You Know Your Farmer Loves You?

2011-07-01T11:29:00.001-08:00

Montana American Gothic I went out to water the garden yesterday, while my husband and two of my boys were gone working at one of the grandmother's. Earlier, my husband had asked me not to forget to water it around 3pm. I put Lachlan in his pack, and went outside. It was pretty hot and humid, but luckily there was a good breeze going. As I went down the rows, carefully watching the hose so it

Farm Life

2011-06-30T12:24:00.001-08:00

Old buckboard wagon wheel found in the old barn, now sitting in front of the new homestead. Much has happened in such a short time! We took the opportunity of a lifetime, to move to Montana and revive the family farm. With the opportunity, came obligations and responsibilities that we are working hard to fulfill. Two new four legged creatures joined our household family, as well as a brood of

Things We'll Miss

2011-05-21T13:39:00.004-08:00

If you missed any part of this ongoing story, go back to "Another Door Opens" to start from the beginning. So, we are just a short four days from our move to Montana. The computer will get packed up this evening or early tomorrow. So, I might not be able to post any updates until our household arrives in our new place. We are getting a Uhaul and then putting it on the barge to Seattle. It takes

Biological Warfare: Alaskan Style

2011-04-29T22:23:00.002-08:00

Ah... navigating the treacherous journey of being a mother to boys. We live in a really great neighborhood, at the end of a culdesac. There is only one other little boy, but he is younger than mine and has an early curfew. So when my boys go out to play, they play with a great group of rough and tumble girls. Three total. I was tidying up and playing with my baby, when I hear a knock on the

Another Door Opens (continued)

2011-04-26T19:03:00.004-08:00

If you haven't read the first part of this, read "Another Door Opens" dated 04/23/11 to understand what is going on. So, in order to make our decision, we made a list of pros and cons and also asked a few people what they thought. Most of the people we talked to, said that while leaving Alaska is very hard, Montana is so similar in it's way of life, and people, it would be "trading beauty for

Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2011-04-23T21:00:00.003-08:00

Pineapple were on sale at the local grocery store and the smell was taunting me from the register, so I had to get one. For dinner, my hubby was making bbq ribs and decided to grill some pineapple to go alongside. That left me with half of a pineapple to make a wonderfully sinful cake! Pineapple Upside-Down CakeTopping: 1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored 1/2 stick

Another Door Opens

2011-04-23T14:14:00.002-08:00

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell I am an Alaskan girl. Always will be. I was born in Anchorage and moved all over the state because my dad was a State Trooper. I must have been blessed with kamikaze angels as a young child. I wanted to go pet

Sumptuous Peanut Chicken & Teriyaki Noodlin's

2011-04-21T19:13:00.002-08:00

Oh my gosh! What can be better, than a dinner that is amazing immediately served, all steaming and calling to you? Well, that same dinner, leftover cold the next day. I found a fantastic recipe for a peanut chicken and just threw together a delicious teriyaki noodle that is delicious cold, even better served on top of a simple Caesar salad! I have to credit the April/May 2011 issue of Garden&Gun