Today I was able to make my first meal using many ingredients from the garden. I know it is pretty late in the season, but my garden is not near what I hoped it to be. We were way too ambitious this year. I think our ambition however is quite understandable given the small plot-o-land we have had to work with in previous years. So small... When our eyes gazed upon the acre after acre of green goodness that we now call our yard, we were instantly hit with grandiose ideas of living off our land. Sense never hit us as we loaded a couple hundred dollars worth of plants and seeds into our car. Neither did it hit us as we planted said seeds into the massive rectangle of earth that we had taken us weeks to dig up. It finally occurred to us that possibly we may have taken on too much when the seedlings began to grow... and so did the weeds. I am a strong believer of growing organically. Unfortunately for me and my beliefs, I have no real knowledge of botany. I cannot tell what is an eggplant seedling and what is a pesky weed. Not wanting to pull up my precious plants, we let them all grow. My garden looks like crap frankly. I have tried to pull up weeds since, but they have taken over. I give up this year. Next year I will try again, but my mantra will be mulch, mulch, mulch.
Anyhoo, I finally was able to find a few veggies that have grown in my little weed jungle and made a very nice and very gluten free dinner. I am now waiting for Troy to come home and be impressed. We are having:
- Glumpkies rolled in purple cabbage (old family recipe and oh so delicious)
- Creamy garlic cauliflower mash
- Chunky coleslaw
- Sweet vinegar cucumbers
- New potato, green beans, and caper salad
It always tastes so much better when the goods come from your own backyard.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
life.
Time slips by lately. Scarily. One minute I am working diligently on preparation for a children's birthday party and the next two months has passed and I have yet to leave a post on all that has happened.
These few weeks will be the last I will have with both of my babies at home with me every moment of every day. I have put this thought at bay for the past year, not wanting to think about it too much due to it's soul crushing effects. Marnie will only be entering school for two days a week and only half days at that. I know that does not seem like such a big deal, but I have become so accustomed to being with her constantly and I cannot wrap my head around it being otherwise. I am sure the bigger issue here is of course her gradual move towards independence and the eventual demise of her now all encompassing need for me... but I am not ready to take that on. I prefer to take a baby step and focus now on how much I am going to miss her. I am going to miss her seven hours a week. Pathetic? Probably, but I don't care.
I am excited about the opportunity to spend more one on one time with Ethan. Ethan, although much more challenging on the health front, is extremely laid back and not nearly as demanding on my attention. While this can be a Godsend, it often means that he takes back-seat to his big sister. Marnie is big personality and Ethan chooses not to compete yet. Luckily however, Marnie also adores Ethan and gives him more attention than he could ever need and probably doesn't even desire. I am really looking forward to working on developing the relationship with Ethan that came so easy with Marnie and I when it was just the two of us. Ethan and I have never been just the two of us, so this situation I am sure will be positive for him and I.
On a completely dissimilar topic, I have been taken over by thoughts of Halloween lately. Odd. Last year, I had the desire to sew costumes for the kids, but I think perhaps I became lazy. I actually cannot recall what happened and why I didn't make them. All I know is that Ethan, being only 4 months old, did not have a costume at all and Marnie ended up with the only costume left in shop a week prior to the big night - a bumble bee. She was a cute bumble bee though. This year though, I am determined to produce amazing costumes on my own for both kids. I am no seamstress mind you, so I am going to start now. I have the feeling that this project might be a bit too much for my limited skills. We shall see. I ordered the patterns this morning and hopefully they will be here by next week. I have chosen to take on patterns by Tom Arma. For those who aren't familiar, Tom Arma designs the most amazing costumes for children. To buy one retail, you can expect to spend upwards of $80, which is ridiculous. Luckily for me and many others who could not possibly justify spending that crazy amount of cash on a costume that is only going to become ruined by pixie sticks, he also has designed a few select patterns for McCall's. So, there you go... I'll be updating I am sure.
These few weeks will be the last I will have with both of my babies at home with me every moment of every day. I have put this thought at bay for the past year, not wanting to think about it too much due to it's soul crushing effects. Marnie will only be entering school for two days a week and only half days at that. I know that does not seem like such a big deal, but I have become so accustomed to being with her constantly and I cannot wrap my head around it being otherwise. I am sure the bigger issue here is of course her gradual move towards independence and the eventual demise of her now all encompassing need for me... but I am not ready to take that on. I prefer to take a baby step and focus now on how much I am going to miss her. I am going to miss her seven hours a week. Pathetic? Probably, but I don't care.
I am excited about the opportunity to spend more one on one time with Ethan. Ethan, although much more challenging on the health front, is extremely laid back and not nearly as demanding on my attention. While this can be a Godsend, it often means that he takes back-seat to his big sister. Marnie is big personality and Ethan chooses not to compete yet. Luckily however, Marnie also adores Ethan and gives him more attention than he could ever need and probably doesn't even desire. I am really looking forward to working on developing the relationship with Ethan that came so easy with Marnie and I when it was just the two of us. Ethan and I have never been just the two of us, so this situation I am sure will be positive for him and I.
On a completely dissimilar topic, I have been taken over by thoughts of Halloween lately. Odd. Last year, I had the desire to sew costumes for the kids, but I think perhaps I became lazy. I actually cannot recall what happened and why I didn't make them. All I know is that Ethan, being only 4 months old, did not have a costume at all and Marnie ended up with the only costume left in shop a week prior to the big night - a bumble bee. She was a cute bumble bee though. This year though, I am determined to produce amazing costumes on my own for both kids. I am no seamstress mind you, so I am going to start now. I have the feeling that this project might be a bit too much for my limited skills. We shall see. I ordered the patterns this morning and hopefully they will be here by next week. I have chosen to take on patterns by Tom Arma. For those who aren't familiar, Tom Arma designs the most amazing costumes for children. To buy one retail, you can expect to spend upwards of $80, which is ridiculous. Luckily for me and many others who could not possibly justify spending that crazy amount of cash on a costume that is only going to become ruined by pixie sticks, he also has designed a few select patterns for McCall's. So, there you go... I'll be updating I am sure.
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