Warrrmmm!

Well the snow lasted all of a day, totaling about an inch. Yeah!! Now maybe it’ll warm up and I can plant the rest of the gardens! Unfortunately the cold and the potato shoots didn’t mesh well, but I’m hoping those taters ‘ll sprout new buds.

Sunday’s menu:

strawberry flax xrs

pear apple banana parsley smoothie

banana almond milk

romaine and celery ‘crackers’ with sun-pumpkin-almond-lemon-sesame-garlic-pepper-broccoli spread

apples w/ cashew butter and blueberries

veggie salad-broccoli, cuke, celery, romaine, onion, garlic, carrot

bananas

mulberry lemonade

~Sharilyn

Coooold!

Snow flies again in northern Illinois. Yesterday Tristen went to his school’s spring carnival. Today I remulched the newly planted potatoes and some of the plants that I had uncovered on Thursday because we’re supposed to get 3-6” of snow by Sunday. Hopefully this will be the last snow of the year.

Dorothy Domestic strikes again—or perhaps it’s just spring cleaning fever. I’ve been a crazy cleaning woman lately. Maybe it’s the fasting, I don’t know, but I just need to deep clean everything and can’t seem to stop. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you.

Rowan’s been seriously cranky today—another tooth perhaps? Or maybe just an off day. Tris worked on his state project. Each student has a state to report about and he chose Michigan, so he’s been on the computer encyclopedia, jotting down info, and talking to grandma who lives in Michigan.

Here’s the kids’ menu for the day:

strawberry flax xrs with cashew butter

brazil nut milk

banana-apple-parsley smoothies

strawberry shortcake-strawberries, dates, brazil nuts, vanilla, agave

cherry tomatoes w/ chia seeds

potatoes

celery with cashew butter

~Sharilyn

Raw Creations Now Available

Finally!!! I've opened accounts, formated, linked, figured out configurations, etc. to make Tristen's book Raw Creations From a Seven-year-old available to anyone interested. Yeah to me!! I didn't think there would be that much new stuff involved. I'm still not sure if I'll be notified of purchases or not, so be sure to shoot us an e-mail that you've bought it to rawbabyrowan@yahoo.com and we'll make sure to send it to you ASAP. Just click on the Buy Now button under the book pic over on the right. And please allow up to two weeks for delivery. Yeah again!!!

On the home front: I'm actually about to research some garden info, run to the garden center for supplies, and get to digging some spots for all the berry bushes. It's been drizzly the last couple days but hopefully the weather will cooperate today and tomorrow. (I heard on the radio that it might hit 20* again. Eek.)

No major food creations as of late. The kids and I have been chowing on lots of strawberries and grapes as they were ON SALE. I attempted to do a liver-gale bladder cleanse and follow with a fast, but unfortunately the cleanse produced some severe detoxing--major migrain, so I continued eating to slow the toxins. (It helped a lot.) Got a ton of gall stones out though. Yeah! Some were almost black--yuck--which means that they've been in there quite a while. Glad they're gone. Won't miss 'em either. So, I'm giving my bod time to detox a bit more, then off to fast again--without the liver cleanse this time. Yes, spring is here.

~Sharilyn

A Loong Week

Sorry I haven’t blogged lately, but it’s been busy around here! I’ll make up for it with pictures!!

O.K. Sap: Well we were able to collect about 2 gallons total, which I boiled down to about a cup.


Here’s the sap partway boiled.


Here’s the finished syrup. I must say that it doesn’t taste like maple at all—more like a caramel with just a hint of maple. It is soooooo good. It took . . . I’m guessing about 5-6 hours to boil down. I didn’t really keep track. I just boiled the first gallon down, then stored it in the fridge and added the second gallon the next day and boiled that down to what you see in the pic. Fun! Though if there had been much more, we definitely would have had to boil it outside.

So, the syrup turned out, and there hasn’t been any more sap as the weather has gotten warm here—it hit 72* when I checked on the 16th. Now, while I was boiling the sap down to the syrupy finish (which has to be watched closely, especially with so little), I was also making two loaves of bread for Rich. Well, something was smoking on the bottom in the oven as it was preheating, so I shut it off as it’s a gas oven, stuck my hand in a mitt, grabbed a butter knife, and proceeded to scrape out the offending substance. I then popped the ready to be baked bread in the oven, shut the door, and went back to watching my syrup. Did I mention that I was also making almond milk, flax crackers, and smoothies for the early morning? I also called my mom and we chatted a bit. About an hour later the syrup was done, and I remembered about the bread—oops—and rushed to remove what I thought would be very, verrrry, well done bread. It wasn’t. It hadn’t baked. Well not much anyway. (I cut the one on the left open to see what was going on inside. It was gooey.)


So I popped them back in the oven, turning the oven ON this time, and crossed my fingers. I was laughing my ass off at this point. The bread made it to edible, but didn’t rise up at all beyond the where it was at. Here’s a pic. Rich came home with a loaf of bread from the store the next day. ~giggle~


Rowan has been helping me with all the babies—they’re really coming along, faster than I would have thought. She’s also fascinated with the overabundance of boxelder bugs that arrived just in time for the warm weather. Go figure. Anyhoo, this is her bug friend and she (bug’s on her elbow). Things are gearing up, moving towards full swing for spring plantings, getting gardens ready. No more lazy days on the couch with a blanket and a movie or book.

Yesterday was chillier, about 42*, and Rich had the day off, as did Tristen, so we all ventured out to the store—strawberries, bananas, blueberries, watermelon, romaine, oranges, apples, cukes, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and more. Nuts. Big trip, lots on sale. Then off to the big playground and skate park.


The kids have had a plethora of vittles this week: Banana-avocado pie w/ butternut-date crust, lots of different salads, cucumber, radish, mixed veggies, parfaits with carob-avocado pudding and fruit and buckwheat, garlic-almond and banana-carob flax crackers, and lots more.

Today their menu includes:
green smoothies w/ cuke, romaine, carrot, celery, apple, banana, mulberries
strawberry shortcake, raw of course
strawberry-banana almond milk
cuke and carrot slices
chocolate parfaits with blueberries, strawberries, and bananas, and buckwheat groats
watermelon chunks
carob-banana flax crackers
anything else they feel like munching on

Have a great day!
Sharilyn, Tristen, and Rowan



P.S. I guess I was wrong--sap is flowing again!

The Future of Food

I had to add this video link. I saw it at Bueller's Kitchen and thought it would hopefully open some eyes. It's called The Future of Food and is from an upcoming film by Michael Crichton. Search YouTube for more parts to this . . .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNezTsrCY0Q


~~~Sharilyn

Goin' With the Flow

Well, the sap has started . . . on only one of the two trees!!???? And not just a little--I got over a gallon yesterday, and today at 1pm I collected another 1/2-3/4 of a gallon. Tree number 2--Nada. Go figure. Last week we were able to get all of two cups, which I boiled down to about a tablespoon of syrup. We just did it on the stove as there really wasn't much, just to see!

I think we'll have to give the trees names, maybe after seeing what else they do. Any suggestions? I love both of them--I even thanked the 1st for the sap and gave words of encouragement to the other. Neither are budding yet, but I expect it won't be long as today is in the 60's and climbing. (Yeah!) I've been aching to start another fast, but haven't wanted to during the freezing temps. (If you aren't familiar with fasting, you become much colder during a fast.) My body's been screaming to clean house so I can't wait.

Rowan's up to her terrible two behavior again--I think she'll probably mellow out now that spring has arrived and we'll be outside quite a bit more. We gotst babies to plant!! Lots-o-babies!! More to be planted and beds to prepare for peas and beans and cool weather veggies.

Tris was excited to see the first two cups of sap boiled down. We all stuck our fingers in for a taste, then Tris dipped strawberries in the remaining. Happy as a lark!

I'll be taking some pics soon, and will post 'em too.

So far today (1pm) Rowan's eaten:
Cashew milk
bananas--3 of them at once!
strawberry shortcake
salad from mama's bowl--celery, cuke, tommy, romaine, carrots, sunny seeds, fresh herbs
strawberry-lemonade
down for a nap!

Hugs!
~Sharilyn, Tris, and Ro-Ro

Happy Birthday Mommy!!

Today is my Mommy's Birthday!! She is 29 yet again. (It's what, the 33rd time or something?? I still can't remember or do the math!! LOL.) Here's some wonderful things about the woman who gave birth to me:

She's the kindest person I know.
She taught me all the best qualities, like honesty and loyalty, by exemplifying them.
She has an amazing daughter!
She always has a listening ear, regardless of the hour.
She's beautiful, though she doesn't think so. I do.
She is so giving of herself, through several avenues, like her personalized books that she spends HOURS and HOURS on.
She'll drop everything and drive 24 hours nonstop across the country to get you if you say, "I need you."
Her heart is so big, I'm suprised her chest can contain it.
She loves doing crosswords--but only from the newspaper, not from a book (except maybe the varity puzzles).
She has the logical mind to not only comprehend, but to also complete the multi-leveled Sudoku (cross-sums?)
She's raised two upstanding kids, on her own for many of those 20+ years.
She's not spiteful, vindictive, or mean in any way.
She's problaby the most creative person I know, from cross-stitch to noodle ornements to papercrafts to crocheting plastic bags.

I love you mom. Happy Birthday from all of us.
~Sharilyn, Rich, Rowan, Tristen

Rainy Daze

It rained all day today. Bummer. The last two days of sunshine and warmth followed by a lack thereof makes my body scream for more. We (especially Rowan and I) haven’t exactly been outside people these last few months. I’m sure we’re both lacking in vitamin D—which is what the sunshine allows your body to make. No, you don’t need to drink that vitamin fortified milk in order to get your calcium and Vit D. Just eat your greens every day and get at least 15 minutes of pure sunshine—without any sunblock. (After your 15, lube up if you must. We prefer to work up to longer periods of sun exposure and eat tomatoes, a more natural sunblock from the inside out, rather than slather our bodies with chemicals.) Great news is, your body stores up Vit D, so stock up in the spring, summer, and fall!! Get you sunshine!!

Anyhoo, instead of playing outside all day like I would have liked, we cuddled under blankets on the couch for a while, reading and watching a movie, then taking turns playing a playstation game together. Hopefully the sun returns tomorrow, but I did enjoy spending time cuddling with my babes.

Menu today:
Bananas!!!
oatmeal w/ honey and cinnamon
almond milk
peas and corn
red grapes
kiwi
strawberries
lemonade
celery chips

In a lazy daze,
~Sharilyn~ n ~Ro-Ro~ n ~Do-Do

Thawing Out

It’s finally warmed up enough to thaw all the snow. Today I think it actually hit over 70*!! I was busy with making my shelf for the seedlings . . . the one that got put off. But the babies need to get started if we want the warmer weather fruits and veggies like peppers and melons.

The gardens got their mulch pulled off so they can start to dry out a bit. Rowan and I took a walk to the top of the hill that overlooks our house. The pic is from last summer from up there—it’s quite a climb. Later I got 4 flats worth of seeds planted, then did a little poi dancing. I’m a bit rusty after the long winter and knocked my glasses off my face! (I use tennis balls on the end of ropes. Ouch!) Rowan had fun talking to the cows and chickens and kitties. We found some bugs to play with too. Ah, the joys of warmer weather.

I was perusing through one of my seed catalogues and found Luffa! Yes, you can grow a Luffa, and you can eat it too!! How groovy!! I never knew. Or of course you can dry it out and use as a scrubby sponge. I also found my all time fave flower: Passiflora, or Passion Flower. And guess what—you can eat parts of that too. Other edible flowers include: bachelor buttons, calendula (marigolds), nastersium (leaves and buds and seeds, too), Salvia viridis, Hollyhock, sunflowers—seeds and petals, monarda (Bee balm), and Violas.

My Disclaimer Note: Always make sure you know your plant before you eat it!! Wouldn’t want anyone to get sick from eating the wrong plant!!

Today the kids chowed on:
bananas
grapes
figs
raisins
goji berries
honeydew
cantelope
watermelon
strawberries
kiwis
plums
spinach
carrot shreds
celery chips
cukes
tommies
pumpkin seeds
sunny seeds
walnuts
almond milk w/ flax oil and honey (w/ carob for Tris)
buckwheat groats

Hope you have a fruity day!! We sure did!!

Luminosness,
Sharilyn, Tris, and Ro-Ro

Sap???

Well it’s finally started to warm up . . . so where’s the sap?? Supposedly, sap starts to really flow when days are above freezing and nights are below. It’s been 40* or so during the day, but only one tree is giving any sap—and verrry little at that. Maybe there’ll be enough by the end of the week to actually boil, but I’m not going to waste my time with only a cup of sap. Did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to equal 1 gallon of syrup? I’ve probally mentioned it B4. That’s if you tap a sugar or black maple. It takes about 100 gallons of hickory or walnut sap to get 1 gallon of syrup. That’s what I’d call a labor of love. Still, I wonder what walnut sap would taste like . . ??

Happy birthday to my sweetie, my love, my partner in life and crime. Rich has made it around the sun 36 times this lifetime. No thrills this year, he didn't want any. But Happy Birthday just the same baby.

Today the kids ate:
cereal (pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts, sunny seeds) with strawberries, stevia, and banana-almond milk
fruit medley: strawberries, apples, bananas, grapes
celery chips
salad: leaf lettuce with carrots, cukes, corn, sunny seeds, figs, w/ ACV dressing
grapes
carob almond milk

~Sharilyn