flashback grocery haul

This post was first written and posted to my original blog, Which Name?, on November 2, 2010. Even the photo is old! I am re-posting it here, because I was looking for something else on my old blog and came across this post, having forgotten that I ever wrote it. I have been enjoying following other frugal families on Instagram, seeing video reels of their grocery hauls, and budgeting, but I don't currently want to create videos for IG. My kiddos were dinky when I wrote this, so our food consumption has changed, Lala Bug's sensory differences around food and her ARFID were not so pronounced at this time, but what really stood out to me was how much explaining and justifying I felt like I had to do. I notice this happening, still (but on IG) with younger families. With age comes experience and comfort in what works differently for each of us. Progress, not perfection.

 

So with limited photo distraction, here is my text heavy October frugal foodie summary.

This month, I spent $435.51 on groceries. For where that money went and why, see below. I should note that "groceries" for me shifts and changes. For this post, I limited it to food and pet food/supplies (chickens), since they provide food. In the past, it has included health & body, cleaning supplies, and anything related to our household that I might also buy at the grocery store.

I also want to note that this was probably the worst month to choose to track in this way, as it was my first full month of going gluten free. Where I shop, what I need, and how much of each item has changed so drastically for me, that this probably isn't the best guide to us and food, although our spending did come out about the same in the end. I have learned a few lessons of what not to buy or where not to buy it this month and have been updating my price list again.

How we shop and eat and where we live affects our grocery spending:

• This is key: We live in an area of the country with a climate that sustains fresh food all year round. In fact, it is an area that grows much of the fresh food that rest of the country eats when winter sets in in colder regions. And it is all local to me. This means it is less expensive for me in general and less expensive for us to eat sustainably. (Yet, do note that I obviously still find it difficult shop 100% sustainably! We don't.)
  
• We eat primarily vegetarian. I am vegetarian (dairy and seafood eating). Mike and the kids aren't, however because I shop and am the main cook, we eat little meat. The kids don't really like it, despite it being offered occasionally. This cuts costs hugely. When I do buy chicken or beef, I try and buy good, organic portions now. That said, good seafood can be costly, despite living by the ocean. We do not live in a fishing area, so most seafood is not local.
• We eat a variety of items, but we have our staples, too. We eat a varied diet and where we live, many fresh foods are available year round. We take advantage of this, however we have our favorite recipes and seem to go in cycles of what we eat a lot of for awhile, before moving on to the next cycle. October was clearly quick bread and hummus month! (See below.)
  
• We cook a lot from scratch. I haven't even been buying the gluten free (GF) baking mix flours, I have been experimenting with scratch versions. We buy and cook dry beans. We make a lot (most) foods ourselves. This includes yogurt, hummus, breads, treats, salad dressing, popsicles, and more.
• Although I try and shop locally and in season, I admit to regular exceptions. We maintain a Costco membership for bulk goods and other services. This pays for itself through an annual dividend and while it is not an independent store (and I am not putting my money where I lie politically), I can purchase a wide range of local, organic items there. I shop at Trader Joe's. We accidentally ended up with an Amazon Prime membership and I am currently working out whether or not it is worth maintaining it as the most economical source for gluten free oats and other grains. I buy bananas. (I battle with myself on this bullet point. Living in the area we do, fresh, local food is available year round. I am aware that others who are not fortunate in this way, still manage 365 days of local and banana free eating.)
• We do grow a small garden, although this year, our chickens ate most of our summer garden.
• We use foods to their fullest. See links under the photo, below.
  

We use every last bit of most foods. The jack o' lanterns were carved on Halloween day, then dissected, baked, and the pumpkin pulp pureed and frozen for breads, soups, and pies. The seeds were toasted and are being eaten. We do this with veggies for broth, as well.

At first, I thought it might be helpful to record what we ate for the month, but several days into it, I quit, because I noticed a pattern. Here it is:

• Breakfasts are oatmeal or eggs and toast or granola. Oatmeal has often been served with protein powder, but will no longer be when this bag is gone. Partly cost, partly gluten, partly that I know longer think we need the extra protein in this form. F will be one sad boy. He likes his oatmeal with powder. Eggs, until recently, were store bought cage free organic. Now they are home raised eggs. Toast for the kids right now is either store bought whole grain bread or homemade gluten free. Granola is homemade gluten-free. We drink water with breakfast. Mike and I have coffee and tea, respectively. We have only recently begun adding more variation to breakfast. Banana bread, applesauce, cottage cheese, have all made appearances and been welcomed. Weekend breakfasts often boast waffles or pancakes.
• Snacks are veggies, fruits, hummus, almond butter, toast, rice crackers, etc.
• Kids. The kids still eat different dinners and lunches from us. Mostly due to timing and location (school or out and about on errands/activities). I always serve them vegetables, fruits, protein, and whole grain carb, but only recently have they begun to like some one-dish-all-food-group meals, like lasagna and some soups. Pizza is the one, long time exception to that. My kids, Lala especially, like and need to eat a little bit, often. So their meals are almost like snacks all day long. This is fine with me (although I dislike bedtime "I'm hungry!" cries), so I just try and keep what they are eating balanced and healthy throughout the day.
• Lunch is generally leftover dinners for both Mike me. I pack lunches for him to take to work.
• Dinners are always simple. Mike is the better cook (he is good and loves to cook), but I am the more frequent cook. Our "old stand by" meals always revolve around beans, which I cook in bulk and freeze in quarts. We cook and eat other things, too, though! I love salads. We live in a climate where we can eat them, in season, much of the year. (Don't hate me too much, please.) I love always to have a salad or raw veggies. (I don't really like cooked veggies just as a side dish. In things they are fine.) Sometimes Mike is home late and eats before he comes home or has eaten his lunch late and isn't hungry. I graze if this is the case. I might just eat veggies with hummus and a piece of toast. Or a bowl of granola and a cup of cottage cheese. If we are eating together, I try and a make a real meal.
  

Here is what we bought this month:

10/1
Bought: Feed Store $28.68: 50lb laying pellets, huge bale of wood shavings.

10/3
Bought: Trader Joe's $22.80: fresh flowers, 2 can frozen OJ concentrate, jar lemon curd, box popsicles, package of dried, salted seaweed, sourdough baguette, jar of peanut butter, box of eggs, 10 bananas. (Okay, I love how I started the month admitting that I bought popsicles (they were a treat for Lala), peanut butter (Lala rejects my homemade peanut butter, but we make our own almond and sunflower seed butters), OJ concentrate (we rarely drink juice, but I like to have it on hand. Concentrate works for this reason and makes great popsicles when I am not buying them as treats!) The baguette was another treat for my gluten eaters. You cannot beat San Francisco sourdough bread...I miss it! The lemond curd is my latest vice. And the bananas...a non-local food I won't give up.)

Made: GF waffles, GF pizza, GF granola, and GF sandwich bread

10/4
Bought: Costco $129.63: 4lb butter, large jar organic salsa, bag of organic milled flax, 3lb cottage cheese, California black olives, 2 gallon organic California milk, case non-alcoholic beer, 3lb organic, shade grown coffee imported by a local coffee company, 3lb trout, package flour tortillas, huge bag frozen organic blueberries, gluten free vanilla extract, 2 loaves multi grain bread.

Local produce market (where I can buy locally grown produce) $28.56 (used $3 coupon): carrots, 2 cucumbers, organic spinach, cantaloupe, decorative gourd, onion, raspberries, 2 organic bell peppers, organic grapes, beet, broccoli, organic celery, nori, and bulk sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, and popcorn.

Made: hummus

10/6
Made: a meal for a friend (whose daughter is in the hospital), a huge batch of hummus (which was gone by the 9th), and yummy GF peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (via Shivaya Naturals).

10/9
Made: honey oatmeal bread (gluten-free, recipe from 1000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster.)

10/11
Bought: Local bulk food store $ 51.70. Guar gum, 6 vanilla beans, elbow of ginger, package sorghum flour, bulk gelatin, potato starch, corn starch, garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds,

Made: hummus, sunflower seed butter, dal, GF granola

10/12
Bought: Costco FREE (I used our annual dividend. The total was actually ~$58.80 (plus non-food items), but I am not counting it towards my total, because I do count the annual membership towards my grocery bill when we pay it and this is one of the membership rewards. I received change.) 3lb almonds, 3lb bananas, two 3lb cottage cheeses, 2 loaves bread, goat cheese, carrots, sea salt, 2 gal organic milk.

10/14
Bought: Local produce market (everything is local) $28.75. Gluten free tamari, cantaloupe, organic spinach, basil, cilantro, organic grapes, organic strawberries, organic peppers, organic fingerling potatoes, 2 cucumbers, red beet.

Made: GF pizza (version 1)

10/16:
Made: hummus (4th time?!), brown rice flour bread (in "new" free bread machine!), GF banana bread (in "new" free bread machine!)

10/17:
Made: GF pizza (version 2 - liked better)

10/18:
Bought: Trader Joe's. $30.87: 2 bottles wine, 5lb local clementines, rice cakes, OJ concentrate (We've had illnesses this month. I don't normally buy OJ, but I do like the frozen so I can keep it on hand.), cream cheese, 4 local avocados, dozen organic eggs. (Our chickens' egg production dropped when we moved them into a fenced area. They are rebelling by not laying.)

Made: GF banana bread (in machine), yogurt

10/21:
Made: GF granola, GF quick bread (in machine)

10/22:
Bought: local bulk food store $27. Tapoioca flour, brown rice flour, sliced almonds (bad move...way too expensive!), red lentils (again...way too expensive here), unshelled peanuts, white rice flour.

10/25:
Bought: Costco $80.20: organic tomato paste, organic tomato sauce, 4 gallons organic milk, 6lb mozzarella, 4 loaves healthy bread (for kids), 3lb walnuts, package wheat flour tortillas, block of pecorino romano cheese

Made: gluten free chocolate chip cookies (dangerous, those things)

10/27:
Bought: Trader Joe's and local produce market (My friend and I share shopping duties, then swap groceries...each of us goes to one store and buys for both of us, saving time and effort.) $35.88: 1.5 cups of fresh dates, 8 organic apples, 2 cucumbers, sack of spinach, 2 lb clementine oranges, 6 bananas, 1 pot of fresh basil, 2 packages of rice cakes, 2 packages of rice pasta, 1 pack wheat pasta, 2 jars peanut butter, 2 bottles of wine.

 

living light and DIY

During this pandemic (our family is now entering week 9), it has been nearly impossible to get any alone time, but observing each of us, I am learning so much. Speaking about myself only, I have noticed that I flow in and out of a mix of emotions, even in the course of a day. We have been fortunate, so far, and I feel guilt, privilege, and gratitude all rolled into one untidy bundle. I, like many, have found this whole event to be stressful, but there are some things we are doing that keep us busy, ease some of the stress, and feel productive.

Growing an edible garden. With a small yard, we are growing in scattered little plots.

We are in a part of Northern California where our shelter-in-place orders have been extended through May 31, with uncertainty beyond that. These weeks at home have had difficult and joyful spots, growth and regression. Among the positives, however, have been the space and necessity that we lean into our more resourceful, DIY tendencies. As I said in my previous post, I am choosing light; seeing the brightness of this time and living more lightly on the planet. (It is one way I manage my anxiety.) Living lightly is something M and I have always aligned on, but I had been feeling like we had drifted in the past 5 years or so. (We spent an entire year buying nothing new when the kids were younger, but that would be so much harder now!)

 Homemade sauerkraut and homemade yogurt.

Sheltering in place has shown us a few things.

It quickly became clear to us that our tendency to be prepared was helpful. Preparation has been a tool I have used for years, initially because being prepared saves us money, more recently because it saves us time and addresses environmental risks (earthquakes and wildfires) and food allergies and sensitivities, and in shelter-in-place, it has saved us from additional worry.

As more and more people have jumped into urban homesteading, it gave me an awareness of how much our family already does ourselves, and if there is an urban homestead wagon, we were already on it.

Muffins and granola. We make granola weekly and the recipe is my gluten free version of a recipe I brought home from summer camp when I was 12.

I have enjoyed the challenge of making things work during this time when zipping out to buy and telephoning to hire haven't been options. Within the first 3 weeks of shelter-in-place, we had multiple things break. Between us, we had the skills and resources to repair or work out an alternative. This time has had me reflecting on lessons my grandparents and parents shared, and the phrase 'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.' We are not lacking for anything, but I certainly don't want anything to go to waste and I am extra eager for us to take care of what we do have. These desires are emphasized by the desire to avoid contact with others.

The reasoning is bizarre and unprecedented, but the resulting resourcefulness and simplicity are welcomed, and the decreased environmental impact is so very good.

Line dried laundry and plastic bags (washed and reused, yes). Do you see rags hanging there? We use a lot of cloth; rags, napkins, towels, feminine, and when we had babies, diapers. We have used cloth wipes, too, but we do use toilet paper when it can be purchased.

The photos in this post are a sampling of simple actions and recipes we were already using long before this pandemic. In addition, we have a chest freezer to stock on on sale foods and bulk cooked meals. We are crafty and make things we need through woodworking, sewing, other fiber arts, and more. (Yup, we have made masks right along with everyone else!)

While we had chickens for years, we don't currently. We talked about getting chicks last year, but didn't have the bandwidth. We do now, and so chicks are on their way to us. We have cleaned out the coop and are excited for the coming additions to our little homestead. We keep trying new things, too. I just made a batch of rice milk and while I bake a lot from scratch, I want to try making my own gluten-free sourdough starter for gluten-free sourdough bread.

I hope to look back on this time and see the creativity, the light, and the need for less that resulted from it.

What roots have you returned to during this time?

toffee (again!)

This is a post previously shared on my former blog and posted again each year. This is such a favorite that I receive multiple requests for it each year. 

 

Toffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter an 8-inch square pan. spread the chopped nuts in the pan.
Heat the butter and sugar and boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture darkens and just begins to smoke, approximately 7 minutes.
Immediately pour the mixture evenly over the nuts and sprinkle the chocolate chips over this.
Cover the pan with a cookie sheet to keep the heat in and melt the chocolate.
Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer. If desired, sprinkle more chopped nuts into the chocolate layer. Score while still warm, unless you don't mind irregularly broken pieces. (I don't mind them.) Refrigerate until hard.

Nicola's edited additions: I don't usually stir constantly. A reader commented about butter separation. When she did so, it had never happened to me. It subsequently happened once. I believe it was because I started with frozen butter and let that melt and begin to bubble before I added the sugar. Make sure you put these in the pan at the same time, room temperature. If you like hard toffee, make sure you cook it long enough. (It begins to have a slightly burnt smell.) If you like softer toffee, don't cook it as long. The 7 minute marker is helpful, but I find it takes longer, and after you have done a handful of batches, you will also notice the mixture thin and darken slightly.

from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

learning period 1 of 2018-2019

The year before last (how was that so long ago?!), I shared about our homeschool year, one learning period at a time. We homeschool under the branches of a charter school that we love, and the charter follows us in two-month chunks, called learning periods. Learning period 1 was August and September. Here is a little snapshot of the launch of our year!

Nature study weekly; I had planned for Fridays to be our nature study and library day, but several weeks in, although desired and beautiful, it wasn't so smooth. Walking alongside me one week, my wise little guy says to me, "Mamma, what do you think if we do our nature walks on Monday mornings? Maybe they would be better for starting the week." And he was right! It doesn't matter what school or work we human beings head into each week, MOANday mornings tend to be hard. Nature walk has been a much gentler start to the week and we have cherished slower home rhythm on Fridays.

I am realizing that, while I am deeply inspired by Waldorf as my home teaching and parenting foundation, our best flowing "us-school" days are perhaps a little more unit study-like. (That term makes me cringe. I don't know why.) This year, I am using Brave Writer Arrow and Boomerang guides for writing mechanics and grammar, something with which we needed to become a little more consistent. I chose to start us with Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, the 1956 Newbery award winning biographical novel of Nathaniel Bowditch, written by Jean Lee Latham.

I could never have imagined the journey Nat would take us on. We were gripped by his story ("Just one more chapter, Mamma!") and how he quietly, yet deeply affected history. We were then hurled through time, backward from Nat to Galileo and forward from Nat and onto the west coast for The Coast Mappers and a tour of a modern ship, the one my brother works on. This one chapter book had us eagerly chasing math, science, history, writing, and language arts, and had the kids making connections and expressing curiosity and excitement with what they were learning. This is fuel for the homeschooling mama soul.

 Along with our read alouds and all-things-Nat, the kids did regular math lessons, another subject we had become inconsistent with. Brown Mouse is very happily engaged with Teaching Textbooks now. He worked his way through the free trial and into a full membership for the year. Lala Bug has been doing Khan Academy, supplemented with Key To... series practice booklets (which our charter school provides). It feels good to have math anchors without push back. I do think the year that I backed off and made math more about play and living experiences made a huge positive difference in math attitude now.

So much cooking and baking, below. Lala Bug got interested in and immediately skilled in baking cakes in the spring, and we always meal plan and meal prep for the week, so a lot of cooking and baking has been happening around here, particularly with September being full of birthdays.The praise "this is the best cake I have ever had!" is positive feedback Lala Bug has loved hearing, and since we are gluten-free bakers, that was encouraging to me.

Soccer is successfully and joyfully underway, 4-H projects and charter classes are beginning this week, and probably the most meaningful things we are doing right now is going through a series of appointments for the unique needs of one kiddo and health-related challenges I have been having. For this reason, alone, the success of our basic weekly rhythm has been so encouraging to me. We are now moving onward into learning period 2. We are studying chocolate and its origins, the constitution and natural history (both through our charter classes), and excited about the playful learning of 4-H.

I hope your learning year is starting smoothly and joyfully!

lake life 2018

We are home again from a week at the lake. Immediately back to reality, which carried on without us, glad to have home to come home to, but clutching memories of 'home' in the wild.

This year, the trip almost didn't happen (we are add-ons to the growing family that owns that cabin) and we are so deeply grateful, never taking for granted the gift of the time, place, and tradition that this trip holds for all of us. (Here is last year's post. And one from 2016.) This place holds so many memories, so much growth made visible each year, and I am seeing more and more, a sense of place. ownership, and predictability for the kids (and me).

While the kids have gone fishing before, Brown Mouse caught his first real fish this year. Doing so was a powerful learning experience, unexpected and emotional. Both kids were deeply upset by it. Brown Mouse desperately wanted to bring a fish back to Grandma at the cabin, but was horrified at actually killing, cleaning, and carrying a fish, and Lala Bug was deeply upset at the inhumanity of harming an animal. We released the fish and, as the kids are not vegan or vegetarian, this prompted deep discussions. 

This year we were later in the summer than the past two years, so no wildflowers. It was incredibly dry due to lower than normal snow pack last winter, as well. We had M with us the entire week, the first time in a few years, which was such a gift to all of us.

 

We hiked a tremendous amount this year, exploring two new-to-the-kids lakes. This, of course, gave M and me the chance to share more stories and memories of these beautiful places.

 

 

Some of us snuck in some reading time, too. The kids blew through enough books that they both started in on Kindles. Kindles in hand, Lala Bug read at least two books from the Five Little Peppers series and Brown Mouse read several books from the Math Inspectors series. 

I finished How to Raise a Wild Child by Scott Sampson while enjoying this view (below), a gluten free beer, and leftover homemade (by my brother) enchilada casserole with a pile of tomatoes and guacamole. Perfect. And this really was the perfect setting in which to finish that book. It was such validation that M and I are raising wild children; children who know where they fit in, in nature, the importance of it, the appeal of it, how to care for it, and how to learn from it. We have children who seek it out.

 

The lake was so low this year, these two were able to wade from one swim rock to the other (to take photos of something...an Osprey?) And below, such competent paddlers now, more confident having practiced capsizing. There is something so special about watching your children and your parents paddle off, enjoying being active together.

 

And with that, the summer season swings closed and I reluctantly turn toward all that comes next.

health (and food) journey

M has been encouraging me to share my health journey here. I joke that I am the healthiest unhealthy person (or maybe it's the unhealthiest healthy person?), because all my basics are good...blood pressure, cholesterol, fitness, mindfulness and care of my emotional and mental health, etc.

Yet I am a highly sensitive person who has to be careful with fatigue and overwhelm and I have struggled with eczema for my entire life. It comes and it goes, some of the triggers are very obvious, some are no longer triggers, and some are new triggers that I am trying to figure out. It primarily presents on my face and neck and in the past 6-12 months, my eczema has been so inflamed, uncomfortable, and embarrassing, that I knew it was time to make some more changes.

My eczema story begins from the time I was very little. I would toddle out to the family garden, pick green beans, and munch like they were candy. Every parent's dream...until I would break out in a rash. Through my childhood, I was allergic to legumes.

By the time I was about 12, I was having some other symptoms, as well. I found I was tired a lot. I got thoroughly checked and learned I had hypothyroidism. Not long after that, I struggled with a host of issues that, at the time, was uncertainly diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I was also put on a diet for Candida. Around the same time, I became deeply affected by caring for animals at a beloved ranch camp and decided to become vegetarian. (My poor parents!)

As I write all of this, I realize that some of the changes I have made in the last decade are ones I should have made many, many years prior, or I had made (with parental guidance and support) and then eventually lapsed from. And looking back, my mom and I have puzzled over some of my symptoms and struggles and I now think that anxiety and high sensitivity played a mental role in my struggles, which unknowingly (but now obviously) mingled with my body's health struggles.

About 8 years ago, my eczema flared badly and kept becoming infected. I had already discovered more allergies (cats, grasses, dust, certain scents, etc.). I really struggled during this time because I was a full time mamma to two young ones and I was feeling very poorly, but it wasn't the type of illness I wanted to share about broadly. I saw all sorts of specialists, pursued a variety of possibilities, and I tested positive for Lyme disease. I was on multiple rounds of strong antibiotics and my body was not happy with me.

When a blogging friend (Renee) told me her husband's eczema cleared when he went on a gluten free diet, I began really pushing my doctors to check me for Celiac Disease. They pushed back, but eventually, I was tested. A blood test and then an endoscopy showed that I was in the early stages of damage from Celiac Disease. As an amateur DIY baker, this was crushing, but I cleared out the kitchen, began exploring gluten-free recipes, and have been gluten-free ever since. It took nearly 9 months of being gluten-free for my body to begin to feel better.

For the following 7 years, I still struggled with eczema, but not to the degree that I had been, and not with the infections. Then, about a year ago, my eczema started getting worse again.During this time I added certain supplements to my diet, including vitamin D, multi-vitamin, probiotic, etc.

A couple of months ago, I went in to see my regular doctor for a well check. She was quite thorough with me and I walked away being told I needed to begin an anti-inflammatory diet, especially cutting out dairy. If I thought cutting gluten was hard, dairy was going to be harder for me, because I was still vegetarian for the most part. (I ate seafood.) My doctor sent me for a thorough set of blood tests and this time, it showed that my eosinophils (markers of inflammation) were off the charts high.

Our family went on a backpacking trip and then I began an anti-inflammatory diet the day after we got home. No dairy, no grains (to start, then small amounts of gluten free grains), no alcohol, no sugar, no caffeine, and no legumes (because, remember, I was allergic to those as a kid? And that includes no peanuts). I needed to start eating some poultry to get enough protein and feel fuller.

I read and followed Aviva Romm's Adrenal Thyroid Revolution, focusing on my overall health and a diet and general health reset, rather than an elimination diet. By the end of week 2, my skin was looking and feeling much better and my brain fog was clearing. I felt like I could think again! (I had had a joke that "I need to think about thinking about" things. When the fog started lifting, all of a sudden I had opinions and thoughts about the kitchen remodel that has been years overdue!)

The reset was a month long, it is over, and while I am maintaining some of the things I have cleared from my diet (dairy, alcohol, most sugar), my skin is a little stressed again and I have been feeling a little anxious and fuzzy headed again. I am on a waiting list for patch testing to determine if and what might be contributing to my inflammation topically. I know the self-care and mental health components of our whole being health cannot be underestimated, and as the parent of a high needs child, I know I am under a steady amount of stress.

I was tested again late last week for Lyme and a re-check of my eosinophil levels. This time, my Lyme came back negative and my eosinophils markers have dropped substantially, resting barely above the max of the normal range. I am thrilled! I have noticed that I have dropped a little bit of weight in addition to feeling a better. Feeling better has made me realize how poorly I had been feeling and that I have been functioning low steam for awhile now, without realizing it.

M joined me for the reset and we are committed to stay on track together. While we ate many of these things before, we are eating tons more fruits and veggies, fish, poultry, seeds, nuts, gluten-free noodles, potatoes, quinoa, rice, and millet. The couple of times I have had sugary foods, I have gotten a stomach ache, so I think my body is adjusting, and I am not having cravings like I was the first week. I am still tired, so I continue to work on getting enough sleep.

From a financial perspective, we save money by keeping meals simple, making foods in batches and freezing some, buying in bulk when possible (we have a chest freezer), planning so food isn't wasted (and I keep my food plans simple), not eating prepared foods, and buying foods when they are reduced price.

Health is one part of this life journey, so what I share here is more of a snapshot of 'right now' than anything else. Do you have challenges or successes with your health in an ongoing way?

gluten-free granola

Originally posted on my original Which Name? blog on October 21, 2010!

gluten-free granola

I know there are gluten free granola recipes all over the web, but we had our favorite granola recipe and two of us are big granola eaters, so I had to have a go at making a recipe on my own.


Nicola's Gluten-Free Granola
7 cups gluten free oats (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 to 1 cup slivered or chopped almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon gluten free vanilla extract
3/4 to 1 cup canola oil
3/4 to 1 cup honey
Optional: Any and all additional nuts or seeds. We like chia seeds and walnuts. Additional spices, such as nutmeg, ginger, and/or ground clove. Dried fruit (add after baking), such as raisins or coconut. You can also add gluten free flours, such as soy, however I found the resulting granola to be too bitter for my taste.

Mix all of the dry ingredients. Stir in the vanilla. Pour in the oil, then use the oiled measuring cup to measure and pour in the honey. Stir well.
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes on an oiled baking sheet. Stir on the baking pan and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the desired brownness us reached.
Remove from oven and stir several times while cooling, to prevent sticking to the pan. Add any dried fruit at this time.

toffee time!

This is a post previously shared on my former blog and posted again each year. This is such a favorite that I receive multiple requests for it each year. 

 

Toffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter an 8-inch square pan. spread the chopped nuts in the pan.
Heat the butter and sugar and boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture darkens and just begins to smoke, approximately 7 minutes.
Immediately pour the mixture evenly over the nuts and sprinkle the chocolate chips over this.
Cover the pan with a cookie sheet to keep the heat in and melt the chocolate.
Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer. If desired, sprinkle more chopped nuts into the chocolate layer. Score while still warm, unless you don't mind irregularly broken pieces. (I don't mind them.) Refrigerate until hard.

Nicola's edited additions: I don't usually stir constantly. A reader commented about butter separation. When she did so, it had never happened to me. It subsequently happened once. I believe it was because I started with frozen butter and let that melt and begin to bubble before I added the sugar. Make sure you put these in the pan at the same time, room temperature. If you like hard toffee, make sure you cook it long enough. (It begins to have a slightly burnt smell.) If you like softer toffee, don't cook it as long. The 7 minute marker is helpful, but after you have done a handful of batches, you will also notice the mixture thin and darken slightly.

from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

Easter 2016

Although we are secular, we do celebrate a mix of religious holiday in gentle ways, perhaps more as part of our seasonal rhythm and sometimes as part of our curriculum.

This year, we enjoyed the ten day audio story about Easter from the Martin & Sylvia collection from Sparkle Stories. We love Sparkle Stories and I find I often learn something, whether it is new knowledge or a parenting tip!

Wrapped into the ten days including and leading up to Easter, the kids dyed eggs (with natural dyes) with my parents, but not at home. This is the first time we haven't dyed eggs together since they were old enough, but they were satisfied with what they did with Nonno and Grandma and it left us more time for other projects.

We made hot cross buns for the fist time ever. Ours are gluten free and are a modified version of the recipe found in Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts, my heavily used go-to cook book for gluten free versions of gluten filled classics. All of us loved them, which doesn't always happen with baked goods.

We also had fun making stained glass window eggs, using the directions posted at Nova Naturals.

The kids insisted that hubby and I leave out Easter baskets, as well, so I did and they were filled with goodies to share. The pattern blocks, Wreck This Journals, and the story cubes were hands-down hits. Woo hoo!

 

After a nice morning together, we joined family for a delicious, beautiful lunch at my parents' home. It was a gorgeous day and the egg hunt was good fun, with everyone involved by the end. We wound up with a mini concert, completely organized, as a secret, by Lala Bug and Little Brown Mouse. She was on the piano, he was on the ukulele. 

 

All in all a beautiful week, day, and entry into spring.

Irish Soda Bread (gluten free!)

This post first appeared on my original blog, Which Name?, on March 15, 2011

 

I love Irish Soda Bread. (Love it!)  I was faced with wanting it and not being able to eat the wheat. So I looked to my now favorite gluten-free baking book for a recipe, and found one.

I tried it, altering a few ingredient to make it closer to my mom's recipe, and it is delicious. Truly, you almost can't tell the difference.

Gluten free Irish Soda Bread
(from Gluten Free Baking Classics, by Annalise Roberts)
(I have made my own notes on changes throughout. C = cup, t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon)

1 and 3/4 C gluten free brown rice flour mix (or any gluten free flour blend)
2 T granulated sugar
2 T buttermilk powder (Nicola's note: I skip this and the water, below. Instead, use 3/4 buttermilk or a substitution of 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice with milk added to make 3/4 cup sour milk. Fresh buttermilk is best, though.)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda (Nicola's note: You can add a little more. It is soda bread, after all.)
3/4 t xanthan gum
1/4 t salt
1/2 C raisins
1 T caraway seeds (Nicola's note: I skip the caraway seeds and add chopped apricots, so the raisins and apricots added total 3/4 cup.)
3/4 C water (Nicola's note: skip this if you added buttermilk as I noted above.)
3 T canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Position rack in center of the oven. Lightly grease and 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and dust with rice flour.
2. Combine flour, sugar, buttermilk powder (if you use this), baking soda, xantham gum, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix in raisins and caraway seeds (or apricots if you use them) until well coated.
3. Combine water (or buttermilk), oil, and egg in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.
4. Add water mixture to flour mixture all at once and mix until well blended. Use a rubber spatula to shape dough into a ball and with well floured hands (rice flour!), dump ball into the center of the pan.
5. Use well floured hands (rice flour!), shape ball into a 6 inch round mound, so there is a 1/2 to 1 inch space between the mound and the side of the pan and so that the center is slightly higher than the rim of the pan.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep X in the dough.
7. Bake bread in the center of the preheated oven for 40 -40 minutes. (Nicola's note: mine, with the changes, took closer to 50 minutes.) Bread should be a dark golden brown and a knife through the center should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack and do not slice until cool.

Enjoy!

poetry tea time!

We have long woven tea, food, and good reads together, but never in a formal way until I found Brave Writer and learned that Poetry Teatime is a "thing!" Brave Writer is launching a new site, just for Poetry Teatime.

Join the fun for goodies and information!

 

What does it look like in our home? We are low-keyed and we sometimes read poetry (last week, my son read for the first time and my daughter read poetry she had written!) and sometimes we read other books.

This morning, it looked like this. This morning's read aloud books were:

Enormous Smallness, a Story of E.E. Cummings, by Matthew Burgess

Growing Patterns - Fibonacci Numbers in Nature, by Sarah C. Campbell

Saint Patrick, by Ann Tompert

a chapter from Destinations in Science: Pizzeria (Forms of Matter) - a science book from Addison-Wesley.

We had gluten free Irish soda bread, pears, and jelly beans (because the kids had just finished packing Easter baskets for homeless families, as part of a 4-H project). Our tea choices vary. Little Brown Mouse chose "Vera's Tea" this morning (a personal blend that came from a ranger at a state park near-ish to us) and Lala Bug and I had Tension Tamer from Celestial Seasonings.

And what better to do with tea than write some poetry? The kids were invited to do so by kids in a poetry class through their homeschool charter.

366: 22

January 22, 2016

Apparently, this is a Waldorf science experiment. Does a walnut float in syrup, suspended in millet porridge? Yes. We are a Waldorf inspired family with a dad who likes to poke a little fun at Waldorf when bringing science lessons. Makes us all laugh and since humor and laughter are my words for the year, it works.

(Potato! Inside joke!)

366: 8

January 8, 2016

My mom reads my blog and initiated a conversation about museums following my post from two days ago. And then she sweetly said "Nicola, it's a leap year. There are 366 days this year."
Ha! I hadn't even thought of that. So today's post is 366: 8 (instead of 365: 8, which has a better ring, in my opinion).

Today was a different sort of day. It is Friday today and we are ending a week that has been full of bumps. I began the week full of hope for new rhythm and a more relaxed approach to our homeschooling. I was feeling inspired coming out of the loveliest of holiday months and time spent listening to some motivating homeschool talks, but even my relaxed approach didn't seem to fit right. By this morning, I was feeling completely discouraged, and Little Brown Mouse was tired, in tears, and not wanting to go anywhere. Unfortunately for him,  we had a first appointment for Lala Bug with an Occupational Therapist.

(Gratefully, Little Brown Mouse was going to spend some time with my parents, who know just how to shift and manage my sweetly quirky kiddos, and he was received with big snuggly hugs. They were planning to go on a fun outing, but apparently went back to their house and he spent much of his time snuggled up with Nonno, eating popcorn and watching soccer on TV (a total treat, since we don't have a TV). He told me he and Nonno napped on the couch, too, but I am guessing really only Nonno napped!)

Lala Bug is my creative, smart, funny, curious, intensely perceptive, anxious, highly sensitive kiddo. Little Brown Mouse has some sensitivities too, as do Hubby and I. (Yes, if you know me, you are chuckling at how little I emphasized my sensitivities there. A few years ago, my mom subtly handed me a book titled The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook. It took me awhile to realize she meant it for me, not Lala Bug!) The Bug's sensitivities and anxieties are partly what brought us to homeschooling and that has helped immensely, as has the Waldorf approach to living and learning, which is gentle and developmentally appropriate. As she has gotten bigger, though, it has become clear we could all use a fresh, experienced view of her sensitivities and more tools in the toolbox for the times when she is overwhelmed. Our hope is that OT will give all of us some needed support. It was a hit! She loved it. I had the most fascinating time being a fly on the wall, making my own observations with no distractions or interruptions, and seeing how many things we have already done, so right on, to support her.

And afterwards, she got some much needed special time with mamma. I took her out to pizza at a local favorite that we don't frequent so much now that we have dairy sensitivities and gluten allergies in the family.

toffee

This is a post previously shared on my former blog. This is such a favorite, I receive multiple requests for it each year. 

 

Toffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter an 8-inch square pan. spread the chopped nuts in the pan.
Heat the butter and sugar and boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture darkens and just begins to smoke, approximately 7 minutes.
Immediately pour the mixture evenly over the nuts and sprinkle the chocolate chips over this.
Cover the pan with a cookie sheet to keep the heat in and melt the chocolate.
Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer. If desired, sprinkle more chopped nuts into the chocolate layer. Score while still warm, unless you don't mind irregularly broken pieces. (I don't mind them.) Refrigerate until hard.

Nicola's edited additions: I don't usually stir constantly. A reader commented about butter separation. When she did so, it had never happened to me. It subsequently happened once. I believe it was because I started with frozen butter and let that melt and begin to bubble before I added the sugar. Make sure you put these in the pan at the same time. If you like hard toffee, make sure you cook it long enough. (It begins to have a slightly burnt smell.) If you like softer toffee, don't cook it as long. The 7 minute marker is helpful, but after you have done a handful of batches, you will also notice the mixture thin and darken slightly.

from The Compete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn