Life Notes

Window Crayons + Things To Ponder Daily = Beautiful "Life Notes"

The window "crayons" were a gift to my daughter Maya on her fourth birthday, from my neighbor Abby. This has become my standard "note taking" spot nowadays. Obviously, the lower panels are reserved for the shorter folk in the household.  My 6yo's current favorite quote (not shown): "Don't ask whether you can do something. Say you are doing it, and buckle your seatbelt."    (from Julia Cameron)

Sangria for All, and other uses for frozen fruit

Last week, I was making some white wine sangria when my four-year-old said, "Oh mommy, how beautiful!! Can I have some of that pretty drink?" Since I really love my cool and refreshing summertime beverages, I don't know why it never before occurred to me to use frozen fruit as ice cubes in drinks, but how pretty is this?

The "sangria" we are drinking here includes some limeade, pineapple juice, water, a touch of ginger ale and, frozen peaches and fresh strawberries. I freeze bits of fruit on a cookie sheet whenever we have an overabundance, so there is always a variety in the freezer and I foresee a summer full of sangria-style beverages here at Sunnybrook South.

My related "Use it All" dilemma: when the adults finished off the real sangrias, I was left with a lot of slightly boozy fruit, which I finally decided to puree in the blender and freeze into ice cubes. I plan to use them to make some strawberry/peach margaritas and I think a fruity cube would be a nice addition to a summertime Gin&Tonic!

Waste not, want not!

Inside My Fridge - March 26, 2012

Leftovers Galore!


Here you see the remains of our Spring Smokeout: cole slaw, pasta salad and probably 10 lbs of pulled pork and some ribs. We make a ton and share it the first night with friends, eat leftovers the second night with family, then freeze the remainder in upcycled aluminum pie pans in smaller portions. Makes a great quick weeknight meal or easy to take to someone's gathering. You can see my husband's awesome homemade BBQ sauce balanced up on top of our water pitcher.


Speaking of water, the number and type of cold beverages in the fridge seems to grow as the mercury rises. In this picture, I can see the milk and water (which we always have) along with sun tea, green/mint coldbrew tea, homemade limeade, and margarita mix.


Viva la Lifestyle Change!!


We also have lots of fruit and salad greens right now. I recently stumbled across the Super Healthy Kids blog and loved their "50% of what you eat should be fruits and vegetables" approach to filling one's plate. How Simple! How Easy!


I really don't believe in "dieting" unless I have a medical condition and it's prescribed by my doctor. This is my way of saying that (unless my doctor tells me to) I absolutely and categorically refuse to count calories, weigh food, completely eschew any food group (like no carbs, no meat,), etc. But I also want to be healthy, so I need to find easy ways to guide and form my natural inclinations and choices so that I am enthusiastic about choosing healthy food.


In the last few years, I've taken the "Eat Real Food" banner and run with it, but I have found that this 50% guideline is great way to guide how I fill my plate. I cannot expect my children to do what I do not, so I have been trying to lead by example since I first read the Healthy Kids blog in January. Besides feeling better overall, I have dropped 5 lbs since without really "doing" anything else new. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but a general guideline that is helping my whole family choose and enjoy a lot more good things!


Viva la Lifestyle Change!!

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Pink Icing Without Food Coloring

What must a mother do when her child has an option for a big, fancy cake with cartoon characters and chooses a Mommy-made cake? Well, here "mommy made" means somehow making a chocolate cake "with pink frosting" that has no crazy dyes.

As primates, oh heck...as animals, we get a wealth of information from color. Color can tell us if a tomato is ripe or not. Color can tell us that the pear has gone south. Studies show that we respond to color even more than actual flavor, which is why the best chefs know you "taste" a dish with your eyes first...food appeals to all the senses.

Back before chemistry entered the mix, food was colored only with natural dyes. Depending where you lived (and the season), you might use beets, turmeric, blueberries, flower petals...things like that. In modern times, food dyes are often bright and appealing and also often dangerous. It's hard to be a parent these days without at least hearing of the many ills associated with artificial food dyes, especially the very-common FD&C Red 40.  Almost everyone knows least one other parent who swears it turns their otherwise normal child into a little demon from the ninth level of Hades.

All that said, I don't generally disallow a treat just because it has some artificial dye. If a friend offers Skittles or M&Ms I will probably indulge and allow my kids to do the same. I even make Strawberry Jello at least once a year, though I am planning to use Mary Jane's ChillOver (vegan!) from here on out, so some red icing on a cake is no big deal, right?

Well, it's one thing to buy it or accept it and another to willingly and purposefully inject this stuff into something your child has requested.  Enter the googletubes: how do you make pink icing without food coloring?

I found several suggestions for raspberries and strawberries, along with admissions that the color was quite weak. Finally I settled upon trying dried hibiscus and beet root powder. I've taken some pictures to show the difference.

Here is the "pink" hibiscus butter mixed with sugar. My butter looked quite pink after simmering and straining. It was dotted with pink after cooling, and a lovely pink after it warmed back up and I stirred it. But when mixed with sugar, the pink was barely visible. It was a lot of work with no visible result.

Inclusion of beet root powder changes all! I added some cream cheese to my hibiscus butter/sugar mix to even out the already-pasty color (just in case, then added 1 TBSP beet root powder. I was impressed! The picture here shows a pink plastic cup to help gauge the pinkness that first TBSP. More powder = more pink. Yes, at this point I did realize it was just as easy as simply adding red food coloring! I was still nervous about possible flavor issues, so made juice from smushed strawberries and added that to thin the icing vs.using water or milk. I tasted with/without and it really doesn't matter, but the berries add a lovely, juicy note to the icing, so I consider them well worth the minimal trouble invested.

Here's the final result. It looks very pink and tastes even better. Pinkalicious!!

Gifts for the Gardener: Seed Starter Set

Recycling is great! But reusing something is even better. So when I stumbled across a link for making your own seed starter pots at You Grow Girl, I decided to adapt it slightly and make some to use and some to give as gifts. This is an excellent project for children.

Now, seed starter kits are not expensive in general. I think I paid $6-8 for mine last year. The problem is that unless you are a commercial gardener, you don't need to start all of your seeds at the same time, but I was forced to use this bulky "greenhouse" kit for several months. These little homemade pots are sturdy and you can use as many/few as you need. They are fully biodegradable and can be planted directly into a pot or the garden.

Step One: Save your toilet paper rolls. I also save the plastic pots and trays for seedlings, so I have one below that we are going to fill up for Grandpa! You could also use/make a box or any container you like.

Simple materials: Scissors, TP rolls, some kind of container

Step Two: Cut each roll in half, then fold in half to crease. Then fold in half again so you make "corners" for the roll.  I flattened each roll twice on the table.

You want a squarish shape.

Step Three: Cut a groove halfway up your pot on each corner and in between each corner.

Ready for folding.

Step Four: Fold each flap down firmly, allowing them to overlap slightly. 

Press well to make a strong crease. This will allow them to sit flat when filled with soil.

Step Five: Flip the roll and push the folded flaps halfway up, allowing them to interlock.  DO NOT USE TAPE!! Tape is not biodegradable. The interlocking design provides all the support these little pots need.

Finished pots, ready to fill.

Step Six: Fill pots with soil. You can buy prepared soil or make your own.  I had a bag downstairs so that is what we used.

A cookie sheet helps contain spills.

Voila! A personal and useful gift for anyone who likes to grow things.

Tea Time

Chilly weather calls for warm beverages!  My kids love having tea sometimes instead of a typical snack.  This day, it was pomegranate tea and artisan bread spread with cream cheese and strawberry preserves.  Espresso cups are ideally-sized for toddler hands, though my two-year-old preferred her "real" cup from the china tea set they play with.  

Notice the Change

It's starting to look a bit like Fall here in the Southeast.  Thought the days are still quite warm, the nights are chilly, darkness falls earlier and bits of bright color are easily spotted in the green tree canopy.  Today, we scouted all round the yard to find interesting things and then made a fall collage with our favorites.  Despite the extravagant use of "Big Elmer" (as the kids call the white stuff) and a lesser use of glitter glue, this is still a budget-friendly project that entertained my toddlers for the better part of two hours!