happenings

around here...


this quote,


"I love swim lessons!"

Now that's a fast 180.


And I've been having more fun with my birthday presents.


I asked for a blender and a dehydrator for my birthday.  


I linked to a site that compared the excalibur and this one called the 


nesco.  Raw food purists would say the excalibur is the only way to 


go.  But I  went with this one due to the fact that the excalibur is 


just too big for my kitchen and this is just a fraction of the cost, 


while still drying just as efficiently.

I know some women would think I'm crazy to ask for such things as 


birthday gifts.


But I'm  in that kind of phase.


I made my first kale chips and as the raw cook books


warn, we couldn't stop eating them.

Sprinkled with olive oil, salt and garlic powder.  Yum.


I made a batch with cayenne pepper for my husband too.


And I'm very excited about this lady's cookbook. 


She's 70 years old.  It wasn't just her age that impressed me,


but her amazing sounding recipes.


I tried the arugula/fennel salad for lunch and then just had to make 


it again for some guests for dinner.  It was THAT good.  I added to


it, the chop chop salad.  As the title hints, there was a lot of 


chopping involved, but the sauce was to die for.  


And everyone actually felt full.  I told them they were my guinea 


pigs. I'm really excited about these recipes!

I'm off with the kids on a trip to visit my parents 


and Sea World.


Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures when I return!

he's home

We picked up our son today.


After five nights and six days away.


As I guessed, he showered, um once.


Oh boy.


He did write me though.


We got a very cute letter.


He smelled a bit like a homeless person.


You can see by his shirt, that he wore nearly every day.


Lots of fun, lots of stories, and lots of junk food.


He had just about every sugar loaded cereal he has ever wished for that mommy has never allowed.


He told me he checked ingredients and saw that there was corn syrup in things. 


A big 'no no' in our house.


And when I asked if he ate it anyway, he said, "Yea of course I did."


I guess at least he's honest, and at least he's aware of the fact that it's not good for him.


He's pretty bummed out that his five frogs are now four.  He has a little habitat for them.


He caught them at a stream where he goes to watch a friend's dog sheepherding.


We fed them while he was gone.


But this was the smallest one.


And apparently the frogs will eat the little ones if they can.


We looked it up online.  He's bummed for his little guy.


On another note...

The girls are both officially swimming.

Ava already had lessons, but now she's comfortable enough to dive off the diving board.

 You have no idea how huge this is, that Audrey is fully under water. 

Today was their fifth lesson.


For the first three lesson lets just say the protests from Audrey were very loud and very adamant.


She tried to control the situation.


Each day stressing about the next saying, "I will not go under water, you just tell her I will not.


Mom I will never swim. Never, ever." 


And the screaming and protests were so intense.  I had to walk out of sight, so she wouldn't see me laughing.


It was one of those things where you had to be there.

But that little nose in between those goggle eyes.  And the screams of protest.  It was just so darn cute.  I coudln't handle it.  She was bound and determined to not swim.


She told me and everyone who would listen how summer break wasn't very good because she was not liking swim lessons and she would never, ever swim.


But after the last lesson we turned a corner and she decided she was used to it now.


She actually said to me mom, "I'm used to it now.  What does used to it mean?"


And today, wa-la.. she is fully going under water.


Tonight she happily showed daddy over and over again how she can swim.


We went in the jacuzzi amidst the loud helicopters hovering to cover the shut down of the 405 to the 10 freeway.  They're calling it carmageddon here in L.A.  People are hunkering down and not going anywhere this weekend.


But we're taking a chance and actually having a pool party here.


Hoping that because most people won't be on the road, it'll actually be smooth sailing on the side streets.


I also got a new high tech blender for my birthday and made some chocolate mint smoothies 

that we also turned into popsicles.

We used 24 ounces of almond milk.
A handful of mint leaves from our garden.
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
A handfull of prunes (only because I didn't have any dates)
2 bananas
and 2 Tablespoons of cacao powder

The girls loved them.

My son wasn't so sure.

But his taste buds have been tainted by Trix, and Coco Puffs and such.


Happy Weekend Everyone!

the wonder

Oh how beautiful these two are.


I sat outside with my youngest while we had a picnic lunch with her friend.


I kept noticing these morning doves.  One just sat on a branch and did not move.  While the other sometimes pecked at her, do you see him nudging on her there? It was so sweet.  I'm assuming that's the Dad, but I suppose I could be totally wrong.  Anyway, he was very busy moving all around.

I wondered if our being there was making them nervous.  But I saw no nest.

Then I realized what the movement was about.  I believe they're just beginning their nest, the spot where they'll care for their babies.  This little guy would leave and pick up a leaf or stick.  

One by one he'd bring them back.  Then what was so interesting to me is he'd actually jump up on her back and drop the leaf over her.  

She'd pick it up with her beak and begin putting it in place.  I believe I'm watching the beginning of a bird's nest.  I've never seen one right from the start.   It was utterly fascinating. 


Our day was filled with playdates, therapy visits, grocery store runs and art class.  And I was inspired to try some new recipes from a couple of favorite raw food blogs.  

This is a cream of cucumber soup recipe and the salad is inspired by the mango-kale salad, only using peaches instead.


It went perfectly with this blueberry peach crisp recipe.  The green recipes my girls were not so into, I made an alternate dinner for them.  But they couldn't wait till it was time to dig into the dessert.  

Edible Art

 (from Happy Little Bento)

I recently bought some of these bento boxes from amazon.  Last year I used those fabric/washable baggies, but they got too yucky.  This year I've been meaning to buy more, but in the meantime have been terribly un-eco friendly.  

Is that proper English?  No.  But we'll let it slide ok.  

So I decided instead to do the bento boxes.  My friend recommended them to me.  They're on their way and should be here by Tuesday.

Man I'm excited about them.  They're bpa free and this site, Happy Little Bento,  I can't stop clicking from one post to the next. 

So adorable and scrumptious looking.  And her post says this one is all raw.  

My three year old's review, "That looks really yummy."

 (from Happy Little Bento)

I think these works of art would entice any 3, 5, 8 year old to dig in and try some foods they haven't before.

It makes me want to make one for myself!  Do I have it in me to be this creative at seven in the morning?  Probably not.  But maybe with some preparation I can do it every once in awhile.  

In the meantime, I'll just keep clicking and oohing and ahhing over her amazing designs.  My kids are right alongside me saying, "look at that one, and that one!" 

What a creative way to make food appetizing 

to the eye and the tummy!

Preparing Raw Food

After finding out I had lupus my journey into helping heal my body through diet began. I started reading A LOT! I have read more books and message boards and websites than I can count.

The internet can be both a blessing and a curse in this way.

But in this case I have been brought again and again to eating lots of raw fruits and vegetables and juicing in order to heal your body.  It's kind of easy really.  It's going back to eating very naturally and thinking did God make it or did man package it.

I was never a bad eater, but I've been convicted in the last year to change some things.

I've read books from The Lupus Recovery Diet, to The China Study, and most recently The Hallelujah Diet.  This one I stumbled across. But just finished reading. It's really quite enlightening and as you read some of these books they can be very convicting.

The Hallelujah Diet is based on the Genesis 1:29 principal

"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."

For breakfast I'm not very good at making myself things because mornings are generally a bit crazy.  So months ago when I discovered Vega protein powder that is a complete meal and plant based I was really excited.  I love both the vanilla chai and the chocolate. 

In fact we're leaving for a camping trip soon and this will be a MUST have for me to avoid some of the foods I know won't be good for me. 

As for dinner.. I started reading blogs and the recipes in some of my new books. This blog in particular really had my mouth watering. Her pictures make everything look so good.  Then her blog led me to this blog.. and boy I've already signed up for their newsletter.  I'm loving their recipes.

I started out trying the zucchini spaghetti. OH and I was so super excited to actually pull out the Cuisinart we got when we were married 13 1/2 years ago and to discover I could make it work.  I used to have a fear of it.  The whole thing sort of intimidated me so it was relegated to the back of the cupboard and was forgotten years ago.

DO you know it's not that hard and I think it's going to be my new best friend in the kitchen!

Back to the recipe, I loved it. My husband was appreciative, but I wouldn't say it was his favorite. My son tolerated it, but my two daughters. I think the before and after pictures speak for themselves.

You would have thought I was torturing them. It was so sad really.

So I have some work to do to find kid friendly recipes.  It's a challenge.  But I'm up to the task!