whirlwind.

what a day!

it began with this idea a few weeks ago at 4 am that i needed to de-clutter.  that's it, i was having a yard sale. so for the last 2 weeks i have been going through every nook of this house and eliminating.  i've had yard sales in the past and it usually ends up raining so i wanted to make sure the weather was great for this one, and it was!  my signs were posted, stuff organized, kids with the babysitter for the 1st hour.....ready.
M arrives right on time, and we start putting out the stuff. 
and then.....
E comes home from work in terrible pain, with an infected knee, bursitis. we've been through this before.  it's 9:30 am.  crap! so i left my just happening yard sale in the hands of M. and took him to the hospital. i dropped him off and said call me when you are done. (really what was i going to do for him in the waiting room, and the baby does not need to spend much time in an ER).
got back to the house and have not stopped ALL day. (I also injured my foot earlier this week, but had to shake that off today!)

here is an abbreviated version of my day.
yard sale
set up lemonade stand
go buy more juice as kids drank most of lemonade
nurse baby (this happens every few hours in the day-and i am thankful for as it allows me time to sit for a moments time!)
lunch for 5 kids and 3 adults
call E.
pack up yard sale
go to pick E up
take care of E plus A, B and K
pack A and B for sleepover
make dinner for E, A, B and nurse K
tidy up days events
A and B are picked up
sit....ahhh
get ready to go back to hospital (E needs IV antibiotics every 8 hours for the next 3 days. oh joy.)
I think I grew another handful of grey hairs today. sigh.

these were the only pictures I could get. I'm surprised I even got these.

one person's junk really is another person's treasure. 

the kids has such a blast!

Breakfast

steel cut oats

plain organic yogurt
unsweetened almond milk

maple syrup

blackberries

goji berries

hemp hearts

delicious!!

garlic update....

look at those beauties now! 2 more months til' harvest time...

Bits and Pieces....

we had a busy weekend filled with a birthday party, a sleepover, dufferin grove park and bbq with good friends with yummy food!  today, we were busy at home.  here is the story of our day....

i made a raw kale salad from this new blog i discovered that is all vegan!  yummy! here is the recipe. it was super easy to make.  http://ohsheglows.com/2011/06/17/weekend-glow-kale-salad/
the squares i made are a knock off of the ol' rice krispie, sans marshmallows and followed this recipe.  http://ohsheglows.com/2011/06/24/almond-butter-rice-crisp-treats/   i ran out of brown rice syrup so used honey instead. worked out just fine!
i soaked some black beans yesterday and cooked them up today. i forgot how easy it is to make beans and not have to use the canned stuff. just a bit of forward thinking (which i know is not always so easy!)
lastly, did you see my organized books!  4 months my books from my old clinic have been sitting under our staircase and today they are neatly organized!  all this prep for an upcoming yard sale. maybe this Saturday (weather permitting).  keep you posted.... hope ya'll had a great long weekend...

Mother's Day.

All I wanted to do on Mother's Day was plant a Japanese maple and bury Kai's placenta underneath it.  (yes-gross to some- I decided to spare you the pictures- when you have a homebirth it is your responsibility to bury it!)
The day was busy trying to find and buy the tree (who knew they were illegal to sell in North York-which is where I went).
Dealing with A and B
I finally got to do this at 4 pm.
I was happy to finally get it in the ground and then realized I forgot the placenta.
Crap.
I was done for the day....

Today, Monday May 14th and our sweet baby is 12 weeks old. How did that happen so fast. I remember counting down these days with the other 2 and somehow in the blink of an eye, he is 12 weeks.
I dug up the Japanese maple and placed the placenta underneath it. 
Aidan chose the perennials, bleeding hearts, golden star and snow in summer.
And here is our smiley guy at 12 weeks...

Delicious Desserts

I went to the Loblaws cooking class with Aidan's grade 1 class today.  The cookies were dyed with yellow, red and blue food colouring.  I came home inspired to make a delicious treat without these nasty additives.  So, I made these cupcakes today.  They have pumpkin in them and sweetened with honey.  They are amazing, delicious and healthy! Each one has just under 200 calories, frosting and all!  Here is a sweet girl eating them up!

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 c. canned organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just pure pumpkin)
1/2 c. almond milk
2 egg whites
1/4 c. grapeseed oil (or any light-flavored oil)
1/2 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. whole-wheat pastry flour (can use gluten free mix)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger

For the frosting:

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tins with cupcake papers or grease the tin itself. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your pumpkin, almond milk, egg whites, safflower oil, honey and vanilla extract. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture and blend well. If your batter is too thick, add a little extra almond milk (about 1/4 c. at a time until you reach a thick, yet runny consistency). Pour into tins, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.


For the frosting:

Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl, and whisk until well blended. Remove cupcakes from oven, allow to cool and spread frosting over the tops.

Makes about 16 cupcakes.

All Smiles

11 weeks....what a little darling.

Eat like the French....

Listening to CBC the other day in the car, I heard Karen Le Billon discuss her life of raising 2 children in a small French town, and how this experience led her to writing the book "French Kids Eat Everything" http://karenlebillon.com/.  In France she claims, children do not get snacks (what, no fishies!!) they eat at regular meal times, they eat what is put on the table, there is no such thing as "kids food" and it is one meal for all!  She was saying how kids eat mussels, radish salads, beets and 'stinky' cheeses.  The next day for dinner I made what I wanted, I am by no means gourmet, far from it, rather a practical cook.  We usually eat quite healthy but I keep in mind what they like.  This night I made exactly what I wanted. Here is what I made.....

cauliflower, tofu, potatoes,quinoa salad and brussel sprouts

and here are my children eating it! (they even had a friend over and he too ate happily!)

Honestly, I was a suprised.  I had a back up plan of quickly cooking some frozen hot dogs, but they gladly ate all the tofu and vegetables! I'm sure we all know what they might have chosen if they were given the choice but this is what was on the table and they went for it! (with a side order of ketchup of course....) Try it and let me know how it goes....