Last Day of Grade One

 That's it.  Done grade one. How did that happen?? Was he not just jumping in the jolly jumper? He never usually gets 'treats' in his lunchbox but I surprised him with a little treat bag and special note.  Made his day!

first day of grade one

 and the last....

He is becoming a confident, kind and funny little guy that has a new fondness for black and t-shirts with skulls on them.  Oh my. 

Dinner

Now that Kai seems to have developed a schedule for himself with a bedtime and Ewan able to be a bit more helpful as he is recovering, I was able to make a healthy dinner for us. The salad is super simple, grabbed a bunch of stuff I had in the fridge; mixed greens, coriander, pomegranate, almonds, tomatos, cucumbers, avocado, hummus and some of my garlic scape pesto.
The soup I made yesterday when a friend and her son came over for lunch. She is an amazing cook so I don't try to get fancy. I made a super easy and simple soup and she took care of the rest!
Carrot and Sweet Potato.
1 sweet potato
5 carrots
1 apple
1 onion
few garlic cloves
grated ginger root
4 cups of stock (I used veg. stock)
I sauteed the onion, garlic and ginger. Added in the sweet potato, carrots and apple. Then added 4 cups of water with 1 tbsp of powdered vegetable sock (I use the health food store brand that is MSG free). It was cooked in about 20 or 30 minutes. Then blended and done!

Here is this little dude enjoying his lunch!

Garlic Scape Pesto

I planted about 30 cloves of garlic around halloween and have been waiting for the scapes to come up and curl. I really have no idea what I am doing.  I've been letting them do there thing and reading up on the internet. Some sites say you cut them after they curl and some before. Cutting the scapes allows the energy to go to the bulb and not the flower.  Mine are all at different stages of 'curling' but yesterday I went out and quickly snipped them off with simple kitchen scissors. It was recomennded you cut them around noon on a hot day so that the 'wound' is quickly cauterized by the heat. So technical!!

Now that I have all these scapes I decided to make garlic scape pesto. I cut off the flower bits and used the main stalk.

I added a few tablespoons of olive oil, a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese and about a 1/4 of fresh lemon juice. I blended for about 5 minutes and it was done. It is perfectly spicy and delicious spread!

 

Now I need to figure out when to pick them??

In the Kitchen...

Ewan does the cooking. I rarely make dinner. He really is a much better cook and he enjoys doing it. I am functional and healthy. Hopefully he will be back in here soon. (I think he wants his richer tasting meals too!) Tonight I made a good old standard. Pasta. I had some leftover cauliflower and broccoli from last nights dinner, pureed it and mixed it into a homemade tomato sauce. 

 Such an easy way to get those veggies into difficult kids. 

 I paired it with a side of Ontario asparagus. Delicious.

and here's my sidekick who has recently discovered his hands....

Cabbage Foot and More....

It's been a busy and tiring few weeks around here. To sum it up....Ewan developed bursitis in his knee from kneeling too long on one job at work, which developed into a Strep A infection, which led to IV antibiotics that was not working fast enough and the whole ordeal ended in surgery where they "washed" his leg. Gross.  As a result of the surgery he has post-operative edema in his foot that started a few days later. Joy. His knee is slowly healing but now he can't walk because of the swollen foot. After nearly a week of this saga, I started to get Naturopathically proactive. I pile a handful of pills into his mouth 3 times per day as well as these 2 other treatments.

The first is Hydrotherapy.  He simply alternates his foot from hot to cold foot baths, always ending with cold.  He does this 3 times daily and each time requires 3 cycles. It really just take 5 minutes. The point of it is to help relieve the lymphatic congestion and increase circulation to the area.  I think he was a little skeptical of it, but when he told the physiotherapist what I was doing she said it is great to continue. So now he believes me. 

The other is a cabbage poultice. Also so easy. Simply take the outer pieces of a green cabbage and wrap it around the affected area which can be held in place with saran wrap.  This reduces inflammation in the affected joint, increases local circulation, removes lymphatic congestion and can remove infected material from the body.

One thing he can do to help is hold the baby.

So all this has been keeping me busy. Not to mention, keeping up with A and B, working some, shopping, cooking, oh, and did I mention that I have a newborn. My new mantra...."This too shall pass..."
Also a quick thanks to all the wonderful people that have so thoughtfully dropped off meals and helped with the kids. You know who you are and you helped more than you know....xo

we call them latkes.....

....but they are also refered to as pancakes and fritters.
I make these for A and B.  They are super easy to make and loaded with veggies. A great addition to a meal or a healthy snack on their own.
I grate 2 big zucchinis, a small onion and this time I added a small sweet potato.  I put about 1 tsp of salt into the mixture and let it sit for about 20 minutes. This helps to take out some of the water from the veggies which I then squeeze out thru a strainer. I add one egg and about 1/2 cup of flour.  I fry these little latkes up in some oil and serve. So simple.  So delicious.  

today....

today brought...
a congested babe
a slowly healing leg
a beautiful meal
a nap
a sleepover for A and B cancelled
a swollen foot
a chaotic bedtime
good friends gathering at my house
rum
a screaming baby
can't get a break.
maybe tomorrow....