yesterday

a sweet routine

It's that time of year.  The time of year when the blueberry bushes out back are coming into their own, and they need attention.

Not a lot, mind you.  But some regular attention.  And so, on most evenings I slip outside after dinner.  The air is cooler then, calm.  For a few minutes I quietly pick blueberries.  It's taking me little longer these days, as there are more berries ready every single time.

I've come to love these quiet moments: harvesting goodness, tending my sweet bushes.  They're a chance to catch my breath, breathe the fresh air, and have a moment of quiet.

Of course, there are times when the family ends up following me outdoors as well.  Those evenings are delightful too, but in a different way.  The kids frolic together, the happiest I've seen them all day - while my husband and I sit on the patio, hold hands, and talk.

Either way, I'm relishing these times of delicious summer evenings and blueberries.

blue-ing

summertime...sort of.

It may not be officially summer just yet, but around here it's feelin' pretty summery.

Now if only the sun would stick around for more than a day or two at a time!

quinoa chicken salad

One of my favorite summer dishes is Quinoa Chicken Salad.  It is probably the most versatile thing I serve to my family: it can be hot or cold, and one can easily change up the meat, vegetables, even the dressing.  It all depends how you like it and what you have on hand.  I doubt I've ever made it precisely the same way twice.  All the same, here is a rough blueprint of what I do when I prepare this "recipe."

The idea of this dish was inspired primarily by The Nourishing Gourmet's Everyday Italian Rice Salad.  I use the dressing from that recipe, although I'm halving it here in this context.

Ingredients
1 c. quinoa, uncooked
2 c. Water
2 T. raw vinegar or lemon juice
---------------------------
2 c. water or bone broth
1 c. cooked chicken, shredded
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 c. raw cheddar cheese, cubed
1/2 c. Peas
1/2 c. Carrots, shredded
1/2 c. Green onions, sliced

Dressing: 1/3 c. Extra virgin olive oil
2 T. Raw apple cider vinegar
3/4 t. dried basil
1/2 T. Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t. sea salt
dash of black pepper


Make the salad
The night before, combine the first three ingredients and let rest overnight.  (This helps neutralize the anti-nutrients found in quinoa and other seeds, as well as nuts and whole grains.  For a superb chart on soaking and cooking grains properly, click HERE.)

The following day, rinse quinoa well and place in a medium pot.  Add 2 c. bone broth or water.  I also add a dash of salt and a dash of extra virgin olive oil at this point.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook 25-30 minutes.  When the quinoa is done cooking, remove from heat but leave covered for 15 additional minutes.  At this time, uncover & fluff with a fork.

Add mix-ins to the quinoa.  Prepare dressing and pour over the other ingredients, combining well.   Enjoy!

We love this salad hot, but it really shines as a cold main dish on hot summer nights.  As I said, feel free to play with the meats, vegetables, cheese, etc.  You could even go with an entirely different dressing: the possibilities are endless!

travel: what worked & what I'd do differently

As I look back over this great undertaking, there are some things I have learned about traveling with our family.  There are things which worked really well as well as things I'll do differently next time (gulp...next time?!).  Curious? I suspected as much.  Don't worry, I've got you covered.

What Has Worked

Hotel Suitcases. My husband had the idea of packing "hotel suitcases" for the days we're on the move.  He is a genius.  Here's how it worked: when we planned to spend only one night in a particular location (such as a hotel), we had prepared a single suitcase (a carry-on, 21" size) with enough clothes and sleepwear for the entire family for one night. (We have actually managed to squeeze two days-worth of clothing for our seven-person family, assuming that pajamas would work two nights in a row.)   I do have a separate bag for toiletries, but as far as clothing went, that one suitcase was it.  It cut down drastically on the number of things we had to haul in each night.  Sleeping bags, pillows, portable crib, toiletries bag, and one suitcase.  Not too shabby for a crew this size.

Sleeping Bags.  With five kids?  It was a no-brainer.  We only brought two though, and have generally taken them in to both hotels as well as the homes we have stayed in.  Two of the younger children using sleeping bags, two older ones on beds or air mattresses.   It works.

Cold Breakfast & Lunch Foods. In spite of our foray into continental breakfasts, it's been lovely to have prepared breakfast and lunch foods along.  Hard-boiled eggs come in very handy for either meal, as does bread and nut butter.  We have found it very restful to find a rest area at lunchtime.  The kids can run, we can serve nourishing finger foods, refill our water bottles and use the restrooms.  Considerably nicer, a least in warm weather, than occupying squirmy kids at a restaurant. 

Bag O' Snacks.  I have a shopping bag where I keep an assortment of snacks, divided into bags with individual servings.  Although we have had to replenish supplies along the way, it's been a great resource.  Raisins, crackers, popcorn, cereal bars and more.  Handy!

Disposable Goods.  Although at home I try to reuse items as much as I reasonably can, I purchased a fair amount of disposable goods for the trip.  Sandwich bags for snacks, gallon bags for restaurant leftovers, paper napkins, paper towels, paper plates, cups, plastic knives and yes, disposable diapers.  For a trip, especially one of this magnitude, I much prefer disposable items.  They make things infinitely easier. 

Soap nuts.  At home I use soap nuts for laundry as well as general cleaning.  They're natural, easy and even compostable.  When considering washing clothes on the road, I decided to bring two small bags of soap nut berries.  Each set of soap nut berries will do at least 4-5 loads of laundry.  The bags and their contents can go through the dryer just fine, so I don't have to worry about wet items or powdered laundry detergent spilling in our suitcases.  It has been beautifully easy.

What I'll Do Differently

Filtering Water Bottle(s).  As a rule, my family uses stainless steel water bottles.  We have also purchased glass water bottles like these to use for kombucha.  But over the weeks, I have wished more and more for filtered drinking water.  I hate buying bottled water, however.  Instead I would like to get a couple of filtering water bottles just for the road.  They may be plastic (which we prefer to avoid), but bottled water is in plastic anyway, and if given a choice, I would rather drink filtered water in plastic than unfiltered water in stainless steel.  I'm not sure which option is truly healthier, but I do know that some tap water I've experienced has a truly horrible taste.  And when I consider what can be lurking in that tap water, it's an easy choice for me.

Purchased Deodorant.  I don't buy deodorant as a rule.  Most over-the-counter stuff contains aluminum, and my experiences with purchasing the "natural stuff" have generally not had great results.  I've been making my own homemade deodorant using this recipe for several years now, and I like it.  However.  It is largely made with coconut oil, which becomes very liquid when warm.  Traveling and liquid deodorant are not a good fit, to say the least.  Next time I will find an option in the store before I go.  Or maybe order some Funk Butter by Oyin Handmade, the one natural deodorant I liked.

Less Chocolate (in warm weather).  I included some chocolatey treats in our food stash.  Not the best idea in warm, even hot, weather.  Of course, we could always make a point to keep it in the cooler...  

No Backpack Carrier.  At least not unless we have a planned outing for which we might need it.  For example, the zoo or a hike.  But for a driving-around-and-visiting-people kind of trip, it's not really necessary.  And it takes up a fair amount of space.

Favorite Shoes in the Suitcase.  We have shoe bags along with extra shoes.  However, I kept finding myself without access to the shoes I'd want to wear the next day.  Next time, I'll put more shoes in my suitcase and leave the shoe bag for the things I rarely wear.

Travel Picnic Blanket.  No picnic tables?  No problem.  At home we have a special quilted blanket we like to use for picnicking purposes, but it's far too bulky for a trip such as this.  I think a picnic blanket like this could be incredibly handy for use on the road.  Waterproof, compact and easy to carry.  

More Vegetables.  I included a few sugar snap peas in our stash of real food, and they've been terrific.  Next time though, I'd like to bring along more carrot sticks and other hardy raw vegetables.  Ideally, I'll include some fermented vegetables as well.  Seeking out local farmers' markets around the country can be a great way to replenish supplies and try new things.  Hardy vegetables which can be eaten raw are sure winners.

More Organic Raisins.  We ran out of raisins way too fast.  Granted, you can always buy more.  But it's not always easy to find organic raisins.  And when it comes to raisins, buying organic is kind of important.  Besides, raisins are pretty compact, don't squish too badly, and keep extremely well.  Raisins make a great candidate for packing in larger amounts than, say, bananas.

There you have it: what worked well and what I'll do differently next time.   Happy Trails!

summer

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." ~Russel Baker

seaside

sprinkler fun?

We've been enjoying our backyard sprinkler system this summer. And on hot days, we put it to really good use.

Kyle & Owen had a blast.


But Elise didn't want to have anything to do with that water.
He loved it. Really.

It's fun to race against the spinklers. And when the slide gets wet, our yard is transformed into a waterpark. Or so I hear.
But as for my little girl, she'd rather practice her driving skills. After all, you can never learn to parallel park too early...can you?

yellow

Yellow is

the very best color

for a sundress.

getting ahead of the gardens

(photo from mid-June)

It's so strange. Really strange, considering how I've been longing for summertime during the past few months. But lately, I've found myself looking expectantly toward autumn.

The truly bizarre thing is that we've had hardly any real summer weather where I live. It didn't really get warm and sunny until the first few days of July, and even those days have been rather few and far between. (And I know this won't endear me to those suffering from triple-digit temperatures in other parts of the country!) Largely we've had temperatures around 65 or 70*, and often gray skies, even rain.

But perhaps that's exactly the issue. Maybe all these cool days are bringing to mind the stunning beauty of an Oregon autumn.

Or maybe it's the fact that the clothing stores are transitioning to their fall lines. Or it could be the disenchantment I feel with my growing girth - it's feeling much less charming and much more tubby...and probably on some level I'd feel more comfortable layering on sweaters & corduroys than strolling around in tank tops and sundresses.

And yet... and yet, I still haven't tasted my first summer tomato, or sunk my teeth into a seasonal ear of corn. Last weekend marked our first ripe peaches from the farmers' market, and I am still entirely enthralled with the bounty of summer berries. And I can't resist hoping that the cucumber plants in our garden will produce something worth tasting, one of these days.

There's a lot of good stuff still coming.

So I'm going to relax and relish these days of summer. Flaky weather, retail shops, and weight gain? Forget them. I think I'll take my cues from the calendar and the garden and farmers' market instead.

And when I stumble across my first acorn squash out there, that's when I'll go dig out my sweaters and corduroys...

the dawn of summer

Today is the first official day of summer.

And it even feels like it! High of 83* F, sunny, beautiful.

We had to get outside and soak up the rays for the pure joy of it, and the Vitamin D didn't hurt, either.

Summer, we bid you welcome!

vacation Bible school

This year Kyle got to attend VBS with his big brother! It was held at our church, in the evening, the first week of August. Both boys were so excited. Ben, who has been asking when VBS would be since last year's series ended, kept giving Kyle advice on what it would be like.

"And, Kyle, there's this waterslide..."

I was concerned that VBS might not be exactly the same this year, so I tried to make that point often. That didn't dissuade Ben from his belief that things would be almost exactly the same as last year (which was Ben's first time).

And they had a great time. In fact, there was a waterslide, and other water play during the evening sessions. Kyle was still a bit on the young side, but they ended up bumping him up to the 4-year-olds class. He even had his own personal helper. Such tender loving care!

Now, we listen to the CD they brought home from VBS almost daily. I have to admit, it's so much fun. And I love watching them do the motions to the songs! "The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut..."