Holy delicious curry!

My friend Sherry at Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe posted a food blog search tool last week. I had not previously used this particular search tool so I was excited to give it a spin. I had some sweet potatoes on hand so I was looking for something creative to do with them...enter the genius that is Vegan Sweet Potato Coconut Curry, brought to us courtesy of Book Of Yum. I thought my head might explode with the delicious list of ingredients: sweet potatoes (obviously), coconut milk, almond butter, spinach....so many of my favorite things packed into one recipe! This was truly delicious served over brown basmati rice, with a side of fried tofu and blueberry peach salsa (an incongruent combo, I know, but pretty awesome!).

My cooking of late has been somewhat less than creative, so I was really excited to work with a combination I had not otherwise considered. Thank goodness for food bloggers! :)

That overwhelmed feeling

It is one I know all too well. I would love to be able to study a master class in maintaining a household while caring for multiple children. I know there are folks out there who do it all, and I have a great deal of respect for them. I am so grateful to be able to be where I am right now, parenting in the way I want to and devoting my time to LOVING these four beauties of mine. I just wish a magic house fairy could come take care of the rest. There has to be a way to do both...to be an attentive, loving, involved, dedicated parent while still getting stuff done. Anyone out there??? Does anyone know the answer?

Raw Brownies

I made these for the first time about a year ago, and loved them. My aunt gave me a delicious box of dates just yesterday, so I made some raw brownies this morning. The kids love them, especially G. You really can't go wrong with dates and almonds. Julie Morris and Alexandra Jaye both use walnuts for their recipe, but since I didn't have any on hand I substituted almonds, and added just a little water. Here is Julie's blog entry with the recipe, but be sure to check out Alexandra's video as well. Enjoy!

Our flu season protocol

So, it's only mid-August, but since I am hearing about so many people experiencing flu-like symptoms already, I've had our flu prevention protocol on my mind. With L and C both going to school this year, I'm going to have to be extra vigilant to keep those flu germs out of our house. This is our basic prevention plan:

--the obvious hand-washing
--daily Vitamin D3 drops
--elderberry syrup and/or tincture
--oscillococcinum on hand for when symptoms begin
--daily or almost daily green smoothies
--raw local honey

All I Really Need...

The babies and I are listening to my Raffi station on Pandora while doing a little cleaning (I'm cleaning, they are un-cleaning.) Raffi will always make me smile. Truer words were never spoken..."All I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family." Thank you, Raffi! :)

In the Hoop

I've had an off and on relationship with my hula hoop for a long time. But even though I don't have the opportunity to swirl as often as I'd like these days, hooping is something I've loved since I was a little girl, which earns it a very special place in my heart. I've always been drawn to circles, spirals, and swirls...so it makes perfect sense that I love hooping. I feel such a happy energy in the hoop, and I love to surround myself in that energy.

The picture above was taken 10 years ago as I happily hooped in my tiny apartment. I gifted the attendants in our wedding with hula hoops. I know it seems kitsch and even cheap, but I can't think of anything that represents happiness more than a hoop. When I was pregnant with the twins, I picked up a hoop again and found that it helped to relieve some of my back pain. Hooping became my Sunday morning ritual while Nate took the boys to the bagel shop. This Mother's Day, Nate and the kids bought me a beautiful Hoopnotica hoop, which I proudly display in my living room. As a long-time waist hooper, I decided it was time I learn some fancy tricks. So I took a hoopdance class with the amazing and gorgeous Ms. Bliss. Talk about a workout!

Now each of the kids has their own hoop, even the babies. The boys rock the neck and arm hooping, and the babies love to just spin their hoops around the sidewalk. The new tricks I am learning give me cool cred with my kids, which is always a plus.

Perhaps my recent reunion with the hoop can be summed up in this lovely quote from the beginning of a recent Hooposophy blog entry, aptly titled "Hooping IS Mothering".

As women who inhabit the dual worlds of possibility and responsibility, I think Mothers have a
unique dance. It's the dance around a cluttered kitchen and the stride that carries a child, three
hoops, and a backpack where they need to go. A Mother’s dance welcomes the moon and
celebrates sunshine. The Mother’s dance teaches others to twirl." - Tangled Macrame