What Did We Do Before...Breakfast Cereal?

Walk into the supermarket and you will likely be assaulted by at least one aisle of colorfully clad boxes of breakfast cereal. The fact that usually a whole aisle is dedicated to this food item means that it is well liked by many North American households. And what's not to love? Never mind the copious amounts of sugar and other unpronounceable additives found in most boxes. My favorite breakfast cereal is Honey Nut Cheerios, but we never buy it because it never last more than a couple days. What's your favorite cereal?

The development of breakfast cereal was strongly influence by the Seventh Day Adventists. I guess they weren't fans of the traditional bacon and egg breakfast. I'm sure their vegetarianism had something to do with it. So you know Kellogg? Yep, John and his brother William were SDAs and they developed corn flakes in the 1900s - by accident no less!

So... What did we do (eat) before modern day breakfast cereals? Check out these breakfast menus from the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book for some inspirations. Maybe I should try out this menu: Strawberries, Hominy with sugar and cream. Bacon and fried eggs. Baked potato, Rye muffin. Coffee. Whoah! That's quite the feast. I've never had hominy before...

What are your thoughts? Is breakfast cereal one of those modern conveniences you could do without or is it a basic staple that you aren't willing to give up?

An Old Cedar Forest

I've been reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (inspiration from Abby over at Writing Living Epistles) and it's been motivating me to get us outside more. Yesterday, our family and my SIL's family took a hike in a beautiful old cedar forest. Our four kids, all under the age of 3 1/2, managed really well despite the masses of devil's club that towered over the trails.

We attempted to bring our strollers on the trail but we ended up stashing them behind a tree. The trails were not stroller friendly at all! Sweetpea was getting jostled around in the stroller and preferred being carried in her Beco.

The trees were so big and amazing!

The wee ones got refueled regularly.

Monkey dipped his feet in a stream and got all dirty throwing rocks in water. He stomped on a mushroom, much to the dismay of his older cousin, and fell into prickly bushes much to his own dismay. We tried to get Monkey to stand still for a picture but he was much too distracted as you can see.

It was a beautiful and fun day :)

What Did We Do Before...

Many of us live in a culture of convenience. We go to supermarkets for food and malls for clothing. We use machines to clean, cook, communicate and entertain. Many of the things we have today are blessings to be sure, but what did we do before all these modern conveniences?

I tend to romanticize the past. I think L. M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Waltons have had something to do with it. Living without modern conveniences meant work... a lot more work. Living kept people busy. For many, boredom was a luxury and Sunday's rests were absolutely necessary.

Something has to be said about putting aside modern conveniences and doing things the good old fashioned way. A homemade loaf of bread or a hand sewn toy brings about such simple unadulterated pleasure. Even if the bread ends up rock solid or the toy looks like something out of a horror film. The process can be just as therapeutic as the outcome.

I enjoy trying things the good old fashioned way. So I thought I'd start a themed Wednesday post "What Did We Do Before...". Let me know what you think and feel free to join the fun.

Abbot's Rabbits: The First Butchering

We wanted to grow some of our own food, so a year ago we chose to raise meat rabbits. Why meat rabbits? Well, we live in the city and have a small backyard. Fortunately, rabbits can be raised well with not much space. There are quiet and their poop can be used for manure in the gardens. Also, rabbit meats is very lean and good for you. So, we read Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits and bought ourselves four Champagne D'Argent rabbits (two does and two bucks). We aren't farmers so it shouldn't be a surprise that we have had a few hiccups along the way. Happily though our rabbitry (named Abbot's Rabbits) is in full swing now.

This past Saturday it was time to butcher our first rabbits. Hubby and I made a pact at the beginning of this venture. He would do the killing and I would do the skinning and gutting. Blood doesn't bother me but Hubby has a hard time even talking about anything blood related without feeling queasy.

Saying goodbye to the rabbits.

The killing was quick. The rabbits felt little to no pain. I am very proud of Hubby for doing this. The skinning and gutting took a while because of my lack of experience but my brother helped me out (Thanks little bro!). It was a strange working with warm meat. I'm so used to the pre-chilled plastic wrapped meat from the grocery store. But, it gave me a whole new view of meat. Overall it went well. I still can't believe that we are doing this!

We weren't sure what to think. Note the expressions :)

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Coconut Popsicles

Here are the latest Popsicles that we've been enjoying around here. The recipe comes from Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone but I tweaked it a little. Here's my version:

Coconut Popsicles

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 can (398 mls) coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened  shredded coconut

Place the milk and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. When sugar is dissolved remove from heat and add vanilla extract. One the mixture has cooled, add the coconut milk and shredded coconut. Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze for at least 6 hours. Enjoy!

Silly Sweetpea

I remember Monkey going through this stage. It's a vague memory, probably because I tried to forget it. But it's all coming back to me now. Hubby bent over Monkey's crib, patting him on the back whispering "shhh....shhh....shhh..." for almost an hour straight in order to get him to sleep. Eventually I resorted to nursing him to sleep which worked wonders and he painlessly grew out of.

Sweetpea was so good at putting herself to sleep... last week. Now I put her down and she has a meltdown. I'm not too worried about it. It will pass eventually, but it's not easy. For now I give her lots of snuggle time and lots of opportunities to self-sooth herself to sleep. She'll learn how to do it again and then she won't want to snuggle with me as much. Ah yes, it's bitter sweet...

Sleep is such a hot parenting topic. There are so many opinions about babies and their sleep habits (or lack thereof). What are your thoughts? Mine seem to be ever evolving :)

Weekly Menu

My goodness, I'm so glad the weather is warming-up up here. I'm looking forward to checking out our local farmers' market this Saturday. Do you visit your local farmer's market? What kind of neat things do they sell there?

Day 1: Swedish meatballs, egg noodles and peas.
Day 2: Vegetable quesadillas and the fixings (salsa, sour cream, refried beans).
Day 3: Prime rib roast, new potatoes and asparagus.
Day 4: Spring Risotto and salad.
Day 5: Tomato and basil pasta.

Freecycling

Are you into thrift store shopping and garage sale-ing? If yes, you might be interested in freecycling. Freecycle is a network that allows people to give and get stuff things for free. It's 100% free and all about reducing waste and reusing stuff. I joined the network a few weeks ago and gave away a few things including a bathroom sink (no joke!) and got some old nursing blankets to make into cloth wipes. Check it out!

Banana Date Popsicles

As I mentioned in my previous post, these are tasty and healthy but I find the texture a little different. My Hubby likes the texture, he says the pops remind him of frozen yogurt. I would definitely make them again.

Banana and Date Pops

6 large ripe bananas (sliced)
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 cup milk
1 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons honey (heated 30 seconds)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1) Put bananas, dates*, milk, and yogurt in food processor/blender until smooth
2) Add honey & vanilla extract; process/blend again to combine.
3) Fill pop molds, insert sticks, freeze for 6 hours.
4) Remove and let stand for 5 minutes before molds come off.

* My dates were rock-solid so I softened them up by boiling them in water for 10 minutes or so.

This recipe is from Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone. Enjoy!

Making Popsicles

I have fond memories of eating homemade Popsicles as a child. We'd pull the Popsicle mold out of the frosty freezer, run it under hot water and sit on the back deck with our Popsicles slurping away. Ah yes, the joy of a homemade ice treat. Now that summer is finally on its way, it's time to make some of these tasty treats.

So... the first thing I did was buys a couple Popsicle molds. It's a good first step, although you don't really need one if you're creative. The first mold I found was a plastic one at the grocery store. It makes nice small pops, perfect size for a toddler. The second I purchased from the The Tickle Truck as a birthday present from my FIL. I had been eying this stainless steal Popsicle mold for some time. I've read a few blog posts about it - like here.

When I first got it. I place it proudly on our kitchen counters. We all admired it's shininess and sleek design. Once we got tired of staring at this space like Popsicle mold I decided that it was time for a test drive. I picked a recipe from Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone - Banana Date Popsicles (recipe to follow). They turned out delicious and healthy but the texture was a little strange. It's like chewing on frozen smoothie.

How did the fancy Popsicle mold perform? Welll...when I inserted the sticks into the mold one of the little plastic bits pushed through and I had to fish it out of the mold and re-insert it (oh bother!). I remedied this problem by pushing the stick in slowly instead of jabbing it in. When the pops were ready they came out of the molds beautifully and the drip catcher worked nicely. The biggest con to this mold (besides the price - yikes!) is the wooden sticks, I hope I can find some reusable sticks - any ideas?

Cloth Diapers for Toddlers

I took the plunge. I started, or shall I say re-started, using cloth diapers for Monkey. I had swaddled him in cloth for about year and a half but he grew out of his dipes and we switched to disposables. The other day we ran out of disposables and I couldn't bring myself to buy more. Why? 1) toddler sized diapers are expensive 2) I was feeling guilty about leaving diapers in the landfill for over 250 years.

I put off buying bigger cloth diapers in the hopes that Monkey would rise to the challenge and get potty trained. I finally put my wishful thinking aside and faced reality - it's not going to happen for a while! Once I came to accept this fact I took the next step and bought some cloth diapers.

Here's what I got:

2 packages of baby (15 - 40lbs) Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers
4 Large Super Whisper Wraps
3 Hemp prefolds for nigh time

I like the affordability of prefolds and the fact that they create less laundry (you can reuse the covers for more than one diaper change).

Do you use cloth diapers? What kind have you tried?

Weekly Menu

Day 1: Black bean soup from Cook's Illustrated and homemade bread.
Day 2: Vegetable deep-dish pizza from Pizza Any Way you Slice It.
Day 3: Beef tacos with the fixings (salsa, sour cream, lettuce, grated cheddar)
Day 4: Smothered Pork Chops, rice and peas.
Day 5: Pasta Puttanesca and steamed veggies.



Yes, I realize that there are more than five days in a week. Now that summer is here we get together with our family and friends for BBQs more often - yay! As a result I have less meals to plan - yay again! Anyways, if you want me to post any of the unlinked recipes let me know :)

Baking Cookies

Monkey has figured out the best thing about making Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with me...

eating the cookie dough!

What's your favorite cookie recipe?

Incident Free!

Usually when Monkey poops in his diaper Hubby and I debate about whose turn it is to do-the-deed. Toddler poop is much more yucky than breastfeed infant poop. At least I think so. However, since the last incident I have never been so happy to change Monkey's poopy diaper. Today I even told Monkey "that's great! good job!" when filled his pants... oh dear what is happening to me!

The last few days have been incident free thanks to some backwards hand-me-down pink PJs (thanks Tanya!).

Environmentalism: A Catholic Living in Excess (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here.

I'm often overwhelmed by how quickly stuff accumulates in our home. But, I have to admit that I do contribute to this problem. I don't go and buy many of the latest trends but I do enjoy checking out thrift stores and garage sales. You can find a lot of great inexpensive stuff second hand!

We live in a culture of excess. That's why garage sales are so great! But really how many pairs of cute jammies does an infant really need? Three? Four? Sweetpea has at least 10. And how many pairs of underwear do you need? I think I rotate between 4-5 pairs that I like but yet have 2-3 dozen in my drawer.

We really don't need everything we have, so why do we want it? Maybe it's because possession make us feel secure. I know that I feel better knowing we have 4 or more backup soothers hanging around the house even though Sweatpea can only ever uses one at a time. Or perhaps we or don't value what they already have. My curtains are only 2 years old and already I want to replace them.

Pope Benedict in his message If you want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation calls us to live new live-styles:

"It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our life-style and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view. We can no longer do without a real change of outlook which will result in new life-styles, 'in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments'"

How do you think this would change your life-style?

Backpacking in Italy a year ago with Hubby and Monkey. 

We fit all our belongings into a hiking pack and a small day pack. 

We were gone for 4 weeks and did laundry by hand every second day :)

Whipping Cream

When Hubby and I go grocery shopping together he enjoys figuring out which item is the most cost effective to buy. Will it be the 250ml, 500ml of 1 L carton of whipping cream? I only need 250ml but he insists that the 1L is barely more expensive and you get four times more! So we buy the 1L carton. Then the expiry date approaches and I still have 750ml of whipping cream sitting in my fridge. What to do?

I really don't like wasting food, especially when I know there are people around the world dying of starvation. If something is near expiration I go on double alert... but what am I going to do with 750mls of cream?!?

So I put it in my food processor and voila!

Butter and buttermilk!

It only took 2-3 minutes and now we can all enjoy some homemade butter on our banana bread. Never again does my whipping cream have an excuse to go past its expiration date!

Sh*t Happens

What can I say, sh*t happens. This is the second time in three days. My patience has run out. Those of you that have never dealt with a pooping-maniac-toddler be very happy. It's a rotten experience and I'm so done with this stage.

But, if this ever happens to you, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Step out of room to scream and cry.

Step 2: Turn on shower.

Step 3: Fill a bucket with hot water and bleach (lots and lots of bleach!)

Step 4: Return to room (hopefully more calm) and discipline toddler (however you do this in your family).

Step 5: Place toddler in shower and scrub. Make sure toddler does not start licking the tub floor (we had this problem - what is he thinking!). If he does stop him because that's just nasty.

Step 6: Place toddler on potty in front of bedroom door to watch you clean the mess.

Step 7: Do the dirty work and clean the poop off the flour, bedding, wall etc. while conversing with your toddler:

Me: (with frustrated tone) "what is this?"
Monkey: "poop!"
Me: "Where does poop go?"
Monkey: "there! there!"
Me: "Nooooooo, where does it go?"
Monkey: "...."
Me: "poop goes in the potty... where does it go?"
Monkey: "potty"
Me: "right poop goes in the potty!"

Step 8: Shower and put toddler back in room for hopefully a nap (never happened in our case though).

Hopefully you'll never have to follow this process :)

Rugby

Last week I brought Monkey to go watch my brother play rugby. This was going to be my brother's last tournament of the year so I promised that I'd go and watch. What can I say about rugby? It's a rough sport (sort of like football) and you wear no protective gear! I ended up spending half the game caring for an injured athlete with a concussion.

Watching the game.

The scrum.

Getting the ball out.

In play.