No Need for a TV

We don't have cable. Our TV is in the dark and dreary basement; it's not even plugged in. I hear about new movies through family members, friends and blogs. The last time I went to the theater was when Juno came out. Whoah! That was in 2007. I didn't realize it had been that long.

Nah! Why bother with the theater and TV when you have a huge computer screen and speedy internet?

Yep, we watch shows and movies on the computer - legally of course! We usually borrow movies from the library, they have new releases and they're free, and we watch shows on youtube and Asian movies or dramas at Silent Regrets.

In the last few weeks we've watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (library), the latest episodes of Hell's Kitchen Season 7 (youtube), the Korean movie Gourmet (Silent Regrets) and a few episodes of Japanese drama Boys Over Flowers [Hana Yori Dango] (Silent Regrets).

Do you watch shows or movies online? Any favorites?

Flossing and Praying

Flossing and praying, these are two things that I have a hard time doing consistently. My dentist encourages me to floss regularly because it prevents gum disease and tooth loss. I know it's important, I know it's good for my health, yes I know - but still I slack off. I blame it on my built in retainers, my night time tiredness, my inability to find the floss... My dentist said to me today "your teeth are too beautiful to be wasted away or lost because you aren't flossing".

Then I thought, if floss helps maintain the health and beauty if my teeth, what is prayer to my soul? Surely, this mysterious encounter with God helps break off the plaque vice and fills the soul with grace. Is my soul wasting away and becoming lost by my lack of prayer?

We consistently say grace before meals, nighttime prayers with Monkey and go to mass on Sundays. My individual prayer life is... well barely existent. I send up thanks and petitions here and there, but praying regularly is a battle. There are too many distractions. I should be praying now, but I don't have time because I'm blogging.

So I've decided that I should start flossing my teeth in the morning. And praying? I need to find a daily rhythm to develop consistency. Any thoughts? After all, when I face my Creator my teeth won't be around (at least not for a while).

Visiting my friend. Note the white pearlies ;)

NFP Awareness Week

Did you know that this week is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week?

I have vested interested in this week because I'm an advocate of Natural Family Planning. My interest in NFP developed as I was completing my nursing degree. As a nursing student I was not taught much about the intricacies of women's reproductive systems. For example, not a word was mentioned about the fact that women are infertile more than fertile - pretty basic knowledge. Instead we were repeatedly taught about different forms of contraceptions and even though there was emphasis on having an open mind to alternative medicines, Natural Family Planning didn't qualify. I have heard that this information bias is a common phenomenon even among medical schools.

Because of the information I received in nursing school (or lack thereof) and because of my own personal interest (I was getting married) I started looking into NFP and was surprised by what I found. A lot of NFP research and information exist, yet most people still equate NFP with the Rhythm Method. The errors of the Rhythm method have been long exposed and since then researchers, physicians, and nurses have developed many other forms of NFP, some of which are as effective at preventing pregnancy as chemical forms.

Armed with this new knowledge I decided to learn more about a particular type of NFP, the Billings Ovulation Method. I liked the simplicity and effectiveness of this method so much that I decided to become accredited to teach it - and that's what I do!

So why do I advocate NFP? Simple, I am convinced that it is healthier for the body, mind and spirit. While I could easily ramble on about physiology and theology, I won't. I know that there are fabulous resources out there that cover these topics and I would be happy to share them with you.

Below is the 2010 poster developed by the USCCB for NFP Awareness Week. Look for it in your Catholic parish. Not there? Chat with your priest :)

Weekly Menu

Here is our menu for the week. The recipes are from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 and Fresh with Anna Olson: Seasonally Inspired Recipes to Share with Family and Friends and Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. The books by Julia Child and Marcella Hazan are excellent and I'm hoping to add them to my cookbook collection :)

1) Homemade tortellini with fennel cream and green beans. Check out my recent post for our homemade pasta adventure!
2) Quesadillas (black bean and corn) and a salad of some sorts.
3) Rabbit saupiquet, noodles (homemade? do I dare?) and swiss chard.
4) Risotto with spring vegetables.
5) Chick pea soup.

Conquering Homemade Pasta

I really enjoy being in the kitchen. The processes of selecting, preparing, studying and eating food intrigue me. It's a fascinating combination of art and science and it's very sensual (as in pertaining to the senses). However, my enthusiasm for food can get the best of me and of my poor Hubby who gets dragged along on my food quests.

Today, I declared to Hubby that we were having homemade tortellini for dinner. He looked with an "are you crazy" look. You see, I've had two run-ins with homemade pasta in the past - both not good. The first was a butternut squash ravioli that ended up as a watered down squash and pasta soup (all the fillings leaked out). The second attempt was another butternut squash ravioli (I had to redeem myself), but this time the pasta was so thick and chewy and there was barely any filling in them.

Why didn't I try making a simple pasta like linguine? Hmmm.... my Hubby kept on asking me this question too. Anyways here is the recipe we used for the tortellini:

From the book: Fresh with Anna Olson: 

Seasonally Inspired Recipes to Share with Family and Friends.

This time, however, Hubby decided to make his own pasta dough so I declared that I would make my own pasta dough too - the battle was on! He made his dough in the food processor and I made mine all by hand (ratio: 1 cup flour to 2 eggs). We had a lot of dough. While the dough was resting we made the filling and prepped for the sauce. So far not everything was going smoothly.

Then the tortellini making began... what can I say, we've never made tortellini before and the first attempts were ghastly. It took us so long to make them! After finishing off the first batch of dough (Hubby's dough) we were famished. Monkey's was eating raw green beans from a bag on the counter. We decided to cook what was made. Surprisingly, the tortellini turned out great - finally a success! But then afterwards, I worked some more to finished the rest of the dough.

Four hours later... and we never even got to make a direct comparison between Hubby's dough and mine. I have to satisfy myself with the fact that since his turned out really good mine must be even better ;)

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window... it's clear and sunny. In fact, we haven't had much rain so things are quite dry.

I am thinking... about my sister-in-law's recent post.

I am thankful for... my Hubby, my children and weekends :)

From the learning rooms... I'm thinking about of a few activities for this coming fall. Nothing complicated or crazy because Monkey isn't ready for anything like that yet.

From the kitchen... I'm trying out a bunch of new things this week thanks to a few cookbooks I got from the library. Check out my weekly menu, this week's menu should get posted by the end of today.

I am wearing... a knee length jean skit and purple t-shirt.

I am creating... homemade crackers and a gardening journal.

I am going... grocery shopping. The first time in a few weeks :)

I am reading... Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Natural Living: The 21st Century Guide to a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle and Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy.

I am hoping... that tonight my Hubby and I will listen to "What Every Couple Should Know About Marriage and Prayer" by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Lighthouse Catholic Media).

I am hearing... wind chimes, Hubby chuckling and sharing advice from Dr. Ray Guarendi's Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids, Monkey playing with puzzles and the computer fan humming.

Around the house... going through the little ones clothing and removing things that are too small.

One of my favorite things... sitting down with a good book.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: dentist appointment, rabbit butchering, and visiting friends.

A New Look

You may have noticed that I'm playing with the look of my blog page. Actually, I shouldn't take all the credit (or blame), it's really my Hubby's work. Gotta love a techy husband :) Let me know what you think!

Small Successes

1) Monkey and I divided the monstrous Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) taking over my front garden. I was amazed by all the plants that were hidden underneath it - a lily, some ornamental grass, and lots of poppies!

2) I brought a whole van-load of stuff to the thrift store. A lot of the stuff was left behind by our Korean student and some of it was a result of my "attempt" to sort through the craft pile downstairs.

3) I booked a dentist appointment. I've been evading their calls for a while now because I really don't like the dentist. I hate laying there having my teeth scraped, drooling all over myself while attempting to answer the hygienist's questions without moving my head or speaking. I've had way too many teeth pulled as a child (big teeth - small jaw) and it seems like every time I go in something needs fixing.

Learning to Love Clover

Two year ago we re-landscaped our front yard. Originally our small front yard had 5 trees, 3 dead cedar bushes and a whole row of prickly bushes on the side. We never had to mow the lawn, because it didn't grow. After the landscaping was done we were the proud owners of the most beautiful lawn on the block!

Chubby Monkey (8 months) enjoying the new front yard.

Fast forward to the present. Now our neighbours have the nicer lawn. It's been hot and our front lawn is looking a little crispy. We don't water it partly because we keep on forgetting and partly because we think it's a waste of water. We've also found some weeds beginning to invade here and there. A couple dandelions and some patches of clover. We don't use weed killers because it's play turf and who wants their kids exposed to herbicides?

Then I look at our back yard. If I'm lucky I'll find a piece of grass. But! It's beautifully green and covered with white little flowers - clover. Yesterday, I was complaining about our lawns and my Hubby challenged me to rethink my assumptions of the perfect lawn. He pointed out to me that perfectly manicured lawn is unnatural and often environmentally unsustainable and that I need to start appreciating the dead grass and the clover.

Sweetpea enjoying the clover.

It's true that clover is beneficial for grass and that short of getting rid our lawn (which Hubby would love!) I need to find eco-friendly ways to keep it healthy. Maybe more clover would help our front yard green up a little :o)

What do you think, is the perfect lawn all that it's cut out to be?

S is for Sandbox!

Hubby finally built Monkey's sandbox - yahoo! But until today it was just that - a wooden box. Then Grandpapa came by with a load of washed sand. Now Monkey is in sandbox paradise.

Searching for Shampoo

We've officially run out of Shampoo. I don't know if I'm brave enough to try baking soda and apple cider vinegar quite yet. So, now I begin the search for a non-toxic Shampoo that actually works. I perused our local health food store this morning to see what they carry. They have Jason, Green Beaver, and Prairies Naturals as well as a few others that I didn't look at. Anybody try any of these brands before? Any recommendations for what works and what doesn't?

Potty Training

It's been a while since my last potty training post. I love to say that Monkey's got it figured out, but that would be a lie. He'll stay dry and pee on the potty as long as I drag him there - every hour. Otherwise, he'll pee wherever: on the floor, the couch, in his highchair... anywhere except the toilet. Little threats or little treats don't motivate him. At least he stopped pooping on the floor! I've heard that boys take longer to figure it out so I'm not worried, it's just not cute anymore (not that changing poop and pee is cute).

What Did We Do Before...Toothpaste

Granted, the idea of toothpaste is very old. Egyptians are said to have used a toothpaste to clean their teeth as well as the ancient Romans, Greeks, Chinese and Indian. That being said their toothpaste was much different than the kind we use today. Check out the ingredients found in a tube of toothpaste and you'd be hard pressed to find things like powder of ox hooves' ashes, burnt eggshells, pumice, crushed bones, oyster shells, powdered charcoal, and bark. No, in modern toothpaste you are more likely to see ingredients like sodium fluoride, triclosan, PEG-12 (a solvent), cocamidopropyl betaine, flavour, colour, titanium dioxide, sodium lauryl sulfate.... Do we really need all these ingredients, many of which are toxic, to help prevent plaque and cavities?

Good dental hygiene is important at preventing tooth decay. But there are alternatives to our toxic modern toothpastes. In the early 1900s people used baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean teeth. Have you every cleaned your teeth with baking soda? It's gross. The Cosmetic Database has a list of best toothpaste picks. We use Weleda Children's Tooth Gel for Monkey, and for ourselves... we are still using up the many tubes of Colgate and Crest that I have stashed away :)

What's your favorite toothpaste? Would you consider switching your toothpaste for a less toxic alternative?

Real Milk

Picture from www.heritagedairy.org

We drink about 4L of milk each week. I've try to cut back our milk consumption by using less of it and trying to replace it with alternatives but Hubby is anti-soy milk and anti-any other milk substitutes. Cow's milk was never a huge deal when I was growing up. Sometimes it was rice milk, other times almond milk or even soy milk. It didn't really matter as long as we didn't have to eat our cereal dry.

I've resigned myself to buying cow's milk, but I've decided that I want it to be the healthiest cow's milk we can get. I've checked out our local health food store where they sell conventional cow's milk as well as certified organic cow's milk. The organic milk is definitely better because it doesn't contain GMOs, antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, artificial colours or preservatives (but it's expensive!). I bought a bottle of it yesterday and it tastes good. The organic moo juice has more flavour than the supermarket counterpart and it would go great with a chocolate chip cookie :)

Then I came across the idea of real milk. That's right - raw milk. The non-pasteurized kind that's illegal to sell in Canada and the US. I'm starting to look into the health and safety issues around raw milk and it is inter-resting! There are many health benefits for raw milk over pasteurized conventional milk and it can be very safe to consume.

Realmilk.com promotes the consumption of "Real (raw) Milk" or "milk that is full-fat, unprocessed, and from pasture-fed cows" They do NOT recommend "consumption of raw milk from conventional confinement dairies or dairies which produce milk intended for pasteurization".

I've always wanted a cow but there's no room in our city backyard for one. We'll have to stick to raising meat rabbits for now. However! there is a Raw Milk Herd Share Program that serves our city. It's completely legal because you use the raw milk that you get from your "share of the herd".  I've sent the farm an email to see if there are any shares available... would you drink raw milk?

Summer Reading

I really wish I had more time to read. Right now I'm trying to read so many different books. The tower on my night stand is bordering on outrageous and I have to be careful not to topple it over every time I walk by. Want to know what my tower is made up of?

At the base of the tower:
Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects (great book!)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Composting
Container Gardening For Dummies
Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

The center of the tower:
Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard: A Complete Planting Guide for 40 Vegetables and Herbs, from Bok Choy and Chinese Parsley to Mung Beans and Water Chestnuts
The Future of Food (DVD)
Becoming Jane (DVD)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (DVD)
The Profitable Hobby Farm, How to Build a Sustainable Local Foods Business

And the top of the tower:
Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva's Down-to-Earth Guide to Organic Gardening (great read!)
The Conscious Kitchen: The New Way to Buy and Cook Food - to Protect the Earth, Improve Your Health, and Eat Deliciously (highly recommended!)
Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition
An Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman (Fitzwilliam Darcy Gentleman) (thoroughly enjoying!)
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (very interesting!)

For more fun bookplates go to myhomelibrary.org

A Guest Post By My SIL

Here is a guest post by my SIL. I've been meaning to post it for a while now. She also has a blog and maybe if enough people ask for her blog address she'll allow me to link up to it :)

Hi Everyone!

I am here to appeal to your more adventurous side. Don't worry, I don't want you to try something scary like... rabbit... but when you first read the recipe you are probably going to be skeptical. I was too at first but after reading everyone's raving reviews I knew I had to try it.

Kale chips. I know... trust me I know it sounds weird but they are amazing! They are crunchy, flaky, and delicious! I promise they taste nothing like you think they will.

You no longer need to pass by the kale section of your grocery store, stop! Buy some! You will be glad you did.

Here are the directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F

Break kale into approximately 2x2 inch pieces.

Lay kale on baking sheet (not too close together or it will steam and be soggy) and drizzle with olive oil. (I use olive oil PAM because it coats the leaves better)

Sprinkle with salt

Bake for 6-8 minutes or until crunchy- baking time will depend on the size of your pieces of kale.

See? Easy as pie! My three year old daughter and I argue over who gets the last one even when there is a new pan of them cooking. They are that good.