I had two new residents in my vegetable garden this year. The first one was something I seeded, expecting something else, much smaller in size. The second one, we got from our neighbors because they didn't have the space to plant everything they grew for their science project. This is the flowers of one of the "seven" Russian "Mammoth" … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2012
Book review: Omnivore’s Dilemma
This week’s book is not a children’s book. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a non-fiction book about nutrition and health, which I highly recommend everyone, who wants to figure out how to eat healthy in the age of industrialization, to read. Definition of Omnivore in the dictionary is “an animal or person that eats … [Read more...]
How to Make Baked Kale Chips
I have been reading the kale chips, the queen of the healthy snacks craze on many blogs. I had planted kale in my vegetable garden this year and oven-baked kale chips one of the recipes I tried with my kale harvest. First, I washed the leaves thoroughly and cut the stems off. I also cut the rather thicker midribs off. Then I dried them well, … [Read more...]
Why I love family vacation
After 7 days of teachers union strike, public schools started 2012-2013 school year today. The extended summer break came to an end. Before the summer break, among most of the parents around me and on the blogs that I read, the main consensus about vacation was “a vacation is not a vacation when it's with kids”. I seem to be the one of the few … [Read more...]
How to quickly defrost frozen meat without microwave
I've listed what kind of foods and dishes that I prepare and freeze in case of emergencies in my "The foods and dishes that every practical mama keep in their freezer" post. I freeze a lot of meat patties, meat balls, poultry and fish for last minute lunch/dinner prep. When you freeze meat, any kind, the safest and healthiest way to unfreeze or … [Read more...]
Decorative bunk bed curtains for children
Since the children moved into their bunk beds, I have been planning to sew decorative curtains that would reflect their own interests and likes. We went to the fabric store together and they picked their own patterns. I wanted to get a black sky, stars and galaxies fabric like the one I used for a shirt for my son, we could only find this blue. … [Read more...]