Two Potato Kale Soup

Snow gently falling all morning put me in the mood for soup. Potato kale soup is one of my favorites and my basic recipe for it is here. 
If you read my blog regularly, you know I have trouble sticking to a recipe, even when it is my own. I always seem to need to tinker with recipes and change things. One of my grandmothers always cooked this way, no recipes. It would make me so mad when I would ask her how to make something and she would say "a pinch of this" and "just enough of that", "until it is done". When I was young I needed an exact recipe to follow. Now I cook like her, but I  usually write down what I use so I can share my recipes and my girls can make the recipes they like.

Read more »

Read more...

Beet Smoothie

When my brother told me the other day that he's been putting beets in his smoothies, I knew I would have to try it. I love adding beet greens to smoothies, but for some reason it never occurred to me to also add the actual beets. I love beets, but sadly my children did not inherit that taste from me. So adding them to smoothies is a great way to add this powerhouse to their diets. Beets are loaded with folate and manganese as well as fiber and vitamin c. Beets are anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. The betacyanin which gives them their color is a cancer fighting agent. They also make the smoothies an amazing color.

Read more »

Read more...

Birthday Fun

Last night my daughter and I went to a meeting at the college she wants to attend, and when we got home this was waiting for me!! While we were gone, my other daughter sneakily baked this cake for me for my birthday :)  ( I love you, girls!) While I have never been a big fan of cake, I prefer more fruity, healthier offerings, this is one cake I absolutely adore. Since it's my birthday, I'll enjoy every sugary, fat-filled bite without remorse. And knowing all the love that went into making it, I'll even have a second piece, savoring every morsel. The recipe for this cake is  here  if you are interested, I adapted it from an Ina Garten recipe. It could easily be healthied up if you choose.

Here are some famous folks who share my birthday:

Nancy Hanks Lincoln- Feb. 5, 1784 ( mother of Abraham Lincoln)

Lafayette Benedict Mendel -February 5, 1872 (American biochemist known for his work in nutrition)

Andrew Greeley- Feb. 5, 1928 (author)

Hank Aaron-Feb. 5, 1934

Don Cherry- Feb. 5, 1934 ( Canadian ice hockey commentator- I love this guy,he's so much fun and he wears the most outlandish suits!)

Christopher Guest- Feb.5, 1948 (from SNL)

Some things that happened on this day in history:

1922- The first issue of Readers Digest Magazine was published.

1936- The National Wildlife Federation was formed.

1958- The US Airforce lost a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Savannah, Georgia and has never found it.

1981- The world's largest Jell-O was made.(9246 gallons of watermelon flavored) ( all I can say is yuck!)

I'll be back on Monday with some healthier fare. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Read more...

Natural Winter Hand Care for Cracked Fingertips

My winter hiatus is now over, and everyone is feeling much better. Thanks for your kind words! I finished painting my library/craft room and am getting everything put back and organized.  All of the scrubbing, painting and clean-up has taken a toll on my hands, as has this brutally cold weather of late. So today I am sharing some of my winter hand care tips and recipes.

Excessive hand washing removes moisture and natural oils from the skin. Most commercial liquid hand soaps contain unhealthy harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances. The extreme cold also works to dry and damage the skin. This can result in dry, chapped hands or even painful cracks in the fingertips near the edges of the nails. They resemble deep paper cuts, and while they don't look like much they can cause a lot of pain and interfere with simple everyday tasks. Little things like fastening a button, typing, writing, or any craft work become painful and difficult. If you have ever suffered from this, you know how challenging it is to work with bandaids on every fingertip. If you are lucky enough to never suffer from "winter hands", but like to avoid harsh chemicals and  do things as naturally as possible, you may also enjoy my hand care recipes.

Read more »

Read more...

House Full of Sickies

Just a quick update to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you. Work on the room has had to stop for a while, as well as cooking, due to the stomache flu making the rounds here, one by one. I was third to get it. It's been 3 days now and I'm just beginning to feel better. My daughter came down with it last night and since this is finals week, she missed two final exams today. Not a good time to be sick! Two of the kids still haven't gotten it, and while I hope they don't, I am not holding my breath. So no food posts till next week, and hope you all stay healthy!!

Read more...

Tea and Creativity

As I wrote a few weeks ago, our last guinea pig is now gone. The library/office was once also my craft/sewing room, but I gave that up 7 years ago so that our small herd of cavies could have a comfy home. We built them a cage that took up nearly an entire wall in the library, and it went through many renovations involving adding ramps and upper levels. It was great fun. Now that the cage has been dismantled, I am reclaiming my craft/sewing space and redoing the whole room. I am in the process of deciding on a paint color- it's a tough choice. I've narrowed it down to two opposite colors; one is bright, creative and artsy-fartsy, the other subdued and relaxing. The one I like best keeps changing, depending on what mood I'm in.

I am also looking for a new desk. After using a right-handed desk for 25 years this lefty has had enough! I've been shopping around and found something at IKEA that would work. But I don't really love anything I have seen at the furniture stores. I love old things. I love things with a history. So I've started browsing around at antique shops. I think I could live in one. I never knew how much fun antiquing is. Those who know me may be shocked- this could actually turn me into a shopper! While I was looking at old shelves, tables and cubbies that could be used for yarn storage, I came across the awesome tea strainer spoon in the photo above. For the sum of $3.81 I got the coolest tea accessory ever. Even though I made no progress on shopping for the room, I came home extremely happy and made myself a cup of tea.

Read more »

Read more...

Spinach Mushroom Tortillas

While I sometimes enjoy making complicated dishes, I don't always have hours to spend in the kitchen. Today, with the glut of fast, processed food,  people think you have to spend all day cooking in order to eat healthy. Good vegetarian or vegan food doesn't have to take lots of time.

This was a yummy, filling and fast meal that I threw together to clean out the fridge. It is also my submission to  The Healthy Cooking Challenge  at Alicia's wonderful blog Vegan Epicurean. This month, her challenge is to make a family favorite recipe healthy and vegan. Years ago, these tortillas would have contained meat and cheese. Now they are much healthier, and they taste better too.

Read more »

Read more...