I am thankful for my very own LILACS!

May25

Check out these babies! I hoped and nurtured and watched and hoped and loved and cheered and hoped and it was all worth it because I have ONE spindly sprig of lilacs of my very own. They are a glorious lavender color and smell well, like lilacs!! Proud mama that I am, I had to show you, since some of you have been cheering them on also. See, the fruits of your labor are grand. I wish I could share the scent with everyone but computers aren’t that good, yet.

Out of the 5 bushes I have, this is the one blossom, only one blossom this year. I’m thinking that next year even my neighbors will need a gas mask for the lilac smell coming from these spectacular bushes! Thank you Sue and Gib for your generous gift of lilac goodness.

What is your favorite flower? Leave me a comment, tell me, I’m so curious :-)

While you’re at it…what’s your favorite tea? The right answer is…GROOVE TEA! You can restock your tins on our web site. It is good for my family because today is the last day of my husband’s job. Seriously. No job blogs coming soon.

With big lilac love! Peace all,

-cathy

Charlie Brown’s teacher

May24

Nothing makes me happier than seeing little ones enjoying the making of art. We had a gathering for two days during school vacation week. Funny, the class was really for school kids so they would have somewhere to go while school was out. But two of the 4 kids there were homeschoolers. We could have stayed home those days too and done the usual, oh, things like hanging poor George by his feet! Have I said before that I don’t understand little boys?

We didn’t stay home, we wanted to make art! I’m so glad we did. When you give a kid paper and something to make marks with, they don’t ask what you want or what are we doing or what should I draw, they just go, start, dive right in. They totally KNOW already what to make/draw/sketch/pattern. And they all do something different. They go to that place of well-being, their little cave of creativity and just start making marks. This is a very special process to watch. Not only watch, to be amazed by. 

The children are a fluster of energy while we were passing out their supplies, making sure they all got everything. Then, it quiets down. whooooooo. A big sweeping breath. Everything and everyone settles. That is a beautiful moment. 

The project was sort of involved and sort of simple. We had 5 hours on each of two days. 10 hours to make art, seriously? Seriously. Heaven. Sometimes my kid can’t focus on one thing for a single minute, sometimes I have to peel him away from the art table, reading desk viewing window microscope you get the idea. This project held their attention. It held my attention.

The woman running the show was incredible. Warm, so peaceful with the kids. Not a single worry about mess due to general sense of everything is ok, and genius pre-planning and taping down a big ole sheet of heavy paper to catch the spills drips and drizzles.

Now there are some happy feet!

I would have been a nervous wreck “don’t spill that watch out be careful go slowly blah blah blah”. I turn into Charlie Brown’s teacher, barking out nonsense. But not Allyson, smooth Allyson. 

After the days were over, the kids had two huge pieces of art to look at, marvel at, be happy with! Mostly the kids enjoy DOING art, not so much the end piece, but the action of making art color textures smiles.

The wood panels will hang in different places in our little valley and that should give the artists all a reason to smile wide and long. Making art together is the best thing in the world.

Peace all

-cathy

P.S. Buy tea. Tons of it. We’ll be able to afford more paint:-)

 

Heaven in a job loss

May22

Cathy here. I’ve known Amy for over a year, which is not long, not really. We met because we started working together. If you saw our little valley you’d wonder how we didn’t know each other already. This is a relatively small place. We got connected thru a friend for work, and from there on will be history. We thought we would let you into some of our email conversations. You get to peer into the window of our friendship, our relationship. They all are interesting, relationships that is. I think they are fascinating, how things evolve, who takes on what roles etc. And then over time, how they change.

My world has shifted because my husband’s job will end at the end of this week, May 25. This is something that never used to frighten us because we both used to freelance. Me as an artist and him as a pilot. This time is very different because we have a house and a child and two cars and and a dog and peepers and lilacs and TEA! The biggest challenge, I think, will be in our heads. That’s how it is with most challenges, they are in our heads. At least that’s what my 46 and counting years is beginning to make evident as I watch my life and my happiness and those around me. If in my head I am telling myself it is ok, then it is. If I resist, well then let the struggle begin.

A conversation between friends, a balm for the soul. Over tea, even better. For now, over email will have to do.

Below is the conversation between Amy and I. My writing is in boldface. Let us know, give us a comment or a LIKE or some indication on how you feel about your new voyeur status. Ha, love that.

Subject: Heaven in a job loss
Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 10:00:55 -0400

Howdy Amy,

My husband’s job ends in two weeks, 9 days, I could probably figure out the number of hours but I’ll save that for next week when the hours are looming more brightly/darkly. I know you’ve been in this situation before, the dad at home all day, money a bit  more precarious. Well, for us, the money much more precarious than before because my money is unreliable (but I’m sure right on the brink of the big time!) at this point. I had such a great freelance business before we had a baby, then I watched my job die. Out of necessity, but still. 

Hubby and I always used to work in a different way, putting our life together as we went along. He worked seasonally and I always freelanced graphics and illustration. During that era my work was more steady. My challenge was in enjoying the times off when I had them, instead of worrying myself about WHEN the work would come. The work always did come. 

Why does this feel differently? Because we have a kid. And a house. And zillions of frogs and fish and a dog and and and!

This all does not negate how excited I am AT THE SAME TIME! Meet Ms. Jekyl and Mrs. Hyde. When I think of sharing homeschooling responsibilities with the Dad, having time to do my painting that doesn’t have a very small numeral and an a.m. after it is VERY exciting. I am exhausted. I am excited!

Any words of wisdom?

Peace,
cathy

 

On May 14, 2012, at 10:52 AM, amy carst wrote:

Hey Cathy,
Wow.  I always get excited about major transformations like this.  Any time I feel I am about to encounter a major change, I start thinking about all of the reasons it’s going to be great.  Even under circumstances that most people would find less than ideal, like losing a job.  This has been a major benefit in my life, where lots of significant, life changing transformations have occured.  But it can also be a little detrimental.  It is common for me to get so hyped up by a change, that I dismiss all negatives.  Some of these negatives could have been dealt with and overcome if I had met them head on, but completely ignoring negatives can often turn them into nightmarish monsters, ten times as big as they were at the start.  So, my short advice to you is embrace the change, look at all of the positives within it – because there are many - but don’t ignore the negatives.  Especially in your current situation, the negatives (at least in my experience) are fairly maleable (i.e. you can mold them into positives).

The positives are:

You used to make more money because you had more time.  Now you will have more time again.  And you work in an industry that provides a lot of freelancing design opportunities that can be done from the comfort of your home, on your own time.  With your husband around more to help with homeschooling, etc., you will have more time to work on these projects again.

I don’t know how your husband felt about his job…maybe he loved it.  But if he didn’t, or if he felt anything was missing, he has an amazing opportunity to move on to something that he DOES love, something that ISN’T “missing anything.”  A job is a sense of security and a paycheck.  For those reasons, among others, it is often hard to leave a job we don’t like.  But being forced into leaving our job can open our mind to possibilities that we were blind to before.

Your husband is a great dad, and he is already very involved in your little guy’s life.  And the same was always true for my husband, even when he wasn’t home with the kids.  He’s a devoted dad.  But the time that he spent as a stay at home dad created this amazing bond between him and all 3 of our kids.  The two littlest ones, who got to experience the bulk of this “extra time with daddy” are so close to him that I sometimes get jealous :)   It is an experience that will stay with them, and him, forever.

The negatives are:

Men tend to “identify” with their career.  It is part of them.  Therefore, if they are not working, something within them is missing.  That can be an aggravating state of emotion for women who “just don’t get it.”  I mean, for us, it is sometimes the opposite.  When we work too much, we feel like something within us is missing, because we are “supposed to be” home with the kids. How can they not be 100% fulfilled by staying home with the kids, making their own schedules, getting to sleep in and take naps?  I guess the truth is, many women don’t feel fulfilled by that either.  We all want a separate sense of self, an identity that is not dependent on our kids, our jobs, our spouses, or anything other than the essence of who we really are.  But…for men, SOCIETY adds yet another layer.  They are SUPPOSED to have a job and provide for their families.  As progressive as our culture is becoming, especially in our area, this is still an underlying belief.  My advice?  Give him SUPPORT and UNDERSTANDING.  It usually takes at least a few weeks or months for the euphoria to start fading and uncertainty to set in.  If you can show him that you understand what he is going through, and keep giving him your support, it will make a world of difference.  I am also an advocate of the part time job.  Obviously, supplemental income is great…but it’s more for a sense of self, contribution, and drive than for the money.  But the money helps :)

Another negative (especially with you working from home as well), A LOT more FACE TIME!  That can be wonderful…but it can also be difficult, especially when one of you is in a bad mood.  And since you homeschool, all 3 of you are going to be together A LOT.  But all 3 of you being at home doesn’t mean you always have to be together.  Schedule dad days and mom days.  These are days where you have to take your son out of the house for the day.  And then schedule DAD days and MOM days to be alone.  Maybe Monday is Dad and kiddo day, Tuesday is Mom and kiddo day, Wednesday is Mom’s FREE day, Thursday is Dad’s FREE day, and Friday is half and half.  Figure that you always have the weekends and evenings together anyhow.  This will help keep everyone sane, AND you will BOTH get more FREE time in your week to do WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT :)

I am excited for you.  You guys are already so self sufficient and sustainable (a lot more than I am, but I’m working on it).  That is going to make this transition even easier.  You make so much of your own “stuff” and food (plus we’re going into growing season, then canning season), you are connected to bartering communities (and my guess is, you will find many more).  Get yourself some chickens (they are fun, cheap, and easy to take care of), plant extra veggies and herbs this year, and start bartering some of your beautiful art for whatever else you might need.  Your ART is worth more than money, anyhow :)

Amy

Subject: Re: Heaven in a job loss
Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 22:29:48 -0400

Amy,
You know, I was checking in with you because the funny thing is…most people, when they hear someone has been laid off, they freak out! They want to be upset, get upset, feel upset. But we have been feeling completely differently. So I tell people with a glimmer in my eye and they come back at me with a response as if someone has died, actually, like it is the worst thing EVER. “I’m so sorry, oh my gosh, what are you going to do?”

But I’m excited about our big lifestyle change. I want to tell them what we’re going to do is have a celebration! I thought you would get that.

We may be in the process of being pushed out to sea, sort of making it up as we go along. There are not many people I know doing life this way. Seat of the pants living! Aligning with corporate culture never was my thing. I stopped working FOR someone in 1994, and since then have worked successfully for myself. I think we will be better off without the 9-5, or should I say 6:30-6. We will though have different or no health insurance. But much of the time we use alternative care modes anyway. I can’t see the solutions to every single thing right now, but I’ve lived long enough to know that the answers usually appear when they are needed, or asked for.

I love your list. You have reminded me of little ways to stretch what will be at first, fewer dollars:  making our own stuff, bartering I LOVE bartering it is so satisfying, bigger garden to more encompass our winter needs, canning, freezing (bought a new upright freezer last fall), maybe a new root cellar, who knows! We also are trying to raise fish as our protein for the winter. We’ll see how the trout enjoy and hopefully thrive in our pond. I’ll keep you posted.

The point you raise about your kids and their enhanced relationship with their Dad is probably my favorite piece to hear. Right now my son is SO into his Daddy. A natural process for an attached boy to meander more toward Dad at this age. That in itself has been a big change for our little family.

Just tonight we sat together and planned which of the Flynn Student Matinee shows we would each take him to during the 2012/2013 season. Already we are planning how to do the homeschooling together. I am hearing grumblings about protecting “work” time. I hereby vow to stay focused on the goal, seat of the pants living, me flexing and bending when necessary. There will be growing pains for sure. And the face time, a lot of extra face time, oh boy. (Good thing I married a handsome face:-)

In my mind, moving into the next several days, well, there are 5 work days left, I will watch what I think. I’ll be sure to imagine the best of the best. 

Peace
-cathy

On May 16, 2012, at 6:30 AM, amy carst wrote:

And I forgot one of the best parts of everyone working at, or from, home.  If you use this opportunity to build your freelancing work back up to a point that you are comfortable with, you can travel – whenever you want.  You are no longer tied to a 5 day work week.  You are no longer location dependent.  Obviously, at the beginning, when you are figuring out the financial side of things, traveling is not going to be a top priority.  But this is just a snapshot in time.  You are at this beautiful crossroads.  Crossroads can be the absolute best spot to sit down for a moment, think about what you really want out of life, and take the road that will lead to that outcome.  Kids are great at doing this.  Their minds are not clouded with society’s ideas of how it’s “supposed” to work.  They just do what they want to.  When you are stripped of the obligations you’ve created for yourself over the years, it’s almost like you’ve been given a second chance to be a child, for a minute.  Think like a kid, Cathy :)

-Amy

Dear Amy,
Good point. We used to travel so much. When one of our contracted jobs ended, we would set out and drive to a spot and be there for a month or so. Live in a tent and out of the back of our car, oh, back in the day! I’d keep working, or shift my schedule as much as I could. It wasn’t easy because that was still fax machine/fedex era, not instant internet file transfer to printers era. I worked out of a lot of truck stops, funny really. We had always planned to drive around and hike and camp when we had a kid. My son is more able to do road trips now, so it will be our chance to be more on the move. How completely exciting. I want to go back out west again, say hello to the road runners. Soon… 

 Peace
-cathy

Tortilla Soup = perfection x3

May21

I’ve been making this recipe for 16 years. We learned it from our buddies in Louisiana. It’s written on one of those pieces of paper that has the hand writing of mine of long ago, less messy, less hurried. It has spills and folds and little doodles and is the Velveteen Rabbit of my recipes, well worn and well loved. My husband loves this enough that HE will actually make it. He will. And, he doesn’t make much: cereal, tea (not sure that even counts), pop tarts (eeewwwwww), eggs and hmmmmmmm eggs.

Tortilla soup perfection reason #1: it is a fun recipe for you and your family people tribe.

Perfect reason #2: this is a GREAT recipe to make if you have a group of people coming to eat. Make it earlier in the day and leave it on your stove. Just a quick shot of heat and you’ll be ready to go. These flavors taste better the more they mingle with each other. Most folks like to add their own garnish so put everything out in it’s own colorful bowl and do a self garnishing event. Kids are so into it. Make sure you have enough of the fun stuff to garnish with. My son also likes to put black olives and they are really pretty on top of the red soup.

Perfection reason #3: it is great to make and freeze half so you’ll seem more like Martha Stewart than I ever do and can pull a bing score! recipe out of the freezer after a long day and it’ll be ready in minutes. Yay, mom’s a hero!!!!

See what you think and let me know.

TORTILLA SOUP

3 tablespoons corn oil

4 corn tortillas, chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely choopped

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 cup fresh onion puree

2 cups tomato puree (yummy if fresh, still yummy if not)

1 tablespoon cumin powder

2 tesaspoons chili powder

2 bay leaves

4 tablespoons tomato puree (I usually just add more puree)

2 quarts stock

salt to taste

cayenne to taste

FOR GARNISH:

avocado strips or cubes

shredded cheese (Vermont cheddar of course)

3 corn tortillas cut into thin strips and fried crisp, and salted

Heat oil in a large saucepan and sauté tortillas with garlic and cilantro until the tortillas are soft. Add onion and tomato puree and boil. Add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, and stock. Boil then reduce to simmer. Add salt and cayenne to taste and cook, stirring frequently for 30 minutes. Serve in fun bowls with tons of extra bigger love and garnish with avocado, cheese and crisp tortilla strips. Super Y.U.M.

While I have your attention, is there a blog with recipes that you adore? Comment me here with the link. If you turn me onto a gem I’ll send you an art print. I will! I dare you, share with me!

Peace all

-cathy

Gratitude Friday: a dented car and 3 friends

May18

As I write and think and wait for ideas and get ideas and lose ideas and write and write and write, one of the themes that pops into my head is about being thankful. Is it more difficult for me to thank people in person than it is to write about them all over the internet? It seems so yes. I’m a closet screamer, shouting out my gratitude while being hidden!

Today I have something I really want to shout about. My car got hit, while in a parking spot, in our state’s lovely capital, on a sunny day outside the library while we were innocently inside at a book club meeting for home schoolers. La la la we go happily walking over to the car and gah!! What’s this?! A big dent and ugly new scrape my dark blue shimmery paint is mixed up with hideous interrupting loud white paint that’s not ever supposed to be there all the way down to the metal. Why is my headlight not straight, things are NOT RIGHT!  WHO DID THIS?!

I have about 17 emotions at once. And my little boy is there with me, concerned as well, taking his cues from me, gotta act cool. Gotta act ok. We’re in the road, not much traffic, but still. Why isn’t there  a big lovely note and a ton of roses attached to my windshield, singing loudly and publicly the apology for this rude violation, while I wasn’t even there to see who did this? Nothing.

Except…here’s the good part…two women and a baby are across the street waiting for me. Is this your car? Yes. “We saw this white truck hit your car and keep driving. He’s parked over there.” Wow, these two women, I DON’T EVEN KNOW THEM, were there to help me. They had stopped their activities, baby in tow and everything,  waiting for me. For the only reason and this is the part that I ADORE… so they could help. The sky got brighter, I am certain I heard a few angels singing (non-religious angels, just the sweet and generous ones) and things didn’t seem so bleak. I still felt alone, and not quite sure what to do next, and always aware of my son right there, watching, taking notes for use in later life. He’s safe, off the street, but now my attention is splintered in so many different directions…do I go up to the virtual criminal who didn’t even stop after hitting my car, what if he’s big, and rude, and mad, do I call the police (yes), do I call my husband (no I can handle this), what a hassle will insurance pay what is on our schedule so we can get the car fixed on and on. But these two women are there to help.

Good part number two…in steps my friend Susie. We had said “good bye! see you soon!” happily, a few minutes earlier. She must have seen the small fluster and seen all my evident thought bubbles…”help! why? not fair! I’m scared! call the police!” and instead of heading home, over she came. She rounded up my son and her two kids, keeping her trustworthy eye on them so I could think, act, do, solve. She talked with me. And, off we went.

We did it all, me and these three women, we did it all. Who knows how it will work out, I’ve just begun my insurance adventure. But, when I needed some help, just a wee huge bit of back up, emotional uplifting…three women were right there. I can’t believe how grateful I feel. How lucky I am.

Dear three women, your radiance transformed a sticky situation, and transformed ME today, and you changed the trajectory of what could have been awful. Your light, your time, your thoughtfulness, your empathy lifted me up and helped me out. I thank you all. I owe you all. I will indeed pass this kindness forward multiplied as many times as I can. One known and two unknown heroes.

Peace all

-cathy

Snakes Eat Frogs

May17

This creature commanded my child’s attention for well over 90 minutes. On a sunny spring day outdoors, this is no small feat. My sweet boy spotted the full size snake near one of our three man/daddy-made frog ponds. The snake and the boy must have a pact of peaceful relations because neither seemed the least bit afraid of the other. My kid is mostly fearless except for some mighty Vermont water-lovin spiders.

He called me over, “Mama! Come see!” We watched Snake do it’s snaky thing for quite some time. You can see how comfortable the snake is, even touching my son a few times. I honestly thought she might take a break from the bright sun inside his pant leg, but I didn’t say so and she kept going on her way. Her way was toward the other frog pond. Here at frog pond number two, we quietly calmly watched her peaceful ways, until, shockingly, she at an entire frog. Right in front of us. Starting with the HEAD!

I had no idea I was signing us up for the mid afternoon outdoor innocent gore-fest. Well I was and I did and there’s nothing I can do about it now. The snake positioned herself under some slate near the pond. “oh look mama, she’s taking a little rest.” Exercising much patience there it waited. Until a wood frog happened to pop up happily out of the water and then BAM! STRIKE! GROSS! “mama, frogs squeal?” “yes love.” (when their heads are being consumed while they are still alive oh no what in the world have I done?!)

My sweet boy, after it was all over, said “well, at least we got a homeschool experience out of it. And snakes need to eat too.” Amen brother.

Peace all

-cathy

Maple syrup is heaven in a bottle. Buy Groove Tea, it’s heaven in a mug.

May16

Around my house we don’t have fancy green bottles of beer. We’ll drink our beer any old way. But we do use fancy beer bottles for our maple syrup. Here’s the man, like the proud daddy he is, showing you a bottle of our 2012 extremely small but we’re grateful for any amount we can get maple syrup. Like lots of folks in our Mad River Valley, we are thankful.

We are tiny scale syrup-ers, not on any map. Definitely not playing with the big boys. We SORT of know what we’re doing but mostly make it up as we go.

Look at this stove, does it LOOK like we know what we’re doing? Ha! Really, this is all you need, a stove, tons of wood, a boiling pan that fits right on the top of this and you’re golden. This is our third year boiling, we’re young to the biz. And it is no business, we only make enough for our little three person family to eat thru the year. Here’s our haul:

Just looking at these full bottles has me all giddy in sugar-buzz anticipation. Granted, we three have a serious case of Hello-Sweet-Tooth. But in my opinion we eat it sparingly. It is in the giving of maple syrup that I feel the lesson that those mean old nuns used to talk to us about. They would tell us as little innocent kids “You know when you’ve really given something when it sort of hurts”. As a kid, I understood this as a concept, but not as something I really would ever do. Now, as a grown up still feeling like a kid, I reluctantly hand only my very worthy friends extremely small amounts of syrup, occasionally, thru gritted teeth, because I know it is good for humanity for me to share. I walk away feeling very selfish. The nuns would not be proud.

Thank goodness the indigenous people, whoever they were, discovered sap and boiled it or I’d be under the impression that all our north facing high altitude way too cold and shaded land would offer up are slugs, teeny wild strawberries that would take about a million to fill your belly for an hour, and a plentiful supply of rocks. Oh yum, serious yum! If we lived 200 years ago, my family would be that family of pitiful beggars, offering grateful smiles with missing teeth in trade for any food at all. Who needs cold rocks?

By the way, go brew some fair trade Groove Tea that is delicious and organic so you can really enjoy my maple musings and come back to read more, with a hot mug of perhaps Groove Green Genmaicha, for big people! You’ll think my blog is more amusing than it really is, because in its splendor, TEA LENDS HUMOR. And warmth. It is still rather chilly here. Tea is good. And warm.

Back to the syrup…in 2011 we figured my family went through about 5 gallons of syrup. Sounds like an extreme amount you say? What do we do, drink the stuff? Sometimes. Well, honestly 5 gallons seems like a lot to me too. But, when you make syrup and have what we would label a good year, I started incorporating it into our recipes. I sometimes use it instead of white sugar when it made sense, I put it in fresh delicious maple seltzer for a treat and do crazy things like make maple popcorn (previous blog recipe) for multiple days in a row. Go make it now, the popcorn. Tea and popcorn = you’ll be happy!

In 2011 syrup was about $50 per gallon. This spring the trees didn’t give up much sap so who knows what it will cost this year. Did our extreme weather make the trees hold onto their sap? Clearly they need it more than we do. Or would this scant season be expected no matter? We’ve not been doing this long enough for me to have a theory of my own. One day I’ll be a grizzled old Vermonter who will know all the answers. I’ll keep you posted. I do wear reading glasses, so grizzled can’t be that far away.

All of us in this area could blame it on Hurricane Irene because she WAS so mean and she DID rip our little valley to shreds and our land STILL has the darn high water mark all gray and matted and not shiny spring-like, if you know what to look for. My sweet boy still gets upset as we drive, seeing our familiar places, no snow, still marred by the flooding. Irene probably even upset the sweet non-judgmental ever-forgiving trees. The Lorax, man, he’d be so mad at Irene, what a number she did on the trees. So, I’m happy for every single drop of syrup we got. We did also have high temperatures in February that were high high higher than we sometimes ever get in the warmest parts of summer. Seriously. Has this world gone mad?

Well, I’m not mad, I’m extremely happy to have our syrup, and have it bottled and preserved, ready for popcorn and pancakes and tofu and tea. I will be in modified conservation mode, counting the drops, appreciating each tiny bit yet smaller portion of super yumminess. I’ll be hoping the sap will run like mad in spring 2013.

If you buy syrup this year and if it says Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, remember it came from hardy trees that decided to give and give and give, no matter. Thank you sweet maples!

Peace all

-cathy

Buy our tea. So my kid isn’t toothless. He can’t eat rocks. 

Cinnamon on My Mind

May15

People love our Groove Chai. I remember the first time I had it, a really long time ago on a trip to Moab, Utah. I had never ever heard of chai and ordered it one day for breakfast at this crazy place that served chai and oatmeal. Wholesome huh? All the super healthy looking locals were ordering it. Happy that I was paying attention and did what the locals do, I’ve been a fan ever since. Cinnamon is one of the many ingredients and gives chai that yummy warm hug sort of a feeling. Some days for me, the way I feel after just a sip or two is magical. If you read a bit about it you’ll see that cinnamon is amazing.

It has been written that cinnamon can lower LDL cholesterol, have a regulatory effect on blood sugar, fight cancer cells, lend relief to arthritis pain and is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium. Here’s the best part, one study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. That’s the one I like, that just sitting here, warm cup of Groove Chai in hand, surrounded by the yummy scent, can boost my brain function! This tired mama is all for that!

La Ronda Groove Chai Masala is a fabulous blend of organic fair trade black tea and ginger, clove, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns. Delicious with a teaspoon of honey and steamed milk. You can get some here!

Peace all

-cathy

Sweet & Sour Noodles, having fun on Recipe Monday!

May14

You will thank me for this recipe. It is yummy, so fast in case you have a growing child whining I’m so hungry why does this take so long I need to eat! To make this takes about as long as it takes to make a cup of tea. Tea you ask? Why yes, and while you’re at it, why not try some fair trade, organic green tea with your udon noodles, Groove Green Genmaicha is seriously delicious. Have you tried it? You should! Now try this…

UDON Noodles-Boil them up until you like how they feel.

Add:  2 Tablespoons of each

tamari

sesame oil

maple syrup

apple cider vinegar

That’s it. Lots of kids eat mac-n-cheese. Mine does too. But this recipe has the wheat udon noodles, if that is what you choose. There is some protein in just the noodles. There is no dairy if that is trouble for your little person.

AND, if you have time and the presence of mind grate some carrots, yum. Or add some tofu, perfect. Grated beets, another good option, and quite attractive. Grate some nuts = more protein. Put some tahini in with the other dressing ingredients, perfection. 

Write to me, tell me what your nutritious and GO TO recipe is when your kid has to have food NOW.

Peace

-cathy

Did you know we give 10% of our profits straight to two charities that support kids? We do. Sometimes that is not easy because my husband just got laid off. Here is a company with a heart, and a soul. And having some fun, indeed.

MOMS

May13

Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing mamas out there. I gotta say, I love my mom. The older I get, the keeps amazing me, and I’m so old. Well, if I’m honest about it, I rode her pretty hard when I was younger, but now that I am a mom AND getting older, I have the utmost respect for what this woman has done accomplished endured. She is indeed my biggest fan, unwavering no matter what rude thing I just said no matter how bad it is she is my biggest fan. She has the patience of the Buddha. Seriously. She doesn’t think a bad thing, about anyone. Maybe she should, but it wouldn’t be like her. She will ALWAYS listen. No matter if she is busy or out the door or or or. She keeps surprising me. Over and over. She’s got the strength and tenacity of some creature you wouldn’t want to mess with, like a badger, or a wolverine, but she’s not even scary! She’s nothing but kind.

Want to know how kind? Enter… bad daughter. We invited our moms, my husband and I  invited our moms to a nice swank brunch in Burlington, the big city if you live in Vermont. So my husband (who is also receiving MAJOR points for this) and my son are going to drive my mother-in-law and meet my mom at brunch and…I’m not going. I am staying home. I’m fried. I need to paint. I want paint. Must paint. So I’m staying home while my guys do the mother’s day thing. I get to stay home and paint. I do appreciate my mom AND, here’s the beauty part, she understands. She actually understands that I need to stay home and paint. How lucky am I?

I am writing today, I don’t usually write on sundays. But I want to write in honor of my spectacular mom. Of all the moms out there, I’m glad I got you.

Peace

-cathy

Order some tea in honor of your mom. Better yet, order some tea FOR your mom. She’ll be more patient and chill.