Resonant Frequency

Who doesn't love twirly skirts and striped tights?

Maddy was given this outfit as a gift, and she is in love with it.  Much of the time spent in these clothes was spent twirling.  Spontaneous exclamations of "I'm a ballerina!" and "Look at me 'pinning!" were heard repeatedly.  She was giddy with delight at the prospect of wearing such a poofy, flouncy, girly skirt.  See?

 

In a mostly vain attempt at capturing the skirt in all its fullness, I had her pose at one of the windows.  This is the only non-blurry picture.  I am not kidding about the twirling.

 

Those of you with little girls....or those who used to be little girls.....what was *your* favorite twirly skirt?  If you have pictures to back it up, that would be a bonus!  It's fun for me to show pictures of my twirly girl, but it's even more fun to look at pictures of other twirly girls!
 

Ani Phyo, I love you.

Ani Phyo is a stunningly beautiful eco raw food chef.  She has several books out about this subject, and I have 2 of them.

This recipe is a combination of her chocolate torte bars and her 'cream cheese' frosting, both from this book.  They taste even better than they look.  I brought a few of these to a party last weekend and they were a hit.  Warning: make sure you keep a good supply of these at HOME, for YOU!  Because people at parties will EAT THEM! 

 

Raw goodness.

Look mom, my belly has a secret door!

Just a sampling of the conversation this morning.  You'll notice a bit of a theme here....Maddy is obsessed with nursing. 

A: You go so fast up the stairs - I'm going to change your name to Speedy!

M: I go 20 miles.  I'm so 'peedy!

***

M sitting on potty, talking to her pink penguin named Flipsy....

M: You are my daughter.  When you were a baby, you were in my belly.  And then I opened the door to my belly and let you drink milk from my boobies.

***

M getting on the scale....

M: I need to see how many years I weigh!

***

M wanting to be lint-rolled because I just used the roller....

M: Can you fluff me?  Because I'm a little dusty.

***

M talking about boobies (again!)....

M: Mommy, can we have 'Baby F' over to play?

A: No, she can't come over because she needs to be with her mommy. 

M: Because she drinks milk from her mommy's boobies?

A: Yes.

M: But you can give her milk from your boobies.

A: No, I don't have any milk in my boobies.

M: Well, I can pretend to feed 'Baby F' from my boobies.

A: Hmm.

~pause~

M: Wait a minute, I don't have boobies!

***

It's a laugh a minute over here!

Monkeys still fall out of trees*

* This is a direct quote from Russell James.

If you don't know who Russel James is, do yourself a favor and take a peek at his gourmet raw food.  He's an amazing chef who makes me drool when I see his food.  I really liked his post about getting back on track.  Because yes, monkeys DO fall out of trees - and who knows better how to swing from tree to tree than a monkey?  Go ahead, read his post and then get back on whatever wagon you were riding before you fell off, you crazy monkey!

I'm a real foodie!

I just realized that I qualify to be listed in the Foodie Blog Roll.  I feel like Pinocchio - I *am* a real boy (or girl, as the case may be)!  I *am* a real foodie! 

Now I just have to figure out how to insert the widget.  Wow, does that sound risque.  Not at all what it sounds like, trust me Dad!

This morning's smoothie was spinach, nashi, apple, berries, and a banana.  It made 2 mason jars worth of swamp juice.  It kept me going until 2p!  What was in *your* smoothie this morning?

Check this out!

http://www.ctffe.com/

A friend (Hi Shawna!) sent this link to me today and I am so excited to find this service here in CT.  I haven't ordered from them and therefore can't comment too much about it, but I plan on taking advantage of fresh, seasonal produce very soon!  The store opens tonight and stays open through the weekend.  Go take a peek at the artisan breads and cheese, too!

Orange salad with chewy pink treats

......It's amazing how you'll describe something to get kids to eat it.  Orange salad with chewy pink treats covers 2 favorite colors and the word 'treats' always gets some face time!

This is actually a carrot/apple salad with walnuts and dried cranberries.  I do not eat carrots.  I eat this.  it is THAT good.

Here's the recipe:

2c shredded carrots

2 shredded apples

juice from 1 lemon

3T agave nectar

1.5oz crushed pecans (or almonds, or nut of your choice)

50g dried cranberries (unsweetened or juice sweetened, if you can find them)

pinch of ginger, pinch of salt

Mix it all up and enjoy.  I'm told it tastes even better when it sits overnight, but the batch I made today will be gone before bedtime.  I found several recipes online that were similar and I made the subs you see here.  It's worth a try.  I would even bring a big double batch of this to a party - yes, it's good enough to serve to friends!

Raw Food Rehab

Wow.  This site is awesome!  I did it - I joined the 11 week Raw Food Rehab challenge.  The attitude over there is precisely the way I feel.  No, I don't plan on being 100% raw.  Just small changes can make a big difference, though....and that's what they promote at RFR.  I'm enjoying a GIANT smoothie this morning made with 1/2 banana, frozen berries, 1 giant handful of spinach, 1 big nashi, and water and stevia.  It made over 32 ounces worth of deep purple goodness.  Just the color alone makes me happy!

If you're worried about the spinach in your smoothie, let me assure you that you won't even taste it.  Use fresh baby spinach and seriously - you're getting a generous serving of greens into your diet without even knowing it!  If you're impetuous and desiring to try this today....and all you have on hand is old freezer burnt crusty chopped frozen spinach....don't put that into your smoothie.  Trust me on this one.  It makes it difficult to try again with the fresh stuff, and you'll be turned off of the concept for weeks until you're talked into trying it again.  Don't make that mistake, just use the fresh stuff and learn from Audrey's School of Impatience.  The fresh greens are the only way to go.  Incidentally, this will work with any greens.  I find that sweet baby lettuce leaves no discernable taste at all.  Spinach is very neutral as well.  Using a bold salad mix is questionable, but if you're making a veggie juice (a homemade V8, if you will) it's the bomb!  Have fun and experiment!

Vegan 'Cream' of Broccoli soup

Oh, this one is so good and easy I just had to post about it!  I googled 'vegan cream of broccoli' and from the wonderful options that resulted, I made this tasty bowl.

Ready for the recipe?  The entire process takes about 10 minutes - and that's a generous estimate!

1 bag frozen broc/cauli mix

1 onion (rough chop)

2t chopped garlic

splash of olive oil

salt

pepper

italian spices (or whatever spices you want)

Microwave the cauli/broc until it's done.  While this is steaming, sautee the chopped onion in the oil until translucent.  Add the garlic, stir it up a bit, remove from heat.  Pour the cooked cauli/broc into the blender.  Add the onion/garlic.  Salt generously, pepper to taste, add spices.  Add enough water to almost cover the mixture (tweak this amount to suit your preference of creaminess).  Blend.  Enjoy.

Progress!

We've figured out what went wrong with the changeover (EBCAK)* and we're making good progress in fixing it.  I've fixed all posts from 2009 and 2008, and will be fixing the 2005-2007 posts within the next week.  Thanks for your patience!

*Error Between Computer And Keyboard.  Also known as operator error.  Mea culpa.