I don’t usually just link or post  a recipe on Thursday’s unless I have made it and it is actually worth sharing. This weeks plan was to share a Kale and White Bean soup. I made it but it was nothing worth sharing. So instead I planned to share my new and favorite kitchen gadgets but my poor daughter has been here all week

It is almost 10 am as I write this and she just woke up still sniffling and sneezing. My youngest germ is coughing in bed with her Dad who has been working all week until the wee hours of the morning. It’s been a rough week around here!

So that is why I am just getting around to Thursday’s post…on Friday morning afternoon.

With all the germs flying around the house, this week turned into soup week.  There was the mediocre kale and white bean and the cure all chicken noodle

Everyone has a version of chicken noodle soup. Mine is nothing special but it certainly hits the spot. I added some pea shoots to mine…soup and salad all in one bowl is a favorite of mine! There was also a beef vegetable that I made in my new lead free crock pot.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t know how I didn’t know that crock pots typically carry lead in there glaze but apparently they do. I did some googling and found that the Cuisinart brand is lead free as is Vita Clay. Both are expensive. I did a little more digging and found this Supentown Slow Cooker. And even better I found it on the cheap at Home Depot The crock is made of the same zisha, purple clay, that the Vita Clay cookers are made from.  Supentown website writes that it is not only free of chemicals but rich in natural minerals. Someday negative info may come out about this cooker too but I couldn’t find it anywhere for now.

I used my new slow cooker to make beef veg soup and all was good. It is a little bit smaller than my other crock pot but not much. But because the crock is not non stick there was a little sticking. It washed out easily and the soup tasted great. Just be sure when you store any small appliance you do not put the cord inside the pot because the soft pliable coating on the cords do contain lead…so wash your hands after use. I also read that there is lead in the coating of the heating elements in the outer part of slow cookers. I am done researching lead for a while. In other news I hear they are planning to take some of the fluoride out of our drinking water…gee thanks. it’s about time. Don’t breath or drink or eat…chemicals are every where!!! It becomes exhausting. Trying not to get too caught up in all of that!

I do know for sure that this is lead free…it is stainless steel

Also by Supentown and purchased at Home Depot this thermal cooker was way cheaper. I haven’t used it yet but can’t wait!! I have had my eye on these thermal cookers for a while but they are  very expensive and couldn’t really find a difference between the two that warranted the extra cost so we finally went with the cheaper one. I love the idea of making food and taking it with us for later, all the while it is cooking on the move with out being plugged in!!! Can’t get more energy efficient than that!

Take a look inside-a simple design!

I promise to use it soon and let you know how it works.

I love my Olympic juicer…especially for carrot juice

Last but certainly not least one of my favorite kitchen gadgets….I shared my love for this thermos before in my OUT WITH PLASTICS post.  During the winter i fill it it up with hot water so a cup of tea is only minutes away. I LOVE it!! Again no electricity used here!

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

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Now, don’t get me wrong I LOVE our library and I especially love my local branch.  We visit our library as well as other neighborhood libraries often. We rely on our library and appreciate all they do for us. But I just can’t get comfortable rewarding kids (or adults) for reading.  I didn’t (still don’t) want my librarians to know this-I am embarrassed to admit this to them. I just don’t have very high hopes that they could even begin to understand my reasons. They see me as one of their best patrons and I feel like I am letting them down by knocking  their attempts to get kids into the library and reading more. Rewards for this, rewards for that, rewards for reading over the summer too?  There must be a better way.

I don’t live in the dark-I realize that most every family  lives by these arbitrary rewards.  ( Some may even try to call them incentives.)  Homes and schools are run this way; allowance for chores, stickers for pizza parties, candy for potty training, money or presents for good grades.   I call them –just another way to coerce kids into doing what adults want. It’s all a cover up kids!!

Back to reading programs–It is true that these programs start off working as an incentive to read or at least to check out more books. (which is great for libraries–higher circulation is a primary goal of libraries. Higher circulation = more money)  Kids gear up by visiting the library and checking out lots of books and that is a great thing! Then  for 20 minutes–(checking the clock the whole time) they/you  read a book and then get to mark off a square. How many times do they bring that sheet to you asking, “Can I mark off another one? Can you read some more—-so I can mark off another one?”  See what I am getting at? It may seem like it’s all for the love of reading but it’s not–it’s for the love of filling in the stupid square and the the stupid free bookmark or  book bag or back pack that they are rewarded for finishing the summer reading program. How many parents get pissed off and just tell their kids–”Fine! Just mark off 1 square!”  *(clue #1 -kids know if they finish quickly they will get their reward)

I wonder if this reading enthusiasm wanes after they get that backpack?  We hope not-we hope the Summer reading Program turns kids into “readers” but it is doubtful that book marks and bike raffles are going to have that lasting effect on young readers.* (clue #2-once kids get there prize they are not keeping up the frantic reading pace) There is an alternative.  Really, you can avoid all those yucky feelings about keeping track of the chore called The Summer Reading Program.

As I said earlier–We are readers and my kids participate in the summer reading program and yet I am against rewards for reading. But I have a sneaking suspicion other families are going about filling in there squares a little differently than we are. As  readers, we read books, the newspaper, magazines, listen to books on tape as well as podcasts. We read while on the computer and while playing games and writing out lists or following directions both in the car at the grocery and while texting and while cooking.  These same encounters with reading are happening in your family too I bet. Reading is reading. Not just when you set the timer and read from a book.  Sort of how you can’t stop learning new things, and how school isn’t the only place to learn them. Well the summer reading program, like schools leads you to believe that reading occurs in a box  and rewarding this not only takes the enjoyment out of it but it belittles the sheer act of reading by placing an extrinsic reward on it.  I know I am a party pooper! I love a good book and totally love snuggling up with my kids to share a story. And I am all for that kind of reading too!! (I know there is a difference between reading a book and day to day literacy) But for us, ALL reading counts towards those little squares. If my kids ask if they can fill in a square I always say of course you can! See, it doesn’t matter if the timer was set or the reading was taken from a library book. You can feel just fine in saying “Yes to the square”–it’s not cheating. Use it as an opportunity to show your kids just how much they are reading. Probably more than you and they think!

So, we don’t keep track of how long my kids read from a book that someone else deems as legitimate reading material and thinking I need to make sure my kids are following the rules of the program or keeping it secret that I let little Johnny fill in a few extra squares (even though we quit reading at 15 minutes instead of 20).  In the end it is all about the prizes for the kids. Yes, they may be reading more for a short time during the summer but isn’t there a better way other than tricking them into it? And why does reading have to be a competitive sport? Isn’t it meant for totally selfish purposes?! Getting the facts and pure enjoyment?

I am not fooled by these programs–we read all the time. We feel fine filling in the squares and taking advantage of the coupons that we can use to get good stuff! I don’t use these programs to coerce my kids into pressured reading for extrinsic rewards. If you think I am batty-which is fine-you can check out what best selling author, Alfie Kohn has to say on the subject!! There are studies that prove these reward based programs are even hurting your summer reading program participants.

Can’t libraries offer new and exciting programs to lure kids in. Come on–get with the times. Kids read while playing video games!! Bring in some game designers and pull some of those books off the shelves. No, they may not be the classics but they are full of words and kids like them! Have an American Girl Summer Reading Club complete with doing some of the crafts from the books-reading the directions as well as the stories. Have a skate boarding or break dancing demo with those non fiction books pulled as well as those that lead the demo share some of their favorite books.  Have a rapping story time. Wouldn’t that be awesome?! Comic book writers could hold a workshop also. ( I am full of ideas if you want to hire me!!!)

I know there is so much more that is behind those little boxes that I don’t have answers to. Not all kids  live in literacy rich homes. But really , it is just not right to give kids stickers for reading. Don’t be fooled by thinking success equals a high number of participants and circulation. Don’t be fooled that these programs are producing kids that love to read. Maybe these summer readers are really fooling you-

*clues #1 and #2 show just how kids know how to work this rewards system

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Post tags: alternative, America, book, bookmark, chore, chores, circulation, coerce, cooking, dancing, family, free stuff, grocery, homeschool, homeschooling, incentive, incentives, Kids, Learning, librarians, Library, literacy, main stream, neighborhood libraries, non fiction, paper, Parent, parents, rain, Reader, reading, reward, rewards, stickers, story, summer, Summer Reading, summer reading program, summer reading programs, teaching, tokens, unschool, unschooling

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I love Indian food. Like really love it!! And I love chai tea. I have tried several kinds at several different places. My favorite at home is celestial seasonings decaf chai and my favorite out at a coffee shop is at Global Gallery where they grind their own spices. Mmm it’s really spicy.

Today has been a rainy chilly day here in Columbus — a perfect day for tea.

I have two Indian cookbooks checked out of the library right now that are fantastic!

INDIAN HOME COOKING by Suvir Saran and  Stephanie Lyness and INDIA WITH PASSION by Manju Malhi  The chai recipe came from the latter.

chai ka masala     spiced tea

3-4   1 1/8 inch cinnamon sticks or cassia bark

6 cloves

4 black peppercorns

6 green carmamoms  seeds only

1 black cardamom, seeds only (optional)

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

Dry roast all but ginger for 2 minutes

Cool  Add ginger and grind to a fine powder

cool completely and store in airtight container in dark place up to 6 months

add a pinch when brewing tea  1/4 tsp flavors 2 cups of tea

add to boiling water pot of tea and milk

I found my frother–it made all the difference

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This recipe may seem a bit time consuming, but once you make the curry paste it’s smooth sailing! And the curry paste recipe will keep for months in the fridge so next time you want to make this it will be even more simple!

Both of these recipes came from my new favorite cook book FEEDING THE WHOLE FAMILY

Homemade Curry Paste

makes 2 cups

1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 lb onion finely chopped, 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds, 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds,       1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, 2 Tablespoons whole mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons allspice, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon,  1/4 cup turmeric,               2 teaspoons cayenne, 1/4 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger.

whew-that’s a lot of spices!!

Heat the oil and saute the onion until very soft.

While the onions are cooking, grind the following whole spices to a fine powder in a coffee or spice grinder— cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, peppercorns and mustard. Add to the onions along with all the other spices and ginger. Let cook for 5 minutes while stirring.

Store in sealed jar in the fridge for several months.

OK now on to the GREENS IN CASHEW CURRY SAUCE

1/4 cup cashew butter (I made this real quick in my food processor), 1 Tablespoon homemade curry paste, 1 Tablespoon tamari or shoyu, 3/4 cup filtered water, 2 cups quick boiled greens.

Blend cashew butter, curry paste, tamari and water in blender until creamy (I used my food processor)

Combine greens and blended sauce in a pan and gently heat before serving.

I chopped up a bunch of kale, chard and raabini and added it to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of boiling water in my cast iron skillet with a top on it for a few minutes to steam.

Then I added the sauce.

I had some left over quinoa and added that to the greens and sauce.

I ate this for dinner several times this week. And now that I have 2 cups of homemade curry paste in my fridge, I can just whip this up real quick!

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Post tags: allspice, blender, cardamom, Cashew, cast iron skillet, cayenne, chard, cook book, cooking, coriander, coriander seeds, cumin, cumin seeds, Curry, curry paste, curry sauce, dinner, extra virgin olive oil, family, fenugreek, fenugreek seeds, Food, food processor, Ginger, GREENS, ground cinnamon, Homemade, iron, kale, mustard, mustard seeds, onion, pepper, quinoa, raabini, recipe, Recipes, SAUCE, shoyu, spice grinder, steam, tablespoon tamari, Thursday, whole cloves

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We have been eating this for breakfast and dessert this week. It tastes like a home baked treat but really it is healthy enough to enjoy any time of the day. Or even multiple times!

Apple Crumble

You will need a 9×13 pan and about 10 apples

In a food processor puree 1/2 cup of raisins (I used 1/2 dates and 1/2 raisins), 2 lbs apples (about 10 small apples) with skin on, 1 tsp cinnamon

Line the pan with this mixture

For the crumble process 4 oz almonds, 5 oz pecans, 4oz oat groats soaked 8 to 12 hrs and 2-3 oz honey or agave. Add more dry oats if this is too wet.

Crumble over top of apples.

For the banana ice cream break up 4 frozen bananas into the food processor and blend until they reach a creamy consistency. This will take a while so be patient.

We added 1/2 a scraped pod of vanilla beans and a few squares of dark chocolate for chocoalte chip ice cream. Even my picky, junk food loving, husband like this ice cream!

I have seen many different additions to this ice cream–chia seeds, nuts, fruit–frozen or dried, carob powder or almond butter. I think next time I will add some mint leaves to make a mint chocolate chip.

This ice cream is really smooth and creamy and the banana flavor is not overwhelming at all.

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I even got in on the fun, as did Abby’s shadow!!

After all that fresh air everyone was sufficiently tired and crabby. And when dinner time rolled around and I stuck to my guns of, “I’m done cooking dinner for a complaining crowd”  that I made the night before. Even more crabbing and crying and carrying on ensued. I let the little monkeys fend for themselves so that they will eternally appreciate my hard work of listing, shopping, chopping, preparing, serving and cleaning up the meals (that I rarely eat by the way!!) that at the very least, one kid each night, moans about. Did they learn their lesson? Probably not. Will I cook for them tonight? Probobly-although my husband thinks I should hold out. But it’s really hard for me to watch them eat “inappropriate dinner food.”  Not that a few days of that is going to kill them, but it makes me crazy!! Along with the crying and carrying during their own meal prep and clean up. Maybe some good headphones would help!

Anyways-during that time I made my self a really great raw dinner and dessert. I did share my raw choc brownies with them-BAD IDEA!! The almost 1 cup of cocoa in them must of had enough caffeine to fuel a large tanker, because they were bouncing around until 10:00, even after all that sledding!! So what do you do during all that bouncing? Play Candyland LIVE!!

But instead of using those cute, little, bow tied, plastic people we used ourselves!

Even if we do have bad, winter pedicure disorder!

There are colored pieces of paper taped to the floor through out my house!

I call the colors and the players move accordingly!! And it is no where near as excruciatingly long as the board game!! Especially when I cheat!!

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Post tags: board game, cooking, husband, photo, photos, RAW

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Obama even made an appearance!

I spent the day with my dear friend Lynne who is wise in the ways of canning.  She helped this novice can a 1/2 bushel of peaches.  Very satisfying!!

We managed to make it through two summers at this house with no fire pit.  Last year my Mothers Day present was..you guessed it, a fire pit.  And one of the things our family really enjoys is cooking and eating around our fire ring.  Tonight we had a local spread of green beans and corn and a cucumber and tomato and fresh herb salad from our own garden.  We roasted hot dogs over the fire and completed the party with smores of course.  It’s like a short camping trip!

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Post tags: camping, cooking, friend, walk

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I really enjoy cooking…when I have a clean kitchen, time, and  people who are actually going to eat what I make.  This is usually not the case these days so my dinners are usually easy  to make and easy to clean up.  But tonight I actually made a whole Indian meal.  It wasn’t too time consuming.  I used the crock pot and the rice cooker and got those started around 12:30pm and we ate around 5:30.

I made Chicken Curry, Rice, Curried cauliflower, Cucumbers and sour Cream and heated up some Naan.

The Sri Lankan Chicken Curry is really easy.  This recipe serves 4.  I always make more.

3 T oil

2 onions finely sliced

1 one inch long piece of ginger chopped

2 garlic cloves

1/2 t turmeric

1 t chili powder

2 t garam masala

14 oz boneless chix (today I used a bag of the flash frozen chix tenders)

3/4 cup plus 2 T unsweetended coconut milk

2 tomatoes quartered

1/2 t salt

heat oil in a medium saucepn.  Add onions cook till golden. add ginger, garlic and spices-mix well for one minute.  add chicken mix well cook stirring for 5 minutes.  (at this point I threw mine in the crock pot with all the rest of the ingredients!)

Pour in 1 cup plus 2 T water.  bring to a boil.  reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes

reduce heat to very low. add the coconut milk.  cook 10 minutes of until chicken is thoroughly cooked.  stir in tomatoes and salt.  cook 5 more minutes.  add fresh cilantro to taste-I add LOTS!

serve this over rice.  basmati is what we like best-I mix 1/2 brown and 1/2 white-cuz my family won’t just eat brown!  I added some olive oil, salt, frozen peas, a couple cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and some whole cloves in with the rice to cook.  It smells divine!

I also always serve this with cucumbers and sour cream-or you can make a riata.  I skin cucumbers and use the slicer part on my grater and grate into a bowl.  add salt-don’t be stingy with the salt here- and set aside so they make some juice.  add a few spoonfuls of sour cream and lots of black pepper.

Curried Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower cut up into pieces and put in a bowl with 1 t turmeric and 1 t salt.

Heat 6 T ghee (butter or oil will do) and saute cauliflower until tender. remove and set aside.  In same pan fry 1 t cumin, 1 t cayenne (use less this will be HOT), 1 t fresh ginger stirring constantly.  add 3 small chopped tomatoes and 1 t sugar and cook for 5 minutes.  add cauliflower back to pan stir, lower the heat, cover.  cook 8-10 minutes.  garnish with chopped coriander leaves (aka  whole lot of fresh cilantro).

We also always have Nan with this meal.  You can usually find it frozen if you can’t find it fresh.

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Post tags: cooking, Ginger, recipe, Thursdays

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So today was a day of crafting.  Molly spent a good part of the day at the sewing machine.  They did some painting…

some dumping and cooking…

Too hot to cook…so egg salad is is on the menu…

But not for me!!  I am going OUT for free Wifi and ladies night..woohoo!

And come to think of it…I actually I used my spine 1 1/2 times in the last 24hrs.  Yesterday we found 2 kittens outside our library.  The animal lover (sucker) that I am took the babies home..just until we decided what to do with them.  I never really wanted 2 more cats!!  But of course my kids were crying and making lots of promises.  I couldn’t make a decision…so my husband came home made a few phone calls and asked me what I thought and I said, “Take them away”  I had a very upset 9 yr old girl for many hours and thought I was a horrible parent, cuz they can guilt me real easy like that!!  But not a mention was made today of those kittens-I am so glad we didn’t keep them!!-So there is my 1/2 a spine story.

Oh my-I was upgraded and now I  have no spell check…Dawn??

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Post tags: cooking, husband, Molly, Paint, sewing, unschool

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And still to this day my weekend begins on Thursdays. I may not drag my sorry old ass out to a bar to  drink warm quarter beers and listen to great tunes  But I do pack up more than a quarters worth of snacks and water bottles to head to a local park to play with friends for most of the day and then off to our weekly potluck.  I look forward to Thursdays starting on Mondays!

A few weeks ago I wrote about wanting to make a schedule for myself and change my site and because I am so techno challenged I need to wait for a dear friend to make those changes when she has time, and she’s been busy working or something!  hehe  So no changes yet -but I have a million ideas in my head and decided I would get started.  Stay with me, this really does relate to the quarter beers and thursdays stories.  So, I wanted to make a spot for food recipes on my blog-more so than just a catagory or tag.  My dear friend thought  I should come up with a catchy title like Monday’s Menus, or Fridays food, but nothing sounded right to me.  I kept thinking that Thursdays are our potluck days and the beginning of our weekends, a good time to post about food.  And as far as a catchy title…Quarter Recipes in honor of the beginning of the weekend and hopefully a step up from warm beer!

So here is week 1 of Quarter Recipes to be posted each Thursday!  May you enjoy these as much as I remember enjoying quarter beers and as much  as I look forward to Thursdays on Mondays!

Overnight Lemon Coffeecake        (Maybe a Father’s Day breakfast!)

Cake:

nonstick cooking spray. 1/2 cup butter softened, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2 containers-6 oz each-lemon yogurt, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 1/3 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 tespoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Topping:  1/3 cup flour, 3 Tablespoons, packed brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 tablespoons butter

Glaze:  1/2 cup confectioners sugar, 1 to 2 teaspoons of milk

Grease 9 x 13 pan

In large bowl combine butter and sugar.  Beat until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add yogurt and zest.  Beat well add flour, baking powder, salt and soda.  Beat at low speed until smooth.

Spread batter into prepared pan.  Cover and  .  When ready to bake, let cake stand at room temperature while preheating oven to 350.  Meanwhile, prepare topping.  In small bowl. combine all topping ingredients.  Mix well.  Sprinkle topping evenly over cake.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool15 minutes.  In small bowl combine the glaze ingredients.  Drizzle over warm cake.  Serve warm.

To bake cake immediately-without refrigeration-sprinkle with topping and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

I am thinking about trying a different flavor yogurt next time-I’ll let you know!

And for those that aren’t interested in my coffecake maybe my kids circus utube videos, hot off the presses,  will be worth reading all the way down this post!

clowning

spinning

trapeze

And don’t forget to enter my 100thpost give way -deadline fast approaching!

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Post tags: circus, cooking, friend, friends, park, potluck, recipe, Thursdays, walk

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