{this moment}

{this moment}

We're linking up with SouleMama again this week for

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Foodie Friday: Homegrown Homemade Meadow Tea

I grew up in Lancaster County, PA, well known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country because of all the Amish there. This recipe for Meadow Tea was a favorite summertime treat. In Lancaster County, all the foods are rich and sweet. We often joke that many recipes from that area require two cups of sugar and a pound of butter. I modified this recipe to use a little honey to sweeten since the traditional way is super sweet with lots of sugar. (I try to keep my teeth as cavity free as possible!)

Meadow Tea is super easy to make. Start with a large bunch of fresh picked mint. The more mint you use, the mintier your tea will be. I have a mint patch that took over part of my garden so each time I thin it out every few weeks, I make a new batch of Meadow Tea.

You Might Be a Bookworm if.....

....you enroll your 10 month old baby in the summer reading program at the local library! When we go to Tiny Tales at the library, the library staff kept saying no one is too young or too old to sign up for the summer reading program so we joined in. I read to our little nugget everyday so figured it would be fun to join in although I feel like a super book geek!

I guess I am a super book geek though, the name "bookworm" was used often for me growing up and still is. I can remember going to the local library as a kid and leaving with the maximum number of books you were allowed to check out (think big stack, like 10-12 books!) When I wasn't outside playing in the woods, I was lost in a book.

DIY Snap-fitted Nursing Tank and Nursing Bra

Making your own nursing bra and tank is so easy and so much more affordable than buying them at the store!

When I was pregnant last year and planning to breastfeed and return to work, I knew I needed to get some nursing shirts and bras to make nursing and pumping easier. I always try to buy second hand when I can, a consumer philosophy I’ve had for a long time, but finding second hand nursing wear was next to impossible. I looked at new nursing clothes in retail stores but the prices were outrageous. As I sewed diapers for our soon to be born baby, I tried to think of ways I could create my own nursing wear for a more affordable price.

Then one day as I was putting snaps on some new cloth panty liners I made, an idea hit me: Snap-fitted nursing wear! I purchased a snap press and snaps from KAM Snaps   last summer after I began sewing diapers and cloth pads so I had the tools, I just needed the clothes I wanted to snap fit. 

Baby's First River Float!

If you're an avid outdoor adventuring family pre-baby, it can be daunting to try to incorporate baby into your outdoor loving lifestyle. We were determined to keep doing the outdoor activities we love like rafting. We had quite a fun adventure taking our little nugget on her first river float and are here to tell you it is easy and can be done safely!

 This last weekend  we took our baby on her first river floating adventure on our raft. We are avid boaters so when we were pregnant, we knew we had to figure out how to incorporate baby into our love of river floating. And we’re not just talking a day float, we especially love to haul our camping gear along and camp out over night and do extended river trips this way for up to a week at a time. 

So last year on my usual thrift shop, yard sale and auction adventures I kept my eyes peeled for outdoor baby gear. We now have a good stash of life vests to fit infant through child so we're set for the next couple years for the most important piece of river gear for our little nugget. At just 10 months old, the infant size life vest with the awkward (but important) head pad fits the best!

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining WoolyMoss Roots again for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

Highlights of what I wrote about being grateful for this past week:

{this moment}

 To share about our soul filling Solstice hike on the mountain behind our house we're linking up with SouleMama again this week for

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Foodie Friday: Honey Baked Lentils

Honey baked lentils is an easy, low cost tasty recipe that you can serve as a side dish or main dish when served over rice.

This is a recipe I came across when I was 18 and joined the Brethren Volunteer Service. In the volunteer service we were challenged to live simply and prepare healthy foods on a very small budget. Luckily my mom gave me the More With Less Cookbook when I left home to join the volunteer service and it has become one of my favorite cookbooks.

The first time I made the Honey Baked Lentils recipe from this cookbook, I loved it! I put four stars next to it so I would know it was one I should cook again and I have countless times over the years. Honey Baked Lentils is easy to make, low cost, healthy and super tasty!

Thank you Hip Mountain Mama!

I never win anything. I take that back. I rarely win anything. Until last week, the last time I remember winning something in a giveaway event was when I was a kid. I randomly entered a holiday drawing and won a fake Christmas tree. I think I was in 5th grade. A fake Christmas tree isn’t that exciting for a kid. I think I was more excited about the fact that I actually won than WHAT I won.

Fast forward a couple decades. There are tons of giveaway events everyday on the internet on websites, blogs, blog hops, facebook, twitter.... When I first discovered this new world of giveaway events a few months ago I started entering all of them I came across that seemed interesting. I never won so I stopped entering as many. 

Then last week I saw that Hip Mountain Mama was hosting a giveaway for a WHOLE OUTFIT  plus accessory of your choice. I figured what the heck, I’ll enter since I LOVE their stuff and I rarely get anything new for myself since I shop second hand.

Quick and Easy Rain Catch system

Making your own rain catching system does not have to be expensive or time consuming. It can be quite an easy, simple project you can do in just a few minutes!

I dream of someday when we'll have a more sophisticated rain catch system but due to other more important house remodel projects it is low on the priority list of things to do. I picked up a couple big barrels with spigots on the bottom at a local yard sale two summers ago and the idea is to have gutters installed along the edges of our roof that can be directed to dump rain water into the barrels.

Foodie Friday: Kohlrabi Soup

Kohlrabi soup is an easy, healthy recipe and a great way to use this unique vegetable. Kohlrabi to me was like the parsnip I wrote about a few months ago (click here to read the post) where I never heard of it growing up and wasn’t too sure what to do with it when I saw it at the store. Here is what it looks like for those of you who may not be familiar:

 

Then last summer my husband’s aunt and her family came to visit and we took them to the Missoula Farmer’s Market. She saw numerous venders with kohlrabi and bought a bunch to make Kohlrabi Soup. My husband’s family is from Hungary and Germany and I learned that to his family, kohlrabi was not a foreign vegetable. When I googled kohlrabi I learned it is commonly known as German cabbage- no wonder my husband's family knows about kohlrabi!

I am always fascinated by my husband’s family history and especially love when relatives teach me how to cook foods from what I like to refer to as "the motherland."So when I had the opportunity to learn first hand how to make Kohlrabi Soup, I was intrigued. It was so delicious!

It is quite easy to make and a meal we have made several times since then. We even planted kohlrabi in our gardens this year so we can make Kohlrabi Soup with our own homegrown kohlrabi! 

Kohlrabi Soup

 

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion 

1 pound kohlrabi

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 1/2 cups milk 

1 bay leaf 

salt and pepper

Peel the kohlrabi bulbs, making sure to remove any woody parts. 

Shop into small bite size pieces. Select the most tender kohlrabi leaves and slice them in thin strips. 

Chop the the onion and place in a stock pot with the butter. Saute the onions for about five minutes. Then add the sliced leaves and chopped bulbs and saute another few minutes. Add the vegetable stock, milk and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until the kohlrabi is tender which takes about 25-30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with your favorite bread. 

For our kohlrabi soup, we enjoyed the last of some German Rye bread I had stashed in the freezer that my mother in law brought on her visit last month. 

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

Earlier this week I happened to come across the Wooly Moss Roots blog and was inspired by the idea of Gratitude Sunday. As a child, one year I decided that every day I would write down something I was thankful for and put it in a mason jar with a lid. It was a wonderful thing to sit and reflect back on my day to realize all the things I had to be thankful for. Looking back I realize how wise I was at such a young age (I think maybe 10 or 11 years old?) After that year I switched back to my usual style of journaling my thoughts with no special focus. Until this week.

Feelin‘ Scrappy #2: DIY stuffed owl

 I am always dreaming up more ways to use fabric scraps since like most fiber artists I have a hard time throwing them out if they can be used for something. I previously wrote about making scrap fabric cloth napkins and baby wipes which you can read about by clicking here. But there are only so many napkins and wipes a family needs and my scrap pile is growing!

So the other day while it poured rain outside, I had an idea to make a stuffed owl for our little nugget. She is at the age where she likes having a "lovey" to snuggle and hold onto when taking a nap. She has a few stuffed toys given to her as baby gifts but a lot of them are made in China which I’m leery about giving to her and especially to snuggle with at nap time!  

I've been seeing more owls in nature this last year than I have in my whole life so I now have a bit of an obsession with owls. So making a stuffed owl seemed perfect, although you could easily make a different stuffed critter of your choice just by drawing out a different animal pattern.
 

So here’s the quick and easy how to on making a scrappy stuffed owl :

{this moment}

Today is the first time we are joining SouleMama for {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember....

The Miracle Plant

I am so fascinated by this miracle plant every day I look at it I felt I just had to blog about it here! This is our poinsettia plant still mostly red in the middle of a Montana summer!

 

Way back in mid December (which seems like eons ago but is really only about six months ago!) I bought a Poinsettia plant from a coworker for her son's school fundraiser. Up until this year, for the last five years I bought a Poinsettia plant to give to my dear elderly friend Clara who lived in a local nursing home. The Poinsettia was her favorite plant and her birthday was also in December so I always made it a point to buy one for her.

Veggie Garden Bliss

Making fresh salads from the gardens is such a wonderful summertime treat. There are so many combinations of fresh greens, fruits and even edible flowers to liven up your summertime garden salads.

I’m a gardening fanatic. I get giddy every spring/early summer when I get to harvest our first foods from the garden. This year as I harvested our first spinach, our little nugget grabbed a piece of spinach and put it in her mouth. She is just starting to get her teeth in so can’t chew spinach. Instead she gummed it (she LOVES to do that with fresh mint leaves from the garden). This inspired me to steam some for her so she too could take part in eating this first garden harvest of the year.

DIY: Allspice Teething Necklace for Babies and Toddlers

Over the last few months, I've seen several babies and toddlers in Missoula wearing very cute little baby necklaces. When I saw them, I thought they were adorable little accessories but since I could barely get our little nugget clothed and out the door on time for appointments I figured putting on cute baby accessories was out of our league.

Then last month at a clothing swap, another mama had brought her baby along and he was wearing one of these adorable little necklaces. I asked her about it and found out it was an Allspice teething necklace she had made. So not only was it super cute, it had a purpose!

Foodie Friday: Homemade Pita Bread

Making your own pita bread is easier than you think and can save you money by not having to buy it at the grocery store. I recently was craving felafel so added it to my menu list and ingredients I needed to pick up on my last trip to the Missoula Co-op. I couldn’t find pita bread in the busy store and didn’t feel like looking for it any more when I remembered that back in my college days I used to make my own pita bread. Of course, that was the perfect solution to my problem! I remembered it being fairly easy and a recipe that I always had all the ingredients on hand. 

How to make Chive Vinegar

Every spring my chives start to bloom their beautiful lavender colored flowers and I am reminded of this fun creation my mom taught me: Chive Vinegar.

I make at least one batch every year and use it throughout the year to replace or supplement other types of vinegar in salad dressing and marinade recipes. The chives add a light onion flavor to the vinegar which adds more flavor to the recipe you use it in.

Life Lessons from Gumby and Pokey: Learning to be Flexible

For the last month, we had been planning on a several day family camping adventure over the Memorial Day weekend in one of our favorite camping spots. As the weekend neared, we realized that our favorite camping spot was not going to be accessible due to the access road being gated because of high levels of snow  on the mountain pass. We began talking about alternative camping spots, no big deal.

Foodie Friday: Making Homemade Cream Cheese

I never realized how easy it is to make homemade cream cheese. Homemade cream cheese is so much more tasty than store bought, has less added "junk" and is cheaper to make than buying the pre-made kind.

Now that I got the hang of making piima yogurt, which really is super easy, I am starting to experiment with it. It’s amazing to me all the ways I’ve been able to use it in my cooking: supplementing some of the oil in a pumpkin bread recipe and using it instead of mayo when making tuna salad just to name a few.

My latest adventure with piima yogurt involves making cream cheese. At first the idea of making cream cheese sounded a little daunting, but when I read the instructions that the local gal gave me with my original piima yogurt culture I realized it was super easy. It only involves about two more steps beyond making piima yogurt.