The Tale of a Fateful Trip

You may recall our trip to Lowe's last year.  You would think we would have learned something about small cars.

Evidently not.

This year, determined not to make the same mistake, we engaged my sister-in-law and her SUV to transport the wood for our new garden box as well as Adirondack chairs we purchased in order to spend some time actually enjoying our huge back yard this year.  All went smoothly in the way of transportation, and we felt quite clever.

Then we decided to purchase soil for our garden box from a business that sells bulk soil instead of buying hundreds of bags from Lowe's.  Again, we basked in the golden sunlight of our cleverness.

However, in order to move the soil to the actual garden box, we needed some tools.  Namely, a wheelbarrow.  Which we did not yet own.  So off to Lowe's we went again, selected the smallest (and incidentally cheapest) wheelbarrow we could find, loaded it with mushroom compost (to enrich the soil), paid for everything, and headed to the car.

At this point, it occurred to us. 

We have a small car. 

Perhaps we should have realized this sooner, but...

The wheelbarrow definitely was not going into the car.  We tried it at a variety of angles, in multiple openings.  It just wasn't going in.

After several phone calls to people with larger cars (no one answered), we sat down to think.

My darling husband decided it was time to take matters into our own hands and Solve the Problem.  As it was the wheel of the barrow that stood in the way of our plan, we wondered if we might remove it.  After examining it, I found that it was only secured to the axle with a screw on either side of said axle.

Liam, the Problem Solver, announced that he would borrow a screwdriver.  I, of course, scoffed that such a thing would surely not happen.  But off he went, confident that there would be a screwdriver to borrow.  And, amazingly, there was.  We removed the wheel, proud of ourselves for being clever (starting to see a pattern here yet?), and attempted to shove place the wheelbarrow into the trunk.

It still didn't fit.

However, with the wheel removed, more of it was in the trunk than out.  So we decided to cut our losses and get out of there.  While returning the screwdriver, Liam found that there was twine by the door that was available for tying down trunks.  So we tied the trunk down and delicately drove home, with the barrow bumping the whole way.

And that is how we learned that cleverness is no match for a small car and a large wheelbarrow.  But a small car and a large wheelbarrow are no match for Liam the Problem Solver.

Sarah Returns, Spring Break, and Sunrise Juice

Long time no see, right?

 

I apologize for my terrible blog-posting record the past couple of months.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was spending all of my energy corralling a large group of extroverted 2nd graders.  Yeah.  That didn't leave enough energy to put away my clean clothes, let alone write blog posts.  So, I am sorry, but it was unavoidable.

 

Now it's spring break!  And I have a highly efficient aide.  So hooray for sleeping in past 4:45.  And yippee for reading a book in longer than 10-page increments.  A whole week of Saturdays...  I am a happy girl!

 

 

 

Speaking of energy, have you ever tried juicing?  I was recently introduced when my sister and I took on this detox diet from Whole Living for the season of Lent.  Our first week, the only things we could eat were fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lentils.  Our breakfasts were either juice or smoothies.  So I borrowed my MIL's juicer for the six weeks, and experimented.

 

I stumbled upon this discovery.  Although it is not a detox juice, it is a delicious juice.  And it will give you an amazing spike of energy.  It's very seasonal during late January/early February if you live in Florida.  Probably later if you do not.  It is beautiful.  It is smooth.  And if you have a juicer, you must try it!  If you do not have a juicer, you should make friends with someone who does and convince them to make it for you.

 

Without further ado:

 

Sunrise Juice

 

Ingredients:

2 oranges

12 strawberries

2 large or 3 small carrots

 

Cut carrots and oranges into smaller pieces so they will fit into the juicer.  Push all of the fruits and vegetables through the juicer.  Mix the juices together and drink immediately (if you like it chilled, add some ice).  Don't forget to clean your juicer before everything gets crusted on!

 

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Waiting: A Liturgy

I.

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever.
Amen.

***

The raw beauty of the liturgy gripped me that day.  I was present in church in a way I never before had been, my feet rooted to those wooden boards, my knees gravity-tugged to the ground.  When I stumbled into the sunlight afterwards, disoriented, I could hardly answer the question: "How did you like it?"  I knew then.  God was there.

View the rest of this guest post on the Living Stones Community blog here

You Need This in Your Pantry!

Let me introduce you to an ingredient that will change your life!  I am not even kidding you -- you need to buy this right away.

 

 

Navitas Raw Cacao Powder
It is a raw version of a cocoa powder that does not have the nutrients cooked out of it.  It is categorized as a "superfood," but that's not why I love it!

The taste is amazing!  It is a rich chocolatey taste, deeper and more nuanced than a regular cocoa powder.

Use it in ice cream!  Use it in cookies, hot cocoa, brownies, cakes...it will kick up the taste several notches.  If you love chocolate, you will adore this.  If you like healthy foods, you cannot live without this any longer.

It is not sweet, but it is the ultimate in chocolate taste.

I buy mine at vitacost.com, but you can probably also find it at a health food store.  Go forth and find it!  You won't be sorry!

Wherein We Ask, Who Is My Neighbor?

A man in Jacksonville, Florida, got on his motorcycle one beautiful spring Sunday morning, and headed toward I-95. He was totally looking forward to a visit at St. Augustine National Park....

Read the rest of this joint writing effort with my mother, Susan Price, on her blog here.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

5 Reasons to "No 'Poo" Your 'Do

Besides the fact that you get to say "No 'Poo Your 'Do" with a straight face, I've been considering whether there might be advantages to giving up shampoo.  Now that I'm a month into my "farewell to shampoo," I have some insight for those of you who might consider trying this.  And also for those of you who would never consider trying this.  Maybe even for the occasional person who doesn't care either way.  So read on...

5. If you get some of this "shampoo" in your eyes, it will still sting, but they won't get as red as they would with regular shampoo, and they will recover sooner. This reason may sound rather lame to some of you coordinated people out there, but to someone who always used to come out of the shower looking like the morning after overindulging in alcoholic beverages, this is a big deal. 

4.  Build upper arm strength!  You may not think so, but holding your arms above your head long enough to thoroughly massage baking soda solution into your hair will require more muscle tone than you already have (unless you're a body builder or something).  Now you can be buff and have gorgeous hair at the same time!

3.  Apple cider vinegar is apparently great for eczema.  If you have sensitive skin, you might be surprised by how much it clears up when you use this shampoo (or lack thereof) routine.  I was.

2.  You get a head massage every time you wash your hair. True, you have to give yourself the massage, but hey...it kinda beats lazily relying on suds for their cleansing power. Also, it is said to stimulate blood flow to your brain cells. I can use all the help I can get!

1.  You could have a volcano in your shower -- every day! That's right! You get to use the very same ingredients used to make an elementary school volcano model to clean your hair. Not that you would make a volcano...but it's nice to know you could.

All of this and soft, shiny, chemical-free tresses?  It's all true.

Intrigued?  You should be.  If you are completely convinced that you must rush out and try "No 'Poo" this very day, be sure to read my original post explaining how to do it here.  Then revel in your coolness.  Go forth and enjoy your head massage!

I get a little carried away...and my husband rescues me.

I've loved food pretty much as long as I've been alive.

My mom likes to tell stories about how I started eating table food so young (to supplement my diet of breast milk) -- I wanted broccoli before I was supposed to have it (and she gave it to me... I loved it then and still do).  My first word was a food word ("bread" in Portuguese), not Mama or Binky.  I was messing in the kitchen as soon as I was old enough to stand on a chair to reach the counter.

What can I say?  One of my favorite TV shows is Chopped.  I read more nonfiction books about food than pretty much any other subject.  And the list of food blogs I follow grows and grows.

So it's no surprise that the list of recipes I want to try keeps getting longer and longer.  And with teaching as my main job, I don't have a lot of free time, which means my only day to experiment is Saturday.  Sometimes, when I've been really busy, my desire gets pent up until it bursts -- I spend my entire day planning and executing projects of cookery.

Like today.

I started off with roasting some beets for next week's lunches.  Meanwhile, I also baked an acorn squash that had been moldering in my fruit bowl for over a month.

I the made my first foray into homemade ice cream.  I got an amazing deal on an ice cream maker early in December, but with the cascade of junk food that bombarded the Christmas holidays, I had not done anything with it yet.  I made my ice cream base, and put it in the fridge to cool.  Then, I realized you are supposed to freeze the ice cream bucket before you make the ice cream.  Whoops.  Oh well, ice cream, to be continued.

At the same time, I cleaned and started to roast brussels sprouts from my Farmer's Market trip to make this recipe from Peas and Thank You.  Chocolate creme anglaise and brussels sprouts might seem like an odd combination, but the smooth, sweet velvet of the ice cream base, and the crispy outside, soft creamy inside of the salt-and-pepper-and-oil sprouts were a perfect compliment.  I went right from licking out the pot from the chocolate back to "taste-testing" the brussels sprouts (I taste-tested about half the pan!).

Then to make the vinaigrette/glaze for the brussels sprouts.  By this time my feet were aching and I was getting slightly cranky.  Also, the romance of the kitchen was wearing off a little.  I may or may not have snapped at my husband, who was only trying to make dinner.

Then I had a minor meltdown over a perceived slight (not to mention the fact that dishes were piling up, and I still had one kitchen project to go).

My husband, who is sweet, did not get mad.  No -- he washed the dishes.  Then he washed the dishes again.  And folded the towels.  And washed the dishes again.  And told me it would be ok.

I worked my way through my last project, healthy rice krispy treats (made with brown rice syrup and brown rice krispies and almond butter -- see the recipe here), a long awaited birthday present promised to my father (who celebrated 60 years on January 7 -- yes, I'm just getting to his birthday present -- I told you teaching keeps me busy).

As I coated the cereal with sticky, gooey yum and coated the sticky, goey yum with warm chocolate and almond butter mixture, I breathed deep.  Yes, I got a little carried away.

But my day was sweet...bitter...salty...tangy.  And it ended in peace.

*This post is dedicated to the patience and practicality of my husband, without whom it surely would not have materialized as I would be a melted puddle of boohooing on the kitchen floor, and my father would have to wait another week for his birthday present.*