CSA

Starting in March we have tried something new. We joined a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture). Basically this means that we have our own farmer. Every month we pay Farmer Keith a certain amount and we get a share of what his farm produces. As a farmer he can count on receiving a wage regardless of the weather, crop failure, bugs ect. As a consumer I know where my food comes from. I know that my money is supporting a local family. And I get a crazy amount of food for a great deal.

Honestly I don’t know why this is not the normal way people get their food. Instead of going to the grocery store I get to go meet Keith on pick up day. I get to chat with the other members, get my food without the neon lights, the stuffy mall and the “Men’s Health” cover models staring at me in the line up.

Yes, I still have to go to the store sometimes because Keith does not have dairy cow nor does he grow pineapples. But I still think it is much better way to get our food.

Augustine’s first food was food that Keith grew. (They both thought that was great.) I now know how to cook Kohlrabi. (Last year I did not even know what that was.) I am beginning to understand how connected we really are to the earth. (We go only a few peas this year because the field flooded because we got too much rain in August.) We are eating healthier and for less money.

Check it out. You might have a CSA near you.

Happy Birthday Mary!

Today is the feast day of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is a long winded way of saying it is Mary's birthday.

I try (and usually fail) to celebrate feast days and other notable liturgical times in our house. I think they are great times to teach the kids about different aspects of their faith, it connects us with the wider world church and it is a great excuse to eat cake!

So today we made Marry a birthday cake. But as any good mother she would like a healthier version (and I still have way too much zucchini) so she is getting a Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Here is my recipe

2 cups pealed and sheared zuchinni (a little more if you are desperate to get rid of zucchini)

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

mix all that together in a bowl

then in another bowl mix:

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons backing soda

and 1/3 cups cocoa powder.

Add the wet to the dry and mix it all up. I add a handful or two of chocolate chips because I love chocolate.

Bake for about 25 to 30 mins at 350. 

This cake is so good that even my most picky, vegetable hating kid eats it. 

So happy birthday Mary. And happy feast day to you!

First Day of School

We survived the summer.  Three camping trips, one working vacation and a family visit behind us. New teachers and new shoes ahead of us.
Now I think I will do something fun and relaxing today. Like reorganization my pantry.

Attack of the monster zucchini

Some of the kids are more scared then others.

Last days of summer

One of the great things about being married to a teacher is summer holidays. We have had lots of easy mornings with time for tea and books. But soon it will be back to school.  So we need to get as much in the next few days as we can.

How to Have the (almost) Perfect Camping Trip

With our tent-trailer in tow we set out to have the perfect camping trip. And we (almost) succeeded. Here is how we did it.

Step 1: Pick an awesome family to go with you. This is the most important step. Ideally this family will remember to bring all the things you forgot. Like sand toys, after-bite and forks. Of course you might remember a few things they forgot. Like beer.

Step 2: Pick the perfect campsite. Most people would think that months of research and booking well in advance is the way to do this. Our technique is to wait until a few weeks before you want to leave and then pick the only site left in the province that has two spots available. But we still got the best spot ever.

Step 3: Get good weather. It is best to time your camping trip for right after the worst fire season in history. This is handy because you can still have a camp-fire but there are almost no bugs.

Step 4: Spend most of the day at the beach: Best activities are swimming, boating, sandcastle building and laying in the sun.

A few things to avoid. Titre-totter accidents that involve nine stitches! Or one camper getting a violent stomach flu. But if you insist, make sure your camping buddies include two seasoned nurses and a clinic twenty minutes away. 

These are what summer memories are made of. 

Love Rebel

Spelling and writing have always intimated me. When at the end of grade two I could not read or write both my teacher and my parents knew something was a miss.  But it was not until grade five that I was officially diagnosed with dyslexia.  

Because of the loving support and hard work of my parents and some of my teachers I had a pretty successful school experience. But even in university writing was still very scary for me. I always had my long sufering sister read over my essays many times before handing them in. And later my cute, funny and smart boyfriend  (now husband, still cute, funny and smart) had to be my editor. 

I am still a horrible speller. My kids know to not ask me for help with spelling. Math, science, sure. Ideas on what to write, sure. But don't ask me how to spell anything. I'm not kidding - I am often stumped by grade three spelling words. 

So starting this blog a few years ago was a bit intimidating. The voice of some of my less-than-supportive teachers, and my inner critic are very loud and sometimes shout down great ideas. But they might not be able to shout so loud any more, as I am about to be published.

Yes, that is right, the dyslexic girl who failed grade two is now a published author. 

"Love Rebel", is a anthology of Catholic mom bloggers, available on Amazon and direct from me in Saskatoon. Anna Eastland has copies in Vancouver. 

Thank you to all of you for supporting me, for reading my blog, leaving comments and always encouraging me to keep writing. There is no way I could have done this with out you guys.