Dh picked up the milk shipment on Monday. I was napping with the girls and we didn’t feel like rousing them just for a 20 minute drive for Raw Milk. This time we chose not to buy the eggs. The person bringing the milk was also bringing eggs from another farmer. Unfortunately the shells were brittle and the yolks broke easily. Not, in my opinion, a good indication of healthy eggs.

This time around we picked up free range organic eggs from a more local source. We only purchased a dozen. Worried that we may not like the new eggs either.

I’m happy to say, though, that the new eggs are really delicious and so far seem consistantly healthy.

Tonights dinner really was delicious. Fresh grilled wild Alaskan samon marinated in Terryaki sauce and served on coconut rice. Steamed green beans and fresh sliced figs for sides. Too bad it went over like a lead brick with the girls. lol. DD2, who ALWAYS loves salmon refused to eat it. She ate the rice instead. Her older sister declared she was”too full” and her “tummy hurts” and refused to eat anything except her green beans. And even then she didn’t eat much.

I’m not sure why this went over so poorly when the last salmon meal we had did soo much better. I don’t think it was how the salmon was prepared. Honestly it was delicous. I just think the girls were having an off night when it came to food. I was certain they’d be begging me for something to eat before bed, but they both went down happily. So who knows, maybe they just weren’t hungry?

And in case your wondering. Yes, that is white rice. I’ve been trying to make only brown rice, but haven’t figured out how to do it without soaking it for 8 hours first. Anybody have a fool-proof brown rice cooking instructions for last minute rice making?

In other news my kefir cheese is aging beautifully. I hope it tasts as good as it looks. Tomorrow I’m bringing some sour kefir over to my mom’s and we’re going to make some sharp cheese with it. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I just got a notice from paperbackswap that a book I had on my wish list, The Simple Living Guide, has been shipped to me. I’ve heard good things about this book from people who’s opinions I trust. The basic synopsis is that the book is:

a thoughtful and practical guide to simplifying our busy lives. Luhrs stresses that living simply is not about being frugal, living on a tight budget, or a modest income. Rather, living simply is being fully aware of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

I’ll let you know once I read it if I believe it’s worth investing a little cash in purchasing. (Better yet, check out your local library to see if they have a copy for you to read free!)

Along that same grain of thought, though, I was up last night thinking over all the little and large projects that need completed in this home. Projects that sort of nebulously float around in my head but never actually are completed or directly addressed. It’s time I outlined them and begun to slowly tick off the things in this home that I believe need addressing. So, without further ado, here is my long list of things I’d like to accomplish:

Master Bedroom
- Frame three B/W pictures of my kiddos for above my headboard.
- Build/buy/organize sorted laundry hamper.
- Install additional shelving in master-closet.

Master Bathroom
- Buy or locate a squigee for my shower.
- Organize cloth (mama cloth, tp) items.

Secondary Bathroom
- Hang the shower curtain.
- Hang the towel hooks for the girls.
- Build a tooth brush holder.
- Fix the toilet dispenser.

Half-Bathroom
- Fix the toilet paper dispenser.
- Repaint.
- Fix the toilet leak.
- Install a small hand towel rod.
- Place lidded garbage can in bathroom.

Office
- Install floating shelves around the ceiling for my books.
- Hang the bulletin boards.
- Hang the painting.
- Intall shelving in craft room closet
- Put screws in my cedar chest
- Place lidded garbage cans in my office.

Playroom
- Organize the playroom
- Locate a bed for the playroom

DD1’s Room
- Paint DD1’s mural
- Hang Christmas lights in DD1’s room.

Family Room
- Clean off glass shelving and install in family room entertainment center
- Unpack my china
- Place lidded garbage can in Family Room.
- Buy a fire extinguisher for upstairs.

Living Room
- Frame family pictures for mantel

Kitchen
- Organize spices.
- Build a cheese press.
- Organize my pantry.
- Build small shelving for pantry items.
- Sew a plastic bag container.

Laundry room- Install a hanging rod
- Install shelving for detergents
- Install place to hang mop, broom, sweeper, and bucket

Garage- Install locked cabinet for fuel and paint
- Organize Christmas items
- Weed through random boxes and donate unneeded items.
- Sweep.
- Install shelving and tool rack.

Misc- Sew the new baby a sling.
- Send photos to walmart for the girl’s gifts.
- Sew cloth diapers.
- Buy snaps.
- Buy elastin.

As silly as it may seem, the list really does help me feel more organize and directed. There are a lot of things that need accomplished. Some of which will not be done any time soon; such as organizing the garage. Believe it or not, I really am fine with that. Just knowing what needs done is a relief vs. always feeling like something needs done but never knowing exactly how or when to begin. At least this way I can see immediately which items can be handled sooner and which will need to wait until we have the funding, resources, or man-power for later.

Today, after my midwife appointment, Dh and I stopped into a Japanese supermarket and picked up some genuine bento supplies. You know. The kind with “made in Japan” stamped on the back and little bento specific items like seaweed grass dividers, miniature forks, bento boxes, soy sauce containers… And the best part of it all, it was super CHEAP! The price range was from .99 cents to 1.70.

I even picked up two rice steamers for $1.29 each. I plan on using them as bento containers, as well as steamers. Although, right now, one of the rice steamers is doubling as a cheese mold for my first ever attempt at Kefir Cheese.

Yum!

P.S. I tasted the curds before I put them in the mold and all I can say is delicious… I don’t think I’m going to have the patience to wait 6 months to eat this cheese. Instead, I think I’ll eat it soft while it’s still in a brie state.

I’ve become a bento-holic. Everything I see, I wonder “How could this be used effectively in a bento lunch?” Everything from little toothpick decorations to cupcake cups. At Walmart the other day I found a little picnic set with two plates that came with lids and a small fork & Spoon that attached to the top. The set also came with two sippy cups and two little containers. Only $9.99. I didn’t get it, and now and freaking out that by the time I go back ALL those little picnic bags will be gone.

Gulp.

Then at JoAnns I saw a 101 cookie cutter set for $15.00. They had a 50 dollar cookie cutter set for $9.99 as well. Alphabets, numbers, shapes… Can you imagine the bento fun? And then Wilton has these really silly cupcake “Silly Feet! Baking Cups” that I absolutely WANT RIGHT NOW. Think about it. I could put stir fry in one cup and little egg rolls in another!

My good friend Cheri has even fed the bento-madness by sending me these uber cool sandwhich cutters. They slice sandwhiches into the shape of hearts or dinosaurs. Do you have ANY idea how absolutely cool dinosaur shaped sandwhiches are for little kids? Seriously, these shapes make take PB&J to a whole ‘nother level.

Speaking of fun shapes, Taste of Home has a new “Kid-Friendly” special edition out for food and fun with kids. The recipes are not all going to line up with our move towards more nurishing tradition foods… but, there are an awful lot of great ideas for food presentation. Including hard boiled eggs made up like chicks and butterfly pancakes with fresh fruit. Yum. (The magazine should be out on stands through September 2007. After that point I have no clue how you go about getting a copy.)

Anyway, I fully admit that bento meals have hurt my own personal attempt at compacting. It’s feeding that little consumerist side of me that LOVES buying little cute things. In a terrible, fabulous, absolutely compulsive way.

Just consider yourself warned.

When you make the choice to do something that isn’t standard mainstream protocol, you run the risk of being held responsible for your choices. Crazy as it may be, the basic belief I keep running up against, is that if you birth in a hospital you check your own personal responsibility at the door. And who knows, maybe that’s how the OB’s prefer it? It’s certainly not how I prefer to participate in birth. I’ve always wanted to be more than a spectator. And Lord willing, that is how this next birth will progress as well. With me in the driver’s seat. Supported by my birth team.

For the morbidly curious, here’s an alarming little piece of information: Anecdotal evidence suggests that the DFW c-section rate is currently around 60%. Yes, I said SIXTY. In some hospitals it may be as high as 80 to 90%! Want to know why you don’t hear about it in the news? DFW hospitals are several years behind in reporting their birth statistics as a result of a newly recommended computer program for reporting births.

It used to be that Doctors would have to justify why their C-section rate was higher than a given percent. (I’m thinking 15%, but need to go dig up that number.) Now, the only c-section an OB get’s in trouble for is the one he didn’t do. Sigh. I don’t know what the balance is. I just know that it’s not a ride I want a part of.

Instead my homebirth supplies are tucked away neatly in the top drawer of our dresser, the birth trough is in the process of getting a deep cleaning, and my family & midwives are all happily waiting for this baby to decide to make her/his arrival.

Last year we began a new family Holiday tradition. We call it: “Home-made Christmas.” Our only criteria was that the gift either had to be free or home-made. No expensive consumerist spending allowed.

I’ll be honest, the challenge of creating something meaningful, useful, and appropriate was really exciting. I was really surprised and encouraged by the great selection of home made gifts we came up for each other. Dh made me a beautiful chest, the girls got playsilks and I made my parents cloth grocery bags…

On the list of items I wanted to make for the girls were these wooden animals. Crafted after the more expensive German figurines, and inspired by Isaberg I bought a plank of wood from Home Depot and Dad & I free-hand drew the animals onto the wood. Later, Dh and Dad cut them out with a jig saw and I sanded them down with some sandpaper and a dremel. We then used bees wax and some non-toxic oil to shine them up nicely.

I’ll be honest the whole project was virtually without significant cost. I only used a portion of the board that I purchased and I had bees wax and mineral oil on hand. Not to mention we used my Dad’s jigsaw and my mom’s dremel. I think we could have made an entire rainforest of animals if it wasn’t for the fact that A) we ran out of time and B) they weren’t the easiest things to cut out with the jigsaw. More than one little critter bit the dust (literally) in that process.

The girls absolutely love them. They carry them around in a little bag my sister made for DD2 for Christmas as well. Actually she made the bag to carry toys and such for car rides… but the little striped bag has served as a perfect storing place for the animals.

We got our second shipment of Raw Milk yesterday. I ordered another pound of Raw butter and about 4 dozen eggs. The shipment of eggs ran short, so I ended up with 3 dozen instead. My parents ordered 2 dozen eggs and ended up forgoing their portion in order for me to go home with as many eggs as I did. We eat a LOT of eggs around here. Between bento meals and breakfast we’re consuming eggs at an outrageous pace.

I’ve got most of the milk in the freezer. But plan on using at least a half gallon to make some yogurt. And then, hopefully sometime this week, I’ll get my kefir grains in the mail and begin to make Kefir with some of the other extra milk. I’m really anxious to increase the probiotics we get in our diet.

The small steps we’re taking towards a more traditional diet are slowly being made. We’re still very sorely tempted by McDonalds and Dh has some sort of strange obsession with Gatorade lately. He seems to be recognizing to a small extent that we don’t need Soda in the house… but has started substituting his Soda with Gatorade. Ugh. If the stains from the Gatorade dyes weren’t enough, that stuff really isn’t necessary in a home where a child is receiving sufficient nutrients and liquids. If anything it just makes it harder to convince the kids to drink water.

I need to sit down this morning and go over my Traditional Foods menu list. We just started a new week and I need to be sure I’m geared up for the week.

“ala Nurishing Traditions”
I’ve subscribed to the Traditional Foods mailer from Cooking Traditional Foods. I’m still on the sample week, and today’s dinner was honey baked lentils, glazed salmon, and steamed broccoli. Everything was soo delicious.

I packed the girl’s bento in two silicone bake dishes I picked up at the dollar store. I’m not sure that the lime green is the most flattering representation for foods, but the size of the containers is exactly perfect for the girls. PLUS, they (*cough* DD2) can throw their dish on the floor without fear of breaking it!

DD2 really lovd her food. She practically ate the salmon in one bite and then spent the rest of the meal inhaling the honey baked lentils. DD1 concentrated on her broccoli and then the lentils. She only ate a few bites of the salmon before she declared her tummy was too full.

I think, honestly, she’s just not used to eating fish. A fact I fully intend to rectify.

I stopped by the Dollar General earlier today and picked up some little containers for Bento lunches. These two containers come in a set of 4 that nest within a larger white tray. Each container is the perfect size for a child’s bento lunch.

For lunch today, I used last night’s dinner. Soaked brown rice in bone broth, baked carrots, pot roast, and fresh broccoli for color and added texture.

P.S. The green container is already broken. DD2 tossed it down from her high chair when she was done with dinner and it broke! Gah.