Advent Calendar Photos!

 Before we took down our advent calendar, I got Chris to take a couple of GOOD photos of it. Here they are...

Beginning of Advent

End of Advent. Artwork courtesy of the talented Kimberly Swait.

With the ornaments

Year in Review - Places I've been, Places to Go

So I'm revisiting my list of Places to Go that I posted when I turned 30.

In 2011, Chris and I made it to Chicago, and even a short trip to NYC.

For 2012 I pretty much don't plan on traveling much at all; first I'll be pregnant and not wanting to travel, then I'll have a newborn and won't want to travel. So ,my plan is for 2012 to be the Year Of Staying Put.

Here's my revised list of Places to visit before I'm 40. it looks like I have about 8 more years to get to 7 places... make that 7 years if we don't travel in 2012. Doable, but a little intimidating.

Places I hope to visit before I'm 40:

• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver, CA
• Boston, MA
• Rome, Italy
• Yellowstone
• Chicago, IL complete!
• Austin, TX
• Denver, CO

Turning 32 - Goals for my 30s Revisited

Okay, I'm a little behind on doing much of anything lately... I'm 10 weeks pregnant (yay!) and feeling pretty sick (boo!) so my productivity level has DROPPED as of late. I'm really hoping that turns around in January, but we'll see how that goes.

So I'm a few days late in thinking about Goals for my 32nd year (my birthday was 3 days ago), but I figure this is close enough. I looked back on my Goals for my 30s that I posted a couple years ago, and it's interesting what can change in a couple years' time.

1. Have baby #2. Looks like I'm on the right track with this one! Baby #2 is due this July.
2. Buy a house. This has actually moved up as a goal for THIS year, if we can find the right now. Actually, a goal for the first half of the year. If not now, we'll try again in a couple more years. So yes, this has moved up. We really want a yard. And a little more space for our growing family. And a place to call our own for good.
3. Figure out if I want to go to grad school, and if I do, get started with it. Still not sure about this one. I'm thinking it's at least 5 years away to even consider it.
4. Become a Stay-At-Home Mom. Okay, sure. I still would like for this to happen. But it's not really on my radar. My goals for the next 5 years revolve more around growing in my career than leaving it.
5. Learn to do wet felting. Sure that would be fun but right now I don't really care if I do it.
6. Learn to knit. I'm pretty content as a crocheter. I don't think it matters if I don't pick up knitting.
7. Learn to sew. Something else that I don't care about AT ALL right now. But who knows, maybe I'll care again before I'm 40.
8. Complete a fine art project. Even if I were to do one, what would I do with it? I don't really "self identify" as a fine artist, so I don't know that I'm too concerned about that.
9. Find a place where I can get into wheel-throwing pottery again. Okay, I still want to do this. But I think it might be a goal for my 60s, not my 30s. Fun Things To Do When I'm Old and Retired.
10. Produce another film.Nope. Don't care.

So now I'm down to 4 goals for the next 8 years, and I'm only passionate about the first two. Wow. I feel... pretty melancholy. I'm sure this will all change again in a few months. After all, I'm experiencing first trimester nausea and exhaustion as a consistent way of being right now. At any rate, I think the next two plus years of my life will be about supporting our growing family (financially, emotionally, physically), and maintaining my sanity in the midst of it. I wonder what it will look like next December?

Pen Holder Bookmark - Free Crochet Pattern

I have been pretty obsessed with pinterest lately as a source of ideas for crafty fun times. After seeing a photo of a knitted pen tube bookmark on pinterest, I decided I had to have one. But I don't knit, so I just winged it and came up with a pretty simple pattern for a crochet version for my notebook.

Download the printer-friendly PDF version.

Materials:

sock-weight yarn
Hook Size: D -3.25mm
button
Yarn Sewing Needle

Stitches:

ch = chain stitch
hdc = half double crochet
hdc dec = half double crochet decrease (one hdc across two stitches)
FLO = front loop only
sc = single crochet
sl st = slip stitch
st = stitch

Pattern:

ch 5
R1: sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc in each additional chain (4 sc)
R2: ch 1, 4 sc (4 sc)
R3-6: Repeat R2
Rnd 7: ch 1, 4 hdc FLO, turn and in the SAME stitches, 3 hdc FLO, 1 hdc inc FLO in last sc. join first hdc with last hdc using a sl st. (9 hdc)
Rnd 8 : ch 1, turn, 9 hdc around, sl st to join. (9 hdc)
Rnd 9-21: Repeat rnd 8
Rnd 22: 2 sl st, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 sc, sl st
Rnd 23: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 1 sl st, 1 sc, 2 hdc, 1 sc, 1 sl st
Rnd 24: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 1 sl st, 1 sc, hdc, 1 sl st
Rnd 25: ch 1, turn, skip sl st, 2 sc
Rnd 26: ch 1, turn, 1 hdc dec
ch 40 to create bookmark strip. FO and leave a long tail.

Finishing Touches:

Sew the button to the middle of the area made by the first 6 rows. If you will be using this bookmark with one specific notebook, put the body of the bookmark on the spine, wrap the tail into the book, wind the end around the button and pull tight. Use that “measurement” to tie a loop that can hook onto the button.
If this bookmark will be “multiuse” between books, you can just pull the tail tight and wind it back through the book to keep it secure.

Notes:

The person who wrote the original design sells the knitting pattern on ravelry and on her own site, as well. This crochet pattern is released as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. You may not sell this pattern. You may sell bookmarks made using this pattern.

Jesse Tree Advent Calendar project

Having a young child has really made me want to start establishing some Christmas traditions that keep us focused on the "reason for the season," if you will. Last year I learned about the Jesse Tree advent calendar from my church's Children's Pastor, and I really liked the idea on a number of levels. It seems like a simple way to introduce children to the Bible stories that lead up to Christmas, with just a short reading each day, and I love that it's reinforced with an image for each day. So this year, since my fall calendar is already pretty full, I decided to get a head start on Christmas by making my own Jesse Tree Advent Calendar that will last us for many Advent seasons.

I used this book, The Advent Jesse Tree to get the idea for the symbol for each day, as well as the Bible verses to read to children for each day leading up to Christmas. Our church uses the same book on Sundays during advent, so I wanted to stickHide all with the same thing to keep it familiar (Google searches taught me that there are a number of lists of verses and symbols to choose from). And after many Etsy and Pinterest searches, and some crafting advice from friends, I finally settled on what I wanted to do for our family. I wanted something I could make myself, that would be lasting and could help build tradition for the years to come.

There are a few components to the final result.

1. Advent Calendar - made out of stiff cardboard and purchased at Hobby Lobby; the drawers are 2" cubes. I used Modge Podge to glue 2" squares of scrapbooking paper to each drawer, and after searching high and low at the craft store for some number stickers I could use, gave up and made the number labels myself.

2. Ornaments - I made each ornament out of Paper Clay, which is pretty nice air-dry white clay. It was my first time using it, and was actually pretty easy to work with. For more of the symbols I just made round ornaments that I could paint symbols on, but I had appropriate cookie cutters for a couple of them, and a few more I decided to hand sculpt just to add some variety to the ornaments. Once they had hardened, I used water color pencils to add the symbols to each one. Then I wrote the day and symbol name on the back of each one just so it will be easy to return them to their appropriate boxes at the end of the season.

3. Verses - I typed out short verse cards to accompany each ornament in their respective boxes. Every day had a short memory verse and a longer Bible passage to read. These verse cards contain the name of the symbol, the full text of the memory verse, and the name of the other passage to be read. Verses are rolled up and tied with a bit of string.

4. Tree - so this part isn't done yet, because I haven't decided the best way to go about it. But I need a small tree that we can hang one ornament on every day. My requirement is that it be something simple and affordable (if I need to buy anything at all), and it can't take up too much space in my closet during the year. This isn't to take the place of a traditional Christmas tree, it's in addition to it. (Not that we're very traditional when it comes to the tree anyways).

5. Oh yeah... I'm also planning on one extra piece to this whole thing, but it's hard to explain so I'll just post about it when I'm done.

Ok, so I showed you mine. Now it's your turn!

What's your favorite Christmas tradition? Do you have any projects planned to make your holiday season special?

Crochet / Felted Purse Patterns

I've been working on these for a while, and finally finished the patterns for my two favorite purses. Both are crocheted with a 4.5mm hook with 100% wool yarn, and felted in a washing machine. Both are designed to hold a notebook in the back pocket, a cell phone, and a chapstick for easy access. Either one would be a great project. And both are available to purchase for $4.95 on Etsy and on Ravelry.

Joanie Purse
Buy on Ravelry

Mobile / Content Purse
Buy on Ravelry

Easy protein-packed "pancakes"

My nearly-two-year-old son is a bit of a picky eater. Aren't they all at this age? I can pretty much get him to eat any sort of carb-filled food -- breads, rice, quinoa, Morning O's (wheat-free cheerios), rice chex, bananas, fruits -- anything sweet or full of carbs that turn into sugar. But vegetables are always elusive, and protein, as well. Sure, he'll eat lentils and beans and such (sometimes) so that helps, and I make him a green smoothie every morning that he just LOVES, which makes me feel better about him getting some veggies in his diet. But nuts are kind of a choking hazard at this age, and he just doesn't like meat, and he liked eggs for about two days before he decided he hated eggs. So what's a mom to do?

I had decided to stop feeding him carbs for breakfast. No more oatmeal and rice cereal, because he's eating too many carbs and if I start the day off with them, then he's just going to be in a carb-frenzy for the rest of the day. Veggies are a hard sell any time of day, so I certainly didn't plan to fill his breakfast plate with veggies. Eggs seemed like the perfect option, but we've already covered his anti-eggs stance.

Time to get creative.

Egg "pancake"

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp almond meal 
• 1/2 tbsp flax meal
• 1 tbsp pureed veggie or squash of choice (if available)
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup (or honey, etc)

Directions:

1. Whisk together egg, almond meal, flax meal, syrup, and veggie puree (I've used minced zucchini, butternut squash, and green beans from a baby food jar. This one isn't essential but is a way to sneak other goodies into it, and the butternut squash is by far the favorite). 
2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. When oil is hot, pour mixture into skillet. Is should spread out pretty thin. Let the pancake cook until you can easily flip it over in one piece.
4. When both sides are cooked, put it on a plate to cool. 

Makes one pancake. One pancake is approx 190 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, and only 7 grams of carbs (2 grams sugars).  

I call them pancakes for my son as sort of a marketing technique. But they're more like crepes, which means you can smear them with almond butter or fruit filling or something and roll them up if you want to get fancy.

Sometimes Zeke likes them plain, but when he gets bored with it I will put almond butter on it, or a dab of honey, or some almond butter and dried cranberries... you get the idea. These (below) are made with butternut squash, and have a light layer of honey on the inside before they're rolled up, per the Little Man's request.

Allergen-Free Thanksgiving

photo by Deiru

Two years ago I had my first allergen-free Thanksgiving, and I blogged my recipe list here. I'm so glad that I did, because I've been able to refer to the list for the past two years to remind me what I wanted to tackle. Last year's Thanksgiving was up in Indiana, and if I remember correctly, I just made my stuffing and made sure the turkey and sweet potato casserole were safe for me to eat, and otherwise just admired all the other amazing dishes.

Well, this year Thanksgiving is back here, and my Grandma and my Aunt Deb are coming down for it! We'll also have one or two other friends over who didn't have anywhere to go for the holiday. My grandma is bringing a couple of very gluten filled dishes for her and Chris to enjoy, but my aunt can't have wheat OR dairy OR - eggs, OR get this one - POULTRY. So I'm making some modifications to a couple of my recipes to remove eggs and dairy, and we're going to have some adventures in allergen-free cooking. I've got a couple of pork tenderloins for my aunt to have while the rest of us eat turkey, and I'll use veggie broth in any recipes calling for turkey or chicken broth. Luckily Deb can tolerate some dairy, because my stuffing recipe won't be very good without the cottage cheese, but I've got almond milk to try out for the cream of mushroom soup.

I'm looking forward to all the good times ahead! Thanksgiving just might be my favorite holiday. What's not to love about a holiday that is centered around food, family, and fellowship?

Pumpkin Stew

My husband scored us some free pumpkins a few days ago. I have baked and made pumpkin puree out of two of them. I got a friend to help me cube and peel the third, and most of it is in the freezer. But 5 cups of it went into making Talitha's Vegan Pumpkin Stew today. Sooo good. I had to make my own garam masala because I had most of the ingredients but no time to get to a grocery store. That made my house smell oh-so-yummy.

What I did different: I just boiled the pumpkin / broth mix for about 90 minutes before pureeing because I didn't have the time for a slow 4-hour simmer. Then I threw it all in a crock pot with the pre-soaked beans for 8 hours. It wound up being a little spicier than we normally do (and we like spice!) but maybe that was because it was homemade garam masala. And it was a bit too thick for my tastes, so next time I will probably try 5 cups of broth instead of 3. But trust me, there WILL be a next time. Very tasty stuff. I am excited about my leftovers... I didn't think to garnish it with kefir or anything for dinner, but I plan to add some homemade kefir to it for my leftovers.

Adventures in ... Kefir! Part 2 - Coconut Kefir FAIL.

While my milk kefir has been a very easy and successful project, I also have been trying to start a batch of coconut kefir. The process is the same, and from all my research, all I needed to do was take some of my kefir grains, and cover it with coconut milk instead of cow's milk. Apparently it can take a couple of tries before the culture "figures out" what to do with the coconut milk, so for a week I would cover the grains with a cup of coconut milk, let it sit overnight, pour out the failed kefir the next day, and add fresh coconut milk. By the end of the week I would just have sour coconut milk the next day instead of coconut kefir, so I gave up trying. My last batch smelled so bad that I dumped the culture as well, figuring it had probably gone bad.

I'm not sure what I was doing wrong. I guess when I have an abundance of kefir grains again, I will do some more research and try again. I was really looking forward to mixing up my kefir smoothies so that I wasn't always eating cow's milk each time.

Anyone out there have any experience with this?

Adventures in ... Kefir! Part 1 - Cow's Milk Kefir = Success!

Kefir Grains

Kefir "cheese"

I finally scored myself some kefir grains a couple weeks ago, and have since been healing my gut with some probiotic goodness from homemade kefir. 


The process is super simple. Literally, the hardest part of starting to make my own kefir was locating some grains. You see, the kefir culture multiplies over time, so anyone who is culturing kefir will wind up with more culture than they need. So if you know someone who is already making kefir and who has some extra grains, that's a cheap and easy way to get started. Otherwise you will need to order some online, or check your local craigslist to see if someone has some to sell or give away. 


Once you've got the grains it's an easy-peasy process. All I do each morning is put my tablespoon of grains in a glass and cover it with about a cup of milk. Then I put a towel over the glass to keep bugs out, and stick it in a cupboard for the next 24 hours. The next morning, I put the kefir in the blender for my smoothie, and scoop out the grains to repeat the process. 


If I decide that I don't want to drink the kefir right away, I can stick it in the fridge and it will keep for a couple of weeks there. I can also put the grains in the fridge with some milk if I don't want to make any more kefir for a couple of weeks. 


I've also been straining some of it to make the thicker spread and mixing it with a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast for a spread. I've also used kefir cheese in place of mayonaisse for deviled eggs (which garnered rave reviews), and I could use it for a veggie dip, too. So many options, so much healthy probiotic goodness!

Adventures in Budgeting

So with the demise of our savings (see the last post), we've gone full speed ahead into budget mode. I'm still struggling it, though, to be honest. We've been "at it" for a little over a month now, and after budgeting for all the necessities, we don't have much left over for paying off the other loan, giving, and preparing for the holiday season. I keep trying to figure out how to cut down on some of the necessities, but I'm not having ANY luck.

We cut down Chris's cell phone plan recently, but Chris is having a really tough time sticking within the limited minutes. Apparently we ARE paying the least amount possible on car insurance for our two 10 year old cars. Removing our less-than-basic cable will not actually reduce our cable bill since that just means Comcast will change the price for our cable internet (might I remind you that I'm a web designer, so internet is a work necessity, not a luxury). So I keep trying to figure out how to cut our grocery bill, because that's what we spend the most on that we have some control over.

However, the combination of my food allergies and my unwillingness to compromise our physical health for our financial health are making that much harder than I expected. We are still doing all the things we started last year to keep grocery costs down. But a handful of things are making it harder to stay within budget. Primarily, we have a toddler who eats a LOT (and throws more of it on the floor). Secondarily, I've been having some health issues lately that I suspect are food related, and I'm trying to put my finger on it... right now I suspect that our attempts to eat less meat have taken a negative toll on my body. And, as I mentioned before, it's really important to me that we buy organic for our dairy and essential vegetables.

We also have been having guests over for dinner pretty frequently, and this is another thing I am not willing to compromise on. We are blessed to be able to have friends over for meals, and when we're hosting the meal, I don't feel like I'm burdening someone else with my crazy food issues (or potentially getting glutened). Add to that the fact that we're hosting Thanksgiving AND Christmas this year - something I am very excited about.

So I am left with the idea that, we will try for one more month to stay within what should be a VERY reasonable food budget. If we can't do it, then I will just have to decide to bump up the food budget and figure out another place to make a cut. We DO have some wiggle room in the amount we put towards the loan every month, so that's good.

That, and I just need to trust that enough freelance work will keep coming our way to fill in the gaps. So far so good, but this is where I have a tough time with trusting... I start worrying whenever a project ends that another one won't come along. So with that in mind... anyone need a web designer, a print designer, a videographer, or a photographer? I'm only half joking. ;-)

Adventures in Getting Debt Free, or, Will this make me lose more sleep or less?

This little note greeted me the last time I logged into one of Chris's student loan websites. "Paid in Full." Granted, it's only one of two school loans we are paying off from his 3 years at SCAD. But it was the larger loan, with a higher interest rate. We recently met with a financial advisor who recommended that we use all of our savings to get these loans paid down as much as possible, and then continue to throw all of our money at them until they're gone. THEN we worry about saving up after these are paid off. He recommended this because, with the economy what it is, our savings was gaining basically zero interest, while the loans, of course, continue to accumulate. Before this meeting, I had us "on track" to pay off these loans by 2015. Now we have one paid and - if we keep paying off the other one at the rate we were previously paying off two - we should have the other paid off by the end of 2011 or so.

When we first made the big transfer out of the savings account and off to Ending Debt Land, I had mixed feelings... a bit of relief that this loan was GONE, but a bit of fear that the savings was also GONE. What are we going to do if I lose my job? What if someone totals our car? What if Zeke spills smoothie all over my laptop and I have to buy a new machine? Chris was worried that, rather than reducing my stress level, paying off this debt would increase my stress because I would worry more about not having any sort of safety net. And to be honest, I was a little concerned about that, too. I still am.

But a nearly month has passed an so far I'm still pretty excited about the prospect of saying "Bye Bye," to the debt. Now, I am a little more concerned about us staying within budget for each month, but for now that is probably a good thing.

We've also heard some timely sermons at church about being thankful for what we have, and recognizing that we - all of us with a roof over our heads - are rich, and that what we have is a blessing. So this season may mean trusting for the Lord to get us through every month a little more than we had to before... but that is a GOOD thing. That's where our trust should be in the first place, not in the dollar signs in a savings account. Ultimately, getting out of debt is biblical, and trusting in the Lord for everything is biblical, and I'm feeling like we're on the right track.

Not to say all of this is easy. I'm still struggling with some aspects of the budget, and with fear of not making ends meet, but ultimately, overall, when all is said and done, we're on the right track and I'm feeling good about that. The rest shall be left to other posts, or, more likely, left out of the public space that is the interwebs.

Zeke’s Butternut Squash Muffins

I started making these muffins soon after Zeke started eating enough solids that we needed to bring snacks with us so he had finger foods to munch on. They're still one of his favorite foods, months later. Gluten free and vegan (if you omit the eggs), and relatively healthy! I wouldn't let Zeke eat them all day long, but a couple muffin bites a day keeps the little man happy.

I've passed along this recipe a number of times, so I thought it was time I put it up online.

Remember, this is all easily adaptable. For instance, If you don't have tapioca starch, you can use another kind of starch that you have in the house. If you want dried cranberries in yours, go wild. This is just a start.

Zeke's Butternut Squash Muffins.

Adapted from Tova's Chia Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups steamed and pureed butternut squash (or pumpkin, or sweet potato)
• 1 cup gluten-free flour of choice (I use 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup sorghum)
• 1/2 cup tapioc starch (or arrowroot)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp ground flax mixed with 6 tbsp warm water (or 2 eggs)
• 1/4 cup high-quality extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• Optional: nutmeg, cinnamon, and/or crushed nuts.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Spoon into muffin tray or muffin bites tray. (If pouring into a muffin tray, only fill each cup about 1/3 to 1/2 full).
4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until tooth pick insterted comes out clean (often takes longer than this to cook)

I usually make these in a "brownie bites" tray so that they're pretty small, but there's more batter than what fits into that tray so I pour whatever is left into normal sized muffin tins. I only fill them about 1/2 way full, and they do not rise much. After they bake and cool, I stick a couple in the fridge and freeze the rest. Then I'll pull out as much as I plan to let Zeke have early in the morning and put it in the refrigerator. Once I'm ready to give him some, it's thawed out and I can cut it into bite-sized chunks. If I'm taking them "on the go" with me, I will cut them into chunks before we leave the house, and store them in a small tupperware. Then they're ready whenever the little bug needs a snack.

Here's a printer-friendly PDF.

Crochet Octopus

I bought this crochet octopus pattern back in January. I started crocheting it, piece by piece, tentacle by tentacle, sucker by sucker in May or so. I wasn't in a hurry, I just wanted to work on it whenever I had a little bit of time. You know, during lunch breaks, long car rides, church service, whatever. The cool thing about a pattern like this is that you really can just bring a little bit of yarn with you and just work on one piece of it at a time and then put them all together at home later.

And last night I finally finished him! I haven't named him yet. I think he will be Zeke's Christmas gift from me. So maybe I'll let Zeke name him.

I love how realistic he looks, and how easy the pattern is. I recommend it to anyone wanting to get into crochet. I've actually taught a few people how to crochet recently, and plan to do another craft night at my house in a couple of months to do a "refresher" course for anyone who needs it. Crochet is just too enjoyable to keep it all to myself.

Amazake Experiment on hold

Okay, so I've been doing more research on making koji rice from spores (if you're having a tough time keeping up, koji rice is the moldy rice that is mixed with cooked rice to make sake and, in my case, amazake. I have koji rice SPORES that I need to innoculate into koji rice, which I will THEN be able to use to mix a cup of koji rice with a couple cups of brown rice to make a fermented rice beverage that is ALSO a handy ingredient for gluten-free baking). I finally found a couple of websites that have instructions on making koji rice, and one that is AMAZINGLY detailed, AND contains the holy grail - instructions on how to convert some of the koji rice into spores that can be used to make MORE koji rice later... which would mean if I get it right next time, I won't have to buy more spores online in order to make more koji rice.

What I figured out from reading his tutorial is that the instructions that came with my spores were sorely lacking, AND lacking in caution. Turns out you need to be really careful with the spores because you don't want to breath them in. Uh, what? So now I've got a graphic image of mold spores covering my esophagus. Let's pray that's not the case. He also has a whole page devoted to how to steam the rice, and what it should look like at the end, which was my biggest issue.

While I do feel much better informed to make my next batch of koji rice, I am also a bit unprepared by way of equipment. While I think I can mainly get by with what I have on hand to create an incubation area, my biggest problem there was that I don't have a food thermometer that falls below 100 degrees... and I need to keep the koji rice incubated in the 90s. I think this all-in-one cooking timer/thermometer would do the trick, but... well, we've put the lock-down on our spending. Starting this month we are on a strict budget and I can't just drop $20 on a thermometer because I think it would be fun to do this koji rice experiment. So I basically need to wait until the end of the month and see if there's anything left in the budget for this little goody. If not, there's always next month... and if we really get in a bind, then there's always my birthday in December!

Also, now that I found that fantastic tutorial, I may not put up an Instructable on koji rice... I'm a big proponent of the "no need to reinvent the wheel" philosophy. But we'll see... maybe I'll still put one up there just so the information is in more than one place, and make sure to reference the original.

Next up, I need to find someone with extra kefir grains so I can get my culture fix that way. Anyone know someone with extras?

Can a girl really have too many kitchen appliances?

My little man, Zeke, is 16 months old and has really gotten into the habit of asking me what everything is, ALL THE TIME. All day long, he points to things and says, "Dat?" This means, basically, "What is that called?" He knows the answers most of the time, but he asks anyways. Usually it takes the form of pointing out every light in a room, or that he can see two clocks, or two fans, or that mommy, daddy, and Zeke eat have their own cup on the table. It's kind of neat watching him draw connections between similar things.

Yesterday he got really interested in the appliances in the kitchen. So I'm preparing his morning smoothie, all the while identifying each appliance as Zeke runs around the kitchen pointing to items and saying, "Dat?" It went a little like this:

"Toaster.

Ice cream maker.

Blender.

That's a rice cooker.

That's the crock pot.

That's still the rice cooker.

That's still the crock pot.

Still the rice cooker.

Yes Zeke, I know the rice cooker and the crock pot look similar but they're different items."

I suddenly felt very extravagant to have all these different convenience appliances at my disposal. What he did not see were my tea maker, george foreman grill, large food processor, hand mixer, and small food processor. I started to wonder, am I wasteful and extravagant to have all this stuff? Then I realized, first of all, that I have used every one of these appliances at least once in the last two weeks... some of them I use daily or every couple of days. I also realized that every single one of these was either a Christmas gift or birthday gift within the past handful of years. I mean, my family members want to get me SOMETHING for holidays, and at least I asked for stuff I would use often instead of just taking up space, right? And I love them and they save us so much time in the kitchen! So then I just felt blessed instead of extravagant.

Sprouting...

If you're not so interested in my ramblings, go ahead and jump right on down to my quick instructions on sprouting your beans.

Yesterday I cooked my black beans that had been soaked overnight in whey for the first time, rather than just soaked without an acidic medium. I am happy to report that we did notice a difference in how we digested the beans... the household was less stinky than it would typically be.

Last night I soaked kidney beans and chick peas with vinegar for the Millet Garden Medley we had tonight, and I must say that I don't think the results were quite as good, but I still think it was worthwhile.

But typically, if we're planning far enough in advance, I prefer to sprout my beans to increase their nutritional value. So as I began setting out 4 types of beans in a bowl to soak for Thursday's dinner, I realized that I didn't know if I was supposed to still use an acid in the water if I was SPROUTING the beans rather than just soaking them. A quick google search later, and I came across a number of useful blogs covering this topic of soaking and sprouting, such as this one. I can tell you pretty definitively that I do NOT need to use an acid if we're sprouting them, as the sprouting process naturally removes the phytic acid that soaking with whey does.

I started learning about sprouting about 5 years ago. It started innocently enough, because I wanted to make my own mung bean sprouts to put in a salad. The next thing I new, I was soaking all our beans and making things like sprouted black beans and rice. While sprouting black beans and rice alters their flavor, sprouting a ton of other beans doesn't really change their flavor but really enhances their nutrition, so we make a habit of doing that whenever we plan ahead enough to know what we're having for dinner in 2 or 3 days... which is relatively often, actually. (I don't manage a week of meal planning, but we can usually manage to plan for a sprouted bean crock pot meal that will happen in a couple days).

At any rate, now I don't feel so late to the party since we've been doing this method of removing phytic acid for a while now. Can't say I notice the same "aiding in digestion" results, though. So I'm not sure what that's all about.

If you have never tried sprouting beans, I highly recommend you give it a shot! It is sooo easy. I learned for starters from The Sprout People, but to be honest their methods got too complicated for me. Let me tell you what I do.

How to Sprout Beans

What you need:

• A large bowl
• A tea towel or cloth napkin
• A colander
• Dry beans (I'm not picky about what kind. I even get good results from the cheap Hurst's HamBeens 15 bean mix that you find in a bag from the grocery store).

What you do:

1. Before bed, put your beans (however many you need) in your bowl and fill the bowl with water, to at least an inch and a half above the beans. You want the bowl to be able to hold at least 3 times as many dry beans as you're filling it with.
2. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it on a counter, away from direct sunlight, and go to bed.
3. When you wake up (8 or so hours later), dump the beans into a colander and rinse well. Put the beans back in the bowl. Do not refill with water. Cover them and set them back on the counter.
4. 8 hours later, rinse the beans in a colander, and put them back in the bowl, cover, set on counter.
5. Repeat step 5 every 8 hours or so (when you wake up in the morning, before dinner, and right before bed) until the beans have sprouted as much as you want them to. This varies by type of bean, but 2 - 3 days is a good guestimate.
6. If your beans are sprouted enough and you're not ready to cook them, put the bowl in the fridge to stop the sprouting process. If you're ready to cook them, go ahead and prepare them the same way you would prepare unsprouted beans.

I find that most legumes require the same amount of cooking time they would normally, but they do NOT need as much water as unsprouted beans need to cook. This part you just need to play by ear. I usually throw them in a crock pot that I'm going to cook for 8 hours on low. But I also sprout garbanzo beans and then boil them in a big pot on the stove until they're soft, and proceed to use them for hummus, garbanzo bean salad, or roasted for a snack.

You can find more tips from Living Foods, but they're only interested in eating raw foods, not cooked beans. I actually always cook my beans. Although technically you can eat garbanzos, mung beans, and lentils raw, I just don't like their taste raw. I especially hate raw garbanzo beans. And then a lot of beans, like black, pinto, and kidney beans should not be eaten raw.

On Kefir "cheese," and soaking beans with whey

Although my koji rice adventures didn't go so well this weekend (and neither did my bread making, actually), I did try a couple of new things that I'm pretty happy about.

I had a coupon for kefir about a week ago, so I got a couple bottles of plain kefir at the store the other day, and have been slowly going through it, mostly with fruit. I also decided to try using kefir instead of mayonnaise for deviled eggs, which I thought worked out very well. Then I decided to strain the whey out of my kefir to make a thicker spread that I could put on bread or use as a veggie dip or whatever. So far I have tried the following combinations with my kefir "cheese"

• 3 parts kefir cheese to 1 part nutritional yeast and a sprinkle of dill to make a savory spread = yum!
• Plain kefir cheese in place of sour cream on my tempeh and veggie wrap also = yum!
• Kefir cheese mixed with a bit of honey and a big dash of cinnamon on my (gluten-free chia seed) muffin = yum x 2!

Of course, straining the whey out of my kefir also means I have to figure out what to do with all this whey. When I made greek yogurt over a year ago, I wound up with a lot of whey and no CLUE what to do with it. Well, this time around my dear friend Jen's blog steered me in the direction of using the whey when soaking dried beans to aid in digestion. So tonight I did a bit of google action and learned that if you want to get all the goodness out of your beans, it's almost essential to add an acid such as whey (or lemon juice) to the soaking water. It helps your body absorb all the good nutrients you're eating the beans for in the first place, and cuts down on the pesky gas issue that makes beans the, errr, butt of the joke.

So now I've got my big batch of black beans soaking my some of my leftover whey, and I'm pretty darned excited about it, although I kind of feel like I'm late to the party! But now that I'm at the bean-soaking party, I just wanted to make sure the rest of you join me! To make it less complicated, I found this nifty soaking guide. I plan to format it for my recipe box so I always have the cheat sheet on hand.

This concludes your healthy eating lesson for the day. Class dismissed!

Amazake, Take 1 = FAIL

Okay, so my first attempt at making koji rice resulted in an utter failure. But that's okay! I think I at least know the places where I went wrong, so I plan to try again next week. The starter packet I bought had enough spores to make 2 batches of 6 cups of rice each, and my only real regret is that I actually tried to make one full batch my first try. Next time I will make a batch of 3 cups, so I have enough for one more 3 cup batch if this one goes awry.

My main problem this time around was at the VERY BEGINNING... one of the instructions is to STEAM the rice for 50 minutes, with the explanation that at the end of 50 minutes the rice will be "a hot rubbery lump." Well, at the end of 50 minutes (and 2 hours, and 2 1/2 hours...) the rice was NOT a rubbery lump, so I kept steaming it thinking I wasn't cooking it correctly because it seemed barely cooked. I cooked it until it was, indeed, a hot rubbery lump of rice. BUT then my problem throughout the rest of the 2 days was that instructions kept talking about breaking up any clumps that stick together, and that at the end of 2 days I should be able to crack open a grain of rice to check it... but I had one huge gooey lump of rice. So next time around, I think I'll have an easier time of steaming my rice with half as much in the pot, and then I am going to stick with that 50 minute window and whatever my rice looks like at the end of 50 minutes will be what I am going to assume it should look like, and we'll just move forward from there.

But I also think I learned this time around what works and what doesn't as far as my methods for incubating the rice to keep it at the right temperature, which is really only about 85 degrees... it turns out it was surprisingly difficult for me to keep the rice at just a few degrees above room temperature, but I think I've got it worked out now.

At first I felt pretty crummy about having such a massive failure on my hands after telling "Teh Internets" about my big plans. But then I happened upon this clip from Sesame Street (completely on accident) and now I feel alright about my practice run. :-)