My First iPost

Greetings from my iPad! This is my first post from the iPad David got me for Christmas. To celebrate, I'm going to attempt to upload a picture as well. It's of me and Violet going through our Andy Warhol phase.

Well that didn't work. So for now I will just leave you all in suspense. . .

Our Raw Adventure: Days 2 & 3

We made it another 2 days (minus Wednesday supper)! Pictured above are the banana crackers I made in the dehydrator (from soaked flax seeds, bananas, and fresh squeezed orange juice). They're actually pretty good with raw almond butter on them. The kids and David are hanging in there. They really have been pretty good sports about the whole thing. But I could tell they all appreciated the "break" we took for supper on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, though, we managed to discover some raw food we all really liked! Well, okay, just Harrison and I really loved the zucchini pasta marinara; David liked the sauce; and Veronica and Violet didn't like anything about it. You can see the zucchini "pasta" pictured below along with the sauce and our salad fixings. I think it's really fun to make the pasta too. I have a veggie "spiralizer" that can be used to turn raw veggies into either thin ribbons or thin angelhair pasta-like strands. The sauce has lots of the same ingredients as regular marinara sauce--it's just not cooked.

The one thing that everyone loved (sorry no picture) was the banana ice cream. It's just frozen bananas "creamed" in the blender. I used my Ninja. I had tried to do this in the past, but wasn't patient enough. It also helped to add a little water. But if you blend long enough, the bananas really do turn into the consistency of soft serve ice cream. It's so amazing! They are so creamy and yummy. Even Violet was licking her bowl.

Our Raw Adventure: Day 1

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted anything! Above is a picture of what Veronica had for breakfast and lunch yesterday, which was the first day of our one week raw food adventure. Although it was David's idea, he is only participating in the evening and Violet is exempt (but she still can't have chips for breakfast much to her dismay). So what exactly are we doing? From Monday, August 1st to Sunday morning, August 7th, we are only going to eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Raw means anything that has not been cooked above (I think) 119 degrees. We are taking a brief "break" on Wednesday for supper only because Veronica was already scheduled to go on a church trip to Surfside Water Park and they are providing supper and since we have to go to church to pick her up, we'll eat there too.

Here is what we had for supper last night:

Pictured basically from left to right are salad, berry mix (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries), raw beanless falafel (made in a dehydrator from almonds), and salad toppings (rainbow carrots, orange peppers, cucumbers, and celery). Not pictured: our family who really did enjoy most of it except the falafel. I, on the other hand loved it!

General reactions to the day:

Veronica, "That's the best breakfast I ever had!" "The nuts feel like you are an outdoors person eaing nuts off a tree." "I love raw food!"

Harrison, who was really gung ho BEFORE we started, "I don't want to do this anymore!" He did, however, have a change of heart after he tried my raw "fudge" balls (walnuts, raisins, and raw cacao powder). I would have a picture of those, but Harrison ate them all!!

David, "Uhh, I can't come home for lunch today . . ." (actually it was because he was busy--mostly!)

Me, "This is so much easier when everyone is doing it!" I've done days/weeks raw ever now and then. Most recently July 11, International Raw Food Day and before that I was raw from January 4 to February 19. Actually, though, I was in the kitchen from 10 AM to 4 PM "uncooking" so in some ways it was harder too.

Violet, "I want chips!!"

Happy Belated Fourth of July

We celebrated the 4th by cleaning the house and doing yard work. Actually this is all a part of our Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which hopefully I will post pictures of later. Nothing dramatic--just changing bedrooms and offices around. We did let the kids swim in our luxury back yard pool (Violet had already gotten out by the time I got the camera out) and just made it downtown in time to see the fireworks on the riverfront. David has off today. He's already tracked, caught, and killed an errant wasp that dared to enter our home. Now he's taking the kids to the YMCA pool so I can get some work done. They have a really neat outdoor pool with water slides. There's a kiddie frog slide where the kids go through the frog's mouth. Who knows what else the day has in store!

Ode to a Lonely Blog

Has it really been that long since my last post?

Have I been depriving my dear readers from what they love most?

No new photos or news

Or quotes to peruse

I'd better get crackin' or soon I'll be toast!!!

Can You Guess My Name?

This morning Violet wanted to watch a movie so I asked her what she wanted to watch. She replied, "Michael Jackson!" That really took me by surprise because not only do we not have any Michael Jackson movies, I didn't think she had ever heard of him. So I told her, "You don't even know who that is!" To which she replied, "Yes, it's the doggy!" At that point, Veronica mercifully intervened and said, "No, that's Rumpledogskin!" We have a Hello Kitty DVD that has some fairy tales on it and one of them is based on Rumplestiltskin, but since the character playing him is a dog, his name is Rumpledogskin. I wonder if that's the first time anyone has confused Michael Jackson with Rumplestiltskin?

Veronica's Academic Ambitions

Tonight Veronica was telling Harrison (and me) that after 6th grade she would be going to Junior High, and then after Junior High she would go to High School, then after High School she would go to College--and then--after College she would come home and be free!!!!