Our House in the Middle of Our Street

As the kids start to get older I'm putting a lot of energy into finding excellent resources to teach my kids that are affordable and interesting outside of picture books. Cooked , a 4-part series by Michael Pollan on Netflix, is one of those resources.  As an American in Canada, I sometimes feel a bit snobbish turning my nose down at the options found here. My pitiful, first-world-problem attitude of 'there's nothing on this Netflix'! led me to this series, which I'd never pick in a million years if I could watch Parenthood, Nashville, and New Girl back to back. Such is life, and I'm glad, because watching this--a show I was only marginally interested in--became a full supply of conversation between myself and my kids when we watched all four parts together.  I own one of Michael Pollan's foodie books , but I haven't read it yet. This documentary series is four parts named after elements used in or with cooking: Fire, Air, Water, and Ear...

Andie's cookbook, Eating in the Middle , open to the Banana Bread donuts with maple cinnamin cream cheese frosting I don't often do single-book reviews because I save them for a monthly series, but this cookbook, Andie Mitchell's Eating in the Middle, deserves a spotlight. I first heard about Andie via my friend Meg and her blog , and I promptly read Andie's memoir (the cover grabbed me) and then placed her cookbook on hold at the library. I'm so glad I did, and I'm already in line again because there were a number of recipes I just didn't have time for in the blip of two weeks that I had it in my kitchen. I made a number of her recipes, including the delicious donuts (seriously, read that description), a flavorful Asian chicken salad, some breakfast muffins that had pineapple, carrot, raisins, and coconut in them, and a batch of different brussel sprouts. The only 'dud' for our family was the Brussel sprouts, and only because of the ch...

 The 30 ft. pool at Lynn Canyon The list that I've tried to come up with has been a little harder than in years past but as I let it sit and brew for a bit, I had plenty of fresh ideas. The yearly lists (you can see 15 in 2015 , my 29 before 30  birthday list here , and 28 before 29 here ) help me focus on small/big, personal/family/friend, and creative/mental goals I have in any given year. Sometimes they are silly and sometimes I get them done before even writing them down, as you'll see below. They are just things I want to try, things I want to do, or things I want to enjoy with others. Some are big Bucket/Lifetime goals (1 below!) but most are pretty small things that niggle the back of my mind and writing them down helps me attain them quicker than forgetting about it 3 times.  16 in 2016 1) get a dog! (this didn't happen for various reasons last year, this year we're still considering it) 2) make ' sweet treat ' hair clips for the gir...

these buns just need a plop of gooey cream-cheese frosting I don't know about you, but I tend to cook seasonally. I don't make many soups in the summer, and I don't eat nearly as much hummus, tomatoes, and cucumber dips in the winter. I think it has a lot to do with budget-buying seasonal  produce is often the cheapest option because there is an abundance of it, and the price goes down. I eat salad after salad in the summer but I find that I sometimes have to force a salad here and there through late Fall and winter...until the tail end of winter when I'm longing for some fresh greens! When there's about four weeks left of summer, I start to get a hankering for Fall soups. Sure, I want the heat to end, and my favorite temperature (about 65 degrees F) to come back, but mostly, I just want to start nearly every dinner with onion and garlic cooked in oil or butter. A few weeks back-still summer--I had a really good opportunity to make some friends chili and ...

the cookies as dough balls before baking  It's the last day of August as I type this and lately I've been feeling the push to get a few more of the 15 in 2015 things done before the next four (four!!) months slip by with school starting, traveling, and holiday seasons start in. This 'thing', was a simple one: bake the Vanilla Bean Confetti Cookies from Joy the Baker's Homemade Decadance cookbook before the year was out.  These cookies are just as beautiful as they look in the book, though mine were (ahem) slightly less uniform. Thankfully for YOU, Joy has those pretty cookies on her website for free. Her cookbook, well, bakebook, as she is a full-time baker, is fantastic. I've made now 5 items out of it since I bought it around March or April, and I've loved everything. There is a picture on every page which is a must for me when I buy a cookbook. This book includes not only baked goods like cookies, but cakes, cocktails, breakfast items, ice crea...

Ani painting her first diarama The subscription service business sector is exploding the online retail market. You can now buy toys, pet products, clothing, stationary, beauty products, eco-cleaning supplies, and even organic snacks all in monthly packages with excellent branding. While print magazines are slowly fading away, a new type of subscription purchasing is taking place in droves--for those who are too busy or depleted to run one more errand (hand raised here), you can get a fun surprise on your doorstep for a decent price. These are excellent as curriculum because all the work of planning and gathering has been done for you! Now it's just up to the child to execute and enjoy the process.  I have tried a few subscription services as either birthday gifts or a trial run for homeschooling, and let me tell you there are some awesome businesses going up! I want to highlight a few of them for you that can be used as homeschooling curriculum for elementary grade kids....

sunset rainbow on Crescent Beach trail in White Rock, BC My last birthday list didn't go so well. It was alright, but I only finished about half, and since I like my goal lists to be realistic, this felt like a bit of a failure to only hit half when I've usually been closer to 60-75% success. Some people like to be wild with their goals, making them huge in their minds, and hitting a fraction of them is a big success, but I'm not that way. Too realistic, I guess, though I don't want to complicate my relationship with what are supposed to be fun and intentional challenges and ways to focus my time throughout a year. This year I decided to change the amount to something a bit more realistic, '15 in 2015'. I was a bit overwhelmed at the hugeness of some of my challenges last year, even though I was very inspired when I thought about them and wrote them down. This list is a bit more pragmatic, but every item still sounds very fun to me. Some are family-ori...

I barely remembered to snap a photo before I devoured it We don't eat out much, but when Stefan's in the mood (which is not often, he has more will-power than I do), for a burger, he usually wants to eat at Red Robin. We probably haven't eaten there but three or so times since moving out to Blaine, but I crave their Crispy Chicken Salad something fierce. If you want a salad that is a meal, and you love stuff in your salad, take my word for it and make this at some point this week. You will not be disappointed!  This serving size is enough for 1 person's salad, with chicken 'strips' leftover for 3 other people, at 2 a piece. You'll need: *3 skinless chicken breasts, thawed and cut into 3 strips a piece *6 cherry tomatoes * 1 medium carrot, chopped *2 cups of your favorite lettuce (I like curly leaf, and romaine) *2 eggs *1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese *homemade honey mustard (1/2 cup each of honey, yellow mustard and then 1TBSP...

photocredit After years of putting it off, I've finally become a member of the instagram community. I must say, you people are beautiful photographers. It's amazing what a quick capture and a few great filters can do nowadays. I'm a really visual person and seeing lovely arrangements, crisp landscapes, and different color palette-mixing is quite an inspiration. I'm especially in love with all the foodie photos on instagram. I rarely have a cookbook in my cupboard that does not boast a picture-a-page, and it's for good reason. If I see it and it looks healthy and delicious, I want to make it, simple as that. Instagram is a great place for me to follow some amazing cooks, and although I follow most of these cooks and bakers on their blogs, I thought I'd share a quick list of my favorite {foodie} instagrammers, so you might take a peek, too, and find a new idea for dinner. * Aimee Bourque from SimpleBites.net has by far the best spreads. Her photo usuall...

Every year I make a list of fun/silly/simple/complex/random things I want to do, learn, or try in the upcoming year. Usually most get done, not always . I do this because there are crafts, foods, and activities I want to do, but if I don't plan intentionally, they just won't happen. Life will get in the way and I will regret not spending my time more wisely.  These lists help inspire me when I'm bored (I can't remember the last time I was) or just restless for a new activity and help us plan our weekends as a family, too. I don't put any pressure on myself to complete all of these in a year, but of the ones I do finish, I have great memories and I'm glad I had the experience and learned something new! 29 Before 30 *Knit a Katniss Cowl *Read a Malcolm Gladwell book *organize my cooking binder (um, more of a chore that's been put off for YEARS!) * visit the Bellingham Farmer's Market * Go Strawberry picking *Try snowshoeing wit...

not shown: grilled onions Stefan is the master meat-chef in our house. There is no hiding that I hate holding raw meat, and although I'll do it, I much prefer to pass that job off to him. Aside from bacon frying in a skillet, he makes the most tender, juicy meat dishes. I'll stay humbly at the table, doing the side dish. It's no secret, also, that our family loves Chipotle . When I say love, I mean " luuuuuuurrrvvvve " Chipotle . Like, love as in we asked about opening up a restaurant, until we found out they don't franchise.  Now that we live in an area where the closest Chipotle is an hour away (gasp! They are putting one near us in Bellingham, WA, of course right after we move), we have tried to recreate our beloved chicken burritos, rice bowls, and pico de gallo from the restaurant. What we've come up with is something with the basic building blocks of the healthy meal we enjoyed weekly, but with an entirely unique and amazing flavor, also ...

I am a connoisseur of salads. I like just about all salads, whether they are pasta, green, veggie, bean or otherwise. Let's just say I'm an equal opportunity salad eater. This recipe must be a regional salad, because I have never seen it nor heard of it before moving out to the Pacific Northwest. I have lost for 27 years of eating this salad, so of course now I make it a lot, gaining lost time. This salad has everything: flavor, health factor, color, and of course, bacon. You can skip the bacon for a vegetarian side-dish, and making it even healthier, but who wants to skip bacon?! I have sampled this salad from two different delis, and I like my own version of the two best. This is a simple, fresh, and crunchy salad with great flavor. Pea Crunch Salad Ingredients *2 small (or 1 large) bag of frozen peas, thawed, uncooked *3 celery stalks, chopped finely *3-4 green onion stalks, chopped *1/3 cup cheddar cheese *1/4 - 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumb...

 This past summer has been a whirlwind of fun activities, vacations, family time, and of course down time. I normally choose to use most of my free time for reading, and instead of doing bi-weekly reviews of individual books, I find it's just been easier to do them in one lumped together post. Here was my first , in the middle of summer, and today I'm going to share the eight books I've read or am currently reading these past two months. I realize the majority of these are spirituality books. I must have been on some sort of religious kick. Like all of my hobbies, this must have gone in spurts. * Love Does by Bob Goff was the book my women's bible study settled on for a summer read. I couldn't have been more pleased with this book over the summer. It's not a hard theological book, it's a light and breezy, yet somehow deep collection of autobiographical stories of Bob's learned lessons going through life meeting people, loving them, and spreadi...

I've had the privilege to take care of a large community garden plot that is just west of our new church family, Northwood Alliance in Blaine. I'm not sure how large the square footage, but it's got it's own well, a nice greenhouse behind, and at least 15 rows and a few mounds of plants. I've always wanted a plot of land but up here prices are even worse for land than back in Nebraska. I know it's a 'far off dream' but I haven't let it die yet. In the meantime, something I can do to make that dream a reality is to help with the community garden. It helps to take ownership of how it turns out, and with daily watering, I'm invested. I have watched this garden over the summer and it is something our family shows off with pride when visitors come.  I'll try to explain the views as you see them in the photos. The top photo is looking south from the back fence where the green house is. The photo above (with the black trash bags) is ...

  View of Semiahmoo historic fishing boat near the pier Nearing the end of the day, we took a slow, three-quarter-mile walk to the Senior Center down on "H" Street. This town is a sleepy retirement town, with a quaint little main strip, cheap gas for the Canadians who come down, and chicks at the local hardware shop. In our little corner of Blaine, there are no fewer than twenty children running around together in the afternoons, and people outside walking their dogs or doing yard work. It seems that my 'feeling' of it being a family-friendly, safe place to live is actually true .  I had heard rumors of, and then confirmed my suspicions, that Blaine is also a place where people value those who make up the community. Every week, from 5-7PM on Wednesdays at the Senior Center, there is a Community Meal, where anyone and everyone are welcomed and fed.  I haven't gotten all the details on how this started, but just in one year, the group has swelled from a...

Packaging up treats for family, neighbors, and friends. Cinnamon & vanilla coated nuts, sprinkled pretzel rods, and home made salted caramels to name a few. I love doorbell ditching.

Candy-making with Grammy. Another favorite yearly tradition. We made 3 items every year: Pretzels with rolo & salted almond clusters, white-almond-bark sticks with sprinkles, and the above treat, pretzels with almond bark and M&Ms inside. Many a gift for the neighbors, some for our Christmas get-togethers. Lukka was a little less enthused than past years; Ani rose to the occasion and was by our side for the nearly two straight hours.

Salted caramels via the Barefoot Contessa . 

Source One of the easiest gluten free treats I make for our family is a simple banana bread. I have found a recipe that is 'no-fail' for me, always moist and hearty, can easily be doubled, is delicious with or without chocolate chips, and turns out great no matter what I substitute for odds and ends I don't have. My kind of baking. My favorite version is adapted from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, and it normally includes 1/2 cup of cauliflower puree. I almost never have that on hand, and so I just skip it. The way I make any baked good gluten free, when it's not a gluten free recipe from the beginning, is substituting 1:1 any flour called for with my own mixture of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking + Biscuit Mix , and Bob's Gluten Free All Purpose . I have my own canister of this mixture. I empty one bag of each into it, and mix until combined evenly. When I'm ready to bake anything, I just use that in a 1:1 ratio, and it has never f...