Rushing

Sometimes the fastest way between two points is not a straight line. I was gone all day yesterday for a field trip to Estes Park with Aidan's class. This morning, I was handed an unexpected day off from obligations; nobody owns my time today but myself. I downed a smoothie while tackling the laundry pile, and the unmade beds. I rushed from one small task to another all the while adding to my mental list of things that need to be done. Everything I took care of only seemed to bring to attention something else that needed to be done. And as the list of "should do's" piled up, so did the urgency of my pace. Until I brushed my teeth, and noticed it was for the second time. Which made me stop and think. I'm going to stop for a moment, fix a cup of English Breakfast with milk, and sit for a moment. I'm going to enjoy the quiet of the house, the hum of the washing machine, the sound of the birds, and inhale the steam from my favorite tea. Sorry dust, you're going to have to wait. And then, when I'm ready, I'm going to get up and tackle my list; but this time, I'm going to do it from a quiet place. And instead of adding to the knot in my shoulders, I'm going to remember. I'll remember why I'm doing any of this. It's because I love my little freckled girl child and understand how she takes delight in deciding what to wear in the morning out of a closet full of clean, colorful, folded clothes. It's because of the look on my boy who is becoming a man's face when he gets home from school and sniffs the kitchen discovering the fresh homemade bread I have made for his snack. It's because my husband can go off to work and know the bills will be paid on time, checks will be be deposited, the leftover breakfast dishes will make their way back to the cabinet, and his dirty rumpled clothes will magically reappear in his closet. (Okay, that last one might be a bit of a stretch as the clothes are quite likely to take a detour to the end of the bed for some fresh air before finally making their way to the closet) And his wife will be waiting with dinner on the table and in a fresh dress and pearls. (Okay, I may have also made up the part about the dress and pearls)

Happy cleaning.

Homemade Lara bars

I didn't realize how much bread and wheat items I fed the family until I started trying to cut some of it out. I usually sent the kids to school with some sort of home made baked good or granola bars (they were organic but still packed full of lots of sugar). After school snacks were often something fresh out of the oven, (breads, muffins) or yogurt and homemade granola. Aidan doesn't really care for fruit or veggies (yep, I'm kicking myself for all those cookies and milkshakes I ate when I was pregnant, but it was the doctor's orders!). Hence the baked good were usually full of an assortment of fruits and veggies processed into the batter. I found a recipe on a blog that I check out sometimes (thenourishinggourmet.com). The kids and I tweaked it some until everybody loved it. I haven't used specific measurements since the first time and we add additional ingredients that we might have and think would be good but the base goes something like this:


18 pitted dates
squirt of lemon juice from a lemon
handful of almonds
handful of coconut
half a handful of sesame seeds
about 1/8 c coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
couple large spoonfuls of cocoa powder

Process everything in the food processor until it's all blended, (I always taste it a bit and adjust anything that's out of whack) then form into little balls. Chilling for a bit helps them to firm up and allow the flavors to meld.