A Community Garden

Our church has started a community garden, which has been very exciting for me.  It has been hard being in an apartment where our deck faces north-west and growing any sort of plants is next to impossible.  Now I get to have a garden this summer!  I am responsible for a 4x4 plot, and I've planted a bunch of different things, including peas, carrots, squash, cherry tomatoes, and basil.  On Saturday we had a "planting party", where we got to meet the other gardeners and start our gardens.  Looking forward to a great summer!

Reflections upon reading a heartbreaking news story

Blaring headlines
Dramatic stories
Vivid pictures
Catch your attention
Grip your mind
Tear your heart out
Bringing the world
Into your home
So much pain
So much wrong
How do we respond?

Do we become numb
Harder to shock
Media vying for our attention
For our dollers
To sell the newspaper
Get the click on the internet
Is the brokennes of the world
For our entertainment?
For the pocketbooks of the rich?

Do we actually care
Try to make a difference
Fix our eyes around the world
Send our money away
While we walk past the homeless
On our own street
Spend all our time
Working for a cause
While our families are ignored
And we don't know our neighbours?

Or do we remain aware of the hurt
Around the world
And in our own lives
Stretching ourselves thin
Trying to care
About it all
Trying to take care
Of them all
Burning out
Losing hope
In the end
Able to do nothing?

Is a global village
A blessing or a curse?

Chocolate Pudding with a Secret

I like pudding.  My family can attest to this - when I was in the hospital after giving birth, I got so excited that my hospital meal had pudding for dessert.  Probably too excited.  But in my defense, I hardly ever have pudding, because we try to eat healthily and only buy natural, healthy foods.  That is why, when I saw this pudding recipe, I knew that I had to make it.  That is because this pudding has a secret:

It is healthy!

For real.

It is full of natural ingredients: honey, cocoa, almond milk, vanilla, and... wait for it... avocados!

Avocados are the secret ingredient in this chocolate pudding recipe.  Don't let that weird you out.  I was skeptical too, but I decided to try it, and I'm so glad I did!  It tastes so good - very creamy and rich - and not at all like avocados.

If you still need convincing, Jesse really doesn't like avocados but he loved this pudding, and he wants me to make it again!

This recipe is also very easy to make!  Cut up the avocado, put everything in a blender, mix it until it's creamy, and refrigerate.  That's it!

Have I convinced you to give it a try yet?  You should!

One batch made plenty for four of us.  We had it for dessert last night and just dug into the bowl of pudding with our spoons.  It was thoroughly enjoyed!

Here is a link to the recipe I used:  Vegan Chocolate Pudding.  The only changes I made were using honey instead of agave nectar and using 3 small avocados instead of 2 large ones.

To Be or Not To Be...

Well, maybe that's not the question.  However, I have been trying to decide where to go with this blog!  I have really enjoyed having this medium in which to share my life with you, but I know that my posts have been rather sporadic and haphazard.  I have been considering whether to try to implement some kind of schedule for my future posts.  This thought both excites and frightens me.  On the one hand, it would help me in my desire to have a bit of routine in my life, and it would give me motivation to follow through on more of the ideas for posts that I come up with.  (I frequently have things that I want to write about, but never get around to.)  However, being a bit more "artsy", I have a hard time producing content when I "have" to, rather than when I feel like it.  And as anyone with a young child knows, sometimes good intentions just aren't enough (as my "fitness routine", "meal plans", and "Bible reading schedule" can attest to)!

All of that to say... drum roll please... here is a summer plan for my blog!  For the duration of the summer I will be attempting to post twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Tuesdays will be "thoughtful" posts - my random musings, thoughts on life, and poetry, and Thursdays will be practical things that I have been up to - recipes, crafts, outdoor adventures, etc.  So, we shall see how this goes!

I also wanted to let you know that I am totally up for taking suggestions - so if there is anything you would like to see me post about, just let me know!

I'm looking forward to sharing this summer with you!

2 Years a Wife, 4 Months a Mom

This is a special week in our family, marking our two-year anniversary and Steven's four month "birthday".  Here are a few pictures to celebrate these milestones!

He's getting pretty good at getting things into his mouth.

My boys mean business.

Rock climbing with friends

Anniversary roses!

Family Picnic

Sometimes, when I get an idea in my head, I go a little overboard with it.

This was one of those occasions.

I decided that it would be fun to have a family picnic, and then spent most of the day putting together the menu.  Then, when Jesse got home from work, we packed up and went down to the river, enjoyed our picnic, went for a short walk, and watched a beautiful sunset.  Was it worth the busy day in the kitchen?  Absolutely.

Here is our picnic menu:

Macaroni Salad

While it may not be much to look at, the recipe for macaroni salad that I got from my mother-in-law is very good, and easy to make.  Macaroni, hard boiled eggs, and tuna are mixed together with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and celery seed.

Honey Garlic Drumsticks

This recipe that I found online is definitely a winner!  I minced the garlic instead of chopping it, and used crushed chili pepper flakes instead of hot sauce.  Sweet, spicy, and garlicky, I would definitely use this recipe again!  Honey Garlic Drumsticks

Citrus Iced Tea

I got this recipe from a friend of mine, and it has become a summer staple in our home!  Steep green tea with mint leaves, then add honey, orange juice, and lemon juice before chilling in the fridge.  A refreshing reminder that summer is indeed on the way!

Strawberry Hand Pies

Portable dessert at its finest!  I found this recipe online, and it turned out pretty well.  Having to make the pastry was fairly time consuming, but if I already had some made in the fridge this this would be quite easy.  I added a few cranberries to the strawberry filling which added a nice tang to it.  Strawberry Hand Pies

A Healthy Portion of Family Time in God's Beautiful Creation:  The best part!

Crispy Ginger Beef - A Canadian Classic?

I like Chinese food.  As a child, I would often go with my family to Chinese restaurants for special occasions, and in my mind Chinese food is still associated with special family dinners.  One of my favourite Chinese food dishes is ginger beef.  So, naturally, I wanted to try my hand at making it myself.  To find a recipe for ginger beef, I turned to my most frequently used recipe-finding resource - the internet.  I was not disappointed, with my search highlighting several recipe variations.  I quickly found a couple of recipes that sounded like what I was looking for: deep fried, battered strips of beef with stir fried vegetables in a spicy ginger sauce.  But in my research I came across a surprising fact:

Crispy ginger beef originated in Canada!

According to several sources, while crispy ginger beef is roughly based on an authentically Chinese dish featuring beef and ginger, the "westernized" dish originated in Calgary.

That's right, folks.

Italy has pizza, Germany has bratwurst, England has yorkshire pudding, Scotland has haggis, and Canada has poutine, maple syrup... and crispy ginger beef.

To make ginger beef, you need some sort of beef that is already cooked.  I used leftover roast from a dinner a few days earlier.  You cut the beef into strips, coat the strips in batter, and deep fry them.

Meanwhile, the vegetables are chopped in preparation for being stir fried.  Technically they are supposed to be julienned, but that takes a lot of work, so I just chopped them however I felt like.  I used carrots, red peppers, onions, green onions, garlic, and ginger.

The vegetables are then stir fried, and once they have begun to soften you add the sauce and deep fried beef.

Serve with rice, and enjoy!

For the recipe that I used*, and some of the history of crispy ginger beef, you can follow this link:  Crispy Ginger Beef: The Authentic Calgary Recipe

*Some changes that I made to the recipe included adding different kinds of vegetables, chopping/dicing the vegetables rather than julienning (is that a word??), and omitting the mushroom soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine from the sauce.  Next time I would also add less water to the batter.  And be warned that if you don't like spicy food, you should add less of the dried crushed chili peppers.