Sorry for the interruption

Sorry too busy making memories this week to update the blog.

Check back next week for regular updates again!

They are only small once, embrace it!

To the park!

Every Friday we've been making it a point to go to a park.

It's been blissful.

Giving baby girl a chance to run around, uninhibited, for a few hours while I get adult interaction has been priceless.

PRICELESS!

Last week we got a good lesson in mean geese.  Nesting season is upon us and when papa says it's time to leave the water area, it's time to go.

Geese are mean.

Baby girl also surprised the snot out of me by being able to climb a rock wall pretty much by herself to the top!

Who is this child and what has happened to my baby???

The other Friday component I'm excited about is the fact that we are finding new to us parks most of the time!  Sure, there are a finite amount of parks in the area, and we've been to a lot of them.  BUT there are also parks that are new to us we can find.

This park was pretty awesome and one I don't think we'd been to before.  It had a lot of awesome slides and climbing apparatuses.

It also had slides of terrifying heights!  Which baby girl went down!

Willingly!

Anyway, all in all a good time was had by all.

And we are enjoying our park hopping.

Busy weekend

I had zero time to sit down and write out an profound blog posts this weekend.

We were busy working on our vegetable garden.

Reclaiming it from overgrown strawberries and raspberries.

We took them all out!

And as such, we are getting ready to put out our first round of crops.  I am hardening off some cabbage seeds I started (that honestly aren't looking too hot) and I am also going to sow a couple straight into the ground.

Along with that, we are getting ready to put carrots, parsnips, onions, lettuce, and spinach out as well!

I am so excited for the garden this year!

But yeah, sorry for the lack of an awesome post... instead it's another gardening post.

Such is life.

Look at that beauty.  187sqft space to grow delicious and nutritious food for my family!

I'm a little too excited about this!

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen recipe review

So for Christmas, I was gifted by my MIL and FIL the book The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen.

I love it.

It is written by Sean Sherman, who is Oglala Sioux and a chef.  He is part of the back to the land Indigenous movement.  Bringing traditional recipes back using traditional ingredients and cooking techniques.

This is going to be a picture heavy post, just FYI.  I found it easier to take pictures of each step over just writing out the way I did it.

So this is what I made, and the book I made it from!  In reality the whole meal was a compilation of three different recipes, all from the same book.  There were suggestions for other toppings, but I was pretty sure just making these three would be ambitious enough for me!

So first thing first was to get the fruit going for the wojape.  Now, it's March here, and fresh fruit just isn't a thing.  So I used frozen fruit.  And I honestly think this affected my end result.  I remember eating this as a kid and it tasted so much better!  But it was still good.

Berries frozen in the pan.  Then those same berries with a bit of water to keep them from burning while cooking.

So the wojape was on and now it was time to get the polenta going for the corn cakes.  Polenta takes about 30 minutes.  And I don't use any fancy expensive polenta mix.  I use good old fashioned corn meal.  Yellow cornmeal.  Because it's what I have on hand pretty regularly.

A cup of yellow corn meal to 3 cups of boiling water.  It's a very simple recipe.  I like simple.

Then I just let the polenta do it's cooking!

Wojape and polenta cooking away.  Both on a low heat, both being stirred regularly.

So I let the polenta do it's thing for 30 minutes, stirring about every 5 just to keep it from burning.  After it was done cooking I turned it out on a plate to have it cool down quicker so I could form it into patties for frying!

And as this was cooling I took a peak at the wojape to see how it was doing.

Boiling away in good fashion.  It was on pretty low so I didn't expect fast results!

Baby girl got up to help with the next part, then quickly became more interested in a drawer in the kitchen than in the patties we were making!

Corn polenta patties all ready for pan frying.  

I don't normally fry these.  It is just not how I enjoy them!  But the recipe said fry in a safflower oil, which we didn't have so we used canola.  

But I didn't fry them until the end.  First I made them into patties so they could sit and cool, helping to form a crust on the outside I have found is better for frying with.  It helps everything stick together when it goes into the hot oil.  And it's easier to flip over!  

Next it was time to chop the onions to get browning with the bison meat.  Again I used what I had on hand, which was not wild onions, but happy store bought ones.

Wojape check!  Boiling down!

Baby girl got in on the meat cooking action.  She loves to stir the food on the stove.  And it is such an easy job for her to have!

After the meat was browned and all the spices added, it was time to fry up the polenta patties!  I had baby girl on another task while I did this.  I try to be very hands off and let her help me cook, but I do have my limits.  Hot oil that splashes is one of those limits.  So I set her to tickling her daddy while I fried and plated!

And baby girl's plate ended up being the prettiest.  Though, even that was not picture pretty!  Bison meat over polenta patty with a side dipping of wojape.  

It's a perfect replica of their picture!!  LOL!

Anyway, the food wasn't pretty like theirs, but it was absolutely delicious.  I loved it.  Even baby girl ate a little before deciding she would rather go dance than eat.  The husband loved it a lot!  He actually finished it all off, including that baby girl didn't eat!  So a definite win for a traditional recipe.


(This is NOT a paid post.  I am not sponsored by The Sioux Chef, though if he wants to sponsor me I don't mind at all!  This is just my opinion of his amazing recipe!)

Started our first seedlings!

I am super happy to get moving on the garden.

With having a longer growing season i realize that I have no clue what I'm doing and probably should have started some of my seeds weeks ago.

All well, I didn't.

So I started a few of them yesterday!  And that's fine.

I am also going to hedge my bets a bit and also do a few seeds straight in the garden.

That is, after we get that garden cleaned out.  The amount of buildup in that garden is very very gross.  And absolutely needs to be cleaned out.


Baby girl is very excited to get started.  She went up to the seeds at least 3 times today to tell them they are gonna be food soon.

That's my girl.

So you can see the first picture is our setup!

Here are a few more detailed pictures!

Cute little cabbage seedlings!  This is 16 containers holding Leeks, bell peppers, and 2 different kinds of cabbage.  As of now, the cabbage is still the only thing that has sprouted.

The set up with the grow lights!  Both trays just hanging out under the grow lights, doing their things, being seeds and all.  Also have a fan blowing above the seedlings in order to keep air flow at a maximum.  I am not sure if it's doing anything awesomely or not, but it was suggested so I'm trying it!

And my tomato seedlings!  Look how big they've gotten!  There are two types there, Cherokee purple and Black vernissage and both seedlings are doing relatively well! I am so excited to get them transplanted into the garden in a few weeks, when temps are higher over night.  I think they are going to thrive here!  

My only problem with the garden?  My cabbage seedlings have fallen over.  The suggested remedy was the grow light, saying they became leggy probably from lack of light.  There are two seedlings standing tall, but even the ones that have emerged after I got the light have fallen over.  And my pepper and leek seeds haven't really done much, but I'm thinking they have a longer germination period.  I am mostly concerned about those damn cabbage seeds and how I can help them.   

If you have any suggestions, please drop a comment.  I want them to do well, but they just seem unhappy.  

The small things

Every so often I enjoy posting about the small things that make me happy.

This is one of those things.

I finally purchased a container for our rice.  We eat a lot of rice, in different forms.  This particular rice has become a favorite.

So I set out to take a picture of the rice all pretty in the jar.

And this is what I got.

Let's look closely at this picture, shall we? 

First there is the beautiful rice in the container!  Oh I love it so much.  And when the bag is full it will still fit beautifully in this container.  Score.

But then you see everything else.

Baby girl, in her quest to be in everything, is touching the jar and wouldn't let go.  Not a battle worth fighting.

Left overs from lunch are hanging out on the table.  That's a half eaten apple.  Baby girl's half eaten apple.  

You can also see the remnant of the bag.  Throwing that away before taking the picture is for professionals!

The best though is the creepy dog eyes staring at you through the glass.  I didn't even notice them until I was downloading the pictures from my phone.  

And that's what's making me happy right now!  

When did she get so big

Baby girl, I am constantly amazed as you grow.

You are getting so big.  And so amazing.  And so awesome.

You were always those things, but as you grow and your personality comes out, I am seeing this more and more.

I am getting to know you.

Your loves, your hates, your fears, your triumphs, your failures, your amazingness.

And it is amazing.

As I watch you grow, I realize that I am not ready for you to continue growing, but I am also excited to see who you become.

It is quite the conflict of emotions.

I've been with you since the day you were born.

Watching you grow, struggle, overcome.

And I love every second.

You have grown into someone awesome and amazing.

Someone who brightens my life.

Who brightens the life everyone you meet.

You are amazing.

Thank you.

For so much.

But most of all for just being you.

Book Review: Elijah's Smiles Change the World

Recently I was given the opportunity to review a new book getting ready to launch their kickstarter for funding!

Elijah's Smiles Change the World is a new children's book, aimed at kids in the 5-7 year old range.  The book follows a little boy, Elijah, as he goes from losing his smile because he is made fun of for being different, to not only finding his smile but wanting to help the world find their smile!

With a dose of kind hearted family love, we follow Elijah through his journey.  This book offers a chance for everyone to begin hard conversations with your children and yourself about the way we treat people.  It also offers a hopeful look at how we can use a big smile and a good heart to change the world.

The books author, Kelly Airhart is offering up her newest book through a kickstarter campaign.  This gives you the chance to be a donor to receive the first copies available to the general public.  Each tier offers a unique gift only for you, as a donor, for helping make the success of Elijah's Smiles Change the World a reality.

I read the book to baby girl and she absolutely loved it.  The pictures are engaging, the message is fun.  Baby girl is slightly under the target age, she's only 2.5, but she still was able to connect with the fun messages.  I look forward to having this on her shelf for quite some time, giving her the opportunity to learn about using her smile to change the world.

So if you are looking for a fun and memorable book to share with your kiddos, please jump on over to the kickstarter and support Kelly and her new book Elijah's Smiles Change the World.




I was provided a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own.