Easy Chicken Broth

I'm driving to Columbus tonight to see one of my college roommates that now lives in LA.  I'm SUPER excited to see her, but I'm leaving as SOON as Evan gets home from work, so I'm scrabling to get everything in today before he gets home.  So quick post.  Chicken Broth.  I actually eat chicken broth on occasion.  I feel like it's more of an animal byproduct, like milk or eggs, than meat, so I'm not real strict about it.  I like the idea of making it from scratch, but don't like the simmering pot on the stove that keeps me in the house all day long.  Enter the crock pot.

Mulch Is Here!

Well, the first load of mulch has arrived!  Last year this was the easiest to spread since it didn't have to go far.  Hoping it's the same this year.  So in honor of the mulch I thought I'd throw out a few reminders about natural weed control.  

First, spread some wet newspaper under he mulch to help prevent weeds from sprouting.  Last year I tried to do dey paper in the wind-- didn't work well.  This year I have two little hose enthusiasts so

School To Farm Fun Day

I got a notification about a really interesting event at Marlington High School this Saturday.  It's a Farm To School Fun Day.  Here's the flyer:

Looks interesting!

Breakfast Revisited

I blogged last week about planning breakfasts that were healthy and fast to make our mornings smoother.  After I ran last weekend, I'm taking a mini exercise vacation so I have a few extra hours each day.  (I'm not totally being lazy.  Olivia's favorite teacher at Child Watch is on vacation this week and I wasn't sure how she'd do without her.)  So last night I went through two cookbooks and pulled a few breakfast ideas.  They had to fit within a few parameters:

1. My kids will eat them.
2. They must be freezable.
3. They must be fast.
4. They must be healthy, i.e. more than just empty calories or sugary snacks.

This may sound simple, but it wasn't.  My idea of fast isn't most cookbook author's idea of fast.  Really, I'm not a morning person.  Really.  So something that can be ready and eaten in 10 minutes is what I'm looking for.  My little Vincer has a rough time with breakfast.  He's not hungry when he first gets up, but he doesn't get up early enough to be awake long enough before it's time to go to get hungry, so things that are portable work well for him.  The 7 minute drive in the car is usually enough time for him to down his breakfast and be ready for school (general with food on his face, but that's why I carry baby wipes in my purse.)

Sunday Was A Remarkable Day!

Yesterday two amazing things happened.  Well, actually neither was truly AMAZING, but both were very rewarding and happy experiences.  First, I ran a marathon.  Well, I only ran part of the marathon, my relay team ran the rest.  I'm really proud of how well we all ran and how much FUN it was!  I was nervous about the whole thing, because it's doing something new, but I'd do it again in a second!  It was a beautiful day to run, my leg of the race was nice and flat with only a few hills (both up and down) and lots of water stops-which always keep me motivated because there are all these people, volunteering their time just to stand there and hand out water (or Gatorade--not pleasant when you're expecting to drink water. It's kind of like popping a salt and vinegar chip in your mouth when you're expecting just a regular potato chip) and cheer you--a total stranger-- on in your race.  My leg was the second to last, which meant that I ran miles 13-20.  That meant that I was running with my fellow relayers and the marathoners.  My teammate, Steve, said, "If you're thinking about running a marathon, don't stand at the finish line.  That's just inspirational.  Stand at mile 22.  That's the REAL marathon."  I agree.  It was inspirational to me to watch these marathoners push through that last half.  I saw a lot of people stop and walk and a lot of pained faces.  I saw a man offer another runner who had stopped to walk, his last gel pack to help give him the burst of energy he need to finish the race.  The whole thing was just such a positive experience.  My friend Melissa once told me that she loved being around races because runners a great group of people.  I really felt that yesterday.  Except for the first few REALLY fast people, there's not a lot of inter-personal competition in running.  It's mostly intra-personal, beating your personal record for distance or pace or simply pushing your body to YOUR limits.  That's what I love about running.  It's a very personal sport.  I can do it alone, yet surrounded by people.  The only thing that made me sad yesterday was seeing all the dogs on the sidelines.  It made me long for my running buddy, Jack.  Jackie would have hated the race, too many people and strange places, but he does love to go for a run.

The Handoff- Leg 4 to Leg 5 (Me to Eric) 

Most of Team "Melissa Talked Me Into This"

The second thing that was awesome about yesterday is that our foster dog, George, found his forever home! (Please don't be concerned--this means that he was adopted, not put to sleep!) We had George with us for 10 days.  He came to us as a shy, timid pup and left

Grand Plans for Breakfast

I'm a mess in the morning.  It's really hard for me to function, no matter how late I get up.  It takes me a long time to really be "with" it and therefore, our morning routine is always rushed and rather unpleasant.  I'd like to change this.  I'm starting with breakfast.  I'm tired of feeding my kids boxed cereal or bagels that are shelf-stable for weeks.  I'd rather make them something that's really going to give them fuel for the day.  However, this requires a functioning adult--which is absent until about 8:45.  So I need to plan for my stumbling morning self when I'm my wide-awake motivated self during the day.  I read cookbooks and they always have great ideas for breakfast, but

Breakfast Tacos

Quick recipe post today.  I'm reviewing scholarship applicants and I can't stand to look at the computer one minute more!  I made these breakfast tacos for dinner the other night for the kids.  Mostly went over well, Caden complained they weren't crunch tacos, so I guess you could do that too, although it wouldn't really be real food then.  So, I got the idea from 100 Days of Real Food and now I can't seem to find the recipe online.  I'll give you the long and short of it--it's a taco with scrambled eggs as the "meat".