Giving Before Receiving

Christmas day at the Grandparent's house

This year we changed the way that Christmas was prepared for and celebrated in our house.  After two years of being overwhelmed by the massive amounts of consumption that occurs at children's birthday parties and holidays we are now choosing to instill a bit of selfless giving into our children.

Our new policy: we give before we receive.

To prepare for the holiday we first went through all our the kids current toys and divided them into three piles.  Pile #1 was compiled of toys to keep. But there were limits; toys in this pile had to find a permeant home off the ground and had to be played with within the month or else they went into pile #2.  Pile #2 was toys to donate and pile #3 were toys to sell.  Both kids get to keep the money from their toys that we sell at our local consignment sale but half the money goes straight into their savings accounts. The other half can go into piggy banks.

These are all the toys living on the main floor now.  I know this does not seem impressive, but if you have kids you know that this is a huge accomplishment.

I know it all sounds very confusing but I was surprised at how well it went. Miles was a great helper and choose to donate most of his toys.

As for celebrating, from now on the kids will only get five gifts each. I have to admit that I stole this idea from a wonderful blog about living simply but I can seem to find the link anywhere.  If I find it I will pass it on.

Here are examples of the five gifts:

1) Something they need
2) Something they want
3) Something to read
4) Something to do
5) Something to watch

I love the simplicity of this idea.

I love that it puts limits on our consumption but most of all...

I love that it means that I wont have to do so much shopping.

Just one of many examples of the over-consumption we are attempting to change.

Finally, our last new tradition we are borrowing from good friends. We are really attempting to focus more on the giving aspect of Christmas (if you haven't noticed by now) and thought it would be a wonderful idea to start volunteering to help out an organization of our choosing each year.

How will this work?

Well, at the beginning of the year we will find a specific charity that we would like to become more involved in.  We will spend the first part of the year learning about their mission and will find a way to donate money to them.  Then as the the year comes to an end we will, as a family, volunteer in any way needed.  This way our children are exposed to all the various aspects of life and the hardships that people face.

In 2011 we will be focusing on adoption.  Since adoption plays such a special and vital roll in our family we thought it the best way to begin our giving.

I know that these are some significant changes but we really could not be more excited for them.  The idea of simplicity and living simply has really been pulling me in the past few months ( an entirely different post as I could go on and on...) and these are just a few of the major lifestyle changes we will be making in the coming year.

Stay tuned for some exciting announcements.

...and no I am not pregnant.

What We Eat: Week 1

Yes, I know I am a week behind on this post and to be honest I am surprised I am finding the time to do it now. The food for the Christmas party is consuming me and, although I am looking forward to the event, I will be happy when Friday night has come and gone.  Maybe then I will get some things done!

As you read this please note that I am a food junky.  I love food.  I love buying food, I love preparing food and I love eating food.  Food is definitely the yuppie in my yippie.

So there is that.

I am also a stickler for organic dairy and poultry products. Okay, maybe I am a bit obsessive over organic dairy and poultry products, but it is all in attempt to keep my little girl looking like a little girl and not sprouting breasts at the tender age of eight.  I am truly terrified of this and it has kept me up a number of nights.  I know.  I am crazy, but I would rather be crazy then ignorant like I have been in the past.



So here we go:

Monday

Breakfast
     Miles: Enviro kidz cereal in organic skim milk
     Cora: Natures Path oatmeal
     Me: free-trade coffee (kept in stock by my wonderful in-laws) with organic 1/2 & 1/2

Lunch
     Miles: leftover pizza from Anthony's
     Cora: steamed organic mixed veggies
     Me: leftover pizza and hot tea

Dinner:
     Everyone: Wild salmon with french lentils and butternut squash, water, wine for the adults

Tuesday

Breakfast
     Miles: Enviro kidz cereal in organic skim milk
     Cora: organic egg and banana
     Me: free-trade coffee with organic 1/2 & 1/2, banana

Lunch
     Miles: almond butter (because I accidently bought this instead of peanut butter) and jam sandwich on whole wheat bread
     Cora: turkey and pear
     Me: pre packaged asian salad

Dinner:
     Everyone: CPK frozen pizza

Wednesday

Breakfast
     Miles:  Enviro kidz cereal in organic skim milk, banana
     Cora: Natures Path oatmeal, banana
     Me: free-trade coffee with organic 1/2 & 1/2

Lunch
     Miles: Nutella on whole wheat bread, Annies mac and cheese
     Cora: Annies mac and cheese, Organic green puffs
     Me: Corn chipotle bisque

Dinner
     Everyone: Leftover beer braised pork, lentils and smashed potatoes, water and beer for the adults

Thursday:

Breakfast
     Miles and Cora: Organic eggs and toast
     Me:  free-trade coffee with organic 1/2 & 1/2

Lunch
     Miles and Cora: turkey, cheese and crackers
     Me: Corn chipotle bisque

Dinner:
     Everyone: Gallo pinto with sourdough bread and feta cheese (Mark and Miles eat it with fried eggs as well)

Friday

Breakfast:
      Miles and Cora: Natures Path oatmeal, banana
     Me: free-trade coffee with organic 1/2 & 1/2

Lunch:
     Everyone: Annies mac and cheese

Dinner:
      Everyone: leftover gallo pinto with sourdough bread and feta cheese (Mark and Miles eat it with fried eggs as well)

Well, that was week one.  I am not going to record the food on the weekends because we are so busy that I honestly would never remember to keep track.  So other then that I think our menue gives a pretty accurate dipiction of food in our house.

Improvements? I am noticing a lack of vegetables.  In fact I only notice three vegi serving all week.  This need to change so next week I will (attempt) to improve our vegetable consumption.

Omissions?  We drink more beer and wine then I have listed but I am purposely keeping the amounts under wraps.  All I will say is that when you consistently have 20+ gallons of small batch, award winning, artisan brewed beer in your garage you may indulge every now and then.

So long for now!

Cranberry Velvet Tart

Cranberry Velvet Tart

This Thanksgiving I attempted a recipe that turned out as delicious as it is untraditional. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of tarts as I find them to be  a bit eggy but the tartness of the cranberries in this recipe seemed to create the perfect balance. Especially when served with freshly whipped cinnamon cream!

The only down side to this delicious dessert is the amount of time it requires. I followed all the minimum requirements and by the time the tart was cooled it took nearly five hours.



 Ingredients for the crust:

1 1/2 cups flour 

1 tablespoon fresh-grated orange rind 


2 tablespoons sugar 

1/8 teaspoon salt 


3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch slices 


1 large egg 


1/2 teaspoon vanilla







Ingredients for the filling:







4 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and/picked over 


1/2 cup orange juice 


2 tablespoons lemon juice 


1 1/4 cups sugar 


Pinch of salt 


6 large egg yolks 


1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, sliced into 8 pieces 

1 tablespoon fresh-grated orange rind 


Directions:

Process flour and orange rind in a food processor until the rind has been thoroughly ground into the flour, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt and pulse on and off for a few seconds. Scatter butter slices over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal, about 10 times. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and pulse on and off until the dough holds together. Gather up the dough, knead it manually if necessary to smooth it out, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill it for at least an hour or up to 2 days.

Divide dough into 8 to 10 pieces. Scatter the pieces evenly in a well-greased 11-inch tart pan or a 9 1/2-inch pie plate. Gently pat the dough into place to make a 1/4-inch-thick crust, coming as far up the edges of the pan as you can. Chill pan for 20 minutes while you heat the oven to 375.

Grease a 14-inch square piece of heavy aluminum foil. Gently fit the foil, greased side down, over the crust. Cover foil with pie weights, uncooked rice, or uncooked beans. Place crust on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully lift out the foil and pie weights and set aside. Return crust to the oven and bake until golden and baked through, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Take the crust out of the oven and reset the oven to 275.

Put cranberries, juices, sugar, and salt into a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to a simmer, partially cover, and cook, stirring frequently, until berries are soft, about 25 to 30 minutes. Force cooked berries and any cooking liquid through a fine sieve or food mill to remove all the skins and seeds. (This is a boring job if you use a sieve, so have a book or willing assistant handy.)

Put the cranberry purée into a clean saucepan. Over low heat, stirring constantly, whisk in egg yolks. Continuing to stir constantly over low heat, cook the mixture until it is very thick, about 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat and whisk in the butter slices one at a time. Whisk in orange rind.

Pour the cranberry mixture into prepared crust. Bake until set, about 20 to 30 minutes. Cool completely; then chill for at least 6 hours or up to one day.