a unique autumn

hello all! (i'm not sure how many is 'all' so if you read my blog, let me know! i bet it would inspire me to post more often ;) anyway, this crazy fall is flying by me. i have been super busy with my nutrition studies and design work and kids! it's interesting sometimes but i am loving it actually.

for us, this fall has been filled with the old familiar activities. harvest festivals, apple picking, haunted hayrides, pumpkin carving, halloween costume planning... but oh my, this fall seemed so strange! first of all, hurricane irene kind of wiped out our little harvest but we did seem to get some goodness out of our efforts (see pics above), then we found ourselves apple picking in almost 90 degrees! wha? there was a bunch of wining as you can imagine. october came with a boat load of rain which seemed to make the pumpkins mushy and then as you know, halloween weekend got topped off with a crazy insane snow storm that wreaked havoc on our trees and subsequently most of the power in the tristate area. a snow day on halloween! weird i tell you. global warming issues anyone?

ANYway, we always seem to have fun nonetheless.


a few weeks back, we visited a farm that i grew up around the block from - benner's farm in east setauket, long island. it was so nice to bring the girls there. it's a quaint little farm run by the nicest of families. we fed the animals, got a peck from a rooster, and the most fun was swinging on the big swing! we might go back later in the winter to witness the tapping of the maple trees.

i've been kind of slacking in the crafting area due to the lack of time on my part. (feeling a bit guilty) but we did make some playdoh monsters. easy + simple. pull out the playdoh (we used halloweenie colors) and random craft supplies - googly eyes, buttons, etc. then, create your monsters. you can let them dry out over a few days if you wish. here's ours:

i also came across this AWESOME idea. sensory boxes! hours of play that stimulate the senses (not really taste though). i got the idea, here, from pinkandgreenmama as well. i LOVE this idea. basically, you fill a small scale bin with filler of your choice. dried beans, fish tank gravel, cotton balls, popcorn kernels, rice, easter grass....whatever! then coordinate everything to a theme. i started with a fall/halloween theme. i used dried green peas, fake pumpkins, fake leaves, halloween trinkets and some real cinnamin sticks. my three year old truly enjoys playing with her sensory box (and so does my 9 year old - shhh). she brings her other little toys into it like her littlest pet shop animals and she pretends this is their habitat. and i give her spoons and cups, too. it's a tad messy sometimes (my husband took one look at it and rolled his eyes at me) but i keep it in the kitchen only (which really helps keep her occupied while i am cooking dinner) and she is responsible for cleaning any beans off the floor which she has really been good about. she gets out her little broom. i can't wait until we change it to a holiday theme and then winter wonderland! i know, i am enjoying this way too much...but don't you just love it?!

i've been reading a lot these days. mainly nutrition subjects. the first book that i actually bought is "the family dinner" by laurie david. 

this cookbook slash encyclopedia of why and how to bring back the family meal is jam packed with anecdotes and recipes. i am obsessed with this book. i love just flipping through it for ideas. in a society where things just seem to be going faster and faster, the family meal is taking the back seat and we are losing those precious moments of connecting with each other. after school activities, work and overscheduling is a reality and laurie david lends sweet ideas and reasons why we should bring the sit down family dinner back. it's so so so important! check it out!

the other book i am reading is "lunch wars: how to start a school food revolution and win the battle for our children's health," by amy kalafa from angrymoms.org and the documentary, two angry moms. I am starting to try to get involved with school food so that by the time my three year old is at the elementary school that my nine year old is now, i can help make real positive changes. my goodness, the area of school food reform is insane. there is sooo much bureaucracy and politics involved that it really requires some serious study to even present ideas to any such authority. i understand the basics but boy, are we all in the dark. don't even get me started!!!! anyway, if you are interested in changing things at your child's school, i think start with this book. i am only in the beginning chapters but it is looking like the bible of school food reform (especially in ny state). other authors to check out if you are interested in this subject is alice waters - theedibleschoolyard.org and ann cooper - the renegade lunch lady at chefann.com. 

my other pursuit this spring is bringing back the school garden to my daughter's elementary school. hopefully, cornell cooperative extension can help us out. i'm sure i will be blogging away about this adventure to come. wish me luck!

i have been trying tons of new recipes. i am currently in love with cooking. although, i'm going to save them up for my 2011 holiday cookbook - recipes & tidbits vol. 6! - which will be posted around the december holidays with all the past cookbooks i put together, to the right. check back for that. for now, why not try a smoothie for lunch? i am one of those people who reserve smoothies for the summer months because i am chronically cold but about once a week it's a great way to get your daily fruits or veggies when produce is sparse in the cold months. i buy a lot of frozen organic berries for this purpose. they are picked and immediately froze which means they still have all of that yummy nutrition. my girls and i like the standard blueberry smoothie:

frozen organic blueberries

rice or coconut milk

plain yogurt

flax meal (optional)

blueberry whey protein powder (optional)

another one they slurp up and is a great source of protein is the monkey smoothie:

nut butter

frozen or not organic banana

milk

plain or vanilla yogurt

flax meal (optional)

vanilla whey protein powder (optional)

of course, you don't need a recipe for smoothies, anything you feel like putting in works, but i just included this in my post as a reminder that smoothies are "ok" to drink in the colder months! you'll be surprised at the burst of energy this will give you mid day. and let's not forget juicing - just make sure you are getting your fresh organic produce from somewhere you can trust.

until next time! ciao!