Raw Date Fudge on Saturday

 Allow my to introduce you ...

Raw date fudge...meet the hungry. Hungry...meet date fudge. 

You belong together.

I wish I could take the credit for coming up with this chocolaty, peanut butter concoction,

but alas...

I can not. I can take the credit for trying something different. Taking a chance did not disappoint.

Here's a tutorial - takes four simple ingredients and a little elbow grease.

It's yummy by itself but I took it a heavenly step further by blending up some frozen bananas and berries, added a little vanilla extract and then stirred in bits of the fudge. Joy in a mug. Raw Vegan ice cream ... delish. We had it for dinner.

As for the leftover bits ... they would have kept well in the fridge in an airtight container. But after making myself a cup of golden milk nothing would do but to roll the fudge in bits of coconut for an evening treat. I think I had four pieces...but who's counting?

Happy Weekend Friends.

P.S. I made my golden milk with unsweetened almond milk...just as yummy.

“Saturday mornings, I’ve learned, are a great opportunity for kids to sneak into your bed, fall back asleep, and kick you in the face.” 
― Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing

Elderberry Syrup

So, most cough syrups are pretty nasty for you - and do the opposite of what they are suppose to. Natural cough syrups from the health food store are convenient and usually wholesome, but very expensive if you are having to give it around the clock to multiple children (like, we may have to skip eating for a week in order to medicate the family.)

A few years ago when I started playing around with holistic medicine I learned a very simple tincture recipe....it's so very easy and in the end you have a whole quart of fresh, organic, toxin free cough syrup for a fraction of what it would cost at the drugstore. 

Here's how I do it :

I buy some of my herbs online, often on Amazon. If there is a deal going on at Bulk Herbs I will use them, but being on a budget...I generally just do what is cheapest for our family. For a cough syrup I love to use Wild Cherry Bark and Elderberry...if I have it I will throw in some dried peppermint just for kicks. If you purchase a pound of each, it will be enough for at least 3 batches (I've only ever needed one batch for winter.)

I take half a cup of Wild Cherry Bark and half a cup of Elderberries and put them in the bottom of a quart jar. 

I then add half a cup of boiling water and let that mixture "steep."

I then pour Vegetable Glycerin directly over the herb mixture until I get to the top of the jar....screw on a lid...and done. It's best to store this in a cool dark location and give it a little shake every week. After about 3 months (just in time for Halloween germs!) I strain it...toss the herbs....re bottle my syrup and I'm done. I have about a quart of cough syrup and it works FABULOUSLY. 

I made my jar a couple days ago....there she is...sittin' pretty, ready to do "her thing" in a few months. 

Feeling prepared and giving thanks,

Alyssa

Not Enough...

  "Look mother...Brady and me made this bouquet all by ourselves."
 My ear twitched a bit...as it always does when she calls me "mother" - I mean it is rather formal isn't it? But then when I saw their little creation...my heart twitched - it was just so perfect. I mean...i am their mom so perhaps I'm a little biased (not really...I call a spade a spade) but they did do a really good job - it has balance right? Then with the two little sprigs of wild sage poking out I think it's just beautiful. So, as usual in my Alyssa fashion - I had to take at least five pictures of the one arrangement. What is it about children, about us...that we are born with this desire to run to our mothers with flowers?

  Trinity and I had to go check on our garden. It isn't big...but it's our space. It's the only part of my backyard that feels like "me", that gives me pleasure. I feel like this one tractor tire full of dirt and tomatoes and flowers is like having a little piece of "me" in the middle of  a city - and every time I see it I know someday I will have more. But for now, if it's quiet enough and the weather is just right (cool and breezy, the sun setting and casting a golden glow on everything) I can face towards the fence and only see green and plants and bumble bees and the splintered wood and I feel like I'm somewhere else...somewhere calm and mine. For now I take joy that I can plant anywhere...in a pot in my kitchen, in a tire in the backyard of a rental. But someday, Zac says he will build me a lovely rock raised bed...that staggers. I believe him.

  We picked our pineapple mint tonight and talked about how wonderful mint is...the smell, the texture, the cooling taste. We talked about how wonderful it is for someone with a "sick" tummy, or to put a few drops of peppermint oil in a bath to feel refreshed. We talked about how awesome the Creator is to fill our earth with plants that we can use for healing...that we can just pop into our mouth and know it is good.

  My daughter will be a very self sufficient woman when she is older - this I already know. She already works hard, takes care of her room and loves to arrange and rearrange furniture (i have no idea where she get this from.). Often she will come to me and say "I watered your tomatoes this morning mom" and "need me to make your bed?"  She works with her hands...she serves others. Trinity Sky is my own personal blessing - she is my joy.

Go to the ant...
  Consider her ways and be wise
Which, having no captain,
   Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer,
   And gathers her food in the harvest. 
- Proverbs 6:6-ll

  Then to end the day, water with lemon and our harvested mint....little hands reaching and pointing and a little mouth saying "watta " , so I give him a sip out of the "mommy glass" and he can't get enough.

   Then, the simple blessing of all of my kids getting along for at least a hour...playing together at the end of the day...Tristan overcoming his fear of being sprayed with water (he is terrified of being splashed and doesn't like the sound of sprinklers or the bathtub filling up...however he is obsessed with trickling water, it calms him.) And they play and they play and they play...and they can't get enough.

  Finn preferred standing next to me, gnawing on his pita bread - the peanut butter squishing between his fingers, him giggling at the antics of his brothers and sister running around the yard, shrieking and giggling in the cooling grass. His eyes were very focused and fascinated with the "big kid play"...and if he weren't so tired and hadn't given up his nap...he would have played too. You know how it goes with littles and play...they generally just can't get enough.

  And then, just before bed a quiet show...a cherished blanket wrapped around a perfectly chubby body, two growing feet and ten relaxed toes...

 ...and then the feet curl, the body's natural response to "i'm dang tired" and then the yawn...

 ...ahhhh, and the toes relax again and the head goes back and mama is convinced it's night night time.

But just before....

...Big brother wants to show off his toes too and his massively large feet. When the camera clicks he says "an I see it?" I repeat "anD I see it?" He smiles and nods, his eyes looking at my mouth...never my eyes...and he giggles at his long wrinkled feet. Oh my, and I just can't get enough.

I'm happy today for :
~ a little girl that delights in nature
~ a little boy playing in water and conquering fears
~ a son who when I started "1st grade review" so he would be ready for the 2nd grade books in a week...well, it was a waste of time - the kid knows MOST things. I declared him "ready."

I would love to see improved :
~ a potty trained Finn
~  Tristan being able to communicate
~ for Brady to "get" that crude isn't funny - it REALLY isn't and he thinks it's what people do when they want to make friends. Oh dear.