2021 – Page 2 – Abby's Conundrum

A Multi-generational Tradition

Apples are the quintessential autumnal symbol, don’t you think? In our house we love apples; my son in particular has an apple a day- it’s his very favorite quiet time snack. It pairs best with a fresh book from the library I’m told.

Both of my parents grew up in apple country, on the eastern side of the state where the dry (yes, some parts of Washington’s are very dry!) climate yields some of the best apples in the world. So, I guess you could say, apples have been a staple of my life for as long as I’ve been around. I wouldn’t have it any other way and I’m happy to have my children be involved in one of the most time honored traditions in our family- apple pressing!

A few weekends ago we packed up our crew and headed to eastern Washington for a long weekend at my parents place where we cranked through a whole crate of gala apples in one afternoon which yielded about 52 gallons of fresh cider. There is nothing like the taste of that thick, sweet cider poured right from the sticky, dripping cider press. The stuff you see in the store pales in comparison! No, literally; fresh pressed cider is a dark brown, not yellow-y colored like store bought. C and A built up great anticipation for cidering this year because, “we are able to help more this time mom, because we are big now!” Help they did! Between washing apples, chopping them, and feeding them into the grinders, collectively they put in several hours worth of work. They must get that work ethic from their father, as I can confidently say that at their age I was generally focused more on the tasting portion of the job.

The bestest road trippers I ever did see

The eastern side of the state gets so much more sunshine than the west side. Basking in clear days was a welcome break from the torrential downpours we’ve been having here. To help remember that sunshine we’ve got several gallons of cider fermenting on the counter which are turning a lovely amber color, reminiscent of the cloud free gloaming at my parents house. The rest of our share is frozen, destined for apple cider caramels and summer time popsicles.

I’m so grateful my children will have fond memories participating in such a sacred tradition. What a gift to be able to say they pressed apples into delicious cider with their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents all at one time! My hope is that whenever they bite into a fresh apple, smell fragrant cider, or feel the wind blowing autumn leaves, that they feel the love of all of those who have kept the cidering tradition alive for them. I know I certainly do.

Hands On History

Though I’ve felt like our history projects have been blah lately, that dry spell was finally defeated with our pioneer natural dye project! Okay, so the term “pioneer” might need to be taken very loosely.
A long ways back I read that you can make pink dye from avocado skins and pits. Wild right?! That’s where the idea started of making this a history lesson about how clothes were dyed with natural substances that folks found around them.
Anyways, I’ve been hoarding all our ‘cado pits and skins for months in the freezer and finally had enough. But pink dye wouldn’t do for Handsome, so we foraged some red pine needles, which were advertised as being able to make a great green dye. After amassing dye stuffs, finally finding cute *cheap* 100% cotton clothes, and our alum mordant, we went to work.
We started with C’s sweatshirt. Not gonna lie- it was an epic failure (hence the lack of pictures of the project- it got a bit hectic). The green dye didn’t set a hoot despite the alum mordant. So, after some frantic boiling of other green substances in order to bring out our green color, I gave up. Green wasn’t gonna happen. But I did know a handy spice that I had on hand that would dye just about anything in it’s path- turmeric! I brought C up to speed in the change of plans and he agreed “Golden” would be a pretty great color too. So we set to work and this time- success!

We decided that even though pioneers probably didn’t have turmeric to dye clothes, this still counted because we still “foraged” it… from the cabinet 😂

He loves it! And the dye has set fast, holding up in several washes so far. Turmeric is one powerful spice y’all.

I was most antsy to try the avocado dye. Okay, yes, we know for sure pioneers didn’t have avocados, haha. So while I felt like a bit of a cheat, I explained to the kids it was really the process that we should focus on. Z and I scrapped those pits and skins all clean and made the dye. This also didn’t turn our exactly as I wanted, despite the over night soak but it also stuck fast which was a success. The girls look amazing in the color.

Once I started dyeing things it was hard to stop . I didn’t want to waste all that hard earned dye! So I dyed one of my white sweaters as well, haha!

I am hopefully for another foraging expedition soon that can turn up some other great natural dye options such as acorns. They make a lovely warm brown and do not need a mordant to set them. I’m still hopefully for that elusive green as well, because I’m thinking our sheets would look fabulous as soft green. When I mentioned this to Husband he gave me a rather apprehensive look. I told him I really knew what I was doing this time and not to be put off by the frantic spinach boiling of earlier. Trial and error is all part of the learning experience, am I right?!

Cheers!

White River Valley Museum Field Trip

Maybe I’m stating the obvious, but you don’t have to go far to bring history alive for your homeschool. White River Valley museum is right next to our local library and we’ve never been in all our 7 years living in the valley! Lucky for us they have waived admission for the rest of 2021 which really motivated me to put it on our field trip list. You gotta check it out, it is a local treasure.

Original pioneer cabin. Man, it is TINY.

I’m usually apprehensive about taking a toddler to museums but this one was very toddler proof and had many interactive stations for her to play with! We also had the place to ourselves.

I couldn’t get over this diorama of logging in the Puget Sound. You HAVE to see it!

Okay, guys. By far and away, the coolest thing was that they recreated the local historical town. It was amazing!

Yours truly pretending to be a olden times school teacher.

I would show you all the amazing pictures of this place but I don’t want to spoil it for you. Some of my favorites are the old school house, the hat shop, and the replica passenger train car. C liked the old dentist chair and A was a fan of the old piano. Lil C was just excited to touch all the fun “toys”.

Go visit the museum! It is well worth the trip.

Recipe Round Up

It can be so difficult to eat a clean diet let alone factoring in the individual allergy needs of a family. Add on top of that our helter-skelter schedule, and you’ve got a perfect recipe- for failure. Today I’m gonna share some of my favorite tried and true allergen friendly recipes that I always have cooked up ready in the freezer or prepared in bulk one a week, in order to keep our health a top priority. All of these recipes I’ve tried many times, with great success and they are relatively quick and easy. Here we go!

Breakfast:

Granola

This might be tooting my own horn a bit, but I heavily rely on my homemade granola for a easy breakfast item. The best thing about this recipe is that is not loaded with sugar and PUFAs. It can be easily be altered to accommodate all types of allergies.

https://abbybrock.com/?m=202012

Bagels

This is my favorite bagel recipe. It is easily adaptable for add in’s as well. I let the dough sit overnight as suggested, then once shaped I’ve let them sit for as long as another 12 hrs in the fridge before cooking them. I always long ferment anything with wheat and gluten.

https://everydayfull.com/sourdough-bagels/

Hash

I’m a firm believer in the concept of “whatchyagot stew” , basically, being creative and throwing complementary ingredients together to make something yummy, and easy. Our recent favorite is diced sweet potatoes with diced bacon, tossed together an roasted on a sheet pan. That’s it. Literally, just play it by preference on ratios, and skip oils and seasonings. It’s a family favorite.

Lunch/Dinner:

Our lunch is frequently left overs from the night before, so I’ve combined these two categories.

Vegan Soups

Who doesn’t love soup? Maybe I’m on an extra soup kick because of the season, but these are usually in our meal rotation chilly weather or warm!

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/italian-lentil-soup-recipe/

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/creamy-vegetable-soup/

https://againstallgrain.com/2011/11/01/paleo-and-scd-pumpkin-soup/ this one is also good with added Italian sausage if you want to make it with a meat option . Also, just buy her cookbook Celebrations. It is worth every penny.

Meat Based

We buy our grass fed beef in bulk from the nicest small time farmer on the Eastern side of our state (if you want a reference hit me up!). If you are going to invest in your food, make it the MEAT. Here are some recipes we use and we all love.

https://wonkywonderful.com/garlic-rosemary-whole-30-meatballs/ highly recommend pairing with brown rice that has been soaked for 12+ hrs.

https://natashaskitchen.com/beef-stew-recipe/ this stew is delish, just make sure to leave out the flour. You don’t really need it in my option anyways.

http://www.oursmallhours.com/grain-free-meatloaf/?epik=dj0yJnU9X2JuXzVxbTkxaVhFUm96dDB4N3dvMVlrZWdrUWhrZEkmcD0wJm49WG9TUnd5ZVl1V0NQTGthdXZwdVpUdyZ0PUFBQUFBR0ZUekRF Sub the butter for olive oil and leave off the cheese for a dairy free option.

Side note: Don’t be afraid of cooking steak for kiddos, once I finally figure how to cook one properly (hint: less cook time than you think!) my kids loved it!

Sides

As you know I am a big believer in freezer meals which tend to be one stop shop type of things. Sometimes I add a soaked grain side, or a salad, or bread. Usually it is whatever I had time to make or had the ingredients handy for. In the summer my salad garden helps out there, or in winter I’ve usually canned some veggies to rely on, have some frozen, or will try and eat only the seasonal veggies available in the stores. If I’m gonna be fancy and cook something though, here are some I might choose:

https://www.rockrecipes.com/lemon-herb-roasted-potatoes/

https://mamashire.com/the-best-gluten-free-cornbread-recipe/ use egg replacer and only coconut milk to make this vegan and almond/cashew free. Pair with stew, yum!

Pizza

It’s taken me YEARS to find a sourdough pizza recipe that works and is fool proof (honestly, I need 90% of my recipes to be brain dead, this momma is spinning fifty plates all at once, all the time). This.is.the.one. Once you get a rhythm down it’s a piece of cake. I can shape and cook 8 of these in 30 minutes. Just leave off the cheese to make it dairy free!

https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-pizza-crust-recipe/

Dessert

I’m going to be honest with you. Allergy friendly baking is even more of a challenge than cooking. However, with training, even my littles now look for recipes that are allergen friendly if they want to make cookies, or to plan for birthday cakes. My son is a whiz at cookie making and helps me read labels the stores all the time. It has become such a bonding experience, and I’m really proud of him. Here are some of our favorite cookies, crisps, and mixes!

With this recipe, make sure to use avocado oil instead of canola, and I use coconut milk instead of rice milk.
https://allergyawesomeness.com/christmas-chocolate-peppermint-crinkle-cookies-gf-vegan-peanuttree-nut-free/

I’ve successfully used coconut flour instead of oat flour, egg replacer instead of flax, and left out the walnuts and yet this recipe still worked great. These are some of my all time faves!https://beamingbaker.com/my-favorite-vegan-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-gluten-free-dairy-free/

It is so simple to make a crisp allergen friendly, I highly recommend it to anyone struggling to fix a dessert for a friend with allergies, or as a starting point for themselves. Here is a mind-blowingly good one: https://beamingbaker.com/paleo-apple-pecan-coconut-crisp-vegan-gluten-free-dairy-free-refined-sugar-free/#tasty-recipes-21436-jump-target

Full disclosure: I cannot make a “birthday cake” type cake from scratch without real eggs. It just doesn’t work well for me. So, I highly recommend using a mix if you have to go the vegan and gluten free route. We love the brand Pamelas for just about everything; brownies, cake, cornbread, you name it. The down side is that it is expensive. So, we usually only buy those for special occasions.

If you CAN eat eggs and dairy, try this recipe out. I’ve made it a couple times for parties and it was a huge hit. Dead easy, and looks totally gourmet. https://www.girlgonegourmet.com/flourless-chocolate-cake/

That’s a wrap!

I’ve spent years baking and cooking around diets without eggs, gluten, dairy, wheat, soy, PUFAS, nuts, and beans. I’ve cooked and baked for the GAPS diet and the Auto Immune Protocol. While I am not perfect at always getting every recipe right, or slip up in ingredients from time to time, I’d like to let any and all knowledge I have be known and *hopefully* helpful to anyone searching for answers. It has been a very long and very hard road for me and my family to travel, but it is SO WORTH IT. If you are starting on your journey or stuck in the middle, chin up! You can do hard things!

Our Fall Morning Basket

Remember when I talked about our morning basket and how I had planned out all our themes for the year? Well, today I got to reorganize and set up our fall themes for the morning basket, which are Halloween and All Saints’ Day. I thought I could give you a peep at what we will be doing starting next week, breaking it up by subject. A new theme always gives the school mornings a little breath of fresh air!

So, if you’ll remember, the morning basket is just a snippet of a given subject that is covered in more detail throughout the week, usually on a every-other-day schedule. It is not the main text and work, but some of the fun activities or a component that is most beneficial when revisited every day, like memory work. For added fun I like to throw in crafts and games that are not school related per se, but are a fun bonus.

History

We are still working through our state study book, C reads about one state a day. I added the state and capitol flash cards as well as some cds that we listen to in the car full of patriotic music. We are really digging the music and love blasting it in the car!

Religion

Miss A is going to start confession prep this year so we are brushing up on our catechism. She is reading out of this book aloud to us a little each day. We are still chipping away at our Bible audiobook each morning and have finished the gospels and are into the Acts of the Apostles. I am still loving this Catholic signs and symbols book and highly recommend it. We read about symbol a day.

Art

Although we’ve read through some of this art book before, we are really taking our time with it and reading about the different art movements as they correlate to our history timeline. We recently read about the Impressionists and Post-Impressionist, so for the rest of the month we will be working on making paintings styled after some of the famous artists of those periods. First up, Édouard Manet!

Memory work

The kiddos memory capabilities will never cease to amaze me! Gotta capitalize on that, am I right? They have been memorizing poetry since they were four years old and I’m proud to say they are still going strong. I love to find poems that inspire them. A is currently working on The Flag Goes By by Henry Bennet and C is working on The Fool’s Prayer by Edward Sill. Both so epic! Of course they are usually less excited about math but there is no better substitute for learning math facts than good ol’ flash cards.

Seasonal

Now comes the good stuff! Just kidding, it’s all good stuff! Seriously though, it’s taken me awhile to curate exactly what I like to do for Halloween and All Saints’ day, I’ve tried lots of different options. It’s not easy to find things that are simple enough for the kids to do *mostly* on their own and also be something you can feel good about spending valuable school time on. I found this banner on Teachers Pay Teachers, and I am so looking forward to making it with the kids! What a learning activity! I plan on doing two Saints a day (school days), all the way up to November 1st. We will have quite the banner draped all along the walls!

We do celebrate Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, but are pretty mellow about it. We dress up and trick or treat and carve pumpkins but the kids usually don’t eat any of their candy (we give them the option of the Switch Witch) and we are all in bed by 9pm. I don’t hate it, haha! I think carving pumpkins is one of the best family traditions we’ve ever started, it is fantastic! We can barely wait and usually end up carving them really early in October and then they rot super fast but we don’t even care. It is so fun to see the kids become more and more skilled over the years! However, why not use those pumpkins for learning before they head to the compost? I’ve been using this flip book activity for a couple years and it is always a hit. Come to think of it, I might need to find something more tricky for next year, it might be getting boring for my smart kidlets!

Last but not least, we always make bats during this time of year. It’s quite a nostalgic craft because I first made them with C when it was just him and me all day, many moons ago. So even if it seems juvenile for a 7 and 9 year old, they really love it and it always makes me laugh to see how their personalities come out in their bats. Last year A’s had a pink hair bow and C’s had wildly different sized eyes, haha! We usually only make a few, but who knows what will happen! My children surprise me everyday.

Well, that’s it guys! I can’t wait to dig into this morning basket soon. Hopefully you have a morning ritual that inspires you as well. Happy fall y’all!

Ellensburg Field Trip

Bring on autumn! I am so ready. The smell of apples cooking and the crisp air has me all giddy. We were driving home from church today and I saw the ticket stands being put up at our local pumpkin patch/corn maze and I promptly shrieked, “SPOOKY SEASON!”. Luckily, I did not startle Husband who was driving. It’s like he knows me or something 😉.

With autumn came the start of soccer practices which started off really well. I think it will be a smooth season for both the kids, and fingers crossed it won’t be too hectic for Husband and I. Go Cheetahs! Go Wizards! School has been humming along well, I’m finding the year round schooling is taking quite a bit of pressure off me.

We took a long weekend on Friday to go on a short geology/history field trip to Ellensburg. We met my parents and several of my sisters there; it is always a treat to see them. As part of our history portion of the trip we stayed in a Sioux replica teepee! It was so incredibly fun! On Friday we had great weather but it stormed like crazy that night so our shoes got wet because we left them outside, that wasn’t too bad as they dried out inside on a heater. Personally, I love storms and enjoyed listening to the wind during the night. I was super excited to go “glamping” for the first time! I’m totally sold on it.

Our teepee! Complete with mini fridge, heaters, and beds.

Phases of the moon painted all around the top

We also went on a few hikes. The first was to see a old homestead and school from the 1800s. They had quite a collection of old farming equipment too.

The second hike was to see some very old basalt columns for Azelie’s geology enrichment. We found some volcanic rocks too. Ellensburg has amazing geology.

Our last stop was at the local museum to combine our geology and history exploration. First, we got to see a one of a kind rock, Ellensburg Blue, a completely unique agate not found anywhere else in the world. The museum has a great little collection of lots of types of crystals and rocks. They also have a good selection of historical displays, including artifacts from the Civil War, Korean War, WWI and WW2. We are studying early modern history this year so this museum was perfect.

Of course no trip to Eastern Washington is complete without a stop at a produce stand or two. The rest of the weekend will be full of apple sauce making and preparing for the week ahead. Happy fall y’all!

Cosima 2

Cosima is two years old! I say it every time my children have birthdays but man! That went by fast.

I am fairly convinced that the older I get the faster time moves. It’s a terrifying and invigorating conundrum but accepting that our time with our children is so short makes me glad I’ve stayed home to school and raise these munchkins. It’s worth it to embrace the slow pace with our kids because time will march relentlessly on won’t it?

I truly believe that raising children is by far the greatest privilege and responsibility that one can have. We really only get to borrow them for a short while don’t we?

Cosima Philomena Eponine, you and your siblings are my greatest adventure. Thank you for choosing me to be your mom. I love you Little Swan.

Mount Rainier

Our last camping trip of the year was a success! We visited Mount Rainier, which we have done before, but this time stayed at the Ohanapecosh campground on the Sunrise side of the mountain.

The campsite was great and we practically had the place to ourselves. The loop we stayed in was almost empty, but we couldn’t figure out why because the sites were secluded and the Ohanapecosh river serenaded us just 50 yards away. It was quite idyllic. There were reports of a forest fire many miles away, and smoke possibly effecting the area but we didn’t experience anything worse than a little haze part of one day. We lucked out!

The views were breath taking as always and the kids are well trained hikers. The Grove of the Patriarchs has been on our list to visit and it was incredible!

The hike to Silver Falls leaves right from our campsite loop and while we didn’t go that way this time (since we connected two hikes together) we throughly plan on taking advantage of that handiness next time.

We drove to Naches Peak were wowed by the view of Rainier and the alpine meadows and lakes. We even hiked on a bit of the Wonderland Trail.

I think the kiddos favorite part was the river by the campground. On the opposite loop the river was set up to be easily accessible. Crystal clear water flowed slowly and in several waist deep pools making it very safe, and many kids were swimming! Whew! Chilly water but they seemed to have a blast.

Camping with kids is a lot of work (particularly when your toddler decides to not sleep) but it is always worth it and so important for them (and me!) to experience nature that way. One of my favorite things about Mt Rainier camping is that there is no cell service! I really enjoy unplugging. Next year though, we need to go for longer because two nights away just isn’t enough time to explore or relax with my family. But! I will take what I can get and am very grateful for such a glorious place to visit so close by.

A great camping trip, then home to celebrate this little lady turning two!

Till next time, Rainier!

Steilacoom Field Trip

Remember when I said I planned all our field trips in advance for the school year? Well, this past Saturday we got to go on our first big field trip! So, Field Trip Friday, became Field Trip Saturday because this one was a long one and we needed Husband there to help.
We are studying early modern history this year and many of the preserved historical sites in Washington fall into that time period. In Steilacoom we combined region and religious history by visiting the oldest Catholic church in Washington!

Church of the Immaculate Conception. We didn’t get to go inside but the kids were throughly impressed and we especially noted how small it was; the doors especially are an indicator of how much smaller the people were.

Two blocks down the hill is a house that is an original from 1852 built by Nathaniel Orrs and was only ever lived in by his family. After electricity and plumbing was added virtually nothing else was changed. His son lived in the house until he died in 1973 at which point he donated the house. Much of the furniture was built by Nathaniel too. Check out his story here!

Behind the Orr house is the orchard Nathaniel planted with the knowledge he gained in Oregon. Many of the trees are the original trees he put in the ground! All the other trees were planted from the seeds from original trees replacing any that died, making it a heritage orchard! We were encouraged to pick as many pears, apples, and plums as we wanted. I resisted the urge to pick all the trees clean, although they would have welcomed it as they said they don’t have many visitors.

I played in the orchard with Pickle while the big kids got a private tour of the wagon shop. We had the place to ourselves!

Next door to the Orr house is the Steliacoom museum. We had an incredible time there. It is small and run by the greatest volunteers who led us through all the amazing artifacts and history of the Orr family and Steliacoom. Behind the museum is Nathaniel’s workshop. He was the only wagon maker in the Puget Sound and his shop was amazing! Here there were more volunteers who gave the kids a fun hide and seek quiz and the prize for finishing was getting one of Nathaniel’s original nails!

Those volunteers were so kind and truly care about their town’s history. I was quite touched and inspired. Did you know Steliacoom was once going to be the capitol?!

After our amazing historical adventure we stopped by Dutch Brothers and played at a nearby playground- which was huge and built in the style of the old Fort of Steliacoom. On our way home we had a great time chatting about what we liked best on our adventure. We had dinner and watched a movie the kids earned by working on meals during the week. Once the kiddos were all asleep Husband and I ended the evening by having a diy pizza date night to celebrate getting meals done that morning(!) and our epic field trip.

Sourdough crust- still working on perfecting it.

If you have the chance, you should take a trip to Steilacoom! It was well worth the time and really made history come to life for us.

Finding Our Rhythm

Well folks, we wrapped up week two of school and so far it is going swimmingly. I’ve been able to find a happy medium between accomplishing the daily goals and rolling with the punches.

I’d like to say that we have a set schedule each day, but it seems that in this season of life, that’s just not going to happen. True, we get school done, but sometimes it ends at 9 am (yes, that early!) and sometimes it ends at 2pm (did we decide to move the coop again because the chickens are escaping? Push school back 30 minutes. Did we decide we seize the glorious morning and go for a jog?! Push school back an hour.) That’s the beauty of homeschooling I’m trying to embrace more; just roll with it baby! All those little “distractions” ARE school!

However, i haven’t completely thrown in the towel on our schedule. I’ve set a schedule for myself of waking up at 5:30am to get myself prepared for the day by starting breakfast and having some quiet time. It has been life changing these past two weeks and I cannot recommend it enough. Normally, I’d let Cosima wake me up at 6 but giving myself the extra 30 minutes has been a great gift to myself and to my family. This night owl has reformed y’all.

We’ve been so busy with house projects, freezer meals, field trips, canning food, and all the sweet little kiddos moments like loosing teeth, watching Pickle master new milestones, and starting new family read aloud books. The last two weeks have flown by. I really am so blessed. This is the least hectic our year will be and I am trying to savor it. Soon all the extra curricular activities will start and we will be doing an extra class or lesson every.single.day. And that’s on top of our regular school! Knowing this is the calm before the storm is helping me live in the now.

one of our chickens started laying and we are all super duper excited!

Our kitties and chickens have been keeping us extra busy with their daily antics but we are enjoying them so much! I’ve especially appreciated how much responsibility it has given the big kids; they really are blossoming into loving pet owners. Cosima in particular is so confident in her sometimes overwhelming affection for the very patient animals.

Well, I think that’s all for now everyone! We have found our new school rhythm with much less of a rocky start than I anticipated, and I am grateful! I’m sure it will be a whole new adjustment mid-September when things get hectic, but I have no doubt we will adjust accordingly then too.
I have some new recipes and field trip posts planned in the next few days so stay tuned!