Recipe For Peace

Outside, our newly planted flowers are getting the first splashes of morning sun.

Inside, we are stirring. Morning kisses, dream sharing, a whistling kettle...

As breakfast begins, I sip my tea in peace.

OK, this is where you hear the sound of a record scratching to a halt.

Quiet?! Peace?! Calm?! On a school morning?!

YES.

There is no whining over raisins in the granola or the favorite shirt still dirty in the wash. No lost water bottles or library books to scrounge up.

Just sipping on my tea and eating yesterday's banana bread with the boys while they quietly color away. Miles has been asking every night at bed time if he can color and I keep telling him to wait until morning and then we both completely forget as the morning routine gets the better of us. So last night in exasperation he says "Mom, can you remind me in the morning so I don't forget?" And I say, "you know what buddy, I am going to set that all up tonight at the table so you can eat and draw when you get up."

Miles, can you remind me every night about the joys of a creative breakfast ?

And let's not forget the banana bread that the boys helped me make last night.

A few chocolate chips thrown in go a long way to making a morning deliciously zen.



Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Banana Bread

1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3 T ground golden flax
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
3 very ripe bananas
1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large loaf pan or large round casserole dish.
Beat soft coconut oil with agave and eggs on medium for a few minutes.
Mix together buckwheat, almond meal, flax and salt in a separate bowl then add to wet mixture. Smash bananas and add in with sour cream/yogurt. Mix well then fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Check after 1 hr. 15 minutes.

~ ~ ~

Sprouting Up, Digging In...

"During each of the three seasonal harvests that make up the annual cycle, nature produces the seeds with which to heal the ills of that season and help prepare the body for the season that follows. In the West we look on nature as a cruel force that must be subdued...but the Native American and Eastern traditions see in nature the potential solutions to every imbalance."

- From The Three Season Diet, by John Douillard

Spring is beautiful on many levels. That rush of hopefulness, a day of warm sun, crocus pushing through a thick bed of pine needles, a child on a swing... with no jacket! One of the most beautiful things about Spring for me are the gifts of the edible green world, seen and unseen.

In those crazy olden days, nothing green would have graced a plate for the many long, dark days of winter. Roots, meat and fat filled the stew bowls and then eventually just a couple of roots, if you were lucky. By the time ramps (wild spring onions), dandelion greens, watercress, and tender spring kale were finally enjoyed, there was a seasons worth of mucus build up in the body to be broken down. The winter foods supplied bulk and warmth and now the astringent Spring foods would do some necessary cleaning out.

Sprouts like wheat grass, alfalfa, and mung are great bitter, astringent foods to add to your diet around this time. So are the delicious spicy greens like mustard and watercress. Dandelion greens are very detoxifying so you might notice an increased urge to pee. The original French word for this plant was 'Pisenlit' which means 'pee in the bed' because that is exactly what would happen if the roots, leaves or tea were taken before bed!

What better way to spice up your salads than by saving a ton of money and growing these sprouts yourself! Here is a good general sprout guide with a sprouting chart:

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/easysprout.html

After a couple of days you will have enough sprouts to get quite creative with!

Mung, Wild Rice and French Green lentil


Alfalfa sprouts will blow your mind after starting with just a couple tablespoons of seeds...


Here's one breakfast we can't get enough of:

2 Poached Eggs
Watercress Greens
drizzle of lemon vinaigrette
walnuts
Fresh Alfalfa Sprouts
***
Let me know if you can solve this one:
For the last bite, walnut or poached egg?

Spring Things...

OK, I have to give Martha props for this one.
Easy, fun, cheap, fast and no exotic ingredients.

The Spring itch came hard this year. As a result, I recently completed a very pleasant 7 day vegetable, fruit, juice detox/cleanse, rid the living room of old winter fireplace ash dust, did the kind of extra laundering you never even think of getting to (think: curtains, coats and couch cushion covers), and can now see through my windows again.

Calvin gets it when he looks up at the seasonal clothesline craft display hanging above the kitchen sink and says "Mom! That's Valentine's Day! We need to do Spring!" The years of seasonal crafting have finally got him more on the ball than me. So, what to do... hmmmm, why not peruse the freakishly perfect crafts on MarthaStewart.com (There is something about that woman that would makes me want to see her mess up so bad one day, fallen soufle perhaps?). I will settle for the Spring plant sprouting in egg cups and have one hell of a fun time doing this sweet project with the boys:

Started here...

By cracking around the top of the egg, you can create a line to pull gently apart.
Seperate 5 whites and 5 yolks during this process and reward yourself with this delicious almond honey cake (resources page) after, saving the rest for omlettes the next day.



We rinsed the shells carefully in hot water and put them back in the carton.


Oh the best part... DIRT!



Cat grass is a great seed for kids to plant because it will sprout in a couple of days. We also used some quick sprouting herbs and flowers like basil, morning glory and straw flower.

Voila. 12 finished eggs and 2 goofballs.