Saving the World one Pre-schooler at a Time

Today, as I tried to rein in and direct two "under-fives" and two "old enough to know betters", I had a light-bulb moment. A contribution toward the scientific development of renewable resources. One that will light up every city in the continental U.S., eliminate the childhood obesity dilemma, and..... decrease parental psychiatric admissions by at least 25%.

Are you ready?

Imagine a giant generator with multiple storage batteries powered by non-other than a pre-schooler on a giant hamster-wheel. (Come on, you know it's a brilliant idea!!)

Families with multiples may even be able to tap in to this as a source of extra income as they sell the extra energy back onto the grid. Parents could use this to fund the replacement of the multiple items of clothing that are now stained beyond belief with paint, play dough, and who-knows-what.

Need extra electricity? Remember those marshmallow-super-crispies that you refused to buy? Go ahead and give the little tykes a treat and save yourself a cereal isle meltdown.

Now I know some super-brilliant person has probably already come up with the schematics and parts list for this. Probably someone who, at one time, had to babysit a younger sibling, went to university, and is now trying to save the world. (We all know that an actual parent would never have time to put all the parts of this together.)

So, go green. Save the world. Save your sanity. Light up the world.

Utopia - part 2

I finally had a chance to read more of Utopia on the long drive home from vacation.
I had to chuckle as I read through "Book One: The First Book of the Conversation of Raphael Hythloday concerning the best state of a Commonwealth." I kept thinking of Solomons words, "There is nothing new under the sun, but it is all vanity and a striving after the wind." Yes, over the course of 400 years, through various political and religious changes and upheavals, we still have the exact same problems and humans continue to think up 'new' philosophies to fix them. Every so often, I would quote a sentence or two from the book as we drove. It would seem that, except for the antiquated language, some of the 'current events' could have been taken from today's news journals.



The main theme of Book One is how the unequal distribution of wealth has led to societal problems. Also, how the crime/punishment equation being unbalanced was ineffectual (ex. the death penalty for stealing food). Moore recounts how rampant unemployment and homelessness, arising from the greed and shortsightedness of the wealthy, had led to increased crime as 'peasants' try to provide for self and family via theivery. His philosophical answer seems to be a type of socialist/communist ideal where wealth is capped (for the King), acquisition of new government lands is abandoned (no more wars to increase a nation's holdings) and a country's wealth in increased by investing within its own borders. The wealth was then equalized amoung the citizens because all had opportunity to benefit from it. The wealth would be measured, not by one man's holdings, but by the overall peace and prosperity of the citizens as a whole. Thankfully, he is wise enough to admit that while such ideas might be successful in theory (great foder for the minds of philosophers), they might not play out in an actual, workable setting (as can be seen by historical attempts at such governments). The ideals are tempered by arguments about why such a 'perfect' system could not be put in to effect, namely the mis-educated, prejudiced, greedy, and power hungry entourage that surrounds and influences the ruling heads of state. (Hythloday's view of the King/courtiers/advisors - not mine, BTW.)

I could only take this book in small doses. The sentence structure and language really requires undivided attention. More than once, I wished I had a dictionary for some of the older words. Also, knowing by historical testimony that Moore's philosophical arguments were flawed perhaps altered my view of the material from what was intended to be a serious thought-provoking exercise into a tradgic comedy. Seeing that 400 years after his observations, the same basic human problems exist, jaded my objective.


Still, I did enjoy the challenge both literary and mentally. Book Two is significantly longer. I will post more on that as I have the chance to read it.

A Vegatarian in our midst

I thought it was a phase.

I thought he did not have the will-power to pull it off.

But, after two months, DS12 is still meat-free. Not just "won't eat the pork-chop" meat-free, but "label-reading, won't eat the veggie pizza because the sauce had meat flavoring in it" meat-free.
To be honest, I am not really surprised. He never really liked the idea that the same pig he enjoyed watching at chore time ended up on the table as pork chops. Add recent bit of reading on earth-friendly living, and it was finally enough for him to decide on a vegetarian route. The only reason this had not occurred sooner was because he liked the flavor so much.
Thankfully this is not a new concept for me, which has made it a bit easier. After my second child, for some unknown reason, I could not stand the sight/smell/thought of meat for a couple of years. The four of us were vegetarian for about three years before we started to re-introduce meat back into the diet. All the nutritional research I did then is slowly coming back to me. I am getting back into the groove of planning more meat-free meals. I was surprised at how difficult that was. I guess I had fallen into a meat/starch/veggie rut.
I do want to make it easier for him to be successful. I still have meat in the freezer, and "contaminated" spaghetti sauce in the cupboard that I will have to keep separate. As I weed those out though, I think I will have to look for inventive vegetarian fare that everyone will be happy with - a hard sell with my DD10 who has no intention of following in her brother's footsteps.

Utopia

On a recent trip to Goodwill I picked up a 1947 printing of the classic Utopia of Thomas Moore. First published in 1516, I had never read Utopia It piqued my interest mostly because it is reference in the movie Ever After. (One of the few movies that I enjoy watching repeatedly.) Back in my younger (childless) years I loved reading classics by Homer, Shakespeare, Austin, etc. Part of the draw was being immersed in Old English grammar, and classic sensibilities. So, when I saw the book, I snapped it up.



I know I am in trouble when even the introduction to a book strains by mental faculties. Wading through the antiquated writing has my head just a little foggy. For example, the first two sentences, each lasting a full paragraph in themselves are 90 and 92 words long respectively. the fourth sentence is slightly better at 75 words. I am plunging forward, however. Thankfully, this edition has sub-text references to help me along. As I move forward, I seem to be remembering the lilt and rhythm of such wordy pleasantries, and finding the meaning and intentions from indirect references. This book will a bit of work to read compared to my more recent books, but I feel it might kick-start my mind a little.

I am bringing it on vacation with me. I am not sure I will get to read much of it, but it will be a start.

Summer Fun

So, what have we been up to this summer?

Our main attraction was season passes to Emerald Pointe. I have to say that it was one the best "fun money" expenses we have ever purchased. I agonized for months over spending the money on this. In the end, I decided that it was the equivalent cost of a weekend at the beach, but we could use it all summer. It was a great decision. The only draw back?.... The kids (and husband) what to go all the time! That's okay. If I don't feel up to going, DH just packs up the munchkins and I get to stay home and sleep in an oddly quiet house. I would definitely do this again.

What else? Well, DH has been taking care of our little garden. I still need to get in there and weed, but he tilled, planted, and waters it. I have never had peppers do so well as they have this year in my flower bed. I need to get a few fall seeds in so that I feel productive, too. The kids snitched the few grapes as they ripened, and DD2/5 both love picking cucumbers and zucchini. The tomatoes seem to be staying green forever. But I was informed yesterday that was because DD2, has been eating them off the plant as they just start to ripen. So that explains it!
The first year in a new garden plot is always the hardest. We didn't get a large harvest (except peppers) this year, but I hope next year will be more productive if we are still in this same house.

Breakfast Casserole

Oooohhh, I'm all excited tonight. I found a new recipe that (almost) everyone likes. One of the nurse I work with was talking about "Breakfast Casserole". I had never heard of such a thing - casseroles are for supper, right? Anyway, Google to the rescue, and sure enough I found a bunch variants on the theme. The all consist of a crust (either hash browns, rolled dough, or day-old bread), browned meat (usually sausage), and an egg mixture (sometimes including vegetables, spices, and cheese). You could probably make one-a-day for a month and never repeat the combination. My middle two children (girls aged 4, and 10) are rather picky about texture and flavor combinations, so they did not really like it but everyone else LOVED it. It seems to me like a combination of an omelet and a quiche. Here is the recipe I used last night to feed our family of 6:

Breakfast Casserole

6 small/Med potatoes

1/2 stick margarine

1 lb smoked sausage - chopped into small pieces

1/2 onion - chopped

1/2 red pepper - chopped

1lb spinach leaves

8 eggs

1/8 cup soy milk

Grease a 9x13 pan. Peel and grate the potatoes. Mix with margarine. Use this to line the bottom and sides of your greased pan (this will be the crust). Put in oven and turn to 375 while you continue.
cook sausage, onion, and pepper together in a fry pan until onion is translucent and sausage is cooked. Place spinach on top, toss, cover and cook until spinach is thoroughly wilted. Meanwhile, beat eggs with soy milk.
Drain fat and liquid from sausage mix, and add sausage/spinach to eggs. Stir to combine and pour over the partially cooked potatoes. Return to oven for 35-45 min (eggs should be set and toothpick inserted in center will come out clean). Let cool 5 minutes, and serve.

We did have some left-overs since two did not eat their share, but they cut-up and stored nicely (like a quiche would). This only took a few minutes to whip together, and the day-old bread version you fix the night before and let soak bread-pudding style. I can't wait to try it with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, or asparagus and soy-cheese.
Yum!

Dairy-free..ME?

We have recently discovered that 4 out of 6 of us have some sort of milk intolerance. It happened slowly, first my husband, then the baby, now DS11 and myself. At first, I was in denial; so I started with a one week total abstinence plan - surely this would show that my suspicions were wrong and I could go directly to the nearest grocery store and buy an entire cart-load of milk, cheese and yogurt ... At the end of the time we were all feeling better -our clothes were fitting better, I didn't feel so sluggish and heavy, and the constant tummy ache was gone. However, to prove this was only coincidence we had pizza , and ice cream for a treat ...oh, so yummy... oh, so painful. There was no denying the rapid onset of pain, bloating, and nausea! Since then I keep finding myself drawn to the occasional bite of this or serving of that and the results are conclusive. No more milk for us.

Thus, we have been experimenting with all sorts of dairy-free products. Westsoy rice and soy milks seem to be most popular with my kids. And the new dairy-free cheeses are much better than I remember from when DH first tried them years ago. Eliminating dairy has made me more conscience of providing a balanced diet and so we have been eating more fruits and veggies, too. Since this will have to be a permanent change, I ordered a soy milk maker and have been experimenting with various combinations to make a decent, drinkable milk. After several batches that were rated "for baking only" I seem to be getting the hang of it now.
My best attempt so far has been to mix two batches: the first a combination of 3/4 brown rice, 1/4 oats, which I toasted in the oven first. I added about 1/8+ cup sugar to the milk. The second batch was soy beans that had soaked 24 hours. I rubbed off the hulls that were easy to separate, and added 1/4 cup sugar to this milk. The combination of the two made a decent tasting drink which DD1 and I could drink straight from a glass, and DD4 will pour on cereal. The two older ones still won't drink it plain though. I will continue trying different combinations until I find something we can all be happy with. I think the next batch will have slightly less oats since the main criticism of this batch was that is tasted to thick. I will update once I have a better recipe that everyone likes.