the banana

I was in the living room talking on the phone, when Meg became eerily quiet in the kitchen. I heard some quiet smacking sounds and became suspicious. I turned the corner to find her chewing on a banana she had pulled from the table, peel and all!! She looked very proud of herself.

the color of water

I think I am the last person to have heard about this book. Where have I been? It is hard to put down - one of the best I've read in a long time.

indiana

Mark and I have been in northern Indiana for the past few days for my grandmother's memorial service. I brought my camera but didn't take a single picture, sadly. Indiana's beauty is grossly undervalued, in my opinion. The leaves were beginning to change and some of the trees looked like the photo above. It was an awesome weekend - lots of relatives, lots of laughs, lots of love.

minestrone

Since we are well into October, I can now pretend the weather is cold and start making soup! Minestrone is one of my favorites - easy, flexible (you can put whatever you want into it), healthy, and freezable. Here is the basic way to make it:
1 onion
1 zucchini
3 carrots (or 1/2 bag baby carrots)
can diced tomatoes (undrained)
can garbanzo beans (drained)
3 c. V-8
1 box (or 2 cans) vegetable broth
1 T. parsley
1 t. basil
1/2 c. dried pasta (macaroni works)

1. Chop fresh vegetables and saute in oil in a big pot until onion is cooked and other vegs begin to get soft.
2. Add all of the other ingredients except the pasta. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer. Simmer for 15 mins.
3. Add the pasta for the amount of time it needs to cook. (e.g., if it needs to cook 10 minutes, let the soup simmer without the pasta for 5 mins. and then add the pasta for the remaining 10 mins.)

Other vegetables I have tried that work well: froz. green beans, edamame, spinach, celery, potatoes.

wholehealthmd

I will share another website I have been using for years: www.wholehealthmd.com. It has great recipes as well as really interesting nutrition information. You can click on "healing kitchen" and then click on a huge list of ailments ranging from the trivial (bad breath) to the serious (kidney stones) and it will tell you foods and recipes that will treat and/or prevent it.

unclutterer

My friend introduced me to unclutterer, a great blog that I now read regularly. I recommend it! The blog has lots of contributors who give organizing/paring down tips. Some of my favorite topics of theirs are ideas for homemade toys. [Thanks, Mireille!]

a twofer

We went to the hospital today to see baby Aubrey Wolfe, and we got a great surprise - Daniel Dasher was born this morning and we got to see him, too! Both babies are perfect and I'm so glad I got to meet them today. Welcome!!