Adventure in the Winter Veggie Forest – January

Ok so it’s only the first of February and our family dinners are beginning to drive me crazy. Every night we have the same conversation, “Mom, do I have to eat all of this?” With a bright smile and friendly tone I always respond, “Yes my darling.” Now that we have started to venture in the veggie forest.. the response back from my lovely children begins to sound a bit like debate class. “When you say yes.. do you mean I can eat 3 bites or how about just this small corner?”

Thus begins the wonderful dinner time debate class using mathematical dialogue, breaking down the food on our plates into geometric shapes of various sizes and combination to find just how little they can consume. I know my children are trying to wear me down.. but I’m on a vegetable mission here.. no stopping and no negotiating – I will not be derailed from this quest! The food (especially the lovely vegetables) must be eaten! However, I’m sure the kids math teachers would agree that this is an excellent way to get in extra math instruction.

This past month, we have worked hard to add vegetables to every meal. What often is an easy task quickly becomes boring without a little bit of creative energy.  Although, I must admit when time is at a premium it is easier to just grab that bag of frozen veggies and toss them in the pot.. or the pasta sauce. For those who have not tried this I would highly recommend it. I’m not one for hiding veggies in other food – however tossing some spinach or kale in pasta sauce is an easy way to boost that intake with very little complaints.

Our vegetable for the month of January was Butternut Squash. We ate it smashed, roasted, and fried. Every month I’m going to share with you the one recipe that won my children over – something that has produced smiles and they have actually requested a second time!  For Butternut Squash it was… roasting with maple syrup – not only does it taste yummy but it is also super easy. (Two checks in my challenged veggie cooking book).  You peel the butternut squash with a regular vegetable peeler – easier to peel than its squash sisters and very similar to a carrot.  Cut the squash into squares, place in a roasting pan with a little olive oil, dash of salt, and pepper.. then (and this is the kid loving favorite) cover it all in maple syrup. Good, real maple syrup, that fake stuff doesn’t work as well.  Cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour. (Or until the squash is golden brown). Toss some cinnamon on top and serve warm.

This is vegetable dessert and it all gets eaten and no one complains. In my book of new veggie conquest.. butternut squash is a great first step.

Now on to February and the winter farmers market.

One Families Adventure into the Veggie Forest

Much to my families dismay I’m starting a little experiment this year. We are going to venture into the veggie forest, getting to know all the different varieties, learn some new cooking techniques, and embracing all the joy and vitamins they have to share!

The challenge… fairly simple.. try a new vegetable each month and push to have a vegetable at dinner every night. The vegetable will be identifiable – I’m not hiding anything in the food – everyone will know exactly what they are eating. I’m sure it will make for some lovely dinner conversations with the family anxiously waiting for the next vegetable installment.

We are a somewhat typical family (although I often wonder lately.. what is “typical”.. a topic for another post I suppose). My husband and I have three children, a daughter who is 11 and twin boys that are 8.  We try to eat healthy food and cook at home more than eat out at restaurants. I also try to serve a vegetable with dinner every night but sometimes that turns into a fruit due to time issues.

In all honesty I have to admit that my family does not LOVE vegetables and would prefer to not have them present at dinner. Actually,  I think if you asked them they would say they LOATHE vegetables.  Sadly I must also admit that I use to love vegetables as well.  When I was younger most of my favorite meals were just vegetables. However, as I have gotten older, my vegetable intake and “love” has gone down. (I think I will blame the children – seems like a good excuse).  I don’t enjoy preparing vegetables for dinner – especially if they need much more than dumping the frozen bag into the boiling water. All that chopping, creative spicing, and cooking – has just become one more thing on my never-ending To Do List that I prefer to put off for another day.

So that’s our challenge. It is as much of a challenge for me as it is for my family. AND I’m sure we will have lots of stories to share along the way.  Feel free to send recipes or thoughts our way.. as we venture down this new road (we may need all the help we can get).

Watch out veggies forest….. I’ve got my protective gear and I’m coming in!

Do I get a reward for that?

The other day there was a quiet knock on the front door of the office. I ran downstairs and opened the door to a bright eyed young lady. I invited her inside and she told me about the “clean up” projects she and in her friend were doing around the neighborhood. She had quite a few details to share…and it sounded like a big project.

I congratulated her on a job well done and told her that the work she and her friend are doing is a wonderful way to give back to the community.

She then looked at me with her bright eyes.. looked back down at her sweatshirt.. played a bit with a hole in her sleeve.. looked back up at me and then very quickly said.. “So if me and my friend do stuff like this for the environment will we get a reward?”

I looked at her – I have to say a bit shocked which probably made her even more nervous. What?? A reward??  You are asking me if you get a reward for helping clean up your community?

I looked at her and wasn’t sure how to respond. Do I run downstairs and see if we have any leftover swag from events we did in the past? Do I run upstairs and make a quick certificate for her? Do I give her a reward for doing something that I believe all children should do naturally?

Hum.. quite the question. My response to her was.. “Well mother nature will give you rewards that you can only imagine and I personally am very thankful that you care enough to come out and help.”

I know it wasn’t the response she was looking for. I did throw in that I saw on Disney channel you can be part of a green team and get points for helping. She already knew about that program, thanked me for my time.. and jumped the steps while she walked away from the office.. at a fast pace.

This happened a week ago and it is still on my mind. I wonder if my kids would ask the same question? Do you need a reward to do something that feels good? Do you need to get paid for volunteer time? Sometimes the joy in helping your community is more of a reward than any money can replace.

There are significant rewards in spending time outdoors. In learning about your neighborhhood and finding a special place where you can be alone.  Bonding with nature clears your mind and your soul… isn’t that reward enough?

Day 5 NO TV Week

We made it! My lovely family of 5 made it one whole week without the TV or video games! And the best part is that they will tell you it wasn’t that hard – maybe even a little fun. So what did we do? We played outside, we spent time as a family, we hung out with our neighbors, we read some great books, we realized that the world doesn’t end if you miss a TV show.
I know in a way it sounds very silly of course we don’t NEED TV few countries have as many TV entertainment options as we do and they seem to manage. But it seems to have become a part of our life – and not a very healthy part. Stepping away from the TV this spring reminds us how much we do watch. Shows us that it is pretty easy to just turn it off and do something else. I realized that I need to find other ways to relax – find a way to sit down and just do nothing (an easy activity that a TV provides). I also am thinking that another form of relaxing – reading-yoga-walking is probably better mentally than vegging out in front of the TV.
Thank you National Turn Off Your TV Week and Thank You to our local elementary school for promoting it! Once again you help us break free….. and reminded us that we can do this!

Maybe this summer – now where is that remote.

Day 4 Thursday NO TV WEEK

We are coming to the home stretch here.. day 4. Today was another beautiful day and we had a full evening of biking. We visited the library and spent some time looking at all the new books and then took the LONG way home. No rush.. nothing to hurry home to.. a chance to enjoy the wind in your hair (oh wait.. helmet) while leisurely biking through the neighborhood. Our amazing discovery on Thursday was our imaginations. A simple bike ride became a tremendous journey through space. We fought aliens, met a new creature, conquered the dust hole, and saved the planet. (See a long ride home can be quite the adventure with two little boys!)
The fresh air has done wonders to all of our spirits.. or maybe it is just the beauty of a challenge. You know… when you are “winning” it sure is fun! And the best part of this challenge.. it hasn’t been that hard.
But I will admit that the boys have been hyper lately.. I think staring blindly at the TV or video games zaps their energy.. which sometimes is a good thing. However that extra energy can be tunneled into good use.. building a garden, sweeping the garage, pulling weeds. So far it’s working but I wonder how long it would last.

Day 3 Wednesday NO TV Week

We seem to be adjusting well to not having the TV on. However our eldest in the house left for eco week and so now the boys are very lonely. No TV and no big sister telling them what to do. BUT.. we have managed to keep them entertained and I’m enjoying the fact that no one bothers to asks about the TV anymore.The best part is that both my husband and I have also not watched the TV.

I will be honest here and admit that we are lucky the weather has been in the upper 60’s and low 70’s all week. The birds are singing, the flowers are starting to bloom.. who doesn’t want to get outside. It seems that most of our neighborhood is outside at night, TVs are turned off and everyone is out and about saying hello and greeting each other once again.  NO TV week might be more of a challenge if it was snowing or pouring down rain.. then we would have to come up with some great indoor fort building tasks! I would recommend that if you are having beautiful weather turn off the TV and go outside with your kids! Have fun try some new adventures… walk 20 steps out the front door and then 20 steps out the back door and talk about what you see. Those little eyes have amazing depths and taking the time to listen to what they are seeing reminds everyone of the importance of slowing down.

Day 2 Tuesday NO TV Week

Everyone was a tad sleepy this morning “Too much fresh air!” one of the boys said.
But they still managed to spend the morning without the TV. It truly is amazing how much more cereal gets in a mouth and how clean socks get on the toes when there isn’t the constant entertainment of the TV.
Today we discovered a great off road mountain bike path a few blocks from our home. It’s a challenging ride with jumps and hills and narrow passages. We took the challenge and mastered the mountain! What a night! (Ok so our imaginations are slowly awakening… a
little dirt path has become a wild biking adventure). We also discovered worms in our garden and I’m proud to say all three kids have talked to a worm today. Talking to worms and mastering mountains – who needs a tv!

Day 1 Monday No TV Week

Monday: I was heading off to work and caught my daughter just as she was about to turn on the TV.  “Wait, it’s No TV Week,” I said expecting a frustrated look and additional nagging from me to turn it off. BUT nope.. she looked at me set down the remote and said.. “Whew, good thing I didn’t look at it yet!”  Her brothers came upstairs and she informed them the week has begun. Again.. there was more excitement than frustration this morning.

The kids then headed out to the backyard to pull up some more grass. They are building a garden and have a bit more grass to move around. My daughter noted.. “We have plenty of time this morning to get it done..”

Thankfully it is a beautiful day and our family headed over to the elementary school for a family picnic. We are very lucky that our elementary school supports this cause. A fun picnic was had by all with hula hoops and jump ropes included. It was a nice chance to reconnect with teachers and parents and for the kids to burn off some steam at the end of the day.

While the sun was setting we headed back home ending our evening with some book reading. Quick family pick up of the house – you’d be amazed how smoothly it goes when the TV isn’t on offering a constant distraction. Then everyone off to bed.  A great start to the week and the TV was pretty much forgotten!

No TV Week

This week is National No TV Week and so our family of 5 is going to try and turn off that silly machine. I hate to admit that our TV is on a bit more than I would like and I often find myself staring blindly at the screen, not realizing how much time I am wasting.

Every year I  look forward to the excuse of No TV week – I need that excuse to make it happen. We can’t turn on the TV – the children police it and are pretty hard nosed with each other on “screentime” which means video games and computers are included.  My goal for this year is to get the  kids to spend more time outdoors and No TV week is a great excuse for us parents to do the same.

I am going to keep a log of what our children have done INSTEAD of TV this week. It will be fun to see how much a family of 5 can get done without a TV and you never know what treasures or new discoveries we may find in our own backyard!

I grew up in a tree…

It occurred to me the other day that some of my fondest childhood memories have to do with “my tree.” I can honestly say that I grew up in a tree. It sounds strange and my children think I’m nuts when I say it.. but I spent most of my childhood perched in a tree.

I studied for my biology test in my tree. Wrote all of my humanities compositions in my tree. Studied my Spanish vocabulary in my tree. Worked on my science fair projects. And wrote my college essay in my tree. The tree sat in my backyard – over looking the lake and a beautiful western view of the mountains. It wasn’t anything special to the rest of my family – actually as a cottonwood tree it caused a bit of problems with cotton blowing in late summer adding to allergies and getting stuck all over the screens. BUT it was MY TREE! I loved that tree and I think of it frequently and hope that today another child climbs it’s limbs as often as I did.

Which gets me directly to my point.. Have your kids climbed a tree? Have you?

Most of the adults I talk with who have climbed a tree will go into details of the many  trees they climbed  remembering the joy and excitement of each experience. Most children I talk to have not climbed a tree and usually have a whole list of reasons why…. mostly they are scared of getting hurt. I guess I can’t argue on the “hurt” piece of that fear because yes.. there is a chance that when you climb a tree you may get hurt. However, there are different levels of hurt and just going by my personal experience I only knew two kids in my childhood that actually broke something climbing a tree.  So the odds, I think, are in favor of the experience over the fear of getting hurt.

A young boy in my son’s first grade class, who had a very serious look on his face while he pulled on my arm, asked me.. “Is climbing a tree similar to climbing the rock wall at the rock gym?”  I smiled at him and got down on one knee so I was eye level,  “No… It is VERY DIFFERENT and it is an experience that you will never forget!”

Climbing a tree isn’t like climbing the rock wall in the gym. There are no areas marked off by level of difficultly. There  isn’t a crowd of people around to cheer you or help you on the climb. There isn’t a set way nor the perfect path to get up. There are no ropes or safety belts. There is never just one tree.

When you climb a tree you have to find the right tree. It could take days, it could take weeks, it could take years. You have to open your eyes and start looking at trees in a new way. You have to evaluate the tree for climbability.  Looking at the placement of the branches.. how low is that first branch and are the spaces between the branches something you can easily navigate? Towards the top of the tree do the branches look strong – will they hold your weight.  Once you find a tree that fits the initial evaluation (which you get better at as you start trying to climb) you go for it!  Get up on that first branch (often that was the hardest part for me – as a short person I needed something to push me up) and start climbing. I guarantee that you won’t make it to the top of that first tree the first time. It takes some skill, some fearlessness, some clever manuvering, and some desire. It took me about 4 months to get up to the top of my tree. I was determined to master this tree and it looked perfect.. if I could just get through the mid section. I worked at climbing that tree.. it became a weekly sometimes daily challenge. It was not easy and yes I fell. I fell quite often and I was usually covered with scratches and my hands raw from where I had tried to get a hold of the bark.

BUT I did not give up. I was determined and I knew the prize at the top would be worth every bit of struggle.  Then it happens.. I honestly can’t remember what day it was – what season it was – if it was cold or hot.. but I remember reaching that top branch. I remember looking out over the lake at the mountains. I remember looking at the top of my house. I remember looking at the trees around me that were now at my level. And I remember looking down and thinking to myself.. WOW I made it! There is nothing like the feeling you get at the top of a tree. There is nothing like the sense of accomplishment you get from reaching the top. There is nothing like realizing you are a small part of nature and how important that tree is to the bigger picture. There is nothing like knowing you can climb a tree!

I thought of all of this as I looked at this young boy and I said to him.. “No climbing a tree is nothing like climbing a rock wall. Climbing a tree can teach you so much more!”

I wish for all our children that they get a chance to climb a tree. I wish for my children that they get a chance to find their tree.  As winter comes to an end, starting looking at those trees around your home. (It’s a good time to check out the branches without the leaves in the way). And encourage a child or yourself to Climb a Tree!

You won’t be disappointed – it will remind you of the simple pleasures in life and the joy that can be found right near your home.