Fresh Picked

There's something really cool about growing your own food.  Even eating fresh picked sounds so much more apetizing than what you buy off of a store shelf.  This morning the girls and I went apple picking and ended up picking our own corn too, which we will eat with dinner.  For some reason there seems to be more pride in even just that...eating something we picked ourselves.  I can imagine this pride is increased ten fold if you grow it yourself. 

I have the perfect yard for a garden...a really big one even if I wanted it to be.  My only problem?  I have no idea where to begin...and I mean no idea...what veggies to plant when, what I need to do specifically regarding digging up the yard for a garden, where to dig the garden (in direct sunlight or shady areas), the best place to get seeds, how often to water etc. etc. etc.  The goal this fall/winter is to research and read up on this. 

Any gardening friends out there with advice, recommended reading etc?

Secrets of Manifesting

I have been listening to Wayne Dyer's lecture series called the Secrets of Manifesting.  My thoughts on the lecture are probably more suited to my private blog at this point but one of the things that he said regarding food was very interesting.  After trying my coffee this morning with skim milk and honey it seemed fitting, as well as shocking.  Here it is:

In 1900 the average amount of sugar consumed by a person in a day was 18 grams.  Today it is over 300 grams.

Whoa.

Recipe

I have been testing out different recipes lately.  I am sick of cooking the same old things and it just so happens I actually enjoy cooking more when I am trying something new.  Lately, the focus has been on breakfast.  With the start of school just around the corner, I have been looking for quick and easy recipes that can be ready to go in the morning, and possibly even taken to go.  Getting my older two to eat breakfast is something akin to pulling teeth.  They don't enjoy cereal (unless I buy the kind that basically equates to giving them a bowl full of sugar which I refuse to do) an they don't want to take the time to make anything else.  In the case of my oldest, I can understand that.  She has to be up at 5:45 to catch the bus as it is.  I have a collection of recipes that I plan to try on the kids over the next week so we will have a few (I hope) keepers for the start of the school year. 

The first one I have tried is definitely not up there on the healthy side but it does have apples!  Oh, and it was delicious. I substituted gluten free oats so Julia could enjoy this as well (Oats do not actually contain gluten but have a very high chance of cross contamination due to the fields they are grown in.  The oats I buy are grown in fields that do not grow wheat or other gluten containing grains). 

 

Apple Oats Crock

Place 2 sliced apples, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, pinch salt in the bottom of the crock pot.
Pour in 2 cups of oatmeal, 2 cups of milk and 2 cups water.
Do NOT stir.
Cook overnight for 8 - 9 hours on low.