quote I love

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”




Sticks with me everyday...

Watch out bitches.

disclaimer:  The title of this post is not to make threats.  I like how "watch out bitches" feels when it falls off my tongue, with some intimidating edge, in a justkiddingbutnotjustkidding kind of way.  Slightly taboo, even.  

I think I am having my midlife crisis in half the time it should take to reach that milestone in life.  Let's only hope this is the real deal, and nothing more crisis-y happens ever in my life.  This summer has been epically the crapstick summers of all time.  I swear I have Lifetime cameras following me around.  In the beginning of the crapness, I had a "I am getting fucked" mindset, and as time has passed, I am adapting to a "fuck y'all" attitude, and I am all the better that way.  It is a very rare occurrence when this happens, because I am an honest-to-god selfless person, and it is near impossible for me to think in a egocentric way...I have to concentrate to do so.  And right now, I am running with it.  I often choose sides of myself to share around others, and this is NOT because I care what others opinions are of me, but because I want to avoid any potential discomfort to others in situations.  It's like I am skirting the whole religion/politics faux pas all of the time about every single thing.  There is no doubt about it, I am not the most mainstream of thinkers, an idealist more often than not, and I am molting my reservist mentality.  It's quite liberating.  I hope it lasts.  

So, no more will I not eat meat in front of a vegetarian (this is a new one, because I was 80% vegetarian until a week ago), or stay mum on the fact that I co-sleep and breastfeed my 3 year old at the stroller parks.  If my floors need mopped and I don't feel like it, it'll wait another day, because today is more important than the floor.  Fuck a bed time-sleep when you're tired, and play in the damn rain, already.... geez!  The perfect rain boots for six mini feet are at the top of the list,  and the girls will paint whenever they ask, even if that means setting the dinner plates on a paint covered table, because I love paint, love to paint, and love my girls painting.  (This one is pretty much for my husband-he hates all things gloppy and gluey with potential stain factor, and wasn't too pleased that our girls decorated their high chair trays when they were little and I didn't clean immediately-thus resulting in a area of artistic expression at the dining table.)  

With this emergence of self, my everything has changed and been questioned, and will continue, as will what thoughts in my head lead my fingers to hit what keys.  And, there will be more key hitting, as well.  Behold, a renovation of mind, heart, and outlook.

C'est la vie!

I need more things to put in vinegar

I have a crush on all things pickled, and all things natural, too.  So, I put my foot on the ground, and said "no" to preservative packed glass jars filled with vinegar, spices, and vegetables.  Preservatives aren't found in anything else in my refrigerator or cupboards, but it takes some hunting, pickles on the brain, to find a (good) organic/chemical free pickle, and a pretty penny, and so I always settled for a refrigerated version in the grocery store.

I am very strict about purchasing things in glass and keeping plastics out of our home, recycle everything, and more often than not, have quite a collection of glass jars on my counter, waiting to meet their fate in the green bin, or tucked up against the counter for repurposing. 

Note:  To easily remove labels from glass jars so they look spiffy and new, soak them in a baking soda bath for a day or two, and the glue from the label will peel off nicely.

After a trip to Earth Fare where I picked up some organic goodness, I washed some jars and got to choppin'.  I chose to go simple on round one, and sliced up some cucumbers and carrots, first in half so they would fit into my jars from top to bottom with a bit of room to spare, and then in spears, nothing fancy.  I peeled 4-6 cloves of garlic and halved each clove, chopped up a green onion, and placed my alliums in the jars (2).  I have the inability to follow a recipe, and luckily, I have a fairly high success rate for my willy-nilly cooking style.  When attempting a new recipe, I google and read over 5 or so, and then dive right in as if I know what I am doing.  Same story here.  I brought a cup of water to boil over the stove, through in my carrot spears because I read somewhere that someone did this, removed them after 15 seconds with tongs so I could keep the boiling pot of water.  I hate to waste things-water, energy, and time included.  I added a packet of pickling spices to the pot that I also picked up from Earth Fare for simplicity purposes, which was 1 oz (28 grams) of organic yellow mustard, cinnamon chips, allspice, dill seed, celery seed, bay lead, chili peppers, cloves, caraway, and ginger root.  Savoring up the sweet spices by pairing with typical pickle spices proved to be a tasty match in the outcome.  I added some table salt, as well, an eyeball measurement of 1 1/2 tbs.  With my garlic, onion, carrot, and cucumber all packed away in my jars plus some sliced mushrooms because the jars had some extra room and 2 red chili peppers because I thought they would look nice and add an extra something, I poured the vinegar mixture into the jars, ran the end of a butter knife along the inside of the glass because I read somewhere that someone did this to remove air bubbles, and topped with lids.

Whatcha think?  Purdy, eh?  

Somewhere someone said to wait a few days for maximum picklage, but let's face it, I am impatient when it comes to tasting my edible endeavors, especially new ones.  So, I popped open those bad boys today, and I was extremely pleased.  Very tasty, crisp, and nowhere near boring.  I had some brine left over which I have in a pyrex in my fridge, and started to sliced up some radishes to pickle, but they became a snack instead.  The next time I boil water, I will throw some cauliflower florets, asparagus, and green beans in for 15 seconds to pickle.

This was so simple, I am embarrassed to admit this was my first pickling.  Especially with the brine complete and in my fridge, it is so simple to slice some more veggies and throw in the jars.  I am ecstatic to have a simple way to store veggie slices that won't wilt for an easy snack already dressed up in a vinegar and spice lo-cal dressing.  I can't wait to experiment with other pickling flavors and veggies.