Maple Syrup Lemonade with a Hint of Bourbon

I thought about posting a picture of a lemon. Or maple syrup. Or bourbon.

Or I could just give you this link. It's the happiest summer cocktail you can imagine. Sunshine in a highball glass. Or you can serve it, as I did tonight, in martini glasses.

I have to admit that I posted this to pinterest myself. It's an old Smitten Kitchen recipe, so it wasn't exactly a Pinterest find. But I'd bet a dollar or two that someone already pinned it. If only Pinterest were searchable.

Oh well. Happy Summer!

P.S. As it turns out, Pinterest IS searchable. And Vermontucky Lemonade (as Smitten Kitchen dubs this drink) has been pinned about two thousand times. Guess this makes two thousand one.

Pinterest has been very good to me lately.

For breakfast today, I made these lovely breakfast banana splits. Holy yum! And if you make with fat free plain Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey it is only 4 points. Add 1 tablespoon of toasted walnuts for an extra, very well worth it, point! (BTW, I calculated these points with the recipe builder on the WW site which means extra points are add for what would otherwise be non-point items, like the fruit and plain yogurt).

Earlier this week, we had some AMAZING (not to mention simple) chicken. I have no photos for you because it was gobbled down so quickly. Simply being amazing, delicious, and moist beyond words does not guarantee my red-headed kiddos will enjoy a dish. And yet this was one of their favorites in a long time. We upped the Greek yogurt and parm and cut the chicken into smaller pieces, and the points still were pretty low.

What pinterest fun have you had lately?

Spice it Up!

I've been doing Weight Watchers. There. I said it.

7 weeks. 15 pounds. I feel like a new woman.

The focus of this week's meeting was "Spice it Up!"

SO I thought it was time to get back to my blog and share some SPICE!

Dinner tonight:

Cumin-spiced fish tacos with Nectarine and Scallion Salsa.

I deviated a little from the recipes, leaving the balsamic out of the relish but adding the red onion, jalapeno, red pepper, and avocado from the fish recipe. In the end it was amazing. Unfortunately I couldn't find corn tortillas, so went with basic white wheat instead. Whole wheat would have been healthier (and maybe a tad lower in points), but I've been so disappointed by fish tacos in the past that I didn't want to risk it! I'm glad I didn't. These were amazing. My (very skinny) husband is loving WW as much as I am!

Travelling

I'm excited to be working on a new project. A Trekaroo Project.

I've guest-blogged on Trekaroo and written tons of reviews.

Now I'm researching the Top 10 Things to Do in North Carolina. Trekaroo is compiling these lists for all 50 states and I am exciting to get to cover North Carolina.

But now I need help. I want ideas from real moms and dads. Can you help? Where have you traveled in NC? What have you done with your kids of all ages? Whether it's a specific location or a general theme, any ideas will help!

Otherwise, the article is going to be all about hiking and museums. Help a girl out!

A Not-So-Pinteresting April

Enough with the Pinteresting Puns. I know. I know.

But April has been anything but Pinteresting. And yet it has been a wonderful month!

We have been busy with soccer.



And art shows.



Some not-so-natural Easter Egg Dying.



And all things outdoors.



The only Pinteresting Pursuit was a disastrous attempt at making homemade liquid soap. The ingredients included glycerin. Which is purchased in pharmacies. "Would you like the topical or suppository form?" ... Say what, now?

So ... back to the Pinterest. I leave you with this inspinteration ... um, sorry, another Play on Pinterest. I promise. No more puns.

Sushi, Soap, and Hand Sanitizer

The plan is to make soap tonight. Homemade liquid soap. And this brings me to a confession. We aren't really handwashers, this family of ours. Sure, when the six year old had cancer and a completely absolutely suppressed immune system. Where a fleck of dust carrying the wrong opportunistic pathogen could lead to our dear daughter's demise. Well, then we were big believers in Purell and all things hand-sanitizing.

But nowadays, with those happy white blood cells zooming through the bloodstream, why bother? Frankly I'm a little opposed to the obsessive hand-washing of our culture. In part, this comes form the fact that triclosan (a compound which, some believe, promotes drug resistance in certain bacteria and carries a whole host of potential risks to users) is in most hand soaps. So when I'm in a public restroom I can risk E. coli or wash my hands in triclosan and hope we aren't selecting the most drug-resistant of the E.coli. I love the Purell but not the unidentified dispenser soap. So, sometimes I compromise with just a water-rinse. Plus, it keeps the old ladies from scowling and might even let me fly under the radar in case researchers have hidden cameras in the public restroom ... I'm not making this stuff up. (BTW, I used to be a member of the American Society of Microbiology ... hmm ... you'd think I'd be a better hand washer after working with hepatitis and Pseudomonas)

The other reason for my hand-washing disdain is that (in most cases) a little dirt never hurt anyone (for exceptions to the rule, see above). It's even good for the immune system, right? Like the three second rule. Okay, okay. Maybe it's an excuse for laziness. And on that note, I've noticed that the children are washing their hands. Maybe because of their sitter. Maybe school. And, if I'm being honest, they are pretty grimy kids. So maybe hand-washing is a good idea. Plus, if I'm ever going to earn that Mother-of-the-Year award, I need to at least have some hand soap in the (otherwise very dirty) bathrooms. Right?

The children are uber-excited about the soap-making. They are perhaps slightly more excited that "a friend from mommy's work" will be participating and that there will be snacks.

So, tonight, we make soap. And, possibly hummus. But not in the same bowl.

The six year old suggested we serve left over veg sushi roll. I should mention there are 4 pieces, and one is falling apart. The four year old contributed "I hate sushi!" He also hated the miso soup and the sushi rice. He did, however, gobble down the carrot slivers (intended for sushi-filling) and the bowl of apple sauce that accompanied the meal. Do the Japanese eat apple sauce? Topped with cinnamon?

So tonight we make soap. But what about the snacks? Any suggestions?

BPA-Free Family

Before our daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, my husband (then a stay-at-home-dad-extraordinaire) was on a casual hunt for BPA-free water bottles for the kids. He switched us over to Klean Kanteen. Stainless steel. BPA Free. Guaranteed not to cause leukemia (just kidding).



Klean Kanteen even featured The Boy on their website for a little while.

I eventually added in Sigg bottles with their Swiss superiority, super cool designs, and promise of BPA free liners. Only later to learn that those Sigg bottles aren't exactly BPA-free, but no BPA gets leached. Okay. Fine.

Then we got the cancer-at-three diagnosis. And the BPA-free, guaranteed not to cause cancer water bottles came with us to the hospital where we pumped glorified poison into our daughter's body in hopes of killing those Damn Cancer Cells.









And the quest for a chemical-free life started to seem a little silly. A little irrelevant. A child with chemo-cravings and cachexia gets whatever she'll eat. Chic-fil-A and steaks, mac and cheese and hot chocolate. It wasn't a complete food nightmare. But all-natural, whole and healthy took a back seat to, well, calories.

That is more-or-less behind us, now. And we are slowly reinventing a healthy and whole lifestyle. By slowly I mean I just finished a soy mocha and English muffin sammie from Starbucks. Baby steps.

I've been investigating (and, of course, pinning) BPA-free options for canned veges and soups. I mistakenly assumed that the tetra pak style soup boxes were a nice, chemical free alternative to BPA laden canned soup. Wrong.

So I've been reading, investigating, and sharing better options and trying to reinvent our kitchen and our eating habits. Less eating out. More whole grains and veges. Less chemicals. More fresh. We'll see how it goes!