Our Last Thanksgiving

This year is the first year we will be bringing all of our vegan treats with us to our families' houses, last year we were vegan, but still in transition really, so we fudged this day by being vegetarian so as not to upset the transition too much. So this year, we will be having Almond-Crusted Seitan, Haertel Stack Biscuits, Mashed Potatoes with Miso Gravy, Mango Cranberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, Haertel Stuffing, and Pumpkin Cheese Cake! All washed down with Buttered and Spiced Apple Cider!

But while I was going over the list, something kept nagging at me...it is so much food...so much more than I ever make at once...unless it's Christmas...and while my mama explains the holiday to her littles so beautifully, "it's a day we are thankful for the Indians, who gave the pilgrims food when they had none..." those pilgrims are our ancestors...so how are we "thanking" the Indians by making a national holiday out of it? I always sweep it under the rug with a passive, "with honor. We are honoring the Indians, like we do our troops on Memorial Day, and taking a day off for dead soldiers no more thanks them than Thanksgiving does the Native Americans, but we still honor them both because we dedicate the holiday to them." And I go ahead and get excited to see family, and start my food making. Yes, it's only Wednesday, and I had biscuit batter ready two days ago!

Then Brandan came home, and I shared our feast plans with him, sparing no detail, because he usually enjoys hearing what kind of feast we are having, no matter what the occasion. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and to my surprise my husband replied, "I don't know why we celebrate Thanksgiving!" I thought he meant because it was such a hassle to be vegan this holiday, and I assured him it was fun, and just the right amount of challenge, plus we would be "saving a turkey" by not eating one this year! (He always feels good after I tell him how many animals he's saved. He's so kind, and always been so, he even admitted before we became vegan that he did not support catch and release fishing, because most of the baited fish will die later from infection from the hooks ripped out of their mouths, and the fisherman doesn't even eat it! That's my kind-hearted man!) But that was not the issue this year! Instead he said rather flustered, "No! We celebrate a culture that we [decimated] (paraphrased out his vulgarity) by stuffing our faces until we are sick!" He went on with his disgust for the holiday, and finished with, "...maybe this is the last year we celebrate Thanksgiving?"

And so it will be! Our minds are always in sync like that, it's so awesome, but he is right, it's almost like we are rubbing it in their faces by eating everything we can manage to get down from the land that we took from them. Sounds really "thankful" doesn't it?!

Instead, we will be donating everything we would have spent on a Thanksgiving dinner to a Native American foundation every year until the end of our days. Then maybe we will have made up for some of the lost time in repaying the favor!

Here are a couple of good ones:

National Relief Charities

Strong in Traditions and Values, But Lacking in Resources

American Indian College Fund

Teaching Your Toddler the Alphabet! I SPY Giveaway!

Two words: Bob Books. They sell them at Costco periodically, and they are awesomeness!!! We have the complete collection, and paid $10 a box. You can also find them, used (which really doesn't make a difference, there are no activity pages) in the children's section at Half Price Books! I've seen them there for as low as $6!

Regardless, every day after lunch, the girls and I open up a Bob Book, and get going. Bob books are organized in sets of two or three letters per book, so we go through one book a week, and when we get to the end of the alphabet we repeat!

I sit with a girl on either side of me, point to the words and have them repeat as I read them! They are only 2 and 3 after all. When I come to a letter standing alone, I do not read it, but allow them to guess what it is, and going through the series the second time, Kaylee Autumn can name them all! She can even recognize the word, “the!” I also ask what sound the letters make, and even point out some letters within the words of the sentences on the story pages, asking them to name the letter. We have been “learning to read” since age two with Kaylee, and at first she didn't know what I was asking when I pointed to the “k” in “kite” and asked what it was. However, when you take the time to say, “there are 4 little letters in this big word, k-i-t-e, the word is 'kite,' but these little ones are letters,” eventually you can shorten it to “what's this little letter?” and she GETS IT! Then you can point out little letters everywhere, and it will make the difference between “i” and “l” much easier!

After we “read” the book, I set it face up on my lap so we can see the capital letters on the front cover. Then we take out these SUPER AWESOME dry-erase sentence boards, and our kid-size dry-erase markers. BOTH were purchased at Target in their dollar section for, you guessed it, a buck a set! 4 sentence boards and 3 markers per pack. I give each child a board, then I take the Red pen and draw the capital letter of the day on the first line, while saying a little phrase on how to remember how to draw it, and trace over it while saying my letter-drawing mantra two more times! Then I draw it again on the row below, trace over it two more times, all while repeating the letter mantra! Since there are two letters per week, we practice the first letter for two days, the second letter for two days, and on Friday we try both! After I am done writing and repeating, I take out a blue or green pen for one child, place it in their hand, helping them with the three-finger pincer grasp, and we draw the letter together directly after my Red letter, three times, move down to the next line and repeat, while matra-ing away! I repeat all of this with the next child and their individual board while I let the first one try to draw the letter on their own. They can still hear me saying how to draw it while I teach the sibling, and sometimes, they can do it!

This week was “M.” And “'M' has a straight back, with one hump, twooo humps!” After practicing together, my little smartipants three-year old, Kaylee could write it on the first try!!! Remember to tell them you are proud of them!! Because when you do, they will practice writing that letter on everything!

Kaylee Likes To Trace Before Trying The Letter On Her Own!

Teach your child to read and write for $12?! UM, YEAH! You can further their reading education in coming years, at $10-20 a year for the subsequent steps in the Bob Book curriculum, depending on how fast your child learns. My girl is fast, she could recognize the whole alphabet by 26 months, and can now write A, H, I, L, M and O!!! I'm sure there are faster children, but it's healthy to brag about your own ^_^

So! If you can tell me how many “M”s are in this picture, I will give the winner...

The First Set Of Bob Books! A White Board Set! And a Pack Of Dry-Erase Pens!!!

I spy with my little eye...

Taco Salad Bowls and Tortilla Chips

Because fancy CAN be quick, and so can fun! We have some sort of Mexican meal charade every Monday, so how do you switch it up? It all lies in the tortillas!

I buy a pack of Costco tortillas, which run $4 for 40 “Burrito Style” large rounds, which are the cheapest way to do it, bar none! We make burritos, chimichangas, fry them up flat for tostadas, cut them in half, stuff them, and roll them up reeeeally tight, then fry them and call them taquitos! We also make tortilla chips! It is cheaper than buying a bag of premade tortilla chips, it is in contact with less preservatives and salt, it is also more filling and made with better ingredients, and they are MUCH sturdier! You want a chip that was MADE to load on the dip?! That's my House Tortilla Chips! You can also make cutesy little bowls out of them and fill them to the brim with 7-layer dip, or a taco salad!

House Tortilla Chips

Yeild: 8 chips per tortilla, 1-2 tortillas per person is usually sufficient!

Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

Tortillas

Salt to taste

Oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Count out how many tortillas you need to feed the mouths at the table. Stack and cut them, four at a time works best, with a pizza cutter or even a butter knife! Cut them like you would a pizza; half width-wise, half height-wise, half at a 45* angle, half at a -45* angle! Voila, 8 pieces! On ungreased cookie sheets, lay out your little triangles, try to cram as many onto one tray without stacking them! Now take a brush and dab it in oil, lightly coat each chip with a little oil. (I have baked without oil, which works just fine, oil is just, well...better!) Now sprinkle a light layer of salt over the tray, one cookie sheet is usually due for about 2 teaspoons of salt, but you can do more or less as you like! At this stage you can fancy it up with some paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, a little bit of lime juice splashed on top, or lemon pepper! Or not! They are SO GREAT by themselves! Last step is to stick them in that oven for 10 minutes, start watching at 8 minutes though, in a convection oven or with slightly smaller tortilla rounds, they are prone to burning!

MMMMMM! Fresh out of the oven chips!!! YEAH. That's what I'm talkin' bout!

House Tortilla Bowls

Yeild: 2 bowls per tortilla, 1-2 tortillas per person is usually sufficient!

Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

Tortillas

Salt to taste

Oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Count out how many tortillas you need to feed the mouths at the table. Stack and cut them, four at a time works best, with a pizza cutter or even a butter knife! This time, only cut them in half once! Take the corners of each half-round and bring them together, pull one edge a little past the other, forcing a fold in the tortilla. Stuff it in its cone-like shape into a muffin tin, pressing on the bottom to try to achieve a flat-bottomed bowl, and no worries, every fold in that bowl is a welcome guest. Use a VERY light smattering of oil if you would like, I personally think it make the bowls cook better! You can also add a dash of salt to the whole muffin tin of tortilla bowls, but it is not necessary and I usually skip because a taco salad is my typical goal. Then just stick those muffin trays in the oven for 10 minutes, watching again at 8 of course! You can use corn tortillas for chips or bowls, they need a little extra time in the oven, and they harden up more after you take them out of the oven and let them rest a bit. Do not use oil with corn tortillas, they will NEVER harden that way!

Flour on Left, Corn on Right

TADA!!! Quick, painless, cheaper, healthier, and YUMMIER!

The “Family Dinner” Style Birthday Party

THE WINNER OF THE DIAPER GIVEAWAY IS:

ANNIKA MANCHESTER!!!

Please Send Me Your Address So I Can Ship Your Winnings To You!

So after taking birthdays bake down to their origins, starting with Momma, we open up the

holiday to family, making a wonderful family dinner that everyone can come together and enjoy, celebrating wonderful life with us! Basking in all the love, cherishing each other, and sharing AWESOME food, if I do say so myself! The Family Dinner also provides the opportunity for grandparents who can attend to shower the little lady with love, and celebrate her, it's the perfect little space that honors family connections. Eventually, it's just not going to be feasible to invite grandparents and uncles to the “kid party” the girls share, even this year we are running out of space to invite all the extended family. That is where the Family Birthday Dinner takes the cake! We are able to round up as many uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents that we can and celebrate it all together! Then the kid party has its space, birthday day with momma has its space, and we have just one more excuse to have a grand time!!!

For Kaylee's Family Birthday Dinner, I hosted 14 guests alongside our 4-person family. And what to feed a 18-person brood? The Haertel Riesling Pasta! Mango Walnut Salad! Biscuits shaped like butterflies! And a gorgeous, melt-in-your mouth, Blueberry-Cashew Cream Cake!

The Haertel Riesling Pasta is entirely my own design. I first invented the recipe when I was not vegan, three years ago, and back then I called it Shrimp Pear Sake, this is because the original recipe called for sauteed shrimp and any Pear Sake I could get my hands on! Since we are vegan now, we do not eat shrimp (plus, River has an allergy to shellfish, who'd have thunk?!) and Pear Sake is hard to come by, plus it's usually not worth the price, so I reinvented the recipe using Riesling! My favorite is Kung Fu Girl! Many would say that it is an insult to consider a wine a cooking wine, because they have cooking wine for that purpose, however, as the name suggests, it is necessary to use a wine you like for this dish! The undertones of the wine you use become part of the exquisiteness of the pasta! Shrimp Pear Sake actually tastes like pears! Kung Fu Girl is the closest mimicry to this flavor, and she's only 9 bucks a bottle on average!

Shrimp Pear Sake

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 # Shrimp

1 # Noodles

¼ Cup Flour

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Butter

1 1/3 cup Milk

2/3 cup Pear Sake

½ cup Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon Thyme

2 Tablespoons Chives

Haertel Riesling Pasta

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 # Seitan or other Vegan Sausage

1 # Noodles

¼ Cup Flour

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Coconut Oil

1 1/3 cup Plain Soy Milk

2/3 cup Riesling

½ cup Lemon Juice (Lime is good too!)

1 teaspoon Thyme

2 Tablespoons Chives

(1 tsp Parsley and 2 Tbs Italian Seasoning is also a good mix in a pinch!)

Instructions:

Sautee your shrimp or sausage, you may add salt and pepper to taste at this stage. Bring a pot of water to a boil for your noodles. Melt your butter or oil in a medium saucepan. Mix up your flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl then add it to the melty goodness. Stir until all of the flour soaks up the liquid, then add the remaining ingredients! Whisk until smooth and creamy, then bring to a boil for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol, stirring constantly. Then reduce to a simmer. Cook up your pasta noodles, drain, and combine all three pots of goodness together!

Mango Walnut Salad: Baby Spinach, 1 Mango diced, 2 Avocados diced, 1 Red Onion minced, and some poppy seed dressing...YUM!

And the finishing touch is Blueberry Cheese Cake! From Vegan Zombie! The “cheese” is actually pureed cashew, and the crust is raw in his directions, but I like to bake my crust on 200 for 15 minutes. Either way is crunchy good!

To top it all off, all of the dinnerware was compostable, so there was zero waste!

Now on to party pictures!!!

Had To Steph!!!

Can You Believe HE Is Her Uncle?!

Momma With Babe...So Sweet!

Munch, Crunch!

A Quick Snap Blurred This One, But The Sentiment Is Still Profound!

Kind And Thoughtful Auntie-Belle!

So Many Books! Wonderful Idea For Any Age!!!

Cards and Letters Are Awesome! Kaylee Adores Them!

Puzzles And Activity Books To Encourage A Growing Mind!

Birthday Ribbons Are The Best!

Because "Hi Kitty" Boots Are A Must!

Enjoyable Company!

Gifts Are Already Being Put To Use Before The Night Is Out!

A Quick Look At Bathroom Garbage

We've been talking about trash a bit lately, so I wanted to show you the way we organized the bathrooms this weekend!

We bought 3 brown, bendy baskets for recyclables, for use in our three bathrooms! Each basket was $1.50 at Daiso, and they had plenty of other colors to choose from, brown was the most neutral. We now have two waste baskets in each bathroom, one for garbage and one for recycle in order to help keep our garbage output low... Remember how I said we were going to make “one whole step!” ? Well, we made 2!!! We are now down to the Once-a-month 32gal garbage pickup starting next week! We are using our own container, and the savings from stepping down from 32gal weekly plus rental covers both the new garbage can we bought, and the little waste baskets in just one month's time!

The "Bendable" Nature Allows For Squeezing Into Small Spaces

The Big Black One Used To Be For Dirty Diapers, Now It's Our Burnables!

We are following Cass's advice on keeping a “burnables” receptacle, which keeps things like wrapping paper that has a foil side that can't be recycled, but really shouldn't be thrown away either!

Now, each week we are only using ¼ of a garbage bag for actual garbage, which leaves wiggle room for birthdays, holidays, buying new things in non-recyclable containers, etc.

REMEMBER: YOU HAVE 2 MORE DAYS TO ENTER INTO THE DIAPER CONTEST!!! The switch from disposable to cloth will dramatically reduce your garbage output, but of course, the switch from diapers to Elimination Communication will reduce your output and energy consumption even more!!!

Just comment here, or message me privately to be entered to win! I have 2 cute BumGenius Brand NEW diapers on the way!!!

Our Spin On Birthdays

Every birthday we get torn between who to spend time with, who to see, who to talk to on the phone, and it comes down to decisions of “who is most important?” I hate making those decisions, it's not fair to anyone. Well, this year is the year I said “No More!” I'm taking Birthday back to its roots, and what is the root of BIRTHday?! Birth.

Today we started off with breakfast together; a hearty whole-wheat, homemade soaked bread with homemade peanut butter, and homemade apple butter, topped off with Momma's special Chocolate Almond Milk! We always make all of these things together, and today was about togetherness.

Then, we listened to our favorite, Caspar Babypants Radio station on Spotify, while we drove to our naturopath. Kaylee received a full routine check, scoliosis screening, and everything. We learned about our bodies, we learned a bit about how they grow, and how to take care of them, because today was all about that healthy little body that was made in Momma's belly not-so-long ago!

After that, we came home and made art with our hands—some “thankful” turkeys! She cut her own feathers out of the paper, her first art project that she was allowed to do all of the cutting! We worked together to glue them all on, wherever she wanted. Today was a “Thankful Hands” Turkey kind of day, because today we are thankful for each other, so we work as a team to prove it.

We moved on to playdough when our turkeys were complete. Hands-on art was best for today, as she learned new skills to grow that capable little mind, and test those capable little hands, because today was about her and how much she has grown.

We lunched, and napped, and when we got up we danced and sang. We helped our sister, River, when she needed it. We helped Momma clean up too, because today was not about toys and stuff, today was about our bond with each other.

We read all of her birthday cards aloud, and she proceeded to carry each one around until bed, which was adorable as ever! We talked to all the wonderful family we have that wanted to wish Kaylee, “happy birthday,” and she learned how to leave voicemails, and express her love for her family in the simple form of communication we all do day-to-day. Because today is about love for others, above love for ourselves.

We finished off the night with a “together bath,” a whole tubfull of girls! Momma, Kaylee and River, talking about the day, talking about where they came from, and how they were born. Talking about our bodies and how their bodies will look just like Momma's when they nurse their own babies. Talking about Momma's “squishy belly” and how theirs will be squishy too when their bellies get “big big HUGE round for the babies.” Girly bathtime is wonderful! Because today was about where Kaylee came from, her BIRTHday, and how her bond with Momma was commemorated today!

Tomorrow we will have a dinner celebration with all of the family, with yummy dessert and laughter, and love! It will be fun and special, and allow everyone their chance to celebrate with this big-hearted girl! Because tomorrow will be family day, because when she came into this world, she came into a huge loving family!!!

So we will continue on with this newfound tradition, with the absence of stuff, and the full meaning of what it is to be born, and to be a Haertel daughter. We will limit the well-wishes to phone calls, but we won't tear ourselves apart trying to see everyone on this day. Don't worry, there will always be a family dinner to celebrate the birthday girl, right around this time, so that EVERYONE can celebrate with us, and we do not have to choose. This is so that we can still acknowledge the love of our family, because family is important. We will spend the day, re-rooting ourselves in each other, rediscovering our origins, going back to where it all began, with Daddy and Momma, because today is about family, and love, and connection. Today is the day we truly became our own little family, 3 short years ago.

Our "Stunning" Youthful Years, Around the Time We Found Out We Were Pregnant!