february at our home, our pet chicken and tuna melts

february at our home has been a month of transition in many ways.  the biggest transition is that the kids are being moved to a new home (long story, maybe the topic of a future post).  originally it was supposed to happen this week, but its going to be delayed a bit (due to a current shortage of foster homes).  another transition is that my mom (finally!) moved in with us.  she has been a HUGE help with the kids.  also, I am going to be starting up work again (tomorrow is my first day!).  so, lots going on and lots changing.  sometimes change is interesting and fun, but sometimes i just wish that life would be a bit more smooth...


in other news (which is very exciting for me but may not interest you as much... its ok, i am not offended :) )... we may be getting a chicken!!! ever since i have been getting into local real foods, i have been really wanting to get chickens (and a goat... but chickens are the first step :) ).  Eggs from the store come from factory farms where the chickens get little exercise and horrible nutrition (sadly this is even true of most organic eggs), but when they are in your backyard, you can make sure chickens are getting lots of grass, bugs and cage-free time, which makes their eggs' nutrition go way up (and their cholesterol content way down).  plus they are super fresh and less likely to have bacteria like salmonella! 


a couple days ago, i was talking about my desire for chickens with a friend from our natural food co-op.  They currently have chickens but need to get rid of them and they have one left!  Now, I always figured we would own more than one (don't chickens get lonely?) but after finally checking into our local laws on this, I found out that we are legally only allowed to own one chicken in long beach (unless we had a much bigger yard).  so one would be perfect!  We would still need to but eggs, but this will supplement our nutrition well.  there is a chance we may be moving soon, but if not we may be the proud owners of a chicken!!!! :D


in other news, i have posted a real food friday recipe over at somaticos:  this week, tuna melts!  mmmm... i am biased, but they are delish.

spicy beef burrito bowl recipe

over at somaticos.

we have had these several times recently.  they are yum.

wow. let this be me.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
(Hebrews 11:24-26 ESV)

simply tasty: vegetable soup

i used to buy canned soup thinking it was a good deal, until i realized how ridiculously cheap and easy soup is to make.  furthermore, it is really easy to make soup in big batches, which means that you can make it once, and have meals every day for a week.  i usually freeze several servings so that in the future i have a quick meal ready when i am too busy to make something homemade.

soup is especially delicious in the winter, and it is filled with nutrients.

vegetable soup

2 T olive oil

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups chopped broccoli

1 large onion, diced

1 large bell pepper (any color), diced

2 cups cabbage, shredded

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup cauliflower, chopped

32 oz box of chicken broth

1 T each salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder (more or less to taste)

2 t oregano

½ t each basil, thyme, crushed red pepper

several dashes of hot sauce, to taste

water

1 24oz can diced tomatoes

pour olive oil into the bottom of a large pot.  add all of the vegetables (except for the canned tomatoes).  add the chicken stock and spices.  add just enough water so that the water is level with the top of the vegetables.  bring to a boil over a high heat.  reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for another hour. add tomatoes just before serving.  enjoy!

note: you can cook this more or less, depending on how soft or firm you like your veggies.  also, feel free to leave out a veggie or two, and/or add a veggie or two, depending on what you have around and what you like.

[this is especially delicious served with a grilled cheese or cold-cut sandwich. mmm....]

Adotion "waiting lists"

A reader writes to Andrew Sullivan:

I’m flabbergasted by your quote of Ross [Douthat] stating that “would-be adoptive parents face a waiting list that has lengthened beyond reason.” They do not. I’ve adopted two children, and the waiting list is not long. It doesn’t even exist: there are 500,000 children in foster care in the US, and 100,000 of those are available for adoption today.
Well, ok, but you want an infant? No problem: less than a month after we adopted our first child, our agency called us asking if we knew anyone at all with a completed home study. They had a healthy baby boy in a hospital and nobody willing to adopt him. (Agency rules didn’t allow us to take him before our first was completed) For our second, the agency tried for days to contact us around Christmas since we were the only people on the list who were willing to take him.
Why was it so hard to place them? Simple: the adoption market is built around healthy white infants. If you’re willing to remove even *one* of those conditions, the waiting list is short to non-existent.
There’s no shortage of children to adopt; the waiting list exists solely because adoptive parents want to wait for the “right” kind of child. Please don’t perpetuate the myth.

HT: Justin Taylor

pumpkin coconut soup recipe

...and three more health benefits of coconut.


read all of this and more over at somaticos today!

the pill's dirty little secret

"Suddenly, one anxiety—Am I pregnant?—is replaced by another: Can I get pregnant? ...The Pill didn’t create the field of infertility medicine, but it turned it into an enormous industry. Inadvertently, indirectly, infertility has become the Pill’s primary side effect."

new york magazine has a very informative article on the lesser-known side effects of the pill.  yet another reason to avoid it.

read on here.