1. Gigi asked to play my guitar the other day, and while I had a million reasons to say no, I had one very good reason to say yes—it’s impossible to play the guitar and the recorder at the same time.
2. We went to IKEA this weekend to replace our coffee table (aka Lulu’s $14.99 boogie board). They raised the price to $19.99, which means I couldn’t afford to get the knockoff Crocs that Lulu so badly wanted me to buy. For myself. In bright green.
3. The IKEA clogs are still better looking and about $76 cheaper than the Vibrams I’m contemplating. But I wouldn’t want to sprint in them.
4. We looked at a new couch and chair while we were there, mostly because our current furniture looks like it got in a fight with an amorous tiger. But I refused to spend even a penny on half-rate Swedish furniture until Pea Kitty leaves this Earth and returns to the dark, dark place from whence she came.
5. My decision was confirmed when we woke up the next morning to find the contents of Pea Kitty’s digestive tract on our chair. You may not want to sit there when you come over.
6. Lulu’s ability to read is interfering with my ability to lie. She hates all things coconut and so when we served up some of this delicious ice cream for dessert, she carefully, yet mistakenly read the carton, “M…m…mm….maybe with coconut milk.” Pea Daddy said, “Yup, maybe with coconut milk. Maybe not!”
She ate two scoops.
7. My gym reorganized all their weight equipment recently, which means I spent fifteen minutes of my workout yesterday looking for the leg press machine and another ten minutes griping with the other elderly people at the gym about how much we hate change and love prunes. Best workout ever.
8. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of things in my life in the last few weeks and it has opened up my world. I’m online less and living more. I’m letting go of obligations and saying “yes” to volunteering. I’m still not running, I’m taking long walks. I’m eliminating the negative and making more room for the positive. I highly recommend it. That being said, anyone want a cat?
9. Gigi had the day off of school yesterday and the rain was back, meaning I got to do really awesome things like listen to some original guitar compositions while puting together impossibly hard jigsaw puzzles on super cheap coffee tables. Top that.
10. We’re having ice cream for dessert again.
Maybe with coconut milk. Maybe not!
It’s here.
Farmer’s Market season.
Saturday mornings where we silly Oregonians try to pretend it’s summer.
We slip our pale white legs into our wrinkled, dusty shorts from the very back of our drawers, ignoring the fact that we haven’t carefully shaved our legs since August. My knees have more whiskers than my granny’s chin.
We do unspeakable things to our feet to facilitate unseasonable sandal wearing. I’m saving my professional pedicure funds for continuous kombucha brewing systems and barefoot running shoes. You don’t need pedicures in Vibrams. Most people are trying to avoid looking at your feet in those monsters.
We browse the market, shivering and trying to ignore the fact that it’s only 47 degrees outside. And yet somehow Gigi still claims she’s sweating and strips her leggings off from underneath her sundress. They’re still wadded in a ball from where I stuffed them in my purse.
We’re hunting–for warmth and ingredients. Pretending it’s summer and that we’ll somehow find enough produce to put together a meal, but we’re limited to greens and root vegetables despite our summer attire.
Lulu begs for my sunglasses, squinting in the bright white sun.
I hand over my shades, pick up a head of greens and decide I’ll have to get creative.
I’ll be lucky to put together a snack.
And to get my Dollar Tree sunglasses back in one piece.
Sunny Green Wraps
Serves 2-4
- 4-6 chard or collard green leaves, stems trimmed and deveined*
- 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 1 cucumber, deseeded and cut into matchsticks
- 1 bell pepper, deseeded and cut into matchsticks
- 1 small jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 2 T. fresh mint
- 2 T. fresh basil
Sunny Dipping Sauce:
- 2 T. sunflower seed butter
- 2 t. tamari, soy sauce or Bragg’s aminos
- 1 t. lime juice
- 1/4 t. ground ginger
- 1/4 t. garlic powder
- 1-2 T. water
- stevia or maple syrup to taste (optional)
- sriracha to taste (optional)
*For a very helpful tutorial on how to prep chard or collard greens for wraps, see my friend Gena’s post here
Place a prepared chard or collard green leaf on a flat surface and fill with carrot, cucumber, peppers, jicama, mint and basil. Tightly wrap and cut on a diagonal.
For dipping sauce, mix together sunflower seed buttter, tamari, soy or aminos, lime juice, ginger, garlic powder and enough water to make the sauce the desired consistency. Add sweetener and sriracha to taste, if using.
If you told me my kids would suddenly be dipping and devouring greens like hungry little beasts, I probably wouldn’t believe you.
Or I’d just tell you they learned it from their mother.
I can’t wait to see what next Saturday’s trip to the market brings.
I promise to shave a little more meticulously and bring sunglasses for all.
Just don’t make me hold your pants.
