A Bowl of Water

Our water heater went out last Wednesday, and we made do over the weekend. This experience has been the source of some great conversations between my husband and me. Interestingly, our kids have been oblivious. Tells you how much of a priority bathing is for them. But, I really love a hot shower. I was pretty irritated that I would have to go through a weekend without hot water. It’s turned out to be a really wonderful experience. It gave me perspective. I might add that this perspective is from the cheap seats. I have the luxury of having drinkable water coming out of my tap whenever I want- however much I want.

The more I read about water, the more I am completely grateful to have water

coming

out

of

my

tap

I read a story in a magazine last month about the impact that a well makes in a community. Women in this community spent about four hours a day just toting water. Walking to the creek. Filling your jug. Carrying 50 lbs of water on your back all the way back to your home. They call the dry season the “season of miscarriages” because pregnant women miscarry their babies more frequently during the dry season. Charlie was talking with our friend Isaac about our water experience over the weekend. Isaac shared about communities that he’s visited where hotels bring you a bucket of water to bathe in. Understanding how time-consuming water acquisition is in many parts of the developing world helps me to see what a complete act of hospitality this is. A whole bucket of water.

What Charlie and I have noticed since our hot water went out is how decadent a bowl of warm water is. I’ve been using a bowl of heated water to wash the kids’ hands and faces. What’s been completely surprising has been my feeling of intense gratitude for this warm bowl of water to wash my children. I had a wonderfully touching conversation last week with a woman who I deeply respect about this need we have to meet our children’s basic needs. We were talking about people who live in refugee camps and can’t ever get their children really clean. The larger issue is meeting the needs of your children. But this smaller issue of bathing our children spoke to my heart. Then, my hot water went out. I realized how spoiled I am. I was put out that the water coming out of my tap wasn’t warm. When I lived without warm water for a few days, I realized how decadent it was. My children genuinely enjoyed getting their faces and hands washed with a bit of soap and a clean warm washrag.

I guess I’m slowly learning how little I really need to be happy. The repair person is coming to fix the hot water heater today. But, I don’t want to forget this. I want to remember to be grateful. I want to remember to savor the luxury of bathing my children.

Omelettes

I wanted to share another one of my staples with you. Omelettes are one of my favorite foods for breakfast. A super simple and nutritious meal. Here’s how I make mine:

1. Saute whatever veggies you have on hand.  My omelettes often include peppers, mushrooms and greens.  If you’re using greens, saute them just until wilted.  Spinach is super yummy.  Set veggies to the side.
2. Heat your pan up.  I use a stainless steel pan without a non-stick coating, and it works just fine.  The key to keep it from sticking is to get it quite hot.  A drop of water needs to dance across the pan.
3. While your pan is heating, crack two eggs into a bowl and mix well.  If you have fresh herbs on hand, chop them and add them to the raw egg mixture.  I’ve been using fresh tarragon from my CSA veggie box this week, and it’s been very tasty.
4. To your very hot pan, add a bit of butter or coconut oil and swirl the fat to coat the pan.  Olive oil will make your pan sticky, so don’t use it for an omelette.  Add the egg and let it start to set.  With a spatula, lift the sides of the omelette to let the uncooked egg run underneath.  This will help most of the egg get cooked. Next . . .
5. Flip the omelette.  Yep, flip it.  You can do it!  I believe in you.  My husband had been doing it for quite some time, but he wouldn’t teach me how.  He had one over on me in the kitchen, and he sort of enjoyed it.  Don’t know that I blame him.  Anyhow, I asked the cook at a hotel we stayed at to teach me how.  The first time I tried it, I did it over the sink.  Now, I can confidently flip my omelettes over the stove.  It’s all in the wrist.
6. After you flip your omelette, the other side will quickly cook.  Add about 1/4 cup cheese (cheddar, feta, etc) to half of the omelette.    Add your sauteed veggies on top of the cheese.  Now is the time to add tomatoes or avocados if you want.  Fold the omelette in half and slide it out of  the pan.

Easy, fast and healthy.  What’s not to love?!

Are there any other omelette fans out there?  Do you have  tips or tricks to share?  What about favorite combinations to add to your omelettes?

Common Grace

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of common grace over the last twelve hours. Common grace is the idea that there are glimpses of God revealed throughout all humanity. It’s a big deal at L’Abri. It decreases the divide between what is sacred and what is secular. We see glimpses of God’s beauty and intellect in the works of William Shakespeare, Flannery O’Connor and J. R. R. Tolkein. We see glimpses of God’s beauty and creativity in the music of Bach, Mozart and Debussy. We see glimpses of God’s beauty and creativity in the art of Monet, and in the photography of Ansel Adams. The brilliant surgeon. The teacher who has a special ability to teach dyslexic children. The nurse who has a way with alzheimers patients. The chemist who discovers a drug that changes the game.

Today, I’m particularly thankful for that spark of God in Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin. I sat in urgent care last night for two hours thinking about this concept of common grace. I have an infected leg from a bug bite two days ago. I’m thankful and grateful for antibiotics. I hate taking them, and I rarely do. But, today, I’m grateful.

I’m also mindful of God’s dominion. I had a jam-packed day planned today, and God is slowing me down. I’ll now be in bed all day with my leg elevated.

So, there it is. One of the things that I hate is the “us versus them” attitude that occurs in some sects of Christianity. Common grace lowers those walls. It honors the fact that we’re all made in the image of God. We all have sparks of God’s beauty and brilliance and creativity.

Honey for what?

Last week, my friend Sarah told me about how she had been using honey as a cleanser for her face. She had gotten the recommendation from a post on the Miss Minimalism blog. She said that she loved it. It worked well and left her face very soft.

I know that honey has antibacterial properties. Interestingly, the reason that you add honey to soap is that it is a humectant- it draws moisture to the skin. This made sense to me. I was looking at a cleanser that had the potential to clear up break outs and make my skin softer. It was worth a try. The bottom line is that I love it! Charlie is using it now as well. Use maybe a teaspoon full and rub it into your skin with a tiny smidge of water. Rinse and you’re done. If you’re using raw honey, which tends to crystallize, you have the added benefit that it’s a mild exfoliant. With honey being so easy on the waste stream, I’m just not sure what the down side is. I would encourage you to give it and try and let me know what you think.

Do you know my customer?

I think I do. Let me describe her to you. No offense, men, but really, it’s mostly us girls who are into things like organic, hand-made soap.

- She’s an ingredient snob.
- Fair Trade may be a big deal to her. Maybe, though, she doesn’t realize that it’s a big deal for her yet.
- She’s into organic foods.
- If she eats meat, it’s probably pastured.
- She favors quality over quantity.
- Costco’s not her thing.
- She buys at least some of her food at Whole Foods or the local co-op.
- She doesn’t mind paying extra to get a high quality product.
- She loves things that are hand-made.
- Maybe she has her kids at a Waldorf school???
- Maybe she home schools?
- She loves great smelling girly stuff, even if she may not wear make up all the time.

Do you know her? Will you help me find her? Still trying to get more testers. While I’m happy to have anyone test my soap, I would like to make sure that the girl described above gets to try some, too. I need to hear what she thinks.

Something’s Gotta Give

I can’t do it all. When I forget or ignore this fact- that’s when it becomes a problem.

There are so many things that I want to do and be. But, I can’t do and be everything. I’d make my list about all that I want to do and be, but it would be tedious to read. We all have our list.

The temptation is to pretend that we really can do it all if we just manage our time better. If we just try a little harder. There are limitations in life. I think that sitting with those limitations is a key to living a more fulfilling life. Sitting with our limitations forces us to choose. The painful reality is that whether we acknowledge these choices or not, we are making choices.

I choose to schedule too much into my day, and I wind up snapping at my kids- truly two of the people to whom I am most accountable. Also the two people who are most vulnerable to a mom whose priorities are out of whack.

I choose to say yes to a commitment that I didn’t think through. And this commitment robs time from the people and projects that are most important to me and to our family.

There are always choices. They may be brutal choices, but we still have choices- choices that can be very costly.

I’m borrowing this phrase from my sister’s friend Heather. “There are no short cuts”. I think that it’s really true. I can’t have a fantastic relationship with my husband and children without investment. I can’t have a fabulous garden without spending time on it (which, by the way, is why my back yard looks like a pit right now). I can’t have great food for my family without spending time cooking. We can’t have a ton of money unless my husband works really long hours. We can’t have a big house in a nice area without a certain level of income. I can’t have a demanding career and stay home with my children. Trade offs. Choices.

So, I’m challenging myself. Think it through, Robin. What do I most want to do and be? Because something has got to give.

Yogurt

Yogurt is so easy to make. We’re on a diet that requires that we use yogurt that’s been cultured for way longer than what you can get in the store. Thus, I’m making it about once a week right now.

What you need:

Mason jars
Milk
A bit of yogurt from the store with live active cultures. I use Strauss.

Stirring frequently, heat the milk to 180 degrees.

Still stirring frequently, bring the temperature down to 110 degrees (or a bit less). All the stirring helps to prevent a skin from forming on top of the milk.

Mix the yogurt (roughly 2 T to 1/4 c per quart) into your milk. Make sure that you get the yogurt thoroughly incorporated into the milk. I use a whisk, but very gently. If you use the whisk vigorously, you’ll have a lot of foam on top of the yogurt. Pour into sterilized jars, and secure sterilized lids . Keep at around 90-100 degrees for at least eight hours. I ferment mine in my dehydrator for about 24 hours. From what I understand, you can also use a gas oven. When the oven is off, the pilot light keeps the oven warm enough for culturing yogurt. Store in fridge.

You have to heat the milk to 180 to kill any bacteria in the milk. Because you’ll be leaving the milk at room temperature, you’ll be encouraging bacteria to grow- so you’ll want to make sure that you’re encouraging only good bacteria to grow. This is also why you need to sterilize your mason jars and lids before you pour the milk in.

Now the good part. My favorite ways to eat yogurt are:

- Add honey. Pour honey yogurt over fruit and nuts for a yummy, healthy breakfast. I eat this a lot at night as a dessert.

- Drain yogurt in coffee filters or a tea towel set inside a strainer to make thick greek yogurt. I use the left over whey in fermenting. Any way, use the drained yogurt with some seeded and chopped cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice and a bit of salt to make a great greek dip. I make this whenever I make lamb burgers. So, so good.

Good Guide

Check out this website called Good Guide, which was recommended in The Story of Stuff. As I’ve learned more about the impact of consuming stuff, it’s become more stressful to buy anything. Good Guide is a great tool. They score products based on the health, environmental and social impact of a product.

Let me give you an example:

I was curious about the Banana Boat sunscreen that I’ve been slathering on my kids over the last few years, so I searched on the Good Guide website. As it turns out, our sunscreen contains oxybenzone, which is a developmental/reproductive toxin. The website Cosmetics Database gave oxybenzone a 9 out of 10 in terms of toxicity and listed it as a “high hazard”. Click here to see more about the social and environmental impact of my sunscreen. Not so good.

Oh man! My daughter is very, very fair, and she burns easily. I’m a very liberal sun screen user. That won’t change, but is there a better product? I looked at Good Guide’s recommended sun screens, and I’ll likely change back to Badger, which I’ve used in the past. It’s more expensive, but it doesn’t contain any toxic ingredients, and it does pretty well in terms of its social and environmental impact. Click here if you want to see Good Guide’s ratings for Badger sunscreen.

Also, check out their iphone app, which lets you scan products and check them while at the store. I don’t have an iphone, but if I did, this is something that I would definitely use. Click here to get more information on the iphone app.