Robeez shoes MIA

Several months ago one of my slippers went missing.  I eventually found it stuffed between my 4 yo son's trundle bed and his mattress.  I had also lost a single Robeez shoe of DD's.  I am saddened to report that I STILL haven't found it.  AND just last week, we lost another single Robeez shoe.  The first was lost somewhere between the changing table and the car.  The second was lost somewhere between the baby's room and my bedroom (not very far at all!).  DS denies involvement and a cursory search of his usual hiding spots has turned up nothing.  Good thing I keep buying Robeez for $2-3 a pair at garage sales!  Uuugggh kids!  The chaos!

Navy Bean Pilaf

Source: My brain!  I was trying to recall the taste of Near East Lentil Pilaf and this recipe came to me as a complete thought yesterday.  How weird is that?  I wrote it down and made it today.  Unlike many of my bean dish experiments, this was really good!

1/2 c dried beans - I used Navy.  Soaked overnight - ok, I soaked them nearly 24 hrs by the time I got around to them.  Drained/rinsed.
1/2 c wild rice
2 c water
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t onion flakes
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 carrot, grated REALLY fine

Cook in a saucepan, simmering until all water is absorbed.
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I love leftovers, so next time I'll make 2-4 times this recipe and try it in the crockpot on low for 8 hours.

November Planting and Harvest

Today we did more gardening.  Happily, we finally got some drip line to more vegetable garden.  I planted the pots and one box that I put on my garden table in a sunny spot.  Today's seeds were: Lettuce Mesclun Gourmet Baby Greens, Chives, Dill (from 2002), Parsley, Broccoli Earth Gems (2002), Turnip Purple Top White Globe, and Beets Detroit Dark Red.  The ones without dates are 2009, so I hope they'll be ok. 

We planted black eyed peas this year from the dry bulk bin.  I mostly used them for green beans in the newer bean phase, sometimes for greens to cook, but some of the beans got away from me.  Today I picked all of the dried bean pods and gave them to DS to shuck.  He did a great job and was quite proud of the haul.  In all, we had about 1/2 cup of dried black eyed peas.  Not a ton, but a fun project and good fine motor skill practice for DS.  I have them soaking now to cook tomorrow.

I finally harvested the much talked about, enormous, mutant butternut squash.  This puppy weighs in at a whopping 7.5 pounds!  That is a lot for a butternut squash.  It is also pictured here with the kids for scale, plus our store-bought squash and pumpkins.  I love gardening!  It is so great to feed the family real food that I know exactly where it came from!