Now to call this a cheese sauce isn’t really accurate because if you are expecting to taste cheese you will disappointed. DO NOT FEAR, it is not all bad, if you go into this expecting a really nice flavored WHITE sauce you will be thoroughly satisfied in the end. But to a dairy intolerant individual (like myself and family) this IS our cheese sauce.

Alright I will take you through all the steps of how I came to my great success!

First step: Absolute failure

Tis true. I tried a recipe I found that seemed to be easy with manageable ingredients alas my husband was my taste tester and….well…he tried to be kind and truthful at the same time but I got the idea….it was plain awful.
He encouraged me to try another recipe I had found and save this one as a back up in case the second try was worse then the first. Thank goodness he did and now I will share with you the recipe I followed. It is extremely loosely based on the gluten free goddess’ recipe you can find here http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/12/cheesy-uncheese.html. I emphasis loosely because I didn’t have some ingredients and I don’t cook with wine and I doubled some of the ingredients for flavor. I guess you could say the recipe was inspired by this other one. Anyways I am talking too much, now on to the recipe!!

4 tablespoons light olive oil
5 tablespoons sweet rice flour
2 1/2 cups unsweetened plain soy, hemp, nut, or coconut milk
2 rounded tablespoons good tasting nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or more, to taste
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder, to taste
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free Dijon mustard or to taste
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon, to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon paprika (for orange) or turmeric (for yellow) color- may omit
1 tablespoon tahini

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and stir in the rice flour (I used a whisk). Cook and stir the flour for about 30 seconds- it will make thick paste- and continue stirring to cook the raw flour taste out of it.

Slowly add in the milk, I used original unsweetened almond milk, whisking to blend the flour paste and milk.

Raise the stove to high to bring the mixture to a bubble (it will thicken as it heats) then reduce the heat to low. Add the nutritional yeast, sea salt, garlic, mustard, lemon, nutmeg, paprika or turmeric, and sesame tahini and whisk to blend.

Continue heating and stirring the sauce over gentle heat for about five to ten minutes. Taste test. I found it needed some pepper and I added a little more garlic, and Dijon and salt. For a white sauce I prefer a Lot of flavor.

Makes about three cups sauce.

Voila!!!!

And I think because it is rice flour that is used as a thickener this is a lot more filling then one would expect. Bon Appetite!

“The gift of touch is the most powerful healing you can offer another, and it is the most powerful healing you can give yourself. Give generously and watch yourself grow rich in what matters the most. Hug often, hug well…” -Kathleen Keating Schloessinger

She is the author of the book “Hug Therapy” and though I have not read it myself I feel it may be a book I put on my ‘to read’ list just from what i have read on it. Now before I get off topic, the reason I brought her book up in the first place is because of a recent reflection I had on a ‘spat’ my husband and I had and the peculiar way in which we “kiss and make up” that I wanted to share.

Most of the time its not completely obvious that there is even a problem except that we seem to not communicate as well as we usually do. It sometimes seems as though one of us has cotton in our ears and we don’t get jokes or sarcasm and take everything personally. After this goes on for a while one of us vocalizes that there is obviously something wrong and maybe we should try to be more clear to make the situation better….but that doesn’t always work. In this particular case I was being very sensitive and taking everything very personally…I don’t even remember what it was about come to think of it. My husband picked up on my bad mood and tried to ask me what was wrong. I couldn’t think of any specific reason for my mood and so brushed him off saying ‘ooooh I don’t know, whatever’ and continued on with my day causing my husband to tip toe around me. This didn’t last very long (as it never does) as my husband and I are so chatty it was hard for us to leave any kind of space. Oh another thing about me is if I am annoyed or frustrated I become very project oriented….I mean serious tunnel vision that creates this idea in my head that i don’t have time for talking or dealing with anything and I will “BE FINE”.

The learning my husband has taken from previous ‘spats’ when I become tunnel visioned likes this is to somehow make a reason for me to get close to or into the bedroom (“hunny could you come here for second? I need your help with something”) and then almost literally tackle me into the bed and hug me down. At first there is a lot of “I NEED to get _>>insert project here<<_ done!”, “leave me alone please”, “I am not up for cuddles” etc etc and sometimes even me trying to get his arms off of me. Being 6’2″ and at least a hundred pounds heavier this generally doesn’t work so well unless I actually want to cause him great pain. He usually keeps quite calm and says something like “I just need to cuddle, we haven’t been communicating and I think we just need some us time.”

When that line is delivered I usually give in only enough that he is getting his cuddles but I rebel by not hugging back to teach him I am NOT cool with this. *time passes in silence* My muscles begin to relax and I feel this need to talk and get some weight off of my shoulders. At first the words come out in incoherent jumbles of statements of how “I don’t know why I am feeling this way”, and slowly progress into “I am definitely overwhelmed or something” and then finally we hit the bullseye of what is bothering me “I am having really hard time with….” Not everytime but sometimes when I have bottled up my emotions and finally letting them pour out it seems to go side by side with a little waterworks. By this time of course we are pretzeled in a hug and just talking it all over broken up with fits of laughter (the best medicine!).

It was in reflection of this particular moment and talking to someone about hug therapy that I knew we incorporated it in our own lives already. We weren’t one of the population(percentage) that lost ‘touch’ with itself and didn’t know how to use it as a form of healing and endearment. (HOORAY) I know how important hugging is to our kids too because they will ALWAYS make sure we don’t forget our good night kiss and hug and if we did the next morning we get a whole lot of heck! Our kids love cuddles because we shower them with it and I hope that never changes!

Little shop of horrors poinsetta

mime/joker/harley quinn (esk)

Megatron

Scarey princess

Deep Friar (he had a pile of deep thought books in his hand)

Black Spiderman

This year we had my husband’s family here for a week and they have been in Malawi, Africa so have not done anything Halloween related in 4 years. Needless to say Myisha (my 14 year old sister in law) was SUPER excited! My in-Laws have a tradition that each kid gets to carve their own pumpkin and so that meant this year we would have 6 pumpkins, not to mention our neighbour bought 4 pumpkins, gutted them and came over saying they did not have the time to carve them and if we didn’t mind….”what? you mean the adults get to carve a few? SURE!!” (was pretty much my answer). That turned our original 6 into 10…..talk about A LOT of pumpkin guts and bits everywhere. I will now overwhelm you with pictures of our many jack’o'lanterns that we carved this year.

And this year we have decided (because we are not fans of the kids eating candy and having this expectation of every day having a treat) that the kids can choose a small selection of candies and then “trade” in the rest to be able to go buy a book. Fortunately the kids are SO excited about this prospect and this makes us VERY excited.

Yay for creative thinking…..not to mention less sugar rushes and more reading…woot!

Tevye, 2 and a half years old

“Let It Be”- Chelsea-Lyne

Though dreams they seem to fade

you’ll seem them once again

in the eyes of your baby.

And you’ll smile knowing that they

haven’t gone so far away

you are content to let it be

This verse comes from a song that Chelsea-Lyne (my little sister *MUAH*), who is an amazing singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianoist/harmonizer/artist and SO much more, wrote and is on her second CD called “Let it Be” and its somewhat of a permanent soundtrack that plays during our day to day travels in the van. This particular verse reminds me of all the dreams I had when I was around the age of 17-20 wanting to make dancing a career, go to school for something that could take me international, etc…..and how so many things changed after my husband and I got married and God decided (because it certainly wasn’t in our immediate plans) that it was best for us to get started on a family RIGHT AWAY. To be honest, I think He was right! I haven’t given up on my dreams but they were put on a back burner of sorts. To be honest I am so thankful I DIDN’T follow through with some of those dreams. Don’t get me wrong I still absolutely LOVE to dance and still want to travel internationally and work with social development agencies in developing countries but it has only been in the last year to year and a half that I truly feel cemented in what I want to do with my life and what kind of work I want to do.

I would never turn back time. I have no regrets….how could I with wonderful, bright, laughing, smiling, loving, learning (and did I mention crazy, in a good way) children and a FABULOUS, loving, thoughtful husband!

Life with three is definitely a juggling act. At the moment I have it pretty easy since Kyrene is still in “sleeps a lot” mode and isn’t fussy at all. Tevye is doing really great and getting into a routine of taking aria to school, hanging out at strongstart or home, quiet time, picking aria up from school and so on. Aria has also taken up the school routine really well. Mornings, I find, is the one place I am still struggling to get everyone up, fed, dressed, and out the door without too much verbal encouragement from me. I know I could be taking a few more steps to help this process go smoother like getting up at 6:30 instead of 7 or making lunches the day before. At the moment 6:30 still feels WAY too early and my brain does not function much past 7pm so I always forget to do up aria’s lunch the day before. I figure this will all come together nicely eventually, or stay chaotic and I learn to embrace this new kind of chaos instead of fighting it.

On another note, It’s amazing that it has been two weeks since kyrene was born and it feels likes she has been here forever. I seem to have already forgotten the pains of pregnancy and jumped right back into the saddle of extra activities and volunteering for things with a baby strapped to my chest. Recovery this time has been so awesome!!!!

Night times have been interesting, you can tell the kids have been dealing with change and adjusting to the new routines cause it’s not just the baby waking us up at night. Tevye and aria have both been having their fair share of sickness, sleepless nights and needing some cuddles. Needless to say I am super happy thus far that Kyrene seems to be not much of a bedtime mover (yet) unlike her brother and sister whose favourite way to sleep was sideways and diagonally kicking both me and Jessie to the edge of the bed.

I am feeling a little stretched at times and kind of like a third and fourth hand could be helpful but with support from family and our community it has made this transition time much easier!

Well its quiet in the house and while i have two free hands I am going to finish making some banana bread muffins, make some tea and curl up to watch a merlin. Ciao!

Brandy (BC Bug Photography)

Chrystal (Gaia Magick Photography)

I know my husband had a horrible experience from kindergarten to grade 7 with bullies and teachers not caring or wanting to get involved. He would smile at the bullies as they walked towards him and they would beat him up just cause and HE was the one who was suspended not the bullies because, as the principal/teachers would tell him, he was asking for it. I never was scarred like that in my younger years because my mom home-schooled me.  With our very different backgrounds we consulted and discussed homeschooling, french-immersion, regular school, and montessori as the choices for Aria. Our top choice was definitely Montessori but Aria was on a waiting list so in case that didn’t work out our second choice was french immersion.

As the school year was getting closer I was phoning the Montessori school so see where she was on the waiting list and if she had a chance. It wasn’t looking good at all since they were trying to find a teacher to hire all summer long and had no luck. Thursday before school started (which was Tuesday the 6th) I called the french immersion school and started the process of finding out what we needed to know as school first timers. Once that was done we got a call from the Montessori school saying that Aria was accepted, my heart jumped a few beats right along with my husband who physically leaped into the air for joy!

Now we are almost a week into Aria doing the kindergarten gradual entry where she has been slowly integrated into school life by doing half days and she loves it. This morning her class didn’t start until 10 am and she asked me around 8:30am “Are we going to school yet?” She wakes up enthusiastic for school and excited to see her new friends and teacher. Her first full day of school starts on Wednesday so we will have to see just how tired she will be coming home from that but overall I think she is doing grrrrreat!

Another big upside to how this all worked out is the school Aria goes to also has a Strong Start program that we can take Tevye to. This allows him to meet other kids his age, play and interact with all sorts of fun learning toys, do gym time, snack time, circle time with songs and stories and feel like he is going to school as well. Every morning Aria goes to school Tevye doesn’t want to miss out taking her cause he knows that he will get a bit of time in HIS classroom.

It’s wonderful to see the kids enthusiastic about learning and being socially active!

If you are unfamiliar with the Montessori method I have found a little excerpt that briefly explains the background of what it is about:

After years of expression mainly in pre-schools, Montessori philosophy is finally being used as originally intended, as a method of seeing children as they really are and of creating environments which foster the fulfillment of their highest potential – spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual – as members of a family, the world community and the Cosmos.

Dr. Montessori gave the world a scientific method, practical and tested, for bringing forth the very best in young human beings. She taught adults how to respect individual differences, and to emphasize social interaction and the education of the whole personality rather than the teaching of a specific body of knowledge.

Montessori practice is always up-to-date and dynamic because observation and the meeting of needs is continual and specific for each child. When physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs are met children glow with excitement and a drive to play and work with enthusiasm, to learn, and to create. They exhibit a desire to teach, help, and care for others and for their environment.

The high level of academic achievement so common in Montessori schools is a natural outcome of experience in such a supportive environment. The Montessori method of education is a model which serves the needs of children of all levels of mental and physical ability as they live and learn in a natural, mixed-age group which is very much like the society they will live in as adults.

I very much encourage everyone to research and read up on Montessori and the program they offer because it’s interactive, flexible and allows for your child to learn in the style that bests suits he/she’s capacity and mind. I will update more as Aria goes through and see how she is doing in general.

Ciao for now!

Ready? Here we go:

-change of clothes/nursing bra

-toiletries (toothbrush/toothpaste/soap/shampoo/pads/deodorant)

-baby clothes (I prefer my own over the hospitals), hat, blanket and car seat already installed in the car

-ipod/charger

-camera

-big water bottle

-arnica tablets (to take right after having the baby to help with bruising and swelling)

-flaxseed oil (I prefer over baby oil, its natural, full of good nutrients for the baby and helps keep the murconium from sticking too badly to the baby’s bum)

-cornstarch (a natural substitute over baby powder without the perfumes and other jazz)

-Vitamin E oil (another natural substitute to nipple cream)

-A book to read and sudoku activity book

-snack foooooood because they only feed you 3 times a day and with breastfeeding a new baby you will be hungry!

Just some other tips that I have found helpful so your bag isn’t too over cumbersome is think small, for instance for the toiletries go buy travel size shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste or pack your own stuff in smaller containers. You can do the same with the  cornstarch and flaxseed oil so you are only bringing enough for a few days.  Then it won’t feel so much like you are moving in.

Something you should not have to bring at all is diapers, leave those at home because the hospital will provide you with them. No sense in using up your own supply when they have them there for you to use.

Also to keep my kids involved with the process of the baby coming I made sure they had some say as to what clothes they thought would be good to bring for the baby and I let them pick a stuffed animal that they could give to the baby at the hospital as a gift.

Oh and make sure your change of clothes are super comfy and what you would generally wear around the house. Don’t bring nice clothes like jeans and a blouse because no matter your experience (C-section or natural…I have had both) I can almost guarantee you comfort will win over looking good going home.

I think that just about covers it.