This week our native prairie is bright yellow — daisies everywhere!
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Month: August 2012
Snow in August
Just a twist for today . . .
Vegie Smoothies
Farmers’ Market vegies means a summer of vegie smoothies. They are a great breakfast, lunch or snack to go. In our kitchen we use whatever happens to be in the fridge.
In the picture above I used broccoli, carrots, banana and melon. Add a bit of honey and almond butter if you like. Fresh mint or a bit of lemon juice could have been added as well. Puree, chill, and enjoy a great tasting light green, vegie smoothie.
Today I tried fresh red beets, carrots, cantaloupe with an orange. Add a bit of coconut milk and puree. Chill and keep the entire pitcher in the fridge. Enjoy. The color here is beet red. You could substitute strawberries, an apple or a pear for the orange.
Any way you slice it – it’s refreshing, it’s easy, no cooking, uses local produce, it’s cool, it’s delicious and it’s healthy.
You may also like One Artichoke, One Lemon.
Women and Children are Made Poor – by Men
In a previous post I wrote about how conventional marriage makes women and children vulnerable to poverty. The fact is that the majority of those made poor are women and children. But the ideal of conventional marriage is very powerful in our culture and idolized in magazines (Bride’s for example), wedding rituals (father giving away the bride, showers, bachelor parties, etc.) and in the way we idolize motherhood, but not fatherhood. It’s further promoted by men paying women less than men for the same work and inculturating women to be the primary care providers for children. Let’s be clear – women and children don’t just happen to succumb to poverty. People don’t just happen to be poor. They are made poor by men.
Starting with the fictional idea that there is a “public” and “private” realm – men grab power over the “public” realm and women are mostly relegated to the “private.” This means that men make laws and decisions affecting both “realms,” with women having almost no voice.
The result of these fictional realms is this, for example: violence committed against men in the “public realm” is considered assault and directly punishable by law. Violence committed by men against women or children in the “private realm” – at home – is considered a “domestic” issue and often not reported, much less punished.
The best thing we can do – as women – is not to buy into the cultural fiction that home or family is primarily the domain of women, or that “family” is everything. Ask questions -especially of men.
Get educated. Read. Genetic linkage is just that – genetic only. Where’s the arbitrary cut off line? If you go back far enough ALL are family. The idea of a “private” realm (mainly for women) and a “public” realm (for men) is pure fiction and promoted to the benefit of men who make decisions affecting everyone in the public realm and keep women powerless and poor in the private. There are no separate “realms.” All is political and women should have an equal voice in either. This means participating in political discussions. Other fictions include nationalism, “family first/only,” tribalism, clanism, etc. Ask, who is really “my family”? We all are – even though there are people with whom we have close emotional ties.
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Vacation Eats
Tired of campfire cooking? While on vacation we are trying some new restaurants and doing a bit of eating out. But we can’t eat out all the time. Most nights we fix dinner for ourselves.
Vacation food you fix yourself has to overcome a number of hurdles: it has to be easy to find and easy to fix, fast, healthy and of course taste terrific. Who wants to cook or build a fire after hiking or a day trip – or when it’s NINETY degrees like it is tonight?
We’ve found a few standbys that can’t be beat and we’ve been putting them to the test this week. First – the Caprese salad. I can throw this together (tomato, mozarella or your cheese of choice, basil or cilantro), drizzle with olive oil, grind pepper and salt on a plate and serve with crackers or french bread. Easy, healthy, fast and delicious. Eat outside or in.
Northern Minnesota has fabulous smoked fish – salmon or whitefish, caught in Lake Superior. It’s very inexpensive, unlike at home. Up here it makes a nice add-on.
Last night, DH did a version of the Caprese on steroids, adding smoked fish and a few other fresh vegies. Of course he doesn’t throw his on the plate like I do – he has presentation skills 😉 Lakeside dining with a view.
In the morning, French roast coffee in the coffee press requires only boiling water for perfect coffee. For breakfast we like Greek yogurt with granola and fresh fruit. Today I added fresh strawberries and bananas – plus walnuts.
We like to use simple, fresh ingredients. If you have a small fridge or cooler these ideas will work.
This has been a great trip, but tomorrow we head home. We’ll likely stop at the Duluth Grill on our way out. Duluth Grill is another restaurant that serves local food and fair trade whenever possible.
If you liked the pics from our trip – check out the rest on the InnerPacific home page, “Retreats Online” – click on the retreat entitled North Woods Retreat.
You may also like Summer Fruit Salads and Strawberry Soup.