Festival & Finances

To get your attention...












Vanilla cupcakes, with beautiful layered strawberries for the husband, and blue sprinkles for the kids and myself (I don't care for fruit desserts much).

And cute kids...the younger two...












Nate & Maia

Thank goodness for cloth
diapers! We're in major
financial purgatory at the
moment....But you say, "You
just got back from vacation!"
Yeah, that's right, but that
was paid for months ago...you
notice I didn't review a single
restaurant...that's because we
didn't eat at ANY...the Disney popsicles and cotton candy were it baby!
I'm not here to explain it all, nor whine about it. But I wanted to preface why my bentos during the last 2 weeks of school will be centered on frugality. I hope they don't disappoint!

Today was one of our favourite
events--the Stearns Farm Spring
Festival! I was going to make a
tempeh stew for the potluck, until
I realized we were out of tempeh.
So I took that recipe on a tangent
with whatever we had available...

Cashew Veg Stew

2 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
5-6 carrots, peeled chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
1 bell pepper (or 1 cup frozen bell pepper strips)
1 can chick peas, rinsed & drained
1 jar pasta sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 tsp. salt

Add first 6 ingredients to a large pot. Cover & cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally 5-10 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients. Cover. Reduce heat to med-low to simmer. Cook at least 1/2 hour.
Serve. Goes great over brown rice.

























In addition to the potluck
lunch, there was music,
poetry reading, rock painting,
a hay ride, and someone had
brought their pet turtles for
everyone to enjoy...















There were even the two baby turtles...they stayed in their bin though. But the big turtles were later allowed to roam the farm, followed closely by many kids.

Rock painting...













Ryan's first time climbing
the apple tree...





Forget the nice cool
grass...Maia kept crawling
back to the irrigation
access cover??

And Ryan tried the
swing.

Harvest Festival

Sunday was my birthday,
and I wanted to spend it
with my family at the farm's
Harvest Festival. There was
the dedication of the new
root cellar, potluck lunch,
crafts in the greenhouse, a
band, popcorn, juggling &
more.


It rained on and off
all day, hence Nate's
rain gear and my
husband's hat.

Maia slept most of the
time in the mei tei, and
hooded A.J. zipped
around being silly & cute.

























Ryan
had his
face
painted
like a
tiger.

Maia
finally
woke
up
and
enjoyed
being
outside
as
usual.


At home we shared
carrot cake for my
birthday.






Monday:

Ryan's lunch: soba noodles; steamed carrot leaves; soy sauce; rice ball w/nori leaves; cucumber slices; peanuts; Lake Champlain dark chocolate w/almonds; strawberries.

Husband's lunch:
seared cabbage
salad; soba noodles
w/carrots; salad w/
red pepper dressing;
bbq soy crisps; nuts
& raisins.


AJ's snack: soba
noodles; carrot;
cucumber slices;
bbq soy crisps.





Nate practiced for
Halloween with his
new pumpkin bag,
filling it up with
organic canned
beans, LOL.

Monday afternoon
Ryan came home sick...
our first round of public
school germs. Tuesday was a Jewish holiday, and I kept everyone home wednesday as well. AJ got sick and stayed home thursday too, and by friday Nate's nose was dripping. Maia and I are holding out!!

Tuesday:
farm share: bok choy; cabbage; sweet potatoes; apples; onions; parsnips; winter squash; beets; bell peppers; eggplant; tomatoes; lettuce; spinach; baby tat soi. Not shown PYO: kale; tomatillos; hot peppers; plum tomatoes; herbs; flowers; raspberries.

Thursday:
Nate's lunch: a pickle; sesame tofu; rice Pokeball; a dried apricot; vegetable dumpling; steamed broccoli; a carrot; strawberries & raspberries.
Ryan's Pokemon lunch...Caterpie evolves into Metapod who evolves into Butterfree. 'Nuff said!

Husband's
lunch:
vegetable
dumpling
w/ soy
sauce;
soba
noodles
w/ tat
soi &
scallion;
cold tofu;
red bell
pepper
strips;
water-
melon;
carrots;
peanuts, raisins, Craisins; a pickle.

Friday:
Ryan's 6th birthday is tomorrow, so I made him a birthday lunch: grilled cheeze sandwiches;
Faery Bread (got this idea from Bento Anarchy); mini pumpkin apple muffin; Lake Champlain hazelnut dark chocolate; dried apricots; a pickle; green beans; watermelon.