Friday Night High

My favorite time of the week is Friday night. I've worked hard all week (just like you, right?). It's the one night we treat ourselves to a restaurant meal, and then veg on the couch watching TV.

Did you think I was going to say something exciting?

The Friday night parties ended about 20 years ago.

There's nothing better than filling your mind with mindless DVR'd Housewives junk after a hard week of working and juggling motherhood, wifery (is that a real word???), and homemaking.

Oh, and Anthony Bourdain is good, too.

I love Friday nights so much because it's the one evening I don't feel like I have to fold laundry/balance the checkbook/pay bills while I relax on the couch for 30 minutes before bedtime. Sound familiar?

Gotta go - it's close to the witching hour.

Happy Friday,
Love - TCB

What I've Learned from my Pets

Your pets give you messages every day if you're listening. Here are the lessons I've learned from mine.

Hang out with your best friend whenever possible. Share a meal.

Take time to play a game when someone's in the mood (maybe something more age appropriate than peek-a-boo?).

Take a nap if you're tired. Just do it.

If someone is aggravating you, give them a look without saying a word. It may make them go away so you can peacefully resume your nap. No arguments needed.

And hey - tickle someone if that's what it takes to put him in a good mood.

Have a happy day.

Love,
TCB

Just a Swingin'

I told you before about my favorite time of the day. It's summertime, so the right time is about 8:30 pm, when dusk is falling.

Many times in the evening, my 9-year-old son heads out to the backyard swing.

I soooooooo remember doing that as a kid. After supper, while my parents were still talking at the kitchen table, I would excuse myself and head out to the backyard and jump on the swing set.

I tried to touch my toes to the sky. If I was really lucky, I would hear the clank of dishes being washed in the kitchen sink through the open window. That meant I was not on dish washing duty.

I think dusk in summertime in the South has ALWAYS been my favorite time of day.
Ahhhh. *sigh*
Love,
TCB

Sweet Side Salad

If you're like me and you can't think of a quick green vegetable as a side dish with supper, you may lean heavily on the typical side salad. As a change, I often make a "sweet" side salad. It goes really well with pork tenderloin and chicken main dishes, and it's super easy and quick.

To a bowl of organic salad greens (a spring mix or fresh spinach works well) add a handful of dried cherries, a few slices of mandarin oranges (sans juice), and toffee-flavored almond slices. Toss with a drizzling of store bought light raspberry vinaigrette for two servings of fruits and vegetables.

I lean on this a lot in the summertime and when busy swim team season rolls around.

Happy, healthy eating!
TCB

Essential Oils and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Time flies! Four months ago, I wrote about how I would be trying to solve my carpal tunnel syndrome with pure essential oils. But I neglected to let you know the outcome.

As soon as I received the oils I ordered - basil and marjoram - I added them to the oils I already had on hand - lemongrass and oregano - to treat my symptoms of inflammation and pain. For about one and one-half weeks, I applied 1-2 drops of lemongrass and then marjoram to my ailing wrist and forearm followed by a couple of drops of basil and oregano to my shoulder and down to my elbow. The pain subsided each time after application (morning and night), and was gone in the 1 1/2 week time interval. So far it has not reoccurred.

I have mentioned this before, but I purchase my oils from doTERRA because I know they are very pure - so pure that I can take them internally if needed. There may be other sources out there, but I would caution you to make sure what you buy is the best quality. If you can't put it in your mouth, do you really want it on your skin? It's your largest organ and anything applied to it absorbs into your body anyway.

I'm not a doctor, and I know different things work for different people and their individual body chemistries, but essential oils have been great for me.

Until next time,
TCB

Fresh Banana Cranberry Bread

Out of all the banana-combination breads I've made, this one is my hands-down favorite because it is so moist (even using whole wheat flour). I just made a loaf last night, and half of it is gone already (not all my nibbling!).

Banana Cranberry Bread
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
3 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup fresh whole cranberries (if frozen, thawed)

First, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Next, cream the sugar and butter together in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, flour, and baking soda and mix until moistened. Mash the bananas and fold them into the mixture. Lastly, roughly chop and fold in cranberries.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes (until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean). Let cool somewhat on a wire rack still in the pan. Turn out onto a cutting board. It's delicious to slice and heat while still warm! (Extra good with a scoop of whipped cream on top).

Happy eating!
TCB

Toad House

Everyone is talking about "eco-friendly," "green," and "eco-conscious" living. In fact, I've written numerous articles on the topic for a handful of magazines over the last couple of years. What I've found is the most eco-friendly way is to recycle what you have. I do it in the garden all the time. Old vegetable peelings go in the compost bin, as do the leaves I rake out of my flower beds, to be reused as food for new plantings. Bubble wrap from packages gets reused to wrap more materials I mail out.

And broken terra cot pots (there are always a few around) get recycled, too. Smaller pieces get used as shards to block the holes in the bottoms of other planters so soil will not flow out everywhere when I water the plants.

The bigger part of the broken pot makes a great toad house.

Toads? Why would you want toads in your garden?

Because they are gooooood for hostas (and other plants).

Toads eat slugs and snails. And although God made slugs and snails for some reason, it wasn't for their care and concern about the green plants in the garden. Oh, they are concerned with them. They are concerned how many of those fat, juicy leaves they can stuff in their tiny, slimy mouths every night. And toads eat them all up so they can't eat my hostas all up. Lovely. Really.

Since I have created the terra cotta toad house by simply turning a pot upside down in a shady corner of my garden (where slugs like to hide out, by the way), a whole toad family has moved in. And my hostas are looking better than ever. Really.

Hope you can use this easy tip in your garden.

Love,
TCB