The Suburban Jungle

Like most people, I really like chocolate. But chocolate comes packaged with all sorts of ick - like sugar, preservatives, you name it.  So when I came across this awesome recipe for an essentially "primal" brownie, I made it it right away. And I made it in just minutes - haphazardly, no fancy equipment, just mix and eat.  All the pictures in this post are my own - of the real brownies. My pics might not be great - but the brownie bites really were - especially considering the ingredients. Here's the list of ingredients: 1 cup dates (buy dates with no added sweeteners  - I had little square date chunks) 1/2 cup raw almonds (or roasted - whatever you have) 1/2 cup raw walnuts 1/4 cup cocoa 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (do not waste your time on cheap or imitation vanilla) 1 Tbsp water (more if needed) All you need to do is chop up the dates and nuts, and mix the whole thing together. I found it much easier to do in the blender. I just put the nuts in ou

Ever been to a school during the lunch hour? It's a scary place. Lots and lots of processed food. Lots of wasting. Lots of noise. We pack our children's lunches almost every day. We do it for a lot of reasons, but mostly to ensure our kids are eating a well balanced meal and eating foods with fewer additives. Over the years, we've battled over packaging. For the longest time, I had a great bento system going. Until....my son decided they were "babyish" and embarrassing to pull out in the cafeteria. He actually wanted me to go to plastic bags. REALLY!! We compromised on individual plastic containers. At first it was a pain - so many containers to wash! - but I eventually got used to it. What I didn't get used to was the leaking and the "plastic" drama. I always select number 5 - polypropylene because I think it's the least offensive plastic. When it burns it breaks down to carbon dioxide and water - and it is less likely to off-gas and doe

At the end of 2016, we bought a 40 acre farm. We spent all of our time cleaning up debris (sheet metal, old barns, nails galore! and more) and planting trees. We ran out of sun before we could finish the job. Since the best time to plant trees was 20 years ago, we wanted to get as many trees in the ground as soon as possible. We planted maples , firs, and spruce as a windbreak and pollinator hedge - and this spring we will start with the orchard trees. But...our land is an animal haven. That's a good thing. It's beautiful to see all the wildlife. Every single time we visit the property, we see at least one grouping of wild animals. We've seen fox, bear, turkeys, ducks, and deer most often. Lots and lots of deer. Beautiful? Yes. Destructive. Ditto. So the search for the perfect fence began. We have almost 1000 feet to fence, so the prices started adding up quickly. Too quickly!! But through some design work and negotations - I think we have got the project down to a