The Autodidact

 After the success of the   Banana Bread  recently, I thought I'd try a variation. It did not disappoint. Combine in one bowl: 5 eggs 1 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 cups almond flour 1/2 cup xylitol or monk fruit 1/4 cup melted coconut oil 4 Tablespoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves 1/2 cup chopped pecans Stir until blended, put in a greased loaf pan and bake at 300° for about an hour and 15 minutes. Don't forget to add the coconut oil after you melt it in the microwave, like I did. It was quite good without the oil, surprisingly not too dry, and reminded me of Irish Soda bread. Next time, I will add the oil, and I am sure it will be even better. 

Here's a tasty bread that satisfies your craving for banana bread and has no gluten! It is still hot out of the oven and butter is melting on my slice as I write. Preheat oven to 300°. In a bowl combine: 3 smashed bananas 4 eggs 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 cups almond flour 1/3 cup sweetener (I used xylitol) 2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 cup or so of chocolate chips if desired. Nuts would be nice too. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for about an hour and 15 minutes or when a knife comes out clean when inserted. Let cool a few minutes before removing from the pan. Slather with butter and enjoy! My plate is empty, so I'm going back to the kitchen for more.

*** Greetings to you all as we near the end of another year, a year much unlike other years. This will be a long letter; but you are probably locked in your house with nothing better to do anyway, so enjoy! In January, we said goodbye to our rental property and sold it. It was our first home as a married couple, and we spent 10 years on both sides of the duplex raising our first three children. It was bittersweet and freeing at the same time. Jay was freed up to work on projects in our own home, and the sale proceeds generated cash for big projects, such as a new roof and skylights, new patio and fence!  The patio was the last project of the season, and it was finished in time for us to enjoy it a bit before the cold weather set in. Because of all the work done on the house, Jay did not get to garden as usual, but next year, with a deer proof fence and no interference from projects, he should be good to go! Early on in March, we all leisurely put together a 2000 piece puzzle of histori

Look no further for a satisfying, sweet, chocolate chip dessert. These are easy, and similar to the real pan cookies! The basic recipe was found on the back of the bag of almond flour, but I changed it up to suit me. Beat together 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/2 cup monkfruit granules. Add 1 egg, then 1/4 cup of any milk-type product. I used real cream, but almond or coconut mill would do. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add 1 cup almond flour, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and mix well. Then add 1/4 cup chopped nuts of your choice and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Mix until just blended. Spread in a greased 8x8 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350°. For extra chocolate, you can add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, and have more of a brownie. I could not get to them fast enough to take a picture of the entire pan, and as you can see, the 9 year old's fork was flying back and forth from the plate to her mouth. She did say that the added whipped cream was a nice addition. But it's totally

  Whipped up this delicious salad today. Chopped honeydew melon and cucumber make the base of this salad. A drizzle of avocado oil and a squeeze of lemon add a nice depth. Some shredded mint, a dash or more of crushed red pepper and some sliced red onion add spice. Feta cheese mixed in gives added richness. Oh, and bacon. I had some left over from breakfast and figured it would be good. It was. Salt and pepper to taste, and you are done. It was filling and refreshing.

So, you have found yourself living a life you had not planned on, or you didn't want, or think you could even survive. Summer is here, and many of us are looking at an empty calendar. Maybe you were hoping that once things had settled down, the kids could go back to school and you could resume your life. But during the lock down, you may have started to wonder: Is this what homeschooling is really like? Is the stuff I have been helping the kids with what I want for them? Is there a better way? Could I actually homeschool my kids myself?? And with the CDC and state education departments talking about mandating masks (or worse) for all kids, the homeschooling gig is looking more and more attractive. But where to start? It's all so overwhelming! Of course it is. You were thrown to the wolves with no prep or experience. You really had no choice. And for that, I am truly sorry. I love homeschooling, but it was MY choice; no one person or situation forced me into it. But it

We have always been a low-tech family. We have always had only one PC for the family, and the kids have bought their own when they started college. They had to wait for smartphones until they were 16-17, depending on how ready we thought they were. There has been a huge shift in the prevalence of social media since the older kids came of age, and one of our kids got caught up in that, unfortunately. We rely more on books, newspapers, the library and talking to one another for information and interaction. And that makes my kids different. Most of them haven't really cared, and have actually felt grateful to have avoided a lot of drama and trouble and time wasters. But a recent conversation uncovered a startling revelation. Both my 16 and 14 year old kids have experienced something several times each. They meet someone at an activity or what have you, spend time with that person, then part ways when the activity has run its course. Later, they run into that person and immediately