Cacao Coconut Muffins

Sdkjh825G41dm

Cacao Coconut Muffins . . . our family’s new favorite now that we’re back to having an oven! When a wintry chocolate craving hits but I still want to stay the course with good food, I love making these cacao coconut muffins. Most ingredients I can get at Costco, although the maple syrup we bought last autumn from Allan Miller, a farmer who bottles his own. Hope you enjoy, too! Cacao Coconut Muffins… Ingredients 1 1/2 cup almond flour 3/4 cup coconut flour 1 1/2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, chopped or… Read moreCacao Coconut Muffins

Second Spring Progress on the Tiny House

Sdkjh825G41dm

In our family of five’s now two-year journey in completing our handbuilt tiny house while we live in it, I love compiling progress! And this, our second Spring, is no different. Tiny house shade sailsThe tiny house about to fly away with shade sails. First, all the previous seasons of tiny house progress: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and our Second Winter. And now, this past few month’s tiny milestones of comfort and function . . . Second Spring Progress on the Tiny House Shade sails on both sides of the house for the summer. Vividly remembering the sweltering afternoons of last summer, we put up sails… Read moreSecond Spring Progress on the Tiny House

Hammock Reads June 2018: Stewardship

Sdkjh825G41dm

So much of this blog encompasses love, liberty, and shelter (of course!) Our pursuit of all three, and our striving to pursue them in a unique, beautiful way. So how can we live a love-filled, meaningful life, considering what we have been given? Let’s begin with stewardship. Merriam-Webster says stewardship is: the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” Stewardship – The Earth is the Lord’s Dreams So maybe I’ll starts with some dreams Big Country and I have for the future . . . Creatively earning. Hopefully, Big will continue to… Read moreHammock Reads June 2018: Stewardship

Hammock Reads May 2018: Barn Raising and Home Building

Sdkjh825G41dm

Home building barn raising Some mornings I wake up in the loft next to Big Country and the snoozing children, open my eyes to the cheery cedar boards above me, gaze around our little tiny house, and think, “we built this? We live here?” Home building is usually something only a team of professionals and many years’ savings can make happen. But there are many people employing various means to secure shelter for themselves. I’m always inspired to read their stories – sometimes winding circuitously through many side roads, missteps and adventures. And lately, with the restlessness of Spring perhaps,… Read moreHammock Reads May 2018: Barn Raising and Home Building

Springtime Salmon Rhubarb Salad

Sdkjh825G41dm

The rains have showered the farm generously this spring, and the rhubarb seems to grow inches every day. Scratching my head and still new to the versatility of vegetables, I asked my friend Aubrey what else I could do with rhubarb besides making my old standby for pancakes and biscuits, strawberry rhubarb sauce. Hazelnut picking rhubarb She answered, pretty much anything! “I use rhubarb anywhere I would use celery – chicken salad, stews, casseroles. It makes a creamy texture. The trick I have found is to slice it thin to avoid stringy bites for little mouths :)” What a wonderful surprise! I… Read moreSpringtime Salmon Rhubarb Salad

What I’ve Learned After One Year of Tiny House Living

Sdkjh825G41dm

Tiny house interior Love Liberty Shelter Today we celebrate one year of tiny house living! A year and one day ago, we called it the build site, and the next, we called it home. Looking back, I almost can’t believe it. It has certainly been the roughest, most colorful and most surprising year of our lives so far. Big Country’s and my shared adventure of glamping with baby as it were, with Rig, 4, Firebell, 2, and nine-day-old Hazelnut in our very sparse little home-under-construction has been . . . well . . . interesting, character-building, and truly unforgettable. So what have… Read moreWhat I’ve Learned After One Year of Tiny House Living

Adventurous Ways to Save Money on Food

Sdkjh825G41dm

For many of us, groceries are the single biggest monthly expense besides the roofs over our heads. But not to fear, there’s a plethora of creative ways to eat well and save money. From universities to dumpsters and kombucha brewing to elk hunting, read on, my food savvy friends! Become a Hunter Gatherer Become a Hunter Gatherer Gleaning. Urban fruit and vegetable gleaning is a wonderful way to procure high quality produce for free, often benefitting the owners of the tree or property as well. Fishing. Ask a knowledgeable friend who fishes about the opportunities in your area and how one would… Read moreAdventurous Ways to Save Money on Food

Beans and Rice and Everything Nice to the Food Budget

Sdkjh825G41dm

Beans and rice and everything nice to the food budget At the tail end of a summer on the road, visiting far-flung family and camping in dozens of state and national parks, we arrived back to Arizona broke and about to start school. It was an intense, sobering time, a slap in the face to our invincible, youthful carelessness. And it was the summer of 2008, the last golden months before the economic downturn that has fashioned this past decade and rendered many of us into lean, hungry wolves constantly on the move. We got mad, but then we got… Read moreBeans and Rice and Everything Nice to the Food Budget

Aurora Gladness: a New Year has Dawned

Sdkjh825G41dm

Aurora Gladness: a New Year Has Dawned What a gift that we get to start over every day, every month, every year. I love imagining the year as one continual paper calendar, the months extending down, down, down like a scroll unfurled. And then, as if by magic, sometime in the night of December 31st, we’re shot up to the very top again to begin the year anew. Starting the year on top – that’s a good feeling. Resolutions for each new year are a positive thing, because they signify that we want to begin putting energy into the things… Read moreAurora Gladness: a New Year has Dawned

A Truckbed Full

Sdkjh825G41dm

truckbed full of stuff “I hope it all blows away,” Big Country mumbled, half in his sleep as the late autumn winds raged around the tiny house and pounded the tarps holding down our worldly possessions just outside. I smiled in the dark and imagined the sundry dishes, pots, pans, clothing, books, cloth diapers, sewing machine, skateboard, and stuffed animals we had held onto over the last year of peregrinations rolling wildly through the cow pasture. “How are you going to fit all that stuff in your tiny house once you’re done building?” I’ve been asked. Well, we’ll see. Simplicity… Read moreA Truckbed Full