Winter Vacation 2012/2013: Sledding, Kale Chips and Container Gardening, Oh My!

Happy 2013, Friends!

We’ve been enjoying a two week break from our day to day routines, and as it draws to a close, I’m *almost* ready to pack lunches and my laptop and have a place to go on Monday. ALMOST(good thing I have a few more hours to accept this).

Snow dumped on us the day after Christmas, and ever since, my snow bunnies have wanted to be outside. Saturday we went sledding at Butler with friends, and they had a blast. Sledding in the winter is to swimming in the summer- they leave me at the door and go head first into the fun.

Post-sledding cocoa

We also made snow ice cream for the first time, and it was a frosty, tasty treat. Katie gave me the inspiration- she made her’s with milk and sugar, I did the condensed milk recipe I found, since we were almost out of milk. Amy documented both recipes. so click through to 4th Frog for exact instructions. We ate some the night we made it, and finished it up last night. You know what? It was creamier and less icy last night. I duly noted the results for next time.

After the kids go to bed, my new obession is kale chips. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to keep adding fruits and veggies to my diet, and I was feeling stuck. At a cooking club dinner a few months ago, my friend Cathy brought homemade kale chips, and I thought they were good. I found a handy post at Divas Can Cook, followed her advice and have become a kale chip chef! Kale’s kind of a super food, and I bought a week’s worth at the store for $1.49 so it’s a win-win all around.

After eating my tasty kale, I started thinking about gardening this summer. We have a patio, but what I’m thinking of using is the balcony off our master bedroom. We never go out there, it would be away from pesky critters, and I think it woud be a lot less buggy. It’s January, so I’m doing the logical thing and just dreaming/pinning about it on Pinterest, but I’m hopeful it will come to fruition.

In the mean time, it’s really time to start working on Listen To Your Mother: Indianapolis. That’s bound to keep me busy until all of this snow is gone (and then some).

This has been a post. I hope to write more of them, on a more frequent basis in 2013.

Til next time, Happy New Year, from the kids & our manatee!

There really is no explanation. Happy New Year!