I looked around for a pretty system to use for chores this summer (something like this, or this, or this) but in the end everyone got a list on a sticky note. Sometimes easy is better than pretty. They get a new list everyday, except Sunday, with two or three things on it depending on our schedule. Picking up toys, brushing teeth, getting dressed, etc. are not chores, just things they are responsible for everyday. Our chores are more like this:

for the 6 1/2 year old:

• cleaning the bathroom (with a squirt bottle filled with vinegar and water)
• sweeping
• washing the floors
• doing dishes
• folding towels and sheets and putting them away
• weeding
• + any thing else the younger set can do

for the 5 year old:

• vacuuming (his favorite)
• taking out the garbage
• wiping down the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher
• emptying the dishwasher
• folding clothes and putting them away
• + anything his younger brother can do

for the almost 3 year old:

• crushing cans (I was surprised he could even do this!)
• wiping off the table
• folding napkins and rags
• bringing in the groceries
• feeding the dog
• watering the plants

Honestly, I had been doing most (umm, all) of the chores because I thought it was easier and faster to do it myself. Well that was stupid. My kids do whatever is on their list and almost never complain that their chores are too hard. Complaining happens for other reason, for sure, but not because the work is difficult. As long as I mix it up enough they are happy to do their jobs. Do you have any good ideas for chores little kids can do?

I could have called this post, Sugar Free! Grain Free! Gluten Free! Vegan! All Natural! Possibly Organic! Ice Cream! Because this ice cream is actually all of those things.  If you take all the exclamation points away though this ice cream is frozen bananas in your blender.  And frozen bananas in your blender makes some seriously awesome ice cream! Damn another exclamation point snuck in there.

Banana ice cream is so dead easy, you really don’t need a recipe, but this is how it goes. Peel a banana (or 10), cut it (or don’t), put it in the freezer. Then go about your day. When you remember there are bananas in your freezer, take them out and put them in your food processor (or blender). Push the button. 5 minutes later you will have something very much like ice cream. You can also add a few tablespoons of peanut butter–which is delicious–or a handful of frozen berries, or really anything your little heart desires: chopped nuts, chocolate chips, pretzels, granola.

Every time we make it (and we make it a lot) it’s different. Last night we mixed in almond butter and made some Magic Shell to go on top. Do you remember magic shell? I was crazy for the stuff when I was a kid. I don’t know how I got my mother to buy it–I must have somehow snuck it into our grocery cart. It seems odd and chemically and not at all natural, right? Actually you can make it with two things: chocolate and coconut oil. I melted a bar of dark chocolate, which is about 4 oz, and added 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Mix until everything is smooth and melty. You are now the most awesome mom in the world (until you tell them it’s time for bed).

One more thing: don’t store your magic shell in the fridge or it will magically turn hard as a rock.

It hasn’t been as godawful hot here like it was last week, but still it’s hot. Dinnertime is of course the hottest part of the day, which makes for a very crabby cook. I’ve tried to make myself a little easier to be around by making cold salads pretty much every day for dinner. This book, obviously, has helped.

Salad for Dinner,by Jeanne Kelley, is not a vegetarian cookbook, though it may sound like one. One chapter of the book is dedicated to meat free salads, but the rest are focused on seafood, fish, poultry, and meat. The salads are substantial, inventive, simple, and really just beautiful. She has some classics in the book, like salade nicoise. My nicoise salad (above) is actually not at all like the one in the book–which has artichokes and peppers and a delicious sounding anchovy vinaigrette–but hers is not very much like the classic salad anyway.

Some salad seem to be an idea of a dinner turned into a salad: Vietnamese pork meatball banh mi salad, spicy sriracha buffalo chicken salad. And some salads are beautiful, seasonal ingredients that come together to make a perfect salad: Oregon summer grilled chicken salad (with peaches and blackberries). The book is a fantastic resource for different kinds of salad greens, dressings, lists of make-ahead salads, and how to make up your own salad for dinner. I may have checked the book out from the library, but it will be on my shelf for good soon enough.

I’m going to leave you with a salad recipe that isn’t from the book at all, rather from another excellent cookbook, River Cottage Everyday. This salad was so damn simple and good I had to share.

Fresh Peas and Ricotta salad

adapted from river cottage everyday by hugh fearnley-whittingstall

• 1 lb peas (fresh if you can get them)
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (again, the fresh stuff is so much better)
• 3 or 4 green onions thinly sliced
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• a herb (thyme is nice or basil or mint or even tarragon, but not all of them together)

Cook the peas in salted water. Rinse them in cold water until they’ve cooled off. Mix with onions and herbs.  Pour a few big glugs of olive oil and squeeze about a 1/2 lemon on top. Make sure everything is coated and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Gently mix in the ricotta and serve. If you want to make this into a meal, some chicken would not be out of place.

toothpicks + grapes

=sculptures and snacks

Raid the recycling! Slap it together with hot glue! Decorate with tape! and whatever else is lying around!

My kids call it the guy house, “because it’s for guys, Mom, not dolls.” Playmobile guys, lego guys, little people guys, calico critter guys, everybody can go swimming in the stripy pool!

What I really wanted to do was spray paint the whole thing one color (safety orange!) but my kids were having such a blast decorating it that I couldn’t spoil the fun. Tape turned out to be the easiest way to make it awesome. Mostly we used duct tape and the washi like tape from target.  Bonus: the tape box made a sweet hammock.

Go glue things together!