Bloomin' paperwhites, beans, and other stuff...

  

The paperwhites I potted are blooming on the kitchen counter right next to my window. They seem happy.  I love real flowers -- growing indoors or fresh cut -- especially in winter.  Oh, I guess I like them in all seasons, but there's just something especially wonderful about flowers in the bleak midwinter.  Do you have flowers in your home? 

Today we have a sunny and warm day with a temp of 42 degrees, but oh does the wind blow!  I took my daily walk anyway and just tied my earflaps down tight so I wouldn't get an earache. The little snow we had is mostly melted down and turns to ice overnight.  Sure does make it slippery for the cows to walk across the pasture.

 

JJo and I went feeding cows and sheep this morning and we took the baby with us.  He slept the whole time.  The bumping and rocking of the pickup truck made it easy for him to doze.  He's now one month old and cute as the dickens.  His lil cheeks are so chubby from his mama's rich milk.

The sheep will get sheared in a couple weeks or so in preparation for lambing.  Then our slow, winter days will come to a halt and busier days will commence.  I do look forward to baby lambs.  I hope it stays nice and doesn't turn frigid.

 

Yesterday OnlyDaughter came for a visit and brought her two girls.  They had fun feeding cows and sheep and chickens too.  There's a handful of cows and several ewes that will eat out of our hands and the kids think it's the greatest thing ever.  It is!  OnlyDaughter is getting a big belly as she waits for her new baby to be born in the first week of March.  You can see it sticking out on the left side of the photo with the purple plaid coat over it.  This will be their third baby.  The cousins were glad to get together, and they had fun sledding on the last of the snow.  I did too!

I've been reading up a little bit about the health benefits of eating beans of all kinds.  Did you know that eating beans, especially black beans and lentils, can help reverse aging?  I don't mind getting older, but I'd sure like to preserve as much spunk as I can.  Since Hubs and I are trying to keep carbohydrates fairly low, I find that I need to keep my intake of good protein and nutrient-dense foods high, otherwise I really crave things like chips and cookies and sweets.  Even though beans are considered starchy, I thought maybe if I added them to our diet, it might help curb cravings for junk and keep our tummies satisfied.  I think it does help.

I made myself a Black Bean Chocolate Brownie Smoothie this afternoon after seeing a recipe here.  I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but since I had a few black beans leftover from last night's meal, I thought I'd at least try it.  I'll admit, it wasn't bad, but next time, I will change it up a little.  Actually, I changed it up today so I could use what I had on hand.  Instead of dates, I used a fig.  I also thought it needed a little more sweetness, so I added about 1 tsp. of honey and 1 tsp. of peanut butter.  I didn't have hemp seeds so I added a tblsp. of ground flax seed.  Next time, I'll leave out the fig.  It kinda made the smoothie chewy in a weird texture kind of way.  I do love figs, but not in my smoothie, I guess.  While you are at The Muffin Myth reading about the black bean brownie smoothie, check out some of her other ideas for healthy smoothies.  The Chocolate Banana Bread Smoothie sounds interesting.

There's a really good article I found by Dr. Alan Christianson who is a naturopathic medical doctor.  I've been receiving his newsletters for a few weeks, and he's got some really smart ideas for keeping people healthy.  The article is about how beans can improve health.  I always thought of beans as a way to stretch a family food budget, but they are also very nutrient dense and full of fiber and goodness.  Do you like beans?  How do you incorporate them into your diet?

Thanks for stopping by, Friend!