3-year and 1-year stats

Last week Molly and Penny both went in for checkups. Here are the numbers:

Molly (at 3 years)
35 lbs (85th percentile)
39.25 inches (90th percentile) I prefer to say she's 3'3"
BMI (WHAT??? They do that for kids. Ok--I'll just record it in case I'm ever wondering) is 16 (55th percentile).

Penny (13 months)
22 lbs 6 oz (60th percentile)--she's getting skinny, probably because she won't eat anything except breast milk and watermelon and kefir (and any kind of Indian curry with rice)
31" (90th percentile). She's tall, though!
head circumference 18.5" (90th) and she has a big head.

Her tall, skinny, big-headed frame is not keeping her from toddling around. The kid can scoot really quickly. Yesterday she took one teeny tiny step. She can walk really quickly holding someone's hand.

raw kale salad

I discovered this salad a while back in Vegetarian Times, and we love it. It's really easy to make, and it is very nourishing as well. Last night I dressed it up with a raw beet and carrot salad I made a couple of days ago (just shredded vegetables with some oil, vinegar, cumin, salt, and fresh herbs) and some pumpkin seeds. We usually just eat it plain, though.

1 bunch kale, stemmed and torn into pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Dressing:
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey or other sweetener

Place kale in large bowl with olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Massage a few minutes until kale starts to wilt. Let sit on counter for about 30 minutes. Whisk together dressing and pour over kale. We usually have enough for two days of salad--it keeps surprisingly well.

new sauerkraut and kombucha

I got a bok choy in my CSA box last week. Bill spent a couple of weeks in China and Hong Kong a few years ago, and he has since not been a big fan of bok choy (really the only food he has an aversion to). When I was pregnant with Penny, bok choy for some reason completely repulsed me, and it still does somewhat (really the only food I have an aversion to). I decided to, of course, ferment it. I got the inspiration from a recipe that an acquaintance sent me that used seaweed. I happened to have some seaweed in my cabinet--Molly loves to eat dried seaweed--so I decided to give it a try. I just chopped the bok choy, added one sheet (minus a few bites taken by Molly) of nori, and a teaspoon of salt.



Molly mashed it all for me, and we packet it into a jar.



Thanks to my friend, Abacus, I have been doing some experimenting with kombucha. I made strawberry-raspberry kombucha first, and now I have some blueberry kombucha fermenting. I put three bottles of the strawberry in the cabinet for a secondary fermentation (also on the suggestion of Abacus). I will try it tomorrow. I only had three bottles in which to put the tea for the secondary fermentation so I got to drink some fresh. It was DELICIOUS!!! I can't wait to try the stuff in the bottles, which should be extra bubbly. The blueberry should be ready on Saturday or Sunday. I made the same basic recipe, except I added fresh fruit when I added the tea bags, I added less sugar because of the sugar in the fruit, and I let it ferment for four days rather than seven or eight.