Instructions for Housewives -- circa 1952

This list is way too entertaining not to share. Adapted from a 1952 home-ec textbook for high school girls, here are some instructions to help housewives create a soothing oasis for their husbands. Can you imagine the uproar if this was still being taught in public schools today?

(I found this list in the book The Power of a Positive Mom, by Karol Ladd. Ms. Ladd in no way thinks this is a sustainable way of life for today's multitasking mama. She was just using it as a reminder that making others feel valued is an important key to a successful community and home.)

So, here ya go! Take a moment to channel your inner June Cleaver, and allow yourself to be as tickled by this list as I was. (Most of the ideas aren't half bad. Most of them. I'm not putting a ribbon in my hair.)

Instructions for Housewives
~~~As taught to the girls attending high school during the Leave it to Beaver era~~~~


1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on the table -- on time. This is a way of letting your husband know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. 


2. Prepare yourself. Take fifteen minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when your husband arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair, and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.


3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up schoolbooks, toys, paper, ect. Then run a dustcloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. 


4. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces. If they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures, and he would like to see them playing their part.


5. Minimize the noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him.


6. Some don'ts. Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through during the day.


7. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedrom. Have or cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing, and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.


8. Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.


9. Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his need to be home and relax.


10. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can feel refreshed.

What do you think? I'm all for numbers 1, 3, and 10, but not so sure about putting a ribbon in my hair or changing the girls into clean clothes for dinner...

Homegrown Radish Leaf Pesto

Yes, I agree that this idea may seem a little bit out there, but please, have faith. This is good. (We even ate the leftovers.)

Here's how it all went down...

When we were designing our backyard garden, I reserved two square feet for radishes. I did this for three reasons.

One, radishes are ready to be harvested just three short weeks after they've been planted. I knew the girls would be ready to see some results sooner than later, so it made sense to plant some quick growers.

Two, my dad loves radishes. I love my dad.

Three, I was told that you can use raw radish leaves in place of the arugula in salads.

No. You cannot. At least not at our house.

But those Cherry Belle's sure were pretty...

And we were incredibly proud that both of our girls willingly tasted both a raw radish and a leaf.

And I am finally learning how to use some of the features on the fancy camera my hubby gave me five months ago.


I digress.

Determined not to let our beautiful radish tops go to waste, I set out to discover a palatable way to serve these spicy, bitter greens. After reading this post on the Chocolate & Zucchini blog, I knew that pesto was the way to go. To balance the heat, and because it worked so well in my Fava Bean Pesto, I decided to add a little bit of fresh mint. When combined with the traditional pesto trio of pine nuts, parmesan, and olive oil, and a generous amount of fresh lemon juice, radish greens become not only palatable, but downright delicious! I promise. Remember, we even ate the leftovers.

As far as the health benefits, radishes and their leaves are one of the top vegetables for detoxification. They help support a healthy liver and kidneys, purify the blood, boost the immune system, and helps skin maintain moisture. Kind of like nature's collagen. They are also a great source of vitamin C, zinc, and folic acid.

Next time you pick up some radishes, save those tops. Your health and your taste buds will thank you.

Radish Leaf Pesto


Ingredients (Makes two cups):

Radish leaves, 2 cups, lightly packed, tough stems removed
Parmigiano-Reggiano, 2/3 cup, shredded
Pine nuts, 1/3 cup
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup
Lemon, 1 large, 1 1/2 small, zest and juice
Fresh mint, 2 tbsp
Garlic, 1 clove, peeled
Organic cane sugar, 1 tsp
Sea salt, 1/2 - 1 tsp, or to taste
Black pepper, 1/2 tsp, or to taste
Ground cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp, or to taste

Instructions (10 minutes, all active):


Prepare all ingredients as indicated above.

Place all ingredients in a small food processor, and puree for 5 minutes, or until desired consistency is achieved. If a thinner pesto is desired, add an additional tablespoon of olive oil. Serve and enjoy!

Notes: For our family's dinner, we tossed half of the pesto with eight ounces of cooked linguini, 3 cups of leftover cooked chicken, a cup of cherry tomatoes, some goat cheese, and a few more pine nuts. Served alongside a garden salad, it was the perfect meal for a warm spring evening on the deck. This pesto would also pair nicely with grilled white fish and fennel. As for the remaining pesto, we've been enjoying it as a dip for raw vegetables and chips. This pesto is naturally vegetarian and gluten-free. Those sensitive to nuts can omit the pine nuts and add an additional 1/3 cup of cheese.

The Healthnut Foodie Organic Garden...

...has grown. (Oops.)

A couple of weeks ago, the school improvement supervisor for Annie and Ellie's future elementary school asked if we knew of any local farmers who would be interested in donating some tomato plants for our school's new vegetable garden. 

Excited about the fact that the girls will someday have a homegrown salad bar at school (!!!), I offered to do anything I could to help. After mentioning the need to some of my favorite farmer friends, I was connected to a really cool guy named Greg. Greg is a mechanical engineer/farmer. (I told you he was cool.) 

Long story short, Greg designs custom greenhouses and owns a company called City Bitty Farms. Earlier this spring, to test the functionality of his designs, and because he loves helping out local urban farmers, he planted 764 tomato plants. When we first chatted on the phone, he told me there were still plenty of leftover seedlings, and that he would be more than happy to donate some of them to our school. This got me super excited and I immediately made plans to visit the farm. 

When I walked into the greenhouse at City Bitty Farm, I was blown away by the diversity of organic heirloom tomato plants being grown. 

Then, something started to stir inside me. 

It was bad. 

And I caved. 

I returned home with an extra 15 tomato plants that I promised Greg we would plant, nurture, and sing to in our very own backyard. (Yes, I said 15. Darren has officially banned me from ever taking the girls to an animal shelter without him.)

Fast forward two weeks, and I am both excited and relieved to announce that we have finally created a home, planted, and built cages for all of our tomato plants! 

(I need to take a quick minute to brag on my hubby. Not only did he allow me to keep all of the precious tomato plants I came home with, he also built a beautiful cage for every one of them to grow in. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me.) 

So, if you are wondering what we plan to do with the 250 pounds of tomatoes we've been told these plants will yield...

We are too. I will keep you posted.

Hungry for more?!? Here are some of my favorite recipes that use tomatoes....

Caprese Pasta

Holy Moly, Guacamole!!!

Roasted Tomato and Walnut Pesto

Seared Scallops, Polenta, and Smoky Tomatoes

Avocado Dip

Earlier this week, our family was invited to a friend's house for an outdoor bar-be-que.  The hosts would provide the burgers and brats, and the rest of us would contribute a dish for sharing. The evite came through on a particularly busy day, so by the time I had a moment to RSVP, homemade cole slaw, baked beans, and potato salad had already been claimed. Without really giving it much thought, I offered to bring some sort of dip and chips.

Now, if you are familiar with our family's food values at all, you probably know that it is impossible for me to just run into the store and grab something from the prepared foods section. I also knew that there would be no time to make the 20 minute drive to our nearest Whole Foods. As I began to dig through the refrigerator, it occurred to me that we already had everything on hand to make our favorite guacamole recipe. Easy enough. Unfortunately, when I cut into the avocados, it was blatantly clear that they were no where near creamy enough for guacamole. With just a few hours remaining until we needed to head out, it was time to get creative. What to do, what to do? (Drumming fingertips on the counter.) Hmm...maybe I could make a chunky, pico de gallo-y, salad-y version of guacamole! (With everything still small enough to put on chips, of course.)

All of our friends agreed that this avocado dip turned out awesome. Even our processed food loving friends were crowded around the bowl!

Because Darren and I are obsessed with cumin, I decided to add a generous tablespoon to give the dip a bit of pizazz. I'm glad I did! This earthy, smoky spice nicely complemented the acidity of the tomatoes, subtle heat of the jalapeno, and the clean flavor of fresh mozzarella. Cumin is also helpful at detoxify the body of cancer cells, boosts milk supply in breastfeeding mamas, and it helps aid in good digestion! As I said, we are obsessed, both with the flavor and the health benefits.

Whether you will be entertaining health nuts or foodies this spring, this is one dip that is sure to impress the whole crowd!

Avocado Dip


Ingredients (Makes about 4 cups):


Avocados, 2
Red onion, 1
Cilantro, 1 bunch, leaves and tender stems only
Fresh mozzarella, 8 oz ball, or the equivalent of bocconcini
Fresh jalapeno, 1

Vine ripened tomatoes, 2 large, 3 small

Red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp
Ground cumin, 1 tbsp
Sea salt, 1 1/2 tsp, or to taste

Instructions (10 minutes, all active):


In a small bowl, make your vinaigrette. Whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil, cumin, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients, dice 2 avocados. Toss with the vinaigrette. (The vinegar will help prevent the avocado from browning.)

Dice 1 red onion and 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella. Coarsely chop 1 bunch of cilantro. Remove the seeds and stems of one jalapeno. Small dice the jalapeno as well. Chop 2 large vine-ripened tomatoes. Squeeze tomatoes gently over the sink to drain excess liquid before adding them to the bowl.

Toss everything with the avocados. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (to further prevent browning) and refrigerate for about 2 hours, to allow the flavors to come together.

Serve with organic tortilla chips, colorful bell pepper wedges, spooned into endive boats, or served atop your favorite grilled whitefish. It also tastes great on a spoon straight from the bowl. (I'm just saying.) However you decide to serve your avocado dip, enjoy!

Notes: This dip is naturally vegetarian, nut-free, and gluten-free. Those sensitive to dairy can omit the mozzarella and add a third avocado. It is best not to make this dip too far in advance. It starts to get a bit watery by the next day.

Does this sound delicious?!? You may also enjoy...


The Best Grilled Veggies Ever!
Green Avocado Icing (dye-free!)
Fava Bean, Almond, and Mint Pesto

Happy Birthday, un-Happy Meal!!

"Happy Birthday to you,

 Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to a very un-Happy Meal,

     Happy Birthday to you!!!"

It is official. One year has now passed since I purchased this meal and Annie freaked out over the smell of a McDonald's drive-thru. Since then, this burger and fry combo have sat on our dining room hutch, and attracted many interesting comments from guests. One of Darren's friends (okay, he's my friend too) even ate one of the french fries just a month or two ago! He said it tasted like a McDonald's french fry. I gagged. (And could barely finish the dinner we were enjoying.) 

Annie and Ellie now both scream, "EW!!! STINKY OLD McDONALD'S!!! PEOPLE DON'T EAT THERE!" every time we pass one, and every so often, Darren asks when we can just put the plate away. (He long ago gave up the idea that I would even consider tossing it at any point before the girls enter high school. Now, he's just hoping I will put it up on a shelf somewhere.)

As for me, I giggle over the fact that Healthnut Foodie gets more traffic from Google because of this photo and this post than from any of the yummy food we've created. Well, except for pozole verde, coconut crusted chicken tenders, and the best grilled veggies ever. (The article I wrote on artificial colors gets a lot of attention as well.)

All of the buzz over this burger gets our family excited because it means that more and more family's are realizing the risks that come with feasting on the standard American diet. Every day, more and more mainstream grocery stores are adding better for you choices to their shelves as well! We still have a long way to go, but I am pumped about the way real food awareness has skyrocketed over the past year!

To all of you that are sharing the real food message with your family, friends, and community, THANK YOU!!! Together, and by regularly voting with our food dollar, we will take back the integrity of our nation's food source.

(While snapping this picture, I really wanted to put a candle in the burger or the bun, but they were both as hard as a hockey puck.)