Photo #12

The weather is turning warmer around here. It really makes me want to get out and explore.

This is a mossy water wall on the way to Falls Creek Falls that I showed you last week.


I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Thoughtfully,

Kristin

How I Learned to Love Making Waffles

When I mention the possibility of waffles, heads peek around corners, eyes gleam, and I am suddenly surrounded by happy expectation. Why does everyone love waffles so much? Is it the additional surface area? Is it the fancy built in syrup catchers? I don't know for sure, but waffles have an almost supernatural appeal, at least around here.

So why don't I make them all the time? Too. Much. Work!! I can only make them one at a time, The waffle iron is a pain in the rear to clean,...   but they love them.

So yesterday I offered waffles (secretly hoping to be turned down.) The offer was received with great interest. "Waffles?!!" So I was stuck. I pulled out my old recipe, as I started to work I realized a few things.

1. I could have been making these in my mixer instead of the big mixing bowl by hand.

2. Waffles are better fresh, I don't need to make a huge batch to make sure I have some to "save for later".

3. I don't have to watch waffles while they cook. I can do a bunch of little tasks while I cook a breakfast my family loves.

So I set to work and while the waffle iron heated up I put the clean dishes away. While the mixer mixed I loaded the dishwasher and filled the sink with soapy water. While the waffles cooked I cleaned the microwave, heated up the syrup (you can think I'm just that awesome but really it had started to crystallize!),  cleaned the waffle making dishes, and several other little jobs that needed to be done.

When I was done I had a cleaner kitchen, the dishes were done, happy kids, and the wonderful smell of waffles and syrup wafting through the kitchen.  Oh yeah! and the waffles themselves.

I spent a little time reassessing my process and ended up with something much better than I ever would have guessed. So I urge you to do the same. The next time you have a task ahead of you that you are avoiding or just not looking forward to, really examine it. I plan to ask myself these questions more often:
1. Are you using all the tools available to you? I could have been using the mixer the whole time. Other tools you may not have thought about are helpers, and rubber scrapers.

2. Are you taking advantage of what will be happening? Making waffles, leaves about 2 minute wait periods, just enough for a quick task. Other jobs may leave you with the vacuum out or a sink of soapy water or a pot of hot water, etc that you can use for another task.

3. Am I trying to do too much? How many of us are home? How much do we really eat? Where is this army I keep trying to feed? They certainly are not helping with the laundry. I don't need to make a triple batch of anything, necessarily. I think more often I am going to choose to have more energy for other tasks rather than more food for later.

4. Will doing these things make my task easier or my life better in some way? Just because and idea occurs to me doesn't mean that I have to do it or even should do it. I have to remind myself that I get some crazy ideas, some should wait or just stay ideas!

So I am hoping I can find new inspiration in tasks I formerly avoided, more joy hidden in the daily jobs around the house. I will share the major ones in future articles.




Quick Hearty Waffles

3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white flour


Preheat waffle iron, oil if necessary. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs mix well, the butter will still be in little lumps. Mix in baking powder and salt. Add milk. Blend until well incorporated. Add flours all at once and blend just until mixed. Scrape the bowl and look for dry pockets and mix a little more.

Pour by measured amount onto your waffle iron. Use the amount recommended for your iron. The number of waffles you get will depend on how much batter you use. I get 7-8 waffles out of this recipe.


I hope your day is lovely.

Thoughtfully,
Kristin

Photo #11

Hello all! Just a photo again this week. I hope to get back to writing soon. I hope you enjoy this picture as much as I do. The hike today was wondrous.

Have a lovely day.

Thoughtfully,
Kristin

Photo #10

I may not be up to writing this week but I can still take pictures while I recharge my batteries.
I'd love to share this one with you.

This seasonal waterfall is in a friend's backyard! I hope your weekend is lovely.

Thoughtfully,

Kristin

Photo #9

Quiet week here at Cascade Living,  I do have time to share a photo with you.

This is a side creek I don't know if it has a name. It flows into Lacamas Creek.

I hope you have a wonderful day and a peaceful weekend.


Thoughtfully,

Kristin

Photo #8

Spring is a wonderful, if muddy, time to hike. Here is a gem from this week.

This photo, and several to come, are from a park inside city limits.  This is a small portion of Pothole Falls on Lacamas Creek.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Thoughtfully,

Kristin

Flow: Starting Under Normal Circumstances

One of the most important aspects of this kind of cooking and living is working to establish flow. All the bits and pieces need to work together and make better things happen.

At Cascade Living I encourage you to find efficiency in your day to day living and even your thinking. If you gently observe how you do things, you will notice where things easily flow one into the other and jobs around the house happen with no stress at all. The way flow works in my experience though is things will flow, flow, flow, stop. Eventually I hit a blockage or obstacle that disrupts my flow. When this happens I react in different ways depending on the circumstances. Sometimes I just keep going and try to catch up with the flow again. Sometimes I stop and give myself a break and try again later. Sometimes, I get pretty upset that my flow was disrupted. Unfortunately, flow takes thought and practice to establish.

So how do you start?

Everything needs a place to go. Everything needs a time to happen. Over time the things that need to happen and the time available will fluctuate. Needs will change and so will priorities so flow is also a journey not a destination. It is a goal that will never be finished and done. The benefit of that is you get to enjoy the moments when it works right while they are happening. You will find flow and lose it again. So when you find it breathe it in, and when you lose it relax, you will find it again.

So start with one thing. If you have some energy and do not feel completely overwhelmed,  I recommend looking around your house and finding the thing that is bugging you the most, while you are working to put it off. If you can just do it, do it right now. If you can't figure out where to start, try to break the job into smaller pieces. Get a piece of paper and write down a list of the parts. Set yourself a time frame to do the list, like: Do one thing on the list each commercial break, or once an hour. If you don't have a lot of time you can do one step each day, but that is not ideal! It feels great to just get it done. Check off each part as you do it. When you are finished be sure to really think about how it feels to accomplish this task. That feeling can be your first reward and help you motivate yourself to not let this thing, whatever it is take so much of your well being from you.

Do something nice for yourself when you are done. Call a friend, post about your victory on your Facebook or the Cascade Living Facebook Page,  have a cup of coffee or tea, whatever will make you smile. Make sure you use this accomplishment to make you feel better, please do not beat yourself up about what else you have yet to do, or how long that job took. Getting one job done around the house that you a have been avoiding will free up your mind to find better ways of tackling that job in the future so it doesn't sneak up and ambush you anymore! (Or at least not anywhere near as often.) Motivate yourself with these good feelings.

For me, I get ambushed by my dishes all the time. I get so excited about the cooking that by the time I am done I am exhausted. It can be hard work just making sure everything that needs to get into the fridge gets there. So I will have to make a real effort to get unstuck and reestablish flow when doing my dishes. Sometimes I can just do them, sometimes I do need to make a list of each part and check it off. Day to day crises can and do get in the way of establishing flow. It can take a lot of tries to make a good habit around a job that you don't like to do. Be kind to yourself. If you know you always feel good when you are done it will be easier to start. Guilt is not a positive motivator and will not make things flow easily. You can be kind to yourself and still make better habits and choices.

Flow once established in one area really helps develop it in others. If you start small and build on your successes you will feel the difference. Things will get done and you won't have to even think about it, it will be just what happens. Start small and big things can happen.

Well, on that note, it may be time for me to tackle my dishes! I will write another post soon on how to get started when things are hard.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Thoughtfully,
Kristin