Minnow’s Five Things
My new favourite soup recipe, the only lip care you need for winter, travelling with kids, moms judging moms and beautiful snow art, that’s what caught my attention this week.
The dramatic temps this winter have left me hankering for hot healthy soups, so I have been experimenting with some veggie combinations and finally settled on a favourite—cauliflower and parsnip soup. It’s so creamy and delicious my kids think they are eating potato soup (with no potatoes or cream in it). I boil a head of cauliflower and four large parsnips in a pot with 1½ cups of water and 1½ cups of chicken stock. When the veggies are cooked and soft, I use a hand blender to puree them (leaving all the liquid in the pot). I add a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to taste and it’s done. If it’s too thick, add more stock. Serve with crusty bread. I hope your family loves it as much as mine.
Another winter helper I have found indispensable lately is Boots No7 Protect and Perfect Lipcare. I learned about it while away on holidays and was relieved to learn that we can buy it here in Canada at Shoppers and Target. I don’t typically write about beauty products but this stuff really works. It claims 24 hour protection and it’s true. You won’t be reapplying all day long. It soaks in and repairs chapped lips. I promise.
If you’re travelling with young children soon (I hope you’re going somewhere warm) you’Il appreciate the sentiment in this beautifully written note by a mother of an autistic child. She was so grateful that a stranger showed such kindness to her daughter and made the trip more manageable. This letter is one that all parents with young children can relate to when travelling. There is no judging when it comes to kids on planes. Rather than judging, try helping.
Speaking of judging, I loved this post from Rebecca Keenan of Playground Confidential (one of our SavvyStorytellers). She writes about mom judging—a practice that has been handed down from generation to generation, but seems to be worse now. Perhaps it’s social media that is perpetuating the spike—or facilitating it—but the fact is that we have done it to ourselves. Rebecca makes this point very clear in her post. It’s worth reading.
In lighter news, I saw some incredible images of what’s called Snow Art this week online. It’s unbelievable. This artist clearly has a lot of time on his hands (not that I’m judging). I do hope he has some warm soup waiting for him when he finishes his work and some decent lipcare while he’s out there.
Have a great week.
