Month: March 2012

A Feminist and a Homemaker

14 Comments

Years ago, when I was barely 17 years old, I trained to become a whitewater raft guide.  I was the youngest person at the company because you can’t start guiding until you are 18 but I wanted to spend the summer on the river.

There were many strong and independent women who worked there.  One particular woman, a divorcee of 23 or 24, made an impression on me.  She was so fierce and confident and womenly and worldly.

One day she off-handedly said to me, after accepting an offer from one of our 19 year-old male co-workers to carry a particularly heavy cooler, “I’m a feminist except when it’s in my best interest not to be”.

Almost 14 years later and this quote still regularly resurfaces in my mind.

Over the long course of my relationship with my now-husband certain roles have emerged in our household.  Super-stereo-typical roles.  I do most of the cooking and house keeping.  He does most of the work involving the car, the roof, heavy lifting, or major power tools.

I’m okay with this.

In fact, it’s how I like it.

I don’t feel any less empowered as a human because anything involving technology makes my eyes glaze over.  I am confident in my ability to problem solve and if left to my own devices, I could get whatever needs done, done.  But Tate actually enjoys that stuff and we’ve found a happy division of labor that makes sense to us.

I am a feminist.  I’m also a happy homemaker.  Creating a comfortable and healthy home for my family is high on my list of priorities and fills me with satisfaction.

The feminist movement was vital in allowing me this satisfaction and choice.  I am absolutely a product of my generation and am painfully aware that had my husband and I been born even a decade earlier we may have fought these traditional roles tooth and nail so as not to perpetuate the inequality that is still an issue in America.

I will forever be grateful to my tractor-driving mother and my gentle father, who is the biggest feminist I know.  They both demonstrated traditional and non-traditional roles as parents while remaining nurturing and open-minded.

window cold frame

Tate, making me the cold frame I requested for seedlings.  We went over the design together then he did the work.

Make no mistake about, I am horrified at the inequality between men and women that is still part of every day life in America. The government is still one huge ass good ‘ol boys club trying to keep their hands in women’s reproductive rights, among many other things that is not their business.

I am a feminist and it’s always in my best interest to be one.

Green ‘n Bean Tart

7 Comments

Versatility is good.

Some of my favorite foods are also the most versatile ones; eggs, yogurt, muffins, cheese, greens, oats.  Each one has a multitude of uses and they can stand on their own or easily incorporate into a dish.  Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks, there is a place for these foods!

This tart is the same way.

It’s a quiche. No, it’s a pastel.  No, it’s a savory pie.  I suppose that, like most versatile foods, it can be whatever you want. 😉 I want a tart.

Green ‘n Bean Tart

Makes many servings but the exact number I hesitate to say.  Is it a snack? Main course? Appetizer?  I’ll just give it a range of 4-8 servings.

Pre-heat the oven to 360*

Equipment needed: sautee pan, cutting board, knife, parchment or silpat, baking sheet, rolling pin, stirring spoon

  • 1 yellow onion, minced
  • 2 teaspoons butter or coconut oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 big handfuls of cooking greens, chopped (I used the last of our garden collards and some dandelion from the yard.  Kale or swiss chard would be perfect also.)
  • 1 cup cooked and drained white beans of some kind (I used large lima beans but baby lima, cannellini, or great northern would be perfect as well.)
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 recipe whole wheat pie crust
  1. in a large sautee pan, heat the butter or oil over medium heat and add the onions
  2. slowly cook the onions until they are translucent, stirring occasionally
  3. add the garlic and chopped greens and stir occasionally until the greens wilt
  4. turn off the heat and add the beans
  5. remove from heat and let mixture cool for several minutes (so as not to cook the egg when it’s added)
  6. add cheese, salt and pepper, and eggs
  7. stir vigorously until the eggs are beaten and incorporated into the mixture
  8. roll out your pie crust on a piece of parchment paper, forming a large thin circle
  9. move the parchment and crust to a baking sheet
  10. pile the green/bean mixture into the center of the crust
  11. fold the sides of the crust up around edges of the mixture
  12. bake for about 25 minutes or until the center is set and the crust starts to brown
  13. eat hot or cold!

My pie crust was delicious but a little crumbly.  It made for a very rustic tart.

If you don’t eat wheat/grains you could make the filling and then bake it in muffin tins without a crust.  You really could.

This tart can stand alone as a balanced meal.  It’s full of protein, fiber, whole grains, greens, all the good stuff.

I ate my first serving with a side of roasted carrots but it was just as good as a cold leftover the next day.

Beans should totally be added to my earlier list of versatile foods.  Did you know some people have been known to put them in brownies?  I’m kind of shocked that I haven’t tried that one yet….

What’s your favorite versatile food?