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Showing posts from 2013

Warming up to winter

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Today was a good day.  The snow was flying (too soon!), making everything feel cozy and warm inside. It was Veterans Day, which meant no school.  No rushing around in the early morning hours... Not that anyone slept in, of course.  A morning after a sleepover, meaning an extra place at the breakfast table.  A day for omelets and French toast.  A day of no screens, for one certain boy, and thus a day of more play with his sisters, more talking to his mom, and for more quiet moments with a book and a cat. Our outing was to the downtown toy store, where lists were made and a very first Christmas gift was bought in secret.  A day for a play date for the Bigs and a late afternoon nap for the Little, leaving mommy with a few moments of quiet and a cup of tea.   Shrimp for supper (because Dad had a late meeting), and more amicable play afterwards leaving time for Mommy to document an ordinary, plain old, good day at home.  

Preservation

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It must be September... I am taking more pictures of food these days than of my children. I have been enjoying the preservation of the fruits of my labor so much these days.  With 10 tomato plants, and some decent tomato-growing weather this year, I finally have tomatoes to actually stockpile AND eat my daily BLT. I started out just blanching, peeling and freezing the meatier varieties (Romas and Early Girls), but the last week or so I have made 2 batches of tomato sauce using my Bradley and Big Beef tomatoes.  I estimated I have used about 24 pounds of them and got ~200oz of tomato sauce plus some juice.  Judging by what I picked tonight and what is still out on the plants, I think I will be making at least a couple more batches.  This is good news, because crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce is probably one of the top 20 things on my grocery list.  We eat a LOT of chili, spaghetti sauce and beans and rice.  I planted 4 green pepper plants at my lot at our church th

Healthy Zucchini Pineapple and Carrot Muffins

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Healthy zucchini carrot pineapple muffins These are absolutely delicious.  Moist, wholesome, and really yummy.  I made some modifications to a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, by using 1/2 whole wheat flour, and cutting the fat and sugar in half.    Here  is the original recipe, if you want to take a look (the orignal amounts are for 4 dozen muffins) 1.25 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup sugar 1.5 tsp baking powder 1.5 tsp baking soda 1.5 tsp cinnamon .75 tsp salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil  3 eggs .5 cup applesauce 1.5 cups zucchini 1/2 cup shredded carrots 10oz crushed pineapple, drained 1.5 tsp vanilla extract Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease 2 muffin pans, or use paper liners. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the oil, applesauce, eggs, zucchini, pineapple and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Fill muffin cups 2

Back to School Peach Cobbler

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 Back to school today!  This has been a good summer.  I actually felt like it flew by, which is probably a sign that it was a good one.  The kids did lots of camps and classes, had several playdates with friends, and spent quite a bit of time at the pool.  We had a GREAT vacation in Denver and Kansas City, and came back with a week to spare to say goodbye to summer.  Yesterday we drove an hour to a big beach on the river.  It was so windy there were whitecaps!  I enjoyed sitting in the shade, chatting with my friend and holding her baby, while Lance played and played and played with the kids. This morning, it was hard to roll out of bed at 6:30.  The kids had beaten me up, and were anxious to put on their carefully selected first-day outfits.  We scurried out the door at 7:30, stopped for bagels on the way, and actually found a parking spot amongst the first-day madness.   I hugged the kids, listened to their first-day song, and watched them enter the building for another y

A Belated Birthday Post

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We celebrated two birthdays in our family this summer.  Fisher turned 9 and Claire turned 7; both in June.  I feel badly I am so behind with my posting of our summer, and wanted to make sure to document these important events Birthday #1:  Fisher turns 9  Fisher at 9: Weight: ~69 pounds Height:  ~53 inches Favorite things to do:  Play video games (Minecraft is his new fave), read Harry Potter, draw monsters, play with his friends, participating in team sports Talents:  He is proving to be a talented young pianist, and loves to sing.  He is very bright in math. Gifts:  He is naturally kind and empathetic.  He loves nature and animals and is very tender-hearted concerning them. Foods:  SPICY things.  He likes to add hot sauce to his meat and eggs.  He loves all fruit and sweets. He is passionate about seafood. Birthday Meal:  Coconut shrimp, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, fruit For Fisher's friend party, we had like 10 boys over for supper and field games in the mid

Garden Meals

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I am so happy that produce from my garden is now dictating what shows up on my plate.  Last night we had eggplant parmesan and tonight we had this: Tex Mex Stuffed peppers:  Onion, taco meat, black beans, brown rice and cheese.  Top with sour cream, tomato and cilantro. A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the unseasonably cool weather to make chilli using my first green pepper.  Marinated cucumbers and roasted egg plant rounded out the meal. Basil!  I scored a slighly broken-but-free food processor and was amazed at how quickly it whipped up a big batch of pesto. My first eggplant- It is so much fun to grow something new.  Before this summer, I had no idea what an egg plant plant looked like, or how they formed.  Every day, Claire goes out to "check on the egg plants."  :)

Feeling Productive...

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If you ever want to feel productive... Clean the windows on your front door!

Testing....

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Wow... It's been a long time since I have posted and I blame it on technology.  I got an iPad a few weeks ago and have been trying to figure out how to make my photos jive between devices, etc.  below are a few pics from my garden almost 2 weeks ago... Everything has pretty much gotten bigger since then.  I have a ton of tomatoes but they are all green!  I counted 30 on one plant!  I am convinced they will all ripen during our upcoming 10 day vacation and I am going to miss out big time!  I am very excited about the 3 beautiful egg plants that are nearly ready to harvest.  This is a new crop for me and I am excited to experiment with it, I spy some green tomatoes

A Happy Fourth

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“The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” –  John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776 Here's a few pics of our wonderful Fourth of July.  Lance got to golf in a tournament with his friend, father and brother-in-law.  The kids and I went to our towns (kind of pathetic) parade (it was a parade, and that was enough).  Then we hosted some family for a BYOM grill out.  How fun. Three little girls, playing babies on a blanket And then there were two... Sour Cherry Pie with a lattice crust Topped with homemade ice cream Enjoyed by all, big and small A little merriment on the lawn with those we love And at dusk, fireworks with Daddy on the drive He's hooked.

Inside.

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Today we enjoyed an afternoon INside.  We've had such a whirlwind of a June, that July is looking like a whole MONTH of relaxation compared to its predecessor.  As if on cue, the a thunderstorm rolled through while I was in the middle of a coffe-drinking, laundry folding, bread baking afternoon.   Here are a few things that made me smile INside today: Little flip-flops by the front door An abundance of fresh cherries to eat as a go about my day Taking time to paint a pretty picture with my little girl Fresh baked bread with homemade jam.

Bedtime= Bad News

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 We've had some bedtime woes of late.  The two girls (who share a room and bunk beds) have been really trying our patience.  The other day, they earned 3 stars for good bedtime behavior and an ice cream treat