Our Clock

Pistachio-Basil Pesto

For those of you that have basil plants.  I think next time I'll double the recipe if I have enough basil.  I'm using up the basil before it gets cold and dies!  By the way, I'm so excited... last night I ordered bottles for my homemade vanilla extract and I'm going to order custom stickers to go on as labels!

2 garlic cloves (if you like garlic... add more like I did)
1/2 C shelled pistachios
2 C loosely packed basil
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I used Romano)

1.  Place garlic in food processor; pulse until chopped.  Add pistachios, basil, lemon juice and salt; pulse until nuts are finely chopped.  Add olive oil gradually through food chute and process until well combined.  Add cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times.  Makes about 1 C.  I also added a little water to mine because I wanted it a runnier consistency.  Pesto is great on tomato sandwiches (Ben had last night) or pizza or with pasta.  A little goes a long way.  I froze this in an ice cube tray to use later in winter.

Meal Plan

Cabbage rolls, green beans
grilled shrimp and bell peppers, brown rice
zucchini boats, salad
seasoned chicken, sweet potatoes or broccoli
dal makani mix, chipati
crepes, fruit salad

*pistachio-basil pesto
*hummus

It's beginning to be cooler weather here and so I'm using up my basil before it gets too cold.  I can freeze this pesto in ice cube trays and use whenever.  Hummus is just good to have around this house.  Everyone likes it very much.

Memorial Day and Memories

Ben and the kids.

We went to see Ben's Grandparents this weekend out at the farm and they had some fruit outside and LOADS of butterflies.  We talked about how the butterflies could smell the fruit.  I'm going to have to look that up!

Here's Grandpa seeing how his hat would fit Zeke.

The ladies and sleeping Zeke.

You can always depend on Grandma to bring fireworks.

Me, Beki and Gwen.  So far I'm lost 17lbs.  Got a ways to go, but it's a start!

Gwen and her friend Katie Beth.

Grandma gave me a cookbook and I was greatly disturbed by some of the recipes in there.  Like this page... squirrel pot pie followed by possum.  Um... if you click on the photo you can find out to cook a possum.  NOT for the weak of stomach.  YUCK!

Just Stuff

This is a cucumber we picked from our garden.  I know... pathetic.  Gwen brought it in to show daddy and took a big bite out of it.  She thought it was pretty funny.

Today we had a few of Gwen's friends over to play.  They all were interested in watching her sit on the potty. HA!

Gwen's Room Before and After and Zeke

I thought I'd do a series of before and afters that we've done in our house.  This is what Gwen's room looked like prior to us moving in.

This is after.  I recently put up the corkboard and floating shelf with Gwen's name on it.  Is she a cutie or WHAT?

This will one day be her bed.

I've finally put some toys and books in her room.  Before I didn't do that because she'd get out of bed and read instead of sleep.

Zeke is now doing this tongue thing all the time.  I think it's absolutely adorable.  He is also moving his head side to side and laughing.  I think he might be funny too like Gwen.  I'm really looking forward to the laughs I get from those two.

Before and After- The Bedroom

This is a picture of our master bedroom before we moved in.  I wasn't huge on the tartan curtains and even less of a fan of the popcorn ceiling and brown trim.  So... we got to work on this room.  It always takes SO LONG for home improvements... especially with two little ones running around.

We still need to modernize our bathroom...but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Here's some chairs we were given.

I like the dark color.  We are debating putting up the white curtains I have or not.  The bedspread I thought was a king... hum... it might be for a queen.  But IT'LL DO! :)

Yes, we sleep on a mattress on the floor.  Given to us.  The side tables?  Given to us... bedspread?  given to us... the only thing you see in here that we actually bought are the lamps and paint on the walls.  :)  Oh, and the house too.

One day we dream of putting in a snazzy bed like this in there.  BUT since we just bought a furnace/AC and we have windows and siding to do... well... that will be a while.  But I can always look at the picture.  I figure with our kids being young that basically everything we currently have will be destroyed in the process of them growing up.

Quotes That Inspire

Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself. - John MacNoughton

Spread love everywhere you go:  First of all in your own house... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting. - Mother Teresa

Blessed are those that can give without remembering and take without forgetting.  - Elizabeth Bibesco

Making the decision to have a child-- it's momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. - Elizabeth Stone

Quick

I made these the other day.  They are mini breakfast pies.  I made apple and berry ones to freeze.  Here's what Gwen was doing.

She spilled crackers all over the floor...but she didn't mind.  She's looking big don't ya think?

Our floor is so clean you could eat off of it!  Right Gwen?

We Speak To Nations

I'm preparing this song for Sunday and after listening to it several times, I'm into it.  See what you think.

Meal Plan

BLTs (turkey bacon), potato skillet, green beans
baked blueberry and peach oatmeal
dilly salmon patties, salad, broccoli fritters
moroccan chicken breasts, brown rice, peas
Homemade fish sticks, salad

Touch A Truck

Yesterday we went to an event called Touch a Truck.  Admission was free, but they asked that you bring a food donation to Harvesters, a food donation place for the poor.  It took some convincing, but Gwen finally got on the bus.  Here she is with Ben waving.

They had all kinds of trucks... garbage trucks, police cars, combines, ambulances.. you name it.

This is Zeke deciding if he's going to drive one of these trucks one day.

Gwen's "thumbs up"

She loved seeing a puppy there at the Wayside Waifs dog shelter truck.  She eventually will probably want one.  I say, keep dreaming!

Remarkable

Sitting Up

Here's gorgeous displaying his new trick... sitting up.  Of course, he falls over after a minute or so, but he's just so proud of himself and irresistibly cute!

Garden Talk and Saturdays

It is now butternut squash time at our house.  I'm going to make baby food out of it.  I was going to let them get a little bigger, but Ben accidentally picked them while mowing. :)  I think it will be fine.  I'm FINALLY getting some tomatoes too, but not like last year.  I'm learning something new every year about gardening.  I'm convinced that you have to garden for a long time to figure stuff out unless you've done it in your childhood years.  Last year's crop was tomatoes... wonderful tomatoes I had last year.  This year is the year of squash.  My carrots are pathetic, my cucumbers look like little mutant fingers (by the way, my neighbor has cucumbers the size of your arm), my green beans are in the middle of thousands of weeds and when I pick them there are about enough to hold in one hand.  You gonna boil some water for about 10 beans???  My cantaloupes keep getting eaten by bugs.  Oh, and the strawberries were good this year.  So... it's the year of strawberries and squash.  Next year I'm going to get some great stuff... you just watch!!

Here's Ben and Gwen playing around last Saturday morning.

Meal Plan

sloppy joes, salad
tilapia, salad, garlic cauliflower
mesquite turkey burgers, potato smashers, asparagus
soup-bowl cabbage rolls
Mom's meat loaf, veggies
tacos

Whatcha Doin'?

We've been bringing down the popcorn ceiling and painting our bedroom lately.  Home improvements with two little ones can be quite difficult.  We have had a hard time deciding on the color of our room. (see all the paint samples?)  Getting your underwear off of the floor has also been interesting.  It's a good thing Ben nor I are type A personalities that have to have everything in order all the time.  I'll update you on our progress.  

Cuteness

The Tiger's Whisker

A Korean Folk Tale that I found interesting.  I've been thinking about it all morning.

A young woman by the name of Yun Ok came one day to the house of a mountain hermit to seek his help.  The hermit was a sage of great renown and a maker of charms and magic potions.
When Yun Ok entered his house, the hermit said without raising his eyes from the fireplace into which he was looking:  "why are you here?"
Yun Ok said, "Oh, Famous Sage, I am in distress!  Make me a potion!"
"Yes, yes, make a potion!  Everyone needs potions!  Can we cure a sick world with a potion?"
"Master," Yun Ok replied, "if you do not help me, I am truly lost!"
"Well, what is your story?" the hermit said, resigned at last to listen.
"it is my husband," Yun Ok said.  "He is very dear to me.  For the past three years he has been away fighting in the wars.  Now that he has returned, he hardly speaks to me, or to anyone else.  If I speak, he doesn't seem to hear.  When he talks at all, it is roughly.  If I serve him food not to his liking, he pushes it aside and angrily leaves the room.  Sometimes when he should be working in the rice field, I see him sitting idly on top of the hill, looking toward the sea."
"Yes, so it is sometimes when young men come back from the wars," the hermit said.  "Go on."
"There is no more to tell, Learned One.  I want a potion to give my husband so that he will be loving and gentle, as he used to be."
"Ha, so simple, is it?" the hermit asked.  "A potion!  Very well, come back in three days and I will tell you what we shall need for such a potion."
Three days later, Yun Ok returned to the home of the mountain sage.  "I have looked into it," he told her.  "Your potion can be made.  But the most essential ingredient is the whisker of a living tiger.  Bring me this whisker and I will give you what you need."
"The whisker of a living tiger!" Yun Ok said.  "How could I possibly get it?"
"If the potion is important enough, you will succeed," the hermit said.  He turned his head away, not wishing to talk any more.
Yun Ok went home.  She thought a great deal about how she would get the tiger's whisker.  Then one night when her husband was asleep, she crept from her house with a bowl of rice and meat sauce in her hand.  She went to the place on the mountainside where the tiger was known to live.  Standing far off from the tiger's cave, she held out the bowl of food, calling the tiger to come and eat.  The tiger did not come.
The next night Yun Ok went again, this time a little bit closer.  Again she offered a bowl of food.  Every night Yun Ok went to the mountain, each time a few steps nearer the tiger's cave than the night before.  Little by little, the tiger grew accustomed to seeing her there.
One night Yun Ok approached to within a stone's throw of the tiger's cave.  This time the tiger came a few steps toward her and stopped.  The two of them stood looking at one another in the moonlight.  It happened again the following night, and this time they were so close that Yun Ok could talk to the tiger in a soft, soothing voice.  The next night, after looking carefully into Yun Ok's eyes, the tiger ate the food that she held out for him.  After that when Yun Ok came in the night, she found the tiger waiting for her on the trail.  When the tiger had eaten, Yun Ok could gently rub his head with her hand.  Nearly six months had passed since the night of her first visit.  At last one night, after caressing the animal's head, Yun Ok said, "Oh, Tiger, generous animal, I must have one of your whiskers.  Do not be angry with me!"
And she snipped off one of the whiskers.
The tiger did not become angry, as she had feared he might.  Yun Ok went down the trail, not walking but running, with the whisker clutched tightly in her hand.
The next morning she was at the mountain hermit's house just as the sun was rising from the sea.  "Oh Famous One!" she cried, "I have it!  I have the tiger's whisker!  Now you can make me the potion you promised so that my husband will be loving and gentle again!"
The hermit took the whisker and examined it.  Satisfied that it had really come from a tiger, he leaned forward and dropped it into the fire that burned in his fireplace.
"Oh sir!" the young woman called in anguish.  "What have you done with it!"
"Tell me how you obtained it, " the hermit said.
"Why, I went to the mountain each night with a little bowl of food.  At first I stood afar, and I came a little closer each time, gaining the tiger's confidence.  I spoke gently and soothingly to him, to make him understand I wished him only good.  I was patient.  Each night I brought him food, knowing that he would not eat.  But I did not give up.  I came again and again.  I never spoke harshly.  I never reproached him.  And at last one night he took a few steps toward me.  A time came when he would meet me on the trail and eat out of the bowl that I held in my hands.  I rubbed his head, and he made happy sounds in his throat.  Only after that did I take the whisker."
"Yes, yes," the hermit said, "you tamed the tiger and won his confidence and love."
"But you have thrown the whisker in the fire!" Yun Ok cried.  "It is all for nothing!"
"No, I do not think it is all for nothing," the hermit said.  "The whisker is no longer needed.  Yun Ok, let me ask you, is a man more vicious than a tiger?  Is he less responsive to kindness and understanding?  If you can win the love and confidence of a wild and blood-thirsty animal by gentleness and patience, surely you can do the same with your husband?"
Hearing this, Yun Ok stood speechless for a moment.  Then she went down the trail, turning over in her mind the truth she had learned in the house of the mountain hermit.

Mexican Turkey Meatballs

OK, seriously, these are THE BOMB!!  You must make them.

1/2 C egg substitute
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 C crushed cornflakes
1 C shredded lowfat Mexican cheese blend
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb ground chicken or turkey (I used turkey)

Combine it all and shape into balls on a sprayed baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 15 min, turning occasionally.  Serve with salsa if you want.