So I opted not to post anything in February just to keep myself from complaining but it's march now and I am thrilled. Horray for march. Expect posts. Lots of them. I can't even express how happy I am to be out of February even if I am surrounded by snow... Seriously. I will put up some pictures. The snow in the front of our house is higher than our 1 ton truck!

Keep your Eye(s) on the prize

It is February.

THE

most

Depressing

month

of

the

year.

The novelty of winter is wearing,

Christmas has long since past,

new years resolutions mostly put away,

and my birthday.... gone.

Not much to look forward to in February.

I guess there are those who celebrate Valentine's day....

NOt us though.

We do make a cake.

Cause who doesn't like cake?

and seriously it is a Perfect reason to have cake.

So I have cake to look forward to and then

march much of the same...

dusty looks forward to the soda bread.

April???

ahhhhh April.

Lovely winter is over and spring has begun April.

The season of purples and greens and yellows.

Daffoldills and tulips.

Easter.

and The Lake season.

It's hard to believe that in 7 more weeks I will be parked somewhere not at home CAMPING.

If you can call what I do camping....

7 more weeks.

I think I might have to start my to-do list.

ps I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my itouch.

the Earth has never been so happy that my lists have gone paperless.

Let a Sleeping dog er Woolf lay

Lucy is the funniest sleeper.

She HATES going to sleep so she fights it until she passes out somewhere.

We find her in the oddest positions or places.

She cracks me up.

Penny.

She loves to sleep in her Jolly Jumper.

She'll lull off and be completely out but then all of sudden she'll start to jump again

(still completely asleep). Or she twitches her leg to rock. She's a funny little girl.

An update. Sometimes I forget that people just like a straight up update. Life is pretty darn good. The whole "meatless" (using the term super lightly) is going really well. It's not as hard as I thought, mind you there are days I just want a big ol' hamburger. But it certainly makes red meat days special. It has helPed out the budget A LOT. It's crazy. And we even eat quite a bit of game (hunting.... A lOt of it... One good thing that comes out of all the "man-cations") Hmmmm school... Also easier than I thought. We've done a really good job sticking to the schedule. Ellie really loves it. In a moment of "uncertainty" I asked Ellie if she wanted to go to school with the other kids but she very confidently told me that she loved being at home with me and Lucy. She is doing really well and is reading on her own. She loves doing math. She's confident in her adding and printing. Lucy is also doing really well. She is determined to "keep up" with Ellie. Dusty is the same. He loves his new snowblOwer and has spent his now "spare" time from shoveling digging out snow caves with tue girls. Our yard is full of tunnels and holes. As for me, I am busy doing what I normally do. I am really excited with a new project I've been workIng on. I along with a group of wOmen are going to be knitting and crocheting blankets to donate. I am really looking forward to it and I've been planning it for a long time so I'm glad that it's actually happening. That's about it. Life is simple and it's awesome.

Meal Plan Week 2

Okay so I am a TERRIBLE meal planner. I don't plan meals. Well I do but only supper. Who plans breakfast???(well except for you terribly organized moms who I'm pretty sure do it just to make the rest of us look even more unorganized than we already are....) so in Kristin's world of meal planning we only plan supper.

Monday Night supper- Vegetable Pizza (and I must say we do pizza a lot. and this was a REALLY good one) I shoulda taken a picture but I was like, "It's pizza, who hasn't seen a pizza?!?" but I shoulda and I shoulda written it down. Maybe next week. Maybe tonight. I am hungry. and pizza is delish. Especially at night in the quiet while the kids are sleeping and I am blogging. Too bad I'm in my Jammies and feeling particularly lazy.

Tuesday Supper- Beans and Cornbread. Emphasis on the cornbread. YUM.

Wednesday- Chicken Cesar Salad

Thursday- Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, and peas and gravy.

Friday- Tomato Artichoke Pasta

Saturday- Indian (not so politically correct) Tacos (with salsa chicken instead of beef)

Sunday- Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato Wedges and Veggies and dip.

A year in the life Of

Today is my birthday and since it's pretty close to New Year's I usually spend my birthday reflecting on the year before and the one before me. Last Year was a good year for me. The last two have been really great. There have been some really great things happen to me in regards to my physical environment and also some really great things emotionally and spiritually.

This last year's highlight would of been Penny.
I was content with having two little girls but when we found out that we were expecting another baby it felt right. I'm glad she wasn't planned but a very pleasant surprise. We kept her a secret for a quite a long time (almost 25 weeks) and cherished the quiet excitement in our family. Her birth in the spring gave me an opportunity to know myself in ways that only a crisis can. It was confirmed that my strength is undeniable. I am very good in a crisis. Good in the kind of way that I am the one you want with you. I will hold it together. I am clear headed and focused. I learned that my beliefs are the core of my being. I know the plan of salvation is real. I have always loved my sisters but I learned that I NEED my sisters. I will be forever grateful for them ignoring my instruction to stay away. There was a very long night spent as they were getting ready to transport Penny. My mom and Dusty were spending time with the transport team trying to get all the information together. My sisters sat in my hospital room. Just sat. And after the hospital, Penny has taught me a great number of things this year. Things I didn't think that after having two children I would have to learn. I learned that it doesn't matter what you do, some babies just don't like to sleep. I remember one time in my life wanting to feel like I was the one my babies wanted. Both Ellie and Lucy loved me and liked to cuddle but they were both pretty content to be passed off or spend time by themselves. I learned to be careful what to wish for. After 8 months of having my house in chaos that there ARE more important things than a clean house. But I have also learned to appreciate a clean house. The last month with Penny has seen great changes (crawling) and I actually can get to things like my desk.... and it's lovely.

This year we also bought a camping trailer. We LOVE it. I love it. I have a countdown for spring. Our little family had such a great time last year camping. I left in June and didn't come home until October. Awesome.

The end of last year also saw all the framing and drywalling in our basement. Pretty exciting.

The last couple of years I have become my own woman. I feel long past my teenage no responsibility discovering personality traits time in my life. I feel like the the 20year old something of college and ideologies has been somewhat humbled with the word Compromise that comes with marriage and children. I feel like the clueless zombie stage of motherhood (which was never really my thing) has dissipated and I am left feeling like. I know who I am. I am fine with who I am. I would even go so far to say I like who I am. I feel a little unapologetic and strong. I also know that there is a lot of life in front of me but the woman right now says, "Bring it on."

Menu plan January 3-8th

So I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of the meals I've cooked so that if I'm stuck for a dinner idea one night I can just look and wala inspiration.

Saturday
B- eggs and toast
L- lasagna
S- greek chicken roasted in peppers, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and Greek seasoning, sweet potatoe fries, and Greek salad

Friday
B- omelete
L- meatless taco salad
S- vegetarian lasagna

Thursday
B- granola, yogurt, and peaches
L- (we went out for lunch)
S- shepards pie with peanut and pretzel salad

Wednesday
B- toast
L- fish, rice, and stirfry veggies
S- sheppards pie and cesar salad

Tuesday
B- yogurt and granola and pears
L- stew
S- chick pea patties, rice, stirfry veggies

Monday
S- stew
L- grilled cheese sandwiches
B- cereal

Train Our Dragon Er dog....

So these are a little late..... better late than never though.... right?!?

Vikings at the trick or trunk or the trunk or treat or whatever the heck it was called.

"toothless and Ellie"

Oh Shepard, Where Art Thou?

Not in the field with the lambs... or traditionally in North American the cow pasture.... I found him (or her) in the Lentils.

Okay but for real even if you think I'm NUTS (which most people do at some point... but if we're being honest... who isn't?) you must give this recipe a whirl. We eat Shepard's Pie a fair bit around this house. It's usually my "go-to" meal. It's easy, comforting, and delish. So I swapped out the hamburger to try to make a quick and easy meatless meal.

A Vegetable Eating Shepard's Pie

Ingredients

1 onion

3-4 small celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic

1Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp butter

Salt

Pepper

1 can of Lentils

1/4- 1/2 cup of flour

1 1/2 cups ish Stock (vegetable, chicken, beef)
(I had homemade beef stock frozen in my freezer so that's what I used)

peas

mashed potatoes

cheese

 Directions:

1) put oil and putter in a deep skillet

2) put in (diced) onions and celery and a little salt and let them cook over medium heat until cooked (they'll turn a bit translucent)

3) add garlic and let that cook for a minute or so.

4) Add in can of lentils (drained)

Let that cook for a minute or two

 5) add flour and give it a mix. The white should be gone and you're left with a goo.

 6) slowly add your stock mixing while you pour.

7)  Once it looks like a gravy then let it cook at a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

8) Pour into casserole dish (I used a 9x13)

10) Sprinkle with peas (you could use a frozen mixed vegetable)

 11) Cover with mashed potatoes

12) cover top in grated cheese

13) put in the oven and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the top of the potatoes gets a good crust on top

14) add a bit of Parmesan cheese and waala. Dinner.



Cajun Chick Pea "Burgers"

It's been an interesting week of meals. Dusty is still "complaining" but just in good fun. It has required a bit more thought than normal but honestly, not that much extra. Dusty and the girls and I all really enjoyed these Cajun Chick Pea "burgers". I put them with some brown rice and stirfry veggies. They were super good.


http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2009/02/crispy-cajun-chickpea-cakes.html

INGREDIENTS
Makes 12

- 1 tbsp oil

- 1/4 cup diced onion

- 1/4 cup diced green peppern (I didn't have any so I didn't add any)

- 1 celery stalk, diced

- 1 280z can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

- 1 tsp thyme (I put a clove of garlic in instead)

- 1 tsp paprika

- pinch of cayenne pepper

- 1 tsp hot sauce

- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

- 2 tbsp flour

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

- salt and pepper to taste

- oil for frying


METHOD

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, and celery for 5-7 mins, until softened. Remove from heat.

2. Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but dont process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat (around 350 degrees). Shape chickpea mixture into 12 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.

So I just sauteed it and then mashed it together with a fork. They seemed fine. They stuck together just fine. Easy peasy and a quick alternative to meatballs....