Zoe's graduation

My computer battery is about to die and my feet are so sore from two days of being on them that I'm not about to go in search of my cord.  I'll update with more details tomorrow, but for now, here are some pictures of Zoe's special day.  We're so proud of her and grateful for the wonderful daughter that she is.  I love her so much.  

weekly menu

Here's our menu for the week.  Our baskets were pretty typical, except for getting butternut squash in the spring, and fava beans.  I had fun figuring out what to do with all this interesting stuff.  ;o)

Tuesday's meal is pretty boring because I'll be in Billings with Maizie so she can get her bottom braces on, and I needed something that Curtis or one of the kids can throw together.  Not that Curtis shies away from tough recipes, but I know what my afternoons are like and he'll be doing all his work plus mine, so I wanted to keep it easy.

Monday's meal is something I'm just sort of throwing together, but I'm using this recipe for the vinaigrette.  I'll blanch the favas, coarsely chop the peppers, cool the cooked pasta and toss it all together.  

Thai curry with lentils

Roasted butternut squash alfredo (I'm really looking forward to this one.  People say it's amazing!)

Last week

I haven't written anything of any substance in a long time.  I feel badly because this is supposed to serve as something of a journal for me, but we have just been so busy!  Over the next two weeks we have graduation and Zoe's and her friend Q's open house, Jack and Cora's baptism, a dance recital, and Thalia's sealing/my birthday.  We get a short break and then we'll be traveling to Utah for my father-in-law's wedding.  It will be a wonderful time, but I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the summer playing, relaxing, and doing some sumer school.  The only formal activities we have going on are baseball, gymnastics and piano.

Anyway, last week was pretty fun and eventful.  Here are some photos.

Joshua with Elder Church, who is also from our town.  He'll be coming back in August.

Joshua's Mother's Day gift to me, which I LOVE!

Cora at her school play

Maizie with her top braces on.  Bottoms come on Tuesday.

Maizie playing the bells at her 5th grade band concert.

Jack finally got to go out for his birthday dinner with us.  I was sick the previous week.

Part of Curtis' new Billings office.  Almost ready to open!

Ethan playing Big Timber in Billings

Screen shots from our Mother's Day Skype call with Joshua

Love that boy!

weekly menu

Here's my list of produce from today.  The organic baskets were great, and I also got the guacamole pack and a flat of strawberries.

cherry tomatoes

baby lettuce heads

green beans

broccoli

purple kale

majoram

thyme

russet potatoes

arugula

green onion

onions

garlic

cilantro

jalapeños 

apples

strawberries (in the basket and the flat)

avocados

lemons

limes

I forgot to put the green beans on the menu, but I'll roast them and serve them instead of the kale chips on Thursday.  We'll have the kale chips for snacks.  :o)

The pulled "pork" sandwiches are super easy and so yummy!  You just soak some soy curls in warm water for about 10 minutes, drain, and then dump them into a crock pot.  Then dump in a bottle or two of barbecue sauce and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve on hamburger buns.

The curry recipe can be found here.  

Depending on how much time I have on Thursday, I may make my own chili or will use Amy's canned chili.  

Amazing sugar cookies!

I came across a recipe for Swig sugar cookies on Facebook last week and decided to veganize them.  Oh my gosh they were amazing!  I wanted to post the recipe with my modifications, but the woman who posted it asked that it not be copied.  So, you can find the original recipe here, and just know that I used vegan butter, sour cream, egg replacer and milk.  Oh, and I used yellow food coloring rather than red.

the week in review :)

Cora and Thalia have continued to recover from their surgeries and were able to go back to school on Wednesday.  They were both very excited to get back into their normal routines, but it was kind of bittersweet for me to have them go.  I had gotten used to having them around during the day.

Maizie went to the orthodontist on Thursday after losing her last baby tooth only the night before, and was told she can start her braces any time.  I'll be scheduling her appointment on Monday.  She'll be the last to get braces for a while because we have to finish paying for Jonah and Ethan's before we can add another.

Thursday was also the 3-month anniversary of my mom's death.  I miss her so much.

On Friday, Zoe got into a car wreck and totaled our little white Saturn.  Thankfully, she and the other couple involved were OK, but it's going to be hard for us to be without this car.  It was the car that was supposed to be going with Joshua to BYU after his mission.  There's no room in the budget for a replacement, plus our insurance will go up, so we're just going to have to make due for now.

Friday was really a bummer day, but Curtis and I went out with some friends to plan Zoe's and their son's joint graduation party, and then Curtis and I went to volunteer at Bountiful Baskets.  We had a really good time and it was just what we needed to take our minds off the events of the day.

Here are a few pictures:

Thalia, after Zoe brought some goodies to the hospital

Thalia back at school

Our Saturn :o(

weekly menu

This is the menu for the coming week.  A bunch of us (including me) are sick with some awful stomach bug, so there's nothing planned for today.  I've had a cup of white rice in the last 24 hours.  ;)

Creamy black bean taquitos (We make these all the time and they are yummy!)
Warm fingerling potato salad (I'm adding broccoli and tempeh bacon to make it more of a main dish.)
Cheesy mushroom quinoa (I chose this because it will use up my kale, mushrooms and bokchoy, plus it sounds tasty!)

Here's what we got from Bountiful Baskets this week, and there are a few other things I already had on hand:


oranges - lunch
mandarin oranges - snacks
mangoes (small and large) - snacks, later
strawberries - lunch
watermelon - lunch
pineapple - Tuesday
grapes - lunch
bananas - later

bok choy - Wednesday
green peppers - lunch
kale - Wednesday
green onions - Tuesday
red potatoes - later
rainbow carrots - Thursday
baby carrots - lunch
snow peas - lunch
mushrooms - Wednesday
broccoli - lunch and Tuesday
spinach - Thursday
romaine lettuce - Thursday
green leaf lettuce - Thursday
asparagus - Wednesday
tomatoes - later
roma tomatoes -Thursday