What to do if you ever get put in jail~

I don't know how it happened, but tonight we got started talking about jail, me and the kids.  A great topic for brushing teeth and getting 'jamies on, right?  Sister said she would like jail so I told her that in jail, you don't ever get to do what you want.  OR go shopping.  At this point she decided she didn't ever want to go to jail.

I love the ebb and flow of  being a mom.   All the silly things that you get to talk about with your kids.   All the hundreds of ways that you can impact their lives.

We ended up talking about what to do if we ever "accidentally get put in jail." Ask God for patience, kindness, and ask God to please let you get out!  I told them the story from Acts about how God sent an Angel to get the disciples out of jail.    Sister liked this idea.  Then she showed me her imaginary unlocking jail door skills.

It was a funny conversation for sure.  But I love how all of life comes around to trusting God.  And that is what you should do if you ever get put in jail.  Trust God.  Not that you plan on getting put in jail.  Just sayin'.

~Vegan Meals for Non-vegans~ (round two)

For starters, I should up-to-speed you with my food journey.  I had a great time with my "Vegan Journey" but have decided that it is slightly misleading to continue calling myself "vegan-ish" or "almost vegan" at this point.  I have decided to call myself a "Happy Vegetarian."  It is a much clearer picture of my life.  So there you have it.  At least for now I am simply a girl, trying to eat lots of veggies, plant foods, and enjoying little chocolate or whole milk latte now and then.

So, this week, my food choice is pretty basic, but hopefully you will get a few ideas to put new spins on a old classic.  Salad!



Salad is pretty basic.  Straight forward.  Lettuce, veggies, dressing.  You can have all your chopped veggies in little bowls so that each person can pick what they want for their salad.  I add some chopped boiled eggs and some parmesan cheese for the non-vegans.  One of the things that I love about salad is that it is full of live foods and its allows for plenty of variety.




I thought I would share a few variations on salads.

Chopped Salad with black beans.  I added three tablespoons of black beans to a bowl of chopped onions, cilantro, crushed blue corn chips and pico de gallo or chunky salsa.  This is also good with corn and bell peppers added to it.  I did this on a whim, and fell in love with the intense flavor as well as the vibrant colors.  And of course, I love that it has my currant obsesions: cilantro and blue corn chips.

The other fun spin on salad I wanted to share with you is a homemade dressing.  I get so sick of all the nasty stuff that is in most salad dressing.  I'm reading the label thinking, "What is that?  What is this? What is that? Ewwww, really?  They put THAT in?  How is that even legal?"

So here it is.  I got the basic idea for this off a "Forks over Knives: Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue."  I took a ripe avocado, Seasoned it with Montreal Steak seasoning,  and added lemon juice.  For just me I use about 1/4 of the avocado and 1/4 of the lemon.  For the whole family, I use the full avocado and the full lemon.  If I'm wanting more of an Italian feel, I add just a splash of balsamic vinegar.   Sounds a little crazy, but it tastes crazy good.

This is great to use for any salad.  I really like this dressing for chop salad.  I love a good chop salad, although I sometimes add too many herbs, and then have to add more cucumber and more walnuts so all the flavor doesn't overwhelm me. 

One last thing I love about salads... Super easy clean up!

And no pans to wash!

Have a great day!  Go enjoy some sunshine.

Sick of being sick

Hi.  Life around here has been pretty interesting the last two weeks.  Josh was gone for a week on business.  While he was gone Brother was sick.  As soon as Josh got home Sister got sick.  Then I got sick.  I had it coming though: I've been eating up sugar like its going out of style.  Now I pay the price.
*Note to self:  The one thing kids love to share  is germs.*

We are so sick of being sick!  I think we have watched more Dora, Diego and Curious George in the last week then we have all year combined.  We also had a day of outdoor work.  I was hoping all that fresh air and sunshine would give us a serious health boost.  It was a nice try, but didn't really work for Bro and I.  Now we are all just resting lots and avoiding any social contact, so that no one else has to be miserable like we are.

I really wanted to share pictures I had of a new cake recipe I came up with.  It is the kind of cake that people who don't even like cake will like.  But in light of being sick and not eating any sugar right now, I decided to save it for another post.  Have a great day!

Bro sleeping.  I love how cute kids are when they are sleeping.

Sister learning how to use a saw.  I'm not really sure I want her knowing how to use one at this point, but I love seeing her work with Josh.  

Timber!

Vegan meals for non-vegans

I realize that I never officially ended my Vegan Journey series.  Maybe I will do that sometime.  For now.... 

I was reading an article on saving money, and one of their suggestions was to cut meat out of one meal a week.   The article said that by having one main meal a week that revolved around beans, nuts, and grains you could save about 6 dollars a week.  I don't know if I agree with that.  But even if it saved you 3 dollars a week it would add up to $153 a year.   Nice.  Plus add the fact that almost every straight-from-a-plant food is packed with things that make you more healthy and less sickly.

Ok, so todays vegan meal for non vegans...

Hummus wraps:

Ingredients:

~Tortillas~ 

Toasted or heated in the oven 'til slightly cruchy 

(I prefer Ezekiel/ Food for Life tortillas, but they aren't for everyone.)

~Hummus~

I even like to make my own sometimes.  It's much cheeper to make your own!

~Various Veggies & Greens~ 

Pick a few different ones each time!

Red onions

Green onions

 broccoli slaw

Thinly sliced cucumbers 

Chopped cilantro

Red bell pepper

Salad greens

Tomatoes 

(I hate the idea of tomatoes in this, but Rodrigues likes 'um.)

I'm sure there are more options, these are just my favorites!

~Crunch factor~

Almond slivers

Sunflower seeds

Tortilla chips

Heat your tortilla.  If I'm heating a bunch I throw them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 350 for a few minutes. (Maybe about five?)  If I'm just doing for me, I heat them on the "pancake pan"  for a few minutes.  Then I pick some greens and chop them! Cilantro is always a winner.

Cover a toasted tortilla with plenty of humus, put chopped greens on one side and your choice of crunch factor on the other side.  I like slivered almonds best, but sunflower seeds work in a bind.  I'm sure there are other varieties you could try.

Add some lettuce and maybe some corn chips! (I love the crunch the corn chips add!)

Fold it, or wrap it. Or mark it with a "ME."

At the end of dinner, my plate looks like a salad erupted on it.  I love it.  Look at all that healthiness!

This is one of my favorite meals.  I ate it for lunch, and as I'm looking all these yummy pictures, I'm thinking I might have it for dinner too!  It has the Husband stamp of approval.  Its great for entertaining.   Easy to clean up.  Mainly raw.

  Tryyyy it, you'll liiiiike it! 

Winter is almost over!

Winter's coming to an end.  Not that it was very extreme this year.  I keep waiting for a blizzard or a two week cold front of below zero.  I'm afraid it will happen in April or May, as thought suddenly the elements would realize that they forgot to grace us with their presence, and come back for a surprise and untimely visit.  Nonetheless, winter is coming to a close.  This week we celebrated impeding spring by having an indoor picnic.  I wish I would have thought of this earlier.  Next year we will definitely have indoor picnics throughout the winter to keep everyone sane.

We packed a basket with grapes, clementines, toast, chips, and three bottles of juice.

Old jelly jars make for great drinking glasses.  You can drink out of them, and then put the lid back on in case anyone knocks it over.  

Table maners give way to excitement.  Picnics are all about fun, right?  Or at least mainly.

This was a great opportunity to use the "Recycled Milk Jug" plates that the kids got for Christmas. (we bought them here.)  Also a great excuse to eat healthy snacky foods for lunch instead of something more mature.  Seriously, who wouldn't want this for lunch?

One of the great things about the picnic was how easy it made clean up!  No messy tables, just throw all the scraps back into the picnic basket. 

Another sign of impeding spring is Tax Returns.  Yay!  We were able to buy some lamps, pillows, end tables, and a comforter that fits our bed!  (Prior to this we had mismatched blankets that were all twin, spread over our bed in some type of blanket tetanus, and covered with one beautiful queen sized quilt.  Which meant that any time either of us turned over during the night the other one got a draft of nice cold air!)

I figured I would include a before picture of our bedroom when we moved in last year, and one of how it looks now.

BEFORE: It looks like a Chinese Buffet

Current: It feels like an expensive motel

Next step: Curtains for our large, beautiful windows.

So we don't have to go into the hall every time we want to get dressed!

Speaking of home improvement and "nesting" type things, my daughter has been nesting.  No, really.  She had me build a "nest" on her bed, and slept in it the last few days.  She informed me that she is a "birdie."  She's over it now.  She on to being obsessed with turtles.  It was cute while it lasted though.

Final cuteness.  Look at this chocolate covered cuteness!  I found this picture as I was deleting through pictures in my phone.  And had to share it, just for kicks!

Stillness

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be still?  The dishes are calling, so is Facebook. The laundry must be done and there are a hundred things you should or could be doing at any given moment. Often times I can't really even sit down to think things through without coming very close to falling asleep. I feel like a lot of this busyness comes from habit, not from necessity. Yes, I'm pretty much busy all the time. But I must choose to take moments to breathe. To stop and reflect. I need moments to pray for my children, my husband, my community. Solitude is a key to hearing the voice of God.  For me, solitude is a key part of me being sane for my children, being patient, and making rational decisions.

I'm a mom, of toddlers none the less. I find that stillness isn't the world stopping so I can have my little moment.  It is a moment where I choose not to do the dishes, while having music on, and mentally sorting through the hundred details of the day.  Instead, I choose to just do the dishes and have peace for a few moments.  It's when I take a few minutes to hold my girly before she goes to bed, instead of worrying about her getting "spoiled" and wanting me to hold her till she's fast asleep every night.  It's me leaving my phone in the other room so that I'm not checking Facebook every two minutes while we are working on school.

Stillness is found not in having two hours to go to the beach every day and journal, although that does sound lovely.  Stillness is found in taking little moments throughout the day.  Turning my eyes toward God.  Embracing the fruit of the Spirit.  Stillness is found in closing the computer, turning off pandora, and just having some "media silence."  Thinking over what God is doing in my life.  Asking God to teach me how to be a mom.  I often take a deep breath and let it out, reflecting that I am not in control of life.  (Although I do strive to maintain control within my home!)  In a breath I whisper "Oh Father, I need wisdom from heaven!  I have no idea how to raise children."

Stillness doesn't mean that my world stops spinning.  It just means that I turn my focus to the one who never shifts or changes.



Now, I'm going to close this computer and have at least one minute of stillness!

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  

It's a great day to let someone know that you love them.  Something creative, a short note, a tasty treat.  Make sure that you let someone know they are special.  It's great practice for doing the same thing every single day of your life.  Valentine's Day is just an excuse to remember to love, in case you've been forgetting lately.

I've been dying to be creative.  I haven't really sewn anything in over a year, and I don't do holiday decor very often.  So it felt great to be able to do both in the same week.  The kids and I got out the paper grocery bags.  I cut mine into a bunch of hearts.  The kids cut their's in no particular pattern.

Then we taped um to the wall.

It was inspired by this, which I found on Dana-made-it.  She always has great ideas.  

(She's also the reason I got motivated enough to look into pintrest.)

Yesterday I really was just itchin' to make something out of some old T-shirts.  So I figured out how to make flowers out of a bunch of circles.

I'm not sure I did it exactly how it's supposed to be done, but it worked out ok.

I came out with two lovely headbands.  I was so happy!  I finally broke my "non-creative" streak.

 It's Valentine's Day, and my kids are testing me in every way.  I guess that's what love is about though...  At the end of the crazy, stressful day you can still say, "I love you more than ever."  So now, before I lose my sanity, I'm going to go give them hugs and tell them I love them.  Have a great, lovely day!