You Will Never Believe This

 Pat Gray and his wife, Jackie, were in our temple session!

Glenn Beck, Tania, and Alex Boye....you will never believe the story I have to tell!

Menu Monday

Let's see if I follow my menu this week...(last week I was lazy).


Monday -Creamy Tomato Pasta, bread, edamame

Tuesday - dinner out at my favorite pizza place - Flying Pie

Wednesday -Quinoa Veggie Burgers, tater tots, veggie, smoothie

Thursday - Texas Chicken with Lime Butter,  brown rice, salad, grilled zucchini

Friday - Grilled Chicken Pita, hummus/chips, veggie


Other stuff:
Zucchini Bread

What to do with my apricots?

Apricot Tart

I discovered that I have apricots that will be ready soon.  They are a surprise to me because last year the tree didn't bear any fruit.  Here are some things I've been thinking about making.

 Fruit Leather

 Apricot Grunt

 Apricot Jam

Seared Chicken with Apricot Sauce

Apricot Syrup

APRICOT BASIL DRESSING:  makes 1 cup
    1.     Combine 2 fresh, ripe apricots (pitted), 2 tbsp white wine vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar in blender; whirl until blended.
    2.     With blender running, slowly add 1/4 cup vegetable oil until thick and smooth.
    3.     Stir in 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil.

Wake Up Porter!

Porter hasn't been getting up on time (by 7:00am), so I warned him that if he doesn't get up that we will get him up.  He wasn't too happy when we barged in with a spray bottle, harmonica and video recorder.  It was enough to get him waking up on his own the following two days after this incident.  So far so good!  I know kids like to sleep in during the summer.  This is sleeping in for us because during the school year they are up at 5:30 am.  I'm hoping we are instilling some good habits for college and the mission field.

Ice-Cream and Popsicles

Yesterday we hit 108 degrees and today is supposed to be 102!  I guess these hot temperatures are getting me ready for my trip to Texas for Restoring Love.  So what's better than some homemade ice-cream or popsicles.  Check out this post from the Brown Eyed Baker's blog for 30 great recipes.  Which one should I try today (I have a stockpile of cream in the fridge)?

Plus check my Pinterest board "Popsicles and Frozen Treats" for more chilled goodies.

Menu Monday

I'm planning my meals around the hot weather - wow, I'm not ready for the 100 degree weather! 

Monday - Sloppy Joe's (frozen), veggies, watermelon

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Crockpot BBQ Chicken, Baked Potato (in crockpot), veggie, fruit smoothie

Thursday - Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry, brown rice, edamame

Friday - Southwestern Grilled Chicken with Chipotle Cream Sauce (scroll down post to find it - from Pioneer Woman), brown rice, salad

Saturday - Monster BLTs (from Pioneer Woman), fruit smoothie, pork-n-beans

You'll Never Guess: More Goats!

Well it all started out with me looking at craigslist postings for pygmy goats.  I saw one  out here in the country and thought it was precious, actually I mistook it for a baby donkey (call my crazy!).  As I widened my search for goats, I discovered that the breeder whom we bought our fainting goats from was selling his whole herd.  My first thoughts were "No, he can't do this because we were planning on breeding two of our females with his billy goat this fall."  So I called him up and we drove to his house to see the goats.  He was glad that we found him because he didn't have our contact information to let us know about his decision to sell them all.  He offered the whole herd for $600, which was a great deal considering the billy goat was priced at $300 alone.  Of course, I thought that was a steal, so we bought the whole kit and kaboodle and now have seven more goats to bring home, including the billy goat, a mother with her three 2 1/2 week old females, another mother (3yrs old), and an older girl (12 yrs old that is done breeding).   We haven't brought them home yet because we need to make a separate area for the billy goat.  Wait until you meet him - he looks very wise (and he smells a bit)!

Aren't the babies precious?  It was love at first sight for the girls and me.

Bye Fudge

 Fudge goes to a new home.

As Paul was pulling out of the driveway with Fudge in the horse trailer, the girl alpacas lined up at the fence to say their goodbyes.  I think they were sad to see him go.  After a hot ride, Fudge was introduced to his new home where he will be the protector of two goats.  We were all nervous how he would act - but he seemed to be nice to them.  He was getting over protective here and not allowing anyone to come into the pasture without a confrontation.  Now we feel safe letting the kids in the pasture to play with the goats.

Frog Catch & Release

The boys caught this frog at Camel's Back Park on Tuesday.  We released this cutie and a few tadpoles in a little pool of water just down the hill from us.  I'm sure the farmer will thank us!

First Thursday

We had a girls night out to First Thursday - Olivia, Vivian, Tisha, and me.  We stopped by the Art Museum to look around and watch the ballet dancers perform.  It was all very weird to me - I guess I don't appreciate all types of art.  When we were browsing through the museum, Vivian said "What are we supposed to do here?"  I would never pay a dime to go...it's free on first Thursday.  I caught a picture of some weird cave men before I was politely told not to take pictures...now do you call that art?

Then we walked around downtown and enjoyed some chocolate sampling and bought some flavored peanuts, Smoke Jumpers and Afterburners (great flavors).  Then we started hunting for Waldo, who is hidden in several downtown shops!  We got sidetracked at Zeppole's and enjoyed a sandwich (we found a great deal- whole sandwiches are only $2.50 after 4pm). 

Dryer Mishap

A few nights ago, I went to bed after turning on the dryer.  The bad thing was that it ran all night long because I turned it to the very end of a cycle and it didn't engage the timer.  By morning the dryer was no longer heating (I'm grateful that nothing worse happened), so now I'm not sure what part needs replaced or how much it will cost.  So for the last couple batches of laundry I have been drying them on this rack.  I'm grateful for this little rickety rack, but wish that I had my working dryer. 

Happy 4th

We had a great 4th celebrating with friends and family.  We feasted on lots of yummy food:  hot dogs, hamburgers, spicy honey chicken legs, broccoli  salad, watermelon, coleslaw, mini apple pies (made by Vivian and me), cherries, potato salad, chips and Chad's famous guacamole, potato chips, layered red/white/blue jello, Jody's raspberry pie (delicious), a red/white/blue cake, ice-cream and probably more!  The guys had fun shooting guns and playing bocce.  We all had a good time.  The night ended by watching the fireworks over the Speedway.

I am grateful for the United States of America; I'm proud to be an American and thankful for the freedoms we enjoy.

Meet Ivy the Gerbil

Meet Olivia's new gerbil, Ivy in her fancy hat!  She has brought some happiness and joy to Vivian's gerbil, Chica.  They are becoming good friends.  Ivy is a fast little lady, when she gets loose she is hard to catch!  The girls are being even more careful to keep their bedroom door closed so that Smokey doesn't find them.  These little things are $15 a pop!

40 Mixes & Bread

 

Olivia made up 40 mixes individually packaged meals today!  She made 10 Tortilla Soup mixes, 10 Chicken Noodle Soup mixes, 10 Chili mixes, and 10 pumpkin quinoa pancake mixes!  For every 10 mixes, I paid her $1.00 (she is earning money for another gerbil). I'm loving all this kitchen help.

Tortilla Soup Mix & Chicken Noodle Soup Mix

 

Vivian is learning how to use the bread-maker.  The first attempt she confused the sugar and flour.  Then the second attempt the salt was doubled.  Fortunately she caught her mistakes before they were baked, so we just dumped it and started over.  The third time was a success!  I hope she makes us lots of yummy bread - way to go Vivian.

Give Me a Young Man Who Can...

One of my current joys and challenges is teaching the adult Gospel Doctrine class.  It is a challenge because I teach every week, so it keeps me constantly on my toes trying to keep my teaching style fresh and interesting, while at the same time relying on the spirit to guide my teaching.  After spending several hours preparing, I hope that I can be open to the promptings so that the lesson can be what the class needs to learn, rather than where I want to take the discussion.  This experience is teaching me how to be vulnerable, how to open up and share my feelings with others, how to take charge of a classroom while gaining their respect, how to utilize various methods of teaching, and truly how to dig into the scriptures and make them apply to our life.  I have learned that if I prepare myself to the best that I can, then the rest is up to the spirit.  Paul continues to remind me that it's not about me - how I feel about how the lesson went.  I'm an instrument in His hands.

 This quote was one of my favorites from today's lesson:

President Benson said,  ”We love all of our missionaries who are serving the Lord full time in the mission field. But there is a difference in missionaries. Some are better prepared to serve the Lord the first month in the mission field than some who are returning home after twenty four months. We want young men entering the mission field who can enter the mission field “on the run,” who have the faith, born of personal righteousness and clean living, that they can have a great and productive mission. 

We want missionaries who have the kind of faith that Wilford Woodruff and Heber C. Kimball had, each bringing hundreds and thousands of souls into the waters of baptism Give me a young man who has kept himself morally clean and has faithfully attended his Church meetings. Give me a young man who has magnified his priesthood and has earned his Duty to God Award and is an Eagle Scout. Give me a young man who is a seminary graduate and has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me such a young man and I will give you a young man who can perform miracles for the Lord in the mission field and throughout his life” (CR April 1986, Ensign16 [May 1986]: pp. 44,45).

One of Olivia's Favorites: Tortilla Soup

Today the girls made dinner, a very simple one that everyone enjoyed.  Olivia made a tortilla soup (we finally got the recipe from grandma Luanne Clark) that she has been craving for a long time.  And Vivian made bread in the breakmaker - one of my favorite summer appliances along with the crockpot.  Click here for the soup recipe, on my sisters' recipe blog!

All the kids are to make 10 recipes in the kitchen (cooking is one their summer projects).  Olivia plans on making up a bunch of these soup mixes so we have them on hand.  I love all the help in the kitchen.

I told the boys that if they learn how to make bread in the breadmaker, that I will buy them one for college.  Why didn't I think of one when I was in college?