Kids Coming Soon

Well I heard from my daughter out of town today.  She is getting things set up for the grandbabes to visit during  Spring break.  YIPPEEE!

So I am getting ready too.  I have kites to fly in the back yard.  Army men to explore our sand pit with.  And all of the ususal bubbles, sidewalk chalk and outside games set up on the front porch.  I am hoping that Dear Hubby makes the tee-ta-totter I want for the side yard in time.  In my office I am setting up an area just for them.  Where they can color, work puzzles and hang out with Nonnie (that's me!).  And since my office is connected to our bedroom then we can set up videos in there if needed.

Since we are going to be having a full week of fun I know I have to schedule some quiet time.  That is where videos really help out.  That way we can cuddle up, giggle and wiggle around as we watch them.  I am sure that Landon will be thrilled to see "The Adventures of Chuck & Friends".  He is a big fan of trucks.  Dear Hubby (aka Coppie) took him for a ride in the front end loader at work.  It was a thrill for Landon.  And this time we are going to see about him getting to do a lil ride in a big rig.  This will all go so well as he identifies the different trucks on the video.



The cover of the DVD is reversable so that he can color it himself too.  He will like that.  Hasbro, Inc did the video with Shout! Factory and it was released just this month.  Thanks so for them sending me the DVD to share with the grandbabes.  You can catch the show on The HUB TV channel.  The star of the show is Chuck.  He's a little dump truck with a big sense of humor and lots of energy. Chuck is always curious and has a way of dreaming big — then putting his dreams into action. He loves to go places and find out how things work, and he never backs away from anything new.  With the help of all of his friends we have 10 episodes to enjoy.  


It looks like we are going to have a great time.  

My Valentine Picks

All Things Bright and Beautiful is  a site that I have fallen in love with.  It is comprised of Cissi Wright and Melanie Galvan - a mother/daughter team of jewelry designers and crafters.  And they have been so kind as to show off some of their goodies with me. 


To compliment their line of handcrafted jewelry, they also keep a look out for exquisite objects like ornaments, decorative pillows, purses, jewelry boxes and other items that meet their high standards for beauty and quality. Additionally, they can perform small jewelry repairs to local customers (Austin  Texas area).


ATB&B are excited to brighten your world up with their beautiful products!  I want to share my favorites that I want to use as Valentine day gifts.


For Granny M who  loves dangled earrings and beautiful workmanship, I picked out the:

Cloisonne Feather Earrings

The rich details in these cloisonne earrings make them both primitive and elegant. Designed by Melanie Galvan.  These are only $13.00 for the pair so it is a very affordable gift. 

I am a major pearl necklace fan.  And was thrilled when I received my first strand not too long ago.  So here is the new one that I would pick out for myself.  I mean a girl has to dream right?  Pearls and sparkle....that is a great combination.

White Pearl and Swarovski Necklace

Crisp white button pearls and sparkling Swarovski crystals make this necklace both sophisticated and festive. Designed by Melanie Galvan. (17 inches, toggle clasp)  And a dang good deal for just $32.00.  I will have to wink at Dear Hubby and point him in this direction!

College Girl loves the unique and funky looks.  And I think I found the right one for her too. 

Garnet and Crazy Horse Bracelet

Gorgeous Crazy Horse beads with faceted garnets. Crazy Horse is becoming one of my favorite natural stones - it has so many colors and variations. The sophisticated garnets contrast perfectly with Crazy Horse but also bring out the rich color. Designed by Melanie Galvan (7.5 inches, sterling silver press clasp -- warning: the clasp can't be fastened alone)  Don't you think that $20.00 is not much to spend on a Valentine's gift for my lil girl.  (Okay, lil is relative....she will be 25 this March!)

Now this is what I would love to give my mom-in-law for her special gift.

Peacock Pearl and Swarovski Rosary

This rosary is truly breathtaking. The freshwater pearls shimmer in subtle shades of purple, blue and green. The sparkle of Swarovski crystals adds a remarkable element to this traditional piece.  This one is a lil harder for my own pocket book at $55.00.  But I know it is well worth it for all of the work and stones that it took to make it.  Depending on what materials they use and what you request, the rosaries can vary greatly in length. Some are large and decorative enough to hang on a wall, others are perfect as a traditional necklace. Others are small enough to carry in a pouch and we even make abbreviated prayer bracelets. This is a great item to custom order and a wonderful gift to share.

You can check out All Things Bright and Beautiful on Facebook too!  You would love talking to Cissi Wright who has been a buyer and a store owner.  She has quite an eye for design and beautiful things.  And make sure to give a shout out to Melanie Galvan. She has always been fascinated by all art forms and enjoy pursuing this interest whenever and in whatever way possible.  In jewelry, she loves natural stones and freshwater pearls.  I did not receive any jewelry or money for this.  I just wanted to share with you a place to find some nice unique gifts.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

It Is Time For ME!

I posted my 20 for 12 the other day.  Today I was looking over that list again.  Do you know what I missed?  


ME!


Yes, I totally missed out on making time for me as a goal.  Did you do that one this year?  Do you need to?


Well it seems I am just like every other woman on this planet and I forget to make my time important.  It runs sorta like this.
Image by astronomy_blog via Flickr
Any where from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. I wake up.  Try to be very quiet so every one else can sleep.  This is online time or reading time.  But not up and moving around the house time.


5 a.m. to 8 a.m. is when I help get Dear Hubby ready and out the door.  Get hot tea for Granny M.  Brew two pots of coffee for the morning Coffee Clutch.  Do any dishes from the night before, sweep and mop, feed the pets, put the dogs outside for the morning, make the bed and start laundry.


8 a.m. til 10 a.m is usually spent with our daily Coffee Clutch.  May eat a bit, for sure drink our lovely java and almost always play games.  Let the animals in and out again.


10 a.m. til 12 p.m. I finish off the laundry and put it up, make lunch for Dear Hubby and Granny M, clean the dog yard, let the dogs in for a bit, gather mail and organize it, pick a room to deep clean of dusting, polishing furniture and washing windows.  Let the animals in and out again.


12 p.m. til 1 p.m.  LUNCH!


1 p.m. til 4 p.m.  Crazed Mind.  Blog, catch up on email, answer request for reviews, follow up with facebook and twitter.  Also pay any bills, do my email and snail mail for friends and family.  


4 p.m. til 5 p.m. Fix dinner, normally all from scratch.  I like it that way and so does my family.  Not to often with the quick meals around here.  Let the pets in and out again.


5 p.m. til 9 p.m. Dinner, time with Dear Hubby, play games on Wii with family, play cards with family or watch TV with family.  Yes....my evening are all for the family.  Our time.


9 p.m. Let animals out and in again.  I get ready for bed and lay down with a book.  I always read before bed.


Now my day is not taxing at all. I like the way it flows.  But I do not make time for just me in there.  I am doing for my family or for my blog or for the pets....all the time.  So why not a bit of time every day for me.  Where I can do my bubble baths or paint my toe nails or dance wildly in the living room.  What ever makes me happy for 30 minutes or an hour.  Would that be so bad?  No!

Okay....so how do I instill this goal.  Well you know me.  I of course have a book to help me learn a new habit that will make me a happier lady.  "A Princess and Her Garden" is a guide and journal that will help me learn how to stop putting every one and every thing else first.  I can become the Queen of Myself instead of the Princess for Other People.  It is written like a fable to help share the support of setting boundaries and learning how to include myself in my thoughts and actions.  The journal is a wonderful addition to the story.  


The guided Journal has four sections:

• THEN: How and why you learned to care for the gardens of other people in the past.
• THE IN-BETWEEN: Focusing on the way in which you left your childhood, or a particular phase of your life.
• NOW: Taking a good look at the present and deciding what you want to change in order to take charge of your life today.
• FROM NOW ON: Planning and affirming your approach to make sure that your garden continues to be well cared for and protected the rest of your life.

Well I am thankful I have a new tool to help me become a better me.  This was sent to me from a wonderful company, PR by the Book.  I love working with Tolly for she seems to always know just what I am looking for.  

Snap! I Can Think Again

This last week was great.  But busy.  The holidays are done, Christmas is all packed up, guest have returned home.  Time to breath....right?  Nope!  It seems that now is time to get everything back on track.  And that can be just as hard as it was setting up the holidays.  College Girl was my main helper of course.  We laughed as time and time again we would forget something.  Having to go back and take one more thing to storage....again!  I was beginning to feel like I had caught her ADD.  

Of course that is not possible but we were sluggish in our thinking.  Then, I remembered, that I had two cans of Nawgan in the fridge.  You have some there too, right?  No?  You have not heard of Nawgan?  Well it is a new drink that helps increase your memory and thinking skills.  Pretty cool!  Better than all those energy drinks that just hype you up on sugar and caffeine.  As a matter of fact mine was sugar free at that!  So we opened them up and took a break.  About an hour later we knew we had to get back to work.  I am not always too sure on how things work.  But I did feel better, 'brighter'.  Sorta like a fog had lifted.  Was it the Nawgan?  Was it the rest?  I am not sure.  But I will try them again to see.  They have a memory test you can try out too.  Just a kinda how are you doing thing.  You might be surprised!


Running through Tuesday, January 31, 2012, Nawgan invites you to visit their facebook page, “Like” Nawgan and upload your own creative photo on the “sweepstakes” page! The incentive beyond the delicious taste and effective cognitive benefits of Nawgan? You can win an iPad 2, valued at $499!  You can read the sweepstakes rules here.


Thanks to Nawgan for sending me the two samples.  Now I have to see where I can buy them in our small town.  They are sold now in Vitamin Shoppe's if you have one in your area.  

Great Meals

It is early morning here today.  The house is very quiet as everyone including all 7 dogs are asleep.  We have even managed to gain two more people throughout the night.  Yeah, my nephew and his friend needed a place to stop for the evening.  So here I sit, in a dark house, without coffee and think about my last few weeks.

Well last night went better than I expected.  Actually ended up with an early date night with Dear Hubby.  He took me to a local steak and fish place where we ate to our tummies were content.  Also tapped our toes and sang along with the band that was playing there.  Then home early enough to have time to still hang out with our family.  Never felt a bit of guilt that I had steak while they had sausage and eggs either!  Score one for me.

This last week has also been pretty special due to our friend Nessa from across the street.  She has been through several hard months and is coming out of her shell more.  In doing so she asked if she could make dinner for us several nights.  And of course, we said yes.  Two evenings we had pasta.  It was an experiment to compare a healthy organic whole wheat pasta to regular pasta and then also just another wheat pasta that is not organic.  We had our eyes opened as well as our taste buds.  The first meal was a family favorite of mac & cheese.  Same recipe for each just the pasta changed.  We used Jovial whole grain einkorn penne rigate for one and Skinners enriched shells for the other.  Wow, what a difference.  I did not realize before just how bland the enriched pasta was.  Jovial had a wonderful nutty taste to it.  Between the two the Jovial was more satisfying and filling.  The next night we compared Jovial whole grain einkorn spaghetti to a store brand whole wheat spaghetti.   At first eating just one strand of each I did not notice any difference.  But when I did several at a time then I found that same nutty flavor in the Jovial.  The other whole wheat was satisfying but did not have quite as much flavor.  This sure did open up our eyes to the benefits of using more organic and natural foods.  I loved when I looked at the ingredients on the Jovial, it read organic whole grain einkorn and water.  Yep, that was all it said.  Pure, right!  Oh you can also enter to win a trip to Tuscan at Jovial.  You have til the 20th to do it.  Until then, here is a recipe for you to try.

Whole Grain Einkorn Linguine with Roasted Pepper and Almond Pesto

Ingredients

2 large red bell peppers
8 ounces Whole Grain Einkorn Linguine
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, toasted
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Heat a grill or gas burner to high. Char the peppers on all sides, about 10 minutes total, and transfer to a paper bag until cool enough to handle.
3. While peppers are cooling, cook linguine for 11 minutes and drain. Return pasta to the pot off the heat.
4. While pasta is cooking, pulse together garlic, almonds and salt in the bowl of a food processor (or pound them to a paste in a mortar and pestle) until finely chopped. Then add the basil leaves and pulse again.
5. Remove peppers from the bag and peel the skins off. Transfer to a cutting board, cut in half lengthwise, and scrape out seeds and stems. Add peppers to the food processor and pulse until a paste forms. Drizzle in olive oil and lemon juice, and pulse until incorporated. Add cheese and pulse again. Season to taste with additional salt if desired.
6. Serve warm or cool.
7. Serves 4-6

Additional Tips

This pasta, somewhat of a hybrid between a pesto and a Spanish romesco sauce, stands on its own as a meal. But it would also make a beautiful side dish for a summer grill.  Thanks so Jovial for hosting this blog and sharing with us.

Related articles

• Jovial Foods Einkorn Pasta (lisacooking.com)
• Jovial pasta (glutenfreegirl.com)

What's in your Stocking?

Yes it is time for us to get down to the nitty gritty of Christmas.  The stocking!  What a funny yet time honored tradition.  As many have said,  It's the only time of year when we love to sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of our socks.  But I love picking out what goes in each stocking.

Do you have favorites every year to fill the stocking?  My mom always made sure there was an apple and an orange along with some whole nuts.  I use to always make sure there was a new toothbrush and toothpaste.  Hey, it was needed!  But now it is more specialized for each person.  


There may be a manicure kit for College Girl.  And puzzle books for Dear Hubby.  I include a book light for a reader or bath scrubbie for that young teen.  But the best always is the sweets.  My dad loves peppermint so we know to add that to his.  Granny M loves nuts but it is better out of the shell now!  And this year I want to get back a lil closer to natural.  So I am going organic with the goodies.

My pick?  For me, organic chocolate almonds from SunRidge Farms who was so kind to share with me.  I love almonds as it is, then add in my fav of chocolate.  Well how can you go wrong?  College Girl is doing more running and swimming these days.  So I feel that she needs a lil extra boost.  So she is getting the organic NutCracker Crunch.  A balanced blend of energy that will keep her light on her toes: hearty nuts and airy, crunchy, light and flavorful Organic Japanese Rice Crackers.  And of course Dear Hubby loves the flavors.  So I found him Tamari roasted mixed nuts.  All healthy choices while still having that special flair.  How can I go wrong?


Well what else to put in the stocking?  What has been your favorite surprises?  Any hints as to what else I can add.  Hurry as the clock is ticking!  

Oh How I Indulge!

What is your favorite indulgence?  That just perfect lil bite that makes you smile all the way down to your toes.  Can you get it at anytime or is it seasonal?  Well I thought mine was only a holiday one.  But I found out today it is not.

Normally every year at Christmas I stock up on Liberty Orchard fruit and nut candies.  These are lil bite size morsels of fruit gels with nuts in six orchard-fresh varieties: slow-simmered Strawberry-Walnut, marmalade style Orange-Walnut, cool mountain Blueberry-Pecan, sweet island Pineapple-Macadamia, tangy ripe Raspberry-Pecan, and summer-fresh Peach-Walnut.  I adore them.  Stack the boxes on my nightstand and have one every evening as my own special treat.  So much so that I hate to even share.  I know how stingy.  But once they are gone I have to wait a whole year to get them again.

But today I tried out a brand new box of Liberty Orchard fruits.  And I can share them too.  Why?  Well because these are also sugar free.  Yes they are delicious too.  I was wondering if they could hold up to my favorites and they did.  Our Gentleman here is diabetic.  He too can indulge in a lil treat now too.  Top it off that the box has 48 pieces in it.  So I do not feel like I will lose out when I share them.

Now for me can this get any better?  Yes, it can.  I found I don't have to wait to get them in our lil store at the holidays.  No I can order them online.  Wow, why did I not think to look for this before?  So we all know where my few extra dollars are going to be going soon.  Okay, we have a happy woman.  Almost......because they had to do me one better even.  How?  How about a all natural fruit bar that is:

• A Good Source of Protein!
• Made with Heart-Healthy Nuts!
• Rich in Antioxidants, High in Omega 3*
• All-Natural, Non-GMO, and 60% Organic!
• No Preservatives, Trans-Fats, or Cholesterol!
• Vegan & Kosher, Low in Sodium!
• Gluten-Free! & Dairy-Free

  Sounds like it is healthy.  But that translates into flavorless, right?

Orchard Bar blew me away.  Oh the flavors were amazing with fruit, nuts and seeds.  Moist and just the right amount of natural sweetness.  I could throw over a chocolate candy bar for one of these any day.  Of course I will also have to fight off College Girl and Dear Hubby for them too.  Why?  Because when we tried the 3 flavors I had we were fighting for each morsel.  Yeah really!  I cut each up into thirds and did a blind taste test with them.  Not telling them what they were or anything.  Scoffed them right up....all of them.  So now I need to order some of them too.  For just $2.50, they will send you two 1.6 bars… Blueberry Pomegranate & Almond and Strawberry Raspberry & Walnut.  And they will pay the shipping and handling too!  Limit: This special offer is for "First-Timers" only, and is limited to one sample shipment per customer. Sorry, U.S. Shipments only.
They will also send you a "Samplet" of their two most popular brands...a 4 piece package of famous Aplets & Cotlets, and a 4 piece package of popular Fruit Delights for just $2.95 plus FREE SHIPPING!  Limit: This special offer is for "First-Timers" only, and is limited to one sample shipment per customer. Sorry, U.S. shipments only.

I have to say this was a red letter day for me.  Yummy goodness that is all good for me too.  YIPPPPEEEE!  You can get a catalog with coupons in it too.  Thanks so to Liberty Orchard for sending me my treats.  I am a thrilled to know I do not have to ration out these gels one a night to have them.  And more so that they are just a click away.  Yeah as always, non paid.  But did get to eat them.  Well not all of them....some habits are just too hard to break.  Want to have one with me tonight?

It's Time to do the Monkey

Do you have favorite cartoons you watch with the kids?  I know they tend to run all day long in most homes.  Mostly background noise but often we find ourselves humming theme songs too.  Or better yet sitting and watching them side by side with our kiddos.  My favorite is Curious George and he is back with a new season of (mis)adventures beginning Labor Day, September 5, 2011 on PBS KIDS (check local listings).  If you wish you can follow PBS KIDS on Twitter  and Facebook.    

Don't you love it when the new fall TV season starts?  Princess Emma loves to follow George as he encourages her to find her creativity.  The fun starts with three brand-new episodes - "Auctioneer George/Sock Monkey Opera", "Hamster Cam/The Great Monkey Detective", and "George and the Giant Thumb/Shutter Monkey".  And continues all season long as George explores arts themed activities including helping Betsy enter a photography contest, creating a wind symphony, sand painting the desert, and even dancing the box step. 


We were lucky enough to preview this new season.  And Princess Emma already has some favorites. 
“Sock Monkey Opera,” when Betsy gets the chicken pox and can’t see her favorite opera, Hansel and Gretel, she sends George in her place. George loves the opera so much, he decides to cheer up Betsy by performing for his itchy friend. Can one little monkey sing, dance, and act for an entire cast of characters?”  Princess Emma was thrilled to mime the show along with George.  She is a natural actress or is that a natural 'ham'?  Actually I love to see the great dances she gives to us.  What beauty and grace shine through her love of music.



Princess Emma also loved “Shutter Monkey”.   Betsy’s “Out of Sight Shapes” entry for the photo contest is sure to win first prize—that is until George and Steve accidentally ruin her pictures.  George runs around town trying to re-shoot the photographs. But finding the hidden shapes in things is hard for a little monkey!  Since Princess Emma loves to take photos this was a good one for her.  She has a whole collection of foot photos.  Yeah, she looks up from time to time but is fascinated with feet.  Or is it that like any girl she loves shoes?

As with all reviews I do, they are unpaid unless directly stated.  Today we was able to view the DVD that was provided to us.  Hey, that is nice enough.  If you don't believe me then just ask Princess Emma!

C.G. is Back Home!

I am so happy today.  College Girl made it in at 2 a.m. this morning.  I have so missed her being here.  It will only be for a month at the very best.  But she is home for now.  I can dance all around with joy.  And when she arrived I had a lil surprise for her.
You see this year she will be living in an apartment on campus.  And I know how she does.  She walks everywhere, leaving her car parked at the apartment.  Getting from one class to another often means tramping from one side of campus to another.  It can be quite a hike.  But now she will have a lil help.  As a matter of fact with a lil practice she can be zipping from place to place.  Why?

Well she has a brand new pair of Heelys to flit around campus in.  She picked out the style.  With them being a dark grey she can pop out the wheels and use them on stage when moving props around.  Of course she will need to watch the video and read up on how to use her new Heelys.  Thankfully there is even a safety play book.  College Girl can be a lil off balance so we expect her to use this next month to get use to the balance of her new shoes.

I love that Heelys is throwing a Labor Day/Back-to-School special!! Between Sept 2-Sept 5, Buy one pair of Heelys, get the second pair for only $30!  Now that is a good deal.  So for those families with multiple kiddos, you can get a pair for each kiddo and save a lil too!  Or get one pair of Heelys and then a pair of the new Nanos to make them an inline footboard.  Really cool!  They fit all single wheel Heelys and have a wonderful line to them, don't you think?  And don't forget to check out their deal of the week too. 

Yes, that is College Girl with her YELLOW hair.  She had a blast doing her summer internship at Shakespeare Dallas.   I was thrilled to work with B2B on this promotion.  Gosh who would not be happy to provide Heelys for their College Girl or kiddo?  As always, this is unpaid.  I did score with the shoes though.  Just see how good they look on C.G.

Weekend Fun

Photo via As You Like It from Shakespeare in the Park Dallas

Well it was a busy busy fun loving weekend.  Amazing to see the confidence level in College Girl.  She is standing tall and proud.  Well until the end of opening night of As You Like It and the cast party.  (BTW the play is well worth seeing.   We laughed our booties off.)  Polished off a big ol bottle of watermelon margaritas with me.  I was fine but sweet College Girl was beginning to feel the effects.  All is fine as she told me she woke up with no ill effects.

We also was able to see the Genghis Khan exhibit.  Such luck.  As we were driving to the metroplex Friday evening a tweet popped up that I had won 4 tickets from Frugal Teacher.  See!

frugalteacher Louise Morgan

Congratulations! @CrazedMind You are the winner of the 4 tickets to the Genghis Khan exhibit @Irvingarts #genghisdfw!

 We all went Saturday afternoon before the play.  It was a great exhibit and such fun to hang out with my girl once again.  Of course she was thrilled to see Dad aka my Dear Hubby as it has been a month for her to be with Dad.

Thankfully The Other Mom took care of things for us on the home front.  And also mentioned me in her blog post at Rants and Raves.  I was happy that I was able to help her out with the KidSwitch.  See what she had to say:

We also decided to remodel the Poo's bedroom and frame the walls and add insulation. Our home is very old and had no insulation at all and the walls are not exactly sturdy so we decided to start in her room since she has been asking for a pink room for over a year. Oh my it is so very pink and we are still not done. We still have one wall to move, one door to remove since we put a new entry door in and all new wiring to add. Then we have to finish the walls and floor. In the mean time the plywood floor is painted pink. We have added shelving and many other extras to make things easier for her to be independent. She so wants to be a big girl. Our dear friend Crazed Mind helped us out on a big one. Poo just couldn't reach the light switch without a stool and we were worried about her trying to climb up on a stool in the dark. She gave us this wonderful little thing called a Kid Switch. It is an extender lever that is about16 inches long to help her turn the lights on and off by herself. It was so easy to install and she is LOVING it! Now Crazed Mind was kind enough to give us ours but if you should want to buy one for yourself you can go to kidswitchshop.com  and enter Blog 10 in the coupon code at checkout to get 10% off. They have a good selection to choose from and it has saved me a thousand trips already. Did I mention it glows in the dark and she will turn the light on for a few minutes and then turn it back off to watch it glow. It is so great for her to be able to do things for herself and it just so happens to be entertaining for her too!
I think her room will be a work in progress for a while but she has been able to move in and sleep in there for over a week now. She is doing so great, I just wish she wasn't growing up so fast. Kindergarten starts before too long. Where does the time go?  Crazed Mind was given this item to review and recieved no other compensation. She was kind enough to share this with our family.

Found the Perfect Chip

Do you have that one family member or friend that it is harder than heck to cook for? I know we all have differences in what we like but those also that have allergies. We have to take that seriously when preparing meals for them. I have some odd ones myself.  I can not eat anything cooked in aluminum.  Really!  Isn't that an odd one?  And I can not eat cumin, coriander or cilantro.  Let's not even talk about tomatillos.

But Dear Hubby has an Uncle T that is both macrobiotic in diet as well as allergic to gluten due to Celiac disease.  It makes cooking for him pretty challenging.  But I am always up for a challenge!  So I have learned how to bake cakes with rice flour, egg substitute and no milk of any kind.  My mom-in-law would just make him fresh fruit and veggie plates.  Not me, I wanted to be able to do more.  Create whole meals that start with lil snacks and end in dessert.  I have made him soups, salads, main courses and numerous side dishes.  And it has been fun to do.

Now that is all well and good when you have a kitchen to cook in.  But there are the times that a quick meal is needed.  And it is not as easy a pulling into the local fast food.  Uncle T actually has to think ahead and pack food for trips.  Many of the prepackaged foods do not taste all that .....well.  I found him something that works with his diet and taste great.  Beanfields  Bean &  Rice Chips.  I was quite shocked to find a chip that is made from navy beans, black beans, long grain rice sunflower oil and sea salt to be very good.  Why?  Well I did not expect any flavor or crunch to them.  But that is just not so.  These have a great flavor and perfect crunch.  Being corn and gluten free, a complete protein source, farmed and made in the USA too.  These were a perfect addition to our enchiladas the other night.  We tried the sea salt and pepper chips and the sea salt chips.  I so wanted to try the pico de gallo ones but they have that dreaded cilantro I can not eat.  Dang the luck. 

I am glad these are in California as that is where our Uncle T is at.  So I can now turn him onto a good snack that works with his diet.  Thanks so to Beanfields for sending me a couple of bags to try.  Everyone here loved them.  Even our friend down the street!  I found only one thing wrong with these chips......they are not in Texas.  Darn the luck.  Delicious is to simple a word for them.

For the Birds

We are so happy to have our youngest daughter and her beau here visiting right now. The Wee One has never been to our home before this visit so it is a very big deal to us. And she has never met her half brother and half sister. Well yesterday....she was surprised when The Grandbabes and her half sister drove up. Squeels and all! Can you believe this is their very first meeting?  It should have never been this long for them....but they are making up for lost time.  'Vannah was asking how she could miss someone so much she had never met.  Well now she knows that they are sisters always...never to worry about that bond not being there any more.

And of course I had a great day with all.  The grandbabes loved hanging at Nonnie's again.  We did a bird house project together.  So cool.  Now it is hanging in my tree and the birds love it.  We used the Red Tool Box Bird House Kit and the Red Tool Box Kids Tools.  Of course there was supervision.  Wanna see what they made me?

Landon loved the tools. Wanting them all right then. Of course we had to watch what he had as they are real tools that are just the right size for lil hands. Hammer and screw drivers where ok. But the saw and file was put up for this project. Thankfully we did not need them just yet.  Red Tool Box has an electric drill the kids can use also.  But loud sounds tend to bother the kids.  Since this is our very first project we thought we would keep it simple.  Let's work our way into each new item.
TK conentrated so hard to screw in the screws real tight. Sadly she did such a good job that one of the heads popped off. Pouted! But we explained it was fine. The Bird House would stay together fine.  Did you ever know a screwdriver takes two hands?  Well it did for Miss TK.  She wanted to so sure it did not slip. 
Yes, lil boys love hammers. And this peg got just the right amount of tapping to get it in place. Actually I was very surprised at how gentle he was being.  I have to say thanks so to Red Tool Box for sending us this to try out.  And the cool tool sets too!
Didn't it turn out great!  We have not painted it yet.  Prefer to wait til we get some paint that will be good for outside.  And then of course something to seal it too.  But the top does open on a hinge.  So we poured in bird seed for good measure and hung it in our tree.  BTW, these tools are so good that College Girl obtained them.  Made a place to hang them up out of the kiddos reach even.  We can all share them for future projects too.  I love that they really are the right size for a child.  But very durable tools.  These are items we can use for many years to come.  I am already thinking of what we will be doing next? 

The Other Mother Cooks

Today my knee is swollen up like a balloon.  So I am going to take it easy.  So easy that I have my feet up now while hanging on the front porch.  Nothing better than a cup of coffee, listening to the birds sing and relaxing.  I do have to say thanks so to the Other Mother...as she is also hosting my blog today.  See how she feels she is slowing down while battling her Lyme disease.  Seems to me she is running even harder.  Actually I should have Princess Emma this afternoon so she can rest.  Take it away......The Other Mother:

Well, I started my new medications for the Lyme disease yesterday. They are already making me feel awful.We ordered pizza for dinner, which we hardly ever do. I just did not feel like cooking. I was telling my good friend Lynette over @ Crazed Mind about my dilemma and I will be darned if she didn't have a solution. She had a new copy of Potluck Favorites by Hearst Magazines. It has 126 recipes for just about everything from appetizers to desserts. There are recipes for vegetarian and slimmed down favorites as well. I was looking through it and there are so many one pan recipes and casseroles that I can make all in one day and freeze for the days I feel awful. Now, I already have a copy of Slow Cookers plus Soup Stews and Casseroles from Hearst Magazines which we loved everything we cooked out of, so I am very excited to try the new recipes in Potluck Favorites. The one I am going to make tonight is ravioli and zucchini lasagna. It looks amazing! The even have some very yummy dessert recipes, which will make Papi happy. He has a mad sweet tooth:) The Poo saw the picture of the mozzarella and pesto grilled pizzas and asked if we could make those. They look very simple and only require a few ingredients, so I think she could make her own pizza and I will cook it for her. They even have grilling tips for the bar b que recipes that would work for anything you could possibly make on the grill. I am so happy to know that I can still feed my family well while I am on the mend. Thanks again to Lynette @ Crazed Mind for the new cookbook and help with a major dilemma. This is a review, I received no compensation. Lynette received a copy of the magazine for review purposes which she has graciously shared with me in my time of need.

My Turn, My Turn

Why do kids get to have all the fun? Huh? Really, if we are the bread winners and pay all the bills, then shouldn't we get some of the perks.  Just because we drive the car and can go when we wish....ha, sure sure!  But no, don't you wish you could kick back and have fun like you did when you was a kid?

What was some of your favorite things to do?  Mine was (well duh) reading of course.  But I loved when we would color.  Honestly.  We had a box full of coloring books and a big metal coffee can with all kinds of crayons there.  We would take the daily paper and cover the table top with it.  Dump out all the crayons in the middle then all gather around the dining table.  Sitting there with my brothers and sisters, quite often my mother too, talking about the day as we scribbled away at our mini masterpieces.  Coloring outside the lines of life is what it felt like.  I loved it.

Well, I got to do some of that again.  Not the same of course.  But in a different venue.  RoseArt has put out Color Blanks.  It is a plastic figure that you can color the way you wish.  On this one I was stingy.  When it arrived of course Princess Emma wanted it.  But no, I wanted to be the kid this time.  I wanted to have fun.  I wanted to throw the fit and kick my heels and say it was mine........well not that!  But still, you get the jest of it.  So I gritted my teeth and tried very nicely to tell her no.  And succeeded too!  One point for me.

I had fun one afternoon this week.  Just sitting here coloring.  Letting my own thoughts wonder.  Telling my own story of life to myself.  Color has that effect to me.  To let you dream a little during the day.  Oh and you wanna see what I made?  Well here it is.  (I used permanent markers and stickers.)  It started off....well BLANK!  But with a lil swish and swash.....it became my own personal toy.

Yeah, that is mine.  Fun to do.  I put a lil coffee cup on front in honor of my favorite thing to drink. 

And I did use the stickers that came with it for the eyes, mouth and design on the cup.  Otherwise it was just fun to color for me.  I am especially proud of that button nose.  Ha Ha.  Found I could smudge the markers to get the look I wanted.

Oh and of course, my signature is on here too.  See on top of the head!

So yes, you can be a kid sometimes.  Heck you can even share with the kids.  I think to have each make their own would be a blast.  Have your on blankity unblankity family, huh?

You can start off by printing some Color Blanks coloring pages.  See what you wanna do.  Then.....you are ready for the real thing.  Oh, I was lucky.  They sent this one to me.  So now I have my own lil desk toy that I created.  Too cool!  Of course, as always....no pay.