Painted Bunting

Last year, I saw this really cool, brightly colored bird.  I looked it up and decided I had glimpsed a Painted Bunting.

I didn't see it again. 

Then this year, we've been seeing one at the feeder by our bedroom repeatedly.  I think I even saw the female once (same size/shape...all green...)!  I think they may have a nest nearby.

The cardinals generally dominate the feeder...but I was sneeky and got a picture!!!!

Cardinal...

Cardinal + Painted Bunting!!!



Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Seven...Mother's Day

It was interesting being on the "diet" for Mother's Day.  Some of my favorite recipees were not easily adaptable to the diet (lasagna...noodles not good; stroganoff...noodles not good). 

But, I had just had an amazing pizza the night before, so that was a good start.

For breakfast, I wanted Banana Pancakes.  But...my girls had eaten all the bananas this week...so we had no "ripe" bananas to use.  Spencer used "fresh" bananas.  The texture was fine, but the pancakes weren't as sweet.  Still good.

Interesting note....as we were going through the cupboard, Spencer wanted to keep the "fake" syrup for after the diet.  Then, today, he used the 100% Maple Syrup on the pancakes.  He looked up and said, "we can totally throw the other stuff away...this is amazing!!!"  I think he thought the maple syrup would be like our cane syrup, which has a slightly bitter kick to it.

At church, the Primary had the kids package up Hersey's Kisses to give to their mothers.  Since I have 3 kids in Primary, I got 3 baggies of candy.  I felt like such a bad mother, but I just threw them away.  (Hailey had already snagged one and ate a candy in the car as we were buckling up the younger two!!!)  But...the kids had already given me much better gifts.

And teaching them how to eat properly (and enjoy doing so) is more important that eating candy!!!

On Sundays, we always throw something in the crock-pot so it's mostly ready when we get home.  This time it was a pork roast.  We made our own Mustard/Honey BBQ sauce.

I'm sure we'll have some kind of snack later tonight.  But, overall the day has gone really well.  I'm still craving some kind of dessert-like sweet...brownies, cookies, something chewy.

I think I may try making the maple breakfast cookies and seeing how they taste.

Hummmm.

(http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/10/recipe-pecan-maple-breakfast-cookies/)

Breakfast:

Banana Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Lunch/Dinner:

Pulled Pork with home-made BBQ sauce

"Mashed" caulifower

Sauteed squash (from a co-worker) with parmesean cheese

Roasted red potatoes.

YUM!



Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Six

We are over 1/2 way done.  Woo-Hoot!!!!

I had a music training at the Stake Center...and lunch was provided.  So...this was my first experience going to a "function" but brining my own food.  I'm really glad I did because they served chili and I dislike chilli strenuously.  They did have brownies, however, and BOY did they look GOOOOOOOOD!!!!

After I got home, Spencer and I cleaned out/organized the fridges, freezers, pantry and cupboard. 

There were alot of open foods that have just been sitting there, taking up space, but that we wouldn't use even if we weren't on the diet.  That went in the trash.

There were some foods that are off the diet, but still good and we'd use eventually.

We've decided to take a non-replacement approach.  Meaning...the foods that are "off-diet" we'll keep, use after the 10-day challenge is over, but NOT replace once consumed.  Items like our box of Bisquick, the instant mashed potatoes, the white rice, pudding/jello mix, cake mixes, etc.

It is SO NICE to have those cleaned out and organized.  They needed it badly, diet aside!!!

For dinner, the girls went to the neighbor's house.  Their granddaughters were in town and they spent the evening playing together.  The grandmother works at King & Prince Seafood, so they had shrimp and fish.

Spencer and I made up a menu for the rest of the challenge, then I went shopping, then we ate.  It was LATE.  But...we added some things to the pizza recipe we had earlier in the week and it was AMAZING!!!!

Breakfast:

Eggs (and cereal)

Grapes

Lunch:

PBJ

Nuts

Dinner:

Pizza

I made our pizza dough recipee, but used whole-wheat flour.  I used Maple Syrup instead of honey this time.

Then we sauteed garlic, red pepper flakes, and thyme in some olive oil for about 10 minutes.

The oil was spread over the rolled out dough, then sliced tomatoes sprinkled with crushed oregano.  Add "good" mozzarella slices and sliced articoke hearts.

After it was cooked, we topped it all off with arugala and basalmic vinegar.

WOW!!!!  Super duper YUM!!!!



Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Five

Another generally good day.  Nothing spectacular.

I went visiting teaching in the morning and my companion's daugher offered to watch the 3 oldest kids.  To make sure we kept to our challenge, I packed snack foods.

In the afternoon, we headed to the doctor.  Riley had been fussy for several days.  She had an ear infection in her left ear and her right ear was gearing up for one!

Later, I met Spencer at the movie theater and he and the girls saw "The Avengers".  I had packed a bag of nuts and two apples, but they forgot to take them with them.  So...about 5 minutes after they sit down, the girls are STARVING!  Spencer bought popcorn (no butter) and a bottle of water.  They starved through the entire movie anyway...but I was way proud that he stuck to the diet.

Spencer has lots 5 pounds so far...just from a tiny shift in our diet!!!

While they were at the movie, I was home with a fussy baby and a crazy toddler.  I straightened the downstairs.  And then really, REALLY wanted to order a pizza!!!! 

I've realized that the times I am most tempted to "quit" are when either

1.  I'm really hungery

or

2. The kitchen is a mess.

So...I sat on the couch and ate a snack.  Then I made 2 loaves of bread (since we were out, I knew we'd need it tomorrow, and I wouldn't have anytime the next day.)  Then I cleaned the kitchen.

When the other 1/2 of the family go home, we whipped up dinner.  We cut the beef roast into "steaks" and grilled them.  Added some veggies and we ate pretty well!

Breakfast:

Eggs and creal.

Lunch:

Apples, grapes, PBJ

Dinner:

"Steak"

Potatoes

Leftover Cauiflower

No picture...it was too late and we were too hungry!

Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Four

Oooooo...my confidence totally wavered today.  The kids and I went to the park this afternoon.  The park is right next to a pizza place.  The smell was mouth watering.  Sigh...but I was strong and ignored it well.

Luckily we had packed a picnick lunch, so I had something good to eat!

Breakfast:

Kids and hubby had fresh granola cereal.

I had spinach, onion, cheese "omlet".  (Really scrambled eggs with stuff!)

Lunch:

Hubby went to a restuarant...but was a good boy and had salmon and backed potatoe.  (Although he did succumb to peer-pressure and ate a few fried mushrooms...but he didn't dip them in the sauce!)

Kids and I had PBJ, bananas, and grapes at the park.

Dinner:

Chicken fingers with home-made breadcrumbs...cooked with coconut oil.

WOW!!!!  Totaly YUM!!!!

Honey-mustard. (Equal parts each.)

Fried Eggplant (didn't turn out too good this time).

Sweet potatoe fries (overcoooked them and burnt most of them...like solid black burnt!)

Califlower (okay...not great...not as bad as the other 2 veggies).

Watermelon.

Dessert:
We made a green smoothie with
frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana, yogurt, milk, and spinach.
It was okay.  It needed more banana and some honey.
It was pretty thick, so we ate it with spoons instead of drinking it.
I don't really like cold desserts, but the girls and especially Isaiah loved it.

Overall...another good day!

 

Green Smoothee...attempt #1

 

Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Three

Today I was craving something chocolate and sweet...so it was a little hard.  Especially since we still had lots of chocolate and sweet things still in the house.  We haven't had time to do a "purge".

But...I was able to make up some granola and that totally saited the sweet dragon!

Hailey got upset when she realized that we couldn't have sherbert.  But I think we'll eventually get our own ice-cream maker and make our own.  I probably need to make a smoothee and then she'll be satisfied.

Breakfast:

Bananas and nuts.

(We had to rush to Isaiah's therapy...and we were all content with bananas and nuts.)

Lunch:

PB&J

Dinner:

Beef roast with carrots.

Roasted red potatoes.

Salad with home-made ranch dressing.

We have been learning to use a crock pot.  We can make some AWESOME pig-ribs.  But anything beef always turns out dried out and over cooked.  We used a meet thermometer this time...and yes...we overcooked it again.  Hmmm...not sure what to do about that!

I mixed up a batch of ranch seasoning.  Then I added some to equal parts sour cream and milk.  It tasted good, but was a little on the runny side.  Next time, I think I'll use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream!

Home-made Ranch Seasoning

Waiting to eat!!!

Dinner is served.

Whole-Foods Challenege...Day Two

Tuesday was day two.

In some ways it was easier.

But...had a total FAIL moment.

While Makenzie was at art, the 3 littlest kids and I ran over to Harris Teeter to do grocery shopping.  Spencer suggested I try Harris Teeter, thinking they may have more foods in-line with the diet.

I know remember why I NEVER go to Harris Teeter.  It took forever to find what I was looking for.  Checking out took forever...she scanned everything, THEN bagged everything (so essentially I had to wait twice), and I had to bag stuff at the car that she didn't bother to load into bags.  Arggg. 

NEVER GOING BACK!!!!

After art, I went to Publix.  And yes...shopping there really was a pleasure!!!

Anyway, while I was trying to find something at Harris Teeter, Hailey asked for a cookie.  I was totally destracted, trying to find something, watching the clock, and said "Yes...get one for Isaiah".

And then as I'm walking to the check-out line (like 10 minutes later), it finally dawned on me that the cookie was totally off-diet.  Like I said...total fail. 

Oh well.

Here was our menu today...

Breakfast:

Whole-Wheat Banana Pancakes (YUM!!!!)

(http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/21/recipe-whole-wheat-banana-pancakes-freeze-the-leftovers/)

I had mine plain, Spencer used honey, and the girls used cane syrup.

Cane syrup is not on the "list"...but the girls helped to make this and it's probably better than the maple syprup I bought today.  So we're adding it to our approved list!

Lunch:

PB&J

A friend joined us for lunch and liked it.  Score!

Dinner:

Mini-Pizza's  (Yum...but not quite perfect).

I made the whole-wheat dough recipe on the 100-Day website and devided it into two doughs.

(http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/01/recipe_homemade_whole_wheat_pizza/)

One dough I drizzled some olive oil, added fresh tomatoes, and then "good" mozzarella cheese.  The girls loved this one...but it needed something more...probably fresh basil and a drizzle of basalmic vinegar to turn it into a Caprese pizza.

The other dough got a layer of pesto followed by goat cheese.  This one was a little too strong for the girls.  Next time, I need to use more pesto.  The goat cheese was okay, but not worth the price.  We'll try another cheese.  It also needed something more...maybe articoke hearts and maybe olives.

Yummy!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!



10-Day Whole-Foods Challenge...Day One

Recently, I read a book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan.

LOVED IT!!!!

So then I made Spencer listen to it (it was faster than waiting for him to read it).  He had trouble listening to it, because the voice was the same guy that does all the Dirk Pitt novels.  Spencer kept waiting for something to blow up, someone to get kidnapped, and for Clive Cussler to appear.

Anyway...he agreed with the book.  So last week we dabbled in eating whole foods and tried to figure out how much we'd need to change.  Turns out, not too much.

But...I did learn how to bake bread.  And it is YUMMY!!!!

(Recipe from King Arthur Flour:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-100-whole-wheat-bread-recipe)

With the book read and discussed and a mini-trial under our belt, we've decided to do the full-force, 10-day trial.

Here are the rules we are following:

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/take-the-10-day-pledge/

And yes...I actually signed us up!

Our first day went pretty smoothly. 

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs

Home-made, whole-wheat bread

Home-made strawberry jam

Lunch:

Banana bread (home-made, whole-wheat)

Yogurt with honey

Grapes

Kiwi

Dinner:

Quiche (Onions, spinach, cheese)

Asparagus

Overall, it went well.  I had over-ripe bananas, so I made banana bread instead of plain bread today.

(Recipe: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/02/recipe-whole-wheat-banana-bread/)

I was afraid Spencer wouldn't feel that lunch was enough.  But he really liked it.  The yogurt and honey was SO GOOD!!!  We have Greek-style, all fat included yogurt.  It's the only kind I can find in Publix that doesnot have sugar added!

For dinner, the quiche wasn't that great.  The crust was okay, but not in large amounts.  I added the onions raw, and they should have been sauteed first.  And I think there was too much cheese, so it was still kinda squishy.  But...it was good enough that we'll try it again!

(Recipe: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/26/quiche-with-a-super-easy-whole-wheat-crust/)

The asparagus was slightly overcooked, so it gave it a bitter taste.  Isaiah LOVED it, but not so much the rest of us.  The girls will probably need a little space before we try that again.

Spencer and I are going to sit down tonight and come up with a full meal plan for this week.  Then I'll go shopping tomorrow.

I'm hoping to post our meal everyday for the next 10 days.  We'll see!

Home-made bread and jam!

Dinner...Day 1

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever since we've moved here, I've been wanting to find a farm and pick some strawberries so I could make some more strawberry jam.

Well...we finally found an awesome place:  Ottawa Farms.

The weather was perfect.  The kids were great.  The strawberries were amazing.

And I now have some jam!!!

16 Large Jars...10 Small Jars...

I think I might have just enough to make it until next year!

And yes...that is indeed home-made, whole-wheat bread!!!!!!!!!!

SO GOOD!!!!!



Spencer Turns 36!!!



Spring Break Part 4...Canoeing the Peace River

We went canoeing on the Peace River down in Acadia, FL.

The water was REALLY low, so sometimes we were walking instead of canoeing.

Every once in awhile, we'd get out and shift through the dirt looking for fossils.  We found some shark teeth and a bunch of random black rocks that are some kind of fossil.

We had a great time.  At the end, all 4 of my children were SOUND ASLEEP!!!

It was a great trip, and we're looking forward to doing it again next year!

A cool tree...a bird...and a gator!!!

Sleepy, sleepy children!!!

We needed a break to recover from Spring Break!!!