Getting the Whole Family Together

This past weekend my brother John and his family made a last minute trip to Indiana. This meant that we had the whole family together for the first time in a long long time. We spent the day at my brothers house for my nephew Logan's birthday. We took some pictures and found out that even adults can't seem to all smile and sit still at the same time. I think these were the best ones I found.

Siblings: Me (looking quite prego), Christopher, Kimberly, Joseph, and John

With our spouses or significant others

With all the kids and Grandma and Grandpa...22 in all and one on the way!

Monday Meal Plan

See, it helps to post your goals...I am back to meal planning this week at least.

Monday- Spinach and Cheese Tortellini Soup with bread and salad

Tuesday- Dinner out or pizza (i have plans)

Wednesday- Flank Steak with mushrooms and onions on the grill and veggies from our CSA

Thursday - Balsamic Chicken with whole wheat pasta

Friday- Date Night (if we can find a babysitter) to Palermo and maybe to see "Harry Potter"!!

Saturday- Cookout with our community group and 3 other groups from our church. We are taking this awesome Cole slaw recipe that I found in one of my Rachael Ray cookbooks.

Sunday- BBQ Pork chops, veggies and couscous

Cooking with Fresh Ingredients from the Garden

I have been cooking a little more lately and thought I would share a yummy and nutritious recipe with you.

If you are like me you have a bunch of summer squash or zucchini from the farmers market or your garden that you don't know what to do with...don't worry, I have a great recipe for you. I found this Quinoa with Roasted Zucchini, Feta, and Oregano dish this week and we LOVED it! I highly recommend that you try it out. Quinoa is a very nutritious and yummy grain and alternative to wheat. Here is a wikipedia article on quinoa if you are interested.

Last week I cooked with rhubarb for the first time ever and baked a pie for the first time ever. I baked a strawberry rhubarb (from my mother in laws garden) pie and last night baked a strawberry rhubarb dump cake. Both were delicious and I am now a lover of rhubarb! I don't have a link to those recipes because they were ones that my mother in law gave me. If you want them let me know. The dump cake was pretty much the easiest thing I have ever baked.

I also made a delicious chicken, basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella sandwich on Sunday. The basil was from my backyard and the tomato's were again from Grandpa and Grandma Laffin's garden.

I don't have any pictures of the food but here are some of the garden that the ingredients came from.

Ruby had a blast running through the tomato plants

Ruby picking blackberries with her Grandma-the master gardener

4th of July with the Laffin's

We spent the weekend with Brian's parents. I think Ruby's favorite part of the weekend was being outside in the garden and swinging. She got to pick blackberries with Uncle John and Grandma and got to have Grandpa push her on the swing. Brian and I also had a great time in Bowling Green. It is always nice to visit with the family and have life slow down a little bit. We also went home with lots of goodies from the garden and the farmers market. Last night I made my first ever strawberry rhubarb pie and a peach mouse...mmm

Goals for Summer 2009

I have decided that I need to post some goals again this summer. It really helps me accomplish things that I would normally just put off. So, here we go:

Start getting up at least 1 hour before Ruby for quiet time and showering (approximately 6:45 a.m.)

Get a better schedule going for Ruby (using the book "Toddler Wise" and talking with other mom's about it)

Get a daily/weekly/monthly house cleaning schedule going (using Martha Stewarts Homekeeping Handbook. Thanks to my friend Courtney for the recommendation)

Get back to weekly meal planning

Go through all of our clothes and get rid of things we don't wear

Read the Bradley Method material that my friend Lindsy gave me like 3 months ago. This is a natural childbirth thing for those of you who don't know what I am talking about.

Read a book all the way through

Go to Michigan to visit friends

Start ironing (this one is going to be the hardest)

Maybe get back into cloth diapering (i gave it up with the first trimester sickness...now i think ruby has grown out of most of the diapers but I will at least try)

The Laffin's Visit The Big Texan

Big Texan

Brian's manly steak breakfast

On our way home we stopped by a major tourist trap called The Big Texan. It is essentially a restaurant/gift shop/freak show. They advertise that if you can eat their 72 oz steak (with all the fixins) then you get your dinner for free. We went for breakfast but no one attempted to eat the huge steak. Brian did get himself a big steak breakfast however. Ruby had fun checking out the gigantic cow outside too.