Lemons and Pickles

After I made the chocolate slushie the other day I could not get slushies out of my brain.

Then as I was grocery shopping I spotted this bag of beautiful lemons.

Our eyes met and it was love at first sight.

I just had to bring them home with me.

Their destiny?

Lemon slushie, of course!

I love my blender.

I peeled 3 lemons like an orange and put the whole darn thing in the blender, seeds and all.

Then I added 2 cups water and 1/3 c of honey (hence the dark color).

You could use 1/2 c of sugar instead and the color would be perfectly yellow.

I blended that all up for quite a while, until the whole lemon was totally pulverized. That way if there had been any seeds they were totally undetectable.

Then I turned off the blender and filled it up with ice cubes and blended more until the ice was totally pulverized.

The result?

Perfectly sweet and tangy lemon slushie.

So, so, so refreshing on a hot, hot, hot day!

Why was it such a hot day, you ask?

You see I had been canning these beauties all morning.

Yup, I made homemade pickles.

I googled a recipe for dill pickles and found about 1,000 variations for the same thing.

I took the really simple route and made my pickle brine using 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar and pickling salt. Then I added 1/2 T dill seed to each jar and boiled them in the water bath for 10 minutes. And voila!

Home made pickles.

The only problem is that most of the recipes say to let them sit in the brine for 4-6 weeks (to let them cure) before you eat them.
HA! Like that's gonna happen.


I did have left over cucumbers and brine after I ran out of jars and dill seed so I just put the left over cucumbers in the brine in the fridge with some red onions.

They have been in there for a few days and are perfect. These may hold me over for about a week, unless the kids find them, then they'll be gone in about an hour.

I love summer.

I can't wait until I have my own baby cukes growing in my very own garden!

Not to mention tomatoes and corn and peppers and onions and watermelon and squash and zucchini and green beans and herbs. The possibilities are endless.

Ah, I love summer!

Nature's StairMaster

How was you memorial day?

Did you do anything fun?

We had a blast.

We met our family at Mr Bird's mom's grave in the morning. We also visited Mr Bird's grandparents graves and had fun listening to his dad tell fun stories about his parents.

For lunch we all came back to our house for a potluck lunch.

We played in the sunshine with cousins for hours.

Look at our baby chicks. They are not quite babies anymore. I guess now they are considered pullets (hens under a year old). have you ever seen a chicken sit so happily in a cup holder before?

My little niece, marina was fascinated with the little birds.

Of course grandpa could not let our horse, Shadow, sit in the corral all by herself.
He so graciously offered to hold onto her so she could join the party too. She did a wonderful job of mowing our lawn which, by the way, is shamefully long right now.
But hey, who has time to mow when there is so much fun to be had?

My niece Jordana's philosophy is that life is a photo shoot. She is always posing for a photo. I think we finally caught her off guard with the chicken on her shoulder.

What's the matter Jo, afraid she'll poo on your cute outfit?
Michael was determined to get her to fly.
She was perfectly happy to roost right where she was.

Baby Cakes was so funny with the birds. He'd barely touch them them giggle and hide his face.

How about a chicken hat?



Doodle had so much fun with her cousins. Moriah loves horses almost as much as Doodle.


After we were done eating and playing we all loaded in the car and headed for my favorite hiking trail.

Waterfall canyon is gorgeous this time of year.

Most of the trail goes right past the river. At the very top is a beautiful waterfall.

We call this section nature's StairMaster, although this is much steeper than most stair cases around. Talk about a good bum work out.

My kids love their aunt Lisa. She has the most beautiful smile. We were looking back at pictures from about 4 years ago, when Doodle was just little. Lisa was holding her but had sunglasses on. I asked Doodle who was holding her. She looked for a while then finally said,

"LISA! I can always tell it's her by her pretty smile!"

This really is a tough hike, but as you can see we stopped often to take pictures.

The kids did awesome.

They had so much fun with their cousins and climbed those rocks like little troopers.

At last, the falls. The spray from the waterfall was so nice and cool on our hot tired bodies.

This is the biggest I've ever seen these falls. I think it's the earliest in the season we've ever gone and all the spring run off is still coming down fast.

The view down the canyon of the Ogden valley was also breathtaking. This photo does it no justice.

We had a few bumps and scrapes along the way. Here are my little troopers showing off their battle wounds.

Kid quote of the day:

Beano: Johnny got two mosquito bites today.

Dubs:Two?!? Well I got 51 mosquito bites today.

Beano: Dubs (insert his real name), if you had 51 mosquito bites you would be a mosquito bite!

Homemade Nutty Bars

Forgive me, I wanted to take pictures of my newest creation, but every time I make them they disappear too fast. Do you like Nutty Bars?

I do.

In fact I'm a little addicted to them.

I stopped buying them because I have no self control.

I'd open the box to eat one bar and wind up eating the entire box in less than 10 minutes.

By myself.

Then I'd be sick to my stomach and grumpy for the rest of the day.

Plus the first two ingredients are dextrose (a form of refined sugar) and shortening.

They have more sugar and shortening than flour or peanut butter.

They also have those nasty artificial flavors in them that keep us addicted and going back for more when we should be satisfied with just one.

So guess what I did? I found a way to make my own healthy-ish homemade version of this classic treat. The simplicity will just kill you. So will the ingredient list.

You take 2 of these crackers.

The ingredients in them are rye flour, water and salt.

That's it, nothing else.

They are really thin and crispy.

You spread both crackers with some of this.

Ingredients: Peanuts.

Then spread some of this on the peanut butter.

Ingredients: Pollen and bee spit
Put the two crackers together like a sandwich with all the gooey peanut butter and honey gushing out of the sides.

This is the naughty part. You melt some of these and cover the top of the sandwich with a layer of melty chocolate. I used semi sweet because I like dark chocolate, but milk would work too.

Be sure you use Ghirardelli brand or another brand that does not list vanillin in the ingredients.

Vanillin is bad.

It's a substitute for vanilla which is natural. Vanillin is artificial and a petroleum by product.

You'd be surprised how much stuff they put vanillin in instead of vanilla.

OK, off my soap box now, back to the cookie!

You can either eat them all melty or you can put them in the fridge until the chocolate hardens, about 5 minutes.

The first time we made these they got put in the fridge, the next time they did not last that long.

The best part about these is after just one I am totally satisfied. They fill me up.

Try them, you'll be glad you did!

Breakfast With a Kick

Do you need the milk in your cereal to turn magical colors?

Try this super tasty meal.

The picture was taken half way through my meal because I could not believe how tasty it was.

I just had to share with my blogging buddies.

This here is all natural, no added colors, flavors or preservatives.

Everything in my bowl is straight from nature.

My taste buds were doing a happy dance this morning.

OK, here it is:

Knock your socks off Oats with blackberries.

Seriously, it tastes like blackberry cobbler.

Ya, it's that good.

1 c steal cut oats

2 c water

Combine these two ingredients in a pot and cover. Leave them to soak overnight. I put them in just after I have finished the dinner dishes to let them soak. Trust me, they cook so much faster in the morning when you soak them first. Plus they are supposed to be better for you if you soak them first.

In the morning, turn the stove on to high and keep the pot covered. Let the liquid reach just a rolling boil then turn the stove off. Leave the pot on the hot, but off burner for 20 minutes. This makes 4 servings. Place about 1/2 cup of oats in each bowl. Add one squirt of honey, a shake of cinnamon, a splash of rice milk and a handful of blackberries. Frozen work fine, but fresh are absolutely killer. And there you have it, the most tasty oats you will ever, ever eat!

Trust me, I know good oats when I taste them.

P.S. I suppose you could do the same thing with just plain old cooked oatmeal, but that stuff is way too slimy for me, but to each his own!

P.S.S. You could also use cow milk instead of rice milk if you really wanted to.

P.S.S.S. Or soy milk, if that's what floats your boat.

P.S.S.S.S. You get the idea right?

Happy Eating!

Toilet Talk

Hello toilet!

How are you toady?

Can you come and play with me?

I swear these are the first thoughts my baby has every morning.

He gets out of bed and makes a bee line for the pot.

Disgusting, hug?

Anytime anyone leaves the bathroom door open and the lid up there is a baby in the pot.

He loves nothing more than to dip his ever so small fingers in the refreshingly cold water and to slurp the excess drippy water in a noisy slobbery gulp.

I guess he's thirsty.

*nauseous*

It's a miracle he has not died from some sort of nasty bacterial infection.

See the toys in there?

Actually one is a sock (not poop, thank goodness) and the other is a toy.

He has also dunked books, Lego's, hot wheels, a Barbie, cups, the list goes on and on.

If he has it in his hand when he finds the throne, in it goes.

I think he's doing a life long experiment on things that float and things that sink and things that make mommy's head explode.

It's his second favorite thing, to throw strange things in there and watch mommy come running freaking out.

He looks at me like it's the best show he's had in a long time.

Lucky for me I have a knight in shining armour.

Beano will usually fish out whatever is in and dump it directly in the garbage for me.

Isn't he the best?

I have not even gotten to worst part yet.

He has been corrupting other innocent children. We were at my sister's house the other day and he showed her 2 year old how much fun it is to play in the toilet water.

She had never done such a thing in her life, up that point.

Leave it to my baby to corrupt the sweet mind of his little blond delicate cousin.

There is nothing worse than finding your baby teaching another kid naughty things, and then having to clean up nasty toilet water and two toilet water babies.

*GAG*

I know the best answer would be to just keep the bathroom door shut.

Done, problem solved.

But what about the other heathens that go potty and can hardly remember to wash their hands and flush the pot, let alone shut the door on their way out.

I could stand guard on the potty all day long to make sure it gets shut, but alas, we have 3 bathrooms. I really wish I could be 3 places at once but I have not figured that one out yet.

So if any of you have any advise on how to end the madness I'd be forever grateful.

Cause honestly, I'm at my whits end.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Good News!

It's working!

No, wait, that's GREAT news.

Remember 8 days ago when I told you all about the Feingold website and how dangerous artificial food colors and flavors and preservatives are?

I know you all thought I was crazy.

Come on, admit it.

You thought, "Ya, ya, that's all a bunch of hooey and there is nothing to that silly theory."

After all, how can food be the cause of such a long list of horrible things?

I know what you were thinking, you don't have to lie to me.

But guess what?

It's working!

We have been 100% natural for almost 2 weeks now.

And the results are astounding.

I am seeing changes that I did not expect to see.

I only wanted to help Doodle stop wetting the bed every single night.

I knew it might be a stab in the dark, but we were both willing to try.

It took a few days to start working, but to date Doodle has been dry 5 of the last 6 nights.

*Knock on wood*

That is huge for her.

That has never happened. Her record so far was 2 nights, when we would start some incentive program. Then after 2 nights she was back to her bed wetting ways and was sad and confused as to why she could not stop.

She hated dealing with the mess every morning.

I hated seeing her so defeated.

And now this!

She loves it. She loves our new eating habits. We love finding new ways to prepare our favorite foods. I have so many recipes I want to share, but so little time.

Other changes have also been very noticeable.

She has been 150% kinder to her brothers, she works harder and reads more and is more focused during school time, she has a totally new and improved attitude. When I ask her to do something, she does it, usually with a smile. There is no more stomp of the foot and storming out of the room.

She used to get lots of headaches, but those have also dramatically reduced.

It is almost like we have a whole new daughter.

She told me just today how much she loves waking up dry and that she does not want to eat the other way anymore if it means she will go back to wetting.

In fact at church on Sunday her primary teacher gave her a huge goodie bag for her birthday this week that was filled with 'fake' food.

As soon as we got home from church she gave it to me after taking out the non food items and she did not want to eat those things.

She has not even asked about them since.

When we went to Sam's Club this afternoon she did not want to eat any of the samples because she was afraid they might not be good for her.

I am so proud of the choices she is making.

I am also so glad she is seeing results.

We have seen a whole lot less of this...

And a whole lot more of this...

Now there's the Doodle we know and love.

Coincidence?

I think not!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

Here it is, the enchilada recipe to beat all other enchilada recipes.

I found this recipe a few weeks ago, before we decided to go cold turkey off artificial stuff in our food.

I was saddened to see that our favorite enchilada sauce is poisonous.

I though, "Oh no, I will never enjoy the best enchiladas on earth ever again."

*sad, cry*

Then I got to thinking, it really can't be that hard to make homemade enchilada sauce, after all people have been making this Mexican classic far longer than Old El Paso has been mass producing their yummy, but deadly sauce. After a few clicks on the ever amazing world wide web I found a recipe to make home made enchilada sauce mix.

You mix several spices in a baggie and there you have it, ready for use whenever you feel the enchilada hankering.

I almost fainted when I found out how easy it was.

So here is to recipe for the sauce mix, no MSG added, I promise!

Enchilada Sauce Mix

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 c. cornstarch

1(6 oz.) pkg. dry chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tbsp. salt

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tbsp. paprika

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

To make sauce, combine one 8 oz can tomato sauce plus one can of water and 1Tablespoon seasoning mix. Heat in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

And now for the best part, the tastiest enchiladas you have ever eaten, or your money back!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb ground pork
12 corn tortillas
1 cups of Mozzarella cheese , shredded

1 batch of enchilada sauce (see above)
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro, divided

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a sauce pan saute onion until it is soft. Add pork and cook until well browned. Pour off excess fat.

While the pork is cooking combine the honey, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the cilantro in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.

Pour this mixture over the meat and let sit while you warm the tortillas on a griddle.

You must warm the corn tortilla first so they don't crack when you roll them up. When tortillas are warmed fill each with meat mixture and place them seam side down in a baking dish.

Once all tortillas are filled pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Garnish with remaining 1/2 Tablespoon cilantro.

These are really good served with fresh tomatoes and diced avocado and a fresh salad.

You can make these with chicken instead of pork and they are still fabulous. This time I used 1/2 the pork and I threw in some left over rice and black beans we had in the fridge and they were still so, so good. I imagine you could use only rice and beans for a vegetarian dish, though I've never tired it.

As you can see this was a huge hit at our house, there was barely a crumb left.

If the pan was not so hot they might have licked it clean.

And the best part?

It was not toxic waste!

To see what others are chatting about this fabulous Tuesday, visit The Lazy Organizer!

It's Not Easy Being Green

St Patrick's Day is upon us. That means temporary green decorations.

I don't want to spend a lot of time on these little holidays, but then again I don't want them to pass unnoticed either. So here is what we are doing at our home.

After Valentine's Day I found a bag of all green M&M's on clearance. I also found a bag of red and silver kisses on clearance. I picked out all the red ones and used the silver for my candy dish.

Guess what we did with the rest?

We made these cute decadent clover treats.

Can I just say chocolate covered pretzels are awesome!

Here's what we did.First we covered a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Then we covered the cookie sheet with a single layer of pretzels and put a Hershey's kiss on each and every pretzel. Then we put them in the oven at 200 degrees until they were all warm and melty and oh so delish.

Then we took them out of the oven and put 3 green M&M's on each kiss. We put them in the fridge until the chocolate set back up. Then we added a line of green frosting to make the stem. The frosting was greener in real life, it looks really light in the picture.
They turned out so cute and ended up being a quick and fun treat for family night.


See how fun they are. Even the backs of them are so cute.

The only problem?

They did not last very long.

But alas, what is a girl without her one true love?

Um, er, that is, her *cough* chocolate.

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss

Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?

As soon as the kids found out that today was Dr. Seuss's birthday they insisted we have our traditional Dr. Seuss birthday meal (yes, we celebrate his birth every year).

Green eggs and ham, or course!

What else?

How did I get the eggs so green, you ask.

That is no food coloring, baby.

First I sauteed a green pepper, while that was cooking I put the eggs in the blinder with some fresh spinach. Then I poured them in the pan and scrambled them with the pepper.

The best part? The whole meal cost around $3, for all six of us. Can't beat that!

Are those not the most hideously green eggs you've ever seen?

It was almost too frightening to eat.

But he just had to try them. We had to!

"I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I Am!"

"Try them and you may, try them and you may, I say."

"Say, I do like Green Eggs and Ham, I do like them, Sam I Am!"

After dinner, for FHE we read one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books,

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

In the story there is a boy with a very ordinary hat with a feather in it. One day he is on his way to town to sell some cranberries when the king passes.
There is a huge procession and everyone bows to the king.


As the king passes Bartholomew he suddenly stops the procession and backs up right
to Bartholomew.
He is stunned to see that Bartholomew has not removed his hat for his Highness.
Bartholomew is baffled as he tries to reason how he had taken off his hat, yet mysteriously another had appeared on his head.

Throughout the story Bartholomew ends up taking off 500 hats.
I will not tell you how it ends, you'll have to find that out for yourself, if you don't already know.
I will tell you that during the story one of the things they did to try to get the hat off Bartholomew's head was to have an archer shoot it right off his head with a bow and arrow.


Since we do not have a bow and arrow we decided to try using a toy gun with a suction cup shooter to try to shoot our newspaper hat off of each other's heads.
We had to see if our aim was as good as a professional archer.


As you can see, Doodle is pretty good. Ya, I know, she's only 6 inches away from the hat, but still!

I think Mr Bird was a little nervous about the kids aiming a gun at his head, but he was a good sport.


What a fun night we had! We love Dr. Seuss!
What a funny, funny man.