Patio "make-over"

After many runs to Ross, TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Lowe's, and the Farm Patch...here are some pictures of my 2 day make-over of our patio. I love the sound of the water fountain! I wish it had looked this way all 7 years we lived here.

New Blog

So this is the reason I haven't had time to post to this blog for awhile. We are selling our house and it has taken some time to get it ready! Here is the blog I have been working on...

www.2002springcreek.blogspot.com

This will have been the longest I have lived in one house in my entire life. I am used to moving at least every 4 years...it was definitely time to clean out the attics!

Frozen Vegetarian Meals...that taste great!!

It has been awhile since I have added to this blog!! I talked to a friend today and told her I would add these frozen vegetarian meals that you can buy at an Indian grocery here in College Station. They are at Mini Mart 3800 South College Avenue, Bryan, TX 77801-4517. Some of my favorites are Palak Paneer, Malai Kofta(probably my favorite, it's vegetable dumplings prepared in a rich and mildly spiced sauce, and a bread that is Vegi's Paratha Aloo. We are so lucky to have this store!

Wish list...

A visit from my parents

A trip to Italy
The next book in the Hunger Games series...
Magnetic measuring spoons!
Another book I am interested in reading...

Arroz con Pollo Peruano(Peruvian Chicken with Rice)
I got this recipe from Milli-a friend from Peru-she had a cooking class at my house and showed us how to make this delicious dish. The way I make it would be called Arroz no con Pollo-because I make it vegetarian, but I will include the chicken recipe at the end. :-)
In a blender, put three sliced green bell peppers(just remove the stem-you can leave the pulp and seeds), about 1/2 cup water, and 1 bunch cilantro. The result should be a sauce that is not too thick or thin(Milli's words :-)
Chop 1 Onion(I've posted this before but I just couldn't cook without this chopper-called the Vidalia Onion Chopper-you can get it at Bed Bath and Beyond for $19.99)
Saute onion in 3 Tablespoons olive oil. Add 3 crushed cloves of garlic and two Tablespoons Cumin. Pour the pepper and cilantro mixture into the pan with the onions and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Boil six cups of water and add 3 cups of uncooked rice. Cook according to directions. Stir COOKED rice into sauce in frying pan and add 2 cups of frozen peas. Mix well and and stir until peas are soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Meat recipe:
5 chicken breasts or thighs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 chopped onion
3 chopped cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro
3 bell peppers
Cumin
cooked rice
2 cups frozen peas
In a pan with the oil, brown the chicken adding salt and pepper. Remove chicken from the pan. Add the onion and garlic and brown. Use the instructions above for the blender items. Add the sauce from the blender to the onion mixture. Put the chicken pieces back in the sauce. Let it simmer on low for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking to see if the meat is done. When the chicken is done, remove from the sauce and stir in the cooked rice and peas. Add the chicken back to the mixture and let set for 15 minutes. Serve.

About Time!

Thanks to my friend Andreea, this is my new passion! And really who would have believed it!!? I have never been a big fan of fish...let alone Sushi! But Andreea took me to a new place in College Station called "The Naked Fish" and I am totally addicted! This is a picture of my favorite Sushi Roll, it's called the Volcano. Love it! I also like the Naked Fish Roll and the Happy Summo Roll, and the Utah Roll...I could just keep going. I am sorry if you don't live in College Station...you'll just have to come visit us and we will take you to The Naked Fish for melt in your mouth Sushi!

Literally, isn't it always about time!?! Since Valentine's day it has been all about finding time to post to the blog! Seems like we have been making a lot of trips to Houston lately, for business and to visit Jared and Tyan and Brody. Also, Kathleen(my gorgeous little sister) came for the weekend-seems like she was only here a few hours! Loved having her visit!

Cheryl Muhr is a very special photographer in Austin. She took Brody's 5 day old photo shoot and this is what she posted on her blog..."I'm going to start with some of the most special sessions first. Well, ALL of my sessions are special, but some of them....really have that ability to remind me WHY I do what I do.....and why I am the luckiest person alive to get to do what I do for a living.

First, a newborn shoot here at the loft in Austin. I love shooting here because the light and airy feel just fits with glowing new parents. This is Tyan (of tiny bird photography...and quite seriously one of the most kind and humble people I have met in my entire life...truly, the goodness just pours out of her) and her gorgeous husband and her beautiful, beautiful son.

THIS. IS. WHY. I. AM. A. PHOTOGRAPHER.

Because life can change in the blink of an eye. Her son was here. And then he almost, ALMOST wasn't. Can you SEE how loved he is? Can you FEEL it when you look at how they look at him?

I can."

What a beautiful tribute to Tyan and Jared. I love these pictures. If you want to see them in full size go to Cheryl's blog at http://cherylmuhr.typepad.com/cheryl_muhr_photography/2010/02/ahem-ahem-ahem.html Gorgeous!

Happy Valentines Day!

Today we had Ward Conference and my wonderful husband made homemade heart shape corn tortilla chips and had them hot and waiting with salsa when I walked in the door from all my meetings. Wow, I love that man!! Recipe...with a lot of patients and love... use kitchen shears to cut corn tortillas into heart shapes, fry in coconut oil, serve with your favorite salsa and share with the love of your life....

Okay, so this isn't part of the 21 day plan but everyone has been asking for this recipe so here it is... enjoy!

Avocado Egg Rolls

2-3 large avocado's, peeled, pitted & diced

4 Tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped

2 green onions, minced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 pinch salt

1 cup shredded mexican cheese blend

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 beaten egg in bowl

1 pkg (16oz) egg roll wrappers(usually in the produce section by oriental vegetables)

Oil for deep-fat frying( I prefer coconut oil...it can cook at a higher temperature than regular oil without burning)

In a large bowl combine first 11 ingredients. Place 1/4 cup of the mixture in the center of one egg roll wrapper. Fold Bottom corner over filling. Fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with egg, roll up tightly to seal.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 tsp lime juice

3/4 cup Buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

1 clove garlic (1/2 tsp already crushed)

2 fresh jalapenos * stems and seeds removed(I use 1)

1/4 cup cilantro (packed lightly)

1 small Tomatillo

1 tsp salt

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 - 4oz can green chilies (drained)

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

Mix in blender and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Having so much fun...no time to blog!

The last few days have been busy and fun...sorry I haven't added any new recipes! So here is a quick recipe. Vegetable Tofu Stir Fry. Take any vegetables you have on hand. I like to start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add 1 chopped onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, sliced mushrooms, sliced zucchini, broccoli, sliced green and red pepper, shredded carrots, edamame, and sliced "dry" tofu. Stir fry until vegetables are crisp and tender. Top with soy sauce and serve over rice. Simple!



Thursday was a baby shower at my house for McKenzie Larsen...I can't believe I didn't get a picture of her...I'll have to steal one from Meg!
Thanks to everyone that helped...especially Andreea and Erin and Teasha!!
And Friday Jared and Tyan and Brody spent the night on their way to Dallas for the weekend. A perfect couple of days! :-)

Vegetarian Stew—Romanian Recipe

Here is a great recipe that looks and tastes like stew, even fooled Mike...he said, "Should we be eating this?” :-)

4 or 5 potatoes peeled(I leave on the skin) and cut into large chunks
4 or 5 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (I use the mini carrots)
1 purple onion sliced
1 teas rosemary
1 jar sundried tomatoes (buy them at King Dollar by Steinmart or the 99 cent Store)
1-2 T balsamic vinegar

Sauté potatoes and carrots in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil for 5 or 6 minutes stirring occasionally. Add onion and sauté until onion is softened. Add just enough water to cover bottom of pan, cover and let simmer until carrots and potatoes are fork firm but not mushy, adding water as needed. When contents of pan are softened but firm, add jar of sundried tomatoes that you have chopped into thin pieces. Sauté together, add rosemary. Cover and simmer to desired consistency. Just before serving, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar over dish, turn off heat, cover and let potatoes absorb the balsamic. Serve.

Inspiring email

A friend sent me an email that she sent out to her friends and family, with her permission I am posting a copy of her email on my blog:

"Hello, If you're receiving this email, it's because I wanted you to be privy to my new adventure. I want to be accountable to all of you. Some time ago, about a year to be exact, Lori Jacox told me about a 21 day cleanse. No, I don't mean you stay in the shower that long. It's an inside cleanse. The basic idea is to give up Alcohol (no problem) Caffeine (so what?),All animal products (e-yi-yi) All sugar (who do you think I am?) and gluten ( That's the limit. I have to have bread.) Each time I thought about it, I ran to the candy cupboard and after a good dose of chocolate, cut myself a slab of cheese. Well then this year Lori put out a blog for her New year's resolution (See Lori, you came back into my life for a lot of reasons. Maybe I can help you with a project someday.) She said it had to be something she was passionate about and her passion was her family and the CLEANSE--yup the 21 day one. If you look at her pictures--she's a new grandma and a beautiful woman--you can see the glow and the health and the youth in her eyes.( I have to tell you that when Lori lived by me, we used to discuss food and all the ways we could buy it, fix it, ingest it and get away with it, and had these talks while we were on a four mile walk.) So I had this hairbrain idea that I would reach my ideal weight by my birthday in April, which is 110 pounds--That's US fat measurement, not UK money. So anyway, I thought it would be good to try the Lori suggestion, but felt like it would really be a struggle for me personally. Then I happened to be watching (while eating) a documentary on BYU tv about a climb to the top of Kilimanjaro, a 19,000 ft. volcano range in western Africa.

There were seven people in the group who began the arduous climb: a tour guide, a geologist, a forty year old father and his 10 year old daughter, a single woman about 40 years old, a 12 year old African boy and a 68 year old woman. I kept my eye on the older woman. The journey began in steamy, tropical vegetation. After a couple of days of that, the landscape began to thin out and then on to tundra, then to flowers as big as cacti, that opened wide in the day to absorb light and heat and then closed tightly at night to resist the cold temperatures. The group carried all their supplies, including tents on their backs. Their hiking boots looked to weigh about 20 pounds a piece. Each night they set up camp on some ridge, ate a compact meal, and cocooned themselves for the night in a blanket and a tent. After what seemed like a week of this routine, the tour guide said there were four more days left to the summit, and those four days would be the most difficult. Seriously, they climbed up sheer rock cliffs, waded through icy streams, even scaled glaciers. They found memorials carved in rocks of people who had died from the lack of oxygen. There were many animal skeletons of foolish beasts that had gone beyond the range of food and water. The young African boy said he didn't think he could go on, but knew he couldn't turn back or stay alone. The young girl said she would go anywhere her dad went but that she was very tired and wished she could take a bath. The tour guide said he had made the climb hundreds of times and hoped to make it many more. The older lady said almost every day that she would try to make it another day The tour guide told everyone to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

After much grueling hardship--altitude sickness, exhaustion, and injuries, all seven climbers made it to the top of Kilimanjaro, which was a precarious peak overlooking a steaming volcano. I would have been leery about flying over Kilimanjaro in a helicopter.

As I turned off the tv and put my dish and spoon into the sink, I had to ask myself what would make normal people want to do this, especially a 68 year old woman, who didn't look particularly athletic or a young boy all by himself? What was their purpose? What did they have to prove? Is it necessary to make such a conquest in this life? Does God expect it? But each one of the climbers had answered the question for themselves. After the group had reached the top, each said that this was the single most difficult thing that he or she had accomplished in life and that none of them could go back to being ordinary again.

So my point. What have I ever done that was so difficult--that tested my perimeters of physical, spiritual and mental endurance? Well, right, rearing children, but we all do that and somehow survive. As I walked around the kitchen and tried to internalize what I had just witnessed, I realized that the 21 day cleanse would really be a mountain for me to climb. It would be something that took consistent effort. Every morning I would have to get out of bed and start back on the trail and not look wistfully behind me to the easy slopes I had been. It would be something that if I made it to the end, would make me stronger and more courageous about a lot of things. That if I could really make it to the end of 21 days successfully, I would never want to go back to just being ordinary.

And the reason I'm telling you all of this???? I just want your help and support. Call me and ask how I'm doing--like handing water to a mountain climber at precise points I always do better at a job when I have friends helping me. I'm no loner. I love companionship. I would say 'misery loves company, but I don't plan to be miserable. Maybe one of you would join me, and we could throw each other ropes from the upper cliffs. But if not, just cheer me on. I really love and appreciate all of you."
So in honor of my dear friend, I changed the picture on my blog to a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro. Here's to conquering the Kilimanjaro's in our lives, whatever they may be!

Day Twenty and Twenty-one

Jared sent this picture of Brody last night...we were missing him!!!


Rice pasta noodles
We did it! Twenty-one days free from refined sugar, gluten, meat, caffeine, and dairy and feeling great! Yesterday we drove our grandson down to Sugarland and returned him to his parents in their new apartment. Loved their new place...miss Brody terribly. What a happy and easy baby he is!! We got him off his nightly schedule and for that I am sorry Tyan, but grandma and grandpa just couldn't resist those adorable little sounds coming from his bassinet at 1am and 3am and 5am! When we got home I made Pasta Primavera...Andreea-my Romanian friend that speaks and eats mostly Italian in her home, tells me that this is NOT Pasta Primavera which means "Spring Pasta" it is more of a "Winter Pasta" but those words in Italian are much longer! :-)

Pasta Primavera

1 jar pasta sauce (look for one that has the least amount of sugar-usually a marinara)
2 or 3 zucchini, sliced down the center and then cut in 1/2 inch chunks
2 yellow squash, sliced
1 chopped yellow onion

1 red and 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic
1 c sliced brown or white mushrooms
1 can black olives
1 jar artichoke hearts

In large skillet, heat 1-2 T olive oil. Sauté onion, and bell peppers, add mushrooms, and squash. Add garlic (put through garlic press) sauté a few more minutes. Add artichoke hearts that you have chopped into small chunks and black olives and jar of sauce. Heat through and serve on top of rice pasta noodles. Great heated up for lunch the next day.

Day Nineteen

Day nineteen was a day for leftovers. Brody and I took his stroller and hit the mall to get Zoe Bassham's baby shower gift, he loves his stroller and riding in the car. Mike had a business lunch at Rosie's Pho and had their fabulous Tofu and Vegetable Vermicelli-if you've had it you know that it is huge and filling. Friday evening we had one of our favorite snacks...Rice and Aduzki Bean Chips and Jardines 7J Campfire Roasted Salsa. The chips are HEB brand but I hope you can find a gluten free chip like them where you live cause they are amazing!
Grandma's happy shopper...

Brody, leftovers, and a great snack. A perfect Friday!

Day Eighteen

This is one of the best motivators I have for eating healthy and exercising! Our grandson Brody is spending the weekend with us while his parents are moving from downtown Houston to Sugarland, a Houston suburb. I can get all the "sugar" I want till Sunday!! :-)
He was telling us an amazing story...
I don't know how Jared and Tyan stand it...he is so much fun and so dang cute!!
Dinner was a repeat from an earlier post...something quick so I could get back to Brody's first sleep over! :-)

Day Seventeen

True confession, for the first time in 28 years of marriage...it is the end of January and I haven't taken down the Christmas tree! It is silver and red...maybe I can start a new tradition and call it a "Valentine Tree". It used to make me crazy if I didn't have "Christmas" put away the day after the holiday, but I am getting older and it takes a lot to work up to "crazy"!
I have gotten the wreath's off the door and collected most of the inside decorations to this table...it's baby steps this year!
Tonight was Avocado Fajita night again. I never get tired of this dish...
The recipe is in an older post.... :-)