project life 2014: week 18

sunday: a tradition dating back to my childhood. there’s an office park near our church that is (for lack of a better way to put it) built in the middle of a swamp. wetlands, may be a little classier. at any rate, there’s a slough surrounding it, and a lot of the parking lots are frequently flooded. BUT, it makes it a popular place for ducks and geese, and in the spring, you can always find babies! so after church, we went ‘sunday driving’ through the office park in search of ducklings, and were not disappointed.

also sunday: family outing to go mini-golfing. we had a blast. we all (well, maybe not dave and shane) totally sucked at it, but it was still fun.

tuesday: school skate night at skate king.

wednesday: rare spring heat wave meant we had to get out the sprinkler!

also wednesday: toby, being a real cat. he was rolling around in the grass like crazy.

friday: reading elephant and piggie books before school.

saturday: my back’s out. more comfortable on the floor. which is messy. because my back is out.

couple of skinnies:

1) costume day!!!!

2) april’s date night. we went out for mexican and I got the HUGEST margarita!

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for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something). but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it. there you go! SCOTCH TAPE!

it just keeps getting better...

so obviously, from my earlier post, the dinner-making portion of my day was a little less than spectacular. oh, that was just the beginning. dave worked late today. after dinner, i ran a bath for the younger 2 and in the process of getting them from the dining room to the bathroom, micah knocked the container of cheerios off the table and they dumped ALL OVER the floor. i scooped up what i could and threw it back in the container, then, mindful that the water was still running in the tub and i didn't want to flood the bathroom, i herded the kids into the bathroom and dumped them into the tub. i went back into the dining room and proceeded to sweep up the mound of cheerios that was left on the floor, all the while keeping an ear open for both voices and giggles in the bathroom (as long as you can hear them, their heads are above water, right?). that took all of about 2 minutes. i looked in on them (both happy as could be) and discovered that both of my younger, happy ch

beef stew recipe

another taken from the betty crocker cookbook, but i mess with this one so refer to the disclaimer … 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove of garlic, pressed (or some good shakes of garlic powder) 1 lb. stew beef 3 cups of hot water (I probably use closer to 3.5 or 4) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3 medium carrots, cut in thick coins 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1-2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf *optional: 1/2 bell pepper of your choice; 1 turnip; 1/2 tsp browning sauce (whatever that is) 1/2 cup cold water 2 tbsp all-purpose flour heat oil in large pot. cook beef and garlic in oil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. add hot water, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is almost tender. stir in remaining ingredients except cold water and flour. cover and simmer

white wine marinated pork chops recipe

this recipe comes from the weber’s REAL GRILLING cookbook and is my family’s recent favorite way to have pork chops. shane thinks these are the best food he’s ever eaten, and will generally eat 2! i think layla asked for seconds as well, and micah pretended they weren’t on his plate… which is typical. we’ve made them on the grill, or broiling in the oven, and both are equally good. 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh thyme (I have used dried as well, and it works fine) 1 tbsp minced garlic (think I used a clove, maybe two) 2 tsp kosher salt (this was a little much. I think the second time I made them I reduced it to 1.5 tsp.) 1 tsp freshly ground pepper pork chops (4 or 5) whisk ingredients together in a bowl. place pork chops in a large ziplock and pour in marinade. seal and turn several times. refrigerate for 2 hours, turning once or twice. allow chops to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before grilling. remove f

tater tot casserole recipe

i realized i forgot to post this last week when we had it. i actually like it a little better than the hash brown one, but both are good. it’s VERY similar. once again, this is something i’ve made so many times that i just kind of wing it now, although i do have the recipe that kate sent to me after she made it for my family when micah was born. i like to keep the recipe because it has some little ‘britishisms’ throughout, just like kate! ;-) who, by the way, rocks, having called to check up on me the other evening when she saw that the power in our area was out AGAIN! thanks kate, smooch smooch! but now i’m getting distracted… big surprise. here goes. you will need: 1 lb or so ground beef (or ground turkey) 1 chopped onion a bunch of veggies (kate’s recipe calls for a ‘tin’ of mixed veggies, but i use fresh carrots & celery if i’ve got’em, frozen beans, peas, corn, whatever). maybe 2-3 cups. 1 can (or tin) of cream of something soup (i use celery usually

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