Brugo Travel Mug giveaway!

I recently became detached from my beloved travel mug. It's been rough. My Nalgene bottle doesn't fit in my cup holder and isn't insulated. And, this bothers me almost as much, I can't find EITHER of our Sigg bottles! I haven't lost my mug, I know where it is. I left it in my Dad's car on the Fourth of July. I just haven't had a chance to get it from them. It made me realize how much I really do love the thing and how everyone should have one!




So I was excited to find the giveaway for a very cool Brugo Travel Mug at The Frugal Novice. Go check it out and enter to win one!

Menu Monday (again, on a Tuesday!)

I really was going to post a menu yesterday, but I figured I had already posted enough and I should stretch it out! Visit The Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plans!

This week, as usual this summer, I have volleyball on Monday and Wednesday nights. These are very busy nights. I get home about 5:45-6pm and games start at 6:30pm. I finally got the tires on my bike pumped up, so being able to ride my bike helps. It takes me about 3 minutes to ride there versus almost 10 to walk. But it's definitely not enough time to make dinner, or even eat! I usually just grab a small snack to tide me over. That means I'm make dinner at about 9pm at night. Ugh.

Monday: Chicken and Quinoa "stirfry" with summer squash and peas (recipe to come soon)
Tuesday: Pork chops with patty-pan squash and salads
Wednesday: Beef roast with potatoes (crockpot!) and green beans (canned, just need to warm up!)
Thursday: Chicken stirfry with pak choi, carrots and peas
Friday: BBQ beef with rutabaga and corn (from the freezer)
Saturday: homemade pizzas on the grill
Sunday: leftovers or chili

Looks like a great plan, huh? But last night, I ran into a few hitches. First, I thought dinner last night was delicious. It was awesome, and I will definitely be sharing the recipe I concocted, but it wasn't really picture worthy. However, Hubby wasn't impressed. He ate the chicken and left the veggies, and he didn't eat much at that. He said he was tired of chicken stirfry. The thing is, this wasn't even really a stirfy. I would almost classify it as a goulash! Also in the mix, was that he stopped at Kroger on the way home and picked up a Managers Special deli chicken and a box of White Castle Burgers (ewwww!!). So he may not have even been hungry really. So should I still plan to stirfy on Thursday?

Secondly, Hubby's friend is coming over tomorrow to change the oil in his cars. I invited him for dinner. If he eats dinner, will there be enough roast left for bbq beef on Friday for 6 people? Hmm...I don't know. I may have to get another roast. I'll see of there's one on sale.

So many factors! Oh well. It'll all work out.

Adventures in Veggie Growing

I had a very productive weekend. I got very, very dirty...and sweaty. Saturday, Hubby and I went to breakfast and finished the crossword. Woohoo! Then I got home and got to work. 

I cleaned up the garden beds, harvested and replanted. I harvested and pulled up the rest of the lettuces, pulled up the spinach and harvested the rest of the pak choi. I was going to pull it up, but it hasn't bolted yet and it looks like it's still growing some, so I left it in. I replanted pac choi, lettuce and spinach for a second harvest.

The amaranth, long beans and spaghetti squash I got from Baker Creek this winter was FINALLY found. (Where? Oh yeah, in with the rest of the seeds...) I planted the amaranth and squash, hoping it will still have time to grow. They're both about 90 days, so I hope to just squeak by. If I don't get grain from the amaranth, I can at least eat the leaves for a very colorful salad!

The finding of these seeds can be attributed to my need for organization. Kroger had plastic shoe boxes 10 for $10, and I needed more clothespins (more on that later), so I hopped on my bike and went a got a few to organize my overflowing seeds. During the organization, I found these awesome seeds that I had been searching for the last couple months. Awesome!!

The tomatoes and peppers are actually doing well this year. I already have some fruit! Despite my best efforts, the seedlings got all mixed up though, so I have no idea what varieties are what yet.

baby peppers!

baby tomatoes! I'm guessing these are the amish paste.

I also have some seedlings from the random squash plantings that happened last weekend.

squash seedlings!

The first green beans have now been harvested as well. I got about a pound and they're just in the fridge, waiting to be eaten. I'm finding that I like a lot more vegetables when they come out of my own garden!

green beans!

The peas have been producing like crazy. Every morning while I let Tex out I pick a good handful. They're keeping AMAZINGLY well in the fridge. I keep all my produce in Debbie Meyer Green Bags. (You can usually find them for a few dollars. I get them at Big Lots or Menards for about $1.99. They're reusable and awesome. I also love her bread bags.) I've been picking peas for about a month now and we just ate our first ones last week. They were delicious. I was thinking about freezing some of them though. We have a few pounds and with all the other stuff, I don't think we'll get to them. And how awesome will the be in January!?

snow peas. These are the ones 

I'm letting go to save for next years' seed.

Swiss chard was also up on the chopping block. I pick some HUGE leaves. Literally bigger than my head! This I decided to just blanch for 2 minutes and freeze in smaller quantities for soup. I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to each some fresh. There's plenty more out there. I'm still just a little scared!

swiss chard, pre-harvest

Our farmer's market in our little home town finally had some veggies this week! They've been having it every morning since the beginning of June. And from the beginning there's been the same 4-5 vendors (it's a tiny town, we're still trying folks!). There's a local meat market with pork rinds and landjaggers, baked goods from the kitchen at the senior housing place in town, a jewelry lady and a few other crafters intermittently. Veggies are exciting! I got a zucchini, and yellow summer squash and a couple patty-pans.

This weekends beautiful weather paired with my own eco-guilt and my mothers prompted me to try and figure out how to line dry clothes. I managed to rig a couple of short lines on our upstairs landing outside. That, paired with the drying rack outside and our already-existing inside lines let me dry 4 loads of laundry outside. I did dry Hubbies thermals for work in the dryer. Mostly because I know they'd take a while and my husband is under the impression that anything dried outside is dirty and germ-laden. But he didn't seem to notice with the bath towels or his boxers! Yes, I'm sneaky. But it's only because he doesn't notice.

new clothes line. I later added a second line behind this one.

The adding of more lines meant I needed more clothespins. I was very excited to find, at our local grocery, bamboo clothespins in plastic-free packaging. The poor box was dusty, so I'm sure they've haven't been moving much, but I did buy one of two boxes. It made me smile!

Ooh, and on another shopping note, the meat guy from the farmer's market keeps promising us that they're opening a fresh market in town! The old Super-Value that has been vacant since, from what I can gather, a few years before we moved to town, will now house a fresh market. They will be selling they're meat, custom cuts from their own cattle and swine. He also says they're grass-fred. But around here, that usually still means grain-finished. We'll see. They're also going to have fresh, local produce when available. And not-so-local during the winter months. The opening date keeps getting pushed out, but for the last few weeks he's saying August 1. I'm very excited and will report back soon. :)

Since this is already WAY too long, I'll update on Sunday a little later. Oh, and I have a yummy recipe! For more garden pics, become my friend on facebook!

Oh what a night! [Pork Chops with Broccoli, Penne and Cheese Sauce]

Last night was a busy night for me. A volleyball night, three matches. I got home about 6, had to be to the park for a 6:30 game. I changed my clothes, grabbed a cheese stick and a bunch of ice water, hopped on my bike and got there with plenty of time. We had 6:30, 7:15 and 8:00 matches, three games each. And it was HOT! Like upper 90's with 100% humidity, no clouds and no breeze. The sand was almost too hot to stand on, all the way down and really dusty, we haven't had rain in about two weeks. I had fun though and we did okay. No heat exhaustion. And luckily the last games had a little shade from trees. But boy, was I glad I rode my bike. It created a breeze on the way home that felt awesome...though I forgot I live uphill from the park!

But this isn't about volleyball, this is about food! I got home about 9:15 and by 10:10 I had made dinner, eaten dinner and showered, it was awesome. I'm not going to give a real recipe for this, because it's just too easy. This one will just be a narrative. And I was too tired to remember a picture. But believe me, it was very good, and pretty!

Pork Chops with Broccoli, Penne and Cheese Sauce

• 2 pork chops
• 1 1/2 cups cream
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/2 t ground mustard
• 2 c shredded cheese
• 2 servings frozen broccoli
• 2 servings penne

I put a pot of water on with the lid to boil quickly. Then I got out to pork chops that had thawed in the fridge. I heated my cast iron skillet with a little bacon grease. Then I just sprinkled salt and pepper on the pork chops, both sides, and put them in the skillet. I have a meat press and used that on the pork chops. By this time the water was boiling. I put in some Dreamfields Low-Carb Penne* and frozen broccoli and put the lid back on. (Then I went upstairs and got a change of clothes).

After a few minutes, I flipped the pork chops and the water was back to a boil. I set the timer for 4 minutes and instructed my husband to turn the pork chops off when the timer went off and to turn the noodles/broccoli off 4 minutes after that. Then I took a quick shower!

When I got out of the shower, I drained the noodles and broccoli, drained the liquid off of the pork chops that had accumulated and poured it in the saucepan and turned that back on to heat through again. Into the pot I put the cream, pepper and mustard. I mixed it up well and heated it. You don't want to let it get to a rolling boil, just barely a simmer. Once that heated, I added the cheese and stirred it until it was melted. Then I just added the noodles and broccoli back in and mix to combine. I didn't really measure when I was making this, so you may have to play around with the quantities for what you want. Add cream, or more cheese or even more spices. Err on the side of not enough, you can always add more if you need it, but it's hard to take it out if you've put too much in.

That's it! I loved it. I don't think my Hubby was too impressed with the cheese sauce. I used a couple of awesome cheeses I got from Whole Foods, though I can't remember off the top of my head what they were. He's not a fan of "stinky" cheese, so that may have had something to do with it. But one that I used just smelled like macaroni and cheese, I had to use it!

It was good, very good. I will definitely make it again, but probably just for myself. I think it will warm up great for lunch.

*I know this isn't really a real food, but I am really trying to be low-carb still, I have about 20 lbs. to lose, at least! Eating just real food isn't doing it for me. Thanks to this pasta, this meal is very low-carb. (And, this is an associate link, just so you know!) I have been able to occasionally find this in the store, and it's becoming more common to find it, but Amazon is usually the best deal.

2010 June/July Garden Update

fresh strawberries

asparagus, garlic and potatoes. 

Unfortunately, I must have missed a bunch 

of potatoes last year. They're sprouting and have 

choked out most of the garlic.

Back gardens. Added carrots and beans.

Side garden 1. Tomatoes, peppers and Swiss Chard

Side garden 2. Tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, rutabagas, basil and cilantro

herbs

more herbs and just a small portion of the strawberries. 

The others aren't worth seeing, taken over by crab grass!!

Food I've Made Photo Purge

Hopefully there will be recipes to follow-up with these!

Dehydrating veggie stock

Dehydrating spinach puree, to add to the veggie stock

Dog treats

rutabaga fries

browning beef for chili...beef I ground myself

hazelnut spread and butternut soup

homemade taco seasoning with pulled pork in cast iron skillet

sourdough starter, I started it myself!!

sourdough biscuits, just as flaky as storebought but without all the crap!

sourdough buns

sourdough crackers...should've pricked with a fork first

sourdough waffles with homemade jam and real whipped cream

May 2010 Garden Photo Purge

gorgeous flowers by the pond

herbs and seedlings

snow peas, pac choi, chamomile, spinach, kohlrabi and lettuce is back garden 1

lettuce, onions and turnips  in back garden 2

asparagus, garlic and potatoes in back garden 2

iris blooming

side gardens, nothing planted yet

strawberries popping

Forever and a Day...

Yeah, I know it's been that long! Sorry. Life has been a little crazy and blogging just hasn't been a priority. But fear not, I have been gardening, planning meals and cooking...mostly.

Our very best friends who live less than a block away are moving to Australia at the end of July. Since we learned of this, we have been spending as much with them as possible. This unfortunately means that we've been eating out a lot. Plus we've had quite a few birthdays within our little group (and a few outside), so that didn't help. Both our bank account and the scale reflect this as you might guess. And to top it off, Kira told us she was pregnant! And she's leaving me! Ugh. But, she'll be back with her family, which is good for her. With her first child, who is now 7, she was here in the US and knew very few people aside from her husband and his immediate family. This made it hard, so I am very happy for her. I know her mom is over the moon :) But I'm still sad...

Other goings on:

• I had the birth control implant removed a little over a week ago. Hopefully this will help me in the weight loss area as well as just feeling better in general. I am going to start using the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). After reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility I decided that it will be the way I go now. I want to get the chemicals out of me and try to find a natural rhythm. I've been on BC now for about 10 years. I first started using it to help with really painful cramping (I've passed out a few times from the pain), so I'm a little leery about that, but I'm hoping being a little more mature will help alleviate some of the issues I was having. We'll see! I am also not as opposed to getting pregnant now as when we were first married, or when my husband lost his job. So, if I don't get FAM down and we do get pregnant, I'll be okay with it.
• Hubby's job seems to be holding well and he's liking it more and more :)
• We got a puppy! 

This is Texas Bones. We adopted him from friends 

who had to give him up due to their daughter 

being highly allergic. We've known him since 

he was a puppy and love him very much :)

• The garden is going well. I have almost all of my two beds full, and have added two more beds which will hopefully get some more sunshine than the others do. I hope to get some pictures up this weekend.
• I got an apple tree! Our wonderful friends got me one for my birthday this year. Thanks guys!
• The weather has finally broken for good (I think) and I'm getting back into running. 
• I'm also going to try Atkins one more time and see if it will work long-term now that my hormones will be more level. I went on induction in October of last year and continued on it through Christmas and stopped losing at about 20lbs lost, 180lbs. The October previous to that, when I got the implant, I weighed in at 168...still not good. I haven't gone completely off the low-carb thing, I just haven't been as strict. I've enjoyed the occasional potato or bowl of ice cream since then. I've managed to gain a few pounds, so my starting weight this time is 183. I've also decided to that artificial sweeteners and I don't really get along. I know they aren't good for you, so I'm trying to cut them back. I'd much rather eat a little bit of honey than a bunch of Splenda. I also have some Stevia leaf, but you just can't put green leafy flecks in ice cream! So I'm going to try and cut out sweets more completely than I did last time. We'll see. I believe ultimately, I will end up bringing in a few natural sweeteners as well as whole wheat sourdough, beans and a few other higher-carb  yet nourishing foods. The good news is that I've learned to like a few more veggies :) Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, turnips and rutabagas have all made their way into our diet permanently.

I know there's probably more, but I think that's it for now. Work is still REALLY busy, which means I don't have time to take a lunch somedays even, let alone blog. Then by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is sit down in front of the computer again. I really enjoy being outside and I'm trying to do it more. I will also keep trying to update as often as I can.

Menu Monday (on Tuesday)

Here I am, late again! Spring has almost sprung around here and my mind is going in a million different directions. It's so exciting, but so busy at the same time. Should I just resign myself to the fact that I'm an intermittent blogger, or keep beating myself up over it every time I realize I've been remiss in my duties? I'll let you know what I decide. In the meantime, here's my menu for this week.

Monday - leftover night!

Tuesday - Beef and broccoli stirfry

Wednesday - bbq chicken in the crockpot & spaghetti squash

Thursday - pork chops with creamy dijon sauce (spaghetti squash)

Friday - dinner at our neighbors

Saturday - ham roast

Sunday - homemade pizza

I'm a little at a loss for sides this week. The veggies in my fridge/pantry pretty much consist of broccoli and a few squash. There's plenty of yummy corn in the freezer...but that's not exactly on the low-carb plan. But then again, I'm not sure if I'm exactly on the low-carb plan still...so we'll see. Life's a jumble right now!

I've got water kefir brewing (I LOVE the stuff!!), sourdough going and a freezer stocked with homemade burritos for Hubby. He wanted them for when he gets home from work (about 3:30) and he's hungry (he doesn't always get to take a lunch). He says they're better than the frozen ones he wanted me to buy :) Progress!! He also said I could make PB&J sandwiches for him to take for lunch, as long as I used white bread. He's doing me a favor and using all the jam I have in the freezer :) Even more progress! Bit-by-bit I will clean up his diet.

Anyway, that's my menu. For more Menu Monday posts, visit OrgJunkie.

Menu...Wednesday?

Oh what a week. I really need to change some things in my life. I'm increasingly stressed out and really want to spend my time at home...but I can't yet! Ugh.

Anyway, on to the menu!

Monday - homemade pizza (we didn't eat it this weekend)

Tuesday - pulled pork (from the freezer) on homemade buns with rutabaga french fries.

Wednesday - crockpot sausage soup

Thursday - homemade beef-a-roni

Friday - dinner at our friends house

Saturday - oven fried chicken with rutabaga/turnip au gratin & roasted asparagus

Sunday - stir fried chicken and fried "rice" (really cauliflower :)

I'm hoping to have a few minutes to get my act together and get the rest of the 28-Day Challenge update out to you guys. Happy Wednesday!