Free Fun in the Summertime

Ms. Cheap is out with her Summer Fun Guide again! I must warn you that it's not as thorough as in past years.
A few highlights include: Free movies in the park, Free Days at the Frist (June 27 is the next one), free visits to the Fire Station, and visits to the Dyer Observatory.

Click here for the photo slideshow. And check Ms. Cheap's page for more updates.

Church Garden

Our church has started a vegetable garden this year. The purpose is to share the crop among those who work in the garden, as well as to help church members who are experiencing a financial squeeze right now. It's a bit difficult for me to get down there with the kids, but last night the whole family went. If you go to church with me & want to volunteer time, let me know! Ethan had a really good time & we'd love to go down with some other families if we can get schedules to coordinate. This week in particular, lots of work needs to be done. (The garden got a late start.)Ethan workin' the shovel. Katie Belle mostly sat there & tried to eat dirt. We tried to keep her contained in the Bumbo, which worked...a little bit.

Katie Belle Walking

Well, this might not seem like much proof, but our little baby has started to walk! It's hard to capture these fleeting moments on camera, but we got a few steps in...She loves to stand up and see how far she can go. I'm wondering if this is a sign that she's gonna be a little competitive with her brother?

CSA, Week 4

In this week's CSA box, we got broccoli, radishes, deer tongue lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spinach, peas (snow peas?), garlic snapes & some sort of herb which I can't identify. This week will be a much easier cooking week. Ethan LOVES peas (right out of the pod!)

I didn't do much cooking last week, so I have a bunch to catch up on though. Last Week's CSA had: mustard greens, lettuce, kohlrabi, green onions, strawberries & cauliflower. I think that's it. So I still have to cook these guys! I think I might make this or this recipe for mustard greens. This recipe for Roasted Kohlrabi. I immediately sliced & froze the green onions to throw on baked potatoes later, inspired by this guy. I tried a cream of cauliflower soup, and didn't much love it. Last week I made Kielbasa & Cabbage, but loved using the cabbage to make Bierocks.

Cardboard Testimonials

Last Sunday at church was awesome. It's very moving to know many of these people & their stories. I'm so thankful for their courage & boldness to share their stories.

Otter Creek Cardboard Testimonials from David Rubio on Vimeo.

Radishes

Believe me, I've tried to like radishes. But so far, I have been unable to figure out a good way to use them. This is about the best use I have come across. Doesn't it look adorable?

If anyone has a favorite radish recipe, please share!!! I can handle about 2 slices of them on a salad, but that's as close as I've come to anything resembling enjoyment.

CSA, Week 2

The CSA has started again! We were out of town for week #1, but here's our 1/2 share for Week #2. We've got radishes, green onions, strawberries, lots of lettuces, cabbage, and kohlrabi.

So here's the question for you...Would you like to see what my csa is giving us every week? Or not? I have to lay it all out to split it up with my mom every week, so it really only takes a sec. Let me know if you are curious & I will keep the csa posts coming!

Beach Trip

We had such a great vacation last week with our playgroup. We mamas have been getting together for a few years, and our kids love each other. I can't believe we could all make it! Dads were there too, although I don't have a picture of them! Lots of pictures to follow.

For the record, I don't love this picture of me, but all the other ladies look beautiful!Ethan loved the beach, but thought it was "too sandy." :)Cash, Mary Michael, Katie BelleBelieve it or not, this is the best one of Ethan. He is not a fan of picture-taking...Or hand-holding.Miss Heather got them to all be still for a minute!Digging in the sand was such fun with friends!Daddy & KB. I love those little teeth!KB is a squirmy one.Are they cute or what?...Seriously!

Beach Babies

We are just getting back from the most fun vacation with friends. (Clearly, KB was not happy here.) More pics to come!

How To - Salad Dressing

I was excited to find this "How To" on my CSA's blog about Salad Dressing. I've been enjoying making some using oil, vinegar, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar. But I love all these ideas! You guys have any homemade dressing faves? Below is reposted from Avalon-Acres.com.

The Science of Salad Dressings

I can't wait for all those early harvest greens. True story. I haven't bought a bottle of salad dressing in over 2 years! OK, I still need Hidden Valley Ranch occasionally for dipping, but once I realized how easy it is to make my own dressing, I said goodbye to Newman's Own forever. Vinegar and oil. The most boring items on the salad bar. They sit, shoved in a corner, unused. While all the tasty dressings are downed by the bucketful. At home, it's a different story. Vinegar and oil are King and Queen. They are the building blocks for tons of tasty dressings that break down into several interchangeable components. Master one and you've mastered them all.

Oil • Vinegar • Citrus • Seasoning

That's it! Let's break it down further:
Oil - Any oil works, but I almost always use Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). Grape seed oil or canola will also work. I sometimes mix in sesame oil or chili oil with the EVOO for extra flavor. Quick recipe for garlic infused oil - Crush a garlic clove in a small bowl and just cover with oil. Put it in the microwave uncovered for about 15-20 seconds until you hear it sizzle.
Vinegar - Red wine, white wine, balsamic, white balsamic (new favorite), cider, rice wine etc.
Citrus - You really can't go wrong here. You'd be surprised how good a little fresh squeezed grapefruit can be.
Seasoning - Here's where your creativity can run wild. I usually start with a little S&P and sugar. Sugar interacts great with vinegar and is the secret in a lot of great dressing recipes. Chopped herbs, dried herbs, mustard, steak seasoning, soy sauce, honey, granulated onion and garlic, Cajun seasoning, dill, etc.

Just about anything in your spice rack and herb garden can add flavor to your dressing.
The proportions really come down to taste w/ a few general guidelines:Use about 1/2 the amount of vinegar as oil. A 1:2 ratio. If you don't have citrus, thin your dressing with a little splash of water. Use about the same amount of salt as sugar. When I'm making dressing for 2 I usually use about 1/2 teaspoon of both. Using raw garlic? Make your dressing about an hour ahead of time for a more mellow flavor. However, sometimes I like the bite of fresh garlic, but I'm weird like that. That's it! the possibilities are endless. Here are three combinations to get you started:
Garlic infused olive oil, small amount of sesame oil, white vinegar, fresh squeezed orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey and toasted sesame seeds.
Garlic infused olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, S&P, sugar and lots of finely chopped flat leaf parsley and basil.
Garlic infused olive oil (are you seeing a trend here?), balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, S&P, sugar and chopped toasted walnuts or almonds.
OK, 1 more tip: Like the creamy dressings? substitute 1/2 mayonnaise and 1/2 sour cream or yogurt for the oil. Reduce the vinegar ratio to 4:1 and thin w/ citrus and/or water.

Poor Baby

My poor little girl was sick recently. I went to her room to find her asleep like this! :( Poor child.

Peas

Our peas are coming up beautifully. Ethan dumped the whole bag in 5 square inches, so I had to replant them into rows. They are close, but growing! I am wondering if they will end up smothering each other, but so far so good. My mama says gardening is all a big experiment, so I figured I would just throw them out & see what happened. I am looking forward to eating some good peas!

Ethan's Curtains

Sarah's Mom gave me an idea about how to make super-simple curtains on the cheap. It was fun getting the sewing machine back out! I miss all the crafting. One day, I'll get back to it... And my other most recent project, Ethan's quilt.

Mother's Day Ideas

For Christmas, I commissioned an artist on etsy to make a bowl for my parents. It turned out so cute that she's selling them as Mother's Day presents! Sure, it's risky putting grandkids names on the bowl, since it's still biologically possible for the the list to become outdated. But I figured it was worth the risk. It was fun creating the bowl - and since it was a brainstorm between myself & the artist, I had no idea what to expect! If you are interested, check out justmare's shop for a unique Mother's Day gift! For Christmas, my mother-in-law got one of these adorable little dishes, from MudHutt, which would also make a great Mother's Day gift. Right now I'm scouring etsy for new ideas!

Growing Asparagus

I just planted asparagus today! (not my asparagus pictured above) Kitchen Gardeners says that you can't eat it for a few years, after that, it will harvest for 20 years! We're planning on staying put for a while, so that's just fine by me. Low maintenance - that's my type of gardening. Anyone ever planted asparagus?

View from the Farmers Market

Aren't these beans from the farmer's market beautiful? Any ideas on what I should do with them?? Went to the farmer's market this weekend to pick up my blueberry plants!

Nut Allergies

We now officially know that Ethan has peanut & tree nut allergies. We've been staying nut/shellfish-free for Ethan's whole life, but never knew if there was an actual allergy to them. But today we went in for the scratch test. This is obviously very disappointing for us. The bad news is that they are most likely lifelong allergies, unlike his allergies to milk & eggs which children typically outgrow. The good news is that he does not have allergies to shellfish. Pictured above is his little back, while undergoing the scratch test.

About the Scratch Test:They test potential allergens, along with controls, to see how the body reacts. There is a slight prick (which does not hurt) & application of the allergens. At his testing today, you can see results for nuts, peanuts, shellfish & eggs. Then, you have to keep the child from scratching & rubbing while it hurts & itches like crazy (for those who react). I basically just lightly blew on his back for 15 minutes while he whimpered & squirmed on ocassion. The middle row is shellfish, which is negative for allergies. The bottom left is peanuts, and the right column is tree nuts. He tested very very high for walnut allergies.

What really bums me out? He prescribed us 3 epi-pens. I took it as a good sign that he had never felt a need to prescribe me an epi-pen until now. But the nut allergies are the big bad allergies, so it looks like we're in it for the long haul. At some point, we'll go in for a more comprehensive blood test, which is more accurate as well, but I just couldn't handle that today.

Bummer.

**As always, I prefer not to discuss this in front of Ethan when possible. I want to minimize any feelings of being left out, self-pity, or awkwardness that you can imagine might accompany such a diagnosis.

A Happy Easter

Since we only get about 2 family shots a year, I thought I'd share! We had a great Easter in Decherd, TN, filled with family, fun & sugar. It was our first Easter celebration where we didn't have to confiscate all of Ethan's chocolate eggs!

Fruit Crushers from Trader Joe's

I just found an awesome new fast food at Trader Joe's. Perfect for lunchboxes, with absolutely Zero mess, Applesauce Crushers, and Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce are delicious! I tried these out on a group of 3 year olds. My son loves the Apple Carrot Crusher, but one of the kids did detect a weird texture to the Apple Carrot one. These are now a staple in our house! $2.99 for a pack of 4 from Trader Joe's.

Train Set

I'd first like to say that I'm so excited about all of your gardening! Even more excited that you haven't all abandoned Blogger altogether! I hope to see some posts on your blogs about the lovely rewards of your garden.

Now to the excitement of our household for the past few days. It's hard to tell who's having more fun with our newly acquired train set - E or his Daddy!!!