Veggie Night

The dreaded veggie - why does it get such a bad rap?  Probably from the colorless, tasteless canned versions of something that was once full of flavor and alive with color.  

In our house we have the rule of "you eat what I make" and aside from a few stubborn attempts to challenge this rule, our kiddos at least try everything.  They are asked to take at least a spoonful of each item offered at each meal.  

Tonight was veggie night - yes an entire night devoted to veggies.  However, these are fresh, colorful, organic and full of flavor.  We had roasted maple pecan carrots and sweet potatoes with bell peppers and onions, roasted asparagus and a salad so full of yummy veggies you could hardly keep them in the bowl.  And the kids at EVERYTHING and went back for more, a lot more, there was almost nothing left for daddy to take to work for lunch!  How's that for eating your veggies.

There is really nothing special to making them.  Cubed the sweet potatoes, peppers and onions and sliced the carrots in half length wise.  Tossed them with some delicious coconut oil and roasted them at 425 until they were nice and caramelized (that is the key to some extra yummy goodness).  The kids think they are getting something sweet but its just the natural sugars coming through.  Drizzled them with a tiny bit of pure organic maple syrup and tossed in some pecans, super yummy.  

With salads, I like to set it up like a salad bar and let the kids add as much or as little (must at least add a spoonful) of everything offered.  They love this, they are in control.  We ditched store bought dressings a while ago and now our go to favorites are homemade ranch and an avocado lemon.

The ranch is simple - plain yogurt and a quarter palm full of the following dried herbs and spices, garlic, dill, parsley, chives, salt and pepper.  You can add a little splash of milk if you like your ranch thinner.  The avocado dressing is even easier.  Mashed avocado, fresh lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper - bam, that's it.  

On nights were we want to throw in a little protein we add cubed chicken to the roasting pan and tons of fresh rosemary.  And sometimes we add some squash, butternut, yellow and zucchini! 

The kids love this meal and we love to see them eat so well.  Try veggie night and see how it goes!

This is real life.

I started this blog a little over a year ago. And well, that's about it. A few meal plans and a couple of home school posts and I got so caught up in life that this completely slipped my mind.

So, my goal is to let this be a glimpse of what I am so caught up in. Cooking, cleaning, schooling, photographing, loving kiddos, my husband and God, enjoying my family and many blessings. 2014 let's try this again!

Weekly Meal Plan 2!

Busy week.  We are trying to soak up as much of this amazing spring- like winter weather as we can.  It is Texas after all and will probably dive into negative temperatures next week. But I won't complain, flip-flops year round is my kind of place.  

You will find some of my family's favorites on this week's meal plan.  Spaghetti, stuffed peppers, pizza (yes, again, its really that easy and healthy too, when you top it with tons of veggies), potato leek soup, tacos and tortilla soup.  

Our pizza this week.  Topped with homemade sauce, spinach, yellow bell pepper, purple onion and a little mozzarella  sharp cheddar and a little bit of uncured pepperoni.  You will never order pizza again. Promise!

a visit to a farm

I am part of an amazing group of moms.  So many wonderful, intelligent, thoughtful, selfless, devoted moms are in this group.  The creator of the group is one of the most genuine people I have met in a long time.  She is absolutely precious.

She arranged for our group to visit a local farm that sells milk, cheeses, yogurts and a whole list of other yummy, healthy, organic farm fresh foods.

So we packed the Thom family in the car and drove the whopping 20 minutes to this cute little farm.  Ahhh, living in Texas, where farm land still exists, for now anyway.  Here are a few of the snap shots we took on our visit.  Several of these are from Miles and Murphie.  They love to be behind the camera *proud momma*

We got out of the car and were met by these precious little ones.  Yes, we need a few of these.  Do you think our neighbors would mind?

Murphie wanted to take them home...So did I.

This little fella was all about playing in the hay.  He was seriously adorable.  Reminds me of my own mischievous kids!  I mean look at his little face.

 The farmer had us all gather around and form a tight circle so that we could keep this sweet baby and her little friend from running off.  *SQUEEZE*  

This is a Jersey cow....And she is adorable.  

 Daddy sharing some info about the cows and electric fences!  No touching he says, from experience ;)

 They had 5 or 6 of these beautiful dogs.  Great Pyrenees, I believe.  They were wonderfully gentle with all of the children running around.  There was a fresh litter of puppies for us to oooh and aweee over too.

These dogs were so well behaved.

I am sure Murphie was devising a plan to sneak this little cutie home in her coat.

Some of the yummy goodies made by the family at the farm.

Miles saw the big Clydesdale horse walking up *excitement*

 Okay, so Murphie was talking the whole way to the farm about how much she wants a horse.  Every little girl's dream, right, its still one of mine.  So, she was in absolute heaven when she saw this giant walking up.  Her smile was a mile wide and she couldn't wait to have daddy lift her up on this gentle giant.  Of course big brother had to get on and help her ride, bareback no less.

"Hiddyup" as Murphie says :)

The kids were also able to see the milking process up close, they were intrigued by that.  It brings your understanding to a whole new level when you get to experience things first hand.  We are so thankful for opportunities like this to show our kids the world up close and personal.

Weekly meal plan

So I got a little too eager to post the meal plan and forgot to add that both the Day 1 and 6 meals could be done on the stove.

For Day 1, just boil and shred your chicken or if you are really crunched for time grab a rotisserie chicken. Add sautéed veggies and bbq sauce.

For Day 6, throw those beans in the cast iron Dutch oven and simmer them all day, well at least it seems like all day. A good 4 to 6 hours should do.

Hopefully next time I can contain my excitement :)

Let me know if you tried it out and what you thought!

Menu planning coming up.

Whether you're on a budget or you just like to be organized and make life a little less hectic... Meal planning is super easy. Check back this weekend for a weeks worth of dinner plans.

Today's snapshot

Matthew 5:44, letter O craft, right angles and perimeter, and a little spelling and grammar in the mix.