random food thoughts

i was just realizing that i blog a lot about the kids, and a lot about the goings on of our family, but i don't mention enough of one of my most favorite things that God gave us: food. so here are some random things i've been thinking about lately, all about food:

• i think my kitchen would be most boring if it weren't for sugar and my trusty lawry's garlic salt. i use them both almost daily.
  
• coffee is the best.
• kate's been calling me "honey", which is a name i use when talking to her. she's just reciprocating. :o)
• our new favorite dish, that we've been eating every other day, caprese. which is fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil, salt n pepa, and e.v.o.o. YUM! makes a delicious lunch, or a dinner side dish.
  
• for father's day, jesse didn't want breakfast in bed, didn't want to go out for lunch or dinner, and had absolutely no requests for a special dinner menu. for me, it's not a celebration without great food. i guess opposites attract.
• my favorite recipe right now is my variation of giada's meatball recipe. i make a big batch and freeze them for easy meals like meatball subs and pasta & meatballs. here's the recipe: 1 lb ground turkey, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 2 eggs (lightly beaten), 2 tbsp milk, 1/2 cup, grated romano or parmesan (i use parm), 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (i use 1 tbsp dried parsley), 3/4 tsp salt (i use garlic salt, because meatballs need garlic, right?), 3/4 tsp pepper. combine ingredients, mix well. scoop mixture into 1 inch balls, and drop into preheated pan with 1/4 cup e.v. olive oil. cook 4-5 minutes on each side (i roll them around every 3 minutes or so, for about 10 minutes). cook through. i drain them on a paper towel when i take them out of the pan.
  
• kate's new favorite thing to do at mealtime is to throw her food on the floor. we never had to deal with this with jacob. and i am not sure how to handle it, other than to say 'no'.
  
• last week i got to teach my good friend how to make sweet tea, another staple in my kitchen. this hot weather is definitely sweet tea weather.
  
• my strawberries are pretty much done for the summer. i see a straggler in the garden every now and then. i ended up with about a dozen 1 qt ziploc bags in the freezer. maybe next year will be a little better?
• i love coffee.
• about 2 years ago, jesse and i toyed around with the idea of me canning and selling my homemade pasta sauce. maybe some day.
• jacob likes tuna. he's a slightly picky eater, so this strikes me as odd. yesterday he didn't even want it on a sandwich. just a big scoop of tuna salad, in a bowl, with a spoon. and he ate it like it was ice cream. weird!
• jesse got a lot of compliments and a boost of confidence from the tractor birthday cakes he decorated for jacob's recent birthday. he will be filling his first decorated cake order this weekend, for a co-worker of mine. i love being married to an artist. his talent spills into so many different arenas.
• jacob shared his John Deere fruit snacks with farmer gary, the farmer who was cutting the hay fields here at our house last week. he also asked me to bake cookies for him, and i did. he "loves farmer gary", and his tractors. :o)
• coffee is so wonderful.
  
• i took my trusty chocolate chip cookie recipe and experimented with it today. added some peanut butter and oatmeal, and adjusted some of the other ingredients. it made the perfect cookie. i ate 5 of them as i was transferring them to the cooling rack, and even considered hiding them from jesse and the kids. but don't worry, i shared.

ok, now i am hungry. but what i really need to do is go to bed.

bird is the word

early in May, jesse and i noticed a blue bird making a nest in one of the bushes in our backyard. 3 weeks later, there were brand new baby birds in there, squawking for food.

the kids have really enjoyed watching the momma bird and the daddy bird bringing food to their babies, all day long. they sit up on the garage roof and wait till the coast is clear, then they dive towards the nest quite cautiously. it's been fun to watch.


the male is the prettiest color. jesse pointed out that it's funny the bird chose a home that matches the color scheme of his feathers, red and blue. :)

kate counting and other goings on

kate surprised me the other day when i heard her counting to 10 with a nursery worker. what?! she doesn't do that at home! so that afternoon, i tried to get it on video. she needed a little assistance, but pretty i was impressed with what she could do.


not sure what the extra words are at the end?

jesse and i celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday. our day went on like normal, we didn't do anything special. we're celebrating later this week with a night away at a b & b. looking forward to some time spent with each other that is not consumed with minding to the children. yesterday was not one of jacob's better days... attitude issues all day long. so in the evening, right before bed, we witnessed a much needed, rare moment of tranquility:

watching lightning mcqueen together.

we've been spending most of our days outside, exploring,

gator ridin',
and playing with friends.

yesterday farmer Gary came to start working in the fields, cutting and bailing the hay. he wasn't here long, but long enough for him to offer a ride to jacob on the tractor. and jacob refused it. and thus displayed his love/hate relationship with tractors. loves to look at them and play with them and talk about them all day long, but you get him ANYWHERE near a tractor that is on and running... jacob will scream like it's the end of the world. we're going to work on his fears this week, and hopefully he'll be able to enjoy a ride with farmer Gary before the week is over. and hopefully he will not have to be held by his mother so i can have my hands free to take pictures to document this exciting occasion and share them with you all.