Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Kitchen Adventures Continue!

Neuva Tazas (Mugs #60 & 61)

New Mugs! I'm spoiled by a colleague that went to Spain for a medical congress. :)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Kitchen Adventures: Beef Stroganoff

Full Title: Beef Stroganoff with Fluffy Rice, Red Onion & Parsley Pickle. This dish is normally very heavy, creamy and packed full of calories. The version we made still has a ton of flavor without all the calories and cream. 

Ingredients: Basmati Rice, Thyme, Baby Spinach, Red Onions, Gherkins, Flat Leaf Parsley, Mixed Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Garlic, Sirloin Steaks, Sweet Paprika, Lemon, Brandy, Fat Free Yogurt, 2% Milk
4 out of 5. I'm a huge fan of pickles so I was eager to make this. Throughout Kitchen Adventures, we have been doing a lot of spicy dishes. This was one of the few where the spice in the recipe just comes from black pepper. The creamy aspect of the dish is replaced by the fat free yogurt and beef drippings, which really works to make it rich. 625 calories gets you a huge portion of rice and beef stroganoff mixture.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy. What have we been up to since the kid visit? Stuff. It's been really hot lately and has only started to cool off this weekend. We've been going for lots of walks and have seen a lot of local wildlife. 




*Not pictured: Numerous heron, cardinals and ducks. One skunk as well. 

What's on the books this quarter? Try and get through the hot month of August. Then the start of the Fall Birthday Gauntlet beginning with Duncan's birthday. September should be really busy with travel. 3 or 4 days camping with Ian's parents on Labor Day Weekend. 4 days in Virginia for Coop Scoop's 5th birthday. A week later, Ian and I are going to California for a long 9 day visit that includes my Mom's birthday. I have 4 days of work during the week but I get Friday off and two weekends free. That's exciting! Other than that... nothing much but looking forward to Fall... oh.. and.. START OF THE FOOTBALL SEASON!! WOOOO!! :)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Radio Silence

I just realized I hadn't made a post since July 12th. Anyway, here's a picture of a puppy. 


Regularly scheduled posts will start up again next week. The post Petty family visit relax time is almost over, the heat is getting better and we've had a few Kitchen Adventures recently. I'll blag soon!

Friday, July 12, 2013

The Pettys Hit The Road

But we are thankful for their visit! Can't wait to see everyone in September. <3


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Clovermead Adventure Farm

Clovermead is technically a bee apiary with an adventure farm attached. Basically it's a whole lotta fun!


We headed to the outhouse first. The signs all over the farm were fantastic. 



Yes, that is a bee hive behind the toilet. 


Max and Cooper got gobbled at by the turkey. 


There were piggies! Freshly dipped in mud. 


A sheared sheep!


Like I said... the signage is awesome. 


Cute little goats. 


And the favorite... Norman the calf. 


By the way... we took along a couple of bees. 



I really liked the billy goat bridge. 



Giant jumping pillow!




Kamber and the boys tamed the wild bee. 




Max and Cooper survived the black hole. 



Kamber made sure the kids were never unattended. :P


Max was happy on the spider ropes...


...but not so happy when we walked away from a slide. 


We took the Enchanted Bee Yard Trail and saw the beekeeper. 



 
We took a very short tractor ride (it broke down). 



Before I forget there were cute rabbits and sleepy piggies too. 




We took home a couple sleepy piggies. :)



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Bubble Time!

Post dinner bubbles. It's a bit humid out but the boys are enjoying the backyard. 




Cooper The Chimney Sweep

I was cleaning the algae off the water and Cooper wanted to take over. 


Moose Time!

Max has an interesting way of pushing up his glasses! 


Lazy Day

Kamber is sick. Ian is just getting over being sick. I'm need more sleep. Only the kids are totally fine. We walked down to the park and pond then played a bit in the backyard. Ian fell asleep while watching a movie... 


...then Max fell asleep.