Back from Living Proof Live Spokane!

My mom and I just got back from Living Proof Live in Spokane with Beth Moore! It was a great time. The best part was when she prayed "Please remove anything that might be annoying about me..." or something like that. Okay that wasn't the best part but there were lots of funny moments like that:) The theme was ONE from Ephesians 4 and we talked about how we are all ONE in Christ and need to be unifed in our diversity.

Mom and I had quite an adventure in finding our dinner location last night-- she offered to take me to PF Chang's, which is apparently a very nice Chinese chain but I found a Thai Restaraunt.com and couldn't resist a bargain. Well, the place was in the middle of an industrial district in the Spokane Valley and we were their only customers! It looked like a bar/nightclub from the outside so we were a little nervous! But the food was actually good and the service was good. They need a little image re-do I think:) I wish I had a picture of this place...its so hard to desribe it in all its 80's garish glory. But it was good food for a very good price so I was happy;).

Impromptu Baking Morning

I made peasant bread (yummy and easy!), cooked some dried white beans from our CSA order, made two dozen sorta healthy chocolate chip muffins (less fat, half whole wheat and a quarter of the chocolate chips), amish baked oatmeal, along with putting together the night's dinner (bean, chicken, greens and white bean soup & cheesy fingerling and sunchoke casserole).

Since my all-day sickness is starting to cool off a bit I've felt more inspired in the food arena! Today I even stir-fried some green tomatoes to add to our casserole and made a healthy pumpkin pie: (cooked our own pumpkin, no sugar (molasses), coconut milk and no crust!). Thankfully I've been walking a lot!;)

Tomato Soup Face

You can just hear the slurping and the "nom nom nom" that goes along with this picture!

Licking the bowl clean

I probably should have given her a bath after lunch, but I cleaned her up best as I could and sent her on her merry tomato based way.

Menu Plan for the week of Oct. 25th, 2010

Would someone update this blog already, sheesh!! ;)

Here's what we'll be eating this week

Breakfasts: scrambled eggs, oatmeal, Gingerbread waffles

Lunches/snacks: leftovers, sandwiches, soup/salad (for me...need to slow down on my prego-winter padding fest;)

Dinners:


Monday: Whole Wheat Spagetti w/meat sauce or meatballs, cheesy cauliflower

Tuesday: White bean and greens soup, Jerusalem artichoke gratin (recipes from the CSA box!)

Wednesday: Hamburger Tator Tot Casserole (bit hit with everyone last time I made it!)

Thursday: Tuna Croquettes

Friday: BBQ Sloppy Joes, Carrot Sticks, French Fries

Saturday: Taco Salad and Layered bean dip w/chips

Sunday: Lunch out with grandma Pat then light meal like grilled cheese and soup before small group

What's on your menu this week?

Ham-bone and hammy junior

M and the big zucchini (and yes, we ate that whole thing...in a potato dish and several rounds of zucchini cake & muffins).

And in which I say...who are these children?!



Looking at Livvie's smile makes my face hurt! She is definitely related to me.

Back in the Puget Sound for a visit and baby!

This was supposed to be a men plan, but I haven't gone shopping yet for our time here. So ignore the menu portion below and I will update it tomorrow!

Above are my hammy children packing for our trip several days ago. M thinks she needs to pack up all her worldly belongings for each and every trip since we've moved dozens of times this past year or so!

On a different note, we are back in the puget sound visiting churches and sharing our mission plans at several (including updating our sending church...we love FCBC!). We didn't get everything done we'd hoped before we left (like sending out those newsletters, but they're done at least!) but we had an unexpected ultrasound and some other things come up at the last minute. Baby is looking more like 12 1/2 weeks, so I am heading into my 2nd trimester! Why oh why do I still feel motion sick all the time?! But I am so thankful for the precious life I am blessed with!

Here's what we'll be eating this week

Breakfasts: salsa scrambled eggs(the best prego breakfast;), oatmeal, waffles, Squash Muffins

Lunches/snacks: leftovers, cereal, green smoothies, fruit, crackers, yogurt

Dinners:


Monday: Teriyaki Meatballs(from freezer) over rice with spicy bok choy

Tuesday: White Chicken Chili and Cornbread (didn't get to this last week)

Wednesday: Huge Baker Potatoes (crockpot) with leftover chili from last night and other toppings (bacon, broccoli, cheese, sour cream, butter), corn on the cob

Thursday: Baked Spaghetti Casserole, green beans

Friday: Homemade Calzones, veggies and dip

Saturday: Steak, mashed potatoes, salad

Sunday: Tuna Melts, apple wedges, veggies from CSA that need to be used up

What's on your menu this week?

Albies double run

My mom and I each did 3 transactions. I bought a few splurges with my doublers that weren't fabulous deals such as dark chocolate, Farmans Dill Pickles and salt & vinegar almonds(hmmm...can you tell these are for a pregnant lady you know?;). We got a lot of freebies and great deals too though!

Free:
Yobaby Yogurt (marked down)
Resolve cleaner
Bestlife buttery spread
Ronzoni Smart Taste
Friskies treats
Nature Valley Nut Clusters
DanActive yogurt
KoolAid fun Fizz
Mentos

Cheap:
Wholly Guacamole(a favorite treat here!)
Cin. Toast Crunch
Del Monte Vegetables
Nature Valley Granola Bars

I lost track of totals (my mom and I both shopped and she bought some additional things as well). but I was happy about the deals we got!

Smallwoods farm fun

We all went to a local produce farm/petting zoo last weekend with grandma and grandpa and auntie Ginny. We had a lot of fun! The girls are both at great ages for this kind of thing.

Tuna for breakfast

For my 6:45 breakfast I had oatmeal. Pretty normal, right?! Well, my 8:45am breakfast (typical times for breakfasts these days) was tuna(entire can) with a little mayo. It was fantastic and made me feel very very good. This pregnancy has been so weird!

Today I am 10 weeks along (or rather baby is?) and we have our first appointment with the midwives here next week. I am hoping the all day sickness will be subsiding soon. I feel like my whole day consists of figuring what high protein snack to eat next so I won't feel terrible and when I can finally take a nap. My sympathies definitely go out to those who suffer from this plus worse(not keeping things down (which I do...although sometimes I know I would feel better if it were not the case!) the entire pregnancy (and I am assuming that won't be me!!:).

Off for a walk to the store before my tuna happiness subsides and I have to figure out the next snack;).

Snuggly Sisters

A brief moment without hair-pulling or yelling can sometimes lead to this:

Yes, they are sleeping in a box in this picture. M has decided its her new bed.

Matching jammies from gramie and grandpa (or bumpa as Livvie calls him;).
These are the moments that melt my heart:)

Menu Plan for the week of Oct. 4th, 2010

Here's what we'll be eating this week

Breakfasts: salsa scrambled eggs(the best prego breakfast;), oatmeal, waffles, Squash Muffins

Lunches/snacks: leftovers, cereal, green smoothies, fruit, crackers, yogurt

Dinners:


Monday: Teriyaki Meatballs(from freezer) over rice with spicy bok choy

Tuesday: White Chicken Chili and Cornbread (didn't get to this last week)

Wednesday: Huge Baker Potatoes (crockpot) with leftover chili from last night and other toppings (bacon, broccoli, cheese, sour cream, butter), corn on the cob

Thursday: Baked Spaghetti Casserole, green beans

Friday: Homemade Calzones, veggies and dip

Saturday: Steak, mashed potatoes, salad

Sunday: Tuna Melts, apple wedges, veggies from CSA that need to be used up

What's on your menu this week?

Curler Girls

Grandma got the girls all duded up earlier this week. The curlers didn't stay in long enough to actually curl anything of course.