Fresh Foods and more

We've been enjoying an abundance of fresh produce here. My parents have a garden (an odd one...many varieties of squash/pumpkin gourds that we aren't sure where they came from!), a CSA subscription and neighbors that keep bringing bags of fruit or veggies over. If I tackle cooking/baking in the morning before morning sickness gets bad I can make some good stuff! After that everything sounds terrible:(.

This past week I've made crockpot applesauce, mexican casserole (with fresh homemade salsa and extra tomatoes), homemade spaghetti sauce, pumpkin muffins, zucchini chocolate chip muffins and pictured below: pumpkin soup and curried collard greens!
Yum! The collard greens were a little spicy and too tough for my taste but the pumpkin soup was a hit with everyone. We could've tripled it no problem. Here are my little ones enjoying grilled cheese and pumpkin soup:


And the girls enjoying fresh whole tomatoes from the garden on the porch!

Thankfully we get new things to try from the CSA every week and I am thankful for allrecipes! Without fail, every time I make something (even things I love!) the next day or so it sounds awful to me. Anything I've cooked in the past couple days/weeks makes me feel sick to think about so you won't see a lot of repeats on our menus for awhile! Babies are so worth the nausea though;).

Half Week Menu Plan

Going for a lot of crockpot meals since very little sounds good right now and mornings are best when dealing w/ food and morning sickness!

Here's what we'll be eating this week

Breakfasts: scrambled eggs, toast, green smoothies (for me with eggs on the side), oatmeal, whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes

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

Dinners:

Sunday: n/a

Monday: n/a

Tuesday: n/a

Wednesday: Had homemade spaghetti sauce from crockpot over spaghetti and green salad (used up a bunch of ripe tomatoes from mom's garden!)

Thursday: Pumpkin Soup and London Broil (from freezer)

Friday: Easy Mexican Casserole with rice on the side

Saturday: Mediterranean beef soup

Sunday (planning for this now because we'll celebrate M's bday today!) Lasagna in the crockpot (or something else in the crockpot during church) and kitty cake!

What's on your menu this week?

Going to "Africa" in our own backyard

Traveling has become a way of life for us and is seeping into M's playtime. Today she spent all morning toting as much stuff as she could possible hold in a dolly stroller and her purple suitcase around the house. Then while playing outside (in my parents' backyard--we're back in WA!), she decided to play "Africa" in the bushes. Here are the pictures.




By the way, does anyone have any morning sickness tips they want to share? Eating little and often helps but I never had anything like this all day all the time nausea with my first two pregnancies.

Read My Shirt: Big News

Coming in May 2011:


We'll be a family of 5! And yes, we may end up with a French citizen if you are keeping up with our mission plans:)

We're alive and well, really!

Sorry for the lack of posts this last week and a half! We have lots to share, but have had a crazy time graduating from ICC, trying to clean and pack and then drive across 4 states to Indiana! We are now in Indiana and having a great time meeting with people and spending most of our time reconnecting with family and old friends. Thank you for your prayers and patience as we try to find time to do it all!

Please pray for us especially as we will be sharing FOUR separate times this sunday at Daniel's church. We are grateful for the opportunities and it will definitely stretch us!

Loves me some grocery bargains

Harris Teeter $14.xx

Not much excitement here this week folks. Just a few neccessities as we finish up our time at JAARS. I also picked up milk at Walgreens for $3.29 (ouch!). The good deals here: 2lbs of ground beef for $2 and spinach marked down to $0.75/tub (because I saw the crushed box and asked how much they would be marked down to!;). We are set for our green smoothies this week (spinach, a little pineapple and frozen bananas, water!).

Menu Plan for the last week at JAARS!

Cleaning out the cupboards and fridge/freezer this week...we're down to just a few days left here at JAARS!

Here's what we'll be eating this week

Breakfasts: scrambled eggs, toast, green smoothies (for me with eggs on the side), turkey bacon

Lunches/snacks: leftovers, cereal, green smoothies, fruit, poptarts, crackers, yogurt (cleaning out the cupboards!

Dinners:

Sunday: stir fry over brown rice with meatballs

Monday: friends brought over shepherd's pie...whooo!

Tuesday: BBQ chicken in the crockpot over noodles, salad

Wednesday: Farmhouse chicken

Thursday: Beans & Rice or Spagetti and Meatballs, green beans

Friday: Tuna Noodle Casserole

Saturday: PB& J and Homemade Pizza on the road (along with random odds and ends!)

What's on your menu this week?