Time flies when you're having fun.

We have had some fun since my last post of more than 8 months ago! We've also had some difficult times. Here's what we've been up to:

January/February: Another year has passed since my cousin Melissa went missing. We continue to pray for closure. We celebrated 3 birthdays between the 2 months. There were field trips & tee-ball registration.

March/April: Addison's 3rd birthday was celebrated, along with my mom's birthday & my parent's anniversary. My brother & his family came to visit for a few days (yay!) and tee-ball practices started. Ian was in his first parade for Little League opening day. He did great!

May/June: Celebrated Ian's 6th birthday! and my mother-in-law's birthday as well. Enjoyed watching Ian play tee-ball & had my nephew off & on for a week. Ian graduated kindergarten & won the "best handwriting" award! We also had to put my Grandma in the hospital for a strep infection. She was there for a month & then placed in a nursing home up north. We have been looking for a place for her closer to us, but keep waiting for something to open up.

July/August: We have been making trips to see Gram. She is fairing well. Her dementia has kicked in full force. It's hard to see her not remember things. So far, she still recognizes people, but does have a hard time recalling names. We took her to a family reunion & she was able to see her sisters & 2 of her out of state daughters. Aunt Bobbi came home for the reunion & married her longtime boyfriend in a quiet ceremony on a small lake. It was beautiful! She continues to fight her cancer & has remained postive throughout. The kids were sick for 2 weeks straight with a virus. No symptoms other than a high fever that lasted 5 days each. I've been canning, as is par for the course this time of year. Keith had a staycation again & we were able to make it to the Erie Co Fair this year. Ian had a blast on the rides! Addison, not so much. They had to stop a ride & let her off because she was crying! We also had our annual ABF picnic at the lake. It was fun despite the rain. We're also getting ready for Ian to go back to school & for the MOPS year to start.

I'm sure I have forgot some things, but that's what's been happening around here!

Smoothies

Ian has a thing for smoothies lately. Can't say that I blame him, they're fantastic. Except I had no real way of making him one and I'm not willing to pay good money for one. Somewhere out there, I read that I could use my food processor to make them. Yeah, not a good idea. Nothing really pureed well enough and they were too thick to drink.

So, what to do now? Smoothies are so healthy & any way I can get more fruits & veggies in my family is great. I decided I was going to research blenders. There are way too many choices for blenders! I read reviews, compared features & thought I might lose my mind! So, I just gave up & decided to go get one.

My mom gave me $50 for Christmas, so I set that as my budget. Have you checked blender prices lately?!? For something that just makes food drinkable, they want an awful lot of money! Anyway, I found one at the local bed & bath store in my price range (-ish). AND, I had a coupon (which turned out to be expired & I pretended I didn't notice & they used it anyway!). So, I spent $51.83 on this beauty (IN BLACK), and we've used it just about everyday since we got it. It's fantastic.

Cuisinart® SmartPower™ 7-Speed Electric Blender

My next wishlist item is a good Belgian Waffle Maker. Any suggestions?

So, what have we been up to?

It's been almost 6 months since I last posted! Needless to say, we have been quite busy. Ian started Kindergarten in September and he's had a wonderful experience. I am so glad we chose a private Christian school. Driving back & forth to school has taken up most of our time, but has been well worth it. There have been field trips, parties, a Christmas program & a book fair so far. I love being able to help at school!

Addison & I have had some great Mother/Daughter time while Ian's at school. We really haven't had much time for that before. She is quite the little princess & loves to pretend!

I have also been busy with Northgate MOPS as I continue to help as the finance person on the steering team. The fellowship with other moms is awesome! It's a great time to just recharge & grow. We have also participated in some wonderful service projects this year, including making food baskets for our Teen MOPS moms.

Keith still works at the farm. Not much has changed in that respect. His boss seems to be gone quite a bit on business, so that keeps Keith on call and has been difficult on family time. I am thankful he continues to be a valued employee in this crazy economy. He did recieve a nice Christmas bonus this year, but alas, it is already gone as we try to push ourselves toward financial freedom.

We had a nice Thanksgiving & Christmas. My brother & his family came to visit in between. The kids had a riot playing together. I love how they interact now! I wish they didn't live so far away.

We've contiued to stay pretty healthy in our immediate family. Our extended family has had a rough health year, though. From cancer, to broken bones, to life threatening falls, and other ailments along the way, we continue to pray for improved health & safety for both sides of the family.

We have set some goals that we'd like to work on throughout 2011. The biggest one being for our finances. We really want to go credit card free. It's a major step & is awfully scary! But, I know it will free us considerably.

Another goal that I have, is to try a new recipe every week. My cooking passion has grown considerably & I'd like to step outside my comfort zone a little more to try things I normally wouldn't.

So, that's a little snapshot of what we've been up to. Hopefully, I can get back on the blogging train!

Still missing....

On July 4th, a new article came out about my cousin Melissa. Please read it & continue to pray for justice for our family. Here is the link:

Melissa Sue Flores

Mix it up!

Last time I posted, it was about saving money by menu planning. Today I'm posting about saving money & TIME by making up quick & easy mixes. There are lots of ways to do this, but I've focused mainly on breakfast items. I am not a morning person, so any way I can make things easier is great. All you have to do, is spend a few minutes mixing your dry ingredients into plastic bags. And don't forget to label them! Here are a couple yummy links you might want to try: Multi Grain Blueberry Pancakes & Basic Pancakes. Muffins are another great make ahead mix item. I personally like these. I also have Baked Oatmeal as a mix. Here is my recipe:

1 1/2 cups seven grain rolled cereal blend
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 (heaping) teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup total of dried cherries & dried cranberries
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 handful of chocolate chunks
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2-3 eggs

1. Combine dry ingredients in an ungreased 8x8 pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.
3. Pour wet over dry & mix thoroughly.
4. Bake @ 350* for 40 minutes.

A blueberry story....

This is where I spent 2 hours this morning

picking 8 quarts of these
while my children played in the van because they didn't want to help.

Do you menu plan?

We are a one income family & my husband gets paid once a month. Needless to say, we have a tight grocery budget. One of the ways I've recently incorported frugality into our life, is to menu plan. I sit down once a week and plan what we will eat for dinner. Sometimes I even plan 2-3 weeks at a time. I look at the grocery store ad to see what's on sale, then go to my freezer & pantry to see what in there, & this time of year, I look at what's fresh from my CSA, my garden or at the farm market. Once I know what's on sale and what I have on hand, I start making a list of what I'll need for each meal. So, what does my menu look like? Here's a sample:

(I started this week on Tuesday with an easy meal, because I was out of town for the holiday.)

T ~ grilled cheese & tomato soup with applesauce
W ~ black bean chili w/ gluten free cornbread & fruit
> peach** cobbler for dessert <
R ~ grilled chicken & asparagus* & pears**
F ~ spinach* lasagna & salad* w/ pears**
Sa ~ country sweet chicken pizza w/ broccoli & onions
Su ~ hamburgers*** & macaroni salad w/ peaches**
M ~ cajun rubbed pork chops*** w/ roasted potatoes & onions &
applesauce.

I actually did another week & a half, but I figured you'd get the picture.
What do the * represent?
* = something from the CSA
** = something I preserved last year
*** = meat that I purchased in bulk straight from a farmer. (We buy 1/2 a pig & 1/4 beefalo ~ another way to save money.)

So, that is my menu planning strategy. I hang my completed menu on the fridge so I can readily see it. I just use a spiral notebook, but there are some worksheets that may help you plan easily. They can be found here. I also try to take out the meat I'm using to thaw in the fridge once I get things planned. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment & I'll try to answer your inquiry. Happy Meal Planning!