Last weekend Bryan, Henry and I ventured down to a small, local farmer's market in our neighborhood. Bryan isn't a big fan, as veggies aren't EVER on his list of things to eat. I on the other hand get excited when the veggie crops come in and we can enjoy local, organic produce for much cheaper than I can buy anywhere else.
So last weekend we were a little late getting there, and there was one local vendor that was doing $10 a bag. $10 a BAG?!? Well as you can imagine, I rushed over and filled a whole bag with really great looking produce.
But, again as you can imagine, there were lots of other shoppers who were looking to fill a bag for that price. But I was happy with what we ended up with:
6 zucchini (5 green, 1 yellow)
4 8-ball zucchini (they are the same taste wise, but different in shape)
3 yellow summer squash
4 HUGE onions
I came home and got to work on prepping the food- there was no way we would have been able to use it all in one week before it went bad. So here is what I did:
Shred 3 zucchini and bagged in 2 cup portions for making zucchini bread in the fall
Sliced and froze one green and 1 yellow zucchini for making a chicken, garlic and zucchini stir-fry
Sliced (french fry style) 2 of the 8 ball zucchini for veggie fries
Chopped all the onions (2 rough chop, 2 fine chop) and froze in 1 cup portions for multi-use
Chopped the remaining veggies and froze to make a green veggie puree (used in the sneaky chef recipes- if you haven't read the cookbook and have picky kids-or husbands- I HIGHLY suggest it)
All in all, we ended up with lots of fresh items frozen for late summer, fall and early winter! I can't wait to go back this weekend- I am hoping to find some cheap tomatoes (beat up ones are BEST) to make tomato sauce... so much healthier that pre-made, with all of the added sugar and unnecessary chemicals!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Prayers needed- Jaden's Story
Hi all!
I received this email from my Aunt this morning and I wanted to share it with you. This is one of my cousins sorority sisters and the story is heartbreaking.
Last week, their 2 year old son, Jaden,was diagnosed with metastatic neuroblastoma. This sweet sweet face, was hiding a monster. A sweet sweet baby boy. A baby boy whose back began hurting which ultimately led to an MRI that shed light on what was causing such pain. After his heart wrenching diagnosis he is currently receiving treatment at one of the best facilities in the nation, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Today he underwent surgery to insert his central line ( for chemo). While on the table the surgeons decided to go ahead and remove the tumor in it's entirety. From what the surgeons have told Julie and Joe, it was the best surgical outcome they could hope for. However, it has spread his lumbar vertebrae , skull bones and thoracic areas. He will need additional treatments to attempt to eradicate it from his tiny little body. He begins chemotherapy this Thursday. This tiny baby boy, will go through aggressive chemotherapy that ultimately ends in harvesting his own cells in preparation for a bone marrow transplant.
You can follow Jaden's story at http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/.
Please keep him in your prayers.
I received this email from my Aunt this morning and I wanted to share it with you. This is one of my cousins sorority sisters and the story is heartbreaking.
Last week, their 2 year old son, Jaden,was diagnosed with metastatic neuroblastoma. This sweet sweet face, was hiding a monster. A sweet sweet baby boy. A baby boy whose back began hurting which ultimately led to an MRI that shed light on what was causing such pain. After his heart wrenching diagnosis he is currently receiving treatment at one of the best facilities in the nation, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Today he underwent surgery to insert his central line ( for chemo). While on the table the surgeons decided to go ahead and remove the tumor in it's entirety. From what the surgeons have told Julie and Joe, it was the best surgical outcome they could hope for. However, it has spread his lumbar vertebrae , skull bones and thoracic areas. He will need additional treatments to attempt to eradicate it from his tiny little body. He begins chemotherapy this Thursday. This tiny baby boy, will go through aggressive chemotherapy that ultimately ends in harvesting his own cells in preparation for a bone marrow transplant.
You can follow Jaden's story at http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/.
Please keep him in your prayers.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Ebay, again
A couple of months ago I rediscovered ebay. Back in my college days ebay was a great place to find purses (albeit FAKE purses) and good deals on cute clothes.
Fast forward to late winter 2009, I had found ebay a great place to purchase clothes for Henry that were greatly discounted, many items were new with tags and I just couldn't pass them up. I also started finding some new summer items for myself. It was great!
Fast forward to July 2009. We realized that we have far too much clutter in our home. For crying out loud- we have 30+ boxes of clothing in our basement (ok, some if it is maternity, and others are baby clothes, but you get the point). We must have 15 comforters/quilts/duvets for our bed ALONE.
Beyond clothing, we have an entire basement (1200 sq feet) of furniture that we aren't using, have never used or might not ever use. We have appliances that don't use, we have real estate signs, 100s of framed photos (ok, maybe not hundreds, but 10s of them for sure!). We knew it had come the time to clean out our closets, our basement and our garage- I mean we don't want to become the crazy people with all the random stuff just hanging around!
So ebay and craigslist here we come! We have started with the listing of clothing items- there are over 100. I am finding it both fun and addictive- it is great to watch the bidders and it is a great feeling to know that we are going to have far less clutter by the end of the summer.
Fast forward to late winter 2009, I had found ebay a great place to purchase clothes for Henry that were greatly discounted, many items were new with tags and I just couldn't pass them up. I also started finding some new summer items for myself. It was great!
Fast forward to July 2009. We realized that we have far too much clutter in our home. For crying out loud- we have 30+ boxes of clothing in our basement (ok, some if it is maternity, and others are baby clothes, but you get the point). We must have 15 comforters/quilts/duvets for our bed ALONE.
Beyond clothing, we have an entire basement (1200 sq feet) of furniture that we aren't using, have never used or might not ever use. We have appliances that don't use, we have real estate signs, 100s of framed photos (ok, maybe not hundreds, but 10s of them for sure!). We knew it had come the time to clean out our closets, our basement and our garage- I mean we don't want to become the crazy people with all the random stuff just hanging around!
So ebay and craigslist here we come! We have started with the listing of clothing items- there are over 100. I am finding it both fun and addictive- it is great to watch the bidders and it is a great feeling to know that we are going to have far less clutter by the end of the summer.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Battle wounds and Hobby Lobby
Interesting combo, no?
So Monday I decided to try out a new recipe for potato soup... it called for me to fry up bacon and then use the drippings in the soup base. So the IDIOT that I am, I decide to go ahead and add the potato, carrot, celery, onion mixture to the super, mega, hot oil... what happened? It splattered out and hit me in the face- and now I have these marks on the left side of my face that make me look like a pimply teenager. Just in time for the wedding reception I have to go to this weekend... guess I will be looking for some mega coverup tomorrow. (and to top it off, Hubby didn't even like the soup...)
On another note, I headed to HL this morning with the purpose of buying some plate hangers, and I ended up snagging a few other items.
For some reason most of the 4th of July items are 50% off already. The lady in the store let me know that they are planning to have ALL of the 4th items on 50% next week... so head over there if you have time.
$1.50 for this little star to hang on a knob somewhere
And this tea light holder was just under $4.00... I think that it is actually something I can use for more than just the 4th....
And, finally, these were on sale from Easter, 90% (that's right NINETY) off. So I got them for $2.75 total:
So Monday I decided to try out a new recipe for potato soup... it called for me to fry up bacon and then use the drippings in the soup base. So the IDIOT that I am, I decide to go ahead and add the potato, carrot, celery, onion mixture to the super, mega, hot oil... what happened? It splattered out and hit me in the face- and now I have these marks on the left side of my face that make me look like a pimply teenager. Just in time for the wedding reception I have to go to this weekend... guess I will be looking for some mega coverup tomorrow. (and to top it off, Hubby didn't even like the soup...)
On another note, I headed to HL this morning with the purpose of buying some plate hangers, and I ended up snagging a few other items.
For some reason most of the 4th of July items are 50% off already. The lady in the store let me know that they are planning to have ALL of the 4th items on 50% next week... so head over there if you have time.
$1.50 for this little star to hang on a knob somewhere
And this tea light holder was just under $4.00... I think that it is actually something I can use for more than just the 4th....And, finally, these were on sale from Easter, 90% (that's right NINETY) off. So I got them for $2.75 total:
They open up so I figure I can stuff them with moss and maybe a bird or some smaller eggs...
Happy Wednesday!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thrift Store Finds
This morning baby boy and I had a little time to kill before taking lunch to our friend Nat (who threw her back out, yikes!) so we stopped into a little thrift store down the street. Now, I have only been to this store one other time, and was pretty successful in my finds. This time we ended up with lots of goodies!
We would have stayed longer, but baby boy wasn't having much fun... we are sure to head back there soon! Here is everything we ended up with...
I am planning to paint this lovely green for Christmas- add a red tapper candle and a bow and I think it will be great in my dining room. Add to the fact that it was $1.11, and it is a steal!
I haven't decided what I am going to do with these little guys yet- I might paint them black and use them with some halloween tappers I picked up last year... these were a total of $1.98 for both.
Now these... these were a great little find. These are two portmeirion botanic garden salad plates. I LOVE this print, especially for everyday ware, but the price tag is a little out of my range at the time...(plus, add that to the fact that we have 16 sets of "everyday" ware, I would have to break it all for my husband to consider buying anything new). Kicker? They are about $30 a piece. I got both of these for $1.98, TOTAL. The lady behind the counter was shocked, she thought they were marked wrong...
And finally I grabbed these little guys, the picture doesn't do it justice, but they are a lovely lemon yellow. The size is just perfect for nuts or a small sweet snack. These were only $2.25 for the set...
I also ended up with a cocktail fork (always on the lookout for fun ones) and a basket (for .99!).
We would have stayed longer, but baby boy wasn't having much fun... we are sure to head back there soon! Here is everything we ended up with...
I am planning to paint this lovely green for Christmas- add a red tapper candle and a bow and I think it will be great in my dining room. Add to the fact that it was $1.11, and it is a steal!
I haven't decided what I am going to do with these little guys yet- I might paint them black and use them with some halloween tappers I picked up last year... these were a total of $1.98 for both.
Now these... these were a great little find. These are two portmeirion botanic garden salad plates. I LOVE this print, especially for everyday ware, but the price tag is a little out of my range at the time...(plus, add that to the fact that we have 16 sets of "everyday" ware, I would have to break it all for my husband to consider buying anything new). Kicker? They are about $30 a piece. I got both of these for $1.98, TOTAL. The lady behind the counter was shocked, she thought they were marked wrong...
And finally I grabbed these little guys, the picture doesn't do it justice, but they are a lovely lemon yellow. The size is just perfect for nuts or a small sweet snack. These were only $2.25 for the set...
I also ended up with a cocktail fork (always on the lookout for fun ones) and a basket (for .99!). Hopefully our next trip will be as good!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Snow.... again
So here we are at the end of April, and this morning we wake up to 6 inches of snow.
Wet. Heavy. Snow.
Yuck.
All I can say is that the sun better be out sooner rather than later, I need a tan.
Wet. Heavy. Snow.
Yuck.
All I can say is that the sun better be out sooner rather than later, I need a tan.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dresses
So I have been looking for some new dresses to add to my closet for this summer. I love dresses, they make me feel girly, and they are so easy to throw on in the summer.
That said, I don't have lots of dresses that fit me, so this year I am on the hunt. However, I have had almost no luck in the last couple months.
I would wear the maxi dress, but my husband doesn't like them, so they are out. I am feeling too old for mini dresses (I mean I am a MOTHER for goodness sakes). I did find a couple of cute ones at Old Navy and TJMaxx... but I am still on the search.
If you have any suggestions please send them my way!
That said, I don't have lots of dresses that fit me, so this year I am on the hunt. However, I have had almost no luck in the last couple months.
I would wear the maxi dress, but my husband doesn't like them, so they are out. I am feeling too old for mini dresses (I mean I am a MOTHER for goodness sakes). I did find a couple of cute ones at Old Navy and TJMaxx... but I am still on the search.
If you have any suggestions please send them my way!
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