Gertrude

I'm in the car, driving around.  Bella is in the back seat.  She can be a real trooper when we have to run a billion errands.

Today, while I am driving, I hear her say, very calmly, I might add:  "Oh, look, there's a spider on my foot."

Now, if it happened to me, I would have had the willies and there might be a scream or some loud sound.  If it was Alex?  There would be ALOT of screaming (yea, don't get me started on that one....)  But, here's Bella, all calm and happy that a spider was crawling on her foot.

I asked her if she wanted to take her (flip flop) off and shake it out the window (hopefully not dropping it).  She said that she was okay and didn't mind the spider.  In fact, she named it.  Gertrude.

She was all happy and smiles talking about Gertrude.  Gertrude was spinning a web on her foot.  She thought it tickled.  She had great plans for Gertrude.  The two of them playing.  Running off into the sunset.

This went on for quite some time.

We are now a  couple blocks from home and Bella wants to try and pick up Gertrude.  She leans over and I hear, "Oh!  It's not a spider.  It's a piece of my hair."

Pesto Sauce

I'm growing basil in my garden and its going crazy!  I have been using fresh basil in various dishes. Last week I made homemade pasta sauce with fresh basil (and oregano).

I made this fresh pesto sauce without using pine nuts.   I didn't have any on hand and thought I would give it a try without the pine nuts.

I found this recipe on Instructables.  They have great pictures to go with the recipe.  They also have a link showing you how to freeze in an ice cube tray (with more pictures!).  Check it out!

Here is the recipe I used taken from Instructables:

Pesto Sauce

Bunch of Basil* (3oz pkg )
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper (optional or to taste)

Put the basil, cheese and garlic in your food processor.  Set the speed to low and drizzle in your olive oil.  Start with 1/4 cup, check the consistency and add more if you like.

If you like your pesto runny, then add the rest of the olive oil (total of 1/2 cup of oil)

Scrape down the sides and add a generous pinch of salt, some pepper and a bit of lemon juice.  Pulse this together and taste.  Keep adding and pulsing until you like the way it tastes.

This recipe makes about a cup.  All you need is 1/2 cup to cover a big pot of pasta.  It freezes well.  You can either freeze in one lump or in an ice cube tray.

       Enjoy!

Nothing like walking up the stairs and stepping on dried up, sticky watermelon juice. 

Am I the only one that notices these things?

So, I'm leaving for work. Alex is supposed to watch Bella. He has been trying to get out of watching her all day. Lucky for him, Nick came home from work.

Bella wants to have a friend over. (I'm leaving, remember?). 

Alex, watching two kids?  

Um, not a good idea.

Nick said he would watch Bella (and a friend) until dad gets home (is he feeling OK?). 

I leave the house, well, I feel like they are pushing me out. 

Makes me wonder if they have some sort of party planned. 

Broccoli Salad

I had some extra broccoli (healthy food)  and thought I would make a little salad as a side dish to go with dinner.

I found this recipe for Broccoli Salad here and thought I would give it a try.   Take a look for yourself.  (they probably have better pictures than I do!).

It's pretty easy to make and a great addition to any barbecue.

Here's the recipe:

Broccoli Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise (vegan or regular)
2 T rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
4 cups broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins

Combine Mayo, vinegar and sugar.  Taste first before adding all the sugar. (I didn't use any)
Mix together broccoli, walnuts and raisins.
Mix in the mayo mixture.
Refrigerate for an hour.

*I didn't use sugar.  Taste the mixture first so it is to your liking.
*You can add dried cranberries or bacon or peas.  Whatever you have a taste for
*mashed up avocado is great too, instead of mayonnaise 

Delicious!

Enjoy!

Eating Healthy

I'm not sure where to start on this post. I guess I will just start typing and hope for the best.

Honey, you might want to skip this post. It isn't going to be very exciting. Your time is better spent elsewhere.*

*in other words, Stop reading this now. 

Ok, where to begin?  

Today we went to the library. We = RT, Bella and I. Before we left home, I mentioned how I wanted to stop and pick up a watermelon on the way home. When we got to the library, as we are walking in, RT says he wants to pick up some healthy food because we have nothing healthy to eat in our house. 

(Screeching record sound)

WHAT?

Yes, I typed that correctly.

We don't have anything healthy to eat in the house. 

Let me give you a little background in case you are new here. 

I'm a vegetarian. I try to limit the processed foods that we have in our house. There are some (processed foods) I buy for the kids (Nick claims he is thin because I never buy food). Our refrigerator has fruit and vegetables (among other things). The pantry has quite a bit of options. Lets just say that we have food and most of it is healthy. 

After our time at the library we went to the grocery store (where Nick works) to buy a watermelon for me and healthy food for RT (because, according to RT, we have no healthy options at home). 

I mentioned the strawberries we have and was met with something like I can't eat that many strawberries.  Oh. One more thing. If I don't point out that we have fruit, RT says I'm hiding it. I have some on the counter and one of the (clear) drawers in the refrigerator is for fruit. I'm thinking of installing a huge lite up neon sign pointing to the fruit area of our refrigerator. I'm still not sure if he would see it. 

I told Nick we why we were there (at the grocery store).  His reply, "We have no food to eat at home."  

Thanks for the help, kid. 

RT picks out some cantaloupe, honeydew melons, apricots and plums. I picked up some peaches, avocados and tomatoes. Oh, I also picked up some yogurt (fruit with a dab of yogurt makes a great dessert).   I also had a talk with him about his purchases. I stressed that I didn't want to be the only one eating all of this fruit by myself (well, Bella would help). Can you tell this has happened before?

We pay and get our groceries home. I start putting them away and start making 

Salsa. (Healthy or unhealthy?) Meanwhile, RT complains how he is hungry and grabs a bag of pretzels out of the pantry.  I yell, 

 "You better put those back right now!  Do not eat any of those pretzels!"

RT:  why not?  

Me:  We just went to the store and bought all of this fruit because you said you wanted to eat something healthy and here you are grabbing a bag of pretzels!

RT:  Pretzels are healthy. 

..................

Walking = $1.00

Started my walk this morning finding a $1  bill. Thanks for the encouragement. 

It's going to be a great day!