Parents, painting, football & more

Hello!

This weekend has been a good one so far, however just way too fast. (What’s new though?)

I started my Saturday morning with some last minute picking up the house and some cookie making before my parents got here from NE.

Though not a great picture, these cookies are always so good! I got the recipe from 101  Cookbooks. The coconut banana flavor goes so well together and they’re very “clean” with the base of them being bananas, coconut oil and oats.

Shortly after pulling them out of the oven, my parents arrived bearing gifts.

And that’s just some of what they brought. (All from my mom’s garden). Yum!!! I was impressed that my mom had grapes. They are SO sweet. My favorites so far are the purple ones.

We spent much of the day listening to the Husker game and painting. (Though my mom was the one who was most intent on listening to the game, you can’t grow up in NE without being a Husker football fan, it’s just not right).

 

My dad is pretty much the best painter ever and he was kind enough to help me get some painting done in the house.  (He’s also going to paint me a picture for our house sometime soon and I’m excited for that. How many people get to have awesome artwork from their dad hanging up in their house… )

I’m beginning my morning with some banana peanut butter oats. (That’s a very hard combo to beat!)

Plus some plain old iced tea.

For today … late service at church, lunch, seeing my parents off, then who knows what!

Hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend!!! What did you do on Saturday? (Anyone else a Husker fan??)

 

-Lesley

 

Thanks & bounty from my mom

Happy Weekend!

First off, thank you all very much for all the comments and e-mails regarding my last post.  Even though I don’t know half of you in real life, it’s really nice to know that so many people that really do care and are there for me in those moments where it feels like there just too much going on!!

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Moving along to food … here is one of my all time favorite snacks that I just never, ever seem to tire of …

I love bananas and peanut butter!

Dinner tonight was quick and easy because one, we don’t have much to eat and two, Erik wanted an Amy’s pizza and I did not. So since he was having pizza, I had this …

Tuna sandwich aaaand an apple. (Followed by cottage cheese a little later). Boring, but it tasted good.

My parents are coming down this weekend and my mom is coming bearing gifts, haha. She e-mailed me this morning and she’s bringing me from her garden:

• tomatoes
• green, orange, yellow, red, banana and hot peppers
• butternut squash
• green grapes
• concord grapes
• onions
• cantaloupe
• watermelon
• frozen tart cherries (they’re from her cherry tree and she already pitted them and everything)
• frozen corn (you just can’t beat that good old NE corn frozen by your mom ;)
• farm fresh eggs (okay, so this isn’t from her because my parents don’t have chickens buut they are from a farm)

Am I excited for all that? Yes! Can’t wait to see it all. (But of course I can’t wait to see my parents even more, I promise I’m not using them for their produce ; )

Have a great weekend!

 

-Lesley

When life gets too hard …

Life over the past month or so has certainly and suddenly changed for us pretty drastically.  If you read my blog at all, you probably know that it pretty much has to do with Erik’s dad getting cancer, and Erik suddenly becoming his main caregiver. It’s been a bit of a rough road as we’ve had tons more on our plates than normal both physically and emotionally and we’ve been dealing with things we’ve never had to deal with before (and didn’t expect to have to deal with for a long time).

I will spare you all the details because I don’t want to complain and vent on this oh-so-public blog. I’ll just say that last night was one of those climax too-much-going-on kind of nights where I just sort of exploded. Ha, Erik and I were both completely worn out, tired, and really crabby and I did my share --and more-- of crying. (I tend to be a bit emotional sometimes, just ask my family members ; )

(I took this picture last summer in NY when Erik was showing me the crazy hills and beautiful scenery all over where he had to pick up trash when he was a trash man there back in the day, haha. I love NY! )

Anyways, as I was thinking about everything this morning while typing away at work, I decided it’d be a good idea to remind myself of what I’m thankful for and the wonderful things I really do have. And since I haven’t had a very “serious” post in awhile, here goes …

*please excuse all cheesiness as I was feeling the need to be sentimental this morning

• My wonderful husband who loves me, who is truly always there for me, and is an extremely hard worker who lately has managed to be able to do way more than I could ever do. I’m proud of him.

• My family who loves me, specifically right now my mom, whom I’ve often been venting to lately.  She always does a great job of just listening, encouraging me, and letting me just vent instead of trying to solve my problems, and I really appreciate that!

• The fact that I am healthy, and have the physical and mental ability to workout and to be active.

• The fact that Erik is also completely healthy (minus having sinusitis for over a month that he’s just getting over, ha ;) He also doesn’t have time to work out right now, though he misses it, but some day will have time again and is definitely able-bodied to, that which I am thankful for.

• Hope. Hope that no matter what happens, God’s justice will prevail in our life and in the world.
  • I feel like my eyes have been more opened to the world of cancer/sickness more as this is the closest it has brushed up against my own life and truly affected it. I’ve only been through a tiny portion of what so many families have been through and are currently going through and I can’t imagine how hard some people have it.

• Prosperity. Simply because I live in America, I am rich and I really have no idea how good I really do have it simply because of the fact that I have food, shelter and clothes and I am able to easily pay all the bills.

• Grace. God’s constant grace and mercy. I truly am a flawed human being who is completely clueless. I’m so thankful for God’s grace upon my constant ignorance and prideful, selfish tendencies as I continue to sincerely-as-I-can-manage pray, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

So there is my current list of things I’m thankful for!

And thank you to everyone who who has sent well wishes and prayers our way throughout all of this! : )  I’m also very thankful for this wonderful blogging community. Though I haven’t been interacting with you all as much I would like to, thank you so much for reading and caring!!

And to any new readers I may have picked up recently along the way that I’ve probably neglected by not responding to or not e-mailing back, thank for reading anyways!!

What are you thankful for today?

 

-Lesley

Blue Bird Bistro

Here’s a recap of our recent dinner at Blue Bird:

From the outside across the street.

Blue Bird Bistro is located on the corner of 17th and Summit in Kansas City. The décor and feel is simple, pleasant, cute, yet elegant.

Blue Bird Bistro is an organic, all natural, sustainable, and local restaurant in Kansas City.

Erik and I started out with the polenta. It was really good. I thought it tasted especially well with the ground up olives pictured below.

Polenta: “Grilled polenta served with a medley of local herbed toppings”

We must have both been in a burger sort of mood because Erik got a bison burger and I got a black bean burger both served with veggies.

Black bean burger: “house made black bean patty studded with mushrooms, onions, carrots, corn and a hint of jalapeno served on a toasted organic, whole wheat bun”

My burger and veggies were both very flavorful and very satisfactory!

Along with the menu, there is also a list of local farmers where all the food came from … very cool! Half of the enjoyment is knowing that what you’re eating is local, all natural and organic.

We love Blue Bird!

What’s your favorite kind of burger?

-Lesley

City Market

Okay, so I definitely don’t want to go to work tomorrow after a three day weekend, ha. Surprise, surprise.

Erik and I went to City Market on Saturday and here’s a little recap from there. First off, as their website says and if you’re not familiar, City Market “has been one of the largest and most enduring public farmers' markets in the midwest, linking growers and small businesses to the Kansas City community.”

City Market began in 1857 and it currently has more than 30 full-time merchants that are open year-round.

There are many more in the summer months (a lot more) equaling more than 140 vender stalls that include plants, fruits, vegetables, herbs, fresh baked goods and other sweets, cut flowers and crafts made by local artisans.

A couple venders that I particularly love is because of these …  fresh loose leaf tea and fresh spices & herbs.

So neat!

Erik and I got some cold tea to drink while we were walking around. I tried pomegranate pear and Erik got some kind of Roobios tea (I forget what kind).

Oh my goodness, it was the most flavorful tea I had ever had … SO good!!

I wish I would have bought some of the pomegranate pear to bring home with me but I didn’t.

Basically, I love City Market and I wish I lived closer to it so I could get all my produce there (because I think I would)!

I just love farmer’s markets and all things fresh like that!! Ha, it’s very exciting to me! : )

 

-Lesley

 

Mini weekend recap

I love three day weekends. Can every weekend be three days?? Maaaaaybe someday …

We’ve spent most of today in the ER with Erik’s dad because he had to be admitted to the hospital once again. He was in a lot of pain but is doing a little better now simply because he’s in the hospital on more drugs and can get some rest …

Here are some sneak peeks of our weekend thus far, minus the hospital:

POM tea samples (and a fun POM pen).

City Market.

Nelson-Atkins Museum (hadn’t been there since the add-on of their Bloch building which is architecturally very neat. Erik’s getting into architecture lately so it was fun).

Aaaand, some really good local and organic food.

That’s all for now. More on most of this later …

Hope your weekend is treating you well : )

 

-Lesley

Cheesecake, anyone?

This may or may not seem like quite the random post but since I’ve been “away” from blog land the past few days, I thought I’d pop in to say HAPPY WEEKEND and HI!

Here a a few random pictures of recent:

First of … a light, and healthy cheesecake (with virtually zero fat in it, I might add) from Clean Eating Magazine (though I changed it just a little). 

I topped it with 84% cacao dark chocolate and sliced almonds.

And here’s my big, old friend Bubba, aka Bubby.  I love this guy!

Any big plans for the long weekend???

Erik and I are just glad to have a three day weekend, ha, it hasn’t happened for us in awhile and we plan to fully enjoy it! : )

 

-Lesley

 

Gotta love greek yogurt

Hello!

Just a quick post to share some random recent eats and creations.

First off … some pasta.

This was really good! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture of the actual meal so you’ll have to use your imagination but the tomato & basil in it was yum! ; )

Next up … two things I haven’t made in a long time … whole wheat bread and greek yogurt.  I sort of just threw a concoction into the bread machine and hoped for the best (yes, I cheated by letting the bread machine knead it for me, and, well, do all the work. But I don’t care … it’s much easier that way).

It actually turned out pretty good, but it could use a little perfecting. (And some better lighting :p)

Annnnd the yogurt. I used to make greek yogurt all the time but stopped for a few months for not apparent reason. You can find a recipe in this previous post.

Erik asked me not to make it as thick as normal buuuut I still strained it too long and it was pretty thick. So I tried to redeem myself by adding some almond milk and agave nectar. It worked : ) Yum!

And that’s all for my random recent eats and creations.

What’s your favorite greek yogurt add-in?

-Lesley

 

Stevia in the Raw

As you know from this post, I recently connected with Stevia in the Raw via Twitter and they were nice enough to send me a sample.

I currently use Truvia as my sweetener of choice but I’m certainly not against changing that if something better were to come along. I also don’t love that along with Cargill, Coca-Cola is the maker of Truvia. There is also debate on the erythritol found in it.

Back to Stevia in the Raw … I first used it in a giant protein powder oatmeal pancake. (Lessened the recipe a bit but still a large, delicious pancake topped with some agave nectar and almond milk).

I had this same pancake a week ago with Truvia and this weekend with Stevia in the Raw. In the pancake, I really noticed no difference.

Next, I had Stevia in the Raw in my normal cup of morning tea (2ish packets).

Tea drinking is where most of my sweetener consumption happens, so this is the most critical for me in comparing sweeteners.

And finally, another important one … the sweetener in my morning oatmeal. As with the tea, I did notice a difference and it was a good one!

My husband and I agree with the results and here they are …

We like Stevia in the Raw more than Truvia.

Reasons?

• Stevia in the Raw is sweeter than Truvia (that’s a good thing since it’s sweetener and all ; )
• It’s not “gross” stevia as some stevia, in my opinion can be
• It tastes more “real” than Truvia
• The packet sizes are normal sweetener sizes, whereas Truvia packets seem large (okay, so that’s not a huge deal, but it’s a weird reason I like Stevia in the Raw better)

One con is that I’m pretty sure Stevia in the Raw is pricier than Truvia. I’ll have to check and see how much it is at my grocery store and that’ll probably be a big factor in whether we officially make the switch or not.

Anyways, there are our Stevia in the Raw thoughts. Thanks for the sample, Stevia in the Raw!! : )

Do you use a sweetener besides sugar? If so, what kind?

-Lesley

 

Simply Tea; my first loose leaf experience

Erik and I ventured on over to a place called Simply Tea this weekend and I’m glad we did. They opened in January of ‘08 and I’ve driven by it many times wondering what it might be like but never actually stopped for some reason. (And you all know how much I love my tea!!)

I’ve been a tea bag kinda girl up until now but loose leaf always sounded like more fun. Anyways … here’s what we picked up.

Four sample-sized bags of different kinds (.99 cents each) to try out and a large bag of Tropical Green green tea (we knew we’d love this kind because it smelled so good!) aaaand a little mesh tea ball.

I think I’ll definitely be going back to Simply Tea as it was a pretty pleasant experience.  The lady working was very nice and extremely helpful and seemed very knowledgeable.  She let us smell various kinds of teas, suggested popular kinds as well as one’s she likes, etc. So far, the tea has tasted great too.

Only con is that while I believe they have some organic tea, I don’t believe the majority of their tea is organic and I would definitely prefer it to be.  And I’m not sure how important organic is when it comes to tea?? I’m sure it depends on where it’s grown.

Anyways, here’s a few pictures of my first loose leaf tea experience with my fun little tea mug.                                      

Awww … I love tea!! I’ve had it every single morning (plus some) for a little over a year now and I haven’t even come close to tiring of it.

Any thoughts on organic tea vs. non and/or do you prefer tea bags or loose leaf tea?

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend : )

 

-Lesley

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”  ~C.S. Lewis

Pluots & Stevia in the Raw

Happy Weekend!

Thanks to VeggieGirl who helped me identify my mystery fruit, a Pluot! (aka a plum/apricot).  A pluot was included in my most recent fruit/cottage cheese after dinner eats and yum! It was good. I love the pluot’s beautiful color! Anyone ever tried a pluot??

This afternoon, I found a package at my house today with this inside:

I’m very excited to try Stevia in the Raw. As most of you know, I currently use Truvia to sweeten pretty much everything. I connected with Stevia in the Raw via Twitter and after Ashley reviewed it.  Review to come later … ; )

Erik’s brother and sister are in town from NY to visit their dad so we’ll be with them most of the weekend. We hung out with them for a few hours tonight and already had a good time. When they all get together they have so many funny stories to reminisce about and we were laughing all night.

Anyways, hope you all have a fabulous weekend! : )

 

-Lesley

 

Smart Chicken & Plums

It’s almost the weekend already, woo hoo!

Hope you guys are all doing fabulous. In case you missed it, please don’t forget to check out my interview with Tosca Reno that was in my last post.  She offered some wonderful advice!  She even put the interview on her blog. (You already know this if you follow me on Twitter, so sorry for the repeat info if you do). I was pretty excited about that because I like Tosca so much! : ) And though it’s pretty much just the same as was on my post, I also included the interview on my Examiner site too, in case you feel like checking that out.

Now onto some eats … I cooked up a bunch of Smart Chicken the other night for dinner.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m paranoid after watching Food, Inc or if it’s something else (*cough* most chicken is nasty and loaded with antibiotics among other things that came from factory farms *cough*) but I just can’t stand the taste of , say, Tyson’s “100% Natural” chicken anymore when I have much more real natural chicken.

There is SUCH a difference between it and chicken like Smart Chicken (though I don’t know how free range Smart Chicken is, I know it tastes much better than Tyson and I know it’s much more real than Tyson!)

Simple and easy!

And some of the yummy fruit I’ve been having included this …

I’m not even sure what this is, some kind of plum? My MIL gave it to me among some other fruit. All I know is that it was GOOD!

Now I’m off to do some cleaning, laundry, and dinner cooking. (I sound like such a good little housewife, don’t I? HA) I hope to fit in some bis and tris, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen tonight.

Have a good one : )

 

-Lesley