Real Food Recipe {Sloppy Joes}

I cook every meal my family eats (except Dillon packs his lunch for work, I didn't do it correctly at the start of our marriage and he took that responsibility back after a few days).  We VERY rarely eat out.  Does this mean I am a cook?  I don't really know about that.  I don't particularly enjoy cooking.  I enjoy baking, particularly the terribly putzy stuff that my mother hates that takes 207 steps to assemble. But I've been doing much more from scratch cooking lately and have found some tasty recipes I thought deserved sharing. Baking I like to be putzy, cooking I like to go on the table in 30 minutes or less (extra credit if I don't have to remember to thaw anything the day before). 

The first recipe I want to share is a quick and super easy recipe for sloppy joes.  I started with this recipe, and adapted it to be Whole 30 compliant while I was doing it.  I didn't own Whole 30 ketchup and I still don't know what coconut aminos are.  Growing up on sloppy joe from a can, this tastes awesome and is really easy, and still very affordable.  Why eat the canned stuff?

Here's a bonus tip: this uses a portion of a can of tomato paste.  Throw the other half in a jar or plastic bag in the freezer until next time.  No need to buy one of those fancy resealable tubes of tomato paste. 

A hit with the "under two" crowd as well

Sloppy Joes
1 lb ground beef
1 yellow pepper, diced (I used green in the photo)
1 red onion, diced
2 T coconut or olive oil
6 T tomato paste
2-3 T apple cider vinegar
1 t ground mustard
1 t garlic powder
Salt & pepper

Saute the onion and pepper in the oil until soft.  Add the beef and brown.  Then, add the tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, garlic, mustard and salt and pepper, add a touch of water or broth if it seems dry.  Let those flavors meld on med/low heat for 10-30 minutes and enjoy on a bun, baked potato (WHOLE 30), sweet potato, or fries. Bonus points if you want to add a different kind of hot pepper, some crushed red pepper or other little kick of heat!

MAN-tiquing

I don't recall where I first heard the phrase "mantique" but I love it.  You must know the manly antiques it refers to: old telephones, beer signs, LIFE magazines, mysterious tools.  I love to go to antique stores, and inevitably Dillon spends his time in the "mantique" section.  His long-time favorite is old ads, maps, and plat books.

I made a costly mistake yesterday.  I had been to THE ONLY antique store in town and found a plat map, which I gave to Dillon for his birthday.  This is the plat map he's been searching years for: a map with the family farm on it.  Actually, it was a surprise to me yesterday because he found the other farm from his mom's side on it too!  Double score! 

I love that we have it now, it'll find it's home on our dining room wall.  But now, what will Dillon look for in the mantique section? 

p.s. we also celebrated with this summer berry pudding which was surprisingly easy and super refreshing on a hot day!

Five Things

It's been awhile.  The end of the "monthly baby post" has left me a bit uninspired.  So here's ten Five quick things that have been happening:

1. The garden is in full swing and we've got our first edible peas and beans!  Now we are headed away for the weekend and our elderly neighbor is going to be watering it for us.  Please don't kill it...please don't kill it...please don't kill it....

2.  My son has been saying lots of words lately.  The big difference is that with some of his words, I can really hear his voice.  He's always babbled a lot but now when he says "up" or "nap" or "meow", I can hear his tiny little high voice and I'm in love. 

3. I've had several discussions with friends about the challenge of cooking lately, and am wondering if anyone would be interested in reading some of my favorite meals?  I wouldn't proclaim myself a cook, but I do all the cooking in my house for every meal (we very rarely eat out) so I do a lot of it.  And I have my fair share of quick, box-free, normal-ingredient meals.  Anyone? Anyone?

4. Our washing machine had an issue last week.  It wouldn't drain at all and an error code came up (isn't it crazy that washing machines have error codes now??).  I checked the manual and found out that we are supposed to check the drain filter monthly for any debris that could clog up the line.  Monthly?? We've been using this baby for two years and have never opened this door.  So now you know too: check your drain filter, at least occasionally.  I managed to fix it by cleaning out the filter, even though it didn't seem to have that much in it; Thank goodness we didn't have to have it serviced! 

The small tube that is *supposed* to drain any water left in the line while you clean your filter, and the large plug on the right that has the filter behind it, where all the water came rushing out and ruined my box of dryer sheets.  I'm a pro, guys.

So THATS what's behind that little door on the left!

5. I made a quick update to this footstool we made several years ago.  I'm so tired of beige and boring, so I got a yard of this pretty blue pattern and stapled it right over the top of the old cover.  It clashes horribly with our safe green couch but I don't care.  Someday the rest of the house will match the footstool.

This is the most true picture I got of the color.  So pretty!

Such a perfect surface for trains and tractors and cranes to work.

Garden update 2

Hello all!  I'm in a snippy mood today because I was hangry after fasting for an insurance-required blood draw (that was cancelled this morning--grr).  But now I've had my coffee and and am trying to make the best of it. 

How about a garden update to cheer us all up? 

First of all, here's the miraculous before and after from putting mulch in our front flower beds.  "oohs" and "aahs" welcome. 

BEFORE

AFTER

I laid down DeWitt landscape fabric because I heard it is the best and because I never want to have to do it again.  Then covered it with black mulch to match the rest of the front of the house.  In the back, we use free wood mulch from the city so it doesn't match. Quite the difference, eh?

BEFORE

AFTER

And yes, it's time to talk about the raised garden.  In past years we've been in apartments so I've done my best to grow things in pots and containers, with mixed results.  This year is my first year with a real, in-the-ground garden and I feel like a gardener.  Just look at this!

Just ignore the dirt looking section on the right.  Thats where our spinach was

The tomatoes are looking wonderful, and we have a handful of cherry tomatoes started already.  The beans are huge, as are the peas, and both have buds.  The onions are looking wonderful, and the cucumbers and pumpkins are on their way.  Unfortunately, I still cant tell the difference between kohlrabi plants, broccoli plants, brussels sprouts, and weeds.  yes.  So I have quite a variety growing and I just plan on letting them get a little bigger before I commit to pulling any of them. 

Also, when we installed the garden and filled it with soil we did our best to level it.  We failed.  The spinach corner is lower and as a result is drowning our poor spinach.  I've pretty much given up on it, but it's an easy fix for next year. 

That's it, that's all I've got.  Now, more coffee!

I did a Whole 30

I'm slightly nervous to write this post for two reasons: 1. I have more than one nutritionist or dietitian friend who I am afraid will say that a Whole 30 is a bad idea for some reason or another and 2. Because I don't generally talk about my eating/weight/health with people.  I did have a couple of friends ask me how the Whole 30 went, so this post is for you.  Here we go.  Eep.



Whole 30 is "a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system." according to the website.  It's 30 days of eating only whole foods; you cut out dairy, legumes (including soy), grains, sugar (in all forms like maple syrup and honey), and alcohol.  This leaves you with meat, veggies, some fruit, and healthy fats. 

I have a couple of friends who have done a whole 30 and they did it more than once (so it must be good, right?).  I was looking forward to the "end unhealthy cravings and habits" part of it, because that's my main food issue, I think.  I eat when I am upset and tend to eat a lot of junk--- instead of stopping at a couple cookies, I'll eat half the package.  Bad news. 

So here's how I did it.  I started by not following any of the advice out there for something like this.  I didn't read the book (all the info is on the website, but they suggest reading the book also), I didn't join any facebook groups, I didn't do it with a friend for support, I didn't have my whole family doing it together.  I also chose to do this during a month in which I was hosting two birthday parties (with cake and such) & attending family BBQs.  Go big or go home, right?

We chose to exclude Dillon & my son from this because, well, I ate a lot of meat.  A lot of very expensive meat.  And this pasta & "rice&beans" family just couldn't support a budget where three of us were eating that much organic, grass fed, nitrite free, glitter-and-rainbows-raised meat.  This means that I was also cooking multiple meals at every mealtime and handing my son pieces of english muffin with cream cheese that I couldn't just lick off my fingers.  That's right, I was the epitome of self control for the past month.  I don't know how it happened. 

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. - See more at: http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/#sthash.cR9RsVTb.dpuf

I liked it because of the tough love section of the rules.  The rules kindly remind you that this is not hard.  It's sort of a "suck it up buttercup" mentality that was great for me.  No cheating, because this is not hard.  Giving birth is hard, beating cancer is hard, drinking coffee black IS NOT HARD. Ah, so true.

At any rate, these are my tips for the whole 30:
1. get thyself a menu planned out.  It was SO MUCH easier for the weeks that I had this menu planned out than the weeks I failed to do it.  I got variety (except for those darn eggs for breakfast, yuck but inexpensive) and could easily think of complimentary foods for myself and my family.  Like burgers without a bun for me, fish with rice for them and broccoli for me, brats for them and sausage for me.

2. have some easy to cook meals.  Because by the end of 30 days, you will be so OVER cooking.  Sausage & sweet potatoes, lunchmeat & an egg, tuna salad.  Ready to eat in 5 minutes. 

3. Aidells chicken and apple sausage, applegate roast beef lunchmeat, homemade mayo (which is truly incredibly easy and I'm never buying from the store again), Balsamic salad dressing, apples cooked in coconut oil, Chipotle chicken and sweet potatoes, beef and cabbage delicious meal, sloppy joes over a potato, la croix sparkling water, and pinterest.

I found some really yummy recipes that I plan to use all the time now.  

My shelves with the blue tape.  I tried my darndest not to look at the not blue shelves.

Blue shelf right in front when I open my cabinet

How did it go for me? I had a weird fascination with food for about a week in the middle, was completely exhausted for two days at the start, and had a hard cider on day 30 (CHEATER CHEATER).  I realized that my milk supply was dropping (still breastfeeding) about a week in so I started eating more snacks, fat, and larger meals even when I didn't really want to, and drinking a ton of water.  I feel really good though!  I am in the "reintroduction phase" of the plan, where I introduce foods back into my diet slowly so that I can track if anything makes me feel terrible (and, presumably, so that I don't crap my pants from eating something different).  And I don't really miss anything, except for the price tag of my pre-whole 30 food.  I've got beans back into my diet so it's not all-meat-all-the-time which I feel good about. 

I lost weight and my pants look laughable. I think my weight has been redistributed a bit which is a good thing.  Most importantly, I feel like I have control over the foods I'm choosing, which is a new thing for me.  Just because it's there doesn't mean I have to eat it.  Somewhat embarrassing that I am learning this as a 28 year old.  I also would like to do it again when I am not breastfeeding so that I don't have to worry so much about my milk supply, and really feel like I have my body to myself again.

There.  Embarrassing post over.  Phew.  Have you ever done a Whole 30? 

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. - See more at: http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/#sthash.cR9RsVTb.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-one/#sthash.EO25lVMH.dpuf

All things outdoor

I wrote this post two full weeks ago but had a photo uploading issue.  So we are all going to pretend that you are reading this on, say, May 18th.  Then, I'll post the "update" post in a few days and you'll be amazed, okay?

I plan on updating here what is happening in our lawn/garden/flower beds.  Every year I have taken some pictures to help me remember what is what and which plants are flowers vs. weeds but then I loose the picture so I'm putting some thoughts here so that I don't lose them.  Nothing disappears from the internet, folks.  Remember that.

So a quick tour of the yard is in order.  Starting in our backyard, you might start by eating dinner on the patio and then look to the left and see this:

Lots of different kinds of hostas.  I think they need to be divided again, because this area seems very crowded.  There are also lots of forget-me-nots but I don't really like them and I should pull them out next year.

Next up is the garden.  It's looking great!!  We have  pumpkins, spinach, carrots, beans, peas, onions, and kohlrabi (I think that's what is growing there, it may be weeds) growing from seed.  Then I bought eight tomato plants (six are beefsteak & roma for canning) and four pepper plants because I can never get those to work well from seeds.  We were gone last weekend and everything jumped out of the ground and it looks like I'm a gardener!!!  The jury is still out as to whether or not I will have to put a fence around this to prevent veggie loss.

In the back of the house we have something interesting going on: A large row of hostas.  They aren't placed along the fence, but about 8 feet in so there is a bare spot behind them full of crazy weeds.  We're just leaving it.  Someday maybe we'll get some more bushes or trees for back here and I can make it look more intentional, and disguise our view into our neighbor's house a little better.

What to do with this strange space back here?  Bushes?  Trees?  Chicken coop?

Next up on our stroll around the house is our side yard.  It's really bad looking.  I've given up hope that it will look good this year. We stuck down those square pavers under the garbage cans and called it a big improvement.  TaDa!

Weeds, hostas (again!), rose bush climbing a strange trellis

By the way, our lawn has really gotten away from us at the moment.  It's pretty comical to me, actually, because there is a distinct line between our neighbors yards and our yard in regards to the millions of dandelions we have popping up.  I'm unwilling to spray them this year though because we have a little boy who literally puts grass in his mouth yet.  So all our neighbors probably think we are the shame of the neighborhood, and I don't care.  Not a priority to us!

On the front of that corner is this cool climbing flowering plant.  I love it because there are always hummingbirds here.  I might try and install some sort of trellis in front of the garbage cans to help hide them and this will grow beautifully on it.

Slowly training this to climb across the top of the garage.  I cut some off when I thought it was dead but it turns out I shouldn't have cut it.  Whoops!

Around the front of the house is this crazy, curly, ugly bush.  We're trying to embrace it.  We have a whole stack of mulch and weed barrier that I AM GOING TO GET IN THIS YEAR so that all the weeds will be gone and pretty black mulch will be here instead.  Along the right side is a new hydrangea plant that will be my favorite thing, I think.

Pride of the neighborhood

Farther to the left, my in-laws recently bought us that crab-apple tree to replace the dead olive tree that we cut down last year.  It's my son's birthday gift, and I'm excited to take his picture in front of it every year to document both of their growth.

Needs to be weeded

Along the other side of the yard is another mess.  I started weeding and mulching this sucker and got about 1/2 of the way along the house before my wrists started acting up so then the weeds crept back in along the other half before we finished it.  The right side looks lovely, but I'm hoping to finish off the other half (to the left of the A/C) this year and then along the fence another year.  It's just too much for me.

Where we sttarted

I will finish the stone border along here at some point.

Wild! Full of lots of bulb type plants, purple round flowers, tall grass, and weeds.  And Creeping Jenny.  Lots of creeping jenny.

Thus concludes our tour of the yard.  I hope you are still with me and I didn't bore you to death, and that my weeds didn't burn your eyes!  I'll post another update farther along into the summer to see how much improvement has been made.  Will she get the mulch in??  Are those kohlrabi plants or just weeds??  Will the neighbors start collecting their torches and pitchforks??? Stay tuned to find out!

A First Birthday Party

I've been feeling down in the dumps for the past few days.  I've been feeling like every day is the same, cooking, cleaning, feed the baby; over and over and over I do the same monotonous tasks.  I think I let myself slip into not pushing myself to do new things or create.  So I sewed this morning, and am diving into a book next time I am thinking about checking facebook or watching TV. 

I need to remember that what I do is important, at least to a few very important people; serving them (by the monotonous tasks like cooking, laundry, & dishes as well as teaching my son about....everything) is a privilege and this season in life doesn't last long.  "Cherish every moment" says everyone.  Well fooey on you, I don't need to cherish it. But I can try my darndest to be thankful and cheerful in the season God has given me. 

Which brings us around to the topic of this blog post: Levi's Birthday.  (See what I did there?  You didn't even notice how this is a totally different topic).

We celebrated this birthday boy a few times.  On his actual birthday, we went to the zoo.  It was hot. None of the animals were moving.  So there was a lot of people watching and dancing to the carousel music.  It was a good time.

Can you spot the dancing?

The goats were the most interesting.

The next day, we had Dillon's family over for lunch and it was so nice to see all the great-grandmas and grandparents.  Levi had an epic piece of "cake".  His cake comes with quotation marks because it was pretty much bananas, coconut, applesauce, and raspberries.  I followed this recipe.  Since we haven't really given him any other super sweet stuff, this was a cake I was comfortable with.  It tasted like bland banana bread.  I'm a first time mom so I get to do these silly things like not giving him any processed foods.

It was a hit

Two weeks later, we went to my sister and brother-in-law's house and had a party up there with my family.  Once again, it was nice to see the great-grandmas and grandparents.  We ate pancakes with all the toppings.  Levi performed on demand with all his walking, talking, and finger-waving.  No cake this time; instead we served him a stack of mini pancakes. 

The best picture I got of his stack of pancakes, the wall decorations, and his crown. 

I made a few decorations I thought I'd share.  We had a loose theme of "Where the Wild Things Are". Forgive my not-so-great photos of them, I wasn't focused on taking blog pictures during this time. 

First, I made this little sign on a piece of fabric.  It's just painted on but I guess I fooled a couple of guests who thought I had stitched it on. 

Then I made this "Wild One" banner.  Get it?  ONE???  I feel so clever.  Once again, it's just painted on.

Finally, my favorite.  I sewed together this crown for the birthday boy.  I just stitched two pieces of felt together, leaving the ends open.  I stuck one of those stretchy headbands in and tied it together, so the "crown" doesn't go all the way around, but the elastic headband is exposed in the back.  This turned out so cute!  He didn't wear it for very long at the party at our house, but kept it on for a nice long time at the second party. 

Oh yes there were bubbles!

Our kiddo is a lucky one, he was showered with gifts and attention and love.  Bring on the second year!