Author Archives: Karin

Apr 29 2011

Easter

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It is always this time of year that makes me a little home sick.  I wish we had family that lived closer so we could celebrate this time of year with them.  We did have a good Easter.  The night before we dyed eggs.  We always do an Easter egg hunt in our back yard for the kids.  I think it takes Corey more time to set it up than for the kids to find all the eggs.  I’m really bad at remembering to take pictures and I forgot to take pictures of the kids all dressed up before church.   After church we had a nice ham dinner.  I think this is one of my favorite holidays.  It helps me remember our Savior and all that he has done for us.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the silly things like the Easter bunny and candy but it’s important to really remember what this holiday is all about,  The Savior.

Sophia finds an egg

The kids with their baskets full

 

Apr 29 2011

Preston’s Birthday

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I can’t believe it but my oldest is now nine.  Last Saturday we spent a fun day celebrating.  Every other year we let the kids have a big party.  Preston had one last year so this years birthday was spent just with the family.  Saturday happened to be the nicest day in the week.  We were able to take the family to the green belt and look at the falls and chase the birds.  Preston said that it was his favorite non-party year ever.  We spent most of the day outside.  I had asked Preston what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go to IHOP.  Preston’s favorite thing to eat is pancakes.  He’ll eat them anytime of day.  I think his record is 11 four inch pancakes.  So IHOP is fitting for his birthday.  We opened presents at the restaurant.  Preston really wanted a real tie (no clip ons or zippers).  He also got a journal from his Nammi and Nampa.  He has written in it everyday since.  He also got some money from Grandma and Grandpa T.  So we took him to Toys R Us to pick out a gift.  We walked through the whole store only to find out that he wanted the first thing he saw in the store.  He got a penguin pillow pet.  We then went home and had cake and ice cream.  I find it odd that Preston didn’t ask for a video game or some awesome toys but that he was very practical with what he wanted.  I guess that proves he is growing up.  He is such a sweet boy with a sweet spirit.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

This is Preston's design. He made a drawing for me to show me how he wanted his cake.

 

Apr 29 2011

Shoshone Falls

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Okay I have a lot of blogging to catch up on.  After blogging almost everyday in March I took a hiatus.  So first off at the beginning of the month we went to Twin for a baptism.   On our way home we decided to stop by Shoshone falls.  I don’t know why I have never been here.  I used to have cousins that lived in Twin falls and we would visit them often while I was growing up.  I didn’t know how spectacular the falls were.  Of course, on this day, in early April the falls are quite full which makes for a more spectacular view.  It was raining that day and the falls put out quite a lot of spray so we were thoroughly drenched by the time we left.  It was really fun to see the falls and we didn’t mind standing out in the cold and rain for the view.  Maybe we’ll even stop by and see the falls again on our way through during the summer sometime.

Shoshone Falls

The boys are trying to protect themselves from getting wet.

Apr 16 2011

Sophia’s bangs

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I posted on Facebook yesterday that Levi did us a favor and cut his sister’s bangs. I have a request for pictures and thought I would also tell the story.   I was debating if I should cut bangs on Sophia or not because they kept getting in her face (like the first picture).  When doing her hair I usually pull it to the side like the second picture.  Yesterday while Sophia and Levi were playing in his room her hair was getting in her face.  Levi wanted to be a good brother and thought he would solve her problem for her.  I thought I had confiscated all sissors.  Preston my oldest had some hidden in his closet.  Levi pulled them out and chop chop.  I definitely think had I done the chop chopping I wouldn’t have cut them so short.  Now I guess all we can do is wait for them to grow out.

Before- hair is in her face

Before- hair pulled to the side

After- Levi's cut job

Apr 1 2011

Pan fried chicken salad

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Sometimes for dinner all I crave is a nice big salad.  I used the spinach, Romain lettuce,carrots, celery, tomatoes, and asparagus in this salad.  I pan fried a chicken breast with a little butter and olive oil.  I hard boiled some eggs and sliced them.  Put it all together and we had one yummy salad.  I would’ve liked to grill the chicken but it was just way to windy. This experiment is coming to an end.  I did enjoy sharing some of my experiences with you.  I’ll probably do something like this in the future with things we get out of our garden.  I think if you can participate in bountiful baskets it is worth it.  It does have it’s good points but just like everything else there are bad points too.  For example, this past Monday I went to order my basket for this week.  I got online at noon and had trouble making my order for an hour.  It was really inconvenient and frustrating.  I don’t usually have problems with ordering but I think with the increasing popularity of the baskets comes overwhelming of the servers.  I love always having fresh fruits and veggies on hand and it has really helped me be more creative with my meals.  Saving money isn’t bad either.  Over all I think that the good out weighs the bad and I’ll probably continue ordering baskets until the harvest season starts.  I’ll take a break until winter starts up again. I’ll still blog from time to time about yummy meals that turned out well for my family.  I really love hearing and getting ideas from each of you.  Thanks for all the feedback.

Apr 1 2011

Grapefruit

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grapefruit

In our basket this week we received 2 grapefruit.  I’m not ashamed to say that I hogged both. I remember as a kid going to my grandparents place and watching my Aunt Sandee eat a grapefruit.  At that time I didn’t particularly care for the bitterness of grapefruit but my Aunt showed me a new way to eat it (new to me).  She sliced it in half and then took a knife and ran it between each segment.  Then she sprinkled the top with sugar.  Okay, okay so the sugar thing might not be good for me but it does help with the bitterness of the grapefruit.  I’ve heard of people sprinkling the top with salt but I haven’t been brave enough to try that. Grapefruit is high in Vitamins A & C.

Mar 30 2011

Hawaiian Haystack

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Hawaiian Haystack

Hawaiian haystacks were another staple growing up.  Traditionally we ate it with chicken and a chicken gravy but I had some left over gingered pork that I needed to use up.  I cut the pork up into small pieces and then added some water and terriaki sauce.  I brought it to a boil and then thickened it with cornstarch.  Never done this before but it turned out alright.  A haystack begins with a layer of chow mien noodles.  Then you add a layer of rice.  Lastly you top it with what ever toppings you like.  Today we had, from the basket, fresh pineapple, celery, and tomatoes.  I also added cheese and onions.  Then you top it off with some gravy.  This was pretty good although I think I still prefer the chicken and gravy.  Pineapple is high in vitamin C.  Celery is a good source of Vitamin C & A.  Tomatoes are high in Vitamin A & C and a good source of potassium.

Mar 29 2011

Baked potatoes

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Baked potatoes

Growing up my family would always have a baked potato bar for dinner.  My mom would bake some potatoes and than give us what ever toppings we desired on them.  So every so often I do the same for my family.  I love putting broccoli on my baked potatoes.  I used to make a cheese sauce and also pour it over the top.  This is a healthier version of that.  The broccoli is from last weeks basket.  It’s too late now but I wish I had baked up some of my sweet potatoes and used them instead of your normal potato.  That is also a great way to mix things up a little.  Guess I can to that for lunch sometime.  Even though the potato didn’t come from the basket I’ll tell you that potatoes are high in vitamin C and a good source of potassium.  The broccoli is high in vitamin C and folate.  It is also a good source of dietary fiber and potassium.

Mar 27 2011

The experiement week 5: final week

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I’m on the last week of this experiment.  So I decided, since the bountiful baskets are possible primarily because of volunteers, that I would volunteer this week.  The pick up time was 9:45am the volunteers have to show up an hour earlier at 8:45am.  When I got there there were already 5 others there to volunteer.  We unloaded the produce from the truck and then started putting them in baskets, 60 baskets to be exact.  There were other volunteers who showed up after me and we ended up with about 10 people there.  Everything went very smoothly.  We were done putting all the produce in the baskets ready for pick up by 9:30 fifteen minutes before pick up time.  Once everyone started showing up it went very quickly and I was home by 10:00am.  However, this isn’t how it always goes.  It is all dependent on how many people volunteer.  Last week there were only a few volunteers and they didn’t finish until about 10:30.  They had a line of people waiting for their baskets. When you volunteer you get an extra big item or 2 extra small items.  I choose for my extra a bundle of spinach.

This week I feel is better than last because I feel we got a lot of produce.  When I tallied everything and priced it out it ended up totaling $23.57.  Really not what I expected.  I expected that I would save a lot more this week but really this and last week savings are around the same. This weeks basket contained:

1 pineapple           6 bananas         2 bundles of asparagus

2 zucchini              3 mangoes         3 tomatoes

2 grapefruit            6 apples             6 sweet potatoes

2 bundles of spinach             1lb carrots              1 head of green leaf lettuce

Just because I say this is the final week of the experiment doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll stop getting the baskets just that I’ll hopefully form a conclusion and then stop blogging about it.  This week is spring break and, in theory,  I should be able to find a little more time to blog about what I have done with my items.  I hope I can end this experiment with a bang.

Mar 24 2011

Mango Salsa

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Mango Salsa on Red pepper Parmesan Talapia

It’s been a busy week and I haven’t found as much time to blog.  I had to take time to blog about this.  I love mango salsa.  Corey and I especially like it on fish.  The mangoes we got from the basket this week have been perfectly ripe and very sweet.  To make the mango salsa I cubed a mango, chopped red pepper and jalepeno finely, zested and juiced a lime, chopped some cilantro, and added salt to taste.  Corey and I aren’t very fond of fish and have really tried to figure out how to make it.  This recipe was good.  I got it from a new cook book that I bought from Taste of Homes website.  It had a little kick to it so the kids weren’t impressed.  I, however,  really enjoyed it.  Again, mangoes are high in Vitamin A and a good source of Vitamin C.