Menu Plan

It has been some time since I last posted menu ideas.
Especially since we have gone plant based/vegan, I thought I would share some frugal, vegan and gluten free recipes. Say that ten times fast. Since we do not buy meat my grocery bill is so much lower. We get ample protein from our greens, legumes and nuts.
So here I go:

Sunday
Chili and Cornbread and Salad
without meat

Monday
Red Beans and Rice and Salad

Tuesday
Broiled Polenta with Mushroom Ragout
without goat cheese
and Broccoli

Wednesday
Nutty Noodles with Veggies

Thursday
Baked Potatoes w/ Chili and Salad

Friday
Tomato and Garlic Pasta and Salad

Saturday
Cornbread Waffles or Leftovers


On Sunday afternoon I soaked a pound of pink beans and a pound of kidney beans together. Then split them into two pots and cooked them. One pot for chili with garlic, bell pepper, salt and onion. The other pot with onions, garlic, celery, bay leaves, bell pepper and salt. I made two dinners in one night. Then on Monday night I put the beans on and warmed them up while rice was cooking. I loved the combo of pink and kidney beans. I am excited to try the two new recipes I showed and I will report back to you.

Beach Days

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

Went to the beach early Saturday morning

Sand toys

Beautiful Day

The other family that joined up had three boys.

The boys were actually able to get Kira in the water!!

This is the farthest she has EVER gone in the water by herself.

I know it may not seem like much but at least she felt comfortable on the shore

She was there the rest of the time digging up crabs with the boys.

20 crabs were captured and released

Dad surfed and Enzo ate strawberries

He wandered and loved every minute

We came home, rinsed off and he fell asleep on the couch.

He never takes naps on his own accord, guess he was tired

However, he did not go to bed until 11:00 because he napped :(

20 Minute Skirt, More or Less

Here is the skirt I made from Grosgrain's tutorial. Now I did make a slight change in her pattern and that might be the issue here. She called for 3/4 to 1 yard of fabric and I thought it might be to tight. I made it with a yard and a half, I am a big girl and hips to go with the height. So, today I am going to tweek it a bit and see if I can salvage it.

But in the mean time what do you think? Is it just my hips and the style does not work for me? It is sitting on my hips too, maybe I should shorten the elastic and make it to sit on my waist. Help! I do not know about this new style skirt, how is it supposed to look.

Leave a comment any comment, I need help people ;)

Weekend Links 6/5/2010

This is the best idea for a wall mural I think I have ever seen by Design Mom
Super easy and so much fun! I would love to do it with some other picture for our room.

That Crazy Quilty Girl asked for the SMS Giveaway for comments on best quilting advice here are her top picks The best tips every serial sewist needs to read

I found this post 10 Keys to Patient Motherhood from Passionate Homemaking over at Inspired to Action

A gossamar nightgown from Angry Chicken. I love Amy Karol, she continually inspires me.

20 Minute Simple Skirt Tutorial by Grosgrain
Alright I will admit to one more non-list sewing project Friday ;) I made this skirt and it would have been 20 minutes but I was having an off sewing day. I could not get the serger to work and I was interupted by kids but all in all it was about a 20 minute skirt. However, once I made the skirt and Eric saw me in it he ix nay on the skirt. Bad news for me good news for one of you. I am going give it away this week. More on that Monday.

On a side note, my sister and her family are arriving in LAX around 7:00 in the morning. Yippee! Yippee! We will see them on the 15th when they head up this way. It has been two years since we have seen everyone.

Swiper, No Swiping

First off let me explain I do not like Dora the Explorer at all. We do not have any her videos in the house. She really annoys me, sorry for those of you that are fans. Dora is not my favorite kid character by a long shot.

That being said, we do have a Nick Jr. coloring book with Backyardigans, Blue's Clue's and Dora. This morning Enzo asked if he could dress up like Swiper. He really wanted a mask. It is so cute because they know I sew and make things and he asked if I could make him a mask. How do you say no to that cuteness 

You don't say no, just make a mask in few minutes

because it does not have to be perfect and he will love it either way.

(By the way I know it was not on the list but I did not buy anything for it and it took a few minutes)

Summertime Plans

 With summer coming up I was wondering what everyone is planning or not planning to do. I love getting ideas for the kids and keeping them busy and enjoying the weather.

I am excited about three major things happening this summer

#1 My sister and her family are arriving on Saturday from New Zealand!!!! They are staying for eight weeks!

#2 We are ALL, twenty of us, going to Disneyland and Club 33 on Fourth of July

#3 We are ALL,  twenty five of us, going on an Alaskan Cruise at the end of July for a week

These are all very exciting events that we are counting down to. This morning Kira asked when NZ cousins were going to be here again and I thought why not make a calendar for the summer and show all of our events. That will be the craft of the day.

With my new job I needed to find a babysitter for the kids for a couple hours during the week when I have to leave early and Eric is not home yet. Through our church I was connected with two gals who are both staying the summer here. One gal came yesterday while I had computer training at the restaurant. The kids LOVED her! It was so nice walking up to the house and watching them playing Simon Says on the lawn. She told me "your kids are really good" with a huge smile. I love hearing that especially with someone new! Then when she left Kira asked if she was going to come back the next time I went to work. It is always good to have a sitter that both the kids and parents like! And she did not break the bank!

So the other plan I have for the summer is swim lessons. Since I was on the swim team in high school and love to swim, I thought why pay someone to teach my kids how to swim when I can. I asked our new favorite gal if she would be willing to join us at the pool once or twice a week while I teach one kid and she can watch the other. This will be so much cheaper than swim lessons and so rewarding to teach them one more thing. She was all about it.

That is what we are doing this summer, what are you up to?

Kira wanted to pose too

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

In my efforts to get the plastic out

I am doing what I can without breaking the bank.

Albertons had bamboo cooking utensils for $1.00 each

I saw them at the checkout.

Normally it is very easy to withstand the temptations of candy bars and magazines.

However when I saw the bamboo utensils on sale I could not resist.

I had just seen the same ones at True Value the week before for $6.00 each.

They may not be the top of the line but they work for now.

One small step

it is what I am working on.

Did you do anything this last week to get the plastic out?

I would love to hear even if it was something small.

One small step is better than nothing.