I'm a foodie!

My mom asked for the recipes I've been using lately and I decided to make her a cookbook for her birthday (as I write this it's the end of Oct and I'm still not done. Sorry mom!... Maybe I can get it done by Christmas. Part of my problem is that our old computer hadn't been upgraded since 2006 and was running REALLY slow and our hard drive was dying so Word wouldn't save anymore. Ryan's mom hooked us up with a new one when she was visiting in Aug. Thanks Diane!!! Now to figure out where I backed-up the cookbook file and find some time sit down and add my recipes!)

I used to like to "collect" kitchen gadgets a lot more than I liked to cook, but I'm really enjoying cooking a LOT lately. It seems like I have a theme going almost monthly. First it was sourdough, then green smoothies,  homemade snack foods (e.g. graham crackers, cheese crackers, wheat thins, etc), now it's pulse breads, and it think sprouts will be next. I was exited to find there was a term for my food hobby: I am a foodie!
I've been using my old AF headset to grind wheat. One of our old neighbors was in my squadron and I used to think it was a bit weird when I saw him mowing the lawn wearing his headset. I'm not sure why it didn't get packed away in storage, but it does work well as hearing protection.

These are some of the things I cooked in April. Originally, I was just putting random photos in the cookbook, but most of them were of my kids eating sweets (like cotton candy, otter pops, etc). A few of the photos matched the recipes and then I wanted them all to match. This is getting to be a way more in-depth project than when I started. I don't feel ready to publish a cookbook yet! I still have so much to learn.

 Ryan says I'm totally "granola" when it comes to food. I'm really still in a process of evolution. It worries Ryan when I say I haven't arrived yet. I still have 2 extremes: I eat very healthfully during the day and then after the kids go to bed I binge on processed sugary foods (it's especially bad b/c Ryan brings junk food home from the MTC that missionaries are getting rid of before they head out to their missions and now we have all the Halloween candy coming in).
I think I need a tortilla press (especially if I want to stop buying store bought ones -- homemade ones taste so much better), but I haven't found the perfect one yet and I want to wait until I know if we're going back to NE or how big my kitchen will be when we get where we're going.

These are my mom's "morning glory pancakes". Benjamin loves them but says they're better when grandma makes them (mostly because it means grandma is around).

Lime/Mango Biscotti. They tasted a lot better after a couple days when the flavors had melded. I love biscotti. Yum!

Peeps S'mores: A New Easter Tradition

We went to Spring City on Saturday for our "Secular Easter" celebration.

The weather forecast earlier in the week said it would be warm and sunny, but on Friday evening it changed to 50% chance of rain/snow. Aunt Laura suggested we have an egg hunt up in the cedars and then roast hot dogs in a bonfire. I had seen Peeps s'mores on a blog and thought this would be a great opportunity to try them. It was raining on the drive down and we had hotdogs/hamburgers on the grill and the egg hunt upstairs in my Aunt and Uncle's house.

Alexander was excited to find some cars from Aunt Laura hidden for him. (He wiped out on a tricycle on Friday night while Ryan and I were on a Wal-mart date. Thus, the road rash on his face).

After we ate, Uncle Jeff thought it was nice enough to still have the bonfire. Benjamin was in hog heaven when Jeff started up the front loader and crushed some dead cedars for our bonfire.
Alexander had a great time with the big kids. Madison and Allison took good care of him.
Alexander got a hold of my camera and Cousin Kevin was a gracious subject.
Alexander was having fun with no-handed daddy... at first.
It seemed a little wrong to be roasting marshmallow chicks in the fire.
I've never met a peep I didn't like, so adding them to a Reese's peanut butter cup and graham cracker was a bit much. I wasn't so into the melted sugar coating either and got burned on it in the first round.
We brought the skull home with us. It's out on our porch and I'm not sure what we're going to do with it. I'm sure keeping it on our balcony is against some sort of BYU housing guideline.
I hope I'm as pretty as Aunt Laura when I'm a grandma. Thanks for the fun day Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laura!

J in the Wagon and A on the Trike

James really likes riding in the wagon. This was his first time. I thought I got more photos, but Maggie, the little girl sitting with James, was my cameraman part of the time and I'm thinking she erased some of the photos?!

Alexander really wants to have a 2-wheeled bicycle like Benjamin. First, his legs need to grow long enough so he can reach the pedals on the tricycle. It's amazing how fast he can go with his tiptoes on the ground. I'm sure it's not very comfortable, but he doesn't seem to care. It's probably good he's still in diapers.

As I was about to post this, I noticed it should also say in the title, "and B on the Purple Big Wheel". Benjamin had been asking me for a Big Wheel and I thought I needed to start scouring garage sales for one. We had a "ward swap" and one of our neighbors was giving their's away. Benjamin does not mind that it's pink and purple. I went to a presentation about getting organized and the lady presenting advocated getting rid of EVERYTHING you aren't using RIGHT NOW. She says the Lord will provide it when you need it. I have a really hard time with that because it seems like whenever I get rid of anything, I need it within weeks even if I haven't used it in months or years. On the flip side, I needed a booster for Alexander at our table and was given one of those too. I'm sure there's merit to the faith approach, but I'm still not there yet because I'm too frugal to stomach the idea of having to re-buy things we once had especially if we have room to store it (which is why we still have the 2nd to largest storage unit available back in Nebraska... I will be liquidating it once we leave here though).