#29 Take HAS out in the canoe

We have a cabin in Murphy, NC that we visit frequently~ about once a month or so and we love it there.  It is a small town with good people and a slower way of life.  We often meet my parents or my sister's family up there for a weekend.  We will often take the canoe out as well and I thought that this year HAS would be old enough to listen to the instructions to remain seated and enjoy the ride.  I thought LPS would be too young still, but we gave it a try with him as well.  He just didn't like it, but the pictures of him are on my aunt's camera.  This weekend, we met my sister's family, my parents, my aunt, my cousin and her kids up there for the long weekend... it was a good time and the kids were the perfect age to play together this time...  

Life vest on ready for his ride

Mom with HAS and my cousin's youngest

Mom and Aunt Connie with the two boys

Me with HAS.  He loved the paddles.

My cousin Lisa, Me, and HAS

The kids wading in the water where we put the canoe in.  The two on the left belong to my cousin.

Another day, we went out to a place called Fire's Creek.  It has a great wading area and the boys love to throw rocks.  The water is always FREEZING, but the kids love it. 

LPS at Fire's Creek

Mom and her twin sister... Mom is on the left

HAS being silly with the inter tube

Mom and HAS with their birthday cake quilt table runner

LPS giving GiGi a kiss to say thank you

Mom and Aunt Connie made each kid a table runner birthday quilt to be used on their special day to celebrate.  They wanted each kid to have one to pass down through their family.  They turned out really cute.  This is all of the kids (except JMS) with their quilt on the steps in the cabin.

The two on the left are mine.  The middle two are my sisters.  The two on the right are my cousins.

JMS was in PA with David's dad for the trip which is why he isn't in any of the pictures :(

#37 Get back in the habit of working out

I don't have any pictures of this :-) it's hard to take pictures, when you were the one running on the elliptical. This goal is really important to me because I used to run marathons. However, seven years ago I had two major knee surgeries to prevent me from running anymore. I do have plans to walk a half marathon in February… I'm taking to biking a little bit more. While I do miss the sound of my feet Hitting the pavement, I still love the thrill of working out. :-)

So Kool or Not Kool? Blackberry Cobbler

So Kool or Not Kool? So Kool... But in my opinion, every sweet thing is very cool
Picky Eaters Opinion: So Kool... Especially now that he eats berries
Future Chefs Menu? Definitely

While I am just now getting around to posting this... I actually made it the first week of June... However, during the month of June, we were gone for 18 days... it was an INSANE month.

This was the perfect month for the recipe. We had just picked 2 gallons of fresh Blackberries and made homemade Blackberry jam. 

My boys LOVE picking berries and I love fresh berries, so it makes for a great combination. 

This is a simple, easy recipe with good results. However, I do have a cobbler recipe I like better than this, so my chances of making this again are probably pretty slim.  I will add that it didn't take us very long to devour this though...  On a side note, I also made the fresh fruit tart below.  Clearly, I still need to work on the crust and I had issue with the marscapone setting up, but the one I purchase at the Farmer's Market is better and cheaper than making it myself :)  Just bought another one the other day :)

My Little Berries

I love berry picking.  Recently, my husband decided he loves berries too (keep in mind, this is after he hated them for the last 36 years of his life).  We picked 2 gallons of blackberries, 1 gallon of blueberries, and 1 gallon of strawberries.  I have made a fruit tart (pictured at the bottom), 3 blueberry cobblers, blackberry jam, strawberry muffins and just eaten a TON of fresh fruit.  My boys can't eat enough berries.  We will be going back later this week :)

Last day of elementary school

 JMS is finishing up elementary school and will be home with me next year as he goes to the online campus.  We celebrated his last day of elementary school by starting it off with Krispy Kreme.  The neighborhood kids end up the school year with a celebratory breakfast, but this was my first year to be able to go with them :) All 3 of the boys enjoyed it :)  Daddy was working but we were in his district, he was able to swing by and we could all enjoy it as a family. 

JMS is now a middle school kid... when did I get that old... 

Not sure about LPS's face in this one

The little ones love watching the donuts be made!!!

Look at that smile :)

So Kool on Not Kool? Mexican Flatbread Pizzas

So Kool or Not Kool?  Kool

Picky Eater's Opinion?  Not home for dinner that night

Will this make the Future Chef's Menu?  Definitely (Although to be honest, he loves all Mexican food)

This was really easy to make~ which I love.  We used ground turkey instead of ground beef, but we almost always do when using it in a recipe that is not hamburgers.  I apologize that the picture is not good, but I am taking a photography class this weekend and am hoping to learn how to improve the quality of these pictures.  We'll see how that works.

 

This to me is the most ingenious part and we will TOTALLY use this idea again.  Using refrigerated biscuit dough to make mini pizzas.  I try not to use too many of those refrigerated products, but this was fast and brilliant.  I would love to see if it would work with regular dough to make a whole bunch of these at one time and freeze them and thaw and use as necessary.

 

These were very easy to assemble as we just followed direction.  We didn't have shredded lettuce, but we don't normally eat that.  We used shredded kale instead.  We always have some of that in the fridge and we use it in everything.  We recently got a new food processor (our should I say our first).  We will keep 4 cups or so shredded in our refrigerator in a Lock-N-Lock Container.  We used to do this with spinach, but Kale is a much hardier leaf, so it holds up better, chopped up or not.  Next time, I will not use re fried beans, I don't love the texture of them and there is not a whole lot of nutritional value in them.  But, as I said... this is a recipe that can make it into our rotation because of the simplicity and deliciousness.

So Kool or Not Kool? Orange Sweet Rolls

So Kool or Not Kool?  SO Kool

Picky Eater's Opinion?  Great... Please keep them out of the house because I am on a diet

Will it Make the Future Chef's Menu?  Yes... as a breakfast item

This is a time consuming recipe to make just because of allowing the dough to rise a couple of different times, but it was easy to make.  Mixing some flour and yeast in warm, but not boiling water and then let it rise for over an hour.  We ended up having this as a mid morning snack because my boys wake up early (before 6 AM) and need to eat VERY early :)  However, we need a snack in the morning, so this was a special treat. 

We rolled the dough out on the counter top and I was pretty pleased with the overall shape of it.  If I make these again, I will split this up into two smaller more manageable rolls for my own sanity. 

 

I covered with butter as it called for (1 stick) but next time, that will be reduced immensely (1/4 of a stick) or eliminated altogether.  I also added a little more marmalade than it called for, so when I rolled this into the log, it was a M.E.S.S.  There was a nice warm concoction of butter, marmalade and brown sugar oozing out of the roll and all over my hands.  Next time, I will use the proper amount of marmalade.  

Now, let it rise for another half an hour and then bake it.  While it is baking, I made the icing (which I would be more likely to call a glaze).  This icing got poured on the rolls when they were done baking.  This was a delightful way to spend my Tuesday morning breakfast.