mb

i can can can.

 

 

 

i can can can.  you can can can.  he can can can.  she can can can.  everybody do the can can. i sang this - and danced around the kitchen - while singing this many evenings when C was little.  but i digress...

i now have another hobby.  and i think it could be just as addictive as the others i already have.  you know, the others i already don't have enough time for?  i now can check off my learn how to do list preserving my own food. 

last weekend was the initial go and luckily my mama was here to act as my sous canner and moral support.  in one day, we cranked out blackberry lime jam, carrot cake jam and corn salsa. 

and then i still had some fresh corn in the fridge.  and another six ears in the csa box this week.  so after church and while the girls napped, i got out my supplies to can more salsa.  and made a quadruple batch.  18 half pints.  it has a lime juice base to it and both andy and i think it's amazing.  i'm going to have the best stocked pantry ever!  totally smitten with all of these glass jars of goodness.

andy says if i gave him a big of tortilla chips, he'd be able to eat all of today's bounty in one sitting.  and i totally think he would.

edited to add : as requested, the corn salsa recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 large fresh ears of corn
• 1 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1 cup coarsely chopped green or red pepper
• 1 cup chopped + peeled tomato
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. remove husks corn and rinse.  cut corn off cobs.

2. in a large saucepan combine corn, onion, sweet pepper, tomato, jalapeno, lime juice, salt, cumin and pepper.  bring to a boil.  reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

3.  transfer to hot, sterilized half-pint jars (4-5 jars), leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  wipe jar rims and adjust lids.

4. process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes (starting when water returns to a boil).  remove from canner and cool on wire racks. 

back to school shoes.

 

Thank you to Crocs for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Crocs’ new Back to School line. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

i can't believe that this year i'll actually be one of "those moms" doing back to school shopping.  or in our case, it'll simply be to school shopping as we've never gone on this adventure before.  C is starting preschool in just over a month.

the backpack has been purchased - blue with butterflies.  and of course, i had it monogrammed with her name on it.  i think she's more excited about the backpack than anything else.  she's carried it around the house for the last few weeks stuffed to the brim with all of her "friends."  that's what she calls the mountains of stuffed animals that she keeps in her room.

i don't think there are many actual supplies to purchase but i'm sure i'll find out soon enough.  instead, there will be the usual pair of tennis shoes to get her through the fall and winter.  because of all the snow and grim that accumulates here, i usually try and get darker colored shoes.  last year they were brown and the year before a dark pink.  both worked well.

 
i'm also thinking of giving something like this sweet little mary jane style a try for her.  this is the croc genna from their school approved line.  love the navy + pink lemonade color combo.  a nice mary jane style shoe that will stay put on her foot.  isn't it cute? and at $20, it won't break my budget and makes for a great alternate shoe choice that she can wear into the fall and then again in the spring.  cute and comfortable is always a winning combination.

now to see if these come in a size that would fit this mama...

 

crocs created this interactive video - you can click on the shoes to learn more - that features styles form their new back to school line.  take a peek and keep and eye out for easter eggs.  if you find one hidden in the video, you'll receive a surprise when you purchase a pair of shoes.

this week at dance class : pocahontas.

 
this dance class has been such a good thing for C.  she absolutely loves it and each week she wonders out loud about what she'll get to dress as for class.  this week, she said, "i wonder if i'll be snow white again or not."  i told you she liked that feather duster!

this week, she got to dress as pocahontas.  and once again i'm glad they read the book to them in class as she wouldn't have a clue who she was.  she's never watched anything disney and really has no clue about any of the princesses.  and i'm okay with that.  unfortunately, she repeatedly was dancing behind another little girl so i didn't get too many photos of her.  they got to dance with large felt leaves and move their arms in the shapes of rainbows...  a perfect way to start your day, right?

and of course, after class was over she told me she liked being snow white better.

weekly scrapbook layout : 7.25.11.

 

meant to get this up yesterday, but it just didn't happen.  decorating pumpkins for halloween last year.  the girls both look so little!  and L was having none of sitting with C for a posed photo.  now that L is equally obsessed with sesame street, i'm sure we'll be doing this type of pumpkin decorating again this year.  C has been asking to go to the pumpkin patch for months now!

Elle’s Studio products used : Handmade Layers Journaling Tags and Handmade Layers Large Journaling Tags.

Other product used : Studio Calico's Mind The Gap kit.

snow white in a leotard.

 
this week's story at ballet class was snow white.  granted, C's never read snow white before but luckily they read the book during the class. 

 
each girl got a feather duster that they danced with.  which i think was the highlight of the class for many of them.  even more so than the costume.  and yes, C was one of them.  apparently if i invest in a feather duster, i'll have the happiest three year old around.

 

and just like in the story, they each took a bite of a faux apple and dramatically fell to the ground in a deep sleep.  surprisingly, our snow white was not the most dramatic in the bunch.  she apparently saves those theatrics for her daddy and me at home.  we're lucky like that.

 

and one by one, miss mindy woke them up by stamping a kiss on their hand.

and sassy snow white lived happily ever after.  i didn't even have to ask her how class was as she excitedly told me, "mama!  that was fun!" as she changed out of her ballet slippers.  she's having such a great time and we're so happy with the studio that we picked for her.

today, as she was procrastinating picking up her toys she exlaimed, mama!  look!  i'm pirouetting!" as she twirled around and around.  "see!  it's on one foot!" 

it's like compost christmas.

i opened the front door this afternoon to retrieve a package to find this.  it was like a light was shining on it from above.  the horrible afternoon i was having?  forgotten.  this, my friends, is my ticket into the city's pilot composting program.

let me backtrack...  last fall, the city had sent out a questionairre about trash, recycling, composting, etc.  of course i filled it out and i also wrote on my survey that if they were to ever implement the composting program that they were discussing i would really, really, REALLY like to be a part of it.

well, i never heard anything else about it and had almost forgotten about it when one week i noticed these small black bins on the curb by my neighbors trash and recycling bins.  and i knew they had to be compost bins.  and of course, i was jealous i wasn't getting to participate.  after a little research, i found they were still looking for volunteers for the pilot program and i volunteered our household again.  after a couple of e-mails with the coordinator i found we had been passed over because we lived in a condo.  really? 

but all is now forgotten!  and we're now full steam ahead.  and it's like christmas with my new bin.

 

as a reminder to all of us, i taped this flyer to the top of our kitchen trash so that we think twice of how we dispose of something.  diapers?  into the compost bin.  all food items?  composted.  microwave popcorn bags?  yep, compost.  pretty  much the only thing going into the trash will be some type of packaging that can neither be recycled or composted.  how awesome is that?

so now i'm curious... how much trash will our house produce in a week?  i've emptied all of our trash cans and now the experiement begins.  as of now, our kitchen trash can holds the wrappers of a couple of pieces of string cheese and the backing of some 3m adhesive hooks.  so far so good.

crossing my fingers that this program takes hold and becomes city wide.  it couldn't be easier for people to simply put their compostable items in a bin and have the city pick it up each week.

menu plan monday : 7.18.11.

 

i've slacked on posting menus as of late - seems like there has been so much going on.  thinking things will start to slow down a little bit next week.  still in disbelief that summer is speeding by.

monday : grilled beef with chimichurri sauce. we've had this once before and i loved it.  so much flavor in the chimichurri sauce, yet so easy.  served with quinoa - which the girls love but make a complete mess with - and roasted sugar snap peas.

tuesday : salads or wraps.  a quick dinner option and one that doesn't heat up the kitchen.  the heat index was 113 today and the next few days aren't looking much better.

wednesday : pasta with green beans and dried tomatoes.  another one we had previously.  the mix of peppers, sun dried tomatoes and green beans makes the perfect summer dish.

thursday : enchilada casserole.  it's all about my favorite foods.  and my mama will be here to help out.  served with baked potatoes, corn and carrot cake cheesecake for dessert.  will definitely be going off diet for this one!

friday : pizza.

a long process to good.

this weekend, we started the long process of painting the cabinets.  at the rate this is going, it'll be september before they're done.  and i'm okay with that.  because i do have a few other things going on to be able to focus soley on transforming the cabinets.

we - or rather, andy - started on this cabinet yesterday afternoon.  removing the doors and hinges and filling holes.  sanding wood filler.  deglossing the cabinet and doors.  priming.  and what you see is the first coat of paint.  one more coat to go.

a small victory.  with the contents of said cabinet all over the other counters of my very small kitchen.  this is the reason there is no way we could do all the cabinets at once.  but i ordered the cabinet hardware today and am really excited that my vision is coming together.

in the end of this process, this photo would also show new countertop, a new paint color to replace the green accent wall and backsplash tile.  they measure for the countertop on friday.  slowly but surely is the name of this game.

in my eyes, we're getting to do so much that we didn't think we'd able to do AND i'm getting to enjoy it before we move.  awesome stuff.

weekly scrapbook layout : 7.16.11.

two layouts for me this week.  i think this first one is my favorite because of the grey and pink color combination.  can't believe that this was L just over a year ago.  lots of layering on this one.  this layout was for take out tuesday on the elle's studio blog which means if you'd like step by step instructions on how to create it, click here.

Elle’s Studio products used : Handmade Layers Large Journaling Tags, Chic Date Tags - Brights, Handmade Layers Circle Tags, Handmade Layers Journaling Circle Tags - Large and Vintage Baby Flashcards - Pink.

Other product used : Studio Calico's Mind The Gap kit.

this is one of those layouts that features less than stellar photos but amazing memories that i wanted to be sure and capture.  this was C's first time meeting two sets of great aunts and uncles.  this was created for sketch thursday over on the ES blog. 

Elle’s Studio products used : Handmade Layers Date and Place Strips, Make A List Journaling Tags,  Handmade Layers Pennants - Blank and Handmade Layers Journaling Tags.

Other product used : Studio Calico's Mind The Gap kit.

love that i've kept up with my goal for creating at least one layout a week this year.  now i'm needing to purchase a few albums to get my stacks of layouts protected from the little hands that love to flip through them.  because listening to them screach and squeal over photos of themselves and their family makes it all worthwhile.

these two.

 

we had just returned from a trip to the library and costco.  since our outing ran into lunch time and everyone had been good - we've had some rough days as of late - we splurged on the mcd's drive-thru on the way home.  we arrived home just in time to catch C's favorite at the moment show on pbs, "word world."

same outfits (thanks, nana!).  same chairs.  sharing a few last fries.  with their loved stuffed animals within reach.  just love these two.