Pay it Forward...

I was the lucky recipient of this good mail from Traci (who happens to be the wife of my cousin, in case you were wondering). I was quick enough to be one of the recipients of Traci's"pay it forward" Blogg-activity.
Lucky for you (at least the first three persons to leave a comment) I will be paying it forward to you too.
Here's the game...You leave a comment (the first three) and I will be mailing you a good mail package with something of my choosing. You then get to pay it forward to three other people...get it! Lots of fun.

Thanks Traci for the fun package of goodies. It is always so nice to get a package in the mail.

Would you be worried?

If the woman (me) who is charge of your Relief Society camp out dinner is the ward vegetarian??? Especially considering she is making Dutch oven chicken?

As of tomorrow evening I will be feeding the masses and sleeping out with the Poppy...Should be fun.

Rick tonight made the comment..."I can't believe you are in charge of it ALL!"
Just goes to show what a horrible deligator I am!
Here's to a busy day.

Princesses...

Today while Poppy was NOT napping she came out of her room to ask me to untangle her necklace. I said, "Oh, I thought you were supposed to be sleeping?"
Poppy-"Well, Mom the Princesses keep waking me up."

Asian noodle salad, Pioneer Woman style

Last night for dinner we had this yummy Asian noodle salad. It was really delicious. I used Udon noodles rather than linguine because I didn't have any. I think it was probrably better with the Udon (a little more authentic?).
Here is the recipe...the best part is that you only have to cook the noodles. Nice cool dinner.

Asian Noodle Salad
adapted from Jamie Oliver, from The Pioneer Woman blog.

Download Printable Recipe: Asian Noodle Salad

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled

1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts (also called “mung bean sprouts”)
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers (I didn’t have a cucumber for the photos above, but they’re yummy in the salad)
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet (again, I didn’t have them for the photos, but have used them before and they’re…sublime.)

DRESSING:

Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.
*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.

Strawberry Season

These pretty beauties came from our lovely garden. There was even enough to make a bit of this...
Ummmm....Yummy strawberry jam. You can let your mouth drool over this tasty goodness!
Lastly, speaking of lovely RED things...I found these beauties down in one of my boxes from my younger years. Funny thing is, they were not even mine (Mine were the brown tri-color, ugly variety). Nope they were my sister Verena's. The best part is that the have hardly any prescription at all, therefore I believe they were a fashion statement of sorts! Yeah...good stuff! How do you think I look? Besides the fact that they take up most of my face.

Easy picnic meal

Last night for our FHE outing I found a delicious recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cook book, which I might also add is one of my favorite cook books.
The recipe is Pan Bagnat (or literally means "bathed bread" in French).

Pan Bagnat

1 baguette or other thin loaf of French bread ( I used some yummy crusty bread)
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup olive oil (or what you decide to use)
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 cucumber thinly sliced
1.2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced olives black or Calamata
salt/pepper

Other optional ingredients:
Provolone cheese
2 hard boiled eggs
1 red or green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of capers
1 cup artichoke hearts, sliced into quarters
1/2 cup pesto
herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram

Slice bread in half lengthwise, open loaf and spread garlic on one of the cut sides. Drizzle olive oil on both sides. Layer ingredients on one half of the bread. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Close the loaf, and wrap tightly in saran wrap. Weight the full length of the bread with a heavy book (or with a baking tray topped with bricks, a 25 pound weight, a toddler, or whatever you can find for 1-3 hours.
(It even mentioned that if you are taking it on a picnic put the loaf UNDER the cooler.)

I didn't take a picture but belive me it was delicious...and the best part was that it could get squished. The kids even seemed to enjoy it.

I pre-mixed oliveoil, garlic scapes, onion, balsamic vinegar, and parmesean cheese, ann my fresh herbs (basil, oregano, and thyme) all together and then smeared the soncotion onto both sides of the brad before putting all of the other ingredients in. It seemed easier and it turned out delicious.

It was quick, delicious and require NO COOKING!
Good eats for a summer evening.

Out and about town

(Weekly ride to the Farmer's Market in Moscow)

This summer has been a summer dedicated to more biking. You may or may not know that I had a hip issue that still isn't quite back to normal. Therefore, this summer I have determined to make it a bike about town summer.
Oscar is a camp on his little bike and despite the fact that he has a single speed, tiny chain ring, he peddles that little bike about town. It is about 2-3 miles each time we ride down into town and we have lately been doing it pretty much daily. That doesn't even count the miles he rides behind mom and dad's bike. (I think Saturday he rode 20 miles behind my bike and then an additional 3 on his own!) This boy was born to ride!
We are looking into possibly getting him on a bike with gears. It shure would help him out with our big hill we live on.
Currently we try to set a goal each time we ride our hill. We count the Lampposts. So far he has made it to lamppost #4. Lampost #6 is almost at the top. Somedays are better than others, especially depending on how much he has worn himself out at the pool.
The other day he and I were riding down our hill (it was 97 degrees outside) and I thought to myself, wow it dosen't even feel that hot out here. The bikes really create more wind and it makes riding around town much more comfortable than riding in a hot car!
Poppy on the other hand is quite content to ride behind me in the trailer. Here is a picture of her priming in front of the mirror.
The other day while she was screaming in the store, one of my spinning students saw us. Yesterday in my class she commented on how well behaved Oscar was...and that Poppy sure seems to be feisty...Yeah I think so.
Sunday we spent the afternoon reading some books and enjoying some Jello in the back yard.
FHE @ The pool. What better place to hang out as a family than at the pool.
Not to mention that dad make a great fish friend. Oscar loves to be a fish too. He even goes off the high dive (which I belive is 12 feet).

I lvoe being a mom to my two cute kids. This summer seems to be super full of fun activities and things to do that it seems we are all exhausted by the end of the day.
Today we opted to hang out at home and catch up on some house work...I think I woudl rather be out playing.