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Another edition of Monday Love…

A quote: “Earth provides enough for every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”  -Mahatma Ghandi

Something personal:  Ten years ago, if someone would have told me that in one year I would meet the man of my dreams, get married, and buy a big beautiful house; then quit my corporate job, have two children, and start my own photography business…… I would have laughed.  It would have been one of those big GUFFHA kind of laughs.  Not only was this not part of my “plan” for the future, it was also something I had never imagined for myself.  EVER.  My childhood years were spent living in apartments, with just my mom, and no siblings.  I didn’t really have a vision of marriage or family in the traditional way.  And I certainly didn’t have a vision of me LIVING it!  Ten years ago the life I live now would have seemed like the ultimate in luxury.  To have my car paid off, no debt besides my home, the freedom to stay home with my children, a loving and generous husband, and a self created career on my own terms.  I mean OMG – REALLY?!?!  Is that my life?  Yes, it is.  But we all know it’s more complicated than that.   We struggle with many things, money being at the top of the list.  Not because we do not have enough, but trying to do the right thing for our family now, and in the future.  We experience our share of illness (sometimes it feels like an epidemic around here), and as most people know, Jeff has Crohn’s Disease which is a “forever” kind of thing.  Our house is constantly littered with toys, shoes, schoolwork, clothes, dishes, etc, etc, etc, ETC!  And there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  Most of the time we stay up too late, we don’t get enough exercise, and feeding ourselves takes a back seat to feeding our kids.  *sigh*  But even as I write this down, it all seems so simple.  What more could I possibly want?  What more can I possibly do?  But there is ALWAYS something more to want and more to do.  Always.  I’m supposing that can be good or bad depending on the motivation.  Striving to always improve my life, and the lives of others, or greed, just for the sake of wanting more.  Something for me to think about.

Whew, a little too deep for a Monday morning I think!  ;)  Here are two things I’m grateful for every single day.  Kylie and Jake.  I love the chocolate mouth and messy hair.  And it was worth the bribe to get a few candid shots.  ;)

Something I love:   I’ve been using more and more websites for recipes and I thought I would share a few that I like.

Gina’s Skinnytaste – her recipes are lighter versions of our favorites, and all the nutritional information is included (even Weight Watcher’s Points).  I’ve made lots of her recipes and everything is packed with flavor.  My most favorite is the Mexican Slow Cooked Pork.  I serve it with homemade pineapple coleslaw — delicious!!

Smitten Kitchen – I have made the Roast Chicken with Dijon Sauce SO.MANY.TIMES.  The sauce is so good, I just want to eat it with a spoon!  I found this one because Lisa Russo highlighted it on her blog, and she’s really into meal planning and cooking yummy food!  Here’s another recipe I haven’t tried yet, but want to make very soon.  Cinnamon Toast French Toast.

Dinner a Love Story – This is a favorite of my good friend Liz Seymour.  I recently began reading her blog and found a few recipes that have been an instant hit at our house.  Both of these are from her Top 10 Quick Dinners List. The first one was the Avgolemeno Soup that was REALLY easy and quick – and healthy too!  I served it with cheese toast.  The next one I tried was the Angel Hair with Bacon and Corn (everything is better with bacon, right?).   And last night I made the Hoison Turkey Burgers — and even Kylie inhaled it!   On a side note, it was from the DALS website that I was turned on to Ellyn Satter’s website and book: Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family.  LOVE IT!  We are having a food revolution at our house.  Well, it’s actually an ongoing revolution…..  ;)

Continuing on with the food subject.  With summer right around the corner, and no more peanut-free school lunches for a while, I thought I would share my favorite brands of organic peanut butter and jelly.  :)

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Another edition of Monday Love…

A quote:  ”We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Something personal:  What a lovely weekend.  Although I have been under the weather recently, I still enjoyed spending the day at the Annual May Day Festival at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Day School.  It’s such a wonderful school, and it has far surpassed any expectations I had for Kylie’s first year of “real school.”  Her teachers are wonderful, genuine, and caring individuals.  And the community to which we now belong is truly fantastic.  I volunteered to take pictures during the event so they could have them for the yearbook, etc.  It was hot, and very tiring, but so much fun.  I loved seeing the teachers, parents, children, and administrators all having fun together.  It felt good to be a part of something so special.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

The kids started off the festival with some musical inspiration – directed by their fabulous music teacher, Mr. Butler.

Kylie and her BFF Ainslee.

 The highlight of the day was the dunk tank.  Both of Kylie’s teachers participated (below), along with Father Brian, and even the Interim Head of School, Mr. England.  The kids were ecstatic!

Jake could be found showing off his muscles for the ladies….

This is Ms. S and Mrs. R (as the kids call them).  I call them the best Kindergarten teachers EVER!  ;)  I can’t believe the school year is almost over and they won’t be Kylie’s teachers anymore after May 25th.

Something interesting:  On another note, I wanted to share some thoughts on the recent “win” in California.  The state successfully gathered 971,126 signatures in order to get the first-ever ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods.  This is something that an overwhelming majority of Americans want, and yet legislators WILL NOT allow it on ballots for us to vote.  Over 15 other states have started legislation, only to have it get caught up and snuffed out in various committees.  The big food companies, and chemical companies (Monsanto, DOW, etc) do not want these foods labeled for fear that people might actually have a choice and stop buying them.  The good news about California is the awareness it brings to the table.  AND, if 80% (or more) of processed food contains GMO’s, it will be very complicated for these companies to “label” them for California but not for the rest of the U.S.  These foods will also be prohibited from being labeled “Natural.”  I’m very excited to see what happens with all of this.  And to think that the California Right to Know movement was started by one woman, a grandmother, who was concerned about what she and her family was eating.  You can read about Pamm Larry in the Huffington Post HERE.

HAPPY MONDAY!!!