Summer Fun - July 25th

Last weeks fun revolved around water.  Lakes, Kayaks, swimming . .  you name it and they did it!

Josh and Nate spent the first part of the week at my in-laws house where they did lots and lots of fun things:

They started with some fun at the fair - this time at the Barry County Fair where their cousins had some animals . .doing whatever animals do at the fair.  (What?  I did not grow up doing the whole fair thing, unlike my husband's family!) The boys had fun.  I know Nate's face might not show it but he just didn't want to smile because, well, his tooth fell out earlier in the day and he did not want to smile! 

They also did some fishing and both caught fish.  Nate ended up catching a 19 1/2 inch Dog Fish.  He was SUPER excited, jumping all around and screaming but did NOT want to hold it HA!

They also learned to Kayak.  My mother-in-law taught them both how to paddle and control their kayak in a matter of minutes.  Nate needs about another 1-2 inches of growth to really be able to handle the paddle without a ton of work.  Josh just loved it.  He would kick back and relax in his kayak and then paddle up and down the area in front of grandma's house.  I think they have a new hobby :-) 

The second half of the week they spent with Nana.  On Wednesday the boys and I headed to the campground to swim and eat dinner.  After dinner, I headed home while the boys stayed at the campground.  On Thursday, the boys had dentist appointments (no cavities yeah!) after which we grabbed lunch fixin's and returned to the campground for lunch.  I left the boys with Nana and headed back home to work on some stuff.   The boys convinced her to take them swimming before Darryl and I returned with dinner and, you guessed it, we went swimming again!  Finally, on Friday, the boys had doctor appointments for check-ups (they are both perfectly healthy and both are tall and skinny!) before the boys headed back to Nana's for dinner, a trip to the play ground and, yep, more swimming. 

What a fun busy week! 

My Playlist - If We're Honest

I fell in love with this song the very first time I heard it so much so that I went right out and bought the soundtrack to start working on it to sing at church eventually.  My favorite line in the song is, "I'm a mess and so are you."  Because its true!  I've felt that more over the last few months than ever before yet people still ask "How are you doing?" and expect an "I'm fine" answer.  What if.  Just what if instead we WERE honest and said, "well, I'm a mess right now but that's ok because deep down I know you are too."  I can already see the shocked faces yet . . it's truth isn't it? 

Family Fun - Sledding Fun

After a very warm start to the winter, we finally got some snow in January - enough snow that the boys went looking for a sledding hill.  We found one in the neighbors yard just around the corner from the house that was the perfect size for the boys for this year.  I know that next winter, we will have to  venture out to some bigger hills because, well, they are boys and the love to sled.

On the last run of the day, one of those sleds hit a pretty big rock and literally shattered.  So, before the week was done we picked up some more heavy duty sleds to have ready for the next big storm, which never really came!  At least we got one good sledding run in this past winter.

Weekly Menu - It's time to camp again!

Camping just keeps sneaking up on me this year.  Once again, we are getting ready to head out to camping and I had to work on keeping the budget under control yet providing our meals and snacks for camping.  As is always the case when we camp, I focus mostly on our camping menu and the rest of the week we will either eat leftovers or I'll work on putting meals together based on what is in the fridge/freezer/cupboards.

Friday - Chicken Florintine Pasta, and bread

Saturday - Bernie O's Pizza!  This is our all time favorite pizza place and we are so looking forward to getting to enjoy it's wonderful goodness.

Sunday - Hobo Pies.  Last time we camped, I made cinnamon rolls in the Pie Irons and we loved them.  So, this time I thought  it would be fun to make some dinner pies.  Pizza, or Cuban or Monte Cristo's. 

Monday - Steak Kabobs, Crock-Pot Cheesy Potatoes, Fried Zucchini and Mac and Cheese

Tuesday - Chicken Quasidillas, Chips and Cheese, Mexican Rice

Wednesday and Thursday - Leftovers :-)

I'm trying to keep our camp meals simple to limit my work on both cooking and clean-up.  I am still debating our lunches as I know we end up eating out sometimes depending on what we are doing.  The good thing is that we have a favorite little grocery store just a few miles from the campground so I might just pick up what we need each day so we don't have to try and store so much food.

What We are Eating - Fried Zucchini Sticks

Fried Zucchini Sticks
adapted from Pocket Change Gourmet

A few weeks ago, we had a dinner that consisted basically of vegetables.  (I did fry up a slice of ham for some protein though!) We love zucchini but I usually slice it up and cook it with butter and onion in a frying pan.  This time, I tried something different and this recipe did not disappoint.  These little sticks were so yummy that I think I skipped the other veggies I made and just ate these! 

Fried Zucchini Sticks - ready in minutes, coated with gluten-free bread crumbs, parmesan and spices that make them healthier than you think!

Author: PocketChangeGourmet.com

Recipe type: Side Dish

Serves: 32 sticks

Ingredients

• 4 small zucchinis
• 1 cup bread crumbs (we used gluten-free)
• ½ cup fresh parmesan
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 eggs
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Oil for frying
• Fresh chopped parsley for garnish, optional
• Extra parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Wash and cut zucchini, cut in half, then cut each half in half and then in half again, making 8 sticks
2. Add eggs to a medium size bowl and whisk
3. Add bread crumbs, cheese and seasoning to medium bowl and mix together
4. Heat oil in large skillet or saucepan to 320-350 degrees
5. Dip zucchini in egg, then in crumb mixture
6. Add to oil and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown
7. Add salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with parsley and more cheese if desired
8. Serve immediately

 

The Tiny Home Craze

Most of you have probably heard about the whole Tiny Home Craze. When I watch the shows on HGTV I'm always amazed at how people can go from a 2-3000 square foot house and live in 200 square feet with a compost toilet.  I think the whole concept started with people wanting to go "off the grid" (thus the compost toilets) and then it was glamorized and others tried to take on the concept.  I was watching an episode of Tiny Homes the other day and it was a 20 something woman who bought a super tiny home on wheels and parked it in the driveway of her parents 6000 square foot home.  So, she had access to everything she needed yet could claim she lived in that 150 square foot . .. trailer.  HA!

Well, I was recently wasting spending time on Pinterest when I came across this photo.

Isn't it pretty?  It's considered a "Tiny Home."  I laughed out loud as I read the article because this Tiny Home is 1,091 square feet of living space.  Why did I laugh?  Because our living space is . . .1080 square feet HA!  Now, I will give a tiny bit of grace (haha . . tiny . .get it?) because I think they count the porches in that square footage but still.  I had no idea I lived in a tiny house??    It's actually a beautiful home that you can read about over at  Tiny House Town.  I wouldn't mind living in this house, to tell you the truth - it's gorgeous.

So, could you live in a Tiny Home?  I could . . .oh, wait, I already do!!  What I see is that people who live in large homes, think it would be "fun" to live in something tiny whereas those of us who live in small homes, wish for just a little more space.  In reality, I know that we should just be is, content. 

Summer Fun - July 18th

As my boys get older, each summer I want to do more things with them in order to enjoy this amazing age that they are currently at.  Well, this summer has brought some wonderful things for us to do and we are all enjoying it.

Monday - Today started off with swimming lessons again.  Both boys showed marked improvement as they both went completely underwater which is something they both had a hard time with last week. After swim lessons, we picked up lunch and headed to Nana's campsite to eat together.  Following lunch, we all got on swimsuits and headed to the pool.  It was fabulous.  The pool was clean and heated.  Not to mention that both boys were jumping (feet first) into the pool by the end of the afternoon, going fully underwater and even seeing who could stay under the longest.  Nana treated us to dinner at Applebees (1/2 priced burgers!) before the boys headed to TKD.  They were tired.  And sunburned.  But it was fun!

Tuesday - Swimming lessons continued today.  We then hung out at home to recover from our extra amounts of sun-kissed skin.  Nana joined us for dinner before we headed to the Ionia Free Fair.  I'll be honest, we had not planned to go but Josh and Nate talked over and over about how they had waited for a whole year for it to come back to town and they were just devastated that they wouldn't get to go. Well, they said it in front of Nana and the rest was history!  Really, I had hoped to take them so I'm glad it worked out.

Wednesday - Swimming lessons!  The biggest accomplishment today is that Josh jumped off the diving board!  This is a huge thing since a week ago he wouldn't put his head under water.  We hung out at home during the afternoon and the boys played in the sprinkler.  Then we had dinner and pool time at Nana's.  .

Thursday - We wrapped up this round of swimming lessons and then the boys headed to Grandpa and Grandma's for a few days.

Friday - All the fun to be had at Grandpa and Grandma's!