This is not a cooking blog but...

I cook every day. 

Food is a big part of our life.  I love cooking and (sometimes) enjoy cooking and eating with my family.  I am a big believer in eating dinner together.  We sit down together pretty much every day for dinner.  Sometimes it is great and other times it is a chore, but still, we sit down together.

Here is last weeks menu:

Turkey Sliders (I mix BBQ sauce, spinach and onions into the meat): everyone at my house likes them

Roast Chicken and veggies: Easy comfort food  that everyone likes, and I made an extra chicken to use for meals later in the week.

Here is where I went a little crazy. 

My mom, brother, sister in-law, and twin nephews were coming for the weekend, I love having them here but everything takes more time when there are 3 babies and one kid in a house. To make it easier on everyone I got busy and made several meals before they got here.

Every burner was going

First up was baby food, yes I make baby food.

White beans, chard, sweet potatoes, garlic, onion, and carrots (add Parmesan and crusty bread and is is tasty for everyone)

Next up: Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas: They were fast to make because I used leftover chicken. 

Thank you mom flying with a cooler of chile.

 

 

Then I made, Italian Sausage soup: Tons of veggies, turkey Italian sausage, pasta, tomatoes and broth.

Finally I made chicken stock with the leftover chicken and the carckuses, I will spare the you the pictures. I will use the stock for chicken soup and chicken pot pie next week. I will spare the you the pictures.

When I was done cooking I was ready for dinner.  I enjoyed a glass of wine and a bowl of cereal.

 What are you cooking this week?

My Face Hurts and my nose is stuffy

I want to crawl under the covers and stay there. 

My husband is at work for the next four days and I am home alone with the kids. 

I don't feel good, and I don't have time to be sick. 

Ok....I am done, enough whining.  Thanks for listening.

Happy Friday, it was a good week. 

My mom was here from New Mexico and my sister-in-law and my nephews were her from San Fransisco, it has been non-stop busy but fun. 

I got two early morning runs in this week. 

I love running when it is still dark, before I have to take care of anything or anyone.  It is so worth waking up at 5:00 am, to get an hour that is all about me.  Rob is only home a morning or two week so I cannot get out very often, but when I can I love it.

Here are my goals for the next few days:

-Enjoy my kids (maybe I can trick them to crawl under the covers and snuggle)

-Get healthy (popping tons of natural remedies, and drinking coffee so I can fake it until they work)

-Run 21 miles (yes... this last item feels a little daunting but after 21 miles we start to taper down)



Taylor is at school this morning so it is just Jaxson and I for a few hours.

Happy Boy loves to eat

Notice the laundry, I am under the covers on the other side of the couch not putting it away.

Eat, drink and be merry, I will be on my couch or on the trail running.

Have a great weekend,
 
elena

I Don't Scrapbook

I could not get it together to send out baby announcements (for either of my children).   Even my wedding invites went out late. 

When my grandmother passed away I was given my dad's baby book, I could not wait to see the pictures and what she had written. 

I opened it and it was blank!  Ok, not blank, his name and birth date were written in.  That is it.

I am ranting, I know,  but I wanted to point out that it is not my fault... it is hereditary.

Unless Rob takes up scrap booking, I am not going to get these pictures or stories into a book.


I am attempting to document our lives here.


Here a glimpse into our week:

Grandma is here visiting.

Jax is a mouse

My mom made this outragous costume

Happy Hour, yes life has changed.

My boy

My mom and my nephew James

*on a side note, our camera broke.  Until I get a new one, all of the pictures are from my phone, and it is not a iphone.  Hopefully I will have quality picts soon.

Day trip with my family

Last week we went to Apple Hill.  We went to farms, a petting zoo and a winery. 

That's right our day out with the family includes a picnic at a winery. 

We used to stop and eat at one of the many food stands in Apple Hill.  We would eat amiss the chaos of people, animals and lines,  it was hectic and the food was not very good. 

This year we discovered a much better way to do Apple Hill, a picnic lunch at a winery.

If you look very closely you can see that beyond the wine glass is a swing set. 

That's right people, Para Vi has lovely picnic grounds, nice red wines, friendly staff and yes, a swing set. 

We played, we ate, we enjoyed a glass of wine. 

Everyone was happy. 

We will be back.

I am working on being in picture with my kids.

Taylor is into posing for pictures right now.

My nephew (sorry you are cut out of the picture James)

*I would also reccomed checking out Lava Cap winery, it is beautiful, has good wine and room for the kids to run and Rainbow Orchards for made to order apple donuts.