4th of July Weekend

Favorite Cilantro Recipes - besides salsa

My cute cousin asked what we like to use our cilantro for so I thought I would share my answer with everyone. These are the staple meals we use it in...

1. BBQ Chicken Pizza

2. Rattlers Salad - romain lettuce, pieces of grilled chicken or steak, red onions sliced, fresh corn cut off the cob, black beans (drained and rinsed), cheese, cilantro and the secret dressing is about 2/3 ranch 1/3 BBQ sauce. YUM!

3. Tacos

I guess we eat these meals a lot because I feel like I buy cilantro quite often. Yesterday I moved my cilantro plant to a larger pot and it is doing really well. I don't dare to cut any yet, but I think I am getting close.

Anybody else know of a great recipe that includes cilantro?

Homemade Bread

If you are looking for a great bread recipes, try these ones! I made the wheat bread recipe this week and it turned out SO much better than the wheat bread I made last week using the recipe in my breadmachine manual.

(FYI: I substituted one cup of white flour for one cup of wheat flour.)

Ballet Flat Slippers

I just bought a PDF pattern here to crochet these slippers. I am not sure why, but I just love these! I will probably make mine in the exact same colors. I am sure it will take me a few tries before I get them right, I haven't crocheted since I lived in Nauvoo (almost 6 years ago?!). I figure this will be a great project to work on while we are driving to and from Utah in a few weeks. Wish me luck!

Fabric Hair Flowers

A few people have asked me where I learned how to make the flowers I have been wearing in my hair lately, here is the link:

http://blairpeter.typepad.com/weblog/2006/03/fabric_flowers.html

I am working on planning a "Crafternoon" with friends where we will make a bunch of these with our various fabric scraps. Does anyone know of any other flower patterns out there that we could use? Can't wait!

Sneak Peek of Baby Kevin...

I was so excited when Becky asked me to take some newborn pics of their little boy. He was 1 week old when I took these and such an angel! Don't you just love that hair?!

A post that's not about E, but he did sneak into a couple of pics...

Last week I was feeling extra domestic.

I got this adorable chair at Goodwill for $5. It's in perfect condition and Emmett loves it! I will paint it red.

After making homemade bread completely from scratch last week I decided I needed a breadmaker. I found a Breadman at Goodwill for $5 and it works!

This was Father's day dinner. We cooked together, but Paul actually ended up doing most of the work because he loves cooking "fancy" meals. I got a great deal on the cornish game hen. The meal was delish! I did make Paul breakfast in bed and Emmett gave him a cute card. We enjoyed talking to our Dad's and going for a nice Sunday evening walk.

Paul also got a yoga mat for Father's Day. (okay it was a gift for me too.;) But his work is having a biggest loser competition right now and he is currently in 3rd place! He is doing an awesome job! One of the fun things they are doing is having a yoga instructor come once a week right before the end of the day. He said it looks like fun, so hopefully getting him a mat will encourage him to go try it. I have wanted to try yoga for a while now. I think I will start watching for a book or something to get me started. Any suggestions?

I made strawberry freezer jam that should last us a year.

I decided to start taking advantage of our large patio by planting a little garden. Our friend Mike gave us a matchstick garden a couple of years ago and I finally planted it in this box. Just yesterday little sprouts started popping up. I am so excited for these fresh herbs to grow! Emmett enjoys having his little hoop outside. It is nice to go out and get some fresh air without having to chase him across the apartment complex!

The guy at Lowe's convinced me that I need a topsy turvey to grow tomatoes on my patio. So far my plant is doing really well! I will let you know how it goes...

We are also growing Cilantro. It is doing awesome! I think I will transplant it to a larger pot next week so we can grow even more. Cilantro is most definitely my favorite herb.

Other than that we have been keeping busy with our church callings and the various summer activities that have been going on. This time of year is so much fun! It seems like there is always something to do.

Strawberry Picking on Saturday...

He was a sad boy when we told him he couldn't keep eating the strawberries and had to put them in the bag. We gave him his passy hoping it would distract him.

Little sneak!

Note his hands full of rocks, he loves them! On the way home we heard a wierd crunching in the back seat and turned around to find Emmett chewing on a couple rocks! We didn't realize he still had some in his hand when we put him in his carseat.

An Evening Walk

One of our favorite things to do in the summertime. I love that it isn't dark by the time Paul gets home!

Friday, June 12th

Becky (who just had her baby on Friday!) came with E and I to our Relief Society Beach day and we were the only ones there! Oh well, at least we got to see the Webbs! It was a nice cool and cloudy day.