E.L.F

My sister Amy gave me a great tip on some VERY inexpensive makeup!

Have you heard of E.L.F??  It stands for:  EYES.  LIPS.  FACE

Many, MANY of their items start at just a DOLLAR!!!!  Yes, there is shipping, but when you only spend $1 on a item, you can often afford the shipping!!

E.L.F  has been featured in many news stories and in many magazines, and this company has been around for 5 years and has a great following!

If you want some GREAT, INEXPENSIVE makeup,

Check it out!!

HERE

ABC's

We practice our ABC's constantly!!  The kids love to do it!

Luke, who is about 26 months old, could count to 20 before he was even 2, but he didn't know his ABC's as well.  Now, since we go over them consistently, he almost has it down pat!!  He's such a smart boy!  I thought you might enjoy little Lukie saying his ABC's:

(And, enjoy his lovely hair-do, too!!)



And here is Ava saying her ABC's!!  If you'll remember, Ava is about 3 1/2 and has Speech Apraxia, which is a severe speech delay.  Just these past 5 months, or so, she has been starting to put 2 and 3 words together, so for her to do her ABC's like you're about to see, is a HUGE deal!!!  She is so intelligent and has it all in her brain, she just has to learn to get it out by using her words.  Here's Ava's ABC's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0j9a7DObM&feature=channel_page

This post is just meant to be a big encouragement to all you parents out there to KEEP AT IT!!  It's not always easy to be consistent and be the "teacher" in your child's life, but, God asks us, in Proverbs 22:6---"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  This verse, obviously, intersects ALL aspects of parenting, but, I do believe that something as "little" as going over the ABC's with your child is all a part of  'training up' your child!

So, no matter what level your child is at, never stop teaching, practicing, talking, singing, playing, disciplining, reading and encouraging your child!!  No one said it would be easy, but, It WILL pay off!  And, most of all:  LOVE them and have FUN with them!!  Treasure your child at the stage that he or she is at RIGHT NOW in their lives, and don't give up, don't be discouraged.  God gave you the child you have for a wonderful REASON!!  Children are a blessing from the Lord!!

Psalm 139:13-16:

'For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

Who knew?!

So, for tonight's dinner, the Meal Plan is Homemade Lasagna, garlic bread and Broccoli.  Since we're going to be gone this afternoon, I decided to make the sauce for the Lasagna this morning, after breakfast.  I also decided to double it, so that I could freeze half of it.  As I was starting the process, I wanted to try out my 'veggie puree' idea!  I have never pureed radishes and I have never added them to anything, but I thought it would be worth a try!  So, I got out my trusty baby food grinder (which, by the way, is an excellent product!!) and here's what I did, it's super straight forward and easy:

I chopped them up and threw them in the processor with a little bit of water.

They have the greatest purplish-hue once they are all pureed!

And, here's the finished product:

A little soupy, so I might have added a bit much water, but other than that, the consistency was great.

By now, my sauce had been simmering for awhile, so I thought I'd add the puree....I started out slow and added just a touch.  I didn't know how potent it was going to be.

[caption id="attachment_694" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Now you see it!!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_695" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Now you don't!!"][/caption]

I let that little bit simmer for awhile and then I went to taste it, and I couldn't tell, at all, that any radish was in there, so what did I do???  I put the WHOLE bowl of puree in!!  I then let that simmer for about 20 minutes and went back to taste it, again.......what do you know????  You can't taste any difference!!  YES!  It worked!!

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Along with my puree endeavor, I wanted to try out Michelle's idea of using my Radishes to make a simple Radish sandwich.  In her experience in France, she said they used a baguette with butter spread on it and sliced radishes.  How simple!!  I HAD to try it!!

Well, I didn't have a baguette on hand, and I'm always trying to be thrifty, so the closest thing I could find was a Wheatberry Engligh Muffin.  I decided to toast it, to make it crispier, then I slathered on the butter.  I cut the radishes very thinly and placed them on the muffin.  I then sprinkled just a touch of salt on top.

Here's what it looked like:

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

I gobbled this thing up in about 2 seconds and COULDN'T get my next muffin in the toaster fast enough for sandwich #2!!!!!

WHO KNEW that this simple little thing would be SO TASTY????!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH for the idea, Michelle!!!!

Another way to help out....

We love our pets!  We have 4 of them!  Three cats:  Boots, Chloe and Bella, and our sweet Australian Cattle Mix dog, Maddie.  We got Maddie at an Animal Shelter near our home, when we lived in Renton, almost 7 years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long!!  She's been such a great addition to our family!

The reason I'm mentioning Maddie, is because, I found another great way to use your coupons and STILL GIVE BACK!!  It's so easy.....all you have to do is clip any pet coupons out of your Sunday paper and drop them off (or mail them) to your favorite animal shelter.  Shelters are constantly purchasing supplies, and just think how much money they'd save if we all did this!!  OR, better yet, use those coupons to BUY the actual supplies and drop them off yourself!!  What an awesome and EASY way to give back!!!

Fresh from the Garden

Our produce is starting to come on strong!!

Well, at least the Radishes and the Strawberries!  Here's a shot of what I picked yesterday:

And here's the batch of Strawberries from today!!!

I'm trying to pick the strawberries BEFORE they are fully ready, because I don't want the slugs, ants, bugs, etc, to eat them!  They ripen up nicely just by sitting on the counter for a day.  But, I've also been taking my own advice and spreading my coffee grounds all over by the strawberries and I found so many LESS nibbled ones!!!  I'm so excited that I can reuse the grounds to aid in more fresh strawberries for us!

The radishes are coming on like crazy, and honestly, I don't know what we're going to do with them!!  Radishes, in our opinion, are one of the easiest veggies to grow, which is why we chose them, but we don't know what to do with them all!!  Does anyone have any great recipes that involve radishes?  We, of course, put them in our salads and eat them with dip, but besides that, we don't have many other ideas.

I'm really inspired, though, to start making veggie purees, and freezing them for baby girl, when she's ready to eat solids.  I made homemade baby food for both of my other two and I (and they!) really enjoyed it!  I know I can do that with a lot of our veggies, but radish puree.....hhhmmmm....doesn't sound too appetizing, unless I mix in other veggies.  Any great radish recipes out there???

Another way, though, that I can use my  veggies that I am really interested in, is making homemade purees and adding them to my meals.  IE:  Adding radish puree to homemade chili, soups or meatloafs.......carrot purees to sweet breads, pancakes or stews.......corn purees to soups, casseroles and meats..........and the list goes on and on!   Adding veggies to meats, such as meatloaf, is a great way to stretch your budget, too!  I also add oats to my meatloaf, sometimes.  For instance, my particular meatloaf recipe calls for 2 lbs of ground beef.  If I happen to not have quite 2 pounds, I will add some "bulk" by adding some oats and shredded or chopped veggies.  You always have to be careful of the kind of veggies you're putting into things, though, because you don't want them to overpower your dish!!

I'm going to keep researching ways to use my radishes and all my other veggies and I'll be sure to let you know what comes of it!