Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables

I love this recipe!  Everyone ate it, Elise even had seconds.  Mmm!

8 Chicken drumsticks
4 Large red potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
2 Large peppers cut into 3/4 inch wedges
1 Large red onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
2 T Olive oil
3 T Chopped fresh rosemary
2 T Chopped garlic
1/2 t Each salt and pepper
1/4 c Pitted olives, cut in half
Serve with balsamic vinegar

1) Heat oven to 500 degrees.  Position racks to divide oven into thirds.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with foil.
2) Distribute drumsticks, potatoes, peppers, and onion between pans.  Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Toss and turn to coat.
3) Roast pans 15 minutes, remove from oven.  Toss mixture on pans, roast 15 minutes longer.
4) Arrange on serving platter, sprinkle with olives.  Serve drizzled with vinegar.

* I only used one large pan and spread everything evenly over it.  It turned out great, and didn't require extra baking time
* I didn't serve mine with olives or vinegar because I wanted my family to eat it.  It was good without it.

Breakfast Cookies

Cookies for breakfast?  Who wouldn't want cookies for breakfast?!

Here's a recipe I found on http://www.simple-nourished-living.com/.  It's soo good.  Mmm!  And it goes great with coffee :)

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen

Packed with the added punch of protein from peanut butter, these wholesome cookies are satisfying.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup raisins
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.
In a large bowl beat together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and water.
In a medium bowl stir together flours, oats, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Mix flour mixture into peanut butter mixture. Stir in raisins.
Drop by ice cream scoopfuls (or 1/4 cup measuring cupfuls )2 1/2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Flatten slightly.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden but still soft.
Remove from the oven and cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

We opted for the slightly less healthy version.  I subsituted chocolate chips for the raisins, or my family wouldn't eat them.  ;)

Gearing Up For Fall

Browsing the ads in the Sunday paper today put me in the mood for "back to school"! I love this time of year.  It's a great time to restock my kids art supply, buy supplies for Christmas crafts, or Operation Christmas Child gifts. 
I swore after the long winter, that I wouldn't wish away the Summer, so I'm trying not to get TOO excited about Fall.  So, Millie and I worked on our Summer '11 Bucket List.  Here's what we will do before school starts:

• See the animals at Como Park
• Go on rides at Como Town
• Go to the MN Zoo twice
• Go to the island at St. Kates and feed the ducks
• Swim at Snail Lake
• Have a night-time party at the farm
• Go to the History Museum
• Go to Music in Mears
• Get ice cream at Izzys
• Farm camp
• Craguns
• Play at the Harriet Island playground
• Go on a nature scavenger hunt

In addition to all the fun things we WILL do before the end of summer, I also need to:

• Finish all my back to school  shopping
• Figure out the reporting requirements for homeschooling in MN
• Introduce Elise to daily quiet time
• Create and implement a chore chart for Millie
• Create a cleaning routine for myself
• Organize my pantry, and somehow free up an entire shelf for homeschool supplies
• Paint my living room, dining room, and hallway
• Sign up for a couch 2 5K app, and get in the habit of exercising after the kids are in bed.

I only have 7 weeks to do it all!!  I'll keep you posted.

Aaaaaaand before I go for the evening, here's a picture of Millie from earlier today.  She's really really into kangaroos right now :)

4th of July, 2011

4th of July down at the farm!  My favorite holiday gathering of the year :)  This about sums it up:

Lovin' Grandma

Playing in the creek

Mmmm, cotton candy!

4th of July parade in Wannamingo, MN

Soldier Millie

What color's my tongue?

Look at all my candy!

Look at all my suckers!

Zzzzzz!

Nellie the cow (she's in love with Bud)

We can't keep the girls away from the creek

Woodfire kabobs. Mmm!

Watching fireworks

S'mores

We came home in time to watch fireworks from our balcony with the Kleppes

4-H 2011: Fashion Revue

Millie got to participate in the 4-H fashion review!  It's the first of many, I'm sure.  I made her shirt (shhh, don't tell, but it was supposed to be a dress.  Somehow I screwed up the measurements and ended up with a shirt.  It's still cute though, right?).  Millie made the purse herself.  It's pretty rough around the top, but she sewed around the edges by hand, using nice small stitches.  She added the ribbon strap and button herself, too!  I love that she's taking an interest in sewing!

Once she completes 3rd grade, she'll be able to compete for prizes with the big kids.  There are some seriously talented ladies in Washington County 4-H!  The big girls were judged on a purchased outfit, and an outfit they sewed themselves.  I can't wait to teach Millie to sew this fall/winter!

What We Did On July 1st, 2011

The temperature was close to 95 degrees, with a heat index of 109.  I didn't find that out until I got home.  :)
The girls and I decided to go for an outing, including a walk to Upper Landing and a picnic on the Science Museum grounds. 
By the time we got to the fountain, we were sooooo hot and sweaty.  The water felt so good!  Here are the girls playing.  They look hot even when they're wet!

Afterwards, we walked up to the Science Museum grounds, but after realizing that there was no shade, we kept on truckin' and ended up in Irvine Park, one of my favorite parks in St. Paul.  The fountain is gorgeous!  Elise decided to ham it up for me in front of the camera :)  He he he, I love her!!

There were plenty of shady spots to have our picnic!  For lunch we had sandwiches (3 different kinds for 3 different ladies), strawberries, cheese-its (yes, we incorporated spelling into our hot summer picnic), and cookies.  Notice that we're still wet from the fountain?  It was so humid, we didn't dry off. 

After our picnic, we made the long journey home.  When we got there, we were hot, sweaty, and itchy.  The girls took a nice cool oatmeal bath (which Elise calls a "banana bath") complete with ice cubes, then topped off our super hot adventure with Popsicles on the balcony. 

We took it easy for the rest of the day until Bud got home.  The evening consisted of dinner, super strong winds that blew over construction signs, a trip out to buy fireworks, getting stuck at Perkins while we waited out the storm, and listening to Elise chat non-stop for 45 minutes until we got back home at 10:30.  Yes, TEN THIRTY!