Eleven Months!

Blaise is almost ONE (which is so hard to believe!) , so I better post these eleven month pics! This past month has been very busy! From Blaise getting baptized, to him taking his first steps and walking, he's crossed several big milestones! He's "talking" more and more, repeating more words after us and mimicking our actions as well-including some baby sign language. He is constantly on the move and go, exploring and finding all sorts of exciting things to get into! What a fun and busy stage!

Blaise, on his 11 month bday, in his baptism outfit that Gma Susan made him!

At Mimi & Boppas

A couple weekends ago, while David was painting, we went to play & stay at Mimi and Boppa's. Here are a few pics from our fun time there...

Mom took this-loved the angle!

Mom took this one too... thought it was so pretty!

Bear crawl through the grass-it's too pokey for him! :)

Time for bed! Blaise with Boppa after he returned from his soft ball game...Blaise stayed up late just to say good night! :)

Tasty Stir-Fry

Coconut Chicken

From the Joy of Cooking

This is a tasty stir fry dish that we started making when we were in Uganda. It works well with all of our CSA veggies. Last time I made it, I chopped up some bok choy and added it, along with sugar snap peas. Pretty easy-and delicious- way to get your veggies in!

Ingredients/Directions:

• 2 lbs chicken, Cooked/browned in skillet w/ 2 tbs. olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper (we use about 1/3 of this amt)
• Remove chicken from pan
• Add 1 c. chopped onions
• 2-3 large carrots, chopped
• 1/2 c. peas (sugar snap
• ½ c. green beans
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I usually skip it!)
• 1 tbs. finely chopped and peeled fresh ginger
• 2-3 chopped garlic cloves
• Cook until soft, about 5 min.
• Add and bring to a boil:
• 1 ½ c. unsweetened coconut milk (I add a little sugar to sweeten it a bit!)
• ½ c. golden raisins
• 1 tbs. curry powder
• 1tsp. salt
• about ½ cup cashews
• Add chicken, reduce heat, simmer 20 min, or until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked. Add cashews. Serve with rice.

In the Strawberry Patch

This summer, we decided to join a CSA (community supported agriculture) with a group from church. The quaint farm is in Elsah, Illinois and is operated by a hard working couple not too much older than ourselves. (She's pregnant too and due in August! Talk about a hard working momma! Just like the Ugandan women...) We bought a "half share" of the chemical -free produce, costing about $10 a week, lasting May- November. So far, we've enjoyed delicious fresh strawberries, sugar snap peas, radishes, beets, romaine, spinach, bok choy, kale, swiss chard, onion and probably other stuff I'm forgetting! It's been good for us to be stretched a bit and eat some veggies that we normally wouldn't buy-like radishes for instance!

David, Blaise and I enjoyed seeing the farm on our first week of pick up (we're rotating pick up w/our friends)-and much to my delight we got to pick strawberries! This was my first time berry picking-David used to go as a boy with his Gma. Anyway, Blaise LOVED sitting in the field and sucking on the strawberries! I think the bright color makes them especially attractive.

The Farm, Three Rivers, was recently featured in the Post Dispatch. You can read more about it here.

Blaise loved the baby chicks & kept trying to grab them. Next time it's our turn for pick up, I look forward to seeing the pigs!

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

Mmm I got this easy, healthy & delicious bread recipe from Becky last fall (she found it in a Nova Natural toy catalog.) She, along with a couple other friends, all encouraged me to make my own bread. Nothing like positive peer pressure! ;) I took the plunge in November and have been enjoying the process ever since.  It's really not that bad! And yes, you really do save money (I think David calculated how much-he's out back painting or I'd ask him!) And it doesn't take that much time to make (I don't grind my own wheat or anything like that-yet! ;) I make a double batch and freeze the loaves each time I bake, which is about once a month, though we've cut back on sandwiches! It's nice not having to worry about what preservatives are in my bread or if it has high fructose corn syrup added.  (Sigh of relief-especially now that Blaise is eating bread!) I can make it natural without spending $4 on an organic loaf too. Not too bad of a deal! 

Whole Wheat Bread

3 c. white wheat flour (TJ’s sells it)

or 2 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. white

2 T butter

2 t salt

Mix flours and salt together. Work in butter by hand.

1 c. warm water (100-110 degrees)

2 ¼ t yeast

1 T honey (I am very generous with the honey-maybe add ¼ cup)

Dissolve honey in warm water and stir in yeast. When yeast is foamy (about 5 min), add it to flour.  Work dough into ball, using a spoon and then hands. Add more flour or water to make a sticky dough. When dough is formed, cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.  Punch down and knead 3-5 minutes. Cover and let rise again for 1-2 hours.  Punch down dough and form a loaf. Place in pan and let rise, covered, 30-45 minutes.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until its golden and sounds hollow when tapped.  Turn out of pan and cool. We slice ours into thin, sandwich slices when cooled, then store in the freezer, taking out slices as needed.  (If it's not set out, I defrost a piece for about 1 min at 50% power level in the microwave.) 

Enjoy fresh out of the oven with some honey and butter-mmm! The ends are my favorite!