Cooking Club

I was reading my friend Steph's blog and she was writing about how she was starting a cooking club and I was immediately interested!  I had been thinking about starting a book club but it never got off the ground because I don't really like to read.  Well, I should say, I don't like to feel pressured to read.  I like to read but I am an inconsistent reader and I usually read novels such as the Harry Potter books or other "light" reads... I do not enjoy books such as Jane Eyre or Little Women or other classics.  So my taste is limited and that doesn't work out so well in a book club.  I also didn't want the pressure of finishing a book every month because life gets busy and things come up and I might not finish the book.  So a Book Club is not my thing... however, a Cooking Club is more my style. 

So I read her "How to Start a Cooking Club" and got to work.  I invited 3 of my friends that love to cook but also don't know each other, 1 friend from church, 1 friend from the gym, and 1 friend from work.  Then, in my effort to meet new friends, I asked each of them to invite a friend of theirs that also loves to cook.  My goal was to bring together ladies that have never met in hopes to foster new friendships. 

I hosted a brunch for our first meeting and we had a blast!  I had asked all the gals to bring something from their kitchen that described them and it was a fun "get to know you game".  We also brainstormed and decided on our monthly themes:
April- Favorite Dessert or Salad- we really just wanted dessert but thought that might be sugar over load : )
May- Favorite Summertime/Picnic Recipe
June- Favorite Sweet and Savory Combo Recipe
July- Favorite Locally Grown Recipe- find your ingredients at the local farmer's market
August- Favorite Middle Eastern Recipe- think Moroccan, Indian, Thai, Greek, Chinese, Japanese
September- Favorite Classic Comfort Food or Childhood Fave with a Twist
October- Favorite Soup
November- Favorite Family Tradition Recipe
December- Favorite Appetizer

We also decided that we should challenge ourselves to enhance our skills.  Throughout the year we will try to incorporate a new ingredient, one that we have NEVER used before.  And we will try to use a new cooking method- grilling, roasting, frying, baking, sauteing, pressure cooking... the possibilities are endless! 

I am looking forward to meeting monthly with the Cooking Club and sharing our dishes, our recipes, and our life's together.  And I promise to share with you the Cooking Club's delicious recipes! 

"Food is a way of celebrating- of showing love to our families.  Recipes passed down from one generation to another can encourage and inspire us with a sense of belonging."

Can't wait to see...

this little girl!  Isn't she just so cute!

I can't wait to snuggle with this little bundle of sweetness!  And of course we are excited to see Kevin and Sara too.

DIY Cleaning Supplies: Glass Stove Top Cleaner

In my pursuit to be more "green" (refer to earlier post) I resolved to making my own cleaning supplies.  One of the first cleaning supply I made, and admittedly, I made this a couple years ago when I first got my glass stove top, was a glass stove top cleaner.  I had no idea when I bought this stove that it required more attention than other stove tops  : )  So imagine my surprise!  If you have ever had a glass stove top then I am sure that you understand.  At first I thought that I had totally ruined my new stove but then ran to the store to find something to remedy the problem.  I found this:

This 8.5 fl. oz. cost me about $8.50.... keeping my stove top clean was going to get pretty pricey!

Then a friend told me about this:

Here's a little info on this amazing green cleaning powder from 27 Ways to Clean with Baking Soda

• It's non-toxic. Sure, eaten in large amounts it might make you feel unpleasant, but it's not poisonous.
• It's multi-purpose. The suggestions in this article are only a few of the many ways that baking soda can be used as a household cleanser.
• Best of all, it's CHEAP! The cost of baking soda (especially when purchased in several pound large boxes) is far less than that of any other, specialized cleaning agent.

Here is how it is done:

Just mix a little baking soda with water to create a paste:

Before:

 Put the paste on the stove top and let it work it's magic:

Now you do have to use a little elbow grease and scrub with a sponge or cloth (be sure to use something that won't scratch your glass- I wouldn't use steel wool)

After:

Wa-la!  All clean in a matter of minutes!  Now you might be thinking that yes, the end result is the same, but is baking soda as efficient?  YES!!  I actually think that baking soda and water works faster and better than the alternative toxic chemical cleaner.

I save MONEY AND TIME!  And who doesn't want to do that?! Go green and save green : )

A New Roof

When we moved into our house just over 2 years ago we were told that we needed to get a new roof because it was old and had hail damage.  The roof was tan and our house is a blue-ish gray color with green shutters and door and white trim.  Let's just say that the light brown roof did not blend with the color of the house and  it stood out like a sore thumb.  So it other words, it was ugly!  Even though it would be expensive to replace we knew that it would help the curb appeal of our house when we go to sell it.  Did you know that in the first 15-30 seconds of a potential buyer viewing your home they have decided weather or not they want to buy it... and the first thing potential buyers see is the outside of your house!  So the curb appeal of your home is extremely important because if it doesn't look good from the outside no one is going to even look at how beautiful it is on the inside.  So we finally got a new roof on the house thanks to a hail storm last July.  I'm apparently really bad at taking before pictures but here's the after picture of the beautiful new roof: 

NEW ROOF- PROJECT COMPLETE!!

A Visit From the Brubakers

Katie, Chris, and Hudson came out to Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago (my post is a little late).  We had a blast just hanging out and spending good time together.  This visit with the Brubaker's was a little different than the other times they had come out because we were at the sake of Hudson's schedule.  So we played tag team with each other.  On Friday, Craig and Chris went skiing while Katie and I were on Hudson duty, so Hudson came to workout and breakfast with us.  Then we switched so Katie and I could go shopping.  But we spent most of our time together at the house playing games, talking, eating, watching Tosh.0 and laughing a lot!

Katie and I were able to celebrate our birthday together a week early and it was fun!  We went shopping for each other- it's still fun to see that we still have the same style and like the same things.  We also went bowling and had dinner at an awesome restaurant.  I think Chris liked it because he was still talking about it a couple days later : ) 

Here are some pictures from our birthday celebration:

Craig being an all-star bowler

My friend Ed gave Katie a gift... what could it be?

A hiking bag big enough for all of Hudson's stuff!

Something for me too... Ed's so sweet!

A camel back- can't have enough of these!  Thanks Ed!

 
My favorite part of the visit was Hudson!  I really enjoyed getting to love on Hudson and I tried to be the best aunt I can be.  I even got up with him in the middle of the night with him!  Of course, I slept through him crying  so Katie had to wake me up but I fed him, and sang to him and rocked him back to sleep... I wish!  He wouldn't go back to sleep for me so I had to call in reinforcements, but I still cherished the moment of holding my precious little nephew in my arms. 

The morning after they arrived after no sleep the night before because they left Iowa at 3:30am, I thought it would be a blessing to Katie to allow her to sleep in and I would take care of Hudson in the morning.  So my plan was to get up early so I would be the first one to hear him get up and I would take care of him.  Katie mentioned that his sleep schedule might be off and so she didn't know what time he would get up, but he usually sleeps for about 11 hours or so.  I made me calculations on what time I thought he would get up, set my alarm and I listened intently to his baby monitor but he wasn't waking up.  About an hour and a half after I thought Hudson would be up, I see Katie come downstairs with a sleepy Hudson in her arms.  I was puzzled... what happened to my fool proof plan?  Katie exclaimed that she awoke abruptly because she realized (I guess in her dreams) that Hudson wasn't up yet and so she jumped out of bed and went to check on him, and when she opened the door he woke up.  My morning date with Hudson was taken from me!!  I told Katie that I had it all under control but she was still grateful that she AND Hudson were able to get plenty of sleep.  And she was laughing at me for how loud I had the baby monitor on... well, I wanted to be sure that I heard him get up  : )

Here are some other  pictures from our time together:

Craig loves Hudson... Hudson is not so sure of Craig... jk Hudson loves Craig!

They wore matching outfits everyday... weirdos : )

Hudson and I just chillaxin'

We took a walk around the neighborhood and Hudson loved it!

We also learned that Hudson LOVES Trooper- he would just laugh and laugh at Trooper.  And Trooper loves Hudson too.  He would let Hudson pet him and poke at him.  Trooper would be a great babysitter because he can keep Hudson entertained and happy for hours.  Click to see Katie's blog for a video of Hudson riding Trooper... it's sure to make you smile! 

Can't wait to see the Brubaker's again soon!

(Non) Toxic-Living

One of my many 2011 goals is to be more "green"- meaning, I will be making a positive impact on the environment, lessening my carbon footprint, and most importantly, taking care of me and my family's health!  With all the buzz out there about dangerous toxic chemicals (poisons) that creep their way into our lives via cleaning supplies, personal care products, food, water, air, medications etc. and knowing that toxins have damaging effects on someones health, I found myself convinced that I needed to do my part to eliminate the toxins in my life as best I can. 

So how do toxins effect my life and my health?  Where did all these diseases come from?  Well, just think about how we didn't think twice about putting lead in paint or in pencils.  But after we starting using those products we realized that lead is a neuro-toxin...whoops! Same with mercury in thermometers and BPA in plastics and tobacco in cigarettes and asbestos for insulation and pesticides for fruits and veggies!  We didn't know then but we know now!  And it makes me think, "What are we doing/using today that in 1, 5, 10, 20 years we will look back on and realize that we were poisoning ourselves and causing disease, and say we didn't know then but we know now!"  But unfortunately, the dangerous effects may have already taken place and are irreversible.  Many toxins are linked to the diseases that are rampant today in the US, cancer being the most prevalent, but also autism, Alzheimers, demetia, auto-immune disorders, liver disease, food allergies and list goes on.  The damage has been done... so all we can do now is learn from our mistakes and make some lifestyle changes.

Now, I am not going to go super crazy with this (but maybe just a little) because, honestly, it can be quite overwhelming and sometimes expensive but I definitely think that it is worth making changes where I can.  So I decided to take small steps and make small changes here and there to detoxify my life.  
Here's my plan of attack:
1) small change that I plan to make is to concoct my own cleaning supplies.  As I run out of my old chemically toxic cleaning supplies, I am going to research and learn how to make cleaning supplies using plant based and all natural ingredients.  I found tons of information online and in a book my friend lent to me, and I can say that I was truly inspired!  
2) small change is to use plant based personal care products.  A friend of mine sells Arbonne, which is a botanically based personal care line, but I found a lot of good products at my local natural food store.
3) small change or work in progress is to make more food from scratch.  I love to cook and bake so this one isn't too tough of a change for me.  But I know for a lot of families cooking dinner means pulling out a box, bag, or can and popping it in the microwave or oven.  I know it's fast and easy and cheap- and I have done it too!  But all those foods are loaded with preservatives (toxins) and usually are high calories, fat, sugar, and salt... which is why they taste so good!!
4)  small change is to buy organic fruit and veggies.  I intend to research more about organic fruits and veggies so I know which ones are the "must buy" organic.  It can be expensive but I know my health is worth it!  Again this year, I will plant my garden so I have fresh veggies at my finger tips. 


One area that we have already made the change to non-toxic living is medication use.  Medications have dangerous side effects (I'm sure you have seen the commercials) and are also made with chemicals. We don't use "everyday" medications because we believe that our bodies are naturally healing and repairing and as long as there is no interference, we can express health and life to the fullest!  (except for the occasional bout with giardia or face fungus that wouldn't go away on it's own!)

So stay tuned for my DIY- Cleaning Supplies, natural personal care products that have worked for me, more Delish Dish recipes, tips for home gardening, and the "how to" on picking organic fruits and veggies, and other ways to detoxify your life!