Summer Recipes

Picture from Treat a Week Recipes blog.

We have been receiving a variety of fresh veggies and fruits from our CSA, including zucchini this week in both the typical green variety and the not so common yellow. On a side note, did you know that zucchini is actually a fruit? My favorite thing to use zucchini for is making zucchini bread, although fried zucchini is a close runner up. Below is a recipe for the version I use (courtesy of my friend, Carrie and found in the Climb Nashville Cookbook---for those of you who have one!):
Ingredients
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
Grease and flour 2 (8x4-inch) pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle with a little bit of wheat germ. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely.

Another favorite recipe that I have used a couple of times this summer is Pesto Pasta Salad (also a recipe from the Climb Nashville Cookbook). Recipe below.
Ingredients
1 pkg. romaine lettuce
4 oz. chopped sun-dried tomatoes
10 oz. basil pesto
1/2 lb. bow time pasta
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Directions
Boil pasta as directed. Drain and rinse with cool water. In a large bowl, combine pasta, lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. Add dressing and mix. Add more to taste, if desired. Serves 4.

Sorry for the long absence in blog posts....Jonas has been sick all week with a fever for over 8 days! Think we are on the upswing now though. :)

Live Music

David and I are normally home by 7pm any night of the week so that both kids are in bed by 8pm. But this past Saturday night, we were leaving the house at 8pm and heading downtown (thanks, Allison for babysitting). I could not believe how many people were out and going places and then I realized, they either don't have kids or have a baby-sitter. (You can tell we don't get out much any more.) This is what we were going out for:

Thanks to David's work we had free tickets and great seats. I would LOVE to show you how close we were to the stage BUT unlike the majority of the crowd, I do not have a phone that can videotape or even take pictures (again, showing how behind I am with the times). But I can show you the cover of the free CD Coldplay gave away after the concert.

This was one of the best concerts I have been to and would highly encourage you to buy tickets if it is coming anywhere near where you live. I can't stop thinking about it or listening to their music. Does anyone else feel this way after a concert? Chris Martin is not just an incredible singer but an amazing performer. Since I couldn't videotape the concert for you, I'll give you a sample of someone who did.

video by thejjb1

Jonas is 8 months!

I can hardly believe that we have had Jonas in our lives for 8 months. Time is truly flying by! His personality is coming out each day. He loves to smile and laugh as he has for the past several months but seems to do it even more with such ease. Older brother Asher is great entertainment and Jonas cannot get enough of him. In fact, Jonas loves when Asher gives him attention...hugs or full body tackles and yes, Jonas can hold his own. He is quite our mover! He is sitting up on his own and rolls all over to get what he wants. I can see crawling in his near future but I am not trying to encourage it. :) He is loving the baby food, enjoying everything he has tried so far. He let's us know what he really likes by squealing, shaking his head from side to side or kicking his legs rapidly while being held. A few of his favorite things right now are dogs (any one he sees, although the bigger the better), water (loves to splash with his hands, feet, his whole body if I would just let him dive in), and anything we will let him put in his mouth. We just love having this little boy in our family.
We had his pictures taken earlier this week by Brooke, an associate photographer with Krista Lee Photography. You can see more shots of our preview here.

Free root beer float

Sonic is offering a free root beer float tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 3rd from 8pm to midnight. I'm trying to decide which Sonic in town will have the shortest wait.
picture from here.

Barefoot Week

You may not have realized it but this week is Barefoot Week! This special week is sponsored by Soles4Souls. The U.S. government estimates that 300 million children around the world don't own a single pair of shoes, and yet Americans threw away the same number of shoes into landfills last year alone. Soles4Souls has a simple mission -- to collect new and "gently worn" shoes to donate to victims of natural disasters and those living in extreme poverty. Our church is going to participate in the 2nd Annual Barefoot Sunday this Sunday, June 7th. If you are looking for a way to donate your shoes, you can find a partipating location here.