Kimmie in Real Life! (week 6)

I can still smell how yummy 

these Russian Olive Branches were that Tracy picked for me while out on a walk with Jade and then came home and put them in a vase. They filled our home with sweet fragrance and beauty all week long!  

It truly was a little thoughtful act that made such a BIG impact on my week.  

I felt so loved!

We've had another great week, 

I'm just sad that the first week of July is past and now we are well into the second week of July.  I'm savoring and enjoying my afternoons with my kids and so I apologize for being behind in my 

"Kimmie in Real Life" posts!  

I think I'm going to shoot for having them ready to post on Wednesdays each week.  The first of my week seems to be too hectic to have a moment of computer time.

Here are the highlights from our past week!

 Friday (7-1) 

I came home from work and sorted some dried white beans, put them in a pot and covered them. Saturday morning I drained them added in clean water and cooked them while we were getting ready for the day. I divided them in half and saved 5 cups for Ham and Bean Chowder and the rest I froze for a future bean dish.

4th of July 

we took our picnic to Lava…

I made up Potato Salad, Homemade Hoagies and we grilled up some Chicken Sausages that Tracy had bought 

(they were actually REALLY good and they don't have any nitrites/nitrates in them...definitely going to be using these as an alternative to Hot Dogs in the future. 

They would also be delicious in Spaghetti Sauce or on top of a pizza).

We also enjoyed Snickerdoodles, string cheese, sliced apples and mixed fruit.

  Once again I mixed together the mustard/ketchup in a container before we left so I didn't have to pack these in our cooler

We ground a bunch of flax seed this week 

 and I have been adding flax seeds to our weekend pancake batter recipe and also to our smoothies
(and when I remember, into bread recipes as well). 

I keep both the whole flax seeds AND ground flax seeds in my fridge to keep them fresh and from going rancid. 

SO yummy and high in antioxidants and Omega-3 Fatty Acids!

We went on a 7.5 mile hike on Wednesday 

and so I made a batch of Hoagie Buns, a batch of Chicken Salad

(took half of it to a lady in our ward that is struggling with health problems) 

and we took what was left along with cherries, chips, string cheese and apple slices and had  

plenty of energy to get us through our day of hiking and enjoying the gorgeous mountain beauty! 

FUN with bananas! 

I had saw in one my magazines a way to make frozen chocolate bananas.  Ethan was helper in cutting them in half and inserting in the sticks.    

The kids looked in our pantry at options for toppings...

Ethan wanted pistachios, Jade wanted chopped toasted almonds 

and me, well  I wanted toasted Coconut 

They were absolutely DELICIOUS 

and they freeze well in a Zip-Loc bag and keep in the freezer for 1-2 weeks. 

I was going through my freezer and realized I still have Strawberries and Pineapple from 2009. 

SO I pulled out a bag of each and defrosted them. 

Mixed strawberries, pineapple and yogurt and a little bit of Stevia together in my Vita Mix and

filled Popsicle molds 1/2 full.

I then mixed together pineapple, cantaloupe, yogurt and Stevia together until smooth and filled the other half of the molds with this.  

We ended up with VERY yummy Fruit Pops, 

with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners and even our neighbor Logan enjoyed them and wanted seconds!

The kids favorite part of their Friday meal 

was the ASPARAGUS!

Tracy's boss gave him a small bag of it and SO I steamed it up and made it for part of their dinner.  Ethan was begging for more and I felt bad that I didn't have more to give him!

I made up a batch of Ranch Popcorn  

for my kids for movie treats when we went on our Friday Night Date. I had a bag of Jelly Beans leftover from Easter that I have in my storage room and I sprinkled  a few on top 

(put the rest of the jelly beans away for future treats) 

and they had a YUMMY snack to enjoy!

Ranch Popcorn has been a family favorite since I was in college.
We love making this up!
(Great snack to make if you are in the mood for "Chips"
and uses things you always have on hand)

Mangoes were on sale for 2 for $1.00 and so I bought 6 of them.

The mango, grapes, pineapple, cucumber, spinach, lime slice and ice made the most refreshing smoothie! 
Have I said how much we LOVE smoothies!

July 3rd-9th
Sunday
Buttermilk pancake with homemade preserves
Sunshine Bean Casserole, Cottage Cheese, Artisan Bread, Fresh Fruit (watermelon, pineapple, grapes)
Nut Mix

Monday
(Tracy took Ethan to eat breakfast at our local fire station for the 4th of July)
Jade and I enjoyed bananas and we had a mid morning snack of Green Smoothies as a family
Lunch...Potato Salad, Open Faced peanut butter and jam sandwiches
Homemade Hoagies filled with Grilled Chicken, Spinach and Asiago cheese dogs, Snickerdoodles, apple slices, fresh fruit, string cheese

Tuesday
Steel Cut Oats
Green Smoothie, Potato Salad, Cherries,
Ham & Bean Chowder, Cornbread
Frozen chocolate covered bananas

Wednesday
Steel Cut Oats
(went on a 7.5 mile hike and enjoyed the following)
Chicken Salad Sandwiches on homemade hoagies, cherries, chips, string cheese, apple slices, Odwalla bars

Thursday
Steel Cut Oats
(Tracy) Chicken Salad sandwich, cherries, string cheese
(kids and I)  Smoothies, Cheese Bread,
Ham and Bean Chowder, leftover cornbread/garlic bread
(made Multi-Grain Rolls and Double Chocolate Cookies)

Friday
Steel Cut Oats
Multi-Grain rolls with BBQ'd pork(that I had pulled from the freezer), apple, Double Chocolate cookies
CHERRIES! (kids kept snitching them all afternoon long)
(kids dinner) Apricot Smoothie, cooked asparagus, Multi-Grain rolls with butter/preserves
they also enjoyed RANCH popcorn with Jelly Beans while they watched movies while we were on our date
(Tracy and I) Pizza at "Papa Tom's"

Saturday
Steel Cut Oats
Cherries
Smoothie, Quesadillas
Frozen Fruit Pops
(yummy sliced fruit, veggies, the best Chipotle dip, mini sandwiches/tortilla roll-ups and wedding cake at Tauna's sons wedding reception)

Links to recipes used this week:

Buttermilk pancakes

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Chocolate Covered Bananas

Sunshine Bean Casserole

Potato Salad

Ham and Bean Chowder

Sweet Corn Bread

Chicken Salad

Homemade Hoagies

Multi-Grain Rolls

Artisan Bread

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ranch Popcorn

 "That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest."
-  Henry David Thoreau

The older I get the more I realize 

how absolutely true this quote really is!