Second basket of produce

Here's the second basket of produce we got from Bountiful Basket food co-op. We are loving the variety of fruits and veggies we get.

Bountiful Baskets

We joined a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Today was our first pick up and here's what we got for $16.50:

We are quite pleased and looking forward to using them again. Check out to see if they have one in your area. They told us most of our food came from local Texas growers.

Blueberry - Lemon Pancakes

A recipe found in San Bernardino 4th ward cookbook Cooking With Love from 1989.


Blueberry - Lemon Pancakes from Marilyn Willis
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Combine above, then add:
1 beaten egg
1/2c. milk
1/2c. yogurt
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. oil
Use 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons blueberries on each.

Dan and I used Fage greek yogurt for the yogurt and used the blueberry compote that comes with the Fage yogurt on top of our pancakes. These pancakes were so fluffy and tasted so good.

We even subsituted soy milk for milk and raspberry soy yogurt for yogurt in the recipe for Jake who has a milk allergy and they were just as yummy.

Monster Party Preview

Jake's 3rd birthday party. Jake requested a monster party weeks ago before we knew we were buying a house and moving. We thought about not doing it since we just moved two weeks ago but we didn't want to disappoint him. Here's a preview of the party.

Moving box - we cut a hole in the mouth for a Monster bean bag toss. (Drawing done by Grandma Black while visiting a few weeks ago. Painted by Jake and mom)

Oriental trading - Monster Mask Kits
Michael's - Monster 3D puzzles. Party favor with note Thanks for coming.

Storytime - Tickle Monster and Go Away Big Green Monster

Oriental trading - cheapy pinata with monster taped on front.
Firehouse Subs, chips, Oreo's, Red vines, and apple juice boxes for lunch
Diary free cupcakes made for Jake by a good friend, Tiffany Hodson.

"Mustn't Spoil Your Frock Smock" Pattern

How could I pass up a toddler smock pattern when I have two little boys that love to eat and seriously the name itself drew me in - "Mustn't Spoil Your Frock Smock"?

Danielle of "mysparkle" was kind enough to e-mail me a pdf copy of the pattern. I quickly scanned the pattern for needed supplies. I had heard of oilcloth but never seen or used it before. I picked some up at a quaint fabric shop in Dallas called City Craft. They have a variety of types and prints. The "boyish" options were very limited. I asked Jake to pick which color and he chose the blue check.

The pdf pattern was easy to print off and assembled perfectly. The instructions are well written and extremely easy to follow. I decided to just make the pattern in the original sizing. My little guy is almost three and he is tall for his age and the smock still covered his torso. The sleeves were a tad short. I'll lengthen it next time as the instructions recommended for older children. I deviated slightly from the pattern in that I used cotton double fold biased tape instead of creating my own from the oilcloth. I have only used biased tape three times in my short sewing career and I find it extremely difficult to keep the tape smooth around curved edges. I had to unpick it several times and redo it. In the end I really liked the way the biased tape gave the smock a nice finished look. Next time I will try using the oilcloth for the trim because I fear the cotton will stain easily.

This smock is very versatile. I imagine we will use the smock for painting and other such art projects as well as for messy spaghetti dinners. Looking forward to less laundry with this full coverage smock. Thanks Danielle!

To get your own copy of the pattern shop Danielle's Etsy shop here.

Fried Zucchini

The other night we had a summer vegetable dinner. One of the items on the menu was fried zucchini. The recipe is found here. It was easy and delicious. We dipped them in homemade Ranch Dressing. Hmmm

A few favorite baby items

Miracle Blanket
Aden + Anais
Sophie Giraffe