Fresh Garden Veggies

Tom and I are very fortunate to be able to have our own garden. Because of his green thumb, we were able to pick some fresh beets and peas. Also, we picked some snow peas but will use those when I make my Hawaiian Stir-Fry.

The beets are such a deep red and the leaves, well I couldn't just throw them away.

Here is lunch. Fresh beets, cooked beet greans and Fetuccini Alfredo,

completely vegan.

Tom said, after eating lunch, we are going to be so healthy we will be doing back flips at age 80....well, he might but I am sure I won't.

The Lemonade Connection

Some of you will recognize Jennifer. She is a long time friend of our family, much loved and missed. She has started this web site after learning some tricks of the trade...coupons and savings. You can read her story by visiting her site.
Be sure to check it out and get started saving.

Thanks Jen....your the greatest!

Simply Yummmm

Not sure if it's age or what, but I seem to really enjoy little things in life, like the buds on this blueberry bush Tom just bought to go in our garden.
Raspberries are my favorite berry but Blueberries run a close 2nd.
We are going to have a great garden this summer, organic too.

I really enjoy the fresh lettuce, peas, cauliflower and snow peas we have been able to reap from Tom's gardening effort. Simply Yum!

Easter Fun

Keiran hunting for some eggs and hotwheels. The plastic eggs were to small to put the hotwheels in so I hid the cars with the eggs. He didn't mind, I think he liked finding the hotwheels more than the eggs.

It started to get a little cold so we headed into the house to color some real eggs.
Alana gets the prize for the best colored egg.

What do you do with a bunch of empty plastic eggs? I can always entertain myself.

See, Mom's really do have an extra set of eyes.

Sean, Alana and Keiran having some fun.

Rice Krispy Treats

Staying vegan has been fun and tasty. I wanted to find some treats we could have, now and then, and decided to make my own vegan snack. I used about 1/2 cup of honey, not quite 1/2 cup maple syrup and some peanut butter, we blended ourselves at Winco, little shy of a full cup and a few tsp. of Vanilla. I cooked the honey, syrup and peanut butter til the PB was dissolved. Poured 4 cups of Rice Krispy's into the syrup and mixed. Let it cool a little before I poured the chocolate chips (Ghiradelli chips) into the mixture.
Sprayed the dish with a little olive oil spray and poured the mixture into the pan.

After tasting the treats, I wish I had added more peanut butter.
These will do the trick.

My New Herb Garden

Thought since we are eating a lot healthier and most of the recipes require herbs, I decided to grow my own.

I planted Sweet Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Sage and Thyme. Just need to find some Rosemary.

While looking at the different herbs, I found some Stevia. Thought I would try my luck and this, so I bought one and planted it in an old bucket. All I need to do is pick the stems, dry them a few days and crush the leaves. Should be nice and sweet.

Old But New.

We are down in Loma Linda helping Ryan and Shelly move into a different house. Rent is somewhat cheaper, since they are both in school, one more year for Ryan, two for Shelly, they need to save as much money as they can.
Shelly found this adorable two bedroom home for $350 less a month. They are on break, so Tom and I decided to drive down and lend a hand, plus I get to go to Disneyland too.
The house is cozy and has a lot of character.

Notice the lock above the knob. I remember, the house I grew up in, they all had doors just like this.

I think my favorite thing about the house are the doors. They all are original from when the house was built, my guess in the 1930 or 40's. I love the glass knobs.

Truly, if old houses could talk!

Cute As A Bug....Ladybug

Years ago I decorated Cakes, Wedding, Birthday, Graduation...all occasions. It's been at least 15 years or more since I attempted any cake. Well, a very special young lady, whom I've known since she was a little girl, has a daughter of her own now and she is turning 3. When she found out I decorated cakes she asked me if I would be willing to help, I said "sure" hoping I would remember how.
She had to have 3 layers since her daughter was turning 3 and she wanted a bug theme...she found a picture of a ladybug cake on the internet and showed me, I told her "if that's what you want we can do it."
We did make a few changes, thanks to her creativity, and changed the colors to match her plates etc.
So, after decorating for 4 hours, here is the finished project.
It is so cute.

When I got home I noticed my back was killing me, now I remember why I quit decorating cakes.

More Vegan Cooking

Tom and I are having so much fun with these new vegan recipes. He helps me in the kitchen with them. I am loving it cuz we both enjoy eating and I use to do all the cooking, now, it's team work.
Since I started the CHIP program, almost two weeks ago, neither one of us have had any sugar or sweets.
I have always been hesitant about the vegan diet because I really enjoy chocolate, not a fan of carob, and I thought I would have to give chocolate up. Thank God for my dear good friend Dore', she turned me on to vegan...yes vegan Ghiraelli chocolate chips..the ones in the gold package sold in most grocery stores.
I decided I was going to make us some kind of snack, so I made some yummy oatmeal cookies...they really are tasty. Just what the Dr. ordered..Dr. Murphy that is.

Cheese is another favorite food of mine. How could I give that up. Well, I was given this recipe at one of the CHIP meetings. Bought everything I needed, gave the recipe to my husband... (Tom is home during the day so he makes our dinners and has them ready to eat when I come home for lunch)and wholla...let me just say that the cheese sauce is even better on our fresh broccoli that is growing in our garden.
The more we learn from a medical scientific, with plenty of facts,approach, the more we are leaning to a vegan lifestyle.
In the 10 days I have been on this program, I feel a big difference with energy, clarity of mind and mobility.
This has to be a good thing!

Kids Say the Darndest Things....still.

My precious grand daughter, who is now 3 years old, really has her thinking cap on all of the time. She was being naughty while her mother was busy on the computer doing some work for their business. Her mommy politely asked her to stop but she wouldn't so she was sentenced to her room for a short time out.
Now, we have all said this at one time or another to our children when they do something wrong, after the wrong doing has been done we say " now are you sorry you did that"? Of course we expect their reply to be "yes".
When my daughter went into the bedroom to relieve Lawren of her sentenced, Lawren replies to her mommy...."mommy are you sorry you put me in time out"?
What can a mother do?

Tropical Cheesecake (Vegan)

Alright, so, my good friend,Cecelia, who lives clear across the US, has asked me to blog again. So here I go.
I have decided to take charge of my health again, so I have joined a program called CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Program). Total plant based diet for 30 days. Now after 30 days I don't plan on giving up.
An important part of my thinking with all the change is "what about dessert?" So I have been experimenting with some of the recipes I have found. This is one of them, Tropical Cheesecake, and oh it is yummy!

If any of you are interested in the recipe just let me know, via my blog, and I will email it to you or just post it here.
These 30 days are really going to be quite an adventure.
I have to say that my husband and I have been on this new lifestyle for one week now and I already notice a difference. I'm waking up around 5:30 in the morning, on a weekend, for crying out loud.

Gingerbread Fun

Here is the first gingerbread house finished out of three. I had bought one for each of my grand kid's and one for my son's girlfriends daughter. After Thanksgiving dinner, I got the kits out and the children started on them, with the help of mom and dad.
My grand daughter is the first to finish and get a picture to me.
I'm waiting for two more pics, one from my grandson and the other from Lillyanna.

Happy Birthday to Me!

When I got to work this morning, Melissa, my sidekick here at work, had this double fudge chocolate cake sitting on the counter in the kitchen. We did have a piece for breakfast. I know, not the best thing to eat early in the morning, but hey, it's my birthday. Don't you get to do whatever you want on that day????

Meet Coach Murphy, hard at work.

Holiday Feast

We had a wonderful time yesterday at church. Susie and I put on a feast, we had a great turnout.
Here is some pics of the tables that we decorated.
We served Dore's vegetarian turkey, we also had mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, yams (Susie's special recipe), it actually tasted like sweet potatoe pie, delicious, green bean casserole. For dessert I made my delicious pumpkin rolls along with chocolate rolls.
It was a lot of fun.


Can't forget to include our waitresses, Erika, Jessica, Melanie, Alex and Glorianna.
They did a fantastic job.
I am so ready for the holiday's!