Ultimate Hope

I'm feeling a little off-kilter this week. Turns out it was a not-so-good week to not have a menu plan. Creative cooking requires creative thinking, and I have had a hard time pulling together my thoughts to focus on creating a recipe out of odds and ends. Instead there has been much praying and wondering, going through my days with a heavy heart. For the second time in less than a month a far-away but much-loved relative is in the hospital and it's hard to say what the outcome may be. And to clarify, that's two different individuals, both situations very unexpected. 

The thought has come to mind that even though I am often thankful for my health, and the health of my family, it's not the thing I should cling to or put my hope in. Even though we do spend a lot of time trying to be healthy, there are still no guarantees, and a life overly-centered around bodily health is still missing the point. My ultimate hope is in Christ. 

1 Peter 1:3 - Praise be the the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection. 

The proof of Jesus' love, the cross, stands stark and irrefutable against all the tragedy of the world.  --Elisabeth Elliot

Skipping a Week

I've managed to plan our family's meals every week for two months now. I had to look back to see when I started posting my menu plans, and it was at the beginning of February. Since it seems that meal planning has officially become a habit for me, that's probably why I feel compelled to post now that I'm not planning a menu for this week. 

Since there are just two days left for the month, I thought I would put off shopping for groceries, and just see how many days I could make meals out of what we have left in our pantry. So,  a little exercise in some creative cooking. I really don't think it will be too difficult, since we have a fair amount of some typical staples: dry  beans, brown rice, salsa, potatoes, pasta, onions, oats. There are also still some odds and ends of fresh veggies in the fridge. I guess I could have gone ahead and planned the menu based on using up what we have and then doing a mid-week shopping trip. But I think with no plan in place it will force me to be creative using what we have for as many days as I can. On the other hand, I may feel really lost this week!  I'm already wondering how I'll manage with no garlic in the house. Wish me luck, and have a great Monday!

Movin' On Up

My seedlings are doing well, despite the fact that they are long overdue for a move up to some bigger pots.  If your seedlings are looking anything like this...
then they should have been moved about a week ago! These tomato plants are starting to crowd each other, and some of the smaller plants are being shaded by the larger ones. Life just got busy around here, and the process of transplanting got put off for a week. Poor neglected things!

Here are my eggplant seedlings:
If you look closely you can see that the roots are starting to poke out through the cells, a sure sign that it's time to move the plants up. 

There! Much better. I'm sure this tomato plant will be happy for a little more room to stretch its legs. Now, only about 50 more plants to move...

This post is linked to Heavenly Homemakers.

What Happened to Mommy?

Today is my birthday and we're already off to a good start. I got to sleep in while Tom and the kids made breakfast. When I got up I was greeted by a card for me, made by 5-year-old Millie. But I struggled a bit to figure out what was going on in the drawing on the cover:
Hmmm. Does mommy have a black eye? Am I supposed to be a pirate? Finally I asked, "Um, Millie, what's going on here? Am I a cyclops? What happened to my eye?"

"Mommy!" Millie laughed, "You're winking!"

Oh, of course!

Here's the rest of the card:
I know Tom helped her spell out "Happy Birthday". But she's really proud of her little abbreviated way to write "I love you", and that she knows how to spell "To Mom". I'm proud of her too!

This post is linked to:
Finer Things Friday
Friday Funnies

Hand-knitted Socks

These arrived in the mail yesterday, a birthday present from my sister, who is a truly-true knitter.

In this day and age of machine-made everything, a pair of hand-made, custom-fit socks are truly a luxury. I'm feeling so pampered. Thanks, Sarah!

"...hand-knitted socks are completely different from store-bought socks. Hand-knitted socks don't stretch. You just knit them the same size as your feet, and then put your feet into them. Putting on a store-bought sock is like stuffing your foot into an elastic bandage; to put on a hand-knitted sock is to slip your foot into a garment crafted just for it."
--Keeping House by Margaret Kim Peterson

This post is linked to: Things I Love Thursday

Date-Nut Snacks

This recipe is easy, healthy, and kid-friendly. It's based on the recipe for Date-Nut Pop 'ems in the book Disease-Proof Your Child by Joel Fuhrman.

Here's what you need:
1 cup raw nuts or seeds (I used a combination of walnuts and sunflower seeds)
2/3 cup pitted dates
a heaping spoonful of almond butter
a spoonful of cocoa powder
a food processor or blender


Start by putting just the nuts and seeds in your food processor.


Run the food processor until they are finely ground.


Then remove the seed/nut mixture to a separate bowl and put the dates in the food processor.

Finely chop the dates:

Then add to the dates the ground nuts, almond butter, and cocoa powder. Pulse until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Roll the date/nut mixture into bite-size balls.

And you've got a snack that'll make 'em smile.
This is a fun recipe to play around with. You can substitute dried cherries, dried apples, or raisins for some of the dates. Cinnamon or coconut make nice additions. You can also vary the nuts and use cashews, pecans or almonds, and you can substitute peanut butter for the almond butter. There are all sorts of possibilities!

Menu Plan - Week of March 23

We had such a beautiful weekend here! Fortunately we were able to spend quite a bit of time outside. On Saturday morning we went to a nearby nature center for their annual Maplefest. It included a demonstration of tapping a maple tree (fascinating!), and also a sample of maple syrup (yum!). It was the perfect morning to soak up some sunshine...

...go for a little hike...

...and enjoy some first-time-ever swinging!

And now, to the menu. Looking back over this I just realized that Friday is my birthday. So, I'm not sure if we'll stick to the plan on Friday. I may give myself the birthday present of minimal cooking that day. The other thing that's a bit out of the ordinary is that I have meat on the menu on Saturday. We've had bratwursts in our freezer since January when I cooked German food for New Year's, so I thought I should probably go ahead and cook them. I'm guessing they'll make an okay substitute for sausage.

Monday - Rice and beans
Tuesday - Spinach pie, carrot and apple salad
Wednesday - Vegetarian chili, roasted cauliflower
Thursday - Ethiopian lentil bowl, pita bread
Friday - Homemade veggie pizza
Saturday - One pot sausage, potatoes and green beans

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Learning the Hard Way

Being that I am not a perfectionist, I have had a couple of failed attempts at starting plants from seed. Let me share with you what I learned, so that hopefully you won't have to make the same mistakes!

And here, in no particular order, is what I learned NOT to do.

1. Put seedlings in a sunny window. Okay, I know it sounds lovely. A sunny window, how pleasant. But this did not work for me, even though I put them in a large, south-facing window. The little seedlings leaned toward the sun, so the next day I would turn them and they'd lean some more the other direction. It was just not enough light, and my plants were wasting energy trying to stretch toward the light.

2. Carry your 12-month-old on your hip while moving a tray of seedlings. Plants get moved outside and back in a lot when you're trying to harden them off. I don't recommend trying to juggle a tray of seedlings and a little one. Babies like to swat at things. The seedlings may fall to the ground. A certain someone may have been heartbroken. Moving along.

3. Similar to number 2, setting seedlings on top of a table outside on a very windy, gusty day. The seedlings may fall to the ground. A certain someone may have been heartbroken. Moving along.

4. Assume feeding the plants is optional. I don't know why I thought I didn't have to fertilize my plants. I'd read you should, but somehow I just assumed that since most things in nature grow just fine on their own, my seedlings would do okay too. And they did -- for about a month. Then they shriveled up and died.

5. Expect young plants to weather the wind and sun on their own. I knew my plants needed to be hardened off, but I didn't realize just how much protection they still needed once I planted them outside. The sun and wind can be brutal for young plants, so once transplanted, it may be necessary to put a pot or bucket over the plants for a couple of days.

There you have it, the truth about my sorry lack of gardening skills. But I've learned a lot from those experiences! Today my seedlings are looking strong and healthy, and I'm looking forward to a great garden this year!

This post is linked to Heavenly Homemakers.

Home Gardens in the News

So apparently gardening is becoming all the rage. This article tells all about the boom in what they're calling "recession gardens". Personally, I'm not too crazy about that term. It's just so negative. How about New Victory Gardens, instead?

But even the White House is getting on board, planning to break ground on a kitchen garden. I was really happy to hear about this, as it sets a great example.

Our own little garden is well under way. I'll leave you with a picture of our three-week-old tomato seedlings. Check back in tomorrow and I'll hopefully be sharing some pics of us moving these up to larger pots. I'll also tell you all about the mistakes I've made with getting seedlings started in years past.



And if you're interested in more garden talk, be sure to visit The Garden Club.

Busy Machines

I cleaned out the grains in the cupboard, pulled out an old baking sheet, and the kids played with some toy trucks that belonged to Tom when he was a kid.

This kept them busy for a couple of hours.

Who needs new toys?

This post is linked to:
Amy's Finer Things
Finding Freedom Fridays

Party Time

In case you didn't know, 5 Minutes for Mom is hosting The Ultimate Blog Party starting today, and continuing for the next week. Head on over to join in on the fun!

And if you're here from 5 Minutes for Mom, welcome!

I'm Hannah, and I'm mom to three little ones: Millie (5 1/2), Silas (almost 3) and Isaac (6 months). My husband and I have been married for nearly 8 years.

I've only been blogging for less than a year, but I'm really enjoying it and finding that it's not only a great outlet, but also gives me some motivation to try new recipes and learn new things. It's also been fun to meet and learn from other moms who are blogging about this crazy thing called motherhood.

I really enjoy writing about topics related homemaking, including healthy eating and gardening, as well as the occasional kitchen tip.

My other passions include homebirth, breastfeeding, frugality, and natural family living. I'm also excited about this adventure of learning at home with my children.

My top prize picks would be any one of the Target gift cards, donated by:
#19 - Shoot Me Now
#21 - Agoosa
#22 - Beginner Baby Blog

Other prizes that I'd love: 7, 11, 20, 43, 58, 68, 88, 89

Save 20K a Year

Have you seen this CNN article on ways to save $20,000 in a year? My husband sent me this link, and at first I was quite excited to get some more money-saving tips. But then when I read the article I found that we already do (or plan to do) nearly all the things suggested. The one tip we don't follow is getting rid of our cell phones, but we get a great deal on them through Tom's employer.

It's a good article, though, and was encouraging for me to realize that we really are saving a lot of money by doing simple things like only having one car, and only eating out very occasionally.

I thought of two other things our family does that net some significant savings:

1. We live in a small home. Not only is it a smaller space to heat and cool, but there's also no need to buy furniture and things to simply fill the rooms. If anything, living in a small space helps us to limit how much we own and think twice about buying additional stuff.

2. We skip the expensive vacations. Growing up, my family never went on big vacations, so now I just don't see them as a necessity. I know that memories are made while on vacation, but you really don't have to go far away or spend a lot of money.

As I've said before, frugality looks different for every household. But I'd have to agree wholeheartedly with one of the main points of the CNN article, the secret is being content with less.

For more Frugal Friday posts, visit Life as MOM.

Fruit and Veggie Stickers

I'm borrowing another great idea from my sister and her family. (That's what sisters are for, right?)

After seeing her cousins do this, Millie was excited to start collecting stickers from fruits and veggies. It adds an element of fun to eating healthy, and it's neat to look back at how much produce we've eaten.

So far we've collected stickers from: bananas, apples, clementines, oranges, pears, bell peppers, avocados, mangoes, and kiwis.

I've heard of other families putting produce stickers on a map to see how far their food has traveled.

A little incentive for eating healthy definitely works for me!

St. Patty's Day Smoothie

In honor of St. Patrick's Day of course we had to start out the day with something green to eat. Or drink, in this case. I've heard a lot about green smoothies lately, and while I am in the habit of putting vegetables in our smoothies, I don't usually set out to make them look green.

But today was the exception. My sister had told me a few weeks ago about a green smoothie that was especially good, and I'd been wanting to try it out.

Just three ingredients:

pineapple
frozen mango
fresh spinach


I used the whole can of pineapple, about as much spinach as I could pack in my blender (about 6 ounces), and about 8 ounces of frozen mango.




And I have to say, this was really good. The kids loved it, and I loved that we all had a good serving of fresh spinach for breakfast.

This post is linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

Menu Plan - Week of March 16

This weekend actually felt like spring! It was sunny and mild here. We spotted two male cardinals in the yard on Saturday, then today noticed that the tulips in front of our house are just starting to come up! We spent a lot of time outside today - went to the park, the kids rode bikes, and we even got into the garden and direct seeded some spinach and peas. We may still see snow here before it's all said and done, but I'll take a weekend like we had for the blessing that it is, and trust that there will be plenty more beautiful days to come.

Now, on to meal planning. Of last week's meals, the veggie pot pie was surely the biggest hit. I mean, come on, you just can't beat homemade pie crust. But the coconut curry tofu was a close second. I will try to post the curry recipe soon. I make it different every time, though the sauce is usually the same, so I will at least share that in the near future. Here's the plan for this week:

Monday - Pasta with roasted veggies
Tuesday - Hearty supper salad, spinach pie
Wednesday - Bean burgers, cole slaw
Thursday - Stir-fried veggies, baked tofu
Friday - Corn chowder
Saturday - Homemade mac and cheese

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Menu Plan Monday is being hosted at $5 Dinners this week.

Two Simple Soups

I realized recently that I'm doing more cooking without recipes. Instead, I'm getting better at making a dish either based on what's on hand, or based on some outside inspiration. I have a couple of soups that I've been making quite a bit lately that fit that description, and both are very simple.

This bean soup can be made from probably just about any type of bean. I usually use great northern, but have also used black beans and liked the results. I typically start this soup in the morning with a quick soak, then at lunchtime add in the onions and garlic, and let it simmer for the afternoon. This makes a nice meal accompanied by a salad or some vegetables.

Simple Bean Soup

1 pound dry beans, sorted and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
several garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper (optional)

Place beans in a medium pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. After beans boil for about 2 minutes, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for an hour or two. Drain beans. In the same pot the beans cooked in, saute onion and garlic in a bit of water for a few minutes. Then add the vegetable broth and the beans. Add additional water to cover the beans, then bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling, turn down the heat and let it simmer for a few hours. The soup will be slightly thick when it's done.

This next soup is something I sometimes make for lunch for the kids. It was actually Millie's idea after reading Else Holmelund Minarik's book Little Bear. One of the stories in the book is Birthday Soup, in which Little Bear makes soup with carrots, potatoes, peas and tomatoes. Those are staples that we always have in our house, so it was very simple to make a spur-of-the-moment soup out of those ingredients. And because we got the "recipe" out of one of Millie's books, it made it so much more fun to eat!

Little Bear's Birthday Soup

2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
half a can of tomatoes
about half a cup of frozen peas
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste
seasonings of your choice: parsley, oregano, etc.

Simply combine all, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for about 25 minutes.

Both of these healthy soups are very easy to make with ingredients on hand, and have the added bonus of being inexpensive as well!

You can find more Frugal Friday posts over at Life as MOM.

Haircut

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Half a Year

My roly-poly boy is 6 months old today.

He's as smiley and happy as ever. Not sitting up, no teeth, but thriving on mama's milk and staying busy rolling across the floor.

And this riding around on mama's back? That's hard work.
I'm carrying Isaac here in a Jet Pack, borrowed from my good friend and fellow babywearer Natalie.

Salad for Supper

We took a bit of a break from salads during the winter. But now we're back to salad as the main meal one night each week.


Pictured above is a big bowl of green leaf and romaine lettuce, black beans, kidney beans, sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, mushrooms and raw sunflower seeds. I serve it as a salad bar so that everyone can make it just the way they want. The kids think it's great to be able to put it together themselves.

Here's what Millie made last week:


And here's what Silas put together:

Silas is still not too fond of lettuce, but we'll keep working on it!

I like serving salad since it's super-easy and super-healthy. By adding beans and lots of toppings you can make it really filling, and there are also lots of fun variations. (Oh, and we do put dressing on, but it just didn't make the picture!)
Some other additions to try:
salsa
guacamole
fruit: apples, strawberries, oranges
slivered almonds
cashews
edamame
olives

You get the idea! You're only limited by your imagination.

This post is linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

Menu Plan - Week of March 9

Last week was my week of rice discoveries. Remember the risotto that took too long? Well, after a bit more research I realized that I should have parboiled the brown rice beforehand. That simple step would have made my little risotto experiment successful. Clearly I am a bit clueless, but I'll plan to try it next time. Brown rice risotto, I haven't given up on you!

My other discovery was making coconut rice. I usually make brown rice to accompany the vegetable stir-fry, and this time I substituted coconut milk for half of the water. My main experience with coconut rice was in Thailand, served as more of a dessert along with fresh mango. So I wasn't too sure how it would taste with the savory stir-fry. There was no need to worry. It was amazing.

Alright, so on to the coming week. Here's what I've got planned:
Monday - Pasta primavera
Tuesday - Hearty supper salad
Wednesday - Stir fry with peanut butter sauce
Thursday - Roasted Vegetables
Friday - Veggie pot pie
Saturday - Coconut curry tofu

The only thing that might change is that we may go out to eat one night. Millie only has a few pages left in her lowercase letters workbook, and we've promised her the outing of her choice once she completes it. She is completely devoted to Sweet Tomatoes, so that's where we'll go once she finishes. I like to tell myself that she likes Sweet Tomatoes because it's healthy, since Millie does really like salad.

But the truth is that it's the one restaurant where she's guaranteed dessert. That's my girl!

Be sure to visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Hello, Seedlings!

My little babies are week old now, so it's time to show them off! Nearly everything is up except for the peppers. I'm following the planting chart in Square Foot Gardening, so that's how I decided what to go ahead and plant indoors. We've planted more than we have room for in the garden in order to allow for my tendency to mess something up every year.

In addition to the tomatoes pictured above, we also started peppers, eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, swiss chard, onions, lettuce, marigolds and zinnias.

The swiss chard is a rainbow mix, and you can already see the bright colors:
I've got the covers off three out of the four trays and I've moved the lights down. The first year that I used shop lights I made the mistake of not putting the lights close enough to the plants, and I ended up with weak, scrawny seedlings. Those lights need to be only 3-6 inches above the plants, practically sitting right on top of them:
Like I said, we're still waiting for the peppers to make an appearance, but otherwise everything is looking good. Now I'll start feeding the seedlings once a week, probably some fish emulsion that I have left from last year. It's stinky, but it gets the job done. I also need to go through and thin the seedlings so that there's only one plant per cell.

This is my green project, as part of the Little Green Project blog carnival hosted by Heavenly Homemakers. Go check it out, and have a great weekend!

Menu Planning

Phoebe is talking about menu planning today, so I thought I'd join in and share a little bit about how I plan meals for my family.

I'm fairly new to menu planning, but I'm really enjoying the benefits. I like knowing what I'm making as it means that I don't have to spend mental energy each day deciding what to make for supper. The thinking part is already done. Planning ahead also means that I can do a little bit here and there throughout the day so that supper prep doesn't all come down to that difficult hour when the kids are tired and hungry. If I'm making stir-fry that evening, I might chop up a few veggies while the kids are eating lunch. Or I can put together bean soup and let it simmer for the afternoon.

Right now I plan my meals one week ahead of time, usually during free moments on the weekend. And although I only plan one week out, while I'm doing that I also jot down some ideas for the following week.

One of the most helpful things is that I have a list of all the main dishes our family likes, and I've split them up into categories: main veggies, mexican, asian, burgers/sandwiches, pasta, soups. So I basically try to do one dish from each category in a week.

I usually go shopping on Monday night, with my shopping list based on the meals I have planned. I may change up the menu slightly depending on what veggies are on sale, or if something I planned on buying isn't available. So it's actually helpful for me to have my menu plan with me as well as my shopping list.

That's how it works for our family, and while I don't necessarily get excited about the task of planning meals for the week, I've found that the benefits are worth it.

Frugal and Content

We live well below our means. And we like it that way! Here's how we've found we can be happy on a budget:

1. Prioritize. Being frugal doesn't mean we never buy anything or that we only buy the cheapest stuff. Rather, it means we've decided what's important to our family and our spending reflects that. I loved what Rachel, over at Small Notebook, had to say about how lattes and expensive toilet paper can be compatible with frugality.

2. Be intentional. We try to avoid impulse purchases. And when it comes to big-ticket items, we give ourselves plenty of time to think about it. We purchased a couch last summer and it's still kind of hard for me to believe we paid as much as we did. But we spent months shopping, comparing prices, and trying to decide if there was any way to spend less and still be pleased. In the end we decided that this was an instance where quality and functionality justified spending more.

3. Have a bigger goal in mind. Without a vision or a larger purpose it's hard to feel like there's a good reason for not buying that shiny new toy. It's much easier to deny ourselves the little things when we can look ahead to the more important benefit. For us, the bigger focus is me being able to stay home with our kids and paying down our mortgage early.

4. Recognize the difference between needs and wants. It helps us to keep in mind that we really do have everything we need (when so many others don't). An attitude of being thankful for life's simple blessings really does keep us from being discontent about what we don't have. For a great break-down between true needs and wants, check out this post.

Frugality looks different for every family. How do you make your budget work for your household?

If you're looking for more frugal inspiration, head over to Biblical Womanhood for Frugal Friday.

P.S. I'll be back here on Saturday posting pics of the progress with our seedlings. See you then!

Mom, Interrupted

In the book Turn My Mourning into Dancing, Henri Nouwen tells of an old priest who said to him, "I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, then I realised that the interruptions were my work."

As a stay-at-home mom, this struck a chord with me. It is easy to get caught up in the cooking, cleaning and laundry, and to forget that the most important task is caring for my children. Not just changing diapers, fixing snacks, and wiping noses. My real work is to nurture, teach and guide. The reality is that my children will be with me for a relatively short time, and my relationship with them now lays the foundation for the rest of their lives.

There may be toys all over the floor and supper is running late, but the interruptions are my work.

Starting Seeds

Over the weekend we got some of our seeds started indoors. We let the kids help a little bit. Actually, they mostly just put the seed-starting mix into the cells, which was perfect because they really couldn't mess up that job.

We did let them each plant some seeds, with a great deal of help from me.

Then once they went to bed, Tom and I planted the rest.

As promised, I'll show you how we set things up. (Disclaimer: there are all kinds of explanations I could give for what you'll see in my laundry room. But I'm resisting the urge.) We have florescent shop lights suspended from the ceiling on small chains, this way we can raise the lights easily as the seedlings grow. These shelves are in our laundry room, which is probably the warmest room in our house thanks to running the dryer nearly every day. This picture shows one side:
And here's the whole set up:
Right now I still have the covers on the seed trays. I'll leave those on to keep in warmth and moisture, then when the seeds start to sprout I'll remove the covers and lower the lights.

This year we're also going to run some fans, in order to strengthen the stems and prepare them for real outdoor breezes. In the past I've had some trouble getting my seedlings adjusted to the outdoors, so I'm hoping this will help.

It works well for us to keep our seedlings up high. Not only does it save space, but it keeps the trays out of reach of our children who are so eager to see the little plants growing. As much as we want them to be involved and learn from the process, I've found that their involvement needs to be highly supervised. Otherwise, it's quite easy for little hands to very quickly harm the seedlings.

This system works for us! I'll be sure to keep you posted on how things progress.

Menu Plan - Week of March 2

Last week I tried making risotto with short grain brown rice. I decided to use the same risotto recipe I always use, Roasted Beet Risotto, so that we could decide if the brown rice was truly a good substitute without needing to evaluate a new recipe. The flavor was still good, the texture perhaps not quite as creamy. But. The biggest difference was the time involved. You know how brown rice takes about twice as long to cook as white rice? Well, apparently that's true with risotto too. And now I'm wondering why that wasn't obvious to me before I tried it.

At 5:18 pm I started stirring:


And at 6:41 pm, it was done:


So it took about an hour and 20 minutes to make risotto with brown rice, whereas I normally spend about 40 minutes making risotto. Considering that we only eat risotto about once a month, I think maybe I'll go with the quicker-cooking, less-healthy arborio rice.

Besides experimenting with risotto last week, we also got our seeds planted! I'll plan to post some pictures of our indoor seed-starting set up this week, maybe on Tuesday.

My menu for this week is very uninspired. I'm not sure if I'm just not feeling creative, or if I'd rather just stick to some of the simple, easier things that I usually make.
Monday - Rice and beans
Tuesday - Hearty supper salad
Wednesday - Veggie stir fry, coconut rice
Thursday - Simple bean soup, veggies
Friday - Homemade vegetable pizza
Saturday - Leftovers

I just realized that Daylight Saving Time begins in less than a week! Wow! I'm not thrilled about getting the kids to adjust to the change, but it does make it feel like maybe, just maybe, spring will be here soon!

To see more Menu Plan Monday, check out the links over at Organizing Junkie.