Heirloom tomato salsa

We made this last week with regular Roma tomatoes and Bret inhaled it. He insisted we make more but all we had on hand were "Aunt Ruby German Green Tomatoes" and "Bloody Butcher" ones. Yes I love them for their names as much as flavor. All I have to say is that now I may be the one inhaling. 

4 tomatoes diced 

2 jalapenos (minced and deseeded)

1 large minced onion

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs cider vinegar

Bunch of cilantro minced if you have it, which I didn't, but I wish I had since I love it!

Thanks to Bret's brother Seth for the basic recipe. 

Sauerkraut

I never thought i could do it. I am simply amazed at how easy it was and how good it tastes. I was very scared but figured if i messed up it was only a head of cabbage a couple apples and some salt. Now if only I could actually nail down a time to celebrate Marktoberfest this year. I May have to do it without Mark.

Green pole tomato

At least i think that was the name of this beast. Luckily most of them are normal shaped. 

Plant based breakfast

We have enjoyed our oatmeal cooked without milk or added sugar. We do use a lot of fruit, though, and nuts make it extra good. Today as a bonus we had a green smoothie made with cucumber, kale, bottled plums (the day before leaving for Texas i decided to can 20 qts or so of plums), and the liquid from two cans of peaches for sweetness. It was pretty good i was happy to discover especially since those plums are pretty tart. 

Treasures from Texas

While in tx i visited my uncle's house which used to be my grandma's. I have many fond memories of spending summers there. Being south east Texas there was only so much playing outside we could handle so m sisters and i played quite a few board games. These are a few i distinctly remember playing only at her house. We also played a lot of careers and clue but those were games we also had at home. We just liked hers since they were made in the sixties. I wanted to bring them all home but Bret feared they would just be more clutter in our small home so i just took these. They were covered in nearly an inch if dust. I am fairly confident they hadn't been touched in the last 30 years.

Plant based diet

At the end of July i had a medical procedure that left me on bed rest for 2 days. I used the time to read and talk to my husband who took time off to sit with me. We listened to the audio version of The China Study. If you have seen the documentary Forks Over Knives it is basically the same message. It was such a powerful message that i gave away six boxes of food and have more to give. My husband used to eat butter cheese milk mayo like they were going out of style. It has been at least a month of avoiding animal proteins with the very occasional socially necessary exceptions. We even went on two vacations (which usually means weight gain for me) and we have both lost over five pounds without any regular exercise. I have loved that watching what i eat is easier than ever before. Often i have tried to reduce my sugar and fat intake but with little success. This time it is soooo much easier. I recommend you at least watch the documentary but i felt the book was less sensatinalized and felt more persuasive in the science. And for the record my husband is a huge sceptic rarely trusting anything he reads. He did turn to the Word of Wisdom to feel he was following the best guidance and not just being seduced by some trendy book.       We make subtle minor rare exceptions to sugar oil and dairy but have successfully avoided meat. It gets easier each day. 

Anyone want some eggs or butter? I really stocked up back when he could eat a stick of butter a day. 

Girls camp 3

So we finally got our turn on the boat. One girl who has some developmental delays and can't swim and has always avoided water actually took a turn on the tube. It was a slow and gentle ride but she loved every minute of it. And we all loved how she broke through her fears. 

More girls camp

We spent one day at jordanelle water skiing. I was impressed with how well they entertained themselves when they had to wait their turn onshore. 

Girls camp

Early in July i attended girls camp. This isn't the clearest photo i took butter it illustrates the best part. Our first night we had a presentation on breaking through our fears or overcoming them so they don't hold us back. On a piece of pine wood about an inch thick we wrote our fears on one side and then how we would feel if we overcame those fears. Then we drew a big x through the list of fears and took turns busting through the board with our bare hands. It was way cool. 

Armenian Cucumber

You may have noticed, but the last few days i have been on a blogging kick. I have finally gone through the collection of photos i have taken with the intention to blog but never got around to. This one is the fruit of my labor. It is only a sample. These monster cucumbers are so mild and delicious i don't mind that they fill a gallon sized ziploc once sliced. I highly recommend them. Now i just need to find out their nutritional value so i can feel extra good eating them. 

Family poetry

Back in April someone came across this poem in my mother's stash of papers. We asked the various siblings if they  or one of their children was responsible for composing it. No one ever came forward but i am pretty sure one of my brother ron's kids did it since they never responded to the inquiry. Enjoy!

Farewell

This is my old beloved Nissan altima 98. After buying the subaru we managed to sell the Nissan and had the cash deposited in less than an hour of posting it on ksl. I loved that car and miss it quite a bit. If we hadn't had battery trouble so often we wouldn't have had to part ways. 

Twinners

My good friend Diana bought a red subaru legacy the exact same day we did. Hers is a year older and one upgrade higher. We took this photo last month at one of our vision meetings. 

Babysitting

Bret and i are maggie's first sitters (i think). She is precious! I had to take this photo to show my mom the cute burp rag. Maggie belongs to fellow woman of the world, plewe. 

Windmills

We saw a LOT of these on our trip. It is extra cool since the good brother works for a company that makes them. 

Gecko

We saw a couple of these in vidor. Bret loved them. 

My Houston home

I have blogged a photo of this a few years ago but it is fun to see it again. We wondered if the bricks are lighter color. The top half is painted a lighter brown at least. 

Bret's house

While in Houston we visited my childhood neighborhood. Bret also spent time in Houston (76-78) he thinks. This is his home. His neighborhood had a slightly more abandoned feeling but looks about the same age as mine. 

Pioneer woman

This is the last leg of our cross country road trip with my mother. We stopped in her home town - where she spent middle and high school anyway. This statue is in ponca city Oklahoma. It is huge and beautiful. The schools and churches are all beautiful in this small town. I think there is a church for every dozen people. I don't know how they support so many different ones.