Can I Just Say.....

Can I just say that I am ready for fall??

I absolutely love having my kids home in the summer. I love that we don't have schedules. I love that we don't have to get things like homework done. I love that I can announce to them at any time to get in the car because we're going to get ice cream or heading to the movies-- even if it's only 10:30 in the morning. And I always get a little, OK, very sad when it's time to switch gears and get back into the rhythm of the school year.

But for some reason this year I'm not.

This year I am ready for those schedules. I am ready for a quiet house. I am ready for earlier bedtimes and earlier mornings. I'm ready for cooler weather. I'm ready for hot meals on cold nights. I'm ready for the new sitcom season. I'm ready for watching my kids do their homework at the kitchen table. I'm ready for cozy pajamas and bedtime snuggles.

But most of all I'm ready to start fresh.

I'm ready to get back into running. (I've really missed it this past year) I'm ready to snuggle up with my Nook and plow through the books I've been buying but not reading. I'm ready to tackle my mission of getting my family to move more and eat less. I'm ready to find new recipes to cook. I'm ready to have a new (and hopefully better) attitude in life. I'm ready to make some better decisions and set some better goals. I'm ready to find new things to get involved with and try some new hobbies. I'm ready to be a better wife, mom and friend.

And I'm ready to tackle all of that with coffee in hand, music playing in the background, pumpkin spice candles burning in the kitchen and living room, the smell of an apple pie baking in the oven, corn candy in mason jars scattered around the house, and pumpkins and scarecrows greeting us at the front door.

Please tell me you're ready for fall too?!?!? And if you are, I'd love to know what you're looking forward to!

Stretching Our Necks.

My number one rule this summer was that we weren't signing up for anything. No sports. No camps. No classes. In other words, we weren't doing anything that required a firm commitment from us. I just wasn't interested in being tied to schedules this summer. And we were doing so well for so long and we were loving our freedom. The kids slept until 10:30 some days, stayed up till midnight on others. They had Xbox marathons, they had WWE marathons, they had friends over, they had sleepovers-- we just did whatever and life was great!

Until we got the notice about vacation bible school at my mom's church, that is. It was at that point that I committed a cardinal sin and broke a rule. 

I had my mom sign Noah and Addison up for VBS.

Oh, you should have heard the protests! They were great and they were many. In fact, to this day I am still surprised that one of them didn't intentionally break a leg so that they didn't have to go. I really am! But oh how quickly their tunes changed once VBS officially started.

I don't know if it was the cool songs. The yummy dinners. (personally I was all over the fact that I didn't have to cook that week!) The creatively fun games. Or the super cool crafts like:

Fun paper mache night lights.

Or painfully loud musical instruments like bean tamborines and cardboard flutes to drive your parents crazy with. 

Or name plates for your bedroom door and tiered grass planters to spill everywhere.

But whatever it was, Noah and Addison had the best time. Even Meghan had fun getting roped into volunteering by the Pastor's wife! All in all VBS week was a success and I think it's a safe assumption that we'll be going back next year! Who knows, maybe next year they won't even kick and scream when I tell them they're signed up?!

Change For Goodness Sake.

Just a little sampling of the goodness that all that loose change can bring.....!

$2.00 dug up from the couch cusions equals two new books to read from Target's dollar spot. Now if only my kids would read them........

$1.00 found in the washing machine equals a fun new facial scrub for the week.

$1.77 found in the bottom of my purse = three pairs of jeans spared from the goodwill donation box and one trip to the mall avoided.

$1.29 found in the "secret compartment" of your car equates to a tasty beverage to enjoy while working in the garden with your favorite guy.

Taming Those Tomatoes.

Yes, the rumors are true. We still have vegetables coming out of every corner of our kitchen. So, if you happen to walk by our house and wonder what that strange earthy smell is that is coming from every nook and cranny........we know.....and we're owning it.

Clearly we had no idea just how much food one little seed packet or one little tomato plant could yield. We have been spending our days lately picking, washing, and creatively using our garden goods. Don't believe me? See this post. Or this post.

And since I have about a bazillion tomatoes and twice as many onions to use up, and no one in my family is real gung ho about having BLT's for dinner yet again, and because I am still convinced the neighbors are hiding from us, I decided today was a good day to make some homemade salsa. Pair it with some chips and season 2 of Downton Abbey and we're talking heaven on earth! 

So without further adieu, I present to you.......

Garden Fresh Salsa

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 small onions, finely chopped

3-4 tomatoes, diced

Fresh cilantro to taste

Juice of 1-2 limes

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Make It!

Place the garlic, onions and tomatoes in a medium-ish sized bowl. Chop the cilantro (leaves and stalks) and add to the bowl. Squeeze the juice from 1 lime over your mixture. Feel free to add more if needed. Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil, stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.

OK, so about the cilantro......feel free to be like me and just add the "fresh" dried cilantro because (a) it's what you had on hand and/or (b) buying and using actual fresh cilantro seems a bit overwhelming to you........I promise you, I won't judge!


Linking Up Here:
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The Garden State Of Total Goodness.

Greetings from the garden state of total goodness! This is the first year that we have ever had a garden. Not for the lack of desire, but more because thanks to the joys of townhome living, we don't have a yard that we can garden in.

But this year all our wishes came to pass when I discovered this great program through our local hospital. For a mere $15.00 a year we could have a community garden plot to call our own. A raised garden plot.

A fenced in raised garden plot.

A fenced in raised garden plot with a water spigot at the end of it!

A fenced in raised garden plot with a water spigot at the end of it as well as a tool shed complete with tools, a picnic table and an area where we can plant such goodies as apple trees, raspberry bushes, and blueberry bushes etc. etc.

I mean this was like a dream come true. We honestly couldn't have asked for a better set up even if we had a yard. We really couldn't.  But we didn't know the first thing about gardening. Not one thing. (I can't stress that point enough!!!) So we didn't have high hopes for this little project. Our only goals were to get the kids involved and to have fun in the process. And if by the grace of God we netted a carrot or an onion as a result then the whole thing would be considered a great success. Ha!

Little did we know that deep down we are really truly farmers at heart! The veggies pictured above are just a fraction of what our little garden plot has given us! There were times we literally left the garden with two to three grocery bags FILLED with garden goodness. Hence the reason for this post!

While the kids' interest pretty much fizzled out by the end of May, (yes, just 6 short weeks after we scored such awesomeness!) my interest and Marty's interest has held strong.  So strong in fact, that we have already paid for our same plot for next year AND requested a second plot!

The Mission Field.

So I discovered this sign a couple weeks back. It's posted at the exit of my mom's church and I discovered it when I took the kids there for vacation bible school.

At first I thought it was just a fun sign. I mean, how clever to have that posted front and center as you leave church! What a great reminder to do God's work daily! So, as we left VBS the first night I half jokingly told the kids to remember that they were "now entering the mission field." They thought I was totally crazy and as a result of my comment I got a few "yeah, whatever Mom's" and a "what does that mean?"

A quick explanation and an eye roll later, and the sign was all but forgotten until the next night when we left VBS and I again told the kids, "remember, you're entering the mission field." Again, the sign was quickly forgotten as the kids got lost in their iPods and cell phones.

The third night's reminder netted me an "OK"  before they forgot about it and started talking about other more important things like WWE and whether or not we could go for ice cream.

The fourth night's reminder yielded an "why do they even have that sign?" from an all too moody 9 year old boy who either absolutely loves everything in life or despises everything in life depending on the day.

The fifth night's reminder netted me nothing. Clearly, they were tired of my loving reminders. 

But here we are three weeks later and they are remembering that sign. Not sure how well any of us have done in our personal mission field, but we've all at least been remembering that sign!

Pickling The Cukes.

The past few weeks it's been all about the garden goodies at the Schires' Five house. We have been picking our goods as fast as we can and as a result we have more carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and beans than we know what to do with. In fact, we've given away so many potatoes, carrots, onions and cucumbers that I'm pretty sure the neighbors are starting to hide when they see Noah coming down the street with yet another bag full of garden goodies!

So when I was blog reading and discovered a super quick and super easy pickling recipe, I thought "sweet! a new use for our plethora of cucumbers!"

The fun part is it's a great way to at least try my hand at canning-- which is something that both Marty and I have wanted to learn how to do but were very intimidated to try. Never mind that up until this year we've never had a garden so we've never really had anything to can-- that little fact is way beyond the point!

Besides, a jar of pickles will be something different for us to bring to the neighbors and judging from the amount of cucumbers we have, we will have LOTS of jars of pickles to share! Unless of course they don't like pickles?! And if that's the case, well, then they can continue to hide from Noah when he knocks on their door!

Super Easy Refrigerator Pickles

Cucumbers (or whatever you want to pickle--like beans! YUM!!!)

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1 tbls. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

dry dill to taste

peppercorns to taste

Cut the cucumbers into thin slices or spears.  Mix the vinegar, water, salt and sugar together.

Place several small pinches of dill and a small amount bit of crushed peppercorns in a jar. Fill the jar with the pickle slices (or spears) and pour the liquid mixture in the jar making sure the liquid fully covers the pickles. Cover with lid and place in refrigerator. Then every so often give the jars a shake or two-- this little step is a great stress reliever when the kids are driving you crazy--just sayin'!

You should be able to eat them the next day. They're ready that soon. However, the longer you let them sit, the better they taste! Trust me on this! You need to resist the urge to devour the pickles in one day!

But if you're like me and you lack self control, just know that this recipe is so quick and easy that you can whip up another batch in no time!

The original recipe found: here 

Linking here:
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Grilled Buttermilk Chicken.

Don't you love it when you find an easy peasy new recipe? The only thing better would be to have all the ingredients on hand! I'm missing the buttermilk, but sending the kids on a quick trip down the street to Kwik Trip will totally cure that! 

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

• 1 1/2  cups  buttermilk
• 8  cloves garlic, chopped
• 1  tablespoon  paprika
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 6  pounds bone-in chicken pieces

Make It!

1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, garlic, paprika, 1½ teaspoons salt, and ¾ teaspoon pepper.
2. Divide the buttermilk mixture and chicken between 2 large resealable plastic bags. Let marinate in the refrigerator, turning the bags occasionally, for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
3. Heat grill to medium-low. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) and grill, covered, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes.

A Use For Those Cukes!

Thanks to some early morning blog reading, I think I found a use for the cucumbers that are bustin' out all over the place in my garden!!!

Creamy Cucumber Dressing
1/2 medium cucumber
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Make It!

Halve cucumber lengthwise, remove seeds and cut into small pieces. Place cucumber pieces, sour cream, lemon juice, sugar and salt into blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate until ready to use.  Store any left over dressing in fridge. Enjoy! 

The bonus here is that not only do I get to use up some of my cucumbers, but I get to use up some more of the cherry tomatoes that are growing like crazy too! 

Basically this meal is a hit already, and I haven't even made it yet! Ha, ha, ha!

(recipe and photo "borrowed" from here!)