One thing we did not realize when we moved up here is that most people do not have air conditioning, in fact, people who DO have it are seen as kind of weird. So imagine our surprise when our rental does NOT have air conditioning. And it is supposed to be 31C for the next couple days.
So what do we do?
We throw open all the windows in the evening to get as much cool air in as possible, and leave as many open over night as is safe.
In the morning we close all windows with sunshine on them and open all those with shade and cool air until it gets too warm and we close them. (And by too warm I mean that we feel warm air starting to come in rather than refreshing cool air).
We turn on all the fans we have.
We open the shaded windows if there is cool air coming in.
We dress cool and all little girls have their hair up.
We eat cold meals as much as possible, do not turn on the oven if at all possible using the toaster oven, slow cooker and electric frying pan.
How do you keep cool in the heat...and please don't say air conditioning! :-)
Just for fun, here is a new pasta salad we made for lunches this week.
Layered Pasta Salad
layer the following:
3 cups cooked and cooled shell pasta
1 lg red onion diced
2 cups peas
1 cup of ham chopped (I used the sliced deli meat I got on sale)
Mix and spread on top"
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I used buttermilk ranch and it was yummy!)
Top with:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup halved grape tomatoes (I just chopped up the romas I had)
Cool in fridge for several hours before serving, mix well before serving.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sesame Snap Peas
In last week's CSA box we received a number of delicious things. I decided to swap the kale for grapes because they were the red flame grapes, my favorite! But I am sure I will get kale again, so I am keeping the recipes now that I know how to get around the texture issue we all had.
One thing we received that we tried a delicious recipe for was sugar snap peas.
The recipe is:
Sesame Snap Peas
1lb sugar snap peas
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp black sesame seeds or toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp honey
salt
Bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. Drop the peas into the boiling water for about a minute and then plunge them into ice water to chill them. While they are still crisp and cool remove them to a colander to dry. Place peas in a bowl, toss with sesame oil, sprinkle with seeds and lightly drizzle with honey. Salt to taste. Serve immediately.
These were so delicious! The only problem we had was not enough peas....we ran out too soon.
One thing we received that we tried a delicious recipe for was sugar snap peas.
The recipe is:
Sesame Snap Peas
1lb sugar snap peas
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp black sesame seeds or toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp honey
salt
Bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. Drop the peas into the boiling water for about a minute and then plunge them into ice water to chill them. While they are still crisp and cool remove them to a colander to dry. Place peas in a bowl, toss with sesame oil, sprinkle with seeds and lightly drizzle with honey. Salt to taste. Serve immediately.
These were so delicious! The only problem we had was not enough peas....we ran out too soon.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Bible in 90 Days Day 1 Check-In
I am very excited to be reading the Bible cover to cover in 90 days again. I read as part of the group that started in January too. Our then 4 year old was scheduled for open heart surgery January 11, and I knew I needed that much Bible reading - it was not that I am that spiritual, it was that I was that desperate! Our daughter did great in her surgery, and we joke she is all but bionic now, you would never know anything happened. The reading helped me tremendously! I loved how the Bible was so alive and I felt like I was meeting God each morning in my reading. Then it became clear we were moving and in the last 3 weeks of the scheduled reading I completely fell apart.
So here we are, the move is done, we are mostly settled, and it is time to get my quiet time back on track. And I know this is the way I am to do it. So here we go, day 1.
Day 1 is not off to a good start. My plan is to get up early and ready before my family is awake. My programmable coffee maker is all set! But with yesterday being July 4, and fireworks being completely legal where we are, well, it was a loud night with fireworks still going off at 1AM. But there are still many hours in this day to complete my reading, and it is a priority, so it will get done.
I am very happy to be reading along again, and look forward to hearing what God has to teach me. Once again I plan to read with no agenda, just read attentively and listen for what God has to say with me. I guess that is an agenda, read and listen carefully, or to quote a past professor, simply waste time with God.
Head over to Amy's for the links of more first day reports!
So here we are, the move is done, we are mostly settled, and it is time to get my quiet time back on track. And I know this is the way I am to do it. So here we go, day 1.
Day 1 is not off to a good start. My plan is to get up early and ready before my family is awake. My programmable coffee maker is all set! But with yesterday being July 4, and fireworks being completely legal where we are, well, it was a loud night with fireworks still going off at 1AM. But there are still many hours in this day to complete my reading, and it is a priority, so it will get done.
I am very happy to be reading along again, and look forward to hearing what God has to teach me. Once again I plan to read with no agenda, just read attentively and listen for what God has to say with me. I guess that is an agenda, read and listen carefully, or to quote a past professor, simply waste time with God.
Head over to Amy's for the links of more first day reports!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Bible in 90 Days Starts Monday Morning!
It takes something pretty big to get me to post on the weekend, unless it is set to autopost like this morning's holiday greeting. But I wanted to remind you that reading through the Bible in 90 Days starts tomorrow morning. For more information check out Amy's site as she is hosting!
It is really worth it, and I found last time that the reading took me any where from 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes depending if I got confused or not! So it is not a huge commitment of time with God each day, but the benefits are huge.
Please consider reading along with us.
Amy does an excellent job encouraging us along, and I will be posting my Monday update each week talking about how it is going and what I am learning.
It is really worth it, and I found last time that the reading took me any where from 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes depending if I got confused or not! So it is not a huge commitment of time with God each day, but the benefits are huge.
Please consider reading along with us.
Amy does an excellent job encouraging us along, and I will be posting my Monday update each week talking about how it is going and what I am learning.
Happy 4th of July
Yes, we really do celebrate both Canada Day and July 4th in our household. After all, while my husband and I were born and raised in Canada, our daughters were born in the US, but are citizens of both countries.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Pantry
One of the things I have appreciated about this home is the in kitchen walk in pantry. It is a lovely convenience and right in the corner of our kitchen.
It is not stocked as fully as I would like, nor is it as organized as I would like, but it is coming along!
I still have over flow in the garage, but we commandeered the bookshelf I was using to hold the homeschooling supplies and got a sturdier rack to do pantry duty in the garage, it looks like this:
I still have a second old wood bookcase that did double duty of holding cleaning supplies and other assorted stuff in our old home, and now will hold canning supplies and cleaning supplies in our new home.
The whole pantry and stockpile situation is coming along nicely as I shop sales and restock, but I still have not fully unpacked the cleaning supplies. In fact, to the left of the garage picture are 2 boxes of them that are opened, just not unpacked.
In addition to that we also have a laundry room with 1 long shelf. More on that next week.
But after talking about my new shopping strategies, I figured I should share where I store stuff before I moved on to the next step!
It is not stocked as fully as I would like, nor is it as organized as I would like, but it is coming along!
I still have over flow in the garage, but we commandeered the bookshelf I was using to hold the homeschooling supplies and got a sturdier rack to do pantry duty in the garage, it looks like this:
I still have a second old wood bookcase that did double duty of holding cleaning supplies and other assorted stuff in our old home, and now will hold canning supplies and cleaning supplies in our new home.
The whole pantry and stockpile situation is coming along nicely as I shop sales and restock, but I still have not fully unpacked the cleaning supplies. In fact, to the left of the garage picture are 2 boxes of them that are opened, just not unpacked.
In addition to that we also have a laundry room with 1 long shelf. More on that next week.
But after talking about my new shopping strategies, I figured I should share where I store stuff before I moved on to the next step!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Happy Canada Day!
A great day to eat pancakes with maple syrup and have dessert of ice cream, strawberries, and whip cream!
graphic credit
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Kitchen Sink
It seems like I spend a fair bit of time at my kitchen sink, I guess all wives and mothers seem to. In each home I have been blessed, the Lord has given me a view from my kitchen sink.
Here is our current kitchen sink...with a window ledge!
It looks out into the backyard, so the girls could be out playing while I was doing dishes!
While it looks like I just look out into our yard and then at our neighbor's house, if I look out and slightly to the right I see this:
Are you wondering about all those bottles you saw by my sink? Let me explain. Let's start with this one:
We have to wash our recyclables, and it seems so silly to wash out an empty dish soap bottle! So I fill it with water, give it a shake and then use it to wash my recyclables. Once it is empty I recycle it too. The flower is a dish brush I found at Bed Bath and Beyond that the girls loved, and we needed a new one!
On the other side is Dawn Direct Foam I got ages ago free after coupon (by the way, if you know how to adapt dish soap for the foam dispenser, please let me know), and an oil bottle with my dish soap. Next to that is an extravagance, a simple human sensored hand soap dispenser. While it was an extravagance, I have to say that when I am working with meat and my hands are filthy it is wonderfully practical!
This kitchen sink set up is great because every cool and damp day I want to make bread....good thing we have a secondary freezer in the garage!
Here is our current kitchen sink...with a window ledge!
It looks out into the backyard, so the girls could be out playing while I was doing dishes!
While it looks like I just look out into our yard and then at our neighbor's house, if I look out and slightly to the right I see this:
Are you wondering about all those bottles you saw by my sink? Let me explain. Let's start with this one:
We have to wash our recyclables, and it seems so silly to wash out an empty dish soap bottle! So I fill it with water, give it a shake and then use it to wash my recyclables. Once it is empty I recycle it too. The flower is a dish brush I found at Bed Bath and Beyond that the girls loved, and we needed a new one!
On the other side is Dawn Direct Foam I got ages ago free after coupon (by the way, if you know how to adapt dish soap for the foam dispenser, please let me know), and an oil bottle with my dish soap. Next to that is an extravagance, a simple human sensored hand soap dispenser. While it was an extravagance, I have to say that when I am working with meat and my hands are filthy it is wonderfully practical!
This kitchen sink set up is great because every cool and damp day I want to make bread....good thing we have a secondary freezer in the garage!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Bible in 90 Days FAQ
Are you reading along? Still thinking about it?
Here are a answers to a few frequently asked questions.
My favorite? Yes, we really are going to read the whole Bible cover to cover, not the abridged version!!
Here are a answers to a few frequently asked questions.
My favorite? Yes, we really are going to read the whole Bible cover to cover, not the abridged version!!
Front Window Views
When we moved here, we moved fast, and we opted to rent for a year so we could move as a family. It occurs to me that I have said very little about our new home. Time to fix that. This week I will share a couple things that are ready to share, and hopefully have more to share in a couple weeks.
We have a very nice house in a small development that is still being built. In fact, the lots directly across from us have not even been sold!
When we stand in the front yard and look out and slightly to the right we see this:
Love seeing rainbows again!
Straight out we see this:
Although this picture was taken from the upstairs window. On a clear day we can see the mountains in the break between the stand of trees on the right and the next pine tree. It is beautiful.
If we look out and to the left we see this:
If you notice, that street that beings in the bottom corner and runs up diagonally is blocked off. We call it the runway and it is perfect for children to play with bikes and scooters! Such a treat to have that after living on the main street into our development for 3 years!
We have a very nice house in a small development that is still being built. In fact, the lots directly across from us have not even been sold!
When we stand in the front yard and look out and slightly to the right we see this:
Love seeing rainbows again!
Straight out we see this:
Although this picture was taken from the upstairs window. On a clear day we can see the mountains in the break between the stand of trees on the right and the next pine tree. It is beautiful.
If we look out and to the left we see this:
If you notice, that street that beings in the bottom corner and runs up diagonally is blocked off. We call it the runway and it is perfect for children to play with bikes and scooters! Such a treat to have that after living on the main street into our development for 3 years!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Read Aloud Handbook
This book is foundational to how we read in our house, I cannot recommend it enough!
Lindsay has a great review of it this week, and I left my comments.
Lindsay has a great review of it this week, and I left my comments.
Bible in 90 Days
...is starting next week...
go here for details and you can sign up on the sidebar!
I am totally in and looking forward to it - I even have my programmable coffee maker ready to go...we signed up together....
Would you like to join us?
go here for details and you can sign up on the sidebar!
I am totally in and looking forward to it - I even have my programmable coffee maker ready to go...we signed up together....
Would you like to join us?
CSA Box # 3
When we moved here one of the first things we did was look into CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and found one for vegetables and fruits that could handle potato allergies, let us pay as we go rather than buy a whole share up front, and was picked up close to our home. And we can get a box every 2 weeks. After enjoying two boxes we are hooked! Did I mention we can order extra stuff too?
If you are wondering about CSA's there is a great post here.
This week we get our third CSA box, and the contents are as follows:
Over the next 2 weeks I will be trying my hand at guacamole, and enjoying some of my favorites.
But there are 2 things in the box that have me thinking hard.
The first is kale. I tried cutting it up and then sauteing it in garlic oil, but we found the texture to be a bit too chewy even though we liked the taste. Do you have any great ideas on how to prepare it to get around the texture issue?
The second is escarole. As far as I know I have never tried this, but I am game! We are being adventurous you see! Is this something you like? How do you prepare it?
For both kale and escarole I would appreciate any advice, thoughts or links you have.
If you are interested I could share more on our CSA adventures as we are enjoying this and Miss Pear calls it the box of yumminess.
If you are wondering about CSA's there is a great post here.
This week we get our third CSA box, and the contents are as follows:
- carrots
- kale
- broccoli
- escarole
- yellow onion
- snap peas
- avocado (2)
- lettuce
- black plums
- yellow peaches
- valencia oranges
- yellow nectarines
Over the next 2 weeks I will be trying my hand at guacamole, and enjoying some of my favorites.
But there are 2 things in the box that have me thinking hard.
The first is kale. I tried cutting it up and then sauteing it in garlic oil, but we found the texture to be a bit too chewy even though we liked the taste. Do you have any great ideas on how to prepare it to get around the texture issue?
The second is escarole. As far as I know I have never tried this, but I am game! We are being adventurous you see! Is this something you like? How do you prepare it?
For both kale and escarole I would appreciate any advice, thoughts or links you have.
If you are interested I could share more on our CSA adventures as we are enjoying this and Miss Pear calls it the box of yumminess.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sneaking In...
...and for the record, it is all Donnetta's fault that I had to do this. (Hi Donnetta!)
She is giving away a WHOLE SET of Seed's Family Worship CD's. And if you have not heard them, you are missing out, they are wonderful! It is scripture set to music, and is instant encouragement and scripture memory. We put this set into the car when we moved and I still have not managed to get a single CD into the house! Our 5 year old requests them over and over again....we happily oblige!
Be sure to head over and comment to win so your family can be blessed to!
By the way, of you are not reading Donnetta I highly recommend that you do, she is very encouraging and such a sweetie.
I now resume my break! Blessings to you.
She is giving away a WHOLE SET of Seed's Family Worship CD's. And if you have not heard them, you are missing out, they are wonderful! It is scripture set to music, and is instant encouragement and scripture memory. We put this set into the car when we moved and I still have not managed to get a single CD into the house! Our 5 year old requests them over and over again....we happily oblige!
Be sure to head over and comment to win so your family can be blessed to!
By the way, of you are not reading Donnetta I highly recommend that you do, she is very encouraging and such a sweetie.
I now resume my break! Blessings to you.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday Wanderings
I spent all my blogging time yesterday reading about Scott Niedermayer retiring, and if you are not a Canadian or a hockey fan you probably don't care, but he played for my hockey team, both the NHL one and the National one. So that was big.
But I am finding this week that there is lots to be caught up on, ducks to get in rows, and plans and schedules to make. I also find that the things I want to post about require more prep than I have time for this week.
And did I mention that I really need some extra Bible time?
So I will see you next week.
But while I am gone can you please help me out and answer a couple questions for me?
1. What is your family's favorite weekend breakfast and fast breakfast?
2. How do you manage to get lunch on the table on Sunday when your family walks in the door about half an hour after you usually eat lunch?
3. What are your summer plans? (Okay, I confess, I am just curious)
4. And while I am being curious.....what are you reading right now?
But I am finding this week that there is lots to be caught up on, ducks to get in rows, and plans and schedules to make. I also find that the things I want to post about require more prep than I have time for this week.
And did I mention that I really need some extra Bible time?
So I will see you next week.
But while I am gone can you please help me out and answer a couple questions for me?
1. What is your family's favorite weekend breakfast and fast breakfast?
2. How do you manage to get lunch on the table on Sunday when your family walks in the door about half an hour after you usually eat lunch?
3. What are your summer plans? (Okay, I confess, I am just curious)
4. And while I am being curious.....what are you reading right now?
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