last weekend in overgaard

Grandma and Grandpa McLaws are selling their cabin in Overgaard, AZ.  To help, we went up Friday evening to sleep over and be there all day Saturday to pack up and move the things they didn't want to leave up there.  We came home with a lot of stuff: beds, pillows, bedding, chairs, dishes, food, pictures, and John Wayne.

Grandpa got this stand up, cardboard cut out a few years ago for either his birthday or Christmas.  They didn't want to keep is, but Mom said we might need it "for a Western party at church."

Uhm, what?

When have we ever...nevermind.  Whatever.

So now we have The Duke at our house.  (If you're ever throwing a Western party at church, let me know.)

On the way up we stopped in Payson at the grocery store (since Overgaard is small and only has a rinky-dink little convenience store on the side of the highway) to get the food we needed for overnight.

We decided we really didn't need the 50 pound bag of carrots, though...

It was a short trip, but it was good to be able to say good-by to the cabin.  We didn't use it a whole lot, but liked knowing it was up there as an option for a quick weekend getaway.  There's been a lot of fun times up there, but I know we'll continue to make fun family memories no matter where we are.  That's one of the things I'm most thankful for, and what I love about my family.  We're always able to have fun together.

Here's a pictures of Julia falling into the crack of the couch on the hideabed (sp?).

weekly happenings

A lot has been going on this week!


On Monday, for FHE, Mom told us that we had to come up with a fun, 10 minutes activity that would strengthen our faith.  So...I pulled out the hand weights that were in the closet and told Faith that we were going to see how many reps she could do and thus see how much we could "strengthen our Faith"!

LOL!!  Everyone laughed.  Then I did what my actual activity was which was a fun game I found online called "Squiggles."  Basically everyone has a piece of paper and a pen/pencil.  You have two seconds to do a squiggly line of some sort, then everyone passes the paper to the person on their left and you then have to transform the squiggle you've been given into something from the scriptures.  It was fun.


Here's the list of things I have to get done/taken care of before my trip...

Tuesday night I got a new car!!

Julia has been saving up and working her butt of to be able to buy a car for over a year.  I paid off my Jetta this month (finally!) and then she bought it from me.  That meant I then needed to get something new/different.  After a lot of thought and research, I decided to stick with VW and got a new Passat.  I also decided to give leasing a try.  I've never leased anything before, but after discussing both options (buying vs. leasing) with the guy at the dealership in detail, and going over both sets of numbers, leasing is what works best for me right now.  I feel good about the decision.  And I'm loving my new car!

I'm having to get used to having a longer car after ten years of driving short cars.  No more short car for this short girl!!  LOL

There's so many buttons!  It's so fancy!  It syncs wirelessly through bluetooth to my Ipod, which is awesome!  I'm still learning what everything does...

It's an automatic!  Yea!!  

And the backseat is HUGE!  Which, was one of my "must-haves."  Now people won't be shoved into the back like a can of sardines.

My payments are a little higher than they were with my Jetta and my insurance has also gone up a little bit, but I've been able to pay off my credit cards (with the money from the sale of my house) so I'm able to afford it.  I feel like such a grown-up driving this car.  Guess since I'm turning 31 in a couple weeks I should be driving a "grown-up" car...

And speaking of a couple weeks...

10 DAYS UNTIL MY SUPER-AWESOME EUROPEAN ADVENTURE WITH KRISTY!!!!!

vegan adventures in the kitchen: part dos

OMG!  I just made the most amazing thing EVER!!!


Nutted Brown Rice Pilaf
12 servings
283 calories/serving

4 T. olive oil
1 medium to large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 t. salt
2/3 c. slivered almonds
2/3 c. pistachio halves and/or pieces
2/3 c. chopped walnuts
2 t. minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. black pepper
2 c. brown rice
5 c. vegetable broth

In a large pot with a ticht-fitting lid, cook olive oil, onion, and salt over medium heat until onion is soft, about 3 minutes.  Increase heat to high and add almonds, pistachios, and walnuts.  Cook, stirring, until nuts start to toast.  Onions may brown a bit, which is fine, but reduce the heat if they start to burn.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add coriander, cumin, and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add rice and stir to combine.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until rice is tender to the bite, about 50 minutes.

Fluff with a fork, and add salt to taste.

It's seriously, my new favorite thing.  I roasted up a big pan of vegetables: zucchini, red onions, portabello mushrooms, and red peppers with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.  It was delicious!

vegan adventures in the kitchen

Tried a couple new vegan/gluten-free recipes for dinner tonight and made the family eat them (insert evil laugh here).  Surprisingly, they both turned out pretty good!  I'm excited to have some new items to add to my growing repertoire.


Vegan/Gluten-free Cornbread Muffins
**I doubled everything but the cornmeal amounts from the original recipe**


12 servings (24 muffins)
186 calories/serving

2 cups Pure Silk Almond Original Milk
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
2 cups fine ground cornmeal
2 t. salt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 375.  Line muffin tins with paper lines, or spray/grease silicone muffin pans.

Mix the vinegar with the milk, and set aside.  In a large bowl mix together will all the dry ingredients: corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.  In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the apple sauce, olive oil, maple syrup, and milk/vinegar mixture.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture slowly, mixing all the while.  You can use a spoon or a mixer on low, just make sure the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Pour the mixture into the prepared muffin pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are firm and the edges are slightly browned.  Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!


Vegan/Gluten-Free Mac 'n Cheese

8 servings
317 calories/serving

9-12 oz gluten free macaroni pasta
1 1/2 c. cauliflower OR white beans
1 1/2 c. sweet potato, diced
1 c. nutritional yeast
3/4 c. almond milk
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 t. onion powder
1/4 t. ground mustard
1/2 t. paprika

In a medium pot and steamer bring water to a boil.  Steam sweet potato and cauliflower until soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Cook pasta according to packet directions.  Drain.

While pasta is cooking, add everything except the pasta to a blender and blend until smooth.  Combine cooked pasta and blender cheese sauce in a large bowl.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with fresh or dried parsley.  Enjoy!

I had plans to take pictures of the beautiful dinner, but I forgot.  So, instead here's a picture of Mom's second helping, minus the peas that I also cooked to go along with it.  It was a super yummy dinner and there was leftovers I can take to work for lunches.  Yea!

ward party and father's day

Friday night we went to the Ward Party.  Since it was Flag Day, they did it as an "old fashioned picnic."  But, because we live in Arizona and it was 111 degrees outside, they had it all set up inside.  The dinner was hot dogs (which I don't eat anymore), some salads (which were kind of wet and disappointing), different kinds of chips (of which I had the plain variety), and either water or lemonade.  Later they brought out root beer floats (which everyone enjoyed, but me...being vegan can be a pain sometimes...).  The table decorations were cute (someone is addicted to pinterest I think).  There were some different games they had everyone play, and Dad and Julia participated in the pie eating contests (of which Bro. Westbrook was the uncontested winner)!

For Father's Day, we asked Dad what he wanted for dinner.  He said: waffles and bacon.  So waffles and bacon is what we gave the man!

Along with fruit (which was my assignment).  It was super yummy!  Julia and I made some gluten-free, vegan waffles that were surprisingly delicious!  Definitely going to be making those again.  Everyone came over, we feasted on brinner (breakfast + dinner), then cleaned up, then played a couple rounds of Scattegories.  We had fun (which we usually do).

Getting ready to play the game

J.R. being J.R.

Steven retrieving the dice that rolled under the couch...

Meggie, trying to sleep, but not succeeding cuz we were being to loud.

I even found him this awesome card that had bacon on it!  Made out of fabric!  (Mom says she now wants to make a whole breakfast themed quilt...)

new addictions

I've developed two new addictions this week.

#1.  Hubert's Lemonade

So good!!  And, if you know anything about me, you'll know how big of an endorsement this is.  I don't like lemonade.  But I LOVE this stuff!  I've tried the cherry limeade, raspberry lemonade, mango lemonade, and blackberry lemonade so far and I love all of them.  I want to drink them all the time.


#2. Vegan Gluten-free Black Bean Brownies

Yum!!

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 flax eggs (3 T ground flax seed meal + 6 T water)
3 T. coconut oil, melted
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract
heaping 1/2 c. raw sugar, slightly ground or pulsed in food processor
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 (12 oz) bag of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 12 slot standard size muffin pan.  Prepare flax eggs by combining flax and water in food processor or blender.  Pulse a couple times and then let rest for a few minutes.  Add remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and puree - about 3 minutes - scraping down sides as needed.  You want it pretty smooth.  If the batter appears too thick, add a Tbsp or two of water and pulse again.  It should be slightly less thick than chocolate frosting but nowhere close to runny.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Evenly distribute batter into muffin tin.  Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top if wanted.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides.   Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan.   Store in airtight container.  Refrigerate if longer than a couple days.

status update

Current Time: 7:37am
Current Temp: 84
Currently Eating: Breakfast "scramble": tofu, baby red potatoes, asparagus and onions (so good!)
Current Weight Loss: 50 pounds!!
Currently Feeling: Anxious to sell my house and be done with it already!
Currently Waiting For: Europe!!  29 days and counting...
Currently Reading: "A Timeless Romance Anthology: Summer Wedding Collection"
Currently In Love With: Pure Silk Almond Dark Chocolate Milk