Meatless Monday: Red Thai Curry

Need another meatless meal idea?  This Red Thai Curry is packed with flavor and veggies.  Go ahead, clean out the veggies in your fridge and try it.

Ingredients- 2 cans coconut milk 2 Tbs red curry paste (the original recipe calls for 3, but I am NOT a spice girl so I only use 2.  Adjust to your liking...) 1 1/2 Tbs fish sauce 1 Tbs agave or sucanant (or sweetener of your choice) 1 sliced red bell pepper 2 sliced zucchini 3 sliced carrots 1/2 c. frozen peas 1 small can sliced bamboo any other leftover veggies in your fridge you want to throw in... 1/2 tsp salt

Pour coconut milk into large skillet or saucepan.  Add red curry paste and whisk.  Let simmer 4-5 minutes then add fish sauce and sucanant.  Simmer a few more minutes.  Next add your veggies and salt to taste.  Let cook until your veggies are tender and delicious!  (I think I normally simmer for about 15-20 minutes)  Serve over brown rice.

For some added protein serve some edamame as an appetizer!  Love edamame. 

fridays letters

Dear Chris, I'm so proud of you for working to get your DMin.  Although I don't like you being gone for classes (and all the extra work you have to do to be working towards your doctorate...) I guess it pays off for a straight A report card :)  
Dear Mom and Dad, Thanks for driving down here to bring down all our Christmas presents!  Thanks for watching Phoebe while I went into work yesterday and for taking Knox on long walks to tire him out.
Dear Cobb County Superior Court, Thank you for exempting me from jury duty.  I've never served on jury duty before or even been summoned before.  Maybe this is weird, but there is a small part of me that was excited about it.  I don't think it would be awful and I'm happy to do my part; however, I really don't have a reliable source of childcare so unfortunately it is not really an option right now.
Dear Weekend, I am glad you are finally here.  I don't have anything planned and I am very happy about that.

Have a wonderful weekend!!  
Linking up with Ashley 

Ten on Ten: A Day in Pictures

Its the 10th of the month again, time to link up with Rebekah for Ten on Ten.  It is a way for bloggers to "share a snapshot of their lives...once a month on the tenth [by] taking a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding life and beauty in the ordinary things of our day to day!"  
 

Apparently I only took 9 pictures over nine hours.  Whoops.  Not even sure what hour I missed. Here's my day in pictures-

So I decided a week into the new year that I wanted to read through the Bible in a year with Chris.  We did this a couple years ago, in 2011, using the Crossway/ESV schedule.   Well I never finished.  I was doing really well until Phoebe was born and then sometime in August I stopped.  Anyhow, I am going to try to do it again this year, but unfortunately I'm behind already due to my late start.  I'm waking up early to read and "catch up".  Also enjoying some Raspberry Leaf Tea and an apple. 

After Phoebe woke up and ate breakfast we headed across town (this is a big deal in Atlanta morning traffic) to make a Craig's List purchase.  I had been sharing a grain mill with several friends, and have been loving making my own "Old School Bread."  However, for several reasons I have been wanting my own mill.  We scoured Craig's list for a couple months in order to find one when we purchased the first one, so when I decided to check a couple nights ago I was surprised to find 4 for sale in the Atlanta area!  I jumped on the opportunity and drove in morning rush hour traffic to pick it up.

What is sweeter than a sleeping child?  Phoebe took a little nap on the ride back before I dropped her off at mom's morning out for a little "me-time" while Chris is out of town.

I headed over to my favorite coffee shop and spent a couple hours working on my 2011 photo book in order to meet my January goals.

All that driving across town left the gas tank close to E, so I stopped to fill it up.  Pumping gas: this is the mundane of life.

I bought Phoebe a potty-seat the other day and started putting her on the potty to get her used to it.  It is a Cars theme seat and she LOVES it!  Anyhow, she pooped on the potty for the first time yesterday!  I realize this was total luck of timing and coincidence, but I was a proud mommy none-the-less.  I'm really not even she understood why I was so excited.

During nap time I milled some wheat to make this fresh apple cinnamon bread I had been wanting to try.

Honestly, it sounded better than it turned out...  It wasn't sweet enough.

And here is apparently where I forgot to take a couple pictures.  The next and final picture I took was Phoebe playing with Knox before bed.  Best Friends Forever.


It was a fairly ordinary day, but I found some meaning and beauty in it.  And got some practice taking pictures too :)


 

{WIWW} Going Green

I feel like I'm starting to run out of outfits to share with you.  My closet is looking especially skim these days because there are fewer and fewer things that fit!  Although this isn't an outfit I have shown before, it is very similar to a couple previous posts.  The accessories are new though so I'll highlight them :)

This is the purse Chris got me for Christmas that I am in love with!!  I am typically not an impulse shopper, but I immediately knew I wanted this bag!  I love the design and leather trim.  It is a woven fabric, so it has some texture to it as well.

Because it was chilly outside I needed an ear warmer.  My mother-in-law gave me this for Christmas and I think its super cute and feminine.  I love the chunky knit and the flower!

And because I feel like my outfit (which is not the color green...) might not hold your attention that long I wanted to share some "green" lifestyle tips with you.  Its the new year and many people are interested in making lifestyle changes to live in a more environmentally sustainable or "green" manner.  Here are a few easy tips that might fit into your routine.

Purse- Spartina449 Ear Warmer- Kirklands Sweater- LL Bean Leggings- Pea in the Pod Maternity Boots- Nine West Outlet (old)

Going Green...
1. Cloth napkins- Cloth napkins are an EASY way to cut down on the amount of paper waste from your kitchen.  They are not that expensive and for you savvy shoppers- you can certainly find nice ones at Home Goods or even thrift stores.  I'm not really sure how but we've accumulated A LOT over the past several years.  We have a drawer of them in the kitchen.  Because it is typically only my husband and I, I admit that we sometimes re-use them for a couple nights if they don't get soiled.  If they do, they simply get tossed into a basket on the stairs that goes up to the washer/hamper when it gets full.  Easy.  And it looks super fancy if you have guests over for dinner :)  
I also don't use a lot of paper towels in the kitchen.  I use a towel by the sink to dry my hands that gets thrown in the infamous stair basket every morning (and replaced with a fresh towel for the day) or if it gets soiled.  I have several rags under the sink for cleaning up spills that again go straight to the laundry.  We do lots of laundry around here anyways, so the napkins and towels just get tossed right in and I never know the difference.

2. Norwex/Cleaning with Water- Norwex is my new favorite company.  The company's mission is "to improve quality of life by radically reducing the chemicals in personal care and cleaning."  The beauty of it is that you don't have to purchase a lot of "green" cleaning products either!  The microfiber cleaning cloth is their diamond gem.  Their microfiber cloths are woven with a very high thread count (which also makes them super absorbent) containing silver particles, which is a natural anti-microbial.  These cloths are just about ALL I use now for cleaning.  Yes, that's right I clean with water and cloth.  The cloths dry very quickly and because the silver kills the bacteria and microbes they don't smell!!  It cleans windows and mirrors beautifully with no streaks and no ammonia smell.  I keep one cloth in my kitchen that I wipe down counters, table, sink, and baby hands with etc.  Another one in the upstairs bathroom that I use the clean my showers, counter tops, mirrors, and toilets.  And finally a third in the downstairs bathroom that cleans my windows and powder room.  We've been doing this for several months now and LOVE it!  I love that I can clean real quick while Phoebe is there without worrying about her touching some chemical or breathing in some chemical residue.  I use the dry cloths for dusting and they really do capture more dust that my previous methods.  They have made my life and my cleaning routine 10X easier...no joke.

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For the floors I use a steam mop, which I like but now I am really wanting the Norwex mop system since I am so impressed with this company.  I was reading how someone was mopping and had to run back across the floor for something and burned her feet as a result of all the chemicals!!  Ouch!  Do you want your kids eating off those chemicals on the floor?  Wait, what?  You don't let your kids eat off the floor?  Hmm, oh well.

I do still use chemicals in my toilet to clean the bowl.  I haven't found a great alternative; I've heard wonderful things about BioKleen products, but haven't tried any yet.  And I also use Seventh Generation Wipes on the kitchen counter after having out raw meat.  Norwex claims you can wipe up raw chicken guts, rinse, and keep on going, but I haven't gone that far yet.  For normal germs, bacteria, and cleaning it is fine, but raw meat is a whole other ball game... But seriously, you should check out Norwex.  I only have 3 cleaning cloths, but I want a lot more of their products now.  I am sold.

3. Homemade Laundry Detergent- You can read about my homemade laundry detergent here.  It is significantly cheaper than commercial detergents and uses all natural ingredients.  I've been making our laundry detergent for over a year and love it.

4. Use your own grocery bags- This one is not novel folks.  My recommendation is to keep a couple sets of bags in each of your cars so you are never left without.  After you empty them stick them under or with your purse so they make it back out to the car next time you're headed out.  Not only are you saving LOTS of plastic bags, but it is simply easier to bring your groceries into the house and out to the car when you can toss the bag over your shoulder.  You can even find cute ones these days!  I recommend ones that have a wide-base sturdy bottom as well.

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5. Cloth diapers- This might be a stretch for a lot of you and that's ok.  I'll admit that it is certainly not for everyone, but we LOVE our cloth diapers.  (Yes, even my husband loves them.)   I love not purchasing diapers all the time and not throwing them away to pile up in a landfill.  (Plus I really think the chemicals they use in the disposable diapers stink!  I hate the smell of them now.)  Click here to read more about our experiences with cloth diapers.

6. Recycle, recycle, recycle-  Just do it.

7. Compost-  Ok, we started composting last fall after my absolute garden fail.  I have read that compost and good soil are the keys to a successful garden.  I was determined to try again in 2013 armed with  good soil to try to grow sweet potatoes (among other things) that look better than this...

Hence the beginning of my compost pile.  I collect my compostable waste in a small plastic bag lined bowl on my counter.  When we head downstairs to the car go to somewhere I grab the bag and dump it in the compost bin.  We have also added dead leaves from the fall foliage to the compost.  I was going to make my own compost bin from a large tin trash can, but I found this one on Amazon for less money than a whole can I would have to use metal sheers to cut.  Bingo.  I like easy.  The great thing about a compost pile is you just throw stuff in and let nature do its work.  Very minimal time commitment and maintenance.  Here's to the start of a successful 2013 garden...

What tips do you have for "green" living?

Linking up with Shanna,  The Pleated Poppy, and MOHTH