Cool

It has been so unseasonably cool here this June! My boys are begging for sprinkler time and popsicles and then, can't even enjoy them without shivering. I know the ultra hot days of summer are just around the corner, and I'll be plenty tired of them by the time August arrives, but for now, we are yearning to play in a swimming pool... Remind me later that I was begging for the warm weather. In the meantime, the popsicles are waiting in the freezer!

Happy June,
Aimee
www.tetonvalleyranch.com

Green Envy

Both my grandfathers were avid gardners. I'm not talking a few plants to keep up with, I'm talking about row after tilled row of perfectly spaced vegetables. I didn't understand the passion for growing things when I was a kid, but I still helped out from time to time. And of course, I enjoyed the fresh vegetables every summer- you just can't beat a garden fresh tomato with a little salt and pepper.

A couple of years after we were married, hubby and I tried our hand at gardening. We built an above-ground bed and crammed as many different kinds of vegetables in it as we could think of. My grandfathers just laughed at how much we put into such a small plot...

But our little garden grew. And no one was laughing at our harvest. A pretty good return for such a small spot. I loved it. It was so exciting to cultivate- and to harvest- and to send pictures back home bragging about what we were able to grow in our amateur garden.

It's been a few years since we've grown anything around here- apart from a few pretty flowers- we've just been busy raising boys. I have several friends who have beautiful "square foot gardens" and I'm so envious. I really want to have some green growing around here again, so we're ready to try again. This time, though, we're trying container gardens. We don't have the space to put anything in the ground, and we may be moving, so this keeps our garden mobile! We'll see how it goes... but honestly, I'd be happy with just one garden fresh tomato- I have my salt and pepper ready!

Happy Summer,

Aimee
www.tetonvalleyranch.com

Meal Plan- with all those new recipes!

I finally have a chance to post our meal plan while my mom was here. We had a great visit and it was fun to try out some new recipes. I can't believe May is over- bring on summer!Monday- grilled hamburgers and baked potato quicksides (This was my mom's first time to try the quicksides and she really liked them. They're so easy!)

Tuesday- pork chops with avocado salsa and mexican rice (So zesty and delicious!)

Wednesday- parmesan chicken (with fresh greens and lemon vinaigrette) and spaghetti (Love the fresh greens with the chicken- a nice combination)

Thursday- fusilli with sausage, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes (This is a dish a friend introduced me to a couple of years ago and is a family favorite)

Friday- wild mushroom and vegetable gnocchi (We weren't a fan of this dish- we ate it, but no one enjoyed it. We won't be making it again!)

Saturday- chicken and sausage gumbo with french bread (My mom's specialty...always yummy!)

Sunday- grilled cheese sandwiches! (We needed a break after being in the kitchen all week!)

Now that our home life is settling down a bit, I'm going to try to get a container garden going. I think the kids will enjoy watching things grow- and hopefully it will "grow" a fondness for eating vegetables, too.

Let me know if you try any of these recipes- and what you think!

Happy Summer,

Aimee

http://www.tetonvalleyranch.com/

Trying out some new meals...

I'm back! I had a great trip visiting my brother and sister-in-law and my new (oh so kissable) nephew. My hubby and kids did just fine without me; I knew they would. They even went on a camping trip while I was away! And I came home to a clean car, a clean house, and all the laundry done- thanks, hon!

My mom is visiting this week and as usual, she came loaded with recent magazines that tout new recipes. So, we have a fun meal plan this week! Last night we tried these pork chops with avocado salsa...Delicious!

I'm also in the process of setting up several of my recipes on allrecipes.com and tastyplanner.com .... should be a nice way to stay organized and share meal ideas!

More to come soon,

Aimee

www.tetonvalleyranch.com

Packing up... and making sure the family is ready!

Tomorrow I get to fly to Texas (all by myself!) to meet my new nephew. He's a precious five weeks old and I cannot wait to hug and cuddle that baby boy.

In the meantime, since Mommy will be gone for almost five days, I need to leave my boys (Daddy included) with a home that is sane. So today was laundry day. Yes, I'm leaving the house with every once of laundry done. I'm sure I'll come home to a huge mound of it, but that's ok- I should have some work to do after having a nice break!

I also made a list of all the meal options that are ready in the freezer...

• Lasagna- made some last week and doubled the recipe, so there's a pan in the freezer!
• Orange chicken and rice- a quick meal, thanks to Costco
• Pizza- crust, sauce, and all the fixins are in the freezer
• Sloppy joes- made a double batch of the meat and froze half earlier in the week; Dad just needs to pair it with quickside potatoes, and dinner is done!

Of course, my hubby always does a great job taking care of the kids, even if I don't have freezer meals ready, but maybe this will make it easier. However, if he takes the boys camping like he says he is, I'll have several easy meals for when I get back home!

I'm going to miss my little family, but eager for this mini-vacation... now on to packing!

See you next week,

Aimee

www.tetonvalleyranch.com

Creative Ways to Include Veggies

So here are a few suggestions I've recently read about to help get more vegetables in my children's diets...

• Make vegetables interesting by serving them shredded or julienned. Mix shredded carrots into applesauce for young children, or put them on a peanut butter sandwich - with or without raisins - for older kids.


• Start a vegetable garden so that kids can eat the veggies they grow! We'll be trying this with container gardening soon...
  
• Add pureed vegetables into soups, spaghetti sauce, and casseroles. You'll get extra vegetable servings in their diet, and they won't even know!


• In order to cool down soups that are too hot for young ones, add frozen mixed veggies. They will begin to think of veggies as a way of making their food ready to eat quickly!


• A child may need to be exposed to a certain food 10-15 times before he'll actually eat it. Continue to offer a variety of vegetables even if your child refuses to eat them.

Hang in there!

Aimee

www.tetonvalleyranch.com

Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we made these Mexican Bean Bracelets . It was a fun, easy project; I used some of my old Creative Memories scrapbook supplies as added decoration.

For tonight's meal, we're having Mexican, of course. Well, not authentic, but tacos at least- a really easy meal! And to try to interest my kids in expanding their tolerance for vegetables, I'm going to mix together black beans and corn. They really love beans, but aren't fans of corn- hopefully by combining the two they'll be more open to it. After dinner, hubby and I'll enjoy a margarita in honor of Mexican independence!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Aimee

www.tetonvalleyranch.com