Photo Catch Up~

There are several "Urban Farms" in our neighborhood.

I love buying farm fresh eggs from our neighbors.

It was 99 degrees today! Summer is HERE

and the boys have had plenty of "water fun" already.

Some new items in the shop ready for a (your) new home~

AND, FRIENDS.... There is a giveaway coming later this week!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to Me~

As much as I love to cook, it was so nice to have a day off!

Josh grilled burgers for us and made homemade salsa.

Of course, he had some helpers.

My mother passed away in 1998.

Her favorite flower was a daisy.

Josh always makes sure I have daisies in my

Mother's Day bouquet in addition to my favorite flower, the carnation.

How lucky are we that a shaved ice stand moved in only 2 blocks from the house?????!!!!

Of course, we had to check it out.

Zachary gave the new stand a thumbs up.

Lucas gave it 150 thumbs up.

Josh gave it an "I like it."

(That's 150 thumbs up in Josh talk.)

The stand gave the kids stomach aches.

Happy Mother's Day!

Black Bean and Couscous Salad

Recently we've been trying to eat more healthy, meat free dishes.

By trying, I mean we have talked about it a lot and have only done it once.

This is a great dish that I found on Allrecipes.com and changed up just a bit.

It was really good and super fast to throw together.

We ate it as a main dish but it would be a great side dish as well.

Recipe for Black Bean and Couscous Salad~

1 cup uncooked plain couscous

1 1/4 cup chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make completely meat free)

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lime juice (about 2 juicy limes)

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp cumin

3 Tbsp dried minced onion (You could cut up about 1/2 of a REAL onion. You know I can't stand a REAL onion.... something to do with Grub Worms...)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup frozen corn

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

salt and pepper to taste

Boil broth and add couscous. Remove from heat, stir and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add onion, cilantro, corn and beans. Toss to coat. Fluff couscous with fork and add to mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Yield: 10-12 servings