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While I am on the subject of food...

I found a new blog that is my current obsession. www.100daysofrealfood.com is a blog from a mom of two who decided to cut out processed food from her family's diet. In May 2010, she pledged to serve her family nothing but "real food" for 100 days (see her blog for her definitions). Now, two years later, she is still serving almost only real food. I wish that I had the desire and drive to make this happen for my family. For now, I am content with trying to eat better as often as possible. To that end, I tried this chicken recipe from her blog this week, and it was delicious. I used it the first night for soft tacos. Then, I made stock with the bones, and I served her chicken noodle soup the next night. Two great nights of food for less than $15, with very little work in the kitchen!

Spaghetti Squash Recipe

This blog is not really about cooking, but I just felt like I needed to share this recipe with someone! I adapted it from a recipe on allrecipes.com. Basically, I just simplified it a little and adapted it to my family's taste. If you have never had spaghetti squash, it comes out looking like spaghetti (hence the name) but it has a slight crunch to it. By itself, it doesn't have much flavor.

What you need:
1 spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with a little bit of the oil.
2. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and take out the seeds with a spoon.
3. Put the squash, cut sides down, on the cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the skin with a fork. Remove squash from oven and allow to cool until you can handle it. (Use the cooling time to chop your tomatoes, garlic and basil.)
4. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat some oil over medium heat in a pan on the stove. Add the garlic and saute for a couple minutes. Then, add the tomatoes and heat through.
5. While the tomatoes are cooking, take a fork and scrape out the flesh of the squash. Place it in a serving dish.

6. Toss the squash with the tomatoes, basil and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious! It makes a great side dish to just about any meal!

Looking for a rainbow

On Sunday, we went over to Bill and Susan's house to hang out with Doug and Finn and eat an early dinner. We were there right after the hail storm and during the subsequent downpour. When it was over, a neighbor told us there was a beautiful big rainbow outside. After we finished eating, we took the boys out to look for the rainbow. We couldn't find it, but we did find some puddles!

8 month milestones!

Wren had her 8 month "birthday" on Friday, April 13! She is growing so fast, and time is flying by! I really can't believe it has already been 8 months since she was born. Apparently this is a big birthday (at least for Wren.) She had two big milestones within days. On Thursday, April 12, she crawled for the first time! She had been preparing for this for quite some time. She practiced what I called the inchworm for a few weeks, where she would get up on all fours and then flatten to her belly, then back to all fours. This was a very slow method of moving, but she did inch forward. Then on Thursday, she figured out how to move those knees. By an amazing stroke of luck, I caught those first movements on video! This is one reason I am so grateful to be able to work from home and have Wren home with me during this first year of her life!

Wren has also been teething for quite some time. I knew those teeth were ready to come soon, but had no idea when they would arrive. Tuesday, April 17, we went to dinner at Bill's brother's house (Doug and Megan). I had just finished telling Bill's dad that we hadn't seen any signs of teeth yet when Wren looked up at me and grinned really big. There I saw a flash of white. I stuck my finger in her mouth (this is not recommended with a teething infant) and there were, not one, but two teeth on the bottom poking through. I swear they were not there earlier that evening. That night was pretty rough, with several screaming wake-ups, but the days since then have been much better.

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If you give a mouse a cookie...

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Thanks, Traysie, for a great day at SCCT last weekend!