Picture of our new home

I thought I would finally give you a glimpse of our new house.

Here is a picture of our little bungalow

And I love taking care of my beautiful rose bushes

Our first day here, Landon built this rolling gate so that we could let Duvick roam free in the back yard. Our house is the pinker one on the left, our garage is in the back and our neighbor was sweet enough to let us dig on his property to plant our fence. I was so amazed at Landon's really thorough and beautiful job with the fence - I've never seen him build anything before!

Yesterday I planted an herb garden. Not so sure how it will do. It may be too late, but I thought that it would be worth a try - maybe I'll have herbs Aug - Oct. 

We spend most meals outside. Here is Landon making Tandoori Chicken on the grill. It was yummy. I love summertime when my husband turns chef!

Doesn't this look like a wonderful place to be? 

From Scratch

Recent blog posts from some of my favorite blogging ladies at SouleMama and Simple Mom have me thinking about cooking from scratch.

(photo by Darwin Bell)

When we lived in Kenya, much of what I cooked was from scratch and I spent a much longer time in the kitchen than desired. And most of it never tasted very good anyway. But i was a newlywed back then and hadn't spent more than the previous 9 months in the kitchen, which only had consisted of boxed cereal, cold-cut sandwiches, chicken, chicken, and chicken.

In Kenya, we had to drive 45 minutes every other week to Nairobi to get our groceries. The selection got better toward the end of our stay, but I really did cook much from scratch because not only was there a poor selection of what I was accustomed to, but most everything was imported and expensive. I went to our local village market to get produce, which was quite frightening at times due to the village crazy man who hated Americans. I got our meat from the local butcher after a missionary friend of mine went to him and introduced me and threatened him that if he gave me any rotten meat that she would tell all of her friends that he was a schemer. But just stepping inside of his hut made me want to vomit with the stench of not-so-fresh raw meat in the sun. I walked up the hill to a pastor who raised chickens and bought some chickens from him. He even let me choose the one I wanted and he taught me how to catch, kill and pluck them. We didn't eat much chicken that year.

I enjoy cooking a lot more now that I'm a bit more seasoned and acquiring the fresh ingredients is a little less daunting. I would like to cook more from scratch. I like the idea of making things cheaper and more nutritious and fresh for Mr. McB and I. We try to be conscious of what is in our food and where it came from.

I think I want to have some from-scratch recipes in mind when I go to the farmer's market this Friday.

I know some of you ladies are masters at this kind of living. Please tell me some staples that you make from scratch that you think is worth it. I was thinking spaghetti sauce, chicken broth and bread so far....

Quinoa Taco Salad

In the last two weeks I have made this recipe twice. It is a real winner. We enjoy it so much every time!

Here are some wonderful things about it:

• It is super healthy, vegetarian, low-carb
• Since it is served chilled, I can make it in the morning or the night before and then just toss it over the leaves
• It is just as good as left-overs
• It can easily be altered to your personal taste - we will add tomatillo and jalapeno next time

Quinoa Taco Salad

by Katie Goodman of goodLife{eats}

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• half a red bell pepper, chopped
• half a green bell pepper, chopped
• half a yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1-2 teaspoons chili powder, depending heat preferences
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1 -15 ounce can black beans, drained
• 3/4 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 2 limes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6-8 ounces baby spinach
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1/3 cup cheddar or feta cheese
• 1 avocado, diced

Instructions:

Cook the quinoa according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, swirl a bit of olive oil in a saute pan. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, until translucent and tender. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne and peppers and saute an additional 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in the black beans, tomatoes, and the juice of 1 lime. Stir in quinoa. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill.

Roughly cut baby spinach into strips like you would shred iceberg lettuce for tacos. Remove about 1 cup of cilantro leaves from the bunch, rinse and pat dry, and toss with the spinach. Divide spinach and cilantro mixture evenly among 4 salad plates. Top each plate with a scoop of the quinoa salad. Top each salad with your choice of cheese and diced avocado. Cut the remaining lime into slices to garnish the plates.

I obviously cut and pasted these instructions from Katie's blog. You should go there - she has a lot of great recipes (liked up top).

I was talking to Anna on the phone yesterday about this recipe and she mentioned the expense of Quinoa. It is expensive. However, if you know someone with a Costco membership (thanks mom!), then you can get a humungo bag of it for the same price as a tiny box of it from the healthy food isle in your grocery store. And it is a very healthy substitute to rice and other carb-ey fillers -something that maybe should be a staple in your kitchen anyway.

Buyer Beware!!!

I like to go to the dentist about every 6 months. But I've been out of insurance for the last 14 months. At my last appointment, the dentist filled a few cavaties and I got a good cleaning. She also filed between my bottom teeth for easier flossing and instructed me that I should be flossing and rinsing every day. So I do.

Within the next few months, I began to get severe discoloration between my teeth. I mean, BROWN stuff. And i floss and rinse daily. How disheartening. I assumed it was because my dentist did a little filing between the teeth, which really ticked me off - I was thinking it was a business ploy to get me to get my teeth whitened at my next visit (which i've never had)- argh!

Today, I was making a grocery list for Landon and went online to look up the name of the mouthwash that I like: Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash. There is no alcohol in this stuff and they claim that your mouth feels just as fresh in the morning. So there is no burning feeling while rinsing and my mouth DOES feel fresh after sleeping - amazing!!! I came across this website today: The Consumerist.

This site has many many many people claiming that this mouthwash left brown-ies between their teeth as well. Yikes! I'm relieved that I read this site. Scratching this mouthwash off my list. Any of you recommend a mouthwash that you love?

Tomorrow (Monday) I have my second interview with the Ouelessebougou Alliance in Salt Lake City. Of the over 80 jobs that I have applied for in the last 6 months, this one I have been the most excited about. When i read the job description, I was so into this job that I immediately read their entire website (and looove their organization!) and sent in my application immediately. I have been very excited and honored that they have called me in for a second interview.

Please continue to pray for me during this job search!! I have really appreciated y'alls support through this.

...They are precious in his sight...

Landon told me that I better start posting more than once a week or all of you wonderful friends will stop reading my blog. That makes sense. But it doesn't change the fact that I don't have anything to write about.

This week I got to meet two friends' babies. I love to meet babies. I have personally prayed for for these precious children when they were being formed in their mommy's bellies, and one of them even before conception. Our friends' seemingly endless prayers through years of infertility have been answered with this precious baby girl!

I am so grateful for the children in my life. Children are each miracles, each a little picture of God - before culture and tragedy and disappointment corrupt them into beautiful, vain, opinionated, well-meaning adults. Of course they are not little gods nor are they perfect. We see our selfish natures in our children as well, don't we? But when I look around me and see a plummeting global economy, corrupt governments, violence, poverty, disease and hopeless in our world - when I wonder why God allows us to continue on like this - I see these children and I am hopeful. Each new child is a chance at a better humanity, a better world.

Home "Sweet" Home - Sugar House

Last week we moved to Sugar House.

Our little bungalow is pretty cute. We have roses, a 2 car garage, and a double bed in the basement (for you!). Built in 1918, our tiny house is full of the charm and quirks that an almost-century-old home can boast.

Although, the most exciting thing about our new place is the location. We are so very close to Landon's school, and a straight shot up the canyons to rock climbing, hiking, backpacking and skiing.

Starbucks is within walking distance from my house. Except now that we are in Salt Lake City, there are many more local places to choose from. I have been trying to do most of my consumption at local places, and I love it. Landon and I went to Sugar House Coffee Thursday night. We got there around 10:45 at night and the place was still bustling, as well as the streets and the pub next door. I have loved being in a culture full of young people and active people out and about thoughout the day and into the night. It reminds me of college, actually. I am hoping that we will be able to get involved in this community easier. I am very excited for the farmer's market which starts this week!

We still are surrounded by boxes, and although we are sleeping like rocks, we have found our bodies aching and tired for many days.

On that note, a guy took the liberty of guessing my age the other day. and guessed wrong. maybe my body acts/looks older than it actually is.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I'm very excited about this:

Moving

I've done the math.

The summer after I turned 18 my entire family put my stuff in my little purple Subaru and Mom and Dad's Ford Windstar and we all drove across the Nevada desert to Los Angeles for my freshman year of college. They helped me get my dorm room situated. Dad even put my bed on a loft - he built it - and my dorm room smelled like saw dust for my first semester. I loved that. Then they left. That was my first move.

My freshman year at APU was wonderful, except the the dirty, fast paced, materialistic Southern California culture. That was tough to deal with my first year on my own. But I loved studying music at APU. I love my friends, my classes, my teachers... But I didn't go back. I had left my things in a storage container out there and Dad and Janelle actually drove back to California to pick up my things while I was working that summer. Can you believe that? I'm still not sure how that all happened. Then I moved an hour south of my home town to Colorado Springs for the remainder of my college years. That was my second move.

And each summer in Colorado Springs I moved my things to a new living situation. Sophomore year I lived alone in an apartment to myself. Junior year I lived in a beautiful big house (we called it "the castle") with some great friends (third move). Senior year I lived in an apartment with my husband (fourth move).

Then we moved to Kenya. We put our stuff in "storage" (my old bedroom at Mom and Dad's house - VERY generous of them!) that year up in Littleton (fifth move).

The next summer we moved back to Colorado Springs into the same apartment building that we had lived in as newly weds. We only had a 9 month lease (sixth move).

Then we moved to Illinois for grad school (seventh move). We got to stay at Trinity for two years. Which was amazing. It was my first summer that I hadn't packed up all of my belongings to relocate. I was antsy and confused. Ha!

Last summer we came out to Utah for Landon's PhD (eighth move - which we did in two stages - putting our stuff in storage for 2 months).

And now that summer has rolled around again, we are relocating 30 minutes south in Salt Lake City (ninth move). I am relieved that we are doing a local move. It has been a very long while since I have been able leave my clothes on the hangers, put our perishables into a cooler instead of the trash can, and toss them into the back of the car and unpack the same day.

I would love to claim our new little house for the next four years through the remainder of Landon's PhD. But I fear we may outgrow it if procreation is ever on the agenda.

By the way - this is my 500th post on this blog!!!! yay!!! it only took me 3 years to to get here. Thank you for reading, friends! Wow - I am amazed that you have the desire and ability to endure me for 500 blog posts. cheers!

Savoring Kaysville Evenings

(all pictures are of the mountains behind our house from our back porch)

I've never lived somewhere with days as long as these. In Utah we are farther west than anywhere else I've ever lived in the Mountain Standard Time zone. So after the sun goes down behind the Rocky Mountains for my Front Range friends and family, it is still shining on us. And the Rocky Mountains are east of us, so we get to watch the sun travel all the way to the bottom of a flat horizon (for us - the Great Salt Lake). So Landon and I have been enjoying our evenings outside in our back yard lately, watching the sunset, and enjoying the twilight until about...9:30. Wow.

We are moving on Tuesday. So I am trying to savor the remainder of our days with our big yard and mountain views. Where we are moving we will be squished between other little bungalows, unable to see the mountains from our back porch or windows. Although we will be much closer to the mountains and much closer to school -  so we are so very excited! I just know that the peace and joy of catching a glance at my favorite beasts whenever I pass through a room with Eastern facing windows won't be in my every day. Not at home. But i'm hoping to get out of the house anyway and find a job in the city.

Yes, my friends, things here are surely changing...