Need a great ebook?

I recently purchased this e-cookbook, written by a girl that I follow on Instagram, and I am loving it!  I have already made the Pad Thai a few times, the chocolate chocolate chip muffins, chipotle tilapia, spicy tuna salad and the super seed loaf.  The recipes are all very clean, all gluten-free, and the author gives suggestions on how to make most of the recipes vegetarian/vegan as well.  I highly recommend it, if you are looking for some easy, healthy ways to perk up your food-life.  Her blog has a lot of really great recipes on it, as well.  Take a peek!

Day 'O Dads

What a great Father's Day we had this year!  Aside from the new tv, that was sort of Brad's gift (that he mostly gave to himself:), we also had lots of time to do some fun family stuff.  Like, the first swimming session of the summer!  I can't believe we didn't go swimming until nearly the end of June!  We are all such fans of the water.  We stinkin' love the Highlands pool, as they have the zero depth entry, so Willa can just run on in and play and we don't have to always be holding her or helping her.  We really need to get that kid some swimming lessons.  Then, we had Chinese food and ice cream cake and watched basketball at my parent's house. 

The day after Father's Day, we went to Omaha to the zoo.  I just love the Omaha Zoo.  I think our favorites this time were the hippos and the monkeys.  But that is only because I didn't find the armadillo.  He will forever be my favorite zoo animal.  We also rode the Skyfari thing for the first time and that was pretty fun.  

This peacock really liked our blueberries.  I am sure there is a rule about  not feeding the animals, and I'm not sure what blueberries do to the digestive system of a peacock, but he seemed very fond of them.  And us.

After the zoo, we made a quick stop at Whole Foods for a few things.  (I could make a whole day out of Whole Foods, but we only had a few minutes.)  Then we had dinner at a new seafood restaurant in the Old Market called Plank.  We were pretty sure we would love it, as we love Blue, seafood, Bloody Mary's, nautical tattoos, and Dave's design work.  We were right!

I love this picture of Willa, but has anyone else seen that episode of King of Queens where someone gives them a painting of themselves and Carrie's arm looks super huge?  That's what Willa's arm reminds me of.

What a nice weekend.  I love to watch Brad and Willa interact and have fun with each other.  They are such buddies.  He's a pretty good buddy to me, too.  And a million thanks to my own dad, for everything that he does for our family.  Not a lot of grandpa's are able to, or even maybe want to, spend as much time with their grandkids as my dad does with Willa.  He also has a friend for life:)

Berry Pickin' (#190)

Willa and I visited Martin's Apple Orchard this past week, to pick some strawberries!  We had gone in the fall for apples, and they were the best apples I had ever tasted, so I had high hopes for the berries.  We were not disappointed!  And, it was so much fun to look for them and pick them all by ourselves!  We filled one of those white buckets nearly full, for under $3.  Can't beat that.  That evening, we made strawberry shortcake for ourselves and for my mom.  Such a perfect summer food.

A night with friends

We've been having book club at some places other than our houses the last few months.  Two months ago we went to the Blue Orchid, which is one of my all-time favorite places to eat.  This month, we visited Deer Springs Winery.  This is now one of my all-time favorite places to be.  It was so pretty and peaceful there.  We went on a Friday evening, and they had some musicians and people making very tasty coal-fired pizzas.  There were small groups of people in lawn chairs, on blankets, having picnics, with their dogs.  It was great.  I am excited to go back.  If anyone needs a good place for a date night, or if anyone wants to date me for an evening, its the perfect place.

PS:  The book we read for the evening, Looking for Alaska, was very good.  I would recommend.  It reminded me of the Catcher in the Rye.

42 inches of heaven (#80. For now)

I really didn't know, until very recently, that I cared about tvs.  At all.  The tv that Brad and I had in our living room, as our main tv (really our only tv, aside from the one in the basement that I use if I'm going to be on the treadmill for more than half an hour), was purchased at the Conestoga Mall, at Sears, back when I worked at Vanity.  We're talkin, 1999.  I got a mall Friends and Family discount.  I think it still cost like $800 or something crazy like that, but when you are selling $39 jeans at 2% commission, you are living large.  It was a beast of a tv and nearly threw out the backs of anyone who ever helped me move.  But it was something of a family member by the time it gave out on us a few months ago.  I was sad.  I also didn't think I cared enough about tv watching to spend much money to replace it.  So, we brought up the treadmill tv, which is the one you see pictured above. It might by 13 inches.  Maybe 18.  I'm not sure because I was too embarrassed to measure it. Watching it sucked and strained our eyes.  As the days wore on, we all became more and more eager to get something new.  So, we made a plan to purchase a new tv sometime during the week before Father's Day, hoping maybe there would be some good sales.  As soon as Sunday rolled around and the sale fliers were distributed, we found ourselves back at Sears.  The circle of life.  This probably won't be the very nicest tv we ever own, but OH MY GOD, we are enjoying it.  And, 42 inches doesn't seem all that big in the store, when it is displayed next to the 70 inchers, but in our living room it seems gigantor.   Love it.

There she is, in all her Bob's Burgers glory.

And here is a chair that I found at Cool and Collected this weekend, that I think I would enjoy watching the new tv from.  Someone buy it for me?!?

#107

That's my blood, in a bag.  I took several pictures, as Willa was super confused about the whole process of donating blood.  She may need to have another conversation with her Auntie brooke about the wonders of platelets and stuff.

Willa's last day of (her first year of) preschool. And, #219.

I am such a good photographer.  Here is Willa, covering most of her face and probably 5 minutes late for her last day of preschool!  She will go to Dimensions again next year, as she will only be 4 and not quite ready for kindergarden.  She was the youngest in her class by several months this year, and her teacher said that at the start of the year, all the other kids kind of wanted to "baby" her, but by the end of the year, they had learned better:)  She had such a good experience this year and is already missing her new friends and excited to return to school in August.  And, she is like, 3 feet taller than she was at the beginning of the year!

Note, if you will, the Popples sleeping bag.  Nice.

That evening, we had a picnic in the yard followed by a movie night/slumber party.  We watched Rise of the Guardians and ate popcorn and Kit Kats until the wee hours of the evening.  I will admit, we didn't actually sleep on the floor.  That would have been insanely uncomfortable.  I could barely move all my bones after laying on the floor for the 2 hour movie.  Oh, the trials of getting old.

Pretty soon, no one will want to eat with me. Or...is gluten a fad like French rolling our jeans?

I am fascinated with learning about food and nutrition.  Its weird.  Its like, the only thing that I enjoy learning. Back when I was in school, I loved learning and reading and studying.  I wasn't all that good at it, but I liked it.  Now?  It takes me months to read a book.  Even if I'm really enjoying it, it takes ages.  UNLESS, it happens to be a book about vegan diets or a cookbook, or a blog about healthy eating.  For some reason, I can read that stuff like crazy and actually retain some of the information.  I think that might be my biggest frustration these days as far as reading/learning goes, is my lack of ability to retain things.  Perfect example, a coworker just tonight was reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  I read that book, within the last 6 months and watched the movie and read the other books in the series and enjoyed them.  But she started asking me questions about it, and I couldn't remember a darn thing outside of the very basic plot.  That's pretty pathetic.  But ask me about spirulina or maca powder or some other weird super food, and I remember stuff!  So, that being said, I decided that maybe I could take my (slight) obsession with learning about food, and use it to combat some of my physical complaints and signs of aging.  I am already a vegetarian.  Actually, I'm a pescetarian, as I do eat seafood, but I don't think that is a very commonly used term.  I have toyed with the idea of being vegan, but I really like seafood and cheese. And eggs are just so darn easy.  I have completely given up cow's milk.  It actually kind of makes me queasy to think about.  At our house we have either almond or coconut milk, whichever happens to be a tad bit cheaper at whichever grocery store I am at.  At coffee shops, its soy.  And actually, soy milk is usually cheaper than the other milk alternatives, but I feel like its a tricky food that I just don't want to overdo.  I have read that soybeans are pretty highly pesticized, so its preferable for the soy milk to be organic.  Then there's also something wacky with soy and estrogen.  So, I just don't really buy it to put on my cereal but it doesn't weird me out to have a little in my coffee every once in a while. I don't buy butter anymore either, but rather the soy-free Earth Balance spread.  You honestly can't tell a difference (except in the price.)  So I guess my main weaknesses are seafood, eggs, and cheese.
If you've known me for very long, like 15 minutes or longer, you probably know that I have digestive issues. I'll try not to go into it, in case you're eating right now, or ever want to eat again, but lets just say that I am not "regular."  I have been known to go for weeks without any "action" or "movement."  For the longest time, I thought this was normal, until I started talking about it.  You really aren't supposed to be bloated and crampy all the time!  Crazy!  You're supposed to poop!  Daily!  You aren't supposed to have to over compensate and give yourself the opposite kinds of problems with laxatives and gross, fake fiber drinks!  I also have issues with seasonal allergies, and low levels of energy.  So, I started doing some research on how my diet could be affecting these issues, and I decided to do a week of eating without gluten and minimal dairy.  BIG SHOCKER...I felt so good that week!  Now, I realize that just the mere act of thinking about every food choice and eating so healthily was probably the main reason, however, I have decided to try to make as many of my meals as possible, gluten-free.  Technically, it IS possible to not eat gluten at all ever.  People with Celiac's Disease have to do it every day of their lives.  It is also very possible to eat a completely gluten-free diet, and still not be eating very well.  If you look hard enough, and are willing to spend enough money, you can get a gluten-free version of any wheaty product that you are craving.  You could live off of muffins and pasta and cookies even on a gluten-free diet.  Just not a very good idea.
So, since I really enjoyed the huge amounts of energy that I experienced in all my little bouts of giving up the (apparently) evil gluten, I'm going to keep it up.  Its not a true allergy, so I certainly will still indulge in a few meals here and there, like veggie burgers or normal pizza or just having dinner cooked by someone else without them having to go through my weird checklist of sensitivities or moral dilemmas.  But I will do so knowing that I am going to wake up a little bit more tired and with a little bit of a headache and a mildly puffy stomach.  Honestly, I think that everyone would experience some level of health benefits by avoiding gluten and dairy.  Its just so inconvenient.  We'll see how it goes for me.  And don't worry, I'll let you know.