We survived our attempt of having a Meatless May. This wasn't too difficult since we included seafood in our diet. We had several people ask why we were doing it and all I said was "My husband wanted to try it so, I guess I will too." His reasoning was that he wanted to see if he felt different without meat and then when he added meats back in he also wanted to see if he could tell a difference from them too. So, that sums it up. We did allow the kids to eat meat if they wanted. They got to enjoy cold cuts, bacon, sausage and all that yummy goodness.
Now that May is over we are slowly adding good quality meats back into our diets; for example, grass fed beef, DeKalb Farmer's Market chickens, and local pork sausage. What we noticed last month was that we experimented with a lot more foods. Shrimp was probably our favorite since the kids love it, it's very easy to prepare, and is affordable. We should have eaten more fish but I never came across that many recipes with or for fish. Maybe next time we do this I will be ready to venture out a little more and learn how to prepare fish other ways. I know it should be easy but truth is I haven't prepared good quality fish much. We mostly eat grilled or baked salmon, frozen Mahi-Mahi from Whole Foods, and marinated fish from Trader Joe's.
One of my favorite dinners last month was Oysters Rockefeller. I really could eat raw or broiled oysters every week and not get sick of them. Recently I was reading on the Weston Price Foundation about how good they are for you- lots of vitamin B12 and zinc. We were able to find some easy to prepare from The Fresh Market. Next time, I hope to prepare some from a closed shell. We'll see. I've only done this once with my Mom and it was fun but still kind of hard to open if I remember correctly. Sounds like a fun food challenge for this summer!
Playing with Mommy's espresso cup and saucer.
Notice the pinkie placement : )
All smiles!
Her favorites pajamas mixed.
Having fun with our neighbor, Miss Anya.
It's amazing how time flies with little ones. We just celebrated Rachel's birthday last weekend. I will post her birthday party photos sometime this week, but these were just some cute ones I found on the camera. What a sweet little girl. Also, her check-up went well. She's 28 lbs. 68%, 34.8 inches 75%, and head is 18.8 inches 57%.
Enjoying their first ice popsicles!
Notice the matching band-aids? Rachel needed one because Josh had one. So funny!
Congratulations to Lucy Elaine Alphin born two and a half weeks ago and Eliza Abigail Long born one week ago. They are all doing well and we are excited to have some new babies to visit and love on.
We also got to visit with Baby Brooklyn some. Rachel enjoyed helping me feed him : )
One of my favorite things about May and early June is STRAWBERRY season. I have wonderful memories and some cute photos of myself picking at a young age and I'm so thankful the kids are already getting to experience this here in GA! We had the privilege of going twice this year to Washington Farms. The berries were plentiful in mid-May but harder to find towards the end of May. We left with great berries both times so, nothing to complain about. We enjoyed many fresh, in strawberry jam, and in strawberry ice cream. Definitely a tradition I hope to continue every year!
Last year was our first attempt at planting a garden in the ground and before that I only had container plants. Since we moved, we had to start from new again. Jason and I decided we wanted to look into the square foot gardening method so we bought the book, All New Square Foot Gardening, and went from there. I have to give him the credit for reading the book since I just suggested it and planned the vegetables and herbs that would go in it. If you would like to read up on more about this, check out this blog for more details that I won't go into since it's already on his website.
Mixing the soil
Bed #1 with marigolds, dill, cilantro, strawberries, cucumber, peppers,
Bed #2 with marigolds, two types basil, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, and carrot seeds.
Some hearty sage that has lasted three years in the container now! I also have some leftover thyme, oregano, mint, and chives. I was impressed that they all survived the winter and the move. These are some great additions to eggs in the mornings. Can't wait for more goodness to come from the backyard.
