This Is How I See Summer - Photo Challenge Link Party

I'm taking part in the This is How I See Summer - Photo Challenge Link Party...come see all the great photos and meet some new friends.  Here are three views that say summer in the country to me!

Teaching Stranger Danger

Do you find it hard to talk with your kids about stranger danger?  Do you wonder if they get it or if after years of reminding them they are blowing you off?


Natalie Morales is one of my favorite reporters and she did a special on stranger danger that I watched with my daughter.  By the end of the show, both kids were very somber curled up on my lap (yeah, not easy when she's almost as big as I am!) and I was in tears.  So was Natalie Morales as she asked her son "Why? Why did you get in that ice cream truck?".  Gut-wrenching mommy moment.  You could feel what she was feeling in that moment - she was so sure he knew what to do - and he did - but for a crucial moment the "coolness" factor took over and he put himself in a situation that would have been terrible if it hadn't been staged actors posing as the strangers.  Kudos to Natalie for putting herself out there so we (and our kids) can learn from it.  Here she is talking with Anderson Cooper about what that experience was like for her.


We had an excellent conversation about it and even my son, who I sometimes forget is big enough to understand these things, reviewed the rights and wrongs.  We watched that episode when it first aired and he mentioned it the other day when we were headed to a crowded event and I reminded him that he needed to stay with me "a'cuz there might be bad people who want to take me away from you and daddy and sissy and won't bring me back like on that show what we watched with the kids and you were crying, Momma!"

Polish Pierogi & Sausage

Oh how I wish I could give you the recipe of how to make these!  But I have yet to perfect them.  You see, this is one of those simple but magical foods you have to have the touch to make properly.  Otherwise they taste like paste or rocks...  Real pierogies or pyrohy - or as I have heard it pronounced with a roll of the tongue "ped-o-he" - yes, its one of those things I try not to say in public like Worcestershire...

Will the Drought Alter Your Menu or Grocery Shopping?

The drought stretching across more than half the country has been headlining all over.  Now, the true costs are starting to sink in.  If we don't get substantial rain in the next couple of weeks, the chain of events will continue to steamroll.  Poor crop yield for things like corn affect more than most of us think.

Let's start with how livestock will be effected.  Livestock that typically is feeding on fresh grass this time of year, which costs pretty much nil, are already being fed the generous amount of hay that was put up this spring.  Hay that was being counted on to feed them this winter after the grass stopped growing.

Breakfast Burritos

If there is one thing my family seems to look forward to on the weekend it is a big breakfast.  My husband and I are not big breakfast eaters during the week and the kids usually eat theirs at daycare.  So Sunday mornings are usually a nice homemade breakfast.  

But I don't always feel like putting out a big spread and sometimes I haven't even been to the grocery store yet so one of my favorite fall backs is breakfast burritos. I pretty much always stock eggs, tortillas, shredded cheese so that part is easy. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Good morning!  Lots of good stuff happened over the weekend.  First, my first ever guest post over at Michelle's Tasty Creations.  I tried to make it extra special by doing a multi-recipe, budget-friendly post that I hope appeals to a variety of folks.  I took a single deli roast chicken and showed how you can break it down and make multiple creative but easy meals - would you believe 3 family dinners and 2 work lunches out of one $8 chicken?!  Part 2 posted here yesterday showing the final recipe and how to make a wonderful, low sodium chicken broth that you can continue to use in the rest of the recipe or freeze as it is in 2 cup containers for future use.  I hope you'll check it out!

Secondly, after 3 weeks of attempting to go kayaking and interference from the weather, we finally took the kids on their first kayaking trip - it was a great trip!  The kids both did awesome - Little Man helped me in the two-person kayak and the Princess navigated on her own like a seasoned pro.  Not one fuss or whine or bit of nervousness out of them.  They really loved it and enjoyed seeing the nature along the riverbanks as well.  Besides the usual birds, fish, and turtles, we had a blue heron linger nearby while we got a great closeup view of him and a deer who was unfazed as the Princess tried to paddle up to get a look - she says he was a buck - he disappeared before we got close enough to tell.  Of course, it wouldn't be a trip with us without a bit of a fiasco...

One Roast Chicken - Many Meals - Part #2

Hello friends and welcome back!  If you missed yesterday's guest post over at Michelle's Tasty Creations, please go check it out here.  It will make today's post make a lot more sense, haha!

Making Stock

So, we left off yesterday with your carcass.  Now I've shown you recipes for multiple days but on the carcass, you are still on day one after you've stripped the "good" meat off the bones.

In a large pot, toss in about 1/2 cup of chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks (including the leaves), 1 chopped onion and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Saute until the veggies start to soften and there is nice caramelization (spell-check says this is not a word but Food Network stars use it all the time so I'm going for it).

Another First - A Guest Post!

I am thrilled to be doing my first guest post today over at Michelle's Tasty Creations today!  Be sure to check out my "One Roast Chicken - Multiple Meals" post there for more on how to turn a single $8 deli chicken into 4 tasty but simple meals and then check back here for one more meal you'll get out of that same single chicken! Those of you with a bunch of hungry mouths to feed on a budget will especially love it! And be sure to look around Michelle's site for her awesome recipes and crafts too! Have a great weekend!

Summer Weekend Fun - Neverland Party

Well I don't know about you, but I have had just about enough of this week already...  Not one night all week has been "normal".  But tomorrow I am kissing it all goodbye for the day!  We are so excited to take the kids on their first ever kayaking trip on the beautiful and pristine Muskegon River.  We had planned this trip a few weeks ago but then it was way too hot to have the kids out in the sun where we couldn't escape if they got overheated and then it was supposed to thunderstorm.  So they have been geared up for 3 weeks to go - I'm sure everyone will be bouncing out of bed early in the morning.  

If you are looking for something fun to do on a summer weekend, you might take a look at this awesome "Neverland" party we had for my daughter's birthday a couple years ago.  

An Evening at the County Fair