Garage Sales and the Farmer's Market = Saturday Fun!

As many of you can relate, life gets very busy very quickly, so it was really nice to have a somewhat lazy weekend this past weekend. I say somewhat because we still managed to pack in a bunch, but it was all on our own terms. :)

Saturday morning I was introduced to the world of garage sale shopping by my friend Jana. She and her mom are pros and I thought it would be fun to tag along. Jana and her 3 year old daughter Ella picked me up at 8:30 am and we were off. I get a little embarrassed with the whole negotiating thing, but Jana let me know if things were a good price. I actually scored a couple of things for Cade. I picked up a jumper that attaches to the door jam in the house and a Leap Frog activity table all for $10 and in great condition! I just might have to give it a try again soon.

When we had our fill (Ella made out better than all of us - 3 fun toys for $3!) we met our husbands and Cade at the Farmer's market in Oak Park. Eric and I selected some great looking fruits and vegetables. We decided to give making our own salsa a try and it was really yummy. There is a little tweaking to do to the recipe. Once I have perfected it I will post it for others to try. Saturday night we decided to make some fillets for dinner. A yummy treat for both of us since Eric was able to "grill something" and I was able to cook up some of our fresh produce. We both love being in the kitchen together so it was a perfect Saturday night. I made a very simple, but yummy butter (lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh parsley and butter of course) to go on top of the fillets - Ruth's Chris has nothing on me!
Monday night I threw together a quick pasta using more of the produce from the Farmer's market. I have been wanting to find some filling and yummy vegetarian meals just to mix it up a bit. It is really simple, but tasted refreshing and healthy.

Veggie Pasta

1 zucchini, chopped

1 winter squash, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can diced garlic and basil tomatoes (you can of course use fresh tomatoes, but I had used most of them in the salsa and had to improvise. They tasted yummy and helped to make more of a sauce because of their consistency)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

2 Tbsp. basil, fresh and chopped

Pasta noodles - I made rice noodles for myself. Give them a try if you want a gluten-free meal.

Saute the zucchini, winter squash and garlic just past al dente. Add diced tomatoes and saute until heated through. Serve veggie mixture on top of pasta. Top pasta with shredded Parmesan and fresh basil and enjoy!

This week has been fun trying to figure out what veggies to use in our meals. The fruit has been great too. We have enjoyed Asian pears and super sweet strawberries. I can't wait to visit the Farmer's market again this weekend!

Oh and just for fun here are some pictures of Cade in his Bumbo seat. Our sweet boy is 4 months old and getting so big. He is rolling over from his tummy to his back and "talking" up a storm!

March Recap... In APRIL!

So apparently March flew by and I neglected the blog once again. A lot happened in March and wow now we are half way through April. In March you saw that we celebrated 2 beautiful years of marriage. Eric's sister had her first baby, Benjamin Robert on March 11, Cade turned 3 months on March 16, and well I turned another year older on March 27! Lot's of celebrating. Just days after Cade turned 3 months we took our first "official" family photos. As you can see Cade is quickly growing out of the Tonka truck. Won't be long before he is sitting beside it and then pushing it along.
Beautiful baby boy :)
Our baby boy is such a JOY! He is making all kinds of noises, laughing and cooing. His smile actually spreads across his face as he recognizes friendly faces. It is just the sweetest thing. My favorite smiles are the ones he has for his daddy. They are so precious and he just LOVES his daddy. He even has some of the same manerisms as Eric. It is so much fun for me to watch. I fall more and more in love with my boys every day. God is good!

My munchie and me celebrating my birthday!

For my birthday we did a low key celebration with family and friends at a yummy restaurant at the Glendale Americana. Frida is Mexican cusine with a fun atmosphere and amazing corn tortillas! Because I have a gluten allergy I couldn't eat the chips (fried in the same fryer as some of their flour tortilla dishes), so the waiter brought me my own basket of corn tortillas to munch on before the meal. I'd go back just for the tortillas, but my tacos we wonderful too!

Wonderful friends

Life is finally starting to make a little sense again as we get more sleep (although last night he had me up all night!) and figure out how to get out of the house to be apart of the world. I am always amazed at how much my friends can accomplish in a day. They keep me motivated and aspiring to be more creative and explore being a stay-at-home mom.