Road Trip Food

I LOVE road trips but I absolutely hate the way I feel when I have to eat a bunch of junk on the road! It always tastes so good at the time but leaves me feeling like absolute poo for several days after the fact. On our most recent road trip to Ohio, I decided to pack all of our meals/snacks in order to save money and avoid eating processed junk.

Now those of you who know Jon and I know that we eat a lot... I mean, A LOT. We are not the kind of people who can get by on just a bunch of snacks. We need meat. We need substance.  And I think I successfully provided these things on the trip.

Here's what I packed:

Cooler Items:
Pasta and bean salad
4 cold cooked steaks
Gallon of milk

Homemade Dressing
Greens (portioned into sandwich bags)
Sliced cheddar cheese
Nectarines

Sliced cucumbers in vinegar and spices

Iced Coffee

Non-Cooler Items:
Organic Morning O's (Whole Foods' version of Cheerios)
Triscuits
Raisins
Trail Mix
Cookies
Bottled Water

Plastic Cups
Plastic Forks

Plastic Spoons

For the pasta salad I just combined whole wheat macaroni pasta with cucumbers, green bell pepper, kidney beans, navy beans, onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar and some herbs. We just ate it out of plastic cups with forks. It was really good and also very hearty.

For the cucumbers I just sliced them and placed them in tightly sealed mason jars with peppercorns, salt, apple cider vinegar and some water.

In order to save cooler space I packed the greens in sandwich bags. When we wanted to eat them we just poured on some dressing and ate it directly out of the bag.  I made a simple dressing with raw apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a bay leaf.

Everything else is pretty self-explanatory.  We were able to fit everything into a 48 qt. cooler and a paper grocery bag. It really saved us a lot of time and money on the road, and kept all of us full for the duration of the trip.  We even had leftovers when we got home!  This is the first time we have been able to eat ONLY what I packed for an entire trip, usually we end up hungry and have to buy something along the way.  I will definitely be repeating some of these things for our next road trip!

Kaitlyn Turns One!

My daughter turned one this past Sunday! I really can't believe an entire year has gone by since she was born, especially since I still feel like the labor pains are fresh in my mind.  Hopefully one of these days I will start to forget that, yikes!  Anyway, this past year has been one of the most difficult of my life, but also one of the best and most joyful of my life.  I am so thankful that God brought this little girl into our lives.  Her personality comes out in new ways every day it seems, and she really is such a joy.  Here is a picture of the day she was born:

I can't believe how tiny she was! I remember just being floored by how awesome God is after experiencing childbirth.  It truly is a testament to our Creator. 

Anyway, back to the birthday.  I ended up getting sick and we had to cancel her party but we still had family over for a little celebration. My good friend Kaitlyn (whom I will now refer to as Kpo to avoid any further name confusion) volunteered to make a cake for the party, so she came by with her husband to deliver the cake.  She ended up making a monkey cake that turned out awesome! It was made from all natural ingredients and was free of any artificial food dyes. Everyone thought it was delicious.

She made a little cupcake for Kaitlyn to smash into as well. It took her a few minutes to dig in but once she tasted the icing, she was hooked!

I also got a good shot of her in her high chair eating lunch before her cake, I thought it was pretty funny.

 I might have to start strapping her in a little better.  After lunch and cake we opened some awesome presents from uncles and grandparents including a sandbox and a little chair!

 

She got a pretty cool ladybug book from her uncle Will, my brother.

 

All in all, I would say it was a pretty awesome birthday. Thanks to everyone who contributed! If you live in the area check out Kpo's website, Cypress and Myrtle for more info on her cakes and other goodies.

Gardening!

Spring is finally here and it feels great outside! I love it! I have been working outside a lot lately with this amazing weather and I am getting so pumped about the garden this year.  Last year we started with very high hopes for our first garden, but after Kaitlyn was born things got a little out of hand.  We had a HUGE garden and while we were busy indoors with a newborn, weeds started growing and the once beautiful garden quickly turned in to Jumanji. It was pretty bad.  I won't tarnish the page with a picture.

This year we took a new approach.  After tilling things up we laid down a ton of landscape fabric and pinned it down really well. When my seedlings got big enough I just cut a hole in the fabric and planted them.  I think this will make it a lot easier to maintain. I still weed a little around each individual plant but it is very manageable.

Here is a picture of what it all looks like:

I am pretty proud to say that I started everything from seed this year. I took care of those seedlings like they were my little babies and they turned out pretty awesome. Here are some close-ups of what I have planted.

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Pepper plant (I planted both assorted bell peppers and jalapenos)

Nice lookin' row of radishes

Kale

Zucchini

Squash

A very tiny start to a pomegranate on my tree!

Oregano

Basil and Thyme

Lots of lettuce

Parsley and cilanto

Blackberry bush

Grapevines

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about it. Trying to eat healthy and unprocessed food can get expensive so I am hoping to offset some of our food expenses with the garden.  Plus, nothing beats produce fresh from the garden, it's good to know where your food comes from!