Our Abodo

The graphic to the left is "My Adobo." I encourage you to go to the website www.myabodo.com and create your own adobo. It will show you how friendly your lifestyle is to the environment and give you suggestions of how you can improve on your carbon footprint! It's fun!

So close

Pictures

Coming soon . . . crawling! She is trying her best and the intent is there. She can scoot both legs forward and backward but just hasn't mastered the arms YET.



Here was the fun of trying to get one decent picture of the two of them:

Ribs

Ribs were on sale this weekend so we decided to try our hand at cooking ribs. In all the years he has been cooking, ribs has never been something JP has tried but we found some good recipes and decided to dive in. We found a HUGE bag of ribs (about 12 lbs) that was simply "Pork Spare Ribs in a bag." When he opened it up he found 2 racks of ribs . . . and then we had to learn how to trim them (thank goodness for the internet). Once we got them trimmed all the recipes that called for 3-4 lbs of ribs made more sense. Here is what we did and they turned out FABULOUS! The recipe is from Emeril Lagasse and can be found on www.foodtv.com. I'll give you the highlights.

Put racks in pot and cover with water, add salt, crab boil (we just used seasoning salt), and 3 bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove and pat dry. Cover with rub:

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne

I also added garlic powder . . . .

Place in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Remove and slather with sauce (recipe below or you could probably use whatever your favorite is) and keep some sauce for dipping later. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. Put back in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours.

When we took them out the meat was just falling off the bone . . . so much that we didn't really get to pick them up and really eat them like a rib, if you know what I mean.

I really liked this recipe because even though there was a lot of work involved, once you get them in the oven, you can sit, hang out, and just wait! No going to the grill every 15 minutes to turn and baste.

Here's the sauce . . .

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo, with adobo sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt


Saute the onions in the olive oil; deglaze with vinegar and lime juice, then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes stirring often.

The Weather

We have been granted a reprieve from the usual Memorial Day weekend heat. By this time of year we are usually well into the 90's and doing everything we can to use the A/C as little as possible (translation: suffering). Amazingly enough the temperature is only 64 degrees right now at 1 in the afternoon. We are on our 3rd day of clouds, rain, and low temperatures. It is great . . . although the humidity is pretty "high." It makes me laugh that I think 49% is high considering I grew up in 100% humidity. Last week we had our first 100 degree day and it went ahead and shot up to 110 so this reprieve is a welcome surprise. Here is our current and weekend forecast!

64°F

Cloudy
Wind: SE at 12 mph
Humidity: 49%

Sat

74°F | 58°F

Sun

83°F | 63°F

Mon

83°F | 63°F

I am very grateful for the pleasant weather. We are going to enjoy a few more days of open windows and cool breezes before having to close everything up for the summer!

I hope your Memorial Day weekend is enjoyable and safe!

Our Anniversary

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. I can not believe it has already been 9 years.

When we were first engaged and married I had many friends ask me, "How do you know he's the one?" And my answer has always been, "I just know." There has never been a moment of doubt or hesitation in that answer since the moment I realized he was the one. It is not something I can explain but just something I feel and know with confidence that we are supposed to be together.

We were married in Louisiana at my grandparents' house on the Bayou. It was an outdoor wedding at 7:30 in the evening and absolutely beautiful. I remember walking out the back door with my Dad and turning the corner to walk down the "aisle" and thinking to myself that it was perfect. My grandmother really out did herself with the gardens and flowers and it was a gorgeous (although humid) night.

It was a big wedding . . . probably over 200 people in attendance; and we each had 7 attendants. Big weddings are pretty normal in the south and we were no exception. We had the band, the bar, the food, the huge cake, and all the trimmings. My parents truly spoiled me but it was their day as much as mine, I think. It was a great night and everyone tells me that had a great time.

I could go on and on with my memories of that night . . . it will be one I will never forget. But better than the memories of that night are the moments we have had since then that have included two births, many milestones, and lots of fun. I am grateful to my nerdy cyclist for opening my eyes to so much more than what I knew from small town Louisiana and for encouraging me to do more, be more, learn more, and see more. I "just know" that I am in love.

Orange Tree

We think this is going to be an orange tree. JP has been taking a seed from every fruit or vegetable we eat and starting seedlings. We're playing roulette with them as he does not label! We'll keep you posted on its growth!

Enjoy!

Bird Poop

He announced that he would be keeping his helmet on "to protect my head from bird poop." He also may be a bit confused on his sports . . . .

Bunk Beds

An exciting thing happened at our house today! The Big Boy Beds have become BUNK BEDS! We are making space in his room to move more of his toys in to prepare for Little Bit to begin crawling. Papa Jay is reading the first book before the first bunk bed sleep (and no gate).

It's Hot Where We Live

So it is already pretty hot where we live and a kid's gotta find shade where he can . . . . He situated the pool (sans H2o) so he could play in the shade!

His shade is dwindling down as Dad used two of the boards today to contain the compost pile.

And for a rare treat we had a cloudy and cool day that probably didn't even reach 80 degrees today AND it actually rained at our house.

Peas!

Little Bit's first foray into real food - peas! It didn't seem to go over too well - this was last night and we'll try again tonight!

My First Blog

Our family is getting into the blogging world and we are excited to share the simple life of a working Mom, nerdy cyclist (and stay-at-home Dad), our two kids (let's call them Ranger and Little Bit), and our garden. Here is a picture of the kids taken today sitting by the garden.


It's Mothers' Day and I couldn't be prouder of being a mom to these two. My special day started at 4:44 am when Little Bit decided she needed her pacifier and I never really went back to sleep. I did get about 5 minutes of quiet reading time around 5:45 am . . . and even got a couple of sips of coffee that my nerdy cyclist brought me before he left for his ride.

Ranger excitedly awoke around 6:45 am and came RUNNING into the kitchen with a card in his outstretched hand. We shared some biscuits and honey (Mom's request) for breakfast and enjoyed a simple Sunday morning.

The big excitement today was our trip to the park and Ranger's first bike ride without training wheels! He did great! Wish I had pictures to share but we forgot the camera . . . .

Thanks for reading and I hope you will return to keep up with the happenings at Our Simple House.