our "living" kitchen countertop lab

:: among other things GOOD things are always growing in our "living" kitchen countertop lab ::

sprouted sweet potatoes kitchen lab project. going into the garden soil soon.

sprouted beet kitchen lab project for the garden soil soon also.

soaking cranberry beans. headed to the crock pot soon.

3's new friend Crickety lives in the lab in his travel habitat. he's a great travel companion, but a quiet & boring study so far.

dear Mr. Crickety. notice he's missing a leg...that's how she decided he was special enough to spare feeding to her tree frogs.  

a betta...always the "living" kitchen counter lab staple.

this little clipping is from my neighbors plant. it is growing fresh (strong) white roots.   always so exciting when these plant clipping experiments start in our kitchen counter lab, actually grow & flourish as a beautiful new plant.

look hard. can you spot the fresh & exciting new white root?

not shown, among other things, were the dirt-in-a-cup (for some reason) experiment, art projects in progress, the delish fresh veggie Mexican pizza fixings we havent cleaned yet, OR my ever present sorting pile. 

BUT hopefully now you do see that the stuff on our kitchen counter is not ALL just clutter. some are actually  very necessary & important scientific experimentations!!! riiiight!

what we wore wed & no spend week

i haven't yet done a "What I Wore Wednesday" linky post & wasn't planning to ever. but the girls saw someone elses post this morning & thought since we were dressed to go out it would be fun to share. so maybe just this once. my NO SPEND WEEK update is below. it's getting hard y'all.

::WHAT WE WORE WEDNESDAY::

i have to state again YES they do dress themselves, YES we go out in public this way & YES im ok with it!

1

2

3

had to get the skirt

mama  *the FAB necklace im wearing was made by 2. shown again below*

i've really been wanting yellow shoes. i LOVE these & luckily i found them days BEFORE NO SPEND WEEK! they need some embellishing i think. hmmm...

 the FAB necklacemade by 2. one of the peices of jewelry she

finger knitted for me. i added the vintage flower pin & wear it any chance i get...so CUTE! she loves making pretty things.

NO SPEND WEEK

• we saw one of our faves Hotel For Dogs at the weekly Edward's Cinema Summer Free Movies (FREE)
• as always we brought our own snacks (FREE)
• after the movie we went to Barnes & Noble & BROWSED for about a hour & a half. which was actually fun. (although i wrote down some titles & found them cheaper on line...on my shopping list to be purchased AFTER NO SPEND WEEK! still FREE)
• for lunch we passed up the B&N coffee shop & the Farmer's Market. drove ALL the way home for left over sloppy joes & fresh pot of coffee (FREE)
• decided id rather a cappucino...yet needed a milk frother. since it's no spend week i couldn't purchase one. tried to froth my own milk in a skillet with a whisk. NO BUENO...added coffee frother to my shopping list. (FREE)
• for dinner i realized we only have half a gallon of milk & 6 eggs left. we are not close enough to the end of NO SPEND WEEK so i started to ration. wont even tell what we ate,  but oh a neighbor did give us all a FREE slice of watermelon. put eggs & milk on my shopping list. (FREE)
• the girls are doing fantastic with the challenge surprisingly. mama is the one struggling not to spend. 3 has become quite the NO SPEND WEEK enforcer! & good thing because i need the reminder everytime i say "i NEED..."  & i still have 4 long hard days left. i need to stay strong & focused. game face on. i can do this!

fresh & easy pasta salad

caprese salad over angel hair pasta

after stomach yucks...yesterday was the first day i felt a little like cooking dinner. and i do mean a little. the girls & had walked over to a neighbors who gave us fresh from the vine tomatoes, cukes & peaches. (score for NO SPEND WEEK)  i remembered this quick dish. caprese salad over angel hair pasta. 1 brought some basil & oregano in from my garden. i added the diced tomatoes, cukes, fresh garlic, etxra olive oil (for the noodles), fresh mozz balls, red pepper flakes, s&p, & a squeeze of lemon juice. so fast & fresh. 

popsicles...FINALLY!

mixed berry & yogurt pops

blood orange & strawberry pops

our BPA free Tovolo molds FINALLY came in the mail. just in time for the warm sun to come out.

Mixed Berry & Yogurt Pops 

we tried mixed berry & yogurt pops sweetened with agave nectar & a dash of vanilla

Blood Orange & Strawberry Pops

we juiced a ton of super ripe blood oranges from our grove. froze some for juice & some we blended with...

strawberries, agave nectar & a dash of vanilla

{just wanted to show off her freckles. i LOVE freckles!}

makes a FAB lipgloss

Friday Flowers :: yellow fennel & red roses

Friday Flowers

yellow fennel & red roses

pretty pretties from my yard.

*sadly i just got started & this is the last Friday Flowers linky post hosted by Renee. but i love pretty flowers...so i may just keep sharing my own (not linking up though).

NO SPEND MONTH (ok week), my secret love & summer math

i COMPLETELY forgot i was going to start the NO SPEND MONTH challenge in August. which may i point of is different from NO SHOPPING WEEK.  this means preparing :: no buying gas, groceries, take out, NOTHING! i have no clue why i picked August to try it, it is the worse month for me. this is the month for setting up & organizing our classroom. i have to confess, aside from loving to shop, im a total school supply junkie. i look forward to the month of August's back-school-sales the entire year.
 i love fresh boxes of crayons, new pens & pencils, don't get me started on my love for paper. i cant resist this months deals :: glue 20 cents, crayon boxes 20 cents, yesterday was buy a box of coloring pencils for 50cents get a 24 box of crayons free, folders 10 cents, that's just the start. i also buy extras to donate to teacher friends or the school of our choice.

my secret love & summer math

{before}

stash from last year

{i made this quick chart up, had to add another column last minute}

math :: tally

{after}

 new stash

math :: tally

1 decided to tally all the info on a bar graph

 (not as much as usual, trying to cut back)

to be realistic, i know myself & i know a whole no spend month would be totally impossible for this mama. i got stocked up on groceries & other thing so im going to try a NO SPEND WEEK next week. still challenging enough.  REMIND ME!!!!

Beverly Hills in our own backyard

we have 2 apple trees in our grove that we've been trying to identify. they blossom beautifully in the spring & produce fruit in summer & early fall. we consider these off season apples a treat since they are ripe when our faves (Honey Crisp & Fuji's) are not. giving us fresh apples year round.

in previous years the ants & birds have gotten to the cute little baby apples before we do & before they grow to size. this year they produced very well & we have been able to enjoy them. i find it such a treat to go out into our own backyard & pick something we've grown ourselves to eat.

we think these sweet & tart beauties are Beverly Hills apples

 i was so excited to happen upon this recipe book a few months ago. even though it isn't Autumn, these recipes are perfect timing for our off season apples

one of our faves :: sauteed apples. we topped english muffins with them & finished with a little whip puff

apples with bee butter (pb & honey) & raisins

we made our own strawberry applesauce w/ agave nectar. FAB!

so far the apples have been  good in sweet potato, apple & walnut muffins, topping pancakes & waffles, apple walnut bread & or just fresh out the basket .we wanted to try more recipes & can fresh batches of the versatile apple sauce, but these delicious apples don't seem to last long enough.