It’s a weekend Gratituesday. Why not?
![gratituesday[2]](https://heavenlyhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gratituesday2.png)
Tuesdays have been passing right along without a moment for me to post something especially Gratituesday-ish. Therefore, I decided to take the time this weekend to share some highlights from our week that I am grateful for.
(I’m pretty sure the grammatically correct way for me to say that would have been, “highlights for which I am grateful.” But really. Who talks like that? And anyway, at least I didn’t say ain’t or say something like I am more grateful then you know. It’s than. More grateful THAN you know. That one really gets me. Not that any of this matters when we are focused on that for which we are grateful.)
So where shall we begin?
One of the biggest highlights of our week was that we received a surprise visit from my cousin and his family. Their kids are similar in age to our older kids and we rarely get to see them. While traveling, they drove an extra few hours out of their way to see us on Wednesday/Thursday. We grilled chicken and had a feast, followed by Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits.
All the kids and the dads spent hours in our yard playing soccer. It was awesome. We moms cheered and swatted mosquitoes on the side line. I love this picture:
After we sent them off the next day, Asa and I drove three hours to watch his girl compete in the Miss Nebraska pageant. Here she is singing for the talent competition. I teared up as she sang The Revelation Song – proclaiming her faith right there on stage, “Holy, holy, holy…is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
Tonight (Saturday) is the final competition. I’ll update as soon as I hear the results.
UPDATE: She didn’t win Miss Nebraska. We are so proud of her for her hard work and commitment to staying true to her values and faith during this. Now she can breathe and enjoy her summer counseling at church camps!
Asa and I drove all the way home that night, doing whatever we had to do to keep ourselves awake and safe until we got back at 1:30 am. It was so worth the drive. When we walked into the house, what would be the first thing I saw? This. On my countertop.
A margarine tub? Who would dare bring such a thing into my home?! Funny that at first I didn’t even notice the Dr. Pepper and Doritos, etc – just the margarine. Turns out, the tub was full of popcorn. That, along with everything else, was the result of Matt having guys over to play games while we were gone. They left their snacks behind. The next day, I had a few Doritos. As opposed as I am to margarine, I choose to ignore the label on the bag of cheesy nacho chips. It makes no sense.
But back to our week and the real food and blessings that came with it. I attempted to make a healthy version of the Chocolate Lasagna recipe I’ve seen floating around. I thought it would be a perfect Low Sugar Treat to add to our collection here. Yeah. Tasty though it was, my version turned out anything but picture worthy. And yet, here I am, showing you a picture anyway. I don’t know why.
My grocery store run this week looked like the following. As you can see, we cannot get enough fresh strawberries. Our family has gone through almost all 10 pounds I bought this week. Bet you’re wondering what that Feta cheese is for, right? Right. That’s for my other addiction: BLT Factory Chopped Salad.
It was a Bountiful Basket week too, so we are set on groceries for a while – especially since our older boys are headed to camp Sunday. (Also, much of what is pictured above and below has been eaten already.)
Hey, what does a person do with Endive, pray tell? That’s a new one to me.
This week it’ll be just three of us at home with all the teenage boys at Soul Quest (on the York College campus). Matt, Malachi, and I will head to campus each evening to worship – a huge perk to living right here where this awesome camp takes place. It is a highlight of our year, for sure!
So now – your turn! What are you thankful for? It’s Gratituesday over the weekend, after all.
Add the endive to any salad you make or if you are feeling adventurous there is a braised endive recipe at http://www.asquirrelinthekitchen.com. We just had the chocolate lasagna at a party and it did not look pretty but tasted wonderful.
I got my basket today too. What is your recommendation for bok choi?
I chopped it all up (leaves and all) and threw it into stir-fry. :) https://heavenlyhomemakers.com/easy-noodle-stir-fry-2
Grill the endive. brush with a little olive oil. It is delicious. Romaine is another one that’s great grilled–you’d probably like your BLT salad with romaine grilled. VERY lightly grilled.
Separate the leaves from the endive, wash and dry, and then fill each leaf with a dollop of your favorite cream cheese dip. The endive is sturdy enough to hold the dip, and makes a really classy crudite.
My Italian Grandfather in-law (bis-nonno to my daughter) likes it plain with just a rub of salt after he’s finished a meal. I think its slightly bitter so maybe its like a palate cleanser. I don’t think anyone would complain if it became duck or turtle food – its what we do around here with the parts of the lettuce we dont use lol.
I love endives with lettuce, sliced pear and balsamic vinaigrette. Or a dip for guacamole when you run out of doritos!
I am so glad u asked about the endive. I got (bad grammar) my basket too and wondered as well. I was going to look on Food Network.com but now I won’t have to. Thank u everyone for the good ideas.
Endive. Yum!! Shred it, add chopped walnuts, crumbled blue cheese ( or feta, diced cheddar, pick your poison ;-)) , diced apples, and finish with evoo, champagne vinegar, salt and pepper. Herbs de provence can also be added to kick it up a bit. Delish! Also fill endive leaves with smoked salmon, tuna salad, any tasty filling you like for a healthy cracker alternative. Looks fancy, too !!
I am thankful for having a contract on my for-sale house after 7 months (God’s timing…trusting, trusting, trusting). I’m thankful for the fair inspection and reasonable negotiations that followed. I’m thankful God brought USBA buyer willing to pay enough for the house to cover those repairs instead of us paying out of pocket to sell our home. :)
I’m also thankful that I’ve found a good health food store in my new area which carries bulk dried herbs and NuNaturals liquid stevia (!!!!) so that I can finally try out some of these low sugar recipes. Oh…and for Costco opening in our area at last!! Lots of great access to reasonably priced freggies!!!
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/12/endives-with-oranges-and-almonds/
My sisters made this for a celebration. So good!
Thanks for sharing pictures from your week! I especially love the pictures of your vegetables. We had some bad news from our doctor a couple weeks ago and had to start eating A LOT more vegetables. I am trying to figure out kid-friendly ways of consuming more vegetables each day. I remembered your previous posts and have been slowly showing them to my family to introduce the idea of eating fruits and veggies ALL THE TIME. And enjoying it! We are slowly starting to make changes. You can tell your boys that they will probably have to have a nasty visit to the urologist because they are eating so much so healthy food.