And... We have a fence!

We've been taking a break from our room-a-week situation because we've been working on something big outside. (and we've just been all around busy, but let's just blame it on the out side thing...)

We have a FENCE!

Cor (and a few good friends) did a ton of work to get our 286 foot fence up for a whole-lotta-less-money than paying someone to do it. Plus we had an friend trade us some fencing material for some furniture. Win-Win.

Online estimates show our fencing would have costs us at least $3,000 and Cor got it done for about $1,000.

The first thing Cor did was rent a brush cutter and cleared out some of our property (we didn't fence in all of our property because we wanted to keep the woods in the back of our property line). After breaking one brush cutter, Cor and a friend moved on to measuring out the fence line and marking where post would be. Then they moved on to attempting to aug some of the big holes for the fence posts...

This didn't work to well. He had a two man auger (and a friend) and totally needed something different.

The good news was when he went to return the equipment, the company gave him a credit to rent the proper auger (and another brush cutter).

A few weeks later and the guys were back at it (now with an expert, my very amazing father-in-law.) Cor finished out clearing the hill and then they used a one man hydraulic auger (or so I'm told) to dig out the post holes. This looked super duper easy and took the guys no time at all. We've got a lot of tree roots. So that was fun.

A few holes in, the wise, experienced one, decided they should probably put up a few posts to make sure they measured everything out correctly... Surprise! They we're off by a few inches. But at least they only had dug a few post holes by then and could fix the rest of the work they had to do. Good looking out, Daddy-O.

A few more weeks later (hey now - free weekends are hard to come by when you have so many little humans!), Cor got back to work on the fence. He needed to cut 18in off of each post and measure from the bottom to make sure each rail would be where it needed to be. This required more math. Good thing we met in Middle School Pre Algebra and both aced it (Spoiler: We did not. Not even close.)

Once he got going, math seemed to make more sense and he got into a groove of cutting and setting the posts (and we he had 28 posts to set!) and adding in the rails (we have a split rail fence with 2 rails each).

On a whole other weekend (good fence building takes time, people.), he attached nylon coated metal netting to the inside of the fence. He used 1 1/4in galvanized metal fence staples to staple the netting into place. There were a few issues where we had hills and some creative patch working was needed, but for the most part, it was unrolling and stapling all along our fence line.

Then, with the finish line is sight, we ran out of netting.
Yeah.
We needed like a good 10ft.

And the store was sold out. (Looks like a lot of people buy fencing materials on 3 day Holiday Weekends. Who knew?)

We were able to use some of our garden fencing to block the bottom of the small section of fencing that is lacking the netting (and the area where a large gate will be put in).

Eventually we'll add two side gates and add netting to those too...

... but that's for another weekend.

Watch the Crazy:

Totally Vegan Sriracha Cauliflower Bites

You want these.
Trust me.

Vegan. Not vegan. I don't care.
You. Want. To. Eat. This.

This was one or our first Vegan foods that didn't come from a box and it's a huge hit. We've even made it for non-vegan friends, and guess what, they love it too! Even our kids love them.

You're welcome.

What you need:
1 whole head of cauliflower
1/4 cup (or 1/2c for more spice) Sriracha (or another hot sauce. Buffalo Sauce is tasty too)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we usually omit this if we're feeding it to our tiny humans)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup (or more because we like it) nutritional yeast (optional.. but why not)

What you do:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F)

Mix the flour, milk, 1/2t salt, 1/2t pepper, garlic powder, sriracha, and 1/2t red pepper flakes (and optional nutritional yeast - because YAY for nutritional yeast!) in a bowl.

Take all the florets off you cauliflower and chop them into bit size chunks.

Mix your florets into your mixture until well coated.

In another bowl, mix your panko breadcrumbs and the remaining salt, pepper, and red pepper (and go ahead and toss in some more nutritional yeast, because B12, brah!)

Toss your cauliflower into your bread crumb mixture a bit at a time until they are all coated.
Spread them out on a sprayed baking sheet and spray some cooking spray on top of your bites (this helps crisp them up during baking without having to flip them. Umm. Yes please!)

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes.
Remove and serve immediately (why would you want to wait anyway?!)

The bites are tasty on their own or with a dipping sauce or (my favorite way) topped on a salad.

Enjoy!

Weekly Meal Plan

This week we have a TON of leftovers from a party we helped host (but more on that later because it was oh-so-cute and super adorable!)

So, instead of what we are planning to eat, I'm posting about what we already ate last week (because, oops - we didn't post it last week). Cor made a solid meal plan of some old favorites. Everything was so so good.

So, here's what we ate last week. We had an AHHH-MAZING veggie bake with rice. I've been having a lot of friends attempting to eat more plant based diets (horary!) and asking us what our favorite plant based meals are. This is one of them. It is delicious. You can eat it over rice or wrap it in a tortilla. It's a great "starter vegan" recipe because it's easy and it uses a plant based protein sausage that many new-vegans might miss having. Just do it. I want more now. Yum. Actually, everything on this meal plan is delicious, so eat up.

Day	Dinner
M	Black Bean Soup
T	http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/black-and-white-bean-and-quinoa-salad
W	Lemon Asparagus Pasta
R	Cheesy Buffalo Cauliflower ‘Wings’ with a simple salad
F	Roasted Veggie Bake (note: bake is 425F)
S	Pizza (Whole Foods)
S	New Night

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces Bread

M

1 pound dried black beans (about 2 1/2 cups), rinsed

2 medium onions, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 ripe avocado, chopped

T
quinoa
1 can black beans

1 can navy beans

1 cup cucumber

1 red onion

1 jalapeno

Cilantro

Olive oil

Lime

Cider vinger

Garlic

Chili powder

Ground cilantro

Dried oregno

Salt pepper

W
1 bunch asparagus (12 ounces), trimmed and washed

Sea salt and black pepper

2 lemons

Olive oil

3-4 large cloves garlic, minced (~2 Tbsp)

10 ounces (~5 cups) bow tie pasta (see notes if GF*)

2.5 cups unsweetened plain almond milk

3-4 Tbsp all purpose flour (sub another thickener if GF*)

1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for a subtle cheesy flavor | optional)

R

1 small head cauliflower

¼ to ½ cup hot sauce (we use siricha or buffalo sauce & omit for kid ‘nuggets’)

½ cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese (or omit altogether or sub with a dash of nutritional yeast)

½ cup flour (whole wheat flour works fine, so does white flour)

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup panko bread crumbs

F

1 tbsp grapeseed oil
6 vegan sausages
2 red peppers, chopped into large pieces
1 green pepper, chopped into large pieces
3 red onions quartered (cut further if they are large)
1 large courgette (zucchini), sliced thickly
1 large carrot, sliced thickly
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed well
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
250ml/1 cup vegetable stock (2 stock cubes)
2 tbsp tomato puree
3 tsp tagine powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp dried oregano
a good grinding of salt and pepper

Homemade DIY Vegan Southwest Dressing

Here we go again, making dinner and sitting in our kitchen going "Man, I wish we had some southwest dressing to go with this..."

And then I do a little research, tweak a few recipes, read some ingredients aloud and like magic, BAM. Cor makes southwest dressing.

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (or more if you want a thicker dressing)
1 tablespoon water
1/2 tablespoon of maple syrup or agave nectar (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
the juice of half a lemon (or 1ish teaspoons of lemon juice)
1 small pinch of cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

Here's what you do:

Try not to spill cayenne pepper all over your kitchen and your pants (*cough cough CORY cough cough*)
Mix it all together with a spoon, fork, whisk, the tablespoon you just used... Whatever ya' got. (You could throw it in a blender if you wanted... But who wants more dishes, am I right?)
Eat it.
Say "Yuuummmm!"


Hey! You just made salad dressing! Look at you being all thrifty and stuff! Horray!

Weekly Meal Plan

Pretty excited about this week's meal plan. Grilled Vegetable Salad is one of our summer favorites (even if we don't have a grill this summer. Womp Womp!) and Avocado Hummus Taquitos are requested by Cam regularly.

And Carrot Dogs. Because who doesn't love a summertime vegan "hotdog". Yum!

Day	Dinner
M	Grilled Vegetable Salad
T	Chickpea Salad
W	Pasta & Sauce with Salad
R	Tofu Ricotta Stuffed Shells
F	Avocado Hummus Taquitos with salad and Southwest Dressing
S	Carrot Dogs
S	New Night!

Produce Dairy* Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces Bread

M

1 pound tomatoes, cut into large dice (if using cherry or grape tomatoes, leave whole)

1 yellow or white onion, peeled and ends removed, cut into eighths

1 medium zucchini, ends removed, sliced in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2" pieces

1 medium yellow squash, ends removed, sliced in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2" pieces

1 carton (8 oz.) mushrooms, cleaned and halved

1 bulb garlic

4 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. mixed fresh herbs (such as basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and/or thyme), minced (optional)

black pepper and sea salt, freshly ground

Spinach

Olives

Feta Cheese

T

2 Cans of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 Tomato, diced

2 Celery Stalks, diced

1 Dill Pickle, diced

1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Onion Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

1 Teaspoon of Paprika

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

1 Tablespoon of Mustard

Pitas

W

Bag of Salad
Cucumber
Tomato
Croutons
Dressing
Bag of Pasta
Sauce

Bread

R

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 16 ounces extra firm tofu
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

F
2 medium avocados

8 (6 inch) flour tortillas

1 cup plain hummus

½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese (Mexican blend would also be good) or vegan cheese sauce

2 tsp. olive oil

S
2 large carrots, peeled, with the ends cut off (I cut mine to the size of the hot dog bun)
1/4 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (you could also use soy sauce)
1/4 cup water
1 TB seasoned rice vinegar
1 TB sesame oil
1/2 TB apple cider vinegar
dash liquid smoke
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp granulated onion powder
olive oil cooking spray
2 whole wheat hot dog buns
desired hot dog toppings

DIY Extra Large Book Page Art

In case you didn't know, I'm an English Professor. I, quite literally, love big, classical books. So I knew I wanted extra large book prints all over my home. This post has a few affiliate links to products we used in case you want to make one too!

I started with an idea with the girls' room. The last two pages of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has the word "sister" in it about five time. And it talks about the hopes and dreams of seeing her grown sister sitting and telling stories to future children. Could it be any more perfect? Swoon.

Want to watch us build it (and mess it up) on YouTube. Good! Click Here!

I'm quite aware of copyright law (hey, remember those multiple English degrees?), so I knew that Alice in Wonderland was well out of copyright. Especially since you can find scanned complete copies of the work on online libraries (like here at Google Books). They can do this because it has been over 50 years since the author and illustrator's deaths. Making the works out of copyright and free for use. (Note: DISNEY'S Alice in Wonderland is a whole other ballgame and is NOT out of copyright.)

I knew this.
Staples did not.

I had to go to war with them.
Not really. It actually wasn't too terrible (especially because I made Cor do it...). I needed to print out something that included the copyright situation and include it with my order. I went ahead and used one of the copyright pages listed in a Google Books copyright page, and they happily printed my pages. (And I informed them that I would also planning to do similar projects with other out-of-copyright materials, so now we both know what's up.)

We got an Engineering Print in the largest size Staples prints (36" x 48"). I just scanned a book page and it came out clear enough. I've done photos too that have turned out great! Cor took the file in but you can also order it through their website and preview it.

The entire 36x48 page was only $7.29!

Once I had my giant pages, they sat in my garage for ages... Kidding... Yeah... Kidding. Once I finally got my crafty bug back, I went to work. I used this spray adhesive to attach my large pages to a piece of .205in X 4ft X 8ft plywood underlayment from Lowe's. The whole piece of wood was around 16$ and I had some left over for a few other projects.

I placed a really large desk top on top of my papers to give them so weight while they dried on the wood. The adhesive gave the paper and wrinkly sort of texture, but I was cool with that. It makes it look like old pages. You could staple gun the pages tight to the board if you want to avoid the wrinkled look.

Cor then cut the pages down to size. If you're making more than one page, make sure you make your pages even (if that's what you're going for). That meant we had to have a little more white space on one of our pages.

Then we took some 1 1/2in X 2in X8-ft wood and stained them with this walnut stain. We did math... And did math again... And messed that up and mathed some more (Hey! I teach ENGLISH, folks!) and finally got them cut right to fit as perfect(ish) little frames on our large book page. (We actually mathed so wrong that we ran out of wood for the frames for the second book page... So, that's why you only see pictures of one. Project: To be continued).

Then we used a nail gun to shoot through the back and attach the frame pieces to the book page. We made sure to remove the baby before this step ;) . Gorgeous!

We used these D-Ring Hooks and attached them to the back of the frame on both sides. Then we hung it above Ay's bed, and admired our genius. Boom.

It's one of my new favorite things. I can't stop sneaking away and hiding in her room.

Sorry-not-Sorry.

Weekly Meal Plan

This week we are trying to do things c-h-e-a-p! I mean, we're always trying to do things cheap, but this week I really wanted to start getting our food cost to UNDER 100$ a week (we've been averaging about 120-150 due to tossed randoms that end up in our cart)

I saw this meal plan over on Pinterest and wanted to give it a go. It seemed a little too good to be true. It's a "fall" meal plan, but eh', who cares.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup OR Potato and Broccoli Soup

Veggie Pasta OR Pizza Pasta using available veggies with Salad

Chili 

Stir Fry using rice carrots, broccoli, squash, onions, peppers and any other veggies on hand

Mexican Casserole or the slow cooker version

Rice, Lentil and Veggie Soup using carrots, broccoli, potatoes, squash and onions

Head over My Plant Based Family (linked above) for a FREE printout of the shopping list. She says it's a 55$ meal plan. We did our WHOLE shopping for the week (along with diapers, baby food, and those sneaky cart extras) for 83$ so I'll take it!