Everyday Life: Week 7

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

The last week looked like this:  Everyday Life Week 7

Sometimes you just have to make yourself a homemade whole wheat cheese pizza for lunch, intended to not share with anyone else. Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (10 of 18)

Wrigby MiniMillies
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (1 of 18)

The folks at Don Pancho sent me a handsome goodie box on Valentine’s Day, filled with these treats! I’m so excited to use EVERYTHING, but especially the hatch green chile wraps and golden blend tortillas — both of which I’d never seen before.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (15 of 18)

Tuesday was Fat Tuesday and having a Southern-born husband, we had a Southern type of meal. Red beans and rice…
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (8 of 18)

Plus some accidentally gigantic beignets.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (4 of 18)

Wednesday was Valentine’s Day and we had a super low-key one this year (just as I prefer!). Sushi take-out, a shared cream puff for dessert, and sitting around watching the Winter Olympics.Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (1 of 1)

This little nugget will be two next month.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (2 of 18)

We are still slowly (SOOO slowly) painting (now all the touch-ups, which, let me tell you… is NOT a job for someone with OCD tendencies). Our living room colors make me happy, though.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (12 of 18)

AND! While this doesn’t look like a major deal — in fact, you probably have no idea why I’m posting this photo — we now have light in the kitchen. I rewired and reinstalled all the lighting. In the process, I didn’t burn the house down and I also got it working on the first try! YES!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (14 of 18)This is what happens when you live in a house with five cats.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (11 of 18)

JJ in the morning.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (13 of 18)

Lunch one day. A roasted chicken wrap filled with colby jack cheese, spinach, avocado, vegenaise, and pepperoncinis.Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (18 of 18)

Blue skies.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (6 of 18)

My go-to weekly pasta…
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (16 of 18)
I hope Percy wants to sleep like this forever and ever.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (3 of 18)

Taco bar.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (9 of 18)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (7 of 18)

I’m pretty sure Silas gets bigger and bigger every single day!Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life Week 7 (5 of 18)

Hope you’ve had a wonderful week!

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Everyday Life: Week 6

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Here’s what this past week looked like: Everyday Life Week 6

Earlier in the week we were still staying at my mother-in-law’s house, as we began painting our living room and kitchen. Percy making sure I didn’t fall off the ladder while taping the ceiling off to paint.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (4 of 16)

Pre-painted kitchen.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (5 of 16)

Post-painted kitchen. There are still things to do (including putting new lighting in, as we currently have none in the ceiling. :| My iPhone doesn’t do justice to the colors — they’re rich, vibrant, and we love them.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (12 of 16)

Nana surprised us and made dinner one night when we were staying at her house, which was a very nice treat after spending the entire day cleaning and painting. “Mexican Casserole,” which is what Silas asks her to make occasionally.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (15 of 16)

Bedtime around here.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (2 of 16)

Wrigby loves to sit this way all the time. Cracks me up every time.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (14 of 16)

Apologies in advance: because so much time has been spent painting and working on our house, the cooking has been sporadic… Hence, this post will be filled with cat pictures. Ha!

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (13 of 16)

Our living room is now Oceanside and Big Chill, versus a pinkish shade and a greenish shade I never quite liked.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (7 of 16)

Mama.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (16 of 16)

Snugglebutts.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (8 of 16)

Managed to spend the day cleaning, painting, then made a hempseed flour + whole wheat crusted cheese pizza on National Pizza Day. With a spinach/romaine salad with strawberries, almonds, sunflower seeds, some feta and a red wine vinaigrette.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (9 of 16)

Favorite snuggler.

Everyday Life Week 6 2018 (11 of 16)

Hope you’ve had a lovely week! :)

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Everyday Life: Week 5

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Here’s what this past week looked like: Everyday Life Week 5

It’s almost like winter skipped over Southern Oregon entirely.

Dinner one night. Cheesy polenta with a sunny-side up egg plus some marinara I canned this past summer.

Everyday Life Week 5 (1 of 17)

We’ve been needing to re-do our floors for years. Suddenly this week, what felt like very urgently, we decided to go ahead and get started on the project… Putty and sanding for the living room…

Everyday Life Week 5 (15 of 17)

Putty and sanding for the kitchen…

Everyday Life Week 5 (17 of 17)

I didn’t realize what a big project this was actually going to be, so we’ve been staying at my mother-in-law’s house since Wednesday afternoon. The floors look great, but the fumes from the sealant have made staying in the house impossible right now.

Everyday Life Week 5 (16 of 17)

Everyday Life Week 5 (13 of 17)

Veggie tostadas one night…

Everyday Life Week 5 (7 of 17)

The cats have been staying at our house, cooped up, upstairs in our bedroom. The day I had to be out of the house, I was worried about the kittens jumping up into the window sill and pushing the windows further out… since they don’t have screens, I envisioned the cats leaping out the second story in their rambunctious playing. SOOO. I duct taped all the windows where they couldn’t be opened any further than the cracks I left for ventilation?

Everyday Life Week 5 (12 of 17)

Percy seems to think we’ve gone on an extended vacation to Nana’s house. Nana’s dog, Viola, has seemed to enjoy the extra company, too.

Everyday Life Week 5 (9 of 17)

Mac and cheese one night…

Everyday Life Week 5 (6 of 17)

With kale salad.

Everyday Life Week 5 (8 of 17)

Kale salad that doubled as my post-workout lunch the next day. I added some chicken and cranberries.

Everyday Life Week 5 (4 of 17)

Missing all the knuckleheads…even though we go to see them every day, it’s not the same as having a bunch of naughty cats running around constantly!

Half of my lunch one day… so giant, so good.
Everyday Life Week 5 (2 of 17)

Viola…with Percy lurking in the background. Ha!

Everyday Life Week 5 (11 of 17)

Hello, February!

Everyday Life Week 5 (14 of 17)

Naptime.

Everyday Life Week 5 (10 of 17)

Someone let Craig borrow a “true mirror,” which shows how everyone else sees you. Your image doesn’t have any right/left reversal like a typical mirror. It was kind of weird.

Everyday Life Week 5 (5 of 17)

Silas had a basketball tournament Saturday and Sunday… Won half their games and placed third in the gold bracket for the weekend.

Everyday Life Week 5-Silas (1 of 1)

Hope you’ve had a lovely week!

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Everyday Life: Week 4

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Here’s what this past week looked like: Everyday Life Week 4

A version of my favorite weekly pasta…this time for everyone and not just myself.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Brothers.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Homemade caesar salad…
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

We finally got the slightest bit of snow! Of course it melted off within just a few hours, but still… ;)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Comfort food night… fried Quorn vegetarian chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and buttermilk biscuits.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Silas had an orthodontist appointment this week. I’m always so curious about the setup of this office — everyone sits in a row and gets worked on at the same time.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4
Homemade Ethiopian food one night!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Little lazy helpers…
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

One of Silas’s lunches this week. Teriyaki chicken and rice plus a bunch of stuff. Ha!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Our weekends consist of many basketball games… (Silas is #44)Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Sometimes you consider having bourbon for dinner… because why not.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 4

Hope you’ve had a lovely week!

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Fresh Strawberry Pie Crumb Bars

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

Did you know that January 23rd is National Pie Day? A fella in Boulder, Colorado declared his birthday — today — as such in the mid 1970’s. I don’t know how this man got everyone to recognize his personally declared holiday. If I could declare my birthday as a national food celebrated holiday, it’d probably be National Grandma Pizza Day. In part because I love this style of pizza… also in part of my feeling like an old lady all the damn time. 😂

(Upon further research, it appears that June 10th is already a declared food day. LAMELY it’s National Iced Tea Day.)

While I appreciate a flaky, buttery pie crust, sometimes I also appreciate easy recipes that don’t require chilling and rolling dough. These pie bars are made with a super simple crust that gets pressed in, then doubles as the crumble topping. There is no need for a mixer, as this recipe is super simple to prepare. While I’ve not tried it myself, I think you could use an abundance of different fruit types. I’d suggest using the same flavor jam as the fresh fruit you choose, though.

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

Fresh Strawberry Bars

Yields one 9″x9″ pan (approximately 9-12 bars)

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick oats)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
small pinch of salt
1 egg
2/3 cup good quality strawberry jam
2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan, then line with parchment paper with an overhang on all four sides.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter, vanilla and almond extracts, and the egg. Stir until crumbly and coarse. Reserve about 1 cup of the mixture, setting it aside until needed.

Press the remaining oat mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan, being sure to press down firmly.

In a separate bowl, combine the strawberries, granulated sugar and cornstarch. Toss until everything is well combined.

Spread the strawberry jam over the oat mixture you’ve pressed into your pan. Scatter the fresh strawberries over the jam, evenly across the pan. Top with the oat mixture you set aside.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden in color. Once cooked, let the strawberry bars cool in the pan for 15 minutes before quickly removing them to a cooling rack (using the parchment paper to lift them out of the pan). Cut into squares of your desired serving size.

Enjoy at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days, but these are best eaten the day they are made.

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

Forbidden Rice Blog - Fresh Strawberry Bars

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Everyday Life: Week 3

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Here’s what this past week looked like…

My Everyday Life: Week 3

I have a crate that the kitties like to snuggle up in when I happen to be working in the kitchen… it’s the best.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Have you discovered the Google Arts and Culture App yet? It pairs your selfie with world art, giving you a percentage of match accuracy.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

It’s wonderful and terrible… and mostly hilarious.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Silas even joined in for the fun… ha.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

My favorite food night…
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza!
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

I love watching our Vitamix blend things. (Seriously. It’s mesmerizing.)
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

My everyday theme song!

Gorgeous skies and cold weather this week!
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

I decided to make tamales one night…
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

My husband needed some new headshots for work, so we had a little photo adventure.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Both kids said this was one of their favorite salads ever. SUPER SIMPLE. Fresh spinach, strawberries, sliced almonds, some feta cheese and a basic vinaigrette (this oil, this vinegar, some fresh garlic, lemon juice, himalayan pink salt and fresh pepper).
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

These monsters will be five months old this coming week!
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

One of my favorite risotto dishes to make.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

A break from rain.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

A quick dinner for myself one night — teriyaki chicken and sushi rice.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Sometimes when I get up in the morning, I turn over and find this.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Our coffee pot died when I literally placed it in the sink to fill with water.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

JJ likes to watch the desktop of my computer…

How to successfully have a Sunday.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Everyday Life Week 3

Hope you’ve had a wonderful week!

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Everyday Life: Week 2

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Here’s a look at the last week!

Everyday Life: Week Two

We had some much needed rain! Its been a pretty mild winter so far in Ashland. Little rain, minimal snow at higher elevations, even the temperatures have been pretty tolerable.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2 (6 of 20)

Apparently my phone doesn’t agree about the “mild temperatures,” however.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2 (6 of 20)

I love when these little guys (and girl) cuddle up to sleep. I hope they do this f-o-r-e-v-e-r!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2 (6 of 20)

They also provide endless entertainment…

Even when I come home from the grocery store to scenes like this.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2 (13 of 20)

Magic puddles.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Silas was sick earlier this week. He asked many-a-time for homemade miso soup. So I made homemade miso soup for the first time in many years. (Plus vegetarian orange chicken and steamed rice.)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

When you find the kittens cuddling up with your husband who has fallen asleep on the couch.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

A dinner that goes over well around here almost every time. Mashed potatoes, Quorn vegetarian roast, peas and gravy.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Couldn’t find mama Millie for a little while… found her curled up in the quilt my friend Kara made me for my birthday a few years ago!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Veggie soup earlier in the week. Probably my favorite vegetable soup I’ve ever made, but I didn’t write down any sort of recipe. (Of course.)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Texts with a 12 year old who persistently forgets to turn the exhaust fan on in your bathroom…
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

We had some lovely sunny weather this week!
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

When your 12 year old accidentally takes a nap before basketball practice! (Hooray!)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

I eat a variation of this pasta at least once a week. This week’s version was just a very garlic-filled creamy tomato basil sauce.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Garlic herb toasts.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Mid-day walks.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

Jumpy is a stray cat who adopted us many years ago, though he predominantly prefers living outdoors. At about 4AM the morning after we put our german shepherds down in May 2016, when Craig and I couldn’t sleep, Jumpy came sauntering into our house as though he just knew it was safe to do so. He’s been here much more regularly since. Once Millie adopted us, then had her kittens, we wondered what he’d do. 4 other cats is a lot when you’ve had a year of being the only guy aside from Miss Percy. This was the first time he willingly shared his dinner with the larger male kitten we have, Opie. While all the kittens are quite enamored with Jumpy, he generally doesn’t share their sentiment.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

When you forget to eat dinner so you find whatever is leftover in the fridge and make tacos. Mashed potatoes, monterey jack cheese, cotija cheese, spicy homemade salsa, sour cream and cilantro! (So good.)
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

While this looks sweet, this would be our two male kittens enjoying the “soup” they concocted by knocking over Percy’s dog food bag into her water bowl. LOL.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Everyday Life: Week 2

I made a thing! Recipe this week.
Forbidden Rice Blog - Every Day Life Week 2

I hope that you’ve had a lovely week!

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

This morning, I was sitting at Silas’s basketball game when the father of another kid came and sat next to me. He asked, “Julie, do you still have family in Hawai’i?” I told him my dad and youngest brother are still there, as well as numerous friends and extended family. He then asked, “Have you talked to any of them today?” When I said, “no,” he told me, “something very peculiar is happening in the islands. Look at this message everyone with a Hawai’i number received… there is nothing about it in the news!”

He showed me a text he received from his wife, who is currently on the Big Island. It said, “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” By the time I could get my own phone out to try and text or call my dad or brother, he received another text from his wife saying that the emergency alert was a false alarm.

I thought about the countless people in my home state whose morning rituals were abruptly interrupted with the very-real-at-the-moment threat that these may be their last minutes. How do you even prepare for that? I’d like to think that I’d be calm and collected — as that’s how I tend to deal with anything catastrophic or alarming. I imagine I’d gather our family and pets… and the bourbon.

When I was growing up on Kaua’i, we heard the test sirens for natural disasters — hurricanes, tsunamis, mainly. The state of Hawai’i recently brought back another alert that hasn’t been used since the end of the Cold War, upon learning that there were missiles pointed in their direction. Knowing this particular emergency system exists directly because of human conflict that the majority of us have no part or say in, is heartbreaking.

It makes me want to call everyone I know and love (just so you know, I HATE talking on the phone, but the urge is there). It also makes me want to dive into things that are comforting, nurturing and filling. The best way I know how to do the latter is to feed people and myself. So, here’s a warming, gut-filling recipe.

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium butternut squash, sliced in half, seeds removed
3 large carrots, chopped into large pieces
1 red bell pepper, halved and seeds removed
1 head garlic, sliced in half right in the center, horizontally
1 shallot, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
4 cups No-Chicken broth
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the halves of squash on a large rimmed baking sheet with the carrot, bell pepper, garlic and shallot and drizzle generously with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then roast for for 50-60 minutes, until the squash is fork tender.

Once the veggies are cooked, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Scoop out the inside of the butternut squash, discarding the skins. Transfer all the vegetables to a high powered blender. Add the liquid ingredients and red pepper flakes. Start with 2 cups of stock and puree for 2-3 minutes until completely smooth. If you want a thinner soup, add more stock until it reaches the desired consistency.

Transfer the soup back into a pot and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper as you desire. Enjoy while the soup is hot.

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Forbidden Rice Blog - Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

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Everyday Life: Week 1

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Long time no see… Since we’ve hit a new year (the last one was a whirlwind!) I’ve decided to give this another go. I also hope to get back here with recipes, food photographs, and not simply a weekly photo recap of the week, so stay tuned… (And thanks, if you’ve been tuned in, even in my absence in this space!)

Happy New Year! My husband and I went out for some celebratory drinks. I think we were possibly some of the oldest folks in the bar and midnight is way too close to my bedtime!
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

A southern style New Year’s Day meal. Black eyed peas, collard greens, buttermilk cornbread, rice.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Winter skies are always some of my favorite canvases.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Nap time for these girls.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

For Christmas, Silas requested one thing: a new bed. “A queen-size bed because I’m like too tall for my current bed and my feet hang off!” We had some run-around with the folks delivering both the mattress and the frame (which I single-handedly built!) but it finally arrived this week. Hooray! New bed, new sheets, new blankets. Silas is stoked!
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Veggie tacos.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Southern Oregon is pretty damn gorgeous.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

This is Wrigby, the runt of our three kittens. He’s half devil, half cuddle-buns. When he’s the latter of those things, he likes to run up into our bed, wait until I lift the covers and say, “come on!” He then proceeds to fling his body in, turn around, rest his head on my pillow or arm and go to sleep. It’s the best.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Huevos rancheros for brunch.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Silas brings his lunch every day. Most days its been a fun challenge, trying to pack things he’ll actually eat. The hardest part is waking up early to cook or pack said lunch, as I tend to go to bed/fall asleep late and am very much NOT a morning person. This week there were baked chicken strips one day — his favorite lunch of the week.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

The best way to get mundane computer work done.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Pizza and salad for the husband and I one night.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Silas has started another basketball league. The first games were this weekend. (This will be our Saturdays for the next two months, as well as Monday and Wednesday nights consisting of practices followed by late dinners!)
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Morning magic.
Forbidden Rice Blog: Every Day Life Week 1

Here’s the last year, in one second a day (well, almost every day).

Hope you’ve had a lovely week!

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Everyday Life: Weeks 34-39

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

It has been quite some time… Here’s a look at the last 6 weeks, which have been a giant whirlwind. A peek:

There was a total solar eclipse that happened…

I absolutely love BLT season. The freshest tomatoes make all the difference.

Garden goodies!

Fish burgers one night.

Millie had her kittens on August 22nd and they’ve been a fun addition since! This is Rigby (Silas’s kitten) at a few days old.

Fried vegetarian chicken, mashed potatoes and peas.

THIS salad. A crunchy detox type of thing with a gingery dressing. Delicious.

The pigeon I went and picked up as mentioned in the last post I did here healed up just fine and was able to be let free.

We also had many days filled with smoky skies…to the point where the air was deemed hazardous for breathing.

Silas has started seventh grade. So far he seems to be enjoying his teachers and classes.

Sometimes his and hers dinners feature a certain ingredient but prepared in different ways. Pasta for me, grilled cheese and tomato for him.

Babies!

Fried rice with cashew vegetarian chicken one night.

Percy picked herself a cucumber from the garden…

I found a new tomato pie recipe, which also included fresh sweet corn and a crust made of biscuit dough. A win with Silas and Craig, a not-great-win with myself (mainly because the double crust felt a little hefty for me).

Banana army, to the freezer.

Percy Jean!

All the smoke around here meant there were many days without the super strong sunshine that usually helps our tomatoes ripen up. I’ve had enough ripe tomatoes to enjoy for most of the summer, and jarred up 6 quarts so far for the fall, winter and spring, although I’m hoping the abundance of green tomatoes will ripen and allow me enough produce to can up.

Mama Millie

Pizza rolls one morning for Silas’s lunch box.

Just as soon as we got the first rescue pigeon released, I found this fella under my tomato plants one afternoon. I didn’t think it’d survive even the first night, but now its been three weeks and s/he lives and thrives. Hoping for an outdoor release in the next couple weeks.

Vegetarian chik’n parmigiana with fresh tomato sauce on garlic parmesan capellini. Some dark chocolate chip cookies for fun.

Not even slightly sorry for this cat carrier pic! Haha

Wet burritos one night for dinner.

Everyone prepares dinner with a box filled with baby bird, right? Ha.

Pizza night is still one of my favorites.

Taco night or burrito bowl night isn’t too shabby either.

My buddy, Opie.

Enchilada night, including homemade mole enchiladas. Red ones filled with potatoes, corn and cheese. The mole ones were filled with monterey jack and cotija cheese.

Garden-grown.

Late breakfast/snack date with a friend at the new coffeeshop/cafe that opened 35 footsteps from my house.

Five week old babies.

Homemade pesto.

Still the best baby.

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