Watermelon Sorbet

Is it hot enough for you?

Here in Connecticut, it feels like it’s been summer since winter! In fact, I was putting together some photos for a Shutterfly album last night, and saw photos of my family hiking in January, in shirt sleeves, then, in March, we were wearing shorts! Unbelievable! But, I grew up way up in Upstate New York, and had my fill of snow and cold. Never liked it then. Don’t like it now. Would move to Florida in a heartbeat (especially if I were within a 1/2 hour trip to the beach).

Time to update you all on my “3 in 30” goals (I hope you all have signed up — it’s a great way to cheer one another on!):

July Goals:

  1. Work: Move my office downstairs to its new location.
  2. Family: Do something fun with my family, every day.
  3. Self: Juice every morning.

The Office Move.

Last year, I spent most of the year building a beautiful office off my laundry room. Then, a series of events caused me to temporarily move my base of operation elsewhere. After reconsideration of our home space, my husband and I decided to put both his music studio and my office on the same floor. Then we could create meeting space for musicians and clients in a spare room, and consolidate business and living spaces by floor. Great idea! But now I have to take apart my gorgeous glass office furniture and reassemble it in its new home downstairs. Not fun.

My chief heavy-object-lifter (also known as “He Who Moves Bookshelves”) has been stuck in bed with a nasty stomach bug most of the last week, so I put the office things on hold until he is up to more physical activity. Today, he ate (!), so things are looking up. Pray for healing — and it’s already done.

The drums are ready for their move to the studio. That’s a big start (any of you who are drummers or who are married to drummers know that moving your drums can be its own task).

The Old “New” Office Space

Family Fun: Over the past week, my family and I have done so much, that we are now in a “slacker” mode, to gear up for the next wave of activities:

  • made Watermelon Sorbet  with my little guy – it was declared “slammin'” by the family;
  • tie-dyed a bunch of shirts with the same little guy – they were the talk of the neighborhood as they dried on hangers from the dogwood in front of our house;
  • made Cinnamon Toast Crunch cupcakes with that very busy little guy – I think he ate the last two today! Little Man learned how to pipe frosting from the corner of Ziploc bag;
  • cooked on the grill  a few times and ate outside;
  • used the gazebo as an outside homeschool classroom and office (yes!);
  • went to the library (always a treat in this house);
  • rearranged the furniture in Little Man’s room so it looked more like a big boy room…

I think there is more in there, but you get the idea. I’m working on Squidoo lenses on our tie-dying and watermelon sorbet ventures — stay tuned!

For the last two nights, LM has tried to watch a Star Wars movie — first with eldest brother, then with Mom. Both times, LM ended up watching the back of the couch. Shall we go for the Trifecta tonight?

The results of our first tie-dying extravaganza…

Juicing Away…

My middle son has had a juicer for a long time now, and I have been eyeing it longingly every time I went over for a visit. Well, I went ahead and bought myself a “Happy Independence Day” gift last week, and I’ve been juicing every day since then!

Here are the recipes I’ve used, so far:

  1. 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 apples and a handful of spinach (I added a cup of romaine lettuce to this one day, and a handful of grapes another day)
  2. 1 large beet, 1 apple, 1 cup of carrot juice, 1 T lime juice and a dusting of ground ginger
  3. 2 cups watermelon, 1 cucumber, 1 T. lime juice

I’ve also been experimenting with using the pulp in place of grated carrots or zucchini in breads and muffins – if you do this, remember that you have extracted all the sweetness and wetness out of the pulp, so you might have to adjust your sweetener and liquid (I added honey and carrot juice to make the batter the right consistency).

It must be okay to substitute juice and one of these muffins for one meal, as I lost another 1/2 lb last week!

Everyone wants in on the juicing, now. My husband has been “special ordering” smoothies and juices of different combinations, and so has LM (whose request prompted the most recent addition – Indian Vegetarian Kitchen’s Fresh Apple and Grape Juice — which is next up).

I have begun posting the juicer recipes on my “Life After Breast Cancer” Pinterest board — come on over for a look-see!

Hmmm… Matter of fact, I’m going to go make that apple and grape one, right now! (And there are some other interesting recipes in the links below, too)… Cheers!

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