About time for another update! I have to say I’ve been loving this Fall-like weather, albeit we still have some semi-hot days here to break it up. I’m going to miss going swimming for sure. Swimming was a lot more fun with a toddler around, watching my son splash around in the pool was a hoot. It was a good family activity too. Now that Fall is on the way I can get back to my walks though, after recovering from having the baby of course. Those 90-100 degree days slowed my walk schedule down quite a bit for a while.
Fall cleaning has been something my husband and I have really delved into. More decluttering, getting some rooms painted finally, I think we have been talking about painting these rooms for a couple years now? Getting everything ready for a nice cozy winter and for when baby arrives. House project list is always growing and it has been nice to cross some things off. We already really love the blue look to our bedroom, and cleared all the dust and dander away in there. Maybe now we’ll stop suffering from allergies as much, we didn’t realize how dusty it was.
Still testing out new recipes, been trying my hand at French toast. So Far I’ve tried Alton Brown’s French Toast Recipe, and Binging with Babish’s Casserole Recipe. Both were really good, I think I prefer the casserole method more as it is easier for me to manage with the kiddos around. My husband suggested combining the two recipes to make our own. Tried that, we still think the combined recipe could use a bit more sugar.
Also been trying to add more vegetarian/”vegan” recipes to our meal lineup, like a Black Bean Enchilada Recipe we really enjoyed. Vegan is in quotes because we substituted in non-vegan ingredients for the One-Pot African Peanut Stew (substituted in honey and chicken broth), and the Thai Peanut Noodles (added in scrambled eggs).
Something new we’ve added to our diet is grass-fed longhorn beef. The family got together and decided to split the purchase of a cow, and we stocked our freezer. Boy is there a difference between local meat and what you buy in the store! Husband and I agree that if we can get grass-fed longhorn, we will instead of store-bought. I was really interested in the health benefits of grass-fed beef. Apparently it is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and can help prevent breast cancer and heart disease. Who knew?
I can’t believe September is already coming to a close, 2020 seems to be flying by despite the fact that most of the year everyone has been told to stay home. I wouldn’t at all say 2020 was a bad year for our family even with the quarantine going on. I definitely disagree with the quarantine measures, and hope this silliness stops sooner than later, but we’ve gotten through it all with God’s guidance. He has blessed us so much this year, of course we are always blessed, but this year in particular we have gotten a lot of extra help from Him and we are so thankful. Knowing God is watching over our family has taken a load off my shoulders. Trusting in Him through all this and other issues is the best thing we have done and continue to do. We must always look to Him, no matter how small the issue.