The Eats: Blended Sauce Pasta

This pasta doesn't look like much, but it has incredible taste and has a healthy load of vegetables in it. Lightly cook 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 can of artichokes, 2 tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/4 a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Once everything is tender, pour into your blender. Add 1 cup of milk (I used Almond milk, which tasted excellent), and 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Blend everything until smooth. Be careful when blending as sauteed ingredients are hot. Pour blended mixture into saucepan. Add into the saucepan a little more extra virgin olive oil and a 1/4 cup of starchy water that you cooked the pasta in and heat. The starchy water helps the sauce stick to the pasta. Once sauce is heated add cooked pasta into the sauce and toss till pasta is coated with sauce. To garnish add some basil on top of pasta. To make it even healthier you could use whole wheat pasta. I was feeling like white pasta for a little treat. Always be sure to cook your pasta one minute less then the box suggests for al dente, unless you like mushy pasta. This meal would be great for kids that are picky about vegetables, you don't even know they are in there. You can experiment with all sorts of veggies for this one. Hope you enjoy!

The Fun: Girls Day Out

Gotta love a girls day out. Today my dear friend Sabrina and I had a nice day of shopping, lunch, and finished it off with some dessert from pinkberry. We had such a great time. Of course instead of shopping for ourselves we couldn't resist making some cute purchases for the kids. That is all part of the fun though. Thanks Sabrina for such a fun day. You are a great friend my dear.

The Eats: Yogurt Parfait

Unfortunately summer is soon coming to a close. Gotta get some of my favourite summer treats in before its over. For a simple summer dessert, how about some yogurt parfait. I can remember my mom making us this when I was younger. This is so easy to make and its fun to eat out of a nice glass. Just layer your favourite yogurt, then granola, then fruit. I used blueberry yogurt, pumpkin flax granola, and blueberries. There are so many combinations you can do and its also more on the healthy side, 

which is great. 

This is going to sound a little weird, but another yogurt snack that I enjoy is spreading lemon or coconut greek yogurt on a graham wafer cracker. Give it a try sometime. It is really good.

The Thoughts: In Memory of Macy

'Macy's Journey' Painted by Marcie Rohr www.papercastle.ca

Today marks the third anniversary of the passing of our first daughter. It is so hard to believe that she would be three years old today. This beautiful painting was created in honour of her journey by our dear friend Marcie Rohr. It hangs in our bedroom. Every morning I wake up looking at this picture and ask God to give her a kiss in heaven for me. Wow, how I wish she was here and yet I know she is safe in the arms of Jesus. The unique thing about this painting is that a week after Macy's passing, Josh and I drove to Kelowna to get out of town. As we drove through the foothills, I could picture Macy as a little girl, dancing in fields of flowers. Awhile later, Marcie sent us this painting. I was so amazed at it. It reminded me of that moment driving in the car, having this vision of her. Thank you so much Marcie for this beautiful painting. It is part of keeping the memory of Macy alive for us daily.

Stella with 'Macy's Journey.' Photo taken by Julie Rice www.papercastle.ca

It was definitely difficult going through another pregnancy after what happened with Macy. I went through more stages of grief. During that time I wrote the following about our dear Macy.

Butterfly go free

Have no fear

Don't look back

In my heart you are near

I will dream of what could be, if only you were here

God's plan for you is different

One day it will all be clear

Fly free

We love and miss you so much Macy.

The Trips: The Okanagan Valley

We just returned from a wonderful road trip to the Okanagan Valley with my Dad. It was so beautiful and the weather was hot, hot, hot. We spent some time with my Grandma, Aunt & Uncle, and cousins. Stella definitely enjoyed some first experiences in her life. She was wonderful on the trip. 

Here are some pics...

Stella on her first boat ride with Daddy. She was in a life jacket that was so cute too.

Okanagan Lake

Stella's first dip in a salt water pool.

The beautiful Rocky Mountains on the drive back.

Hope everyone is enjoying summer and taking some time to get away.