Mango Avocado Salad

My SIL brought a delicious mango, corn & black bean salad out to the Farm earlier this week and when I couldn't get ahold of her tonight for the recipe, I just started chopping and adding.  GLLAM and I ate it for dinner and it was de-lish!  Here's what I did:

2 organic mangos, chopped
2 organic avocados, chopped
1 organic red pepper
2 cups organic black beans (cans can be used in a pinch, soaked and cooked is better!)
juice of 2 small organic lemons (or 1 large)
dash of cayenne
handful of fresh parsely from the window sill
sprinkle of pink peppercorn
dash of real salt (my favorite is himalayan)
drizzle of good, unrefined olive oil (if you don't have the good stuff, skip this step!)

Combine and stir.  I gave it a few extra stirs so the avocados would get creamy.  Personal preference.  Either way, its all gone and I can't wait to make another batch.  Enjoy.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Thankful to have just gotten fresh, organic, peckin'-in-the-yard chickens, raised on a farm near our home.   You can find these (amazing!) farmers all across our country.  You just have to search a bit.  Its well. worth. it.

Hilton Head Island

After 9 days of pure bliss, we are heading home. It was our first vacation, just the 7 of us, and safe to say not our last.

The kids are compiling their favorite memories but I'll have to type that long list out later...

1st stop on vacation!

How many hands does it take to set up a new grill?  Hopefully 12 because this looks perfect to me.

I'm like putty in her hands.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is what I got to wake up to.  My heart was so full it almost burst.

Conquistador!

I received permission to post this video.  Watch carefully as Abigail's electronic sword breaks, apparently leaving an exposed wire which later shocks Madeline.  My favorite part?  Abby asking Madeline if she is still acting or really hurt....."Are you faking that?!"  (she is indeed not faking it!)

Cheeseburger Salad

This is an all-time favorite of mine and my family loves it as well.  Let's be honest, they prefer when I have homemade hamburger buns on hand but.....

Anyway, here's what we do:

Grill up some organic, 100% grass-fed burgers
Melt a piece of raw, organic grass-fed cheese on top
Add this to a nice bed of organic greens, tomatoes, onions (throw it on the grill for a couple minutes) and slices of avocados
Drizzle the dressing* of your choice.

* Here I used balsamic vinaigrette:  equal parts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, garlic, dash of dry mustard, salt and pepper

I managed to snap this on my iphone as I'm screaming, "DO NOT MOVE!  DO NOT.  MOVE."
Yes, that would be Lincoln scaling the top of the play set as he decided to climb out of the playhouse (apparently the steering wheel was so not cool anymore) and crawl across the top of the monkey bars.

I was sitting in the yard watching the boys and literally took my eyes off of him for one second.
Rookie move.

Violin 1 Year Anniversary

Although Gabe recently joined them, the girls have been playing the violin for one year.  All those weekly trips to sit in a studio for an hour and half are starting to pay off.

We practice Suzuki style which means I sit in the studio taking notes as each of them takes their lesson.  Its a form of torture with 2 toddler boys in tow.  Here's a very quick clip from a performance they put on for Bex and I during dinner last week.

Whoopsy!

A 3-day weekend meets excessive amounts of time away from the laundry room.