Summer salad series

My mom always encouraged nutrition by setting out two fruits/vegetables at each meal.  I despised this at the time and in fact, in my usual tactless way, once told my a friend's mom in high school that I loved eating at their house because she let them eat whatever they wanted without worrying about nutrition.  But as a grown up, I am thankful for my mom's insistence at two fruit or vegetable servings at lunch and supper.  It's just a great habit to have.  I do find myself getting tired of the same old fruit and vegetable offerings.  (Usually frozen, canned, or fresh fruits and veggies.)  Salads are a nice departure from that. 

My friend, Cari, recently did a post on summer salads.  So I thought I'd share the recipes she shared.  You know, a few new recipes for the end of summer.  I also thought I'd share a couple of tricks I use to jazz up fresh fruit.  If you've got a killer salad recipe or trick for jazzing up fruit/veggies, don't hesitate to share. 

First, a few tricks:
You can easily give fresh fruit a face lift by adding a "dressing" to the fruit.  It's a great way to add another layer of flavor to your fruit.  The best and easiest kinds of dressings are those that require little work and actually 'make themselves.'  One trick is to use jelly or jam as a fruit glaze over fruit.   Nuke the jelly or jam for a bit until it liquifies and then toss to coat your fruit.  It works great with mixed salads like strawberry over grapes, bananas, and strawberries.  Or it's good alone like tossing bananas in strawberry jelly.  Another trick is to use a smidge of sugar and a bit of citrus zest over fruit.  Oranges, strawberries, and apple chunks taste great with a bit of sugar and orange zest.  What about strawberries with kiwi, sprinkled with lime zest?  You can also squeeze a little of the citrus juice over the salad for more citrus flavor.  Of course, if you're really feeling daring, adding some fresh herbs can also be a great mix into a zest based dressing.  Mint and cilantro are two of my favorites.  But if you're like me, you rarely have anything like that when you need it.

And some new recipes to try, straight out of someone else's recipe file:

Snickers Salad
6 Snickers candy bars
2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding mix
8 0z Cool Whip
5-6 Granny Smith apples
3 C milk


Peel & cut apples into bite-size pieces (I don’t always peel; sometimes I use my apple wedger & then cut the wedges into chunks). Cut candy bars into bite-size pieces. Mix milk & pudding together; fold in Cool Whip. Add apples & candy bar pieces.

Asian Slaw
16 oz. broccoli slaw mix
2 pkgs. beef ramen noodles
¼ C sliced almonds
½ C sunflower nuts
2 T vinegar
¾ C oil
1/3 C sugar


Mix together ramen noodle seasoning packets, vinegar, oil & sugar. Crumble raw noodles. Add remaining ingredients; pour dressing over and toss well. Serve immediately. (If making ahead, add crumbled noodles only right before serving.)

Acini de pepi Salad (old family favorite from my Grandma Peterson)

16 oz. pkg of acini de pepi (small pasta, similar to tapioca in shape)
Cook in salted water for 8 min; rinse & drain well. Cool.

Dressing:
1 C sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp salt
2 T flour
1 ¾ C pineapple juice (use from drained pineapple to add in later)
Mix & cook til thick. Pour over pasta & refrigerate overnight.


Add next day:Small can crushed pineapple, drained, regular size can pineapple tidbits, drained, 2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained, 10 oz. pkg mini-marshmallows (optional) and 8 0z. Cool Whip

Refrigerate; best if stands awhile. Makes a very large batch. Freezes well.

Broccoli Orange Salad
4 C fresh broccoli florets, bite-size
½ C cashews
Small red onion, chopped
½ C buttermilk ranch dressing
2 T orange juice
1 T horseradish sauce
Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix ranch dressing, orange juice & horseradish sauce together. Poor over other ingredients, adding mandarin oranges gently at end. Mix well & chill for 2 hours.

Grape Salad
2 C fruit (can use mixed berries, but I prefer just grapes)
2 individual containers vanilla yogurt
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

Mix pudding mix & yogurt together (will be very thick); fold in Cool Whip. Add in fruit gently.

Berry Peach Bellini Salad
¼ C orange juice
3 T sugar
4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted & cut into bite-size chunks
1 C raspberries or diced strawberries (I prefer strawberries)
2 C sparkling wine or lemon-lime soda (I’ve only ever used Sprite or 7-Up; can use diet)


Mix orange juice & sugar together. Add peaches & berries. Divide fruit evenly into 4 individual serving cups. Cover & freeze at least one hr. About ½ hr before serving, remove cups from freezer. Let stand until slightly thawed. Poor sparkling wine or soda over fruit evenly. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Buttermilk Salad (aka Striped Cookie & Mandarin Orange Salad)
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
1 ½ C buttermilk (will make mix a bit thicker & tangier, but can use reg. milk)
8 oz Cool Whip½ pkg fudge-striped shortbread cookies, crumbled (can use caramel-striped as well)
Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix pudding with buttermilk; fold in Cool Whip. Add crumbled cookies & oranges; mix gently. Serve immediately. (If making ahead, add crumbled cookies only right before serving.)

Guess who has been married for 11 years today? 

In 11 years, we've covered a lot of ground.

4 moves

an arrest of a family member

2 bachelor's degrees and 1 1/2 master's degrees (D is almost done so it's more like 1 5/6 degrees)

3 jobs that paid for college (Shopko customer service, YMCA janitorial position, and Menards cashier)

5 different teaching jobs (a group home for troubled kids, 1st grade, 4th grade, 1st grade, and art)

4 trips abroad (1 to Peru, 3 to Haiti)

2 kids

being trained as foster parents

buying a house and trying to sell it

3 dogs and 2 cats

lots of mismatched furniture and finally purchasing our first set of new things

numerous home projects including wallpaper thus answering the "can your marriage survive wallpapering together" question

becoming a head coach

the terminal cancer diagnosis of D's mom

the loss of a mom/mother in law, a grandpa, and a grandma

walking beside each other as best friends
And just for old times, sake...a photo from the night we got engaged.

We want a legless dog!

Our dear basset hound made a break for it today while Kenson was opening the gate to go move his wagon.  Kenson was less than thrilled about having to move the wagon so I don't know if that minor irritation had anything to do with the dog escaping or not.  Anyway, D had to long, fast run to catch him.  Upon the dog's return and subsequent sequestering in the bathroom, D remarked that the next dog we had would not have any legs.  Kenson looked very puzzled and with a serious face replied back, "How him walk with no legs?"

He's 4!

Kenson Jules is 4!

I can't believe that it's been 4 years since we returned from Peru and started praying about Haiti. He sure has changed from even last year at this time. While still a bit on the unsure side, his confidence is growing and growing. He climbs slides, jumps off of benches, and races on the playground. Gone is the unsteady little guy who even a year ago often let fear talk him out of riding on certain toys or climbing on certain things. He's gone from a short Afro to locs. He's grown by leaps and bounds; it's a constant struggle to keep his pants and shirt sleeves long enough.  (Up to 45 inches tall now.)  He's gained a sister and spent a week away from his Mama and Papa. And yet so much of him has stayed the same. His smile is still his best feature, one that lights up his face. He is eager to please and full of joy. He has deepened his friendships with other kids and put down solid roots in his love for his family.  As I was looking for some pictures of him from last year at the this time, I trolled back through my August 2009 archives.  This post really shows how much he has grown in the last year.  And check out the photo of him.  He looks like such a little guy.  Especially when you compare the face in that photo to the one of him and Conleigh riding their Rubbermaid tote horse.

Oh how I pray he sees how God has set him aside with a specific purpose in mind, how God has loved him from day one, how he is a treasure designed by a Loving God.

6 months

Conleigh has been home six months. Hard to believe. Very much like that saying "the days are long but the years are fast." Half a year...gone.



When she came home, it was such a crazy time. We literally were not expecting her homecoming to be forthcoming. We spent a lot of time trying not to get too excited until she was actually on a plane, leaving Haiti.



There were a lot of people behind the scenes working to help us and those we knew in Haiti who might need help, including Kenson and Conleigh's orphanage. For weeks, there was a lot of confusion over what might happen to the children in both orphanages. Kenson's orphanage was in Port Au Prince and there were real concerns about their safety and their ability to get food and water. I contacted as many people as I knew who had Haitian connections. And I was pleasantly surprised when multiple people on the ground in Haiti contacted me back, all offering to do their best to help, all doing so in the middle of a disaster where it would have been really easy for them to be too busy to help. A friend of a friend stopped by multiple times with water. Will White, with Mission Aviation Fellowship, helped to find people who might be able to evacuate the kids to the Embassy and also worked to make sure the kids had the basics. I even got an email from a captian on a US Coast Guard Ship; he was offering medical aide.



With Conleigh's orphanage, one of the biggest unknowns was the future of the orphanage. The US had quickly jumped up and the rumblings of some type of parole had already started. Because of this, one of the thoughts was that perhaps the entire orphanage might be able to be paroled to the US. This meant coming up with a plan that could be presented to the US government to see if they would allow the entire orphanage to leave. Multiple places stepped up to the plate and agreed to put themselves out there despite the situation being very murky. My aunt and uncle who own an unused school offered the orphanage the school. Another unused school in Central Nebraska was offered up. Cookson Hills Children Home in Kansas, Oklahoma offered its facilities as well as its power as a child placing agency. In the end, paroling an entire orphanage was not an option but it is still amazing to see several places step out in faith, believing that if God relocated the orphanage, that He would work out the details.



Our representative, Adrian Smith, and our Senator, Mike Johans, were excellent listeners who worked with us and shared any information they had regarding what was happening to help children join their families in the U.S.. When we took off on Monday, we had a pretty good idea that Conleigh would be coming home but we were not 100% certain of when it would be. The group, which supports Conleigh's orphanage offered us lodging at a reduced rate which made our decision to fly to Florida much easier to make.



Upon our arrival in Orlando, we rented a car from Budget car rentals. On Monday evening, we had actually just arrived at our lodging which was an hour north of Orlando when we received a call that the kids might be on a plane flying into Miami that night. Miami was about 4 hours south of where we were. So we hopped back in the car, driving south, until we got another call telling us that the kids were not on a plane but that they were probably flying into Miami on Tuesday. We ended up staying about halfway in between Orlando and Miami and then driving into Miami Tuesday afternoon. The plane didn't land until after supper and by the time the kids were all processed, it was too late to pick them up so we had to wait until Wednesday morning to get Conleigh. We then dropped the rental car off at the Miami Airport on Thursday, right before we headed back home. Budget intially told us that we would have to pay an additional fee because the car was picked up in Orlando but being returned in Miami. When we explained our situation, they waived the fee.

When we arrived home, we entered a house that had been left quickly. But I returned home to empty laundry hampers and clean towels. We did not have a bed for Conleigh and several people from our church made sure a bed was in her room by time we got home. Kenson was gone, having spent an entire week with my parents. Our life was blessed by many other people who wanted to make sure Conleigh's homecoming was as easy as it could be.

I hope as you read the stories of what life was like at our house 6 months ago that you stop and smile as you consider God's faithfulness and the ways in which many people allowed themselves to be used by God, even if they didn't knowingly work from under the umbrella of serving God.

An ode to Maude

When I was younger, my parents helped start a food pantry in the Sandhills of Central Nebraska. I spent quite a bit of time in an old bread store with my parents and grandparents, organizing food stuffs and helping people select food to take home. One of these people was a little old lady named Maude. Dainty, shrunken Maude. Dressed in polyester and dedicated to putting her best foot forward, Maude refused to age gracefully. Her rouge was bright and very unsubtle. Her lipstick followed suit and often escaped the edges of her lips. And perhaps the best part of Maude was that she was the only person I knew who wore a wig. Of course, the only reason I knew she wore a wig was because her actual hair was always sticking out from underneath the wig.

Well today, I pulled a Maude. We had baby dedication at church today and Kenson and Conleigh were two of the children who were dedicated. We got ready plenty early so D and I decided to go to the grocery store and grab some doughnuts, giving us a chance to talk to Conleigh and Kenson about what the dedication service meant. As I got back in the car and drove to church, I glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed I was wearring a blue enamel earring, one I purchased in Romania. That puzzled me. I had picked out pink earrings to match my necklace. Then I realized I was wearing two different earrings, one pink and one blue. I have short hair. Those earrings were very visible for the hour or so that I've been running around town. Apparently, I just grabbed and since they were the same style back, I didn't notice. Classy...just like Maude.

The M.D.s

Playing doctor...something tells me those bandages won't do well if they get wet