Laura Ingalls Wilder - Pt. 2

They had an iron cow set out so that people could practice "roping". Trent failed...

and so did Luke.

Char and Luke sitting in an old stage coach!

One of the horses there had just had a a baby - I think he was 4 days old! The mama was calm since this was her 4th cold but the baby was quite jumpy. We all were trying to get Little Jo (the colt - catch the reference?) to come up to us but Charlene was the only one who succeeded. Little Jo came up to within an inch of her hand then she just reached out to pet it's head a little bit before it scampered back to be right next to mom.

There are wagons they've converted into little camping cabins! Awesome!

Spaghetti squash Mexicana with tropical avocado salsa

Here is yet another AMAZING vegan recipe. It's fun to eat something that's part cold and part hot! I also made up 3 cups of rice to mix in with it just because I felt like rice belonged in the meal but it's fine without!

Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca

• 1 spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)

First, bake the squash. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Fill a baking dish with about an inch of water and place the squash cut side down in the dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the skin is easily pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes until you can handle the squash. Shred and scoop out the flesh with a fork or spoon into a bowl. While the squash is baking, assemble the salsa and bean mixture.

Tropical Salsa Fresca

• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1 cup chopped pineapple, mango or papaya
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
• ¼ cup lightly-packed fresh chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime

For the salsa, in a small bowl, toss all of the ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Bean and Corn mixture

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium-size yellow onion, diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup red cooking wine (I just used Sangria and it was delish)
  
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn (thawed if frozen)
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (such as Sriracha)

Prepare the bean mixture. In a large skillet, sauté the onions and jalapeno in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, all the spices, salt and the wine. Raise the heat and boil for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Lower the heat and add the black beans, corn and hot sauce. Cook for 5 more minutes until heated through. Add the squash to the bean mixture and toss to mix.
Divide among individual plates and top with salsa.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Pt. 1

So....for Memorial Day weekend...Charlene's Mom's side of the family decided to all get together in Loveland, Colorado. Julie wanted to stop in the Black Hills along the way and visit some stuff. Charlene came up with the excellent idea to go through De Smet, SD along the way there to visit the Ingalls homestead! The prairie is Luke's to behold!

Charlene's just really like's Laura Ingalls Wilder stuff...

There's was a baby calf in the dug out which Luke got to come over! It was sucking on his hands in the picture...

I got fields to plow!!!!

The good ol piano forte!

New Rav4! Our first car - financed by US!

So, for a while Char has been borrowing a car from her parents - but recently she has had to return it so that her brother could use it while he gets set up in life. We decided that we needed a vehicle to replace it and so we went car shopping and chose THIS! It's a 2010 Toyota Rav4 Sport. It will be mostly Charlene's to drive as it will be safer, plus the 2000 Dodge Neon has aways been considered mine.

Next vehicle we get will be mostly mine though!

We're way excited about it! I'm not sure about Char but I've never had the privilege of being able to have a brand new vehicle - but yeah, it's very affordable and it has everything we were looking for in a vehicle: It's got 4 wheel drive for the crazy North Dakota weather, a moon roof for awesome-ness, 6 disc cd player, iPod hookup, and all that good stuff.

Yes, this is the exciting thing in our lives at the moment