Tasty Lentil Tacos

The name, Tasty Lentil Tacos, may sound at first like an oxymoron.  

But it is not.  

I've been making this thrifty and healthy taco filling for years and we always enjoy it.

This is my plate from tonight.  

The lentils are in the middle with fresh salsa made from our backyard tomatoes.

The chips are Mission extra thin corn tortillas- cut in eighths, lightly brushed with olive oil and baked until crisp.  

Jeff ate his lentils rolled in tortillas with the chips and salsa on the side.

Its a simple recipe,  just lentils cooked in chicken broth seasoned with onions, chili powder, cumin, oregano and a little garlic.  

my copy of the recipe-from AllRecipes.com 

but when I looked for a link to it earlier in the week,  the recipe there was a little different.  

See, this one I printed off was rated 5 out of 5 stars by 63 members.  

We are not the only people who Lentil Tacos are tasty!  

Pacifier clips

When we saw grand daughter Andie last week,  she was wearing a patriotic pacifier clip to match her patriotic outfit.  The clip was gift from one of her mom's customers.

The clip is so handy in keeping Andie's pacifier off the floor.

Her parents said they would like to have one "in every color"  

So,  I looked online for instructions to make some.  There are many tutorials out there. 

They are just a short piece of fabric or ribbon with a velcro loop on one end to the pacifier and a clip on the other end to fasten to the baby's clothing.   

I found this pack of ironing board clips at JoAnns for $3.99- with enough clips to make 8
it was the best way  I found to get the most clips for the smallest price  

I made 4
black & white,  green & yellow,  pink and lavender.

They were very quick to make - 

Working my way through a to-do list

Back in April,  I read on Kelly's blog as she worked her way through the Money Saving Mom's 4 week plan for a clean and organized home.  The tasks were things like clean out your fridge and medicine cabinet and air vents and throw away/donate clutter as you find it.

I did many of the things on the list including cleaning all the windows, blinds, ceiling fans and light fixtures.  

But I never did get around to cleaning the tops of the kitchen cabinets.  

Here is Kelly's post when she cleaned the top of her cabinets.  

While Jeff was home and with lots of help from Gavin,  they took care of the cabinet tops for me. 

I had a lot of stuff up there and man, was it greasy and dusty.  

It is has all been washed but I don't think anything is going back up there for now.  

Jeff is standing on a platform but my almost 6 foot husband is having to stand on his tiptoes to clean the tops of those cabinets.

The upper cabinets have crown molding around them and the shelf part is several inches below that.

So displaying things is tricky as they sit lower than the crown molding and there only about 10 inches between the crown molding and ceiling. 

For now,  the cabinet tops are clean and empty. 

 I've looked around on Pinterest for ideas to decorate them but nothing strikes my fancy just yet.  

Any suggestions?  

Possibly the cutest brother shirts ever

My daughter Nina designed and printed these shirts for her nephews.

She has a Silhouette machine that makes the designs and transfers.

She just got a fancy heat press machine that attaches the designs to the fabric in a professional way.  

I think they are wonderful and the new parents were very excited to get them.

Bubby is what Gavin has called himself since he could talk.
When asked what his new brother's name should be, Gavin said "Baby Bubby"
so that is why the shirts say Bubby.  

the backs of the shirts


Nina is working on an Etsy shop.
I'll post a link when she opens it.  

Backyard improvements

Jeff took some vacation days from his job and spent much of it doing improvements to our back yard.  

Like all of our neighbors, our yard has a 6 foot privacy fence around the back part.
He spent several days converting one of the front sections into a double gate.

Now that we have a gate,  he can drive his pick-up into the back yard .
That is especially handy when he has a load to drop off......

Like this wood he used to put a roof on this pergola that has been in our backyard since we bought the house.

It had slats in the roof part but they gave no shade or protection from rain.
This picture is in the middle of the roof construction.

It is finished now but I am not going to climb up on that ladder to take a picture of it.
just take my word, OK?

He also took apart and cleaned out the Rubbermaid storage building in the back yard.
Then he made a new higher foundation for it and put it all back together.  

The next plan is to do some kind of paved surface under and around that pergola- either poured concrete or maybe pavers.

I only assisted a little - and mostly just kept his Iced Tea mug full.
But I sure am glad to have all these jobs done!