The Olivers

Monday, December 9, 2013

Yes I know it late...

But here is my Halloween post! Sawyer and Cooper started the day off at music class signing spooky songs and giving and receiving candy. So we started Trick or Treating by 10:30 in the morning. Cooper then went out to the farm with Grandma so I could help out at Sawyers preschool for the afternoon! They had lots of fun singing more spooky songs and even helping their teacher Ms. Nina carve a huge pumpkin! At the end of class they filled their tummy's with more yummy treats and their backpacks full of candy! Sawyer couldn't wait to participate in the trick or treating so I told her that if she wanted people to come trick or treating she'd have to give away her candy. She was elated! She gave away her candy like a champ! Then off to the farm for supper. I think it's becoming tradition that we have supper out there on Halloween. We went trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpas house and then off to Uncle Roy and Auntie Debbie's. We decided that since our buckets were full we'd head back into town for bed!

Sawyers' Spooky Sugar cookies for her classmates!

Monday, December 2, 2013

I'm dreaming of...

I've been on a smoothie kick for a little bit now and I thought I'd share the one I made this morning with you! It's super tropical so I'm dreaming of beaches and the sound of waves crashing (yes, jealous of my parents in Puerto Vallarta)! This smoothie is called Tropical Fruit Green Smoothie. It involved learning/ youtubing how to crack open a coconut and get the meat out! Enjoy!

First you need to hollow out one of the 3 indentations.

Empty out the coconut water.

Next I whacked the nut on the edge of my counter to start a crack. I rotated the nut to get a large enough crack that I could pull it apart!

The next step I didn't take pictures of because it was so frustrating. On youtube the guy must have been a pro or I had the wrong type of knife or something. What is supposed to happen is you cut an inch sliver out. From the center point to the edge. That part was okay. Then the meat is apparently supposed to fall out with a little coaxing of the knife. Mine needed more than slight coaxing. It needed some serious angry love and it still didn't come out that easy. Needless to say I took 3/4 of the meat out and then threw the rest away!

Coconut, coconut water, one mango!

My date for the day!

End result! A super vibrant green that says 'I'm on the beach' in every sort of a way!

I ended up altering the recipe as we snuck a few mangoes a couple days ago. The kids LOVE mangoes!

Here is the recipe. (I'll put my changes in brackets!)

Tropical Fruit Green Smoothie

Water of a coconut

Meat of a coconut (3/4)

2 cups of water (1 c.)

2 mangoes (1)
2 pitted dates (1)
4 c. frozen pineapple (2.5 c.)
2 frozen bananas (1)
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon
4 c. fresh spinach

Blend all items together, then taste. If it is to your liking add ice! If not, add more dates to make it sweeter, or more water if it's too thick, for example. For a batch this big I added two trays of ice. ENJOY! It is paradise! This makes 64 ounces or 8 cups!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Rivercity Roundup - Edmonton

The first weekend of November we took a little trip up to Edmonton to the Rivercity Roundup! It was such a cute little fair put on by the city. How have I not mentioned that this was free? IT WAS FREE! So great! There were pony rides, hay rides, face painting, popcorn, a blacksmith, and even Woody and Jessie from Toy Story were there. Of course our kids were too terrified to go near them! But they loved them! We spent the afternoon checking out all the sights and then the kids crashed on the way home!