UTAH

Week 4:

Sunday July 3rd:
Picnic at Grandma Adams' home. Deer in the field...

Caitlin and Grace
Abby, Grace, Caitlin, Will
Grandma, Clink and Kathy
Hanna, Kathy, Quincey and Penny.
Devin and Jen
Clink and Panda
B and mama....
Damon, Sara and Quincey- taking his first steps!
Grandma and Amanda
Alea and Brinley

Monday July 4th
CABIN!!


Ellen, Caitlin, Ty and Will
Sugarhouse Fire works viewed from Nana and Papa's front yard...

Tuesday July 5th
Auntie Lou busy in the kitchen with C and W making 'cookie hamburgers'... so cute.

Off to the ZOO, cause that's how we roll...
The Gorilla was especially entertaining!

(yeah, don't worry, we didn't stop for ONE MINUTE on this vacation...)

July 6th
Time to Cool off at the Pool...




Liberty Park and Pizza picnic with Trav and Erika Bowen and their two darling kids! "Look at THIS..." Mini Justin and Mini Trav... Aw!
Thursday July 7th
Girls Morning at Bountiful Temple!!
That afternoon i went to visit Nana and Papa! Nana played the piano and i sang some songs for Papa, it was a wonderful afternoon...AND...then FAMILY NIGHT at LAGOON!!!



"SpEEE-eye-Dher"




If you want to know the inside joke behind THIS next picture... click HERE
Friday July 8th,
Cracroft Family Reunion @ Heber Vally Camp! Caitlin, Will and Justin help Uncle Kent with the flag!

GAME ON!
tickle fest...
bros...

Aw. sibs.
Pops, Parks, Justin with another 'ugly face' and Brinley with her fave- "SIPPER"
Saturday July 9th:
Jon participated in the Echo Lake Triathlon! We had a good time cheering him on!
Go, Joggy, GO!
Waiting for our bro... beautiful morning!
YAY!!!! (Swam a mile and now back from riding 25 miles!!)
and now off to run a 10K...
Linds putting her HS Cheer days to good use... rah rah...
"can i get a little more COW BELL, please??"

"Dude, WHAT is this?"
Family Photos...
Ludwig Von Drake Silly, of course!

Pops and Nans with the babies...
Little Cray family off and away to Richmond... SMILING from ear to ear from just having had THE BEST FAMILY VACATION... EVER!
comfy-cosie on the plane!
refreshed from our nap... time for a 'sipper and pretzels' with my pink bear!
feeding the bear some 'sipper'.
waiting for the parking van at 11:30 pm (good thing we are on Utah time!)
reunited with our darling Pepper!! (and Dodger too-no pic of that moment- cats don't like cameras!)
(That's it for now: keep an eye out for week(s) 1, 2, and 3! (LOTS of pictures to go through, only 894! How many pictures can YOU take in a month???)
Glad to be home safe! Off to bed to dream of our beloved Utah!

Lick-your-plate-it's-so-GOOD stir-fry!

Justin here.  It's been a unique Fathers Day this year.  Amanda and the kids are in Utah visiting family a couple of weeks ahead of me joining them.  They were sweet and celebrated Fathers Day a couple of weeks early while we were all together here in VA.

In spite of celebrating together a couple of weeks ago, I still planned to make a better-than-bachelor-average dinner.  Following a hearty and delicious lunch invite by some dear friends (Thank You, Woods!), I almost decided to skip dinner all together.  But...  I had all the ingredients and have been excited all week to try my hand at making it---it was SO good the first time when Amanda made it!

Without further ado, here is the recipe for quite possibly the best stir-fry you will ever make!  And if it's easy enough for a guy like me to do it, anyone can make this!

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[Reduced Calorie] Sesame Ginger Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry
Makes: 4 servings  ◦  Prep: 15 min  ◦  Refrigerate: 2 hrs  ◦  Cook: 14 minutes
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Forgive the poor picture quality; the good camera is in Utah!

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Ingredients
1 lb          chicken cutlets
4 t            dark sesame oil
3 T           minced fresh ginger
1/3 c        reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 T           rice vinegar
1/2 c        chicken broth
1 T           cornstarch
8 oz         green beans, trimmed
2 cloves   minced garlic
3/4 lb      yellow squash, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/3 inch slices
1              large sweet red pepper, cut into thin strips
2 c           hot cooked rice

Instructions
1. Cut chicken into thin strips.  Combine chicken with 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of the ginger in a large resealable plastic bag; refrigerate 2 hours.  Combine soy sauce, vinegar, broth and cornstarch in a bowl; stir until cornstarch dissolves.  Set aside.
2.  Cook beans in boiling salted water for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain and rinse under cold running water.
3.  Heat remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; stir-fry 5 minutes.  Remove.  Add remaining ginger and the garlic; stir-fry 1 minute.  Add squash and pepper; stir-fry on high heat for 3 minutes.  Stir in soy sauce mixture, beans and chicken.  Stir-fry 2 minutes to thicken sauce.  Serve with cooked rice.

Nutritional Info
Per serving:  370 calories, 7g fat (1g saturated), 33g protein, 42g carbohydrate, 5g fiber, 1,003mg sodium, 66mg cholesterol

oh, hi... lots going on...

My sweet neighbor, Heather shared her beautiful hydrangeas with me this week... :)
Skype-fest with fam in UTAH!!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day a little early... after a yummy dinner and skype with the family, we tucked the kiddos in bed, only to hear little feet walking down the stairs: Caitlin and Will bringing 'wrapped gifts for daddy' on Father's Day! how cute is that? Here are the kids with Daddy; and their gifts. (this made us laugh, because as they headed back to bed they took their gifts with them... haha!)
Monday: My totally awesome cousin, Linda (from Seven Years of Plenty) and I ventured north to about an hour to The Snow Farm to visit East Coast Food Storage!! I'm excited to say that I've officially started my food storage!! It's not much, but it's a start! We had such a fun time together: we got lost, we laughed, we even saw a BEAR!! Yah, folks. We know how to party! Will and Brinley were so good... fun afternoon. we've decided we need to spend more time together! Here's a pic from the Farm... so beautiful and peaceful.
Tuesday: Suzie hosted the famous monthly RECIPE CLUB for June... and our theme was Wedding Foods. I told Suz i wanted to try and make a wedding cake!! Here are a few pics of my FIRST Wedding cake with fondant!! Not BAD, eh???

Can you believe it? I MADE this... i had fun. (i couldn't just make it white. i had to spice it up with SOMETHING BLUE... <3
Wednesday: Our Darling William graduated from Preschool!! (he was wearing a handsome button down shirt before we left that morning, but he decided he was going to help me do the dishes... and it was soaked!! So, he rocked the Mario shirt at graduation, it's more "Will" anyway. he wanted to wear his Buzz Light Year costume... that battle i did win. Here's Will is standing as they called his name... FUTURE Kindergartner!!

Will receiving his diploma from Mrs. Williams.
Brinley's 2nd cupcake...
(had to include this pic...) I offered to take my friend's 'family' pics for them because their memory card was full on their camera... so, she offered in return... this was before our 'family' pic: Me doing the 'mom' thing: licking a napkin and wiping my kid's lunch off his face...

Will's Teachers and class. Miss Rachel, Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Wayne

(Buddy the) ELF Lasagna

Buddy, "Could you pass the Maple Syrup, please?"
Emily, (confused...)"It's spaghetti..."
Buddy, "Oh, wait... i think i have some!"
Emily, "You like sugar, don't you?"
Buddy, "Is there sugar in syrup?"
Emily, "Yes."
Buddy, "Then YES!"

OK, How many of us have quoted this scene and giggled to ourselves..."Who's crazy enough to eat that...?"

But have you every tired it?

Well, look no further... I've got the solution for you, about the same ingredients- different form- delicious none the less! May i introduce to you...

Elf Lasagna with **secret ingredient** Maple Syrup!!

(don't judge till you try it, and believe it or not, this recipe is actually healthy for you!)

The following recipe is for an 8x8 dish! (double for 9x13)

Ingredients:
9 strips of 100% Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles -you'll have to karate chop the noodles to fit 8x8 pan :)
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 white onion, chopped
2 Tbs 100% pure maple syrup
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1/2 lb fresh firm tofu (not silkin)
4 cups kale (or spinach) chopped
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced summer squash
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (or rice cheese)

Directions:
Cook Lasagna noodles according to package. Drain and rise with cold water, gently lay on clean dish towel to dry.

Prepare Filling:
in large skillet over med. heat, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until soft (about 5 min.) Add Maple syrup, Italian seasoning and stir. Open tofu package, and drain liquid. Wrap tofu in paper towels and press to remove excess liquid. Crumble tofu into pan with onions, stir and cook for 5 min.

Add zucchini, squash and fold kale greens into tofu mixture and continue cooking until soft (3-5 min.) Season to taste with salt, pepper, remove from heat.
Assembling:
Start by adding a little tomato sauce to the bottom of your pan and cover with your first layer of lasagna noodles. Add half of your tofu mixture and top with sauce and cheese, (repeat).

Finish your lasagna by adding the third layer of noodles, followed by sauce and cheese. (I find a "little" goes a long way, no need to smother this recipe in sauce or cheese, let the focus be on the tofu mixture!)Bake:
Cover with foil and place in 400 degree preheated oven for 20 min. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 min. Let stand 5 min before serving.
(this recipe is also great served with large stuffed shells: stuff shells with tofu mixture and top with sauce and cheese. bake the same as Lasagna.)

Enjoy!

A little Elf humor:


and while you are at it click HERE to read about nutrition info and health benefits for Maple Syrup!

my little buddies...

Friday, Will cashed in his "Good Deeds Sticker Chart" for a Spider Man hat and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. I just thought these pictures were so cute of will sharing his hat with Brinley.






This picture is the cutest... it's so "Charlie Brown baseball" to me... little kids with big hats... i love these little babies...

Caitlin was making Horse Trophies last week... with play-do...