Wow!

Okay, i'll admit this has absolutely nothing to with vegetables but I was so thrilled that I wanted to share.
I'm getting things ready for the move, and didn't really want to fork over the $6 for the "dishwasher cleaner" at Kroger so I looked to other avenues. That's $6 saved on a dishwasher I don't ever have to see again, it adds up!
After googling a little bit I concocted a recipe that utilized a few different methods and it worked great!

1 large lemon
1-2 cups white vinegar (buy offbrand, it's the exact same thing and usually close to $1.00 a gallon)
1/2 capful of Downey fabric softener (takes off residual dish detergent!).

Total cost: Lemon $0.33, Vinegar $0.13, Downey $0.20: $0.66!

I took everything out of the dish washer, racks silverware holder etc and just gave it a quick wipe down to make sure nothing yucky was stuck to it.
Then I turned on the dishwasher (nothing in it at this point) and let it run a few minutes so it could drain.
Put all the parts back inside, chopped up my lemon into 4 equal sized parts put one part in the silverware holder, 2 slices on the top rack and the other slice on the bottom rack.
Pour the liquids into the dishwasher and let it resume running.
About halfway through the wash cycle unlock the door (so it stops running) set a timer and let the liquid sit in the bottom for 10 minutes to let the vinegar do it's stuff, then lock it back to resume wash.

Ta-da! My dishwasher looks brand new and it smells awesome. No elbow grease required :)

Shut the front door!

Okay, sorry - I failed at keeping you updated on this transition, but anyone who knows me knows that the last two months have been completely psychotic.

As most of you know we're moving (Yay!) to Lake Jackson next month, which is about 2.5-3 hours away (ish) depending on how much Houston traffic you have to sit through. Finding a place to live has proved to be completely haywire. I got a subscription to their local classifieds, I scoured every online resource I could find and I started calling every realtor agency I could find in the phone book (this is a old-fashioned euphemism for I googled phone numbers, lol)

Anyway, (I have to share how this actually happened because it's pretty ironic, and lucky for us) - I called on a house in Angleton (sight-unseen) that I found in the classifieds, roughly 15 minutes from Lake Jackson, and scheduled with a lady to see it the following Saturday. I asked the lady multiple times for the address which she gave me, she probably thought I was nuts by this time, but I could not find this address on GoogleEarth to save my life. Anyway, I get to Angleton and go to the street, the number she gave me does not exist so I call her - Oooops, she thought I was calling about another property in Lake Jackson (also with a street called Holly) so she rushes to Angleton, tells the tenants of the house that they were getting a surprise visitor (this family was more than accomidating, poor dears were trying to bathe their children and get packed to move with us barging in to get a tour). The house wasn't anything special, it was down the street from a pawn shop, off a busy road, and next to what appeared to be a 3 story crack house. I went in optimistic but by this time I was feeling a bit defeated, I had just made a 2.5hr drive for nothing.
We decided to make the best of the wasted trip and go to Lake Jackson and check on some luxury apartments, so we thanked the woman and left. About 15 minutes after we left the woman texted me with an address and told me it was a home her friend owned and that the last renters abandoned it, the landlord was out of state but the neighbors would let us in. We went over immediately and took a look, and as you probably guessed we got it :) It was trashed inside, the tenants definitely left in a hurry but nothing a little TLC and elbow grease couldn't fix.

Such a relief, it's been crazy finding a house getting hung up on, told "no pets!" already rented etc. I was ready to commit to another year of apartment living.

Lake Jackson is going to be really great for us I think, the community really promotes reduce, reuse, recycle and I love that, free weekly curbside-pickup of recyclables. The community seems to be very friendly, the neighborhood is already welcoming. We went there this weekend and the neighbor was mowing OUR lawn. Not just mowing, but edging, trimming, and blowing the leaves because he didn't think we would be coming in. The local gym also offers yoga, pilates, and zumba EVERY morning. It's a hard life for a housewife ;)

Okay, so now that you've endured that here are our meals for the week:

California-Style Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches: Tangy lemon garlic mayo on crusty ciabatta, with grilled red onion, bell pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini with feta crumbles. I've been making this meal weekly at Gary's request, he informs me it is his favorite vegetarian meal.  

Farmers Garden Salad: Self explained, a bed of hearty greens with any vegetable I could find. With croutons and cheese crumbles i'm sure ;)

Broccoli Pasta Bake: Another recipe that is a staple. It's a little on the heavy side as far as meals go, but it makes a TON of leftovers that are just as tasty and cut cost on lunches. 

Zucchini-Potato Hash: This is sort of a breakfast food I guess, but who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? Caramelized onions, roasted potato and zucchini all cooked together hash style in a skillet and topped with an over-easy egg. Yum!

Veggie Soft Tacos: A huge hit here. Black beans, corn, red onion, bell pepper, and lime seasoned and roasted paired with a cabbage, radish, cilantro slaw eaten on soft taco shells with a dollop of sour cream and cheese sprinkling. 

This week is a week of favorites. Sorry to cut this so abruptly but i'm about to scarf tacos and watch Game of Thrones!

Sorry again for leaving you all hanging, I promise i'll be a better blogger after the move until then you're kind of stuck with me and all my flaws ;)

(Please excuse the bag, our neighbor INSISTED he mulch our tree before I took a picture)