A Simple Abundance

Living a minimalist life to the fullest!

Yummy Summer Salad

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I love to try new recipes – especially in the summer.  This one makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  I call it the “Yummy Summer Salad” because I don’t know the name.

A couple of months ago, we went to visit some friends in Alabama and they made it for us.  Megan told me that she picked it up in a grocery store salad bar one time and asked them the recipe.  I’m sure it has been tweaked a bit over the years.

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Recipe

Salad

  • 2-3 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 bag of thawed organic edamame
  • 1 small bag of crasins
  • 3-4 chopped carrots
  • 1 tub of feta

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all Salad ingredients together.  Whisk the dressing together and pour over salad.  Mix everything together well.

This salad is good right away but gets better as the flavors meld.  I say make it the day before you eat it.

Thank you to Megan Brantley for introducing me to it!

Thank You

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Thank you for spending a week with me and learning part of our journey. We have received an outpouring of love and well wishes through this entire week and I’m truly humbled. I didn’t think this would gain so much traction. I’ve realized that we stayed silent way too long. My own family didn’t even know the entire story because I didn’t talk about it.

My intention for writing and posting about our journey wasn’t to make you feel sorry for us or bring you down. It was definitely not meant to make anyone feel guilty for not knowing. It was merely to bring awareness to you that 1 in 8 of us are struggling, which means you know someone who has his or her own unique story to share.

I encourage you to listen, pray and #startasking about their journey. Don’t give advice, or tell them how to fix their problem. Just be their friend or family member and love them no matter what.

To those of you reading this who are experiencing infertility or miscarriage: Jason and I understand and would love to listen. #NIAW #startasking

Wonderful Support

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We have such wonderfully supportive friends and family. There is a core group who always ask us how we are doing and are genuinely curious about our infertility journey. They don’t ask out of obligation or to just appear interested. It’s probably tiring to ask the same questions for 8 years, but they do and we love them.

We also have a circle of friends, colleagues and family who we don’t see often and even though they aren’t able to ride the roller coaster with us for a myriad of reasons, we appreciate their love and support just as much.

Every kind and supportive thought expressed to us – even if it is only 1 time makes our hearts sing.  It only takes one supportive gesture after a miscarriage, failed treatment/adoption, etc for an infertile couple to keep moving forward.

God has woven a growing tapestry of people to support us that is beyond belief.  If you are reading this, thank you for supporting us!

Here are 11 Ways to Support Your Infertile Friends During World Infertility Awareness Month (and Always):  http://huff.to/1TbQvJy #NIAW #startasking

Cookies and Gratitude

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It’s wintertime in Kansas and with that comes beautiful snow! We haven’t had much of the beautiful white stuff lately, but what we have has been magical. The most recent storm had large clumps of perfectly formed snowflakes almost an inch in diameter.

I have to admit, I went outside and opened my mouth in hopes of catching one of those clusters on the tip of my tongue. Who says we have to dread snow as adults? I think we should still approach it with the reckless abandon of a child. Take snow walks as it is falling. Listen to the quietness as the snow absorbs the sound around us — even in the middle of the city.  Look for the redbirds perched in the trees. Make snow angels along the way!

The downside that comes with a large snow is the need to shovel your driveway. Ours is very long and taxing to shovel. A wonderful neighbor has snowblower and cleared our driveway while we were at work. It was such a blessing on a very busy day.

I have been feeling the need to bake lately and this was the perfect reason to make some cookies as thanks for such a wonderful gift. I made oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut butter blossoms.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

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The secret to making these great? Use real butter!

 

I’m becoming known for these cookies. I purchase the Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie bag and then add my own chips. I use Ghiradelli milk chocolate and 60% Cacao chips.  1/2 a bag each per bag of cookie mix. I make the cookie dough first and the stir in the chips and bake per the instructions on the bag.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

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For these I simply followed the recipe on the bag and placed the Hershey’s Kiss on the cookie immediately after it came out of the oven.  YUM!

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I ended up making about 4 dozen cookies yesterday so I have been giving them out to friends and family. It’s always a good idea to be an unexpected blessing to someone!