Mira's One Mile

Mira joined fitness club with her little friend at school this year. Basically, it is just getting kids to move around, run, get them excited about exercise. The school enrolled in the one mile run at the Medtronic Run last weekend which is part of the TCM.
Despite a few obstacles to get there and get her registered. She ran one whole mile with stopping! That's my little lady!

Warming UP:




Here she is:


The group that ran First - Fourth Grade


Trying to Stay Warm:


She finished!


Mira and her running buddy!


Fueling up after the race:


That is not coffee:


Great job Mira!

A little face lift

We have 2 1/2 baths in our home - one full bath on our main floor, 1/2 bath on the upstairs and another full bath downstairs. The basement bathroom is the one we all share, is used everyday for showers, primping, etc! Not sure why we have just let it sit there looking, ugly, out dated, not very inviting.

So we decided to give the bathroom a little face lift or as Mira calls it "it has been recreated".
When Ron and I start a project it feels as though it takes us a month to just get things going from the color of paint, fixtures, etc. Thankfully we both have very similar tastes so we agree on most things.

We did not want to gut the bathroom basically we really did not want to invest thousands of dollars in the bathroom, we do have a kitchen that we are hoping to remodel in the next year. So, we had to work with the existing pale, tan/pinkish floor, the ugly brown doors. Surprisingly a fresh coat of paint, new light fixtures, new hardware and taking down an ugly shower door does a lot to freshen a room!

I did not take any pictures of the bathroom prior to the face lift but I did find this one. Tyler is so small! You can kind of see the ugly shower door, not too much to the bathroom.



We took out the ugly three bulb lights down and bought these beautiful light fixtures:





We also replaced all the ugly wood towels, toilet paper fixtures and light switch plates with oil bronzed fixtures:



The ugly scum filled shower door was replaced by this fun shower curtain:



Since it is the basement bathroom we did not want to put too dark of a color on the walls. We ended up painting the walls a lighter color and the ceiling a darker color:



Here is the full view:

Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes

I found this recipe on Simply Recipe Blog! This is a keeper - everyone loved it! I think my sister Rachel made it a few weeks ago - I have not heard her comments as of yet.



Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes Recipe
You can easily substitute ground chicken, beef or lamb for the ground turkey. The "curry" part of this recipe is flexible. Use your favorite curry powder, garam masala, or Indian spice mix.
INGREDIENTS
3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey (thigh meat if you can get it)
1 chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1-2 chopped fresh red chiles (optional)
A 1-inch piece of peeled ginger, grated fine
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp garam masala (or curry powder)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2-4 Roma or other plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup (loosely packed) chopped cilantro or parsley
METHOD
1 Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large pot with a lid. When the oil is hot, add the ground meat, spreading it out over the pan. Try not to crowd the meat (you may need to cook in batches). Cook the meat without stirring, until it begins to brown.
2 Add the chopped onion and chiles. Stir and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onion begins to color a bit. Sprinkle salt over everything.
3 Add the grated ginger and garlic, mix well and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
4 Mix in the spices, water, and the potatoes. Stir to combine and cover. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
5 When the potatoes are tender, add the diced tomatoes and peas. Mix well and cover the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add salt, if needed, to taste.
Right before you serve, mix in the chopped cilantro. Serve alone or with flatbread or white rice.
Serves 4.