Pork Carnitas Tacos with Roasted Carrot-Habanero Salsa. I used a lean pork and this recipe, but threw it all in the crock pot, and for 10 minutes before serving, I put it in the oven. I knew we would need some sort of salsa, so I experimented roasting some carrots and habanero, then pureeing it together with a little bit of tomato juice. It turned out delicious and super hot, so this is definitely a salsa recipe we will be recreating again.

Week of 11/24 – 11/28
Monday: Vietnamese Chicken Pho
Tuesday: Spaghetti with Stuffed Garlic and Herb Meatballs
Wednesday: Thanksgiving (just the six of us)
Thursday: Thanksgiving feasting
Friday: Leftovers

I’m excited for turkey and stuffing, and for making turkey sandwiches with the leftovers! Of course, there will be lots of pie too. Pecan and pumpkin pie are both on my baking list this week. I probably love pecan slightly more than pumpkin, but I don’t really discriminate when it comes to dessert.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I love this post on choosing hospitality over entertaining.

I found a jacket similar to this at the thrift store, but it was just a tad too big. Darn.

I want to make this batch of peanut butter cookies.

This vintage bracelet is pretty, and actually looks more modern than vintage.

Thankful for some time this weekend to work on some of my December projects.

I’ve had hard parenting days lately and it seems the girls are going through a really defiant streak. Sometimes in these frustrating moments, it’s really hard to be thankful. Though little surprises like Ben bringing me milk tea, and my mom sending over some dessert, do make the hard days slightly sweeter (and manageable).

This week was light on posting because the days have been so hectic and I was coming up dry on what to share. I do plan to share some Christmas projects with you in the next couple weeks though, well, unless my already crazy life gets crazier. You just never know what life will throw at you…

We have noticed a trend this past year, every time it’s been someone’s birthday in our family (so far), we go tree shopping. All of Ben’s favorite nurseries are in San Diego, and True, Brave, and Glow’s birthdays were spent down there, so we also made a pit stop to check out trees. Ben got me a victorian ring for my birthday, but in was in Vista, so we went to pick it up and also go purchase more fruit trees!

He has this long wish list of trees, so with his 40th birthday coming up, I joke with him that his present is picking out 40 trees. HA! We’re running out of space in our suburban yard, so that wish really can’t come true, but if we did have the space, you bet he would cash in on the present for sure. Though, we might be close to having that many already.

Anyway, we went to our usual nursery to see if that had a certain kind of pomegranate tree, but they didn’t. Then, we went to check out a new one to see if they had some of the more rare fruit trees he’s looking for. They didn’t have everything he was looking for, but they did have che and a lemon guava. Thus, in our car, we packed in all six of us, two che trees (male and female tree), and a lemon guava that you can see clearly had trouble fitting in our car. Oh and a Peruvian Apple Cactus plant for me.

The girls are used to being packed in the car with trees all up in their grill, but this is the first time we had to transport a tree sticking out of our moon roof. Everyone thought it was quite hilarious! Despite a much more bald appearance than seen above, it survived the 70mph winds and one and half hour trip back home. Whew!

If you’re looking for some fruit trees, these are the nurseries we frequent in the San Diego area (both in Vista):
– Clausen’s Nursery
– Exotica Nursery (I kept chuckling at the name of this one, but they stock a lot of very exotic fruits)

Yup, I’m marching. Sometimes you have to do silly things when taking frivolous outfit pictures for a strange thing called a blog. Plus, wearing leopard boots just make me want to march. Or dance. Basically, I love them.

On Friday, I went to the doctor. Afterwards, I was able to quickly sneak in another visit to a thrift store nearby. I saw lots of good things, but there are some specific things I am looking for, so I passed up on all the pretty things I saw to stick to my list. One of the things on my list was a long black dress, so you can imagine my excitement at finding this one (and for 3 buckaroos!). I saw lots of vintage sweaters there, but it wasn’t on my list, so I resisted. That was tough for this vintage lover! Another thing on my list was a cozy sweater dress, which I did find too (for another $3). I have to alter it a bit to make it wearable, but that’s no big deal since I like altering clothes. I even found a little stocking stuffer for one of the girls.  Last week, was definitely a good thrifting week for me. *high-five*

on me: dress, thrifted. leopard boots, zara.

Chimichurri Pork Sandwiches with Roasted Chipotle Sauce. I sort of used this recipe for the chimichurri sauce (didn’t follow it exactly); I used about half of the sauce to cook the lean pork in the crockpot on low for 6 hours, then cooked in the oven for about 5 minutes. I made my own version of this sandwich, but made my own bread from this recipe, and made my own roasted bell pepper and chipotle sauce too. Ben and Brave loved it, but the others didn’t like the chimichurri sauce. Since half the family liked it (I liked it better the next day as leftovers), I’ll probably make this again or at least play around with another version of it.

Week of 11/17 – 11/21
Monday: Lavash Bread Pizza
Tuesday: Chimichurri Shrimp with Lime Rice (we still have sauce left over, so this is perfect!)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Korean Pulled Pork Rice Bowl (using this recipe as a base)
Friday: Ceviche

With the time change, came the lack of natural, so there aren’t too many pictures to share of this past week’s meals. Besides the sandwiches, I did make some spicy tacos and everyone loved that. I can’t decide if I want to try and make the the rice bowl mentioned above, or this spicy back bean soup. I guess we will see what I’m feeling later this week.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

My parents are involved with Amazing Grace Missions in the Philippines, and my mom hosted an event to raise money for them. Praise God the event went well and they raised $2500 to help those who are still suffering the effects from Typhoon Haiyan. I’m thankful for how my parents love and serve others. They have the gift of hospitality, which is an area that I definitely need improvement in, but their example continually encourages me.

So happy for some answered prayers for my BFF and her husband.

I love the pattern and shape of this dress.

This locket is beautiful, and this ring is one of my favorites in the Jean Jean Vintage shop.

I love this sweet pair of vintage wooden birds.

If you want to see a couple of my November contributions to the A Beautiful Mess blog, check out my paper flower bouquet tutorial or my birch wood tealight holder.

We’re mostly done with Christmas shopping for our girls. I have a couple handmade gifts still to make for them, but I think we’re good.

I had lots of parenting fails this week, and lots of parenting high-fives too. I feel like the fails weigh more than the good, but that’s just dumb to think that. Christ is greater than all, and I need to remember that His grace is sufficient. That should dictate my parenting and not my feelings of guilt or inadequacy, or even my moments of successes. It’s a constant cycle to fight my natural selfishness and pursue God in all things.

I miss my sister. She’s in South Africa now, and we haven’t had too much communication with her. In her last email, she mentioned they have to walk 40 minutes to get wi-fi, but even then, they don’t have it for long. She shares her journey here and I’m always so encouraged by her heart. Her love for God runs so deep that it just overflows in all she does.