What's Cookin

I go through phases where I am on a roll with cooking. Some weeks I am on fire, others I am indecisive, lazy and have a creative block. (We eat chili dogs on a regular basis)  I love to cook and the time and effort it takes is so worth it when it comes out so delicious. Here are a few of the things I have whipped up this summer that were so good.

1. Bruschetta

So easy and so satisfying. Nothing better than tomato and basil (fresh from the garden). I just grabbed a recipe off Pinterest. There are a few different variations out there but I'm pretty sure you can never go wrong. 

I used: tomato, basil. red onion, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. 

2. Greek Salad

When you have cucumber coming out of your ears you have to use them up. So greek salad it is, and anything with Feta on it is just amazing. 

For those of you who want to know about my balsamic vinaigrette, it's really no secret. 

1 packet Good Seasons italian dressing mix

Buy the little craft thing for the dressing that is right next to the packet of mix at the grocery store.

Here is the catch, use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. I get my balsamic at Costco, its really good. 

Easy! You will never make another dressing, Promise!

 3. Asian Quinoa Salad

Now that I know how to cook quinoa properly and bought the Good Stuff from costco I really love it. Here is the link to this recipe on Pinterest. It was great. Really fresh and lots of crunch with the veggies.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/287948969900275472/ 

4. Orzo Caprese Salad

The orzo was delicious. Just added tomato, basil, diced mozzarella, olive oil, salt and pepper. So fresh and yummy. 

Also I try and boil a whole chicken once every week or so. Its so easy and makes for tons of yummy chicken. You just throw it in a pot for an hour and let it simmer. Then pick it when your done. I usually add cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and bay leaves when I boil it. I am able to throw shredded chicken into whatever recipe I want, make sandwiches or salads. Then I freeze a few ice cube trays of chicken stock. It works well for us in our house!

5. Summer Salads

See... chicken and berries. This salad with the balsamic dressing I mentioned above = perfection!

Making use of all the fresh summer fruit. Two thumbs up for fruit on salad!

6. Mexican Quinoa salad

Save the best for last! I am a sucker for Mexican flavors. 

Quinoa, canned black beans, frozen corn, diced tomato, cilantro, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lime juice. You can add jalapenos for an extra kick. Top with avocado, chicken or shrimp or eat it plane. So so good! A new favorite in our house. 

Ellie Lately

Motherhood has been kicking my butt lately. Ellie has a new fear of the bathtub. The drain in our new bathtub is pretty loud and I'm pretty sure she thinks she is going to get sucked down. She has gotten a little better but bath time is definitely not her favorite time of the day. She is afraid of the sound of airplanes. This one started when a 747 or some kind of jet flew over the house. Since then wailing has ensued every time a plane flies over. Let me just interject that we live maybe 20 minutes from an air force base. Can you guess how many planes fly over the house each day?! It makes my day very long, playing outside is kind of out of the question. Each time a plane flies over she immediately crawls into my lap or demands to be held. I know its just a phase. This too shall pass.


In the moments when she isn't melting down over who knows what she is a great kid. I can't believe how smart she is. Some of her recent phrases include:

"a airplane flies over the house"
"otto/jack flying in the airplane"
"o dinner time"
"cook baby monkey"
"daddy work"
"daddy home"
"go to grandmas house"
" Go to nomi's house"
"watch a show"
"poopy on da poddy" (she is not potty trained yet, she has had a few successful tries though)
my favorite is "thanks mom or mommy" (melts my heart)

See that chair in the picture below? Let me tell you a story about this chair. 

The day started out great, we were going to get out of the house, run some errands, etc. I went to the DI to browse (I hadn't been to the one in Ogden yet). I saw this chair, and though it would be perfect for our front room, and only $10! Just by looking at it I thought I better have Jared pick it up later when I don't have the car seat. I got into to the car and though hmmmm maybe it will fit. I went around to the pick up area and told them I was going to give it a try. Well you know when you have a trunk load of stuff and its kind of tight but you just slam it shut and it all smashes in? That didn't happen, I though it would though. It was tight, but I closed the hatch back and....... the glass shattered!! I was in shock, and so mad at myself. The DI worker must have thought I was crazy. The smart thing to do would have been to leave the chair in the back end with the chair leg sticking out the back window but in my shock and panic I took the chair out and Jared picked it up that night. So this $10 chair ended up being $260. SIGH!

The day Ellie napped on my bed. This has never happened.

Little family watching the rain storm

My sugar baby holding my sugar baby. This is a sugar baby watermelon. I picked it too early (this is my first year growing watermelon) Made for a cute picture though.

I guess I have a green thumb!

Lets just talk about my obsession with my garden for a moment. It really is an obsession. I check on it multiple times a day, I search for new growth, blossoms and fruit. I touch the leaves, pick the weeds, and just watch it, as if my mind power will make it grow more. I cannot believe the success I have had this year, and I am probably more excited than a normal person should be. I harvest about 4 cucumbers, 3 -4 zucchini, 4-5 jalapeños and basil, oregano and thyme all week long. It has been great! Nothing like fresh produce from your garden! I have a watermelon the size of a softball and I can't wait for it to get bigger. Jared and I are already making plans for next years garden, an expansion will be in the works.

My First Zucchini!! 

My Elle Rose! 

Mega Bite Tomato

My Best Friends Back

My best friend Lisa came to visit in July, and it was wonderful as usual. Of course she gave me the motivation I needed to work on some crafty projects around the house. Our main focus being the kitchen table. We bought our kitchen table when we got married. It was perfect in our old apartment, but the bar style table wasn't working in our new house. First thing we did was paint it and recover the seats. Painting it was way more of a project than I thought. We were also painting outside in 90 degree weather which didn't help. We got it done and I love how it turned out. We also decided to cut it down to the size of a standard table. It's absolutely perfect now, and I don't have to worry about Ellie falling off the chairs. Lisa also helped make a fabulous mirror with paint sticks too. Thank you Lisa and Pinterest!