Macaroni Two Ways!

Just trying to get creative while using up random things in our pantry. Here are two ways we made some left over macaroni noodles.

Macaroni & Cheese Pizza Brandon made this one night and it was the bomb! All he did was boil up some mac, throw it on a pizza crust with cheese and some fresh basil at the end. Yum! 

Basil & Tomatoes Macaroni For this I roasted some cherry tomatoes, and sauteed up some garlic with onions. Then I boiled some macaroni and chopped up a ton of basil. Last, I threw them all together with some extra virgin olive oil! Easy peasy. 

Good Foods We've Been Eating Lately

Man, I haven't done one of these in a while!! Here are some recipes of good food we've been eating lately:    Fettuccine with Roasted Butternut Squash, Brown Butter, and Sage (I love me some butternut squash)   Sweet Potato Casserole    Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps Baked Fried Rice (such a good idea to bake it!)   Roasted Fingerling Potatoes  Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Garlic Aioli (I've had this multiple times since, this sauce is amazing)  Herbed Cream Cheese Grilled Bell Peppers (like a pizza on a bell pepper!)    Apple Sauce. Who knew that making apple sauce was so darn easy? And freakin' delicious?! Seriously, (not that I did before) never buying apple sauce again. Now I have something to do with all the apples we get in our co-op share!! 
And here's one more that I don't have a picture for- Wild Rice Stuffing. The link actually goes to a bunch of organic recipes from my co-op. You have to search for the wild rice stuffing (towards the bottom) but it's a good one! 
Mmmmm mmmm! Hope you guys enjoy your Sunday!! 

Salmon Adventures

For some reason, a few weeks ago we decided to go out and get some salmon! And then we had to figure out what to make with it! So the first night, we decided on spring rolls. Back in high school I had an asian friend that taught us how to make these. And I was kind of obsessed with them for a while.. We had most of the ingredients already, we kind of just used whatever was in our fridge and boy was it yummy!!  First we baked our salmon with some salt and pepper.  And then we gathered the rest of our supplies. We used:  Lettuce  Carrots  Rice Vermicelli  Avocado  Scallions  Rice Paper And then all you do is wet your rice paper, fill it with good stuff, and wrap it! Brandon made this weird sauce stuff..... next time I'll make something else and let you know how that goes!!  Eliza chowin' down. She loved them!!  Brandon suggested that we just left out the noodles though. And maybe the avocado because you couldn't really taste it. We'll definitely be experimenting some more with spring rolls!  The next night we made this Smoked Salmon Pizza. It was pretty yummy.  We didn't use the capers or dill though. And I believe there is some goat cheese on there as well as some green onions. MMmmmm mmmm!  So that was our little salmon adventure. Do you guys like salmon? What is your favorite salmon dish?? 
P.S. I revamped the store and blog layouts a bit. I changed a few things here- the header to match the store, a new pic on the sidebar, and the blog buttons on the bottom of my sidebar! What do you think?!

Good Foods We've Been Eating

Another post of the wonderfully delicious foods we've cooked lately! Have I mentioned how much I love pinterest? Who need recipe books when you have pinterest?!   Green Beans with Lemon-Almond Pesto, these were AWESOME. I highly recommend them.   15 Minute Tortilla Soup  I few weeks ago I was sick and Brandon made this for me (minus the beans). This is super easy and delicious   Lentil Loaf I'm a meatloaf lover so I had to give this a try, not too bad!  Corn and Ricotta Enchiladas, you can see my version of this meal here.    Baked Apples I was craving a late night dessert one night and made this. Yummo!  Stuffed Acorn Squash You know, I don't think I'm much of a squash person but this wasn't half bad.    Spicy Mango Pizza Sounds like a weird combo but this is really awesome! Unfortunately we got a bad zucchini and had to pick them all of but it was still good! Salsa on pizza, who woulda thunk it?! Sweet Potato Burgers We will definitely be making these again!    I'm slightly obsessed with cookie dough. Like, I'd rather eat cookie dough than baking the cookies. So I've been on a hunt for a "healthier" version. This was the first recipe I tried- Raw Cookie Dough, it was alright   This was the second- Vegan Cookie Dough, this one is pretty good   And this one, I want to try: Pregnancy Cookie Dough Bites.  My last two days have been kind of rough. I've been extra super emotional about everything! I feel like I just did this last week? I don't even know what's going on. My eyes are like permanently puffy, it's kind of awful. Life. Oi. BUT I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm looking forward to doing some fun things with Brandon and Eliza and cramming a little work in too! 

Girlish Garb: A Day in the Life of Sam

Can I just say that the weather here has been GORGEOUS. Now this is what I've been waiting for.  Man, looking at these pictures makes me realize how light the bottom of my hair is!! I need to get on that henna dying business.  Outfit details:  Headband/Scarf-Thrifted  Shades-Thrifted  Dress-Thrifted  Belt-Thrifted Sandals-Target (please excuse the weird zipper bumps, a zipper in the front may not have been the best idea but I love the dress too much to care) Lookin' fab girl! We bought these scarves today at the thrift store, 50 cents each!  Brandon likes to work out/show off sometimes at the park. But this picture was too cute not to post! I didn't even mean to capture this but it happened. I love this picture.... maybe I'll get it framed? 
Today was a weird but at the same time, normal day. In case you're interested, I thought I'd share it with you. Here is a day in the life of Sam: 
Today is one of the three days during the week in which none of us have school. This means I get to work the second half of the day after Brandon wakes up from his nap (he works from 3 am to 10 am). On this lovely morning, I slept in longer than expected but woke up with a positive attitude (I tried) and ate breakfast with Eliza. I checked some emails and did a little blog reading while Eliza played with her toys and got into trouble about every 5 minutes. It was one of those days. Then I cleaned up our mess from breakfast as well as some general house cleaning. After that, we got dressed for the day. I decided we looked cute and tried to take an instagram of our outfits. The second take was alright so I posted it. Unfortunately, while busy on my phone, Eliza decided to smear whatever she was chewing in her mouth all over the mirror. Yum.... 
After a hissy fit over her not-so-great behavior this day, we went to the thrift store so I could get some things for my store. Usually I do this when I'm going to work but we were headed out to the library anyways and Eliza likes to  play with the toys there ;) So we went to the thrift store and spent a little too much time there. But it wasn't my fault... ok, maybe a little my fault. But this guy stopped me to talk about his art and blah blah blah. Needless to say, the library didn't happen. We drove home and ate some lunch, mostly fruits and veggies and a few leftovers. Then Brandon woke up (or rather Eliza woke him up while throwing a tantrum). After we kicked him out of the bed, Eliza and I snuck in for some one on one cuddle time. Sometimes she can be really sweet. When all of us were finally ready, we all packed into the car and voyaged over to my dad's house (where I work). Upon arrival at my dad's, Eliza, Brandon, and I wander over to the school (behind my dad's house) to take some outfit pictures. I love when then whole fam joins in because it makes taking outfit pictures so much more exciting. Everyone joins in and it's like a mini adventure! After playing around, taking pictures and what not, we wrap that up and wondered right back to my dad's. 
When we got back, I plopped myself down at the kitchen table and opened my computer to check some more emails/read blogs, this is usually how I start my work day, to get motivated and all. After I have checked everything I could possibly check, I drag myself upstairs to get productive!! I unload all my goodies from the thrift store and get to work. This entails putting the ready-to-sell clothes away and then piling up the others in my "to be upcycled" box. I spent the rest of the day upcycling/fixing up clothes to be sold. 
Sooner or later 7 o'clock comes around and Brandon and Eliza come upstairs to get me. We leave my dad's, stop by HEB for food supplies, and then head home where I make a yummy pizza and Brandon bathes Eliza. Brandon turns on the presidential debates and we watch that while I simultaneously clean up the kitchen. Eliza wonders off playing with some dolls and pillows. After the kitchen, I move on to the laundry which is when Eliza joins me and decides to "help" out. This means she plays dress up while I attempt to put things away. I dislike laundry very much. After putting away about 3 loads worth of clothes, I decide I have too  many so I pull out at least 20 items of clothing to upcycle/sell in my store. Ahhh. After I'm satisfied, I get Eliza ready for bed, read her a book, and finally put her to sleep. And now, here I am, on the floor next to Eliza's bed, writing my blog post. 
*****
It's been a good day. It started out a bit rough with Eliza being a little terror but sometimes that just makes me appreciate her sweet moments a hundred times more. She got better as the day progressed and we kind of had a blast doing laundry together. I mean, as much fun as you can have doing laundry. I felt like I got a lot of stuff done at work which is always a good feeling. Brandon did a really great job with these pictures so that's another thing to be happy about! And for the first time in a long time, I'm not overtired and morose right before bed! A good day indeed. 

Good Foods We've Been Eating

  Hatch Chile Pizza- DELICIOUS   Lettuce Wraps- SO GOOD, we've had these twice in the last two weeks. It's a great way to use lettuce if you're not really a fan of salads. Soba Noodles with Sweet Ginger Sauce- I really liked the potential in this. I have changed a few things about the sauce (I'll do a post on it) but overall, pretty good.  Honey Jalapeno Roasted Squash   Parmesan Crusted Pesto Grilled Cheese   Chickpea Patties-these are great for lunch and to make extra for freezing! I made some with celery, green onions, and jalapenos today. Yummo!   Avocado White Bean Wraps Mini Blueberry Pies