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

Eggplant Pizza

Last week, we got an eggplant in our food coop share! The best thing about shares is that you are basically forced to eat/try things you would never try on your own! For instance, an eggplant. I don't like eggplant. But Brandon and I were determined to make something yummy with it. Our go-to meal is homemade pizza so that's what we went with and it was amazingly awesome. Eggplant isn't so bad after all! Here's how we did it:  Ingredients:  Monterey Jack  Olive oil Eggplant (1/4" slices) Pizza crust  Mozzarella  Black olives  Spinach  Clove of garlic (minced) Goat Cheese  Red pepper (optional)  Parmesan (optional) Instructions: 1. Bake slices of eggplant at 400 degrees F. for 5-10 minutes or until slightly browned.  2. Drizzle olive oil on crust  3. Now add a thin layer of monterey jack cheese, the eggplant, some mozzarella, black olives, and last, the garlic.  4. Follow directions on pizza crust for baking. 5. During the last 2 minutes add the goat cheese and spinach.  6. Take out and sprinkle with some parmesan and red pepper! Mmmmm mmm!
P.S. The MsDressy giveaway winner is Lídia Dias! Congratulations, expect an email soon! 

Good Food We've Been Eating Lately

First off, let me proclaim my current love affair with pesto. Thank goodness my dad has about 30 basil plants growing to feed my addiction or I'd be in real trouble! It's so easy to make and can be used in so many ways!! Ahh, pesto.  I came upon this recipe from A Beautiful Mess, basic basil pesto. It was perfect. So simple.  The first thing I made with it was this, Pesto Potato Skillet Then I made a version of this, pesto pizza with roasted cherry tomatoes (another of my latest obsessions) And then I made this! Quinoa with pesto, corn, and roasted cherry tomatoes, sounds kind of weird but it was goood! Quinoa is quickly becoming a favorite around here.  That potato skillet is a version of this, homemade hashbrowns. I'm not sure that meal up there is cooked the same as this but I did! And then just added the pesto at the end. These are super easy to make and taste so yummy! The best thing is, you can change it up every morning! I personally liked it with green onions, goat cheese, and parm as well as a few other seasonings like oregano, salt, and rosemary.  Speaking of quinoa, here was the first dish I attempted to make with it, Heather's quinoa recipe. Mmmm mmm.  Looking at this picture is making me drool. Oooh my goodness, again with the roasted tomatoes! Plus avocado and spaghetti?! Perfection.  Avocado fettucine recipe This is actually really easy to whip up. I cut the recipe in half one day and made it for lunch for Eliza and I in about 20 minutes! She loves it, score!  This is something I saw on a blog I read and had to try it. They are chickpea patties loaded with veggies (anything you can find in your fridge!). This is a great way to use those veggies that are about to go bad.    This little guy comes with a funny story. I got really excited about the "hatch festival". I found a bunch of recipes and by the time I got around to trying to make something for dinner, they were all gone!! No hatch chiles in site! Total bummer. But I found some hatch chile salsa that I substituted and it worked out fine. These stuffed hatch chile burgers were delicious!  Now this is kind of a weird combo but surprisingly fantastic!!! Nectarine pizza with basil and balsamic And I just cooked these tonight, Honey Jalapeno Roasted Squash. I used butternut squash instead though and served them as a side with a salad.  And last, the dessert of the week. These were so good. Too good. I think I ate most of them... which is why I try not to make desserts!! White chocolate cookies. I actually left out the nuts the first time because I didn't have any and ended up liking them better! I made them a few days later for my family (with the nuts) and they were so-so.  I didn't take pictures of any of my meals but they are too good not to share! All these pictures are from the original sources. Actually, I think I'm going to add them to my recipe book now!!