04/13/2012

spring/summer list

Seattle is absolutely stunning in the summer time. I don’t know why anyone would want to go on vacation in the summer if you live here (you cherish these summer days because they are so few and far between). The water sparkles like diamonds, there are more parks than I can count, mountains to be hiked and ice cream to be eaten. So, I am getting a start on my spring/summer list to make sure I get in as much as I can.

1.) visit the tulip fields (is it crazy that I have lived in Washington my whole life and never been?)
2.) go kayaking on Lake Union
3.) Molly Moon ice cream
4.) hike Rattlesnake
5.) take a day trip to the San Juan Islands
6.) hike Mount Si
7.) eat at Aqua Verde
8.) picnic at Gas Works
9.) make sangria
10.) ride a ferry
11.) Redmond farmer’s market
12.) go on a long bike ride
13.) outside movie
14.) go berry picking
15.) make a blueberry pie
16.) go camping

I will be adding on as I think of more things. How about you? Are you looking forward to summer? Any fun plans?

 

 

Posted at 7:43 am | Permalink | Fun Stuff | Comments(2 )

04/10/2012

tuesday things

1. I am loving this summer weather in Seattle (even though I know that it won’t last for long). Last night hubs and I went for a bike ride, who knew your butt could hurt so much afterwards? Those hills really did a number on my calves…I should do them more often

2. After we got back from our bike ride we went to Target to get a couple things and came home with this…and yes it was is every bit as good as it looks


3. I made these fish tacos for dinner last night. YUM. I love me some fish tacos but I had never made them myself. Something about cooking fish always scares me, but these could not have been easier.  Hubs wasn’t sold on them, I guess next time I will just have to serve them with a side of steak.

4. There is nothing quite like a clean pair of sheets on my bed! I was telling Flyn last night that if I could wash the sheets every day I would. While that idea seems a little farfetched (seeing as I barely get to the laundry basket 1x a week) perhaps I should just get some linen spray? Anyone have any good recommendations?

5. Most days after lunch I get a serious sweet tooth. Sometimes it takes a seriously chocolatey treat to cure,other times a dum dum will do. Does this happen to you? Please say yes…

6. Those are my ramblings for the day…now I am going to cuddle up with my sweetie and watch New Girl.

 

 

 

Posted at 7:50 pm | Permalink | Uncategorized | Comment ( 0 )

04/09/2012

meal plan

Mon- Blackened Tilapia Baja Tacos w/ homemade tortilla chips and salsa (Yum, these fish tacos were awesome! They were light but very filling. I will def make again!)
Tues- Roasted Tomato Puttanesca w/ grilled chicken
Wed- Smoky White Bean Soup (We both really liked this, I added in some chicken sausage to please the man, but I would have been satisfied with it even without)
Thurs- Shredded Beef Sandwiches (yup, still have not made this!)
Fri- Out

*The pictures above have nothing to do with the meals planned, just wanted to spruce it up a bit.

Posted at 7:29 am | Permalink | Meal Plans | Comment ( 0 )

04/06/2012

dutch babies

Happy Friday!

sorry I have not been around much this week, well I have been around, just busy busy busy
this week keeps teasing me with the weather
one minute it is raining, cloudy and gloomy and the next sunshine!
will you make up your mind already?

have you ever had a dutch baby?
I made this last weekend for breakfast and it was delicious
reminds me of growing up, my mom used to make them on special occasions and then sprinkle them with powdered sugar and strawberries
I didn’t have either so I put a little syrup on top
side note, this meal is in no way healthy, but it is tasty and filling
both requirements for a Saturday morning brunch in the Sam house
you have been warned.

Any fun plans for your Easter weekend? I decided on a dessert to take to dinner…it’s a good one!

 

Posted at 10:33 am | Permalink | Recipes | Comment ( 0 )

04/03/2012

meal plan

I made sure to add a little extra time in my routine yesterday morning, so I could prep our dinner in the crock pot. I seriously spent about 15 minutes chopping and slicing a few vegetables, pouring in some water and adding some seasoning. Easy peasy. I love going home after work to dinner all ready and waiting for me to devour. I absolutely love spicy creole style food and have been wanting to make this Red Beans & Rice recipe for a while now. I am always a sucker for a good, easy and healthy crock pot recipe.

How about you? Any good crock pot recipes that will transfer over well to the Spring/Summer months?

 

Mon-Red Beans & Rice (this turned out great! very tasty, but only had to cook for 5.5 hours instead of the 7.5 it says too)
Tues- Chicken Marsala
Wed-Grilled Chicken Panini Sandwiches w/ pesto and tomatoes (similar to these)
Thurs- Small Group/DC
Fri-Out
Sat-Roast Beef Sandwiches (never made last week)
Sun-Easter (dinner at parents)

 

P.S. I need help thinking of a delicious dessert to take to Easter dinner…thoughts!!?

Posted at 10:13 am | Permalink | Meal Plans | Comment ( 0 )

04/02/2012

weekend in pictures

1. Small group go kart racing party (the winners!)
2. Flyn’s favorite the surf n turf at our favorite sushi place
3. Seared salmon (my favorite)
4. After sushi we went to our favorite gelato place
5. Sometimes Bear thinks the dogs on tv are real :)
6. Sunday breakfast (scrambled eggs, tortilla and salsa)

Posted at 7:59 am | Permalink | Uncategorized | Comment ( 0 )

03/29/2012

dinner…at last

So, let’s just say that dinner did not go as planned last night. My plan was to make homemade pizza dough and then assemble a nice BBQ Chicken Pizza for supper. Easy peasy right?

Eh, not so much.

It started off okay, I got the yeast, honey and water bubbling away on the counter, added my flour to my food processor and then added in the yeast mixture. That is when everything started to go awry…the liquid started oozing out the bottom of the food processor. I started to scream raise my voice and Flyn came in and helped me move it over to the sink before it made more of a mess. I figured I must not have screwed something in tight enough hence the liquid seeping out. Well, shoot, I don’t have any more flour and only a half package of old yeast left. Well, what is the worst that can happen, it doesn’t rise and then we will have flat bread as opposed to pizza? Okay, I can live with that. So, I assembled the ingredients again thinking there is no way it can happen twice. Oh, yes it did, exact same problem again and again I screamed raised my voice in frustration. After a little digging, Flyn concluded that there was a washer missing from the blade in the food processor, which helped a little in my sanity knowing I wasn’t a complete failure in the kitchen. Well at this point I just decided to take out the dough and start rolling it by hand. However, the dough was SUPER sticky and I could not for the life of me get it to come together in a ball. So just when I was about to give up and order a pizza, Flyn came to the rescue again. He kneaded the dough perfectly and  it came together in a matter of minutes. I give all the credit to his big man hands, those things can really knead! I could use them in the kitchen more often :)

Want to know how it turned out?

It was a miracle indeed. I really didn’t think that pizza dough was going to rise let alone taste good, but miraculously it did and an hour and a half later we feasted.

Amongst the pizza dough chaos I also kept dropping spoons and making a loud raucous in the kitchen. Flyn said and I quote, ” Your having a rough night in the kitchen, huh?”

Indeed.

Moral of the story, it is always good to have a man close by when things go wrong in the kitchen, if only to lend a little moral support or a helping hand(s).

 

Posted at 8:54 am | Permalink | Uncategorized | Comment ( 0 )

03/27/2012

weekend in pictures


 






1. pretty walk home from work
2. my two coworkers and I took a break from the cafeteria, great choice
3. babysitting for my niece
4. bear taking a dip in the slew at Marymoore Park
5. breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe and walk around Greenlake w/ Hannah
6. on my bike ride I saw these geese hanging out by the water
7. delicious salad to end the weekend



 

Posted at 1:58 pm | Permalink | Uncategorized | Comment ( 0 )

03/26/2012

meal plan

I realized this weekend that I do two things when my husband is gone. First of all, I lose all desire to cook, because really who wants to put the time and effort into cooking only to enjoy it yourself? Give me a stack of tortillas, cheese and my panini grill and I am a happy camper. Secondly, I get bored really quickly when I am at home by myself so I want to get outside, thankfully the weather was beautiful this weekend and I was able to be outside and enjoy the weather at the same time.

When I was walking into my apartment last night, I got a whiff of someone’s BBQ dinner…and man did it smell delicious! It made me want to dust off our big ole grill and get cooking. Of course, it is back to rain and gloominess today (and the next 10 days!) so the grill might have to wait for a couple more weeks until the rain stops dripping onto our little deck. Instead I am going to make BBQ chicken pizza…it is close enough, right?

Mon- Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas (hubs really liked these because they had blue cheese…they were okay but I probably wouldn’t make them again)

Tues- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza w/ red onions and cilantro (using this recipe as inspiration via)

Wed- Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

Thurs- Soba Noodles w/ peanut sauce and chicken (was not my favorite, too much peanut butter. I might try again with less)

Fri- out



Posted at 12:55 pm | Permalink | Meal Plans, Uncategorized | Comments(2 )

03/23/2012

thoughts

If we are only concerned about ourselves and our own happiness, and if the moral condition of society and the tragedy of the whole world does not grieve us, if we are not disturbed at the way in which men blaspheme the name of God and all the arrogance of sin-well, what can be said of us?

-Joy Unspeakable (J.L. Packer)

Posted at 6:56 am | Permalink | Uncategorized | Comment ( 0 )