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Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Hello again! I feel like I have to get re-acquainted with blogging since it has been so long! I have been wanting to try this recipe forever and I was feeling particularly domestic today, so I did!
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Zucchini Boats
I got the recipe from the "Our Best Bites" cookbook. Click Here for a link to the recipe.
(The only alterations I made were omitting the bread crumbs, and using ground beef with Italian sausage seasoning instead of Italian sausage.)
I looooved this dinner because it was almost all straight from my garden: zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil. It tasted so fresh and delicious.
ALSO this recipe is cooked mainly on the grill which means no hot kitchen for me! Yay!
I have also tried a number of zucchini recipes that need to be shared. There were some winners and some losers but here are the winners!
Zucchini Muffins with Streusel Topping: HERE
Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread: HERE
Zucchini Brownies: HERE (turned out more like a cake but still yummy!)
I've done a few crafts/diy projects I'm pretty excited to blog about so stay tuned for those.
And if you want an update on our lives, go ahead and keep reading. :o)
Jer has been waiting and waiting for football season to arrive and it finally has! We kicked it off by having some friends over to watch the first game. The kids had lots of fun playing together. They were too cute in their BYU gear,
I FINALLY went out and pruned my tomatoes and zucchini plants. I found a lot of little tomatoes hiding in that forest of plants. I also found a gigantic zucchini that I didn't realize was there and had gotten huge!
Scotty had his 9 month check-up and is growing and growing! 29.5 inches tall and about 18 lbs. These are his towels we used when he was a newborn. Guess its time to upgrade! This kid grows like a weed!
Scotty finally got to meet his 3rd cousin, Ashton! (My cousin's, daughter's baby :o)) It was so fun and they were so cute together. I only wish we could've had more time for them to play.
Scotty decided he was ready to eat a peach like a big boy. I had already cut one up for him to eat in his high chair. After he was done eating and out of his chair, he grabbed another one on his own and ate the entire thing, and another one after that! (If you lost count that's 3 peaches in a sitting!) I finally stuck him in the bath to eat them because the juice was getting everywhere.
I started teaching again this week and it has been great. Scotty loves spending time with his aunties and I really enjoy doing something I love for an hour a day. It is interesting, I feel much more motivated to be productive when I have places I need to go each day. It gets me up, to the gym and ready for the day much earlier than I would be if I didn't have anything on the schedule.
Jer is still working hard at AC as a manager in the sourcing department. He works long hours and it gets pretty exhausting for the whole family at times but he is getting valuable experience and enjoys the people he works with.
And that's our life in a nutshell! I'm hoping that with this new motivation for productivity that I will be blogging more regularly. Wish me luck!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
As promised, I continue to test out Martha Stewart's 37 zucchini recipes this summer with my abundance of zucchini. Jer was getting a little sick of zucchini dinners so I decided to try out a dessert recipe for our guests that were coming over for dinner. These zucchini cupcakes were a hit!
Shhhhh, don't tell anyone but we each had two.
I didn't adapt this recipe at all. It was perfect the way it was.
Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes
Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
- 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 zucchini (10 ounces), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Cream Cheese Frosting (http://www.marthastewart.com/282982/cream-cheese-frosting)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in nuts.
- In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
- Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
- Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely. Meanwhile, make frosting. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread frosting on cupcakes. The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Many of you know I tried my hand at my first garden this summer. So far, the only thing I have been able to harvest is zucchini. I'm reeeeaaallly excited about it. There is something about cooking with something that you grew yourself that is so satisfying. My hubby doesn't love just eating zucchini on its own so I have been trying to get creative with all this zucchini we have!
My mom sent me an awesome link to 37 zucchini recipes. Here is the link. I honestly wanted to try every single recipe. So, I may just do that. I've already tried two.
The one I tried tonight was so good I HAD to share. Everyone in the little fam-damily loved it.
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My mom sent me an awesome link to 37 zucchini recipes. Here is the link. I honestly wanted to try every single recipe. So, I may just do that. I've already tried two.
The one I tried tonight was so good I HAD to share. Everyone in the little fam-damily loved it.
Zucchini Fritters
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each), trimmed
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (1 ounce)-I used just a colby cheddar mix.
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley-I didn't have fresh so I used about 1 T dried.
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano- A couple shakes dried.
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
- Plain yogurt and apricot jam, for serving- I didn't have yogurt so I used sour cream and it was delish.
Directions
- Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze dry in a clean kitchen towel or press in a ricer. Repeat with onion.
- Mix together zucchini, onion, cheese, flour, and herbs. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in eggs just before frying.
- Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, coat skillet with 1 to 2 tablespoons oil. Scoop mounds (2 tablespoons each) of the zucchini mixture into skillet; flatten slightly using a spatula. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Transfer fritters to paper-towel-lined plates to drain. Serve with dollops of plain yogurt and apricot jam.
Here's the evidence that everyone loved it, even the big man of the house.
I was definitely skeptical of the apricot jam but since I just made a bunch I decided to try it. It really made the dish in my opinion. Don't skip it!
Enjoy and stay tuned for many more zucchini recipes to come.
Friday, June 20, 2014
We had so much fun this Spring and have been very busy lately. Thought I'd keep you guys updated. But first:
Check out these handsome boys! I won a giveaway awhile back from When the Boys Sleep for two bow ties. I chose these matching father-son bow ties and have been saving them for Father's Day. I was sooooo excited when it was finally time for them to wear them! Check out her shop (link above) for some seriously handsome boy's accessories. (I think I saw some 4th of July ones?! Might need to snag one or three.)
P.S. That little dress shirt has been the best thing ever. I got it as a gift but it is Baby Gap here. The best fitting church onesie out there, I swear. (Oh and the socks are Gap, too. Gotta love Baby Gap!)
Ok. Now lets get to the update!
Scotty is seriously the BEST at selfies. He is the king of them in fact. He poses for the camera pretty much every time. Can't believe what a HAM he is! It's hilarious. We spent a day shopping at the outlets with Granna and Auntie Katie.
As part of his Father's Day gift, I took Jer golfing. Such a beautiful course. It was fun to drive the golf cart and enjoy the scenery. Granna and Papa watched Scotty for us. We had a blast!
Scotty LOVES when Granna and Papa come to visit. He gets spoiled rotten!
We had fun going to Black Bear Cafe with Grandma Marva to celebrate a late Mother's Day. The food was so good! Scotty was...not so good. Haha.
It has been so fun to have Anna here for the Spring semester. We have been running together 3x/week and have fit in a few ballroom lessons and babysitting sessions. Scotty loves his Auntie! He is also really taking a liking to books. He will sit for a few minutes and look through a book.
Scotty is our greatest joy. He is quickly hitting many milestones, which is making us feel like we blink and he has grown even more! He is now crawling. Which makes us nervous, but he is really excited to be able to move around and explore. No teeth yet which we are OK with. And P.S. that hat is TDF when he keeps it on. (GAP) I'm sensing a trend here...
Friday, June 6, 2014
So I've been frustrated lately because I have needed prunes for Scotty for a while now and every time I go to the store, it seems the shelves are cleared! It really is so annoying. So when I was at Costco yesterday I saw the dried plums and decided to just make my own prune baby food. It's a good thing Scotty likes prunes because he loves bananas too, if ya know what I mean. :o)
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I did some quick math and discovered that it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper to make your own prune baby food. I haven't done the math for everything I have made but I wouldn't be surprised if it were the case across the board. Here is how I worked it out.
This bag was $5.99 at Costco. There are approximately 200 prunes. I used 10 prunes.
I filled 2 of these 6 oz jars with 10 steamed and blended prunes. Each of these jars of prepared baby food is a little over a dollar at Smiths.
So, I used 1/20th of the bag of prunes. $5.99/20 is about $0.30. AKA $0.30 for 12 oz of baby food vs. about $2.30 for the same amount.
I did consider the fact that I may not use all the prunes for baby food. And we don't eat prunes, so we wouldn't have a use for the rest. But consider splitting a bag with a friend. Plenty of prunes to go around. ;o)
I was pretty excited about that. Just thought I'd share in case anyone was interested.
On to the fun stuff! We have been doing lots of fun things already this summer. Firstly, Scotty just finished swim lessons and the Orem Rec Center! We took a class with 3 other friends.
The class was MWF for 30 min. and ran for 3 weeks. So we had 9 sessions total. Scotty was the youngest in the class and really had a hard time warming up to it. Literally and figuratively. He was freezing most of the time. But by the end, he was starting to hold himself up by grabbing on the wall of the pool. And was learning to hold his breath before going under water.
It was a fun excuse for us Mommies to get together and chat and the kids loved playing too. While Scotty is still a little young to understand what is going on, I am glad we took the lessons because now I feel a little more comfortable going into the summer taking him swimming on my own.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
This week has been so beyond crazy for us. We like to take on entertaining gigs to motivate ourselves to get things done. Oh, and also because we LOVE our friends and we love to play. :o) Work hard, play hard. That being said, we had a Memorial Day BBQ on Monday, we were preparing for our renters to move in this weekend (AKA finishing the basement), getting our boys and badges prepared for a stake Scout Court of Honor (today), and a Tea Party baby shower for one of my Nearest and dearest. With a few hiccups along the way, we have been able to get most everything done that we needed to. Here are a few shots of the shower. Thanks Carly for being the photog since I totally dropped the ball and took zero pictures.
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The group. Carly, Liss, Makenzie and I did the shower together. It was so fun!
Our guest(s) of honor. Amy and Baby Girl!
Tea sandwiches (Kenzie), Fruit Pizza (Liss), Caprese Kebabs (Car), Lemon Raspberry Bars (Me) recipe for the raspberry bars here. Everything was so yummy!
My sister Katie and I made a sign for the shower that Amy took home and can use in her room if she wants. For one of the activities be had a bow/headband making station with ribbon, fabric, etc. to make a bow for Amy's little girl.
For decorations we used lots of fresh flowers, tea lights, cute tea cups and dishes, and candy. Carly also brought pretty lace runners and doilies that looked awesome with the decor. One of my favorite things about this house are the flowers that have popped up in the yard. I take no credit for any of it but it has been beyond fun to go out and just cut roses and put them in a vase on the table. Fresh flowers make it feel so homey and its awesome when you don't have to pay for them!
As for the other two things, our yard looks much better thanks to our BBQ (pics to come), our renters are moving in as we speak and the Court of Honor is tonight. I have all the merit badges ready to go and I'm excited for the boys. The funny thing about a busy week is that most of the time the next week is just as busy. :o) But I think a busy life is better than a boring one, don't you?
Friday, May 23, 2014
I always planned to just buy the pre-made baby food at the store. I'm all about easy around here. But when I noticed how much my child eats and how dang expensive that baby food is, I decided to try making it. I got lots of advice from my friend Brittany who also has a baby about Scotty's age and exclusively makes her own baby food. Enter two of my best friends these days:
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Munchkin Steamer and Chopper here.
And Blendtec here.
I went to Sprouts yesterday (on Thursdays students and teachers get 10% off!) and stocked up on fruits and veggies.
I experimented with two different kinds:
Green beans with avocado and applesauce
and
Peach-Blueberry
I decided to try green beans and peaches homemade because so far Scotty isn't digging those two in the store-bought version.
I chopped and steamed the green beans in the chopper and steamer (you just pop it in the microwave, so easy!), threw them, some avo and applesauce (for texture and flavor) in the blendtec on "smoothie" and let er rip! It was quick and easy and Scotty really liked it!
When I steamed the peaches and blueberries (peels and all) they smelled like pie! I tasted it and definitely gave it the thumbs up. P.S. I haven't had the guts to try ANY of Scotty's store-bought food. That's bad, right?
I got the covered ice-cube tray tip from Brittany. It's perfect because they have silicone bottoms and then you can pop the cubes out, throw them in a baggy and save them for later use! I'm excited to try some more recipes!
And I know I have posted this meal before but it is just too good not to share. It's one of my favorite quick dinners.
BLEAT Sandwich.
Aka, Bacon, Lettuce, Egg, Avo and Tomato. We do a BLT with avocado and a fried egg. YUM. One of my favorite parts is the paper plate. ;o) No one likes to do dishes. Maybe I should blend this one up for Scotty? haha
Happy Friday and Long Weekend!
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