On What I Love Right Now

The library. Oh how I love the Salt Lake Library system. Any book I want to get my hands on I can get without paying--except all those fines for not wanting to return them--oops!!

My new i-wireless phone so I can TEXT, TEXT, TEXT, and TEXT. Who knew I would enjoy texting so much.

Thank you Sephora for sending me the $15 off beauty insiders gift certificate. I have been visiting your site daily and trying to resist. Resist no more!


String Cheese! I can't get enough of the Archer Farms brand at Target.


My big fluffy down blanket that keeps me so warm at night.


Nutella in any form. On crepes, as Gelatto, however it comes.

Yum! My favorite fast-food! And the employees are always SOOO nice. I don't care that they have to be. I still like it.


The BEST ice cream you can get from the grocery store. If I could only eat one brand for the rest of my life this would be it hands down!

I am Thankful for....

Thank you Braeden for helping me remember to be thankful. Here is what Braeden wrote he was thankful for. An original work.

I am Thankful for....
Buttery tasty mashed potatoes at school lunch,
Salty pieces of bacon for brunch,
Crunchy sour apples from the trees,
Sticky sweet honey from the bees,
Delicious brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast,
Juicy ham aged from the past,
Rich dark Hershey's chocolate
Creamy, crunchy Butterfingers I find melting in my pocket.
I am Thankful for food.

I love it and just had to laugh. A child after my own heart. I am Thankful for food too Braeden.

Cooking Away My CSA

I've been really bad about posting lately. Probably a combination of things....but I have been doing a good job using our CSA veggies we have been getting weekly. So I thought I'd just make a quick post of some the things I've been making with them.



Grilled Salmon with homemade pesto sauce. This was so easy. All you need to do is put in a food processor as much Basil as you want (CSA ingedient) add some grated Parmesan cheese, and some pine nuts, then slowly add olive oil while pulsing. Then I also made a green salad with strawberries (both CSA ingedients) and roasted tomatoes on the grill with the Salmon. Then drizzle salad and tomates with a good quality balsamic.




Here is another idea for Salmon. Grown up "fish-sticks" adapted from a Giadia food network recipe. Rinse and dry the Salmon, then slice it into sticks. Next dredge it into a seasoned flour mixture (salt, pepper, flour) then into an egg wash and finally into a one-to-one mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs and grated parmesean cheese. Drizzle pan and top of sticks with a little bit of olive oil and bake at 450 for about 15 minutes. I served with the same pesto made the night before with mayo mixed in (to make it creamy and go further). It is also served with Risotto and sauteed Rainbow Chard and garlic with EVOO.

Enjoy!

Cooking Away My CSA

Check out the delivery this week from Liberty Heights Fresh and stay tuned for what I'm making with it this week!

Feta Topped Lamb Burgers with Liberty Heights Fresh Beet and Arugula Salad

This weeks Liberty Heights delivery brought some of my favorite things. I am an avid Feta lover and have recently been enjoying lamb. This week I decided to make lamb burgers for my family and they were a HUGE hit! I patted out the ground lamb (Morgan Valley Lamb) into patties and pan fried it over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. Then I topped it with just a little Rockhill Creamery desert red feta. This feta has such a nice flavor that really complements the lamb. I give it high marks, if you are a feta lover like I am and live in Utah pick up a piece of this cheese at Liberty Heights Fresh.


I mixed some Italian flat leaf parsley with regular mayo and red onions, topped with arugula and served it all on a ciabatta roll.

Also as beets are in season and were included in this weeks pickup as well I made a Beet and Arugula Salad that turned out very nicely. The recipe is slightly adapted from this Liberty Heights Recipe. I wanted to use shallots instead of red onions because I already had a lot of strong flavors going on with the lamb, feta, and arugula. The shallots played a nice background roll. Also, make sure you marinate the shallots with the beets for a beautiful red color.


Beet and arugula salad

1 lb baby red beets (save the tops for later!)
2 cups arugula, cleaned
1 shallot sliced as thin as possible
2 tablespoons port vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil (use a good quality oil)
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
2 teaspoon Italian flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse the beets and coat lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, wrap in aluminum foil and roast in a 375 degree oven until tender, or a knife effortlessly slips in and out of the beet. (You can do all of this if you want, but I just rinsed and roasted since I was throwing away the skin anyway). Allow to cool completely then peel the skin off between two paper towels. Cut into small wedges and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil into the vinegar. Gently stir in the herbs to combine. Pour some of the dressing over the beet wedges and shallots and allow to marinate for about ten minutes. Toss with arugula and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Salad with Roasted Zucchini and Portobello Mushrooms

For dinner I was thinking about one of my favorite veggie sandwiches from Whole Foods. It is served with cooled roasted portobello mushrooms and generous portions of roasted zucchini sliced right down the middle.

I also got a recipe from Liberty Heights Fresh that I wanted to try. The only addition I made was adding some lemon juice to freshen it up and add a bit of acidity.

Creamy herb dressing

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1 scallion
1/2 cup sour cream (or crème fraiche)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

*I added lemon juice as well

1. Put parsley, dill, scallion, and garlic in food processor and chop until fine. Add crème fraiche, yogurt, olive oil and salt and pepper and process to combine.

*This dressing can be made a few hours before serving and can keep for about a week.

I cut the zucchini length-wise in about 4 slices each and roasted the portobellos whole as well as some red onion slices in white truffle infused olive oil (thanks Matt!), a sprinkling salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven until soft throughout (be careful to not make it too soft!).

I let the veggies cool a bit and then cut to the sizes I wanted. While they were cooling I cut thin slices of fennel bulb and tossed with dressing and baby romaine. Finally I added the veggies and crumbled some local Beehive Cheese Company Emigrant cheese (what they call a thankful mistake) a hybrid of parmigian and cheddar which produced a sweet, tangy, fruity, and creamy delight. I would have to agree it was a thankful mistake! One of my favorites from Beehive Cheese Compay to date.

I didn't serve it with any bread which I normally would, because I made punitions for dessert. Recipe and pics might be included in an upcoming post.

Enjoy!

Halibut with Golden Turnips and Sweet-and-Sour Cucumber Salad

I've never had Golden Turnips before. They were interesting, tasted kind of like an earthy potato with sweetness and bitterness all mixed in. I thought they were quite enjoyable. The recipe was slightly adapted from the Liberty Heights Fresh Recipe. The only thing I changed was dicing up the turnips (for a quicker boil time and presentation) and omitting the mint. I just don't like mint in my food much unless it is dessert or a drink. If you don't have parsley substitute carrot-tops from last weeks delivery. You probably won't be able to taste the difference at all.

Also in an effort to use up some more of the fresh dill I made Sweet-and-Sour Cucumbers With Fresh Dill from Epicurious.com. I have a thing for freshly quick pickled things lately (just ask my family). Luckily Braeden also loves all things pickled.

The Halibut was just rubbed with Gray Sea Salt with Herbs de Provence and popped into the toaster over. Yes you heard me right, the toaster oven. Now that Corey and Aubrie showed me how to use it I use it for EVERYTHING! Thanks guys, the fan feature is great!! It is also served with a couple of Crumb Brother's Bakery crostinis.

Enjoy!

Nutrious Berry and Carrot-Top Smoothie

I figured since I can get my family to drink the Odwalla "green drink" on the right I could easy get them to drink the one on the left. Recipe is for 1 serving so double or triple for the amount of servings you need.


3/4 cup frozen berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)
6 oz. low-fat vanilla yogurt (I like Dannon Light N' Fit)
1/2 c. orange juice
2 tablespoons instant nonfat dry milk powder
carrot-tops

I put in all the carrot tops from last week's Liberty Height's Fresh delivery. It was a lot. I'm not going to say that you can't taste them, because you can but it tastes fresh a lot like parsley. Apparently there is a lot of controversy I did not know about when eating carrot-tops. I've eaten them before and never had a problem and today I drank a very large quantity so I'll let you know if there are any problems, but I'm not concerned. If you are, don't try this recipe or just omit the healthy part :)

New Mexico Green Chili Enchiladas

Tonight we had some New Mexico comfort food, green chili enchiladas. I was thrilled last week when there was a large container of Arlo's green chili powder from New Mexico in the Liberty Heights Fresh SFF.

I was in the mood for comfort food and had to make something with ingredients on hand as I didn't plan ahead....surprising I know!


I sauteed the Taylor Made Pork, Fresh Ground Pork (this weeks basket), with 1 1/2 Organic Spring Onions (last weeks basket), three cloves of garlic, a heavy amount of Arlo's green chili powder (last weeks basket), salt and pepper. If you don't like it too spicy, don't go too heavy handed on the Arlo's green chili powder. After it cooked down I added a bag of frozen corn and canned pinto beans (gasp!), and half a can of Hatch's Enchilada Sauce. I thought it was green until after I opened it (which I would have preferred, but just went with it since it was now open :)

I cooked up some tortillas, and then filled with the stuffing and some cheese (whatever you have on hand) then rolled them into a glass 9x13 pan, with a little enchilada sauce spread on the bottom to prevent as much sticking. Top with cheese (if you have any left which I didn't) and pop in the oven until bubbly and hot. I topped with Organic Cilantro (this weeks basket) and served with Organic Valencia Oranges (this weeks basket). I love serving pork with oranges, it's the perfect combination The rest of the filling will make a reincarnation later this week as part of a taco salad. Enjoy!

Liberty Heights Fresh

For dinner I picked up a nice piece of Salmon and a couple of small sweet potatoes from Whole Foods to go with the ingredients we already had in our Liberty Heights Fresh SFF basket.

For the Salmon, I just chopped up some fresh Organic Dill (included in basket) and rubbed it directly onto the Salmon along with some Gray Sea Salt with Herbs de Provence. I then topped with thin slices of Organic Meyer Lemon (included in last weeks basket). The lemons kept the Salmon nice and moist. To finish I broiled it in the oven.




I then tossed some Organic Fennel (last weeks basket) chopped, olive oil, salt and pepper on a sheet pan with the Organic White Cauliflower (this weeks basket). I then roasted it in the oven turning every 5 minutes or so.


A quick, easy, and healthy dinner. The boys even liked it!

Liberty Heights Fresh

This weeks SFF delivery from Liberty Heights Fresh was amazing! You can read about their program here if you are interested.

I have so many ideas about what I am going to make with the bounty. I have to say we have been trying so many new vegetables and local products than ever before. Last night I made lamb curry with the meat selection last week and added some delicious mushrooms (Thanks Rob the mushroom man) that I picked up at Tony Caputo's Saturday morning local vendor fair. Check out this weeks goods.

While waiting for dinner to cook we snacked on THE BEST citrus ever. I think I'm in love and they are as delicious as they are cute. Organic Pixie Mandarins, Powey, CA.

Tuesday's Truths

So I am going to steal this idea from my sister. I always look forward to her Tuesday's Truth blog posts.

The truth is...I'm angry about a lot of things.
The truth is...I never saw myself parenting a child older than 5 or myself being older than 30
The truth is...I often feel overwhelmed
The truth is...I'm going to be very busy with doctor and dentist appointments the next two weeks
The truth is...Tuesday is my favorite day of the week
The truth is...I think about taking a mental health day at least twice a week (maybe I am mental)
The truth is...I could eat Pretzel Time every day
The truth is...I think I would love to be a truck driver, then I could listen to more audiobooks

What Job Market?

I'm stressed.

Things are changing so much at work and it feels like so many companies out there are pretty much using the "suck it up" attitude because right now the people are not the ones with the power. I dislike this shift where it feels like (in many, many companies) everyone is disposable because there are so many people without a job at all.

Have you looked at the job market recently? There is seriously nothing out there. So I guess for the next couple of years what is there to do but suck it up. Hopefully it will eventually shift back to employers and employees having a good work/life balance.

Let's hope.

Obama's Official Inaugural Luncheon by the Home Cook

I'm really bad at making family traditions. Sometimes I wonder what memories Braeden will have when he grows up. I have a hard time making a big fuss over Holidays when honestly I'd rather just go on a trip and skip the whole thing.

I want Braeden to have fond memories of growing up even though maybe they are strange memories and aren't the same kind every other child in the world has of Christmas morning (well hopefully there are a couple of those too). I've always thought it important that he knows where he came from--that Ryan and I are more that just "Braeden's Parents" so I make a big deal of him knowing who we are as individuals as well.

Today was an important day to me. More important than the spelling and arithmetic that Braeden should have sat through. I kept him home from school and we had an amazing day together. We watched the entire festivities of the Inauguration and then made the official Inauguration Luncheon. You can download all of the recipes here:

http://inaugural.senate.gov/luncheon/index.cfm

(Although I would say making it all in one day was quite exhausting. I would probably break it up into a few different meals next time.)

Seafood Stew

"A Brace of American Birds" Duck served with Sour Cherry Chutney and Molasses Sweet Potatoes and "Winter Vegetables" (although I don't consider Asparagus or beans winter vegetables).

Apple Cinnamon Sponge Cake and Sweet Cream Glace




We had a great time cooking together and talking about what an important day in history this is. After everything was finished we talked about what he learned today. He said "not much" but then proceeded to tell me for a good half an hour more than I ever would have thought he could have absorbed in one day (who was there, what they said, what they did, what it looked like, the musical numbers, etc.) from George Bush to "President-elect Obama who is now President Obama and Michelle" to "Vice President Joe Biden."

To sum it up, here is to hoping he remembers it. If not that's ok because I am happy.

Like I Said Spontaneous Musing

I always thought it was strange that my husband had obsessions where he wanted to know/buy/have everything to do with a certain thing. When he was younger it was dinosaurs, then birds, then geeky sci-fi stuff that I don't even know enough about to describe what it is. For a while (ages 18-20) it was me. Then he moved on to gadgets of all sorts, coffee, gadgets, clothes, gadgets, shoes, gadgets, etc.

I had a realization today. I'm the same way I just never really saw it before. The problem with my obsessions is that it takes a LONG time for me to move on to a new category. One of the first was scrapbooking (this lasted a good 8+years). As I sorted through a few things today I realized how much money, time, and SPACE I have wasted on this hobby. Sure I have some cute scrapbooks that I made, but was it really worth it? When I add up the paper, stickers, and supplies that I'll never use but was sure I had to stock pile because I was "saving money" by buying it now when it was on sale instead of just buying the sheet I needed when I was making the page I don't even want to know the hundreds/low thousands of dollars I spent. It would have been so much more fun and easier if I just bought the sheets I needed as I went.

Apparently I didn't have a clue that this was a problem. I moved on to perfumes, makeup, and bath & body products. As I look around myself I know it is out of control but I still feel the need to buy more because of the "rare" "hard-to-find" "limited edition" nature of everything that is put out. I HAVE to stockpile my favorites, besides with eBay now available I always had the excuse that I could sell those "rare" hard-to-find" "limited edition" products and I did. Alot. But I still have an insane amount that I can't part with. It is an addiction. Sure there are worse addictions, but I have been in such denial. When I find a large amount of a highly coveted candle and can make $1,000 in an afternoon of work it doesn't help. (This amount of money was a one time thing) but I have made a lot of money off of eBay. It makes me feel like everything I own in this category is free because all the money I have made has pretty much gone to buy me products. When I really look around though and think about it I cannot believe the insane amount of money I have spent on all these things and I feel like I cannot stop.

As I move on to another category without having quite given up the last one I KNOW I would trade all that scrapbook stuff for a nice Le Creuset, and maybe an assortment of good olive oils, oh and have you seen that new Kramer collection by Shun? *serious sarcasm*

I just don't know where to go from here! Like I said spontaneous musing.