February 17, 2016

Sausage Kale French Bread Pizza

Thank you so much for all of your kind comments about my cat, Pinot. Your words mean so much to me! Things have been a little weird around my house. I’m used to having a little buddy that hangs around with me while I’m cooking in the kitchen. I didn’t realize how many times a day we checked in with each other until she was gone. It’s pretty crazy how animals become so apart of your everyday routine, you know? I keep looking for her face at the sliding glass door to see if I need to let her in. Going to sleep at night has been a little weird too, since she used to sleep on my pillow and I’d fall asleep to the sound of her purring. The only thing that’s helping me right now is keeping busy. I think I’ve cleaned my kitchen at least 25 times since this weekend. So, anyways THANK YOU. I really appreciate your love and support.

Yesterday I made this Sausage Kale French Bread Pizza situation because I felt like cleaning the kitchen ANOTHER time. Tuesday was a major errand running day (with Cooper! who had school off! Ahhh!) and instead of making another pit stop to pick up individual french bread rolls (we already went to the Post Office/Oil Change & Trader Joe’s), I decided to use a whole batard I picked up at the store. Yeah buddy, we went BIG on this recipe. Who says that french bread pizza needs to be on individual rolls?

We brown sausage and then sauté kale. We add red pepper flakes on and a ton of garlic to the mixture. We spread marinara all over our batard then top with the sausage kale mixture and a ton of cheese. Then we get this crunchy/crispy/doughy french bread pizza that’s ridiculously meaty/hearty yet full of kale! Next time I am going to freeze one of the halves and just bake off one because then I won’t eat it a lllllllllllllllll and then future me will be like, “You’re so smart and thoughtful, Tracy from the past.” I will also make a section just for Cooper who picked EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF KALE off of his pieces. Kids, man.

my everyday life, Photography

February 14, 2016

My Everyday Life: Week 6

Here’s what My Everyday Life Week 6 looked like:

We said goodbye to Pinot on Friday night. My heart broke.

I see signs of cats everywhere now. I almost cried when we were walking past the pet section at Target today.

This was the last picture I took of her… She had heart failure. We had two more weeks with her than we expected. She was so tough. I loved her with all of my heart and I’d give anything to hold her right now 🙁

“THIS IS MY FAVORITE PLACE!!!!!!”

We adventure in the thicket.

Lettuce party.

Casey was trying to show Cooper how to draw a wine glass on our driveway.

Proof that there’s beauty in the every day.

I only went for a salad for lunch….and then my basket somehow managed to fill up.

Story of my life.

It wasn’t me.

Spring is springing.

Waiting.

I volunteered at school this week.

We made stained glass windows out of wax paper & tissue paper.

I loved the color combinations the kids came up with.

This one was particularly good.

Victoria hosted a Galentine’s Frangelico Party in SF this week.

She sure knows how to throw a party.

Loved this little corner.

Dranks.

Frangelico tiramisu!

The funny thing is… I went to the event on the wrong day… because I messed up my calendar. So I was in the city two nights in a row. #brainfart #ugh

I fried plantains for the first time ever this week!

A tofu shoot for One Potato.

I bought Valentines from the store and I realized we didn’t have enough….

So we made our own.

And they reminded me of the shirts my dad wears. So I put one up to my dad’s heart.

Totally like his shirt, huh?

I can’t wait for coffee tomorrow morning.

Here comes trouble.

What I’ve been having for breakfast all week.

Friday morning detour.

Alcatraz buried in fog.

I had to stop.

Squishy snuggle face.

I had an awesome visit with my friend Helen Jane this week. So awesome that my phone was away and the only picture I took that day was a picture of the pillows she gave me. Thank you HJH. Love your face! Love your contest entering spirit.

The reason why I make potatoes in my meal prep.

BREAKFAST.

Pure joy.

We went to the beach today.

73F in the Bay Area.

I can’t believe these two jumped in the water.

Wait. I totally can. They’re fearless.

A trip to Target with my boo.

I got my bag personalized 😉 It makes me so happy. Like ridiculously happy.

You should really make these Spiked Coffee Milkshakes. They’re so good.

Week 6 in 2015

Week 6 of 2014

Week 6 of 2013

Week 6 of 2012

Week 5 of 2011

February 12, 2016

I love lists Friday!

Welcome to I Love Lists Friday. Let’s surf the internet together!

The Earth is made of two planets? What.
Magnified sand is pretty amazing.
Are you addicted to your phone? Maybe you’re even reading this on your phone….
This is a cute way to surprise your valentine.
I would like to make this vegan cheese.
How to Snapchat like Teens. Good grief.
Etsy love: this plate, this print , this mug, this vase, these earrings, this bag
Can you imagine being on the Titanic II?!
What Marcia Clark thinks of the People vs. OJ Simpson series.
You’ll never look at chopsticks the same.
This color infographic is pretty neat.
What do women want on Valentine’s Day? I love a good card.
Starbucks food in other countries. Interesting.
Who killed sriracha? Wait. It’s dead?
The work & craftsmanship behind a Steinway Grand Piano is amazing.
Work Sleep Family Fitness. Pick three!
Release the stress!
What happens to your Facebook after you die? #morbidcuriosity.
If you love planners….you’ll love seeing this.
Most romantic movies on Netflix (for your Valentine’s Day!)

recipes

February 11, 2016

Spiked Coffee Milkshakes

Here’s the thing about Valentine’s Day. Casey and I always bypass going out to dinner and we make a special dinner at home. I don’t know why I typed WE because I’m the one that makes the dinner. He’s the one that picks out the wine/does the dishes/puts the boy to bed. It’s a guarantee that we’ll always eat too much dinner and then we’ll end up in food comas. We’re usually so tired that we can barely watch a movie. It got me thinking…why don’t I just make dessert with espresso in it so we can get a jolt of energy? Let’s make it so that we can actually Netflix & Chill. Did I use that term right? I dunno. You know what I’m saying 😉

This milkshake has three coffee additions. First we start with a base of Humboldt Creamery Organic Coffee Ice Cream (which is so good btw!), we mix it in the blender with chocolate covered espresso beans AND Kahlúa because we’re grown ups.

We top with additional chopped chocolate covered espresso beans and ENJOY that little surge of energy. Now what are we going to have for dinner? How about some steaks and some twice baked potatoes?!

around the home, favorites

February 10, 2016

Shutterbean Kitchen

Let’s look at where we started from:

More before photos here!

And this is where we are now. What a difference, right?!

It definitely feels like a Shutterbean Kitchen.

Inspiration

February 8, 2016

Shutterbean Meal Prep – Week 2

Back on the meal prep train. I was out of my normal schedule with the kitchen painting stuff. Don’t worry, I am editing photos and should post pictures of my kitchen sometime this week. Stay tuned on that! This week was a really busy week. I shot recipes for One Potato, which meant we had a ton of food in the house. But I wanted to create a foundation so that I could make some things on the fly.

Let’s look at the week:

THIS WEEK’S MEAL PREP:

lettuce for salads
caesar salad dressing
basil pesto (look at what my photos looked like in 2007!)
peeled carrots + red peppers
potato salad
croutons
limeade
maple olive oil banana bread

MEAL PREP IN ACTION:

Here we have kale caesar (used the dressing!) with rice & roasted sausage.

All three of us ate the same thing which made me super happy.

Peso on fettuccine with Caesar salads! BOOM.

I got a lot of use out of the pesto this week. Here’s a breakfast with pesto toast, cheesy eggs & broccoli. I turned it all into an open-faced sandwich.

Work from home lunch meant grated zucchini sautéed with rice and pesto. Lots of red pepper flakes and a fried egg on the side. Delicious.

A few weeks ago, Cooper and I wrapped up some bananas and put them in the freezer. Pulled them out and made a blueberry banana smoothie with them.

Love having frozen bananas in our arsenal.

Casey and I were working from home so I made us a gigantic salad with the potato salad, lettuce I prepped, caesar salad dressing & croutons. There’s also broccoli cheddar soup with croutons.

Grilled cheese for Casey… He’s so lucky.

This was another awesome breakfast. I sautéed asparagus and red peppers in a spoon full of the Caesar dressing and finished with a scoop of pesto. Served with eggs and toast. Amen.

I liked how the garlic and vinegar brought out the sweetness of the peppers in the mix. It had such a good umami flavor.

Pesto + Arugula + Chopped Almonds + Chicken = Happy Tracy

OTHER NOTES:

Cooper and Casey plowed right through the banana bread, like I knew they would. I’m glad we had carrots & red peppers in the house because I got through the Monday munchies unscathed thanks them. I’m notorious for eating well on Monday during the day and then the second I get home from work I’m like GIVE ME ANYTHING and GIVE ME IT NOW. Carrots helped while I made dinner.

I’m so glad I thought to make Caesar dressing because Cooper ate a TON of salads during the week and that made me happy.

Casey enjoyed the limeade with a few cocktails this week. It’s great with rum.

I made a batch of Kombucha– flavor = Pineapple Mango

Week 2 was a success. I didn’t have any leftovers!

Hope this inspires you to do some meal prep this week.

If you need more inspiration, follow my #shutterbeanmealprep hashtag on Instagram.

Curious about meal prep? Read my post here!

my everyday life, Photography

February 7, 2016

My Everyday Life: Week 5

Here’s what My Everyday Life Week 5 looked like:

We made a smoothie together.

After we bought a butter croissant.

Agreed. Don’t talk to me before I’ve had mine.

456

JOY spotting #1

Too soon?

B A C O N

The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich with bacon!

I took him to CB2 to pick something up and he immediately found the chess set.

And then he played…. while several couples admired the table.

“Mom! The water is pink!”

JOY spotting #2

We errand. The parking meter looks like another head.

Casey put these hairpin legs on our ikea bookshelf. I love it.

He’ll probably get mad because I took a picture before he put all the records back.

We went out to lunch. He was mesmerized by the basketball game on TV and I was so fascinated by the family behind him. They didn’t talk to each other for 30 minutes.