March 5, 2015

Out to Eat: Portland Dining

Two of my closest friends from college live up in Oregon (we all met at the University of Oregon!) and before we had kids, we would plan 1-2 yearly trips where we would see each other. Life has gotten in the way and we haven’t been able to make our yearly visits. It had been something like 4 years since the three of us hung out. I was contacted by Travel Portland to do a post on dining in Portland because March is Portland Dining Month and I jumped at the chance. We FINALLY got a chance to make a girls weekend happen and it was geared around food- which we all LOVE. If you have two and half days (which is not enough!) in Portland, here are a few great places to check out:

featured, recipes

March 4, 2015

Roasted Carrots with Yogurt & Cilantro Sauce

What’s the quickest way to get you to consume TWO pounds of carrots?!!

Make Roasted Carrots with Yogurt & Cilantro Sauce

I figured it out…

Roast them with cinnamon, salt & pepper.

Drizzle roasted carrots with a cilantro pesto, toasted pepitas and finish it with a creamy sriracha yogurt sauce.

Salty/ sweet/ smokey/ spicy/ tangy/ herby/ tender carrots!

Sorry/not sorry you ate 2 lb. bag of carrots!

recipes

March 2, 2015

Sausage Mushroom Pizza Bowls

A few of you may remember me talking about my 3+ year stint of being low carb in college. I knowwwww, I even shocked myself. I lived off of a lot of chicken, creamed spinach, salad and these Sausage Mushroom Pizza Bowls helped me get through some rough times. Rough times…as in OMG EVERYONE IS EATING PIZZA AND I WANT SOME, times. The low carb thing worked for me though…sometimes I consider going back but then there’s TOAST and I just can’t commit to a life without toast.

This recipe is super adaptable. If you’re not a fan of sausage & mushroom (that’s my preferred topping combination) then you can substitute whatever toppings your heart desires. Also! Throw some fresh spinach in the mixture too. Just sauté it at the very end with the sausage. The idea is that we take 8 oz. ramekins and create something like a little lasagna (sans the noodles) with them. I break this recipe up into four ramekins so you can freeze some or spread out your servings throughout the week.

Cheese, sausage, mushrooms, red pepper flakes and marinara combine forces and give you THE PIZZA BOWL. The only thing missing is the crust…but if you feel so inclined, serve with garlic bread or garlic twists. If you opt out of the carb game then you’ve got yourself a totally gluten free dinner option.

If you have to live without pizza, at least you can eat the toppings.

my everyday life, Photography

February 28, 2015

My Everyday Life: Week 9

Here’s what this past week looked like:

Spent last weekend in Portland.

With two of my dear friends from college.

We ate our way through Portland (I’ll share more of that soon!)

One of the cool things we did was get our aura portraits by Radiant Human.

I have a red-orange aura.

: D

HA!

February 27, 2015

I love lists, Friday!

The rubber band parenting method. I’d like to try it.
It would be fun to do this project in my home.
I’d love to see how she does Gwen Stefani. Next time!
15 things that Emotionally Strong People DON’T DO.
These cinemagraphs are trippy.
The only reason why I’d go camping (it’s for the food!)
How Should I Teach My Kids About Money?
A perfectly symmetrical Wes Anderson supercut.
The Power of a Gimmick Free Gaga (her performance was unreal!)
Have you done the 23andme? I’ve been contemplating buying a kit. Because I love data.
I totally had a crush on JC Chasez when he was in the Mickey Mouse Club.
Loved watching this!
34 Truths.
Ages 1-100
I want a camper!
Guide to life by Claire Underwood. I’m excited for the next season of House of Cards!
I finally finished What I Know For Sure this week and LOVED IT. Gonna read it again.
What it’s like to be trapped inside your own head. Whoa. This really resonated with me.
Hooray for makeup charts!
San Francisco Commandments (hilarious/true)
This makes me miss working in the darkroom.

recipes

February 26, 2015

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Roll-ups

When I was a kid I spent a few years with these twins named Jenae & Jennifer. Their grandma used to pack their lunches and the two of them had cinnamon sugar tortillas almost every day. Took me awhile to weasel my way into getting them to share one with me and from then on I was hooked. I remember coming home from school and trying my hardest to recreate them. Master of the microwave, I was not. They always ended up crunchy because I didn’t know you could microwave something for less than a minute.

This snack is now a part of Cooper’s childhood. Sometimes he has it for breakfast and sometimes as an afternoon snack for school. If our tortillas aren’t pliable I pop them in the microwave for like 8 seconds to soften them up. I spread salted butter evenly on top and sprinkle cinnamon sugar lightly over the butter, followed by an extra dash of cinnamon. Then I roll them up like little cigars and cut them up. I find that cutting them into little bite sized rolls makes me think I’m eating mini cinnamon rolls…they’re doughy and delicious.

recipes

February 23, 2015

Cream of Spinach Soup

Cream of Spinach Soup!

I found out recently, after almost 9 years of marriage, that my husband doesn’t really get excited over soup. WHAT? I feel like we should have talked about this in our marriage prep class. That doesn’t stop me from making it…and making him eat it.

I’ve been on a soup kick lately and he’s been along for the ride. First with the Sidekick Tomato Soup and now with this Cream of Spinach Soup! Really, I think I just want a good excuse to eat croutons…Which he’s not super into and that’s fine because it means more for Cooper and I (we both have the crouton loving/crust on pizza is the best part gene).

Next up, I think I’m going to make a batch of Pasta Fagioli. The cold weather practically BEGS for it.

Even though this recipe has cream and butter in it, I feel like it’s gotta be good for you. LOOK AT THAT GREEN COLOR. With almost TWO POUNDS of spinach packed in, it’s practically a salad. A creamy dreamy warm salad/soup…with croutons 🙂