August 25, 2011

SCHOOL SHOPPING LIST GIVEAWAY!

Fun Fact: I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING; it’s my favorite time of year! I’m one of those people who needs an objective when I shop; so when there’s a list involved I feel completely satisified picking out and checking off items. You can imagine how much I loved organizing stuff for summer camp as a kid.

In the past few weeks I’ve had my eye on some cool things at my local Target. I saw a few kids with lists and baskets full of supplies and couldn’t help but feel JEALOUS. Although I don’t miss going to school, I do miss having cool new shoes and a backpack full of the latest school supplies. This year I decided to make my own school shopping list and buy supplies for one lucky reader! If you’re not in school, who cares?? I’m totally acting like I am. I’ve got a brand new pencil case in my purse filled with fresh Sharpies and I’m not ashamed. There might be a highlighter in there or two cuz you never know when you might need one!

Here’s what I picked out for YOU!

1. MECHANICAL PENCILS—my favorite! I like a thick lead mechanical pencil. I hope you do too!

2. LARABARS—you need energy with all of your studying! Flavors: Cherry Pie & Peanut Butter Cookie.

3. GUM—Sweet Mint! Who doesn’t need gum? Just don’t let your teachers catch you chewing it!

4. SHARPIE- COLOR PACK—seeing a pack of colored sharpies makes me happy. ‘Nuff said.

5. SHARPIE- MEDIUM POINT—essential for list making. These ones don’t bleed through paper! I’m mildly obsessed with them and I think they make my handwriting better.

6. CUTE PEN CASE—what are you gonna put your new pens in? duh!

7. PAPER CLIPS—these ones are coated. They look cool.

8. GRAPH PAPER POST-ITS—the greatest invention since sliced bread. Seriously. Life changer. Sometimes they are hard to find!

9. GIGANTIC PAPERCLIPS —great for huge paper stacks. You won’t realize how much you need these until you don’t have them.

10. NAIL POLISH— Silver Sweep & Blue Streak Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri. The wand is thick & it dries super fast. You could easily paint your nails in the AM if you have to.

11. NOTEBOOK—where you write down ideas, love letters & shopping lists…

12. HIGHLIGHTERS—because the world looks better highlighted. Neon is IN.

13. FOLDERS—so you can put all your important papers in one place!

A winner will be picked at random a week from today–September 2nd! Good luck!

recipes

August 24, 2011

Corn Zucchini Lime Pizza

For a good year, Casey worked close to the amazing/prolific Arizmendi Bakery. Not only are their pastries, muffins & cookies TO DIE FOR, they make the most fabulous/unconventional pizza with the craziest, most exotic toppings; it’s fancy pizza! We created a tradition where every other Thursday, he’d call me and tell me what the pizza of the day was and nine times out of ten, he’d bring one home. I’d fire up the oven after hanging up and eagerly anticipated heating up the pizza and slicing into it.

One of the best pizzas he came home with was a wonderful corn, feta, lime & cilantro pizza that had slices of jalapeno scattered throughout. It tasted just like summer. Casey changed jobs, and sadly Arizmendi pizza has been out of our rotation. That hasn’t prevented me from thinking about their pizza constantly. Before bed the other night, this pizza popped into my head and I seriously lost sleep over it. I woke up the next morning plagued with the NEED to make it. I fulfilled that need and if given the chance, I would have eaten the entire pizza myself. Thank heavens for husbands who come home early from work and neighbors who will try anything I make.

The corn is sweet and crunchy, the feta is salty and slightly creamy, the cilantro adds a nice herbal greenness to the pizza and the slices of jalapeno add great heat. Squeeze lime on top and all of the flavors step up a notch! This pizza is truly addictive, earth shattering and seriously the best way to exploit fresh corn right now. I can honestly say this is a pizza worth losing sleep over.
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around the home, Uncategorized

August 23, 2011

The thing about gardening…

I have a small vegetable garden in our backyard and I’ve been reluctant to post pictures of it because I’ve been somewhat neglecting it this summer! The thing about gardening is that you need to tend to your plants everyday. You gotta prune, inspect, manage bugs, fertilize and WATER your plants or else everything falls apart. Some days I remember that I need to water my plants when I’m deep in spreadsheet-land at work. I rush home to wilted plants who really don’t appreciate night time waterings. Two or three days of neglect and my tomatoes are looking a little droopy with a few extra yellow leaves hanging around. Fortunately there’s still a lot of fruit coming off the vines and things are ripening up nicely. Fall is going to be here before I know it so I’m savoring every last bit of tomato goodness while I can! Here’s what I’ve got going on…

recipes, Uncategorized

August 21, 2011

Zucchini Banana Flaxseed Muffins

Hey! Guess what? As of last week, I have a preschooler. That’s right! A PRESCHOOLER! Dang! Where does the time go? In preparation for this monumental event, I let Cooper pick out his very own lunchbox and backpack. He went with a nice robot theme and I’m glad for that because the construction themed set was not my favorite color. I know it’s not MY lunchbox, but I’m the one who has to keep tabs on it, clean it out & fill it up every other day. I’m also left with the task of having to figure out what to put in said lunchbox and I need to get him excited about lunch time at school! It’s a tall order.

At the beginning of the week, I made these Zucchini Banana Flaxseed Muffins with the idea of putting one in his lunch box as a treat for all three days of preschool. Little did I know they would disappear in less than two days. Cooper loved them so much that I actually caught him standing on a chair at the kitchen counter reaching into the container of muffins I put aside for the week! And just when I thought my new hiding place was legit, I walked downstairs to see him eating another muffin behind the couch. SNEAKY kid! If these muffins were loaded with sugar, butter or oil, I’d be upset. But the fact that there’s both zucchini and banana mixed in with a little flaxseed makes his sneaky behavior totally OK. I can’t really blame him; they taste great! They’re moist, tender, full of flavor and the flaxseed gives the muffins a nutty flavor without nuts. You would never really know that there’s no oil in this recipe. I have now welcomed these healthy muffins into his lunchbox rotation. Victory!
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Photography, Uncategorized

August 20, 2011

365- Week 32

A food related photo everyday until 2012. Here’s week 32:

230/365 I split a cheeseburger with my dad for lunch.

Photography, Uncategorized

August 18, 2011

31 comes before 32 RESULTS!

This is the part where I tell you that I didn’t finish my list! But it’s my birthday today and I’m hoping you can forgive me? To be honest with you, I’m not really upset that I didn’t finish. I’m actually quite proud of what I’ve accomplished in the past year! You’ll see links to all the things I completed in my 31st year of life below mixed with a few things I haven’t finished…

Share an an actual picture of myself on my website.
Make donuts from scratch.
Go to the French Laundry (again!)
Take a class to improve my knife skills.
Have a nacho party!
Make my own pizza (and not fail!)
Go to a farm.
Make cream puffs for my mom. (She LOVES profiteroles!)
Make cinnamon rolls from scratch.
Clean out/organize my kitchen (FOR REAL!)
Go on a dishcrawl!
Try a dish with capers and like it!
Get my drink on with Joy.
Do a cleanse.
Make my own soft pretzels.
Learn how to do canning!
Make french fries from scratch.
Hang some of my food photos in my kitchen.
Cook something with my husband.
Host a fondue party!
Have a cookbook party where we all cook from one cookbook!
Make some killer hot wings for my husband.
Make creme brulee!
Go on a food adventure in Portland, Oregon.
Make my own cheese from scratch.
Learn a recipe from my grandma.
Make pasta from scratch. (maybe with my grandma?)
Learn how to do latte art!
Grow some lettuce.
Try to sell some photos online. (etsy maybe?)
Meet as many of my online friends as possible!

I’m going to be kind and give myself til the end of the year to complete the items I haven’t finished. I don’t think hosting a fondue party in August would be a wise idea. Damn you, timing! I didn’t get you right! I have ingredients for hot wings in my fridge right now and I’m planning on doing some kitchen purging/organizing soon! We’re planning on having a garage sale so that will have to coincide with that. I’ve also done some research on Etsy and I’m close to opening up a shop; I just need to pick out pictures to print! I bought a new clock for our kitchen a few months ago and put it in the place where I would have put my food photos! I guess that means I must find another place for them in my house…Dishcrawl…need to figure that out. I’m not sure if I even like the idea of going to separate places for each course. Can’t all my food just come to me? Cookbook party? I know who I need to invite! Ahem…Whitney, Kasey, Megan, Cheryl, Denise, Allison & Danielle. What cookbook do we all have? Meet as many of my online friends as possible? I’ve met A LOT and I hope to share all of my friends in a post for you soon.

Right now I’m going to dive into a chocolate cupcake & watch Project Runway. It’s my birthday after all.

around the home

August 17, 2011

BluePrint Cleanse

I’ve been putting off doing a cleanse FOREVER and once I had Cooper I thought there was NO WAY I could be a mom and cleanse because it just didn’t seem possible! How the heck would I manage?? Where would I get the energy to chase around an active toddler? I seriously NEED to eat and drink coffee in order to function. Or so I thought…

What turned me off on cleansing was the annoyance of having to buy ultra specific/pricey/exotic foods and the idea of spending lots of time prepping meals. How do you make 3 different juices, poached fish, steamed vegetables and white miso soup for your work day? Who can do that in the morning? When I saw Joy’s review of her cleansing experience, I decided to give the BluePrintCleanse a try. It’s a 3 day juice-only cleanse where you simply drink 5 different juices throughout the day and then you end the day with a tasty cashew milk. Everything was labeled, convenient and easy to follow. Instructions were emailed, juices were sent and I was in it to win it! I’m proud to say that I made it through and it was MUCH easier than I imagined.

Come take a look!
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