June 25, 2013

Menu Monday/Tuesday


Hi all!  I have so much to tell you, but this week is starting out to be a little bit crazier than normal!


Besides finishing a sprint triathlon this past weekend and Everett's first tooth poking through, I am attending a math research workshop (with homework every night - eek!), Mike is working overtime, my mom is in town babysitting and E is trying to break out of his swaddle at night so we are transitioning out of that phase.




Photo: FINISHERS!!! #myfirsttri #nojoke #swimbikerun

Photo: First tooth!


Needless to say...we're a little bit busy.  Anywho - I will have a full triathlon recap for you coming soon, but until then here is what we are hoping to have on our plates this week!!!




M:  Creamy Veggie Pasta
T:  Light Sesame Chicken w/ Fried Rice
W:  Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops w/ Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Th:  Seasons 52
F:  Pepporoni (Turkey) and Cheese Calzones
Sa:  Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Su:  Pot Roast Baked Potatoes

June 20, 2013

Red Rice

 

It’s no secret that I love Mexican food, but as much as I love to eat it out, I love to eat it in even more – that way I don’t get stuck eating 2 baskets of chips and salsa myself!

 

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I have many great Mexican (entrĂ©e) recipes already, but I am always on a search for a really great Mexican rice recipe…well, my friends, I found it!  It was delicious the day of and even better the next day. I found the original recipe on Pinterest (of course) and then tweaked it a bit to make it my own. I highly recommend this version – the bright red color is so distinct and the lime juice sends it over the top!

Enjoy!

 

Red Rice

Print this recipe!

  • 1 cup of rice
  • 2 cups of chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup of tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon of lime juice
  • 1/2 cup of cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon of cumin
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
  • Salt to taste


Add rice and chicken broth and into a pot. Bring to a boil on high, stir once, and cover. Simmer on low for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and keep covered for 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook onions in oil for 10 minutes or until just about to brown. Add garlic to pan and cook for one minute. Stir in tomato paste, diced tomatoes and cumin and cook for one minute.

 

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Mix in cooked rice, lime juice, and cilantro, and season to taste.

 

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June 17, 2013

Menu Monday

 

Weekend highlights:

 

  • Friends, food and BBQ!  We spent much of Saturday with a few of the people that just make us happy.  Mike played golf with his buddies, E and I went to breakfast and a walk around Lake Eola with my friend Jill and her daughter (E’s girlfriend) Kennedy and then we finished up the day with a BBQ at our friend Lynn’s house while visiting with her mom and sister who were in town.

 

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My helper at Panera.

 

Photo shoot with Kennedy <3

 

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A walk around Lake Eola.

 

Multitasking.  Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn!

 

We’re teaching him the rules of “hanging out” early.

 

  • Father’s Day!  We spent Sunday lounging around, napping, running and eating!  Our day (as all or days do) started out early with the little dude, but he and his daddy were back asleep within an hour and a half. 

Photo: . #fathersday

Hanging with dad.

After lunch we headed out to the West Orange Trail for a family run.  There’s nothing like “training” for a sprint triathlon (which is next weekend?!?!) 4 months after giving birth to make you feel out of shape!

We ran 4 miles in the muggy, humid, hot air, but felt great afterwards.  Everett slept the whole time, woke up as we finished and smiled – apparently he loved it.

Photo: Family run. At least Everett thought it was a blast. #fathersday #4miles #hotandmuggy #sweaty #feelsgood

Holy sweaty workout, Batman.

 

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More hanging out with dad.  Never gets old for this little guy.

 

Dinner was a scrumptious meal of  baby back ribs.  I don’t know why I don’t make these more…they really are not only delicious, but SOOO EASY!  These were fall off the bone good with a BBQ sauce mixture of Pat’s Homade BBQ Sauce and Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce; more on that this week – deeelish!

 

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This week is super normal and we are very excited that Gransie will be here this weekend to watch E while we try not to survive our sprint tri on Sunday.  As for our menu, that is super normal as well!

 

M:  Brinner – Eggs and Bacon Pancakes

T: Pulled Pork Tacos with Refried Beans

W: Skinny Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

Th: Skillet Lasagna w/ Salad

F:  Chicken Cordon Blue w/ Wild Rice and Roasted Green Beans

Sa: Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls w/ Mushrooms and Mashed Potatoes

Su:  Pesto Chicken Pizza

 

Have a great week!

June 13, 2013

Smashed

 

I love potatoes…I mean, I really LOOOOVVVEEE them.  They are so comfy and fluffy and delicious.  I like them any which way, but this new recipe actually blew my socks off.  I served these crispy, crunchy smashed potatoes with meatloaf and they did not disappoint. 

The recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman and is well worth trying.

 

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These would not only be great as a dinner side dish, but also perfect to compliment dippy eggs or to use as the bottom of an eggs benedict creation!

Enjoy!

 

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Crispy Smashed Potatoes 

Print this recipe!

  • 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt To Taste
  • Black Pepper To Taste

 

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

 

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With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again.

 

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Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

 

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Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

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He’s ready to eat some!

June 11, 2013

Menu Monday/Tuesday

 

Yet again…a day late and a dollar short!  These past two weeks have been so crazy.  I have so many recipes, recaps and fun blog posts to share with you all, but between two different sets of company and awesome weekends, I seem to be playing catch-up!  Hopefully this week will settle down a bit and I can get some great posts your way during nap time for the little guy.

Weekend Highlights:

  • Rollins Reunion!  All of my best girl friends/teammates from college were in town this weekend to celebrate our reunion.  It was sooooo great to see everybody and get caught up on each other – I haven’t laughed that hard in a while!

 

We started the festivities off Friday morning with a trip to Cocoa Beach (this is Everett’s third time to the beach already!). 

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Aunt Buelly and Aunt Lynn.

 

After a few hours at the beach, one car headed to the airport to pick up our friend Ferg who was flying in from Charlotte and then head to Kamrin’s house to get ready for the kick-off BBQ.

Once there Bueller passed out the shirts she had made designed by my friend Milissa and her.  They not only looked awesome, but were soooo soft.  Probably my new favorite “go-to” shirt.

 

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The Rollins mascot is a Tar, or sailor.  My friend Jeff used to always say, “Stick Tars Stick” when he would come to visit us in college and his saying sort of stuck (pardon the pun).  Not only did the saying stick, so have we – I think we will always stick together – an amazing group of friends.

 

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We ordered a catering size load of BBQ from 4 Rivers (a local favorite) and chowed down on pulled pork, brisket, baked beans, mac n’ cheese, coleslaw and watermelon.  We also ate cake for dessert honoring our newest Tars-to-be.  Our friends Noelle and Milissa are both due August 8!

 

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We took a walk, posed for pictures, looked at old (and very embarrassing) pictures, drank wine and laughed until late into the night.  The baby and kiddos were asleep and the guys were content watching the NHL playoffs, so we took full advantage of girl time!

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L to R: 

Jen ‘02, Milissa ‘04, Me ‘03, Kate ‘04, Leigh ‘02, Kamrin ‘04, Hagen ‘02, Noelle ‘03

 

Saturday was reserved for the “girls only” (Mike had daddy day care duty all day) and we made the most of it.  Our day started with breakfast at Keke’s Breakfast Cafe in Winter Park to fuel up (I think I had about 5 cups of coffee) and then a walk around the Rollins campus.

 

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We were hoping that the bookstore would be open and were a bit bummed out when we found out it is closed on the weekend during the summer.  Boo.  But we did get some good pictures anyway!

 

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We finished walking the campus, stopped by the gym to leave our former coach a note and then headed to our favorite place to layout and play in the water – The Dinky Dock or “The Dink” as we used to call it.

 

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We lived right next to the Dinky Dock my junior and senior years and spent many, many days laying out and playing in the lake between classes.  There is a dock, boat ramp and plenty of shade – so the possibilities are/were endless!

 

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The weather was great (while we were there) and Leigh’s sister Holly even met us with some paddle boards.

 

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After the Dinky Dock we opted for a late lunch at Burger-Fi and then headed back to shower up for dinner. 

Our dinner reservations were for Cocina 214 and they didn’t disappoint.  We were there for well over 4 hours drinking, eating and laughing up a storm.  The margaritas were delicious and the conversations were priceless.  Definitely a memorable weekend!

 

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Although some of the girls had to head back Sunday morning, those of us who either live in the area or weren’t leaving yet opted for a pool day.  We headed to my friend Noelle’s community pool.  E wasn’t loving the water – it was cold! – but he does love to hang out and nap (very much like his daddy!).

 

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  • 4 month check up!  Yesterday E went for his 4 month well-visit and everything was great.  He would probably argue that the shots weren’t so wonderful, but a quick bottle and a dose of baby Tylenol right after seemed to do the trick.  He didn’t even miss a beat!

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Loving my new comic app:  Halftone.  How cool is that?!?

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The aftermath.

 

As for this week, we don’t have much planned and I couldn’t be more excited!  I can start tackling my summer to-do list and begin to relax a little, well as much as you can with a 4 month old!

I am quite excited about my sushi date on Wednesday with my friends Jenny and Lynn along with Lynn’s mom and sister(s) who are in town visiting from South Africa and London!  Other than that, here’s to a great and “normal” week!

 

M:  Gun Show Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries

T:  Chicken Pad Thai

W:  Sushi w/ the girls!

Th:  Steak Salad

F:  Pulled Pork Tacos

Sa:  Balsamic Mushroom and Broccoli Baked Potatoes

Su:  Father’s Day Surprise!

June 4, 2013

Menu Monday, err Tuesday

 

Since I wasn’t here yesterday, I will wish you all a Happy Monday and a Happy Tuesday!

 

Weekend Highlights:

  • Cocoa Beach and Mike’s birthday!  We started our day on Saturday with some delicious Pumpkin Bread French Toast topped with syrup and peanut butter for Mike’s 32 birthday breakfast…he even got to eat it off of the new “celebrate plate” I made (more on that later).

He was also clued in on his birthday activity (instead of an actual present).  We will be competing in a Sprint Triathlon in the middle of June with our friends Lynn and Tuller.  I’m so excited – but a little scared of the swim!

After breakfast we packed the car and headed to meet up with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their daughter, Remy, in Cocoa Beach.  They flew in from Wisconsin last Wednesday and have been beaching it up since then.  We reserved a room for the night and were ready to tackle the “first night in a hotel room” with E. 

 

So much stuff!

 

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We hung out at the pool, the kiddos slept quite a bit and we ended the night with some delicious pizza.  I will say that it was quite comical going out to dinner with a 4 month and 8 1/2 month old – times have changed!  Everett did great overnight and then was ready to hit the beach Sunday!

 

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We were joined by our friends Jenny and Jeremy and couldn’t have asked for better weather.  All in all a GREAT WEEKEND!

 

Somebody was worn out!

 

As for this week – I am officially off for the summer and back in the grind as a stay at home mom for the next two months.  Everett is growing like a weed and is officially 4 months old today. 

 

Photo: Ch-ch-ch-changes! #everett

 

My college girlfriends and I are also partaking in a Rollins Reunion (not a sanctioned event, one we just planned) this weekend and even had some pretty dandy shirts made.  I can’t wait to see them all and catch up.  I know that my sides will hurt from laughing so hard.

As for our menu, this is what is on tap:

 

M: Leftovers

T:  Taco Salad

W:  Philly Cheesesteak Paninis w/ Roasted Carrots

Th:  Gun Show Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries

F:  BBQ at Kam’s

Sa:  Girl’s Night Out – Rollins Reunion

Su:  Brinner – Egg Sandwiches w/ Applesauce