SUMMER READING LIST 2014

Recipe Roundup: Week One

Cooking is not my strong point. When it's going well, I thoroughly enjoy it. The process: planning, buying ingredients, preparation, and of course eating it! There are few better feelings better than cooking a delicious meal then sitting and devouring it, every bite (maybe even some plate licking). What I don't enjoy is feeling rushed and the imaginary pressure that I put on myself when cooking for others. For some reason i always go into panic mode when I am cooking a meal and someone is waiting for me to finish, peaking their head into the kitchen every so often sniffing the air with longing and the inevitable hovering near me and the stove. It drives me sick! But it's ridiculous and it's something that I should get over, especially if I want to feed myself and the ones I love on a regular basis.

One thing I have been doing with my free time is collecting recipes on Pinterest. I always found Pinterest so overwhelming. There's just so much coming at you at once, you know? Maybe it's the layout, I'm a minimalist and visually like everything to be clean, easy to dissect and for some reason I just don't get that with Pinterest. Despite my qualms, I have been using the site quite a bit at work during down time as a way to connect with our customers at the shop and increase our online presence. Many of our younger customers and 'work from home' clients use (and love) the site so I've been getting used to it. I love that there is an abundance of recipes for any type of meal imaginable. I've gained so many new ways to cook my favorite foods and it's a blessing because I was getting so bored & tempted to eat out every night.

My goal is to overload on veggies in an effort to transition into Vegetarian only meals. As much as I do like meat, I don't crave it as much and really never miss it when it's not on my plate so I figure I can just eliminate it. My veggie staples at the moment are kale (how cliche), zucchini, mushroom, squash, asparagus, green/red/orange bell peppers, and spinach. Trying to incorporate these into meals in different ways takes creativity, which I am lucky that Pinterest provides. Below are some recipes that I have made this week and planning to make before the week is up.

First 'Simple Sesame Noodles' by the Pioneer Woman. These were delicious and ridiculously easy to make. I had all the ingredients aside from the sesame oil, so technically they were "Sesame Noodles". I don't like sesame flavor so I didn't miss out. I topped the noodles with a bell pepper, mushroom, zucchini stir fry and it was the bomb!

Next, 'Garlic, Lemon & Parmesan Zucchini' by Cooking Classy. Again, so darn easy to make! I am a zucchini fanatic and this was perfect to curb my in-between lunch/dinner appetite limbo. Next time, I may think of cutting back on the olive oil and baking just a tad longer to see if these crisp up a bit more in the oven. Michael and I munched on these and he kept going on and on about how the lemon really brought out the flavors in the zucchini. He swears by lemon. *eyeroll* Will definitely make these a staple in my repertoire.

On the menu for later in the week is, 'Garlic Mushroom Quinoa' by Damn Delicious. I pretty much make this on my own, but mix in the mushrooms while the quinoa is boiling and let them cook down that way. This recipe calls for sautéing the mushrooms with garlic in a separate pan then adding them to the finished quinoa. Seems like a no brainer that this is going to be yummy. Michael is not the biggest mushroom fan, but when done right he can't complain.

On a separate note, I am so happy people have really nice dish ware, cooking pans, and excellent lighting in their homes because photos like this would not be possible in my dark, little apartment with all our epically hand me downed cookware. One day it'll be a reality for me, but for now I am grateful for the food bloggers out there :)

Wanderlust

wanderlust: \ˈwän-dər-ˌləst\

1. a strong desire to travel

2. a strong longing or impulse towards wandering

Growing up my family did not take a lot of trips, it's probably the one thing that I would definitely change about my childhood. It's such a small thing, no one's fault really. My mom kept us active and involved with sports and worked two-three jobs to support us, so there wasn't a whole lot of time designated for leaving the country on lavish vacations. We did however take many weekend trips throughout California, Nevada and Arizona for our sporting events, sometimes staying an extra day before or after to relax, which was always so fun.

As an adult I have done some light traveling throughout the States, on my own and with friends, but I am trying to plan a trip for myself to somewhere I have never been before and just taking it from there. I am not a spontaneous person and in my mind it doesn't make sense to plan a trip to nowhere without having everything planned to the letter, but I need to get rid of those qualms, at least once. There are so many places I want to go, so that is the difficult part, narrowing it down.

Allergy Home Remedies

I have suffered from allergies for as long as I can remember, they are just a constant in my life. My brother and I have the worst bouts of them out of every member of our family and we've just learned to live with them. I've tried most over the counter solutions, but they don't really fix anything and almost always give me severe drowsiness so I try to avoid them. As I've gotten older, I've tried to climate store bought medicine from my life and find better alternatives. I may not have instant relief, but I feel better knowing that I won't be susceptible to unpredictable side effects like drowsiness, raw nostrils or my favorite ridiculously chapped, splitting lips. So cute.

My moms coworker, whom I exchange emails with about interesting things we come across online, sent me a link about natural allergy remedies from Everyday Roots. Some of them I may not try, like the 'Red Onion, Honey Water' mainly because I am not a big fan of red onions on my food so I don't think I'll drink the water. (My breath and Michael's is pre-thanking me)

I really enjoy drinking tea before bed, so I will give the Nettle-Peppermint tea a try and I have been on a water kick, but could definitely use a little vitamin C, citrus goodness in my morning routine, so we'll see.

Allergies, Schmallergies

Allergies have been the bane of my existence ever since we went hiking about two weeks ago. I woke up early last Tuesday, rolled over and poked Michael until he grumpily asked what I wanted. For some reason I was in a hiking mood. I think it was probably reading  the weather report before bed the previous night or maybe the obnoxious sunshine that was already peaking through our window, not sure. Whatever it was, it wanted me to get outside, be active and take advantage of the beautiful Summer weather, the weather I had been pining for all winter long. So we made it up to Horse Tooth Mountain Open Space and took the Horse Tooth Falls trail, something we both had yet to do despite our time in Colorado-- ten months for me and almost two years for Michael!!! Inexcusable!

It was super beautiful and the waterfall was a cold sand refreshing as I had hoped it would be. After huffing it up the mountain it was nice to dip our hands & feet into the shallow spring, though we did have to maneuver around tons of children and their pushy parents to do so. Hmph. We ended up spotting the cave next to the waterfall and it was completely unoccupied, so it was nice to have it to ourselves to take a breather before heading back down the mountain.

While I enjoyed myself and all the wonderful views I couldn't help, but become frustrated at my none stop sneezing. Mainly because it caused me to take a lot more breaks than I was anticipating for myself, it just slowed me down so much. I'm blaming all the beautiful grass and flowers growing near by. Pretty, but debilitating.

Bag lady

My love for bags has grown exponentially since childhood and I am afraid (and excited) that it will continue to grow as I age. I am pretty sure that I developed this love from my mother, who most likely got it from her mother. I just remember seeing my grandmother carrying those Bamboula Ltd. straw bags everywhere! She had such an assortment of sizes that were designated for specific occasions. Her square, oversized tote with the sturdy leather handles was for stops at the market. The small, half-moon shape with the extra long strap and hidden compartments was for church. The mini backpack with just enough space inside for keys, wallet and chap stick was for walking the lake on the weekends. She always utilized her bags and each one had its purpose, so the abundance never came off as wasteful.

My mother is similar, in ways. She has her every day work bag, her paper-work bag, her laptop bag, her gym bag, her lunch bag... she epitomizes the term "bag lady", but in an almost endearing way. You see her with her multiple bags and you can't help but think 'I hope she has everything...?' As I've matured I've learned the significance of having a bag that hold everything, that can be a staple of resourcefulness in a hectic life. I think that's why I have gravitated towards accumulating so many different shapes and colors, because there will always be a time when you need a specific type of bag and it would suck not to have the one that would be most appropriate.

While browsing Etsy I came across a brand of handmade crochet bags called, Sudrishta by Sudrishta. I really like these bags because they bring about a sense of nostalgia as I think about my grandmother and her collection of Bamboula Ltd. bags. Though I am forever undecided about most things that I buy on Etsy, I have at least narrowed it down to three styles that I want and current have nothing like in my closet.

All three styles are priced at $79.00, plus $17.00 for shipping which is a lot higher than I would normally be willing to pay, but that are coming all the way from Turkey and the craftsmanship looks exceptional from what I can tell through photos. My half birthday is coming up, so maybe someone will get this for me as a gift? (I wish...)

Stirred, NOT shaken please!

Last Wednesday turned into an impromptu date night, mainly because I got off early and time to curl my hair, find a cute dress and use the new lipstick Michael bought me. I think he was so taken aback and excited that he wanted to take advantage of my good mood. I have been really stressed out all Winter and it carried over into the Spring. I am trying to get back into the "Look Good, Feel Good" mindset with hopes that my mood will improve over time because my boyfriend misses my carefree, happy girlies! It takes time, but it's coming back!

Anywhoo--- We went to Elliot's Martini Bar and it was super cute and very quiet, which normally isn't what people look for in a bar, but Michael and I are little homebodies and like low-key settings, the more intimate the better!

I like the configuration of the bar, it's really open when it's near empty and you can get a great view of the overhead projector which plays movies. Edward Scissorhands was playing much to my delight because it's such a good one!

Their menu is really, really extensive as they are a true martini bar and have so many different combinations, possibly more than the average person can come up with! The only martini's that I have had were a "Mango Madness Martini" that a friend ordered me on my 21st birthday & the ridiculously strong "Maker's Mark Martini"that Michael ordered me a few birthdays ago. They were my favorite drinks, but I was excited to have so many options to choose from and find a drink that suited my taste buds! After scouring the four page menu I decided on the "Bad Bitch" mixed drink-- mainly due to the name, but the ingredients seemed the yummiest! Spiced rum, Malibu run, peach schnapps, orange juice, pineapple juice, and creme de cassis (which I have no idea of what it is, but tasted good I guess???). Michael ordered the "Winnie the Pooh is Drunk", I can't quite remember what was in it, but it was strong and had a sweet, honeyed after taste--which may have inspired the name :)

We also snacked on spinach dip and french bread pieces because when spinach dip is on the menu you never NOT order spinach dip! It was a nice night out and I ended up having two Bad Bitches, while contemplating a third. Ultimately we left it at two and walked home. We'll definitely go back because there were so many other delicious drinks on the menu.