I've decided to re-title these posts "week in review" because that's pretty much what they are and I'm always posting them on Friday anyways, this will just save me a little guilt mmmkay?
...
Friday night was the women's night of prayer at church. This was my first year going, and frankly I was a little nervous we'd literally be praying all night long, and we did pray in our small groups (we also snacked all night and ate "breakfast" at 3am), but it mostly was about hearing women's stories, friends who I see all the time and don't really know anything about. It was awesome, and somehow I stayed awake the entire time (11:59pm-6am)! The catching up on sleep part wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either.
We've had a few really beautiful in Portland lately. We were able to actually play on the deck for the first time this year. It was lovely, except now I have a baby who tries to put every little leaf and piece of moss in his mouth. I think I need a carpet for my whole deck.
This week we made playdough monsters:
Buckley gave Rody some lovin:
Not sure where we were going, but he's so cute with his new haircut:
Yesterday I spent nap time on this:
I love chalkboard art, and ever since I saw
these videos I've been facinated by the process of creating it.
We made banana cookies:
(healthy and only 4 ingredients!)
These cookies might sound weird but they are pretty tasty and I love that Bennett was able to help with everything.
Ingredients:
(this is what we used but you could really do anything you want. Check out other versions here and here.)
(makes 12)
2 bananas
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup oats
7 graham crackers
Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl smash 2 ripe bananas (B was chief banana smasher).
In a food processor or a big ziploc bag, crush graham crackers until you get small crumbs.
Pour graham cracker crumbs into the banana bowl, and also the oats and chocolate chips.
On a silpat (or parchment) lined cookie sheet, scoop out dough and flatten a bit (they don't spread while baking). Cook for 13-15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before transfering. We have been storing them in the freezer so I'm not sure how they keep at room temp, but they are quite tasty cold!
Oh and Bennett totally thinks these are legit cookies.
Happy Friday Friends!
One of my favorite things is finding a new recipe that we all love and is healthy. A meal that meets that criteria immediately gets put into our regular dinner rotation. Now that it's cooler out, I'm not afraid to turn on the stove/oven so I've been cooking a lot more comfort food (and who doesn't like comfort food?!).
Also, it's been forever since I've shared my recent favorite recipes!
Here are a few meals I think your should try out asap:
Roasted Zucchini, Black Bean and Goat Cheese Enchiladas
I have been making a creamy chicken enchilada for forever, but wanted to find a healthier alternative.
I tried these ones out (with the TJ's enchilada sauce) and they were so good that Chris said he didn't even miss the old ones (his all-time favorite meal) and now wants me to make these every week!
Cashew Pesto Pizza
We love pesto and homemade pizza, so a while back I tried out this recipe
(that just so happens to be my friend Elizabeth's own recipe) which uses cashews instead of the traditional pine nuts for the pesto 'sauce'.
The cashews give the pesto so much flavor, I will never use pine nuts again!
Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas
If we've had you over in the last couple of months, chances are this is what I made. I have turned on the oven on hot summer days in order to make these fajitas and it is SO worth it! I add strips of zucchini because I am obsessed with it and must add it to everything.
Top with avocado, greek yogurt and a squeeze of lime.
Peperonata Sandwich
I made these for the first time a couple of days ago.
Super tasty.
Sandwiches definitely don't need meat to taste good!
(especially when there's crusty bread)
Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Chili
This chili on top of TJ's cornbread mix on a cold day is dangerously good.
Black Bean and Veggie Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.
These are really tasty, while still being nutritious.
Pan Seared Honey-Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce
Everyone needs to try this recipe.
There are a lot of steps in the prep but it comes together quicky and easily.
Probably the best salmon I've ever had!
(I know that butter sauce isn't the healthiest but you only need a tiny bit to get the full effect)
I haven't tried these next two recipes but they are on the menu next and they sound so good!
Double Bean Burgers with Avocado Basil Cream Sauce
Sweet Potato Burgers
Also, I made
veggie sloppy joes lastnight and was reminded of why they are one of our favorite meals!
Okay that's it for now.
Do you guys have a favorite recipe you can wait to heat the house up with?
grilled pineapple teriyaki turkey burgers
You guys.
This burger is amazing!
We've always thought that ground turkey was pretty tasteless, but we could eat these everyday.
In fact we made twice last week and I've been thinking about them ever since.
The best part is that they are super easy to make and I'm pretty sure it's impossible to dry them out on the grill since they are SO juicy!
(literally...there's pineapple juice in the burger itself)
*If you love carmelized onions, they are perfect on these burgers, we never make them without!
Here's what you need:
1 can pineapple slices + 1/2 cup of the juice
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (I use TJ's Soyaki)
2 lbs. gound turkey (I usually use less than that and they turn out great)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp. fresh ginger
(sidenote: did you know that you can keep peeled ginger pieces in a bag in the freezer and just grate it frozen when you need a little ginger?!)
Sweet Hawaiian buns
(I usually use the bigger "sandwich" buns but sliders are fun too)
Cheese
(we love pepperjack on these but swiss would be great/melty as well)
Combine the pineapple juice with the teriyaki sauce in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl mix together the turkey, ginger, panko, and 1/3 cup of the teriyaki mixture
(the mixture should stick to your hands).
Shape into 8ish patties. Grill, brushing the remaining sauce over both sides of the burger while they cook. Grill pineapples and buns if you'd like. Add cheese. I also like to mix up my own "teriyaki mayo"for these burgers
(I just add some of the sauce to the mayo)...no one likes dry buns!
...
We had a simple little date night last week...
we went to our favorite coffee spot:
and we were so excited to try out
The Picnic House
and it certainly didn't disappoint. The food and atmosphere were amazing, but I think I'll do a seperate post next week...I certainly looked like a crazy person taking a buttload of pictures. So many awesome details!
...and that's that.
Now I'm off to snuggle with my sweet Buck.
Happy Thursday Friends!
So it's definitely not a secret that I love to bake...
but I also love to try out new breakfast and dinner recipes, and if they are super tasty the get added to our regular rotation.
If you follow me on Instagram you probably have seen all of these because I'm a weirdo and take/post a picture of my meal if I think it's going to be extra good.
(I follow some people just for their food pictures...my stomach/tastebuds live vicariously through them)
Anyways, I thought I would share a few of the extra tasty things I have made lately.
I know
Echo does posts like this, but seriously everyone needs to...
we should all be eating food we are excited about!
(bonus points if it's a meatless meal or doesn't even take a recipe!)
over easy egg on cornbread:
No recipe needed!
I LOVE trader Joe's cornbread mix, but it makes a whole pan
(not complaining)
and we can't bear the thought of wasting any.
I decided to try an over easy egg on top one morning just for kicks and it was delicious!
sweet potato black bean burger:
We are fans of veggie burgers, though I've never found a great (or even good) recipe for making my own. Usually they are super mushy or turn out really dry.
These were amazing, the texture was perfect, lots of veggies and protein and the recipe makes a ton...perfect for guests!
We were out of buns so we just had two each and topped them pepperjack and avocado.
All three of us loved these!
cheesy quinoa and broccoli bowl:
No recipe needed!
Once again I was trying to figure out what to do with leftover quinoa.
I love making extra quinoa so I can throw this together quickly the next day for lunch.
I put a little bit of water in the quinoa before I microwave it (for about 1.5 minutes) and top it with steamed broccoli and whatever kind of cheese I happen to have in the fridge.
Top it with a little sea salt and pepper.
So quick and easy!
black bean and corn-topped baked potatoes:
I actually keep thinking about this meal because it was that good.
I have actually never make baked potatoes because I probably wouldn't be able to control myself with the yummy butter, cheese,sour cream combo.
I can get behind a veggie topped potato, and it still includes a little of the good stuff.
I honestly didn't miss the butter at all.
Can't wait to make these again soon!
green curry over brown rice:
No recipe needed!
Okay so I've never had (or even seen) green curry before, so I'm not sure if this is what it's supposed to be like...but it sure was tasty/filling/super spicy!
In my cockpot I put frozen chicken on the bottom and covered it with two jars of Trader Joe's Green Curry Simmer Sauce. I tasted the sauce and it was extrememly spicy
(I don't like spicy, but will tolerate it if the food is super tasty...like in the case of Pok Pok's spicy fish sauce wings)
I added a can of light coconut milk to dilute the spiciness a bit but it also helped to make the sauce a little more liquidy.
I cooked the chicken and sauce on high for about three hours (or until the chicken was cooked) then I quickly shredded the chicken and threw in three chopped carrots, one chopped sweet potato, one coarsely chopped sweet onion and a bag of baby dutch yellow potatoes that I chopped in half.
Cook it on high for another three or four hours (or until the potatoes are soft) and top with cilantro, cashews and lots of lime. Serve over rice.
(this made a TON of food, so have people over when you make this!)
Elizabeth's maple apple cinnamon baked oatmeal
Super easy to throw together on a lazy saturday morning.
We made it last weekend for the first time and I can already tell that it's going to be in our regular breakfast rotation. B loved this as well and it makes a ton...though we finished it all off by the end of the day!
Last but certainly not least is the lovely Anna's homemade chicken noodle soup,
including the noodles from scratch!
I had never made my own noodles
(or chicken noodle soup for that matter)
but it was surprisingly easy and super tasty.
I added some red potatoes and made the noodles with half whole wheat flour.
This also made a ton of food, and is great leftovers as well!
Let me know if you guys try any of these recipes out...
you won't be disappointed!
(and post your recent favorites too)
Happy Friday Friends!
Chris surprised me with a relaxing weekend downtown at The Ace and I couldn't be more excited to do nothing except eat good food and drink good coffee with him.
Such a good hubby I have!
I have been craving soft, chewy pretzels for a while, though I've never attempted them because they seemed so daunting. Now that I have a stand mixer at my fingertips I thought I'd give it a go.
(though it's not necessary to make these pretzels, just knead the dough by hand)
Recipes that require yeast usually intimidate me but this couldn't have been easier.
Added bonus: making them at home means you know exactly what goes in them!
Soft and Chewy Pretzels
(makes 8 pretzels)
Ingredients:
1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 T sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast (or one packet)
about 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 T unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil for greasing the bowl and parchment paper
20 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
parchment paper or silpat
For topping:
if you want an egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 T water
if you want a butter wash: 3 T melted butter
pretzel, or coarse sea salt
cinnamon and sugar
Directions:
To make dough, combine the warm water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Once the yeast is foaming (after about 5 mins) add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on med/low speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl (about 5 mins).
Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased/sprayed with vegetable oil, turning once to coat.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (I put mine in a somewhat sunny window), for about an hour or until dough has doubled in bulk (it took my dough about an hour and a half to double).
Bring the 20 cups of water and baking soda to a boil in a large stockpot.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
(I used my silpats which worked great)
Divide the dough into eight equal parts:
(just keep halving the parts until you get eight)
Working with one piece at a time, roll them out until you have a 24 inch rope:
(I found it much easier to roll once I cleared all the flour away)
To make the pretzel shape:
-start with the rope in a U-shape.
-holding the ends of the rope, cross them over (either once or twice, depending on how you want your pretzels to look) and bring them down to the bottom of the pretzel.
-press the ends lightly onto the pretzel to make sure they stick.
-once shaped, place onto the lined baking sheet.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water two at a time for 30 seconds.
Remove with a slotted skimmer/spoon.
Return to baking sheet.
Once pretzels have all been boiled, brush tops with egg wash or melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt. If you are doing cinnamon and sugar, have c&s mixture ready in a pie dish and dip the tops of the pretzels in it after brushing them with butter.
(You can by all means choose to bake your pretzels at this point, but after reading comments on the Annie's Eats tutorial, I decided to freeze mine after boiling, but before baking in lieu of a more chewy texture. I'm not really sure if it would make that much of a difference if you didn't freeze before baking, so if you are tired and just want to get the pretzels into your belly then skip the freezing step and bake away!)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
If you chose to stick it out and freeze your pretzels:
While your oven is preheating, let the pretzels thaw on top of the warm oven.
Once thawed, place in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
When your pretzels are done, place on a cooling rack (very important so they don't get soggy) for 5 minutes and then eat those babies up!
These definitely taste best straight from the oven, so if you can't eat 8 right away (or at least within the day) then I would suggest only baking what you plan on eating and transfering the rest of the frozen, unbaked pretzels into a ziplock bag until you are ready for more.
Plan on setting aside a few hours to make these. They aren't difficult, but there are a lot of steps to follow. Totally worth all the effort though, I think I will be making another batch this weekend!
Let me know if you guys make them!
I feel like its taking forever to feel back to 100%...this cold is lingering, that's for sure.
We definitely feel a ton better though!
Friday was grocery shopping day.
I do/see a lot on my bi-weekly grocery days, but seeing this was definitely the highlight:
I've been waiting
(not so) patiently for Hanna Anderson pj's to make their way back to Costco after the long winter. These pj's are definitely one of my favorite kid's items
(along with these and these) because they hold up incredibly well and when you buy them at Costco they are about half of the original Hanna Anderson price. I got the cute green striped ones for little brother.
Definitely do not see it, even if you've heard it's good.
It was lame and I was stressed out the whole time watching person after person getting eaten by killer wolves. Sounds exciting huh?
Saturday morning Bennett's best friend Avery came over.
They made a huge mess.
Then Saturday afternoon we decided to go to the zoo for a bit. Chris hasn't gone with us since we got our membership
(besides to see Zoolights) and we wanted to take advantage of the non-rainy weather. It ended up that they closed an hour after we got there, but we saw everything we wanted to see. We even got to see the tigers and the lions, both of which are always sleeping out of view!
Sunday morning we went to our favorite breakfast place,
Lovejoy Bakers.
We always get the same things and they never disappoint.
After breakfast, Chris had to head to work until he had to play at church later in the evening.
John Mark shared his final message in the My Name is Hope series which you can podcast
here.
It was so good and I couldn't take notes fast enough!
This weekend I was also inspired to make a few new things:
(after finally watching Julie and Julia for the first time)
I used up some bbq pork from last week to make some calzones:
(TJ's honey wheat pizza crust, mozzarella, onions, cilantro, bbq pork)
I had also been wanting to make homemade pickles:
(how domestically pregnant of me)
They turned out amazing.
We've been eating them by the bowlful,
and I'm making burgers tonight just so we can put pickles on them.
I also created a lovely and healthy kid-friendly lunch consisting of all of The Hardesty's favorite things.
I like to call them banana burritos:
(TJ's whole wheat flour tortillas, peanut butter, honey, banana)
Kind of late for a post, but it's a weekend in review on a Monday so that counts for something right?
Have a great evening friends!
Yes, I know it's Thursday and I haven't posted all week...
but that means you get a week in review with even more pictures!
(also, I've been more motivatied to nap and/or have a social life...not gonna lie.)
So this is what we have been up to this last week...
we said goodbye to our Christmas stuff:
I got humungo:
I painted my nails:
(I'm on a quest to be more girly with all the testosterone in this house!)
ate New Years Thai takeout:
crazy New Years partying it up with sparkling cider, cookies and homemade stove-popped popcorn:
(dill pickle, white cheddar, and kettle corn flavors...dill pickle was the best and we aren't even popcorn fans!)
Chris getting crazy with the organic pear sparkling cider:
chris did a little demolition in the garage:
Chris and his dad made B this pup tent:
had fun thrifting with the lovely
Abi:
enjoyed the amazing weather by blowing bubbles in our great back yard:
(B saw the sunset before I did. He stopped, pointed and said "pink in the sky." Such a sweet boy.)
had fun getting books at Bennett's wonderland aka the library:
last night we had a mid-week date night that consisted of Koi Fusion for dinner and seeing
The Descendants. Such a great movie!
A beef bulgogi rice bowl, a short rib burrito and sweet potato fries before the movie:
(sooo much easier than letting it cook for 45 minutes when you are starving!)
after breakfast B and I went on an amazingly hilly walk with our friends Kaitlynn and Truman:
(I snapped this picture on one of the only flat parts. I'm positive I won't be able to move tomorrow.)
And there you have our week in review! Hopefully I'm feeling motivated to post more next week...I don't want to make this a habit because I know I'll never get out of it.
Happy Thursday friends!
