made me laugh today... :)

The Mighty Storm

Holy cow- just finished this book-

I really didn't want to put it down last night at 12:30 am, but I needed to get some sleep.  Started it last night at 5:30pm, read for an 1 1/2 hour straight and then I had to, you know, actually talk to my family and make dinner etc.

I finished it today.

I was so totally wrapped up in this story- just wow.  The author is going to come out with a sequel in early 2013, but honestly not sure my heart, nerves, or emotional well being can take it.    I am all about happy endings....so to me just leave it where it stands... ;)

I usually like to start a new book as soon as I finish one, but I am so wiped out from this book I just don't want to start another one.

I know, it has been forever since I have blogged...but who is noticing???

I cannot wait to check this wine tasting room out...It is in Tustin of all places and is called Pozzuoli Winery.  They are a winery in Paso Robles (my favorite) and they actually opened up a tasting room here.  They also have olive oil tasting.  I cannot wait to check it out.

I will post pictures/details when I go.  Hopefully it will be soon.

Some of my recent finds on Pinterest... :)


David Tsay Photography



Image from Southern Weddings Blog

Skip & Go Naked Punch (recipe from theitgirlproject)

6 pack of Beers
1 can frozen Pink Lemonade concentrate
Vodka (fill empty lemonade can with vodka)


that's me today.... geesh

(Picture & Original recipe from Once upon a Chef)

Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado
with Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of sweet corn
1 red bell peppers, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T minced shallots
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 T sugar
4 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lime zest
3 T fresh lime juice
1 avocado, chopped
Mix all ingredients, except avocado in medium bowl. Let sit in the fridge for an hour or so (or overnight) when getting ready to serve, add avocado. 

We ate this with tortilla chips- it was SO GOOD.

The original recipe called for cilantro, but I cannot stand it, so I didn't add it. I added the avocado before I served it, but we had leftovers and ate it the next day- the avocado did not brown up, probably because of the lime juice. I also used canned corn, instead of right off the cobb. I heated up my corn in a pan to try to give it a grilled flavor...

(picture & original recipe can be found at Plain Chicken)


Gorgonzola Garlic Bread

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
salt
pepper
1 loaf sourdough bread
(Parmesan cheese)

Preheat broiler.

Cream the butter with the gorgonzola cheese. Mince garlic and add to cheese mixture; season with salt & pepper. Slice bread in half lengthwise. Spread cheese mixture on half of bread. (Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese)

Place bread under the broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into slices and serve.

This was really yummy! The kids even liked it because I didn't tell them that there was gorgonzola on there. The original recipe called for parsley, which I don't like nor did I have. I also didn't put any fresh parmesan on as I didn't have any- I think it probably didn't need it. I used sourdough bread, the original recipe called for an Italian loaf. I think my bread must have been a large loaf as the above amount only was enough for one half of the bread. I will definitely make this again!

(found picture on Pinterest, not sure where it is from)

I LOVE those shelves!!!  WANT, WANT, WANT!  :)

Going out with the girls tonight to either two40south or my favorite place The Twisted Vine, they are both wine bars, so it should be fun regardless of which one we decide to go to.

My favorite people at Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo this weekend.  Tanner had a 2.5 hour break in his lacrosse tournament, so we found this winery nearby.  Fun place!  :)  This picture is from my phone- not the best...

(picture from Pinterest- I couldn't find a link to where these chairs come from!! I am sure someone made them )

How fun would it be to have a couple of these chairs out by the pool??? ;)

This is so me right now, but I think mine should say,  "Having to put a great book down to do things like sleep or eat or talk to my family....  ;)


I have been on a romantic comedy kick- so easy to just download a book to my kindle.  I think the books are called "chick lit" -  they are quick reads, usually about 300 pages.  I have finished 5 in the last week and a half....


I know, total nerd....

 

 

Riley was recognized today at her school assembly, twice.  Once for Math Academics and another time for an essay that she wrote.  She knew we wanted to take pictures, so the first picture is her hiding her face...nice huh?  When she finally looked at us, I stuck my tongue out and got her to smirk.

She made me promise to tell Mark not to shout out her name or yell- that would so embarrassing.  She is so me, except I would never say anything to my parents, because then my dad would have done those things just to embarrass me.

We had a quick trip to San Diego this past weekend for Jake's soccer tournament.  We stayed at the Loews Coronado Hotel-   It was a nice enough hotel.  We were able to either walk or get a golf chart ride to the beach to watch the tournament so it was great that it was so close.

We ate at the The Burger Lounge in Coronado.  I have to say that I ate the best vegetarian burger ever!  It was made with quinoa, so now I am on a search for a good recipe.  Everyone else loved their food- the french fries were delicious and addicting!

The best part of the trip for Tanner & Jake was going to the Wave House.  Tanner made the reservations before we got there and once Jake saw the "Flow Rider" he wasn't so sure he wanted to do it. They wouldn't refund us the money so I was pretty upset that Jake was backing out of it -  But once he saw that some girls his age were going to do it, he decided he could do it too

Jake on the Flow Rider

Tanner on the Flow Wave

(picture & recipe found at Eating Well Living Thin blog)

Found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it this past weekend.  It was okay.  I think next time I would substitute the condensed can of soup for something else- sour cream maybe?   It was definitely better the next day when I warmed it up for lunch.  Maybe the flavors just needed to blend together longer?

(picture & website found on Pinterest)

My next project- try to paint an outdoor rug...not sure how it is going to work out, but I really need to try since Tanner chewed up our outdoor rug with the lawn mower because he was too lazy to move it out of the way...teenagers....


Anyway, I am going to give it a try- wish me luck.  If it turns out I will be sharing it... ;)

(picture found on Pinterest)

Gorgeous - isn't it?  Would love to have something like this in my yard...

(picture &  recipe can be found on a Pinch of Yum blog)

Rustic Garlic Penne with Roasted Broccoli & Sauteed Mushrooms


So I made this the other night and it was good, but it was actually so much better the next day.  I think the pasta is on the dry side, so if I make it again, I think I would add more butter or possibly toss the pasta with some olive oil before adding the other ingredients.  I also didn't add in any flour....


The next day for lunch I added a little bit of butter before I re-heated it and it wasn't dry at all.  The mushrooms are really yummy too.... ;)

wish list from Frontgate....

Teak Bar-  $1295

LOVE the pattern -  but $99 (for a pillow you use OUTSIDE??)

This whole collection is cool, but I would have to be RICH to even own one piece of this.  Where do I get cool stuff like this on a Target budget.... Target?  Really, I can't even swing the prices at Target right now.  Oh well, I will just keep dreaming.  

Look who got his braces off!  :)  He is so happy...

This is the first weekend in a long while that we haven't had something sports related to do.  I will, hopefully, be crossing items off of my to-do list.  And if that happens I will be able to show some before & after pictures of my projects.   Maybe I will be able to scrap like I did last weekend!  I did two pages!  AMAZING.  I feel really bad that I am not documenting some of the kids things....it is all passing so quickly.  

(from HGTV.com)

Doesn't this look nice & relaxing??  Love it.

Tanner & some of his lacrosse buddies.  FHS won the lacrosse tournament over the weekend.  With the win they had last night at their last game- they went undefeated this season. 
Fun to watch!
(Tanner is #39)

(image & recipe can be found at Cooking Quinoa.net)

Yes, it is another recipe for quinoa, but this one is SO good.  I found the recipe on Pinterest and since I had some cooked quinoa left over from the previous recipe I decided to try it out.  Boy, am I glad that I did.  I modified the recipe a bit and I didn't use the tortillas shown above.  It was super easy to make...here's my verison:

Quinoa filling for Tacos

• 1 T+ of Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup green onions diced
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 cup corn (I used frozen & it wasn't thawed)
• 1/2 green bell pepper diced (or red)
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (drained & rinsed)
• 1/2 salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 T fresh lime juice (I didn't have this, but it would be so good with it)
• 1 avocado, peeled & diced
• shredded romaine lettuce

Heat skillet with olive oil to medium.  Add onions, cabbage corn & peppers.  (I added corn first & let cook a little bit by itself since it was frozen).  Cook for six minutes.  Add garlic & cook additional minute more.  Add in quinoa, black beans, salsa, chili powder, salt &  black pepper.  Stir until well combined & cook another 3 to 4 minutes.  Add lime & stir.  

I used regular corn tortillas & then filled with this mixture, topping it with the diced avocados & lettuce.  YUM.   

Mark had it as his side with his tacos.  It was almost like a rice mixture.

I had plenty left over so I used a flour tortilla & made a burrito, added some cheese and had that for lunch today at work!

(image from So Very Blessed)

I have been wanting to try quinoa for awhile and I finally found a quick & easy recipe on Pinterest to try.  You can find the original recipe at So Very Blessed.  I made a few tweaks to it. 


Here is my version:


1 cup cooked quinona
1/2 cup shredded carrot
2 stalks green onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
1 T flour
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together all the above ingredients
Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin pan, (using a 1 heaping T)
Bake for approximately 15 minutes.


I made up my own aioli sauce-  using mayonnaise (which I normally dislike) pepper, minced garlic & lemon.


So, really what I did was cut her recipe in half, leave out the cilantro (yuck!) leave the amount of garlic, green onion & cheese the same (and changed the type of cheese).  It was really good.  I ate a WHOLE mini muffin pan myself!  Hopefully it wasn't too fattening.  Since both the sauce & bites had garlic in them, I am pretty sure I kept the vampires away last night!  ;)

A few of my recent favorite things found on Pinterest.  My new obsession is to re do the upstairs room.  I really want a window seat.  Trying to figure out if that would work or not under the window...

                                                                 ( image from ?)
Really want this coat rack/hall tree.  I have searched for something similar but cannot find ANYTHING.
Love this...where did she get this?

(image from The Yellow Cape Cod)

I really want to have a couple of containers like this at my front door, but since the sun BAKES everything there, that's not happening.   Need to find a urn like this that doesn't cost a fortune.  Not sure that is possible.

 (image from Tundra Monkey)

And this- this just cracks me up.  The caption under the picture was  "oh, hey".  Made me burst out laughing for some reason.  I love cats...

How stinkin' cute are these margarita shots?  I definitely want to make some- I need to have a party.  I love to plan parties, but I don't feel I am the best at giving parties- I can never relax and just enjoy it....some people I know just have that gift!

You can find the tutorial on these at this website.  Of course I found this on Pinterest.

Wow, it's been awhile since I have posted- but I don't think anyone is noticing.

Went to Knott's yesterday and I am TIRED.  The kids could have kept going, luckily the park was closing!  11 Hours is plenty for me!  They counted 20 rides that they went on- I would say they got their money's worth!  I, however, did not go on that many rides.  I would have to recup after some of the rides- made my stomach queasy.  I am getting old.

Here are my latest finds on Pinterest that I love..

Would love to have a bar area like this...looks so relaxing to sit at.

But this- this is truly a dream that I don't ever see happening.  But it is nice to dream

Here are a few things that I want to do in our yard.   

Would love to have this trellis as you walk into the very back by the horse corral.

(all pictures I found on Pinterest)

 By the pool somewhere.

 Side yard by the laundry room.

Please, pretty please can someone make all this for me, because I surely can't and Mark really could give a rip about this type of stuff.  He is more concerned with the weeds!  hmph.   Weeds, smeeds.  Ok, I hate weeds too.  But can't we make things pretty too?

Happy 12th Birthday to my darling daughter....who thinks she is an adult already...:)  Love ya Riley!  :)

Currently reading this and so far so good.


I just finished reading Pride & Prejudice for the 2nd (maybe 3rd time?)  I got a new phone at Christmas and it had the kindle app on it, with Pride & Prejudice already downloaded on there, so I just had to read it. ;)  I love the books so much better than the movies....


Funny, that I got the Kindle for Christmas and haven't read one thing on that- just played Angry Birds, that darn game is so addicting.  


I made a couple of things, but I don't like the way they turned out so, on to Plan B before I share (or not).

Recipe and picture found at Around the Table.  One of my Pinterest finds.  I am going to try out this recipe this weekend.  I have been reading so much about Quinoa...

Cheesy Quinoa Mac & Cheese

Serving Size: 8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• Veggies of your choice (optional)
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup soy milk or non-fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
• Optional- Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping
• Toppings (optional)- salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, scallions
• 1. Lightly saute any veggies you would like in this dish.
  2. Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes)
  3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray.Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned. 
  ** not sure why it is in white....

Not sure what got into me this weekend, but I was super productive. Could be that the house was already clean, I didn't have a million different places to be, or maybe because I only had 1 child home with me...

But I did a little scrapbooking- I just picked out some pictures that I wanted to scrap and just slapped them down on paper. Didn't do too much journaling. I had some really cool paper & things that I bought at Nora's "garage sale", oh about 1+ years ago (I think).  I don't care if my paper/design is out of date....

I also made a recipe that I found on Pinterest...Cauliflower Pizza crust. It was actually very good. Even Mark & Riley liked it. I think I may have overdosed on it though. I made two "crusts" and we ate them both. Instead of using sauce I used artichoke antipasto from Trader's, and roasted asparagus for my topping. It was yummy.

I also did some painting- when I am finished with those projects I will post. I will have to say that painting chalkboard paint on a ceramic plate wasn't as easy as I thought- or I am just way too much of a perfectionist....??!

I found this picture on Pinterest.  This is just like the set up of our laundry room.  Love the color in there and I LOVE the shelf.  Need to have Mark add that to our list of things "to do".

Isn't he "pretty"?  The other night when I got home from boot camp- I was greeted at the door by Jake.  Seems Riley was using him as her make up & hair model.  Too Funny.  I can't believe Jake actually let her do this, let alone take his picture.  Oh, and he is wearing a dress....lol.

I am almost finished with boot camp.  If I am brave enough, I may show you the before & after pictures...maybe.

How cute is this?  You can find this here..

and this?


A living wreath- directions here

Both found at my favorite, time sucking site of Pinterest! ;)