New Neighbors

After nearly two years of living next to the world's worst weed-infestation, we're finally getting neighbors! When I got home from running errands on Thursday they we're getting all set to stake out the property, and yesterday they went through and flagged the electrical and gas lines. I was mildly obsessed with the building process for our house (we may or may not have driven by and taken pictures on a daily basis), so I'm sure I'll be keeping close tabs on the progress next door. And you can bet I'll be sharing updates since I wasn't blogging when our house was being built!

Fore!

So, I'm only a week late on this post, but whatever. This is what happens when pictures get taken on Darrell's camera and not mine. Because for whatever reason, his camera is not compatible with my laptop, so in order to access the pictures off of it I have to use our desktop computer. Which is just not as convenient as my laptop.

But anyway. You don't care about that. You want to know why I grossly misspelled the word "fore" in my title. Well, my friends, it's not misspelled. We paid a little visit out to a local golf course last Sunday and had some fun playing a round. And thankfully, we didn't actually need to use "fore" to warn anyone of wayward hits--but that's mostly because the course was pretty empty, not because we didn't have wayward hits.

Getting ready to head out--it was the first day in like a week that the humidity was low, so it was actually enjoyable to be outside (although I insisted that we only play nine holes because I don't quite have the love for golf that necessary for eighteen)

Don't let the picture fool you. I may look like I know what I'm doing, but give all the credit for that to the photographer. I tend to be pretty clueless on the golf course

The "serious" golfer. Never mind the fact that he is wearing hand-me-down shoes and using hand-me-down clubs (although he has purchased a few of his own). I said he was a serious golfer, not a rich golfer

A botched birdie put!

We had a lot of fun, and Darrell managed to beat me pretty easily, so he was satisfied with that. I did tie him on a few holes, but that was only because I was allowed to "mulligan" shots that went less than 20 feet. I'm sure we'll end up going out some other time this summer, but man can golf get expensive. I now understand why Darrell has been saving money since February so he can afford multiple golf outings this summer--green fees and cart rentals (and replacing broken clubs) add up quickly!

Honey Mustard Kielbasa and Potatoes

Many moons ago, when Darrell and I were poor college students, we made Zatarain's rice mixes a regular part of our diet. Red beans and rice and jambalaya were our staples--and we always beefed them up a little bit by adding a pound of kielbasa. Well, now that we are gainfully employed members of society and can afford to spend more than $1.50 on a sodium- and preservative-packed package of Zatarain's, we've pretty well cut them out of our diet. I, however, was not ready to give up kielbasa. Maybe it's the German/Polish in me, but I was set on finding a new kielbasa recipe. And boy, did we ever hit the jackpot on our first try. Not only is it deliciously good, but it makes plenty of leftovers AND uses wine (which, naturally, forces us to finish the rest of the bottle with dinner). Two major pluses in my book.

Honey Mustard Kielbasa and Potatoes
(not a clue where we got this recipe, we've been cooking it for well over a year)

3/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup honey mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 lb kielbasa, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 lb red potatoes, cubed
1 large onion, sliced

Mix wine, mustard, and brown sugar until well blended. Combine remaining ingredients in a shallow pan. Drizzle with wine mixture and toss to coat. Bake 55 minutes at 400* or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Don't worry, I didn't make Darrell do all the work. I mixed up the sauce--and got the drinks :-)

Did I also mention this recipe is ridiculously easy? Minimal amount of prep, and then just throw it in the oven for an hour and you're good to go. One tip though--even if you aren't a big fan of onions, they really shouldn't be omitted from this recipe. The moisture content in them really helps keep everything from getting dry. And besides, after roasting them in the oven for an hour you can't even hardly taste them (trust me on this--onions and I are not good friends, but I gobble them right up in this recipe!)

Lightning Show

Well, somehow that thunderhead managed to miss us last night, despite the fact that two or three other cells developed off of it and it covered pretty much all of the area around us (I should have taken a picture of the radar; it was almost comical). Sioux Falls even got a little bit of hail, but seven miles south? Just a handful of sprinkles. Not nearly what we needed.

However, one advantage to being nearly surrounded by storms (and having big picture windows!) meant that we got to watch quite the lightning show last night. I was even able to capture a few bolts on my camera--nothing compared to what Darrell got, but that's what happens when he uses a tri-pod and fancy accessories. Maybe I'll upload some of his this afternoon, although I don't want to make my photos feel insignificant. Here's my favorite one of the bunch--which also happens to be the first one I took!

Here's to hoping that the next time we get a lightning show like this we also manage to get a little bit of rain!

Update: So I uploaded Darrell's photos this afternoon and even though it is going to totally upstage mine, I just have to share:

Is that not super cool? Expect to see a copy of that making an appearance in our house soon. Totally awesome.

I Heart Storms

Now that's what I call a thunderhead. If only it would move a little further south and west so we could be in it instead of just looking at it I'd be perfectly happy (and so would our lawn).

Homemade Taco Seasoning

So for about six months I've had a taco seasoning recipe bookmarked to use. I was super excited about it, because sometimes we cut recipes back and don't always need a whole packet, so having our own container of it would be perfect. Well, months and months went by, and we never got around to making it. Finally Darrell's mom sent us the one she's been using, and we made it days later. Guess there is just something about a mother's touch instead of just some random recipe in Internet land (or maybe it had more to do with the fact that we finally ran out of the stockpile of taco seasoning packets we had stashed in our pantry. Either way....)

I will say though, I wish we hadn't taken as long to make this--or any--homemade taco seasoning recipe. There's something to be said about knowing what is going into your food--plus the taste is so much more pronounced (and not packed with preservatives!). So if you've ever considered making your own taco seasoning (or even if you haven't) you should really give this on a try!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (or, for a low sodium alternative, substitute celery seed or dried ground celery. We did this and couldn't even tell!)
2 tsp ground black pepper

Store the mix in an airtight container or spice jar. One packet of store-bought seasoning mix is roughly equal to 3 tbsp homemade taco seasoning mix. For tacos, add 2/3 cup water.

We're definitely going to double or triple this recipe next time we make to have a stash on hand ready to go! And now that we don't have to worry about opening a packet and not using the whole thing, I'm excited to see what other things we'll try seasoning with this!

Chump Change

Yes, Darrell and I store our loose change in a Crown Royal bottle. Don't judge. We happen to think it's a pretty creative way to reuse something that would otherwise just go into the trash (or recycling). It was finally time to break into it and take the change into the bank--and I bet you can't guess how much money was in there! I'll give you a minute to think about it and come up with an estimate.

Do you have one yet?



Darrell and I were way off--hopefully you are a better guesser than we are!



I'll help you out a little--here is a picture of all the coins grouped by type

Does that change your guess any? That quarter pile looks pretty big.....




You ready for this? I've got the final tally coming up....




$161.42! Can you believe that? Darrell and I were pretty dumbfounded by that total; we've just gotten into the habit of putting the money in there and not really thinking twice about it but holy cow does it add up quickly! Talk about a pleasant mid-week surprise. And I think next time I won't try counting it myself first--it took way longer than I had expected (I grossly underestimated how much change was in the bottle) and my fingers were just disgusting by the time I was done. I'll just let the automatic counting machines at the bank take care of it from here on out.

Banana, Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Doesn't that combination sound delicious? Bananas and strawberries are two of my favorite things to dip into chocolate fondue, and they compliment each other wonderfully in these muffins. But they aren't so sweet that you feel guilty eating one for breakfast (although they are just sweet enough that you could probably pass them off as dessert too). We've had to start storing baked goods in the fridge or they'll spoil too quickly, and while I preferred mine heated in the microwave, Darrell would eat his straight out of the fridge. To each their own--but these muffins are sure to be a crowd-pleaser no matter the person!

Banana, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip Muffins
(found and borrowed from here--where she also has much better pictures as usual!)

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2-3 overripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
10 - 12 fresh strawberries, diced (I used frozen strawberries that had thawed enough to be cut)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350* and coat a muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just cominbed. Add most of the strawberries and chocolate chips and gently mix them into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into each muffn tin and top with the remaining chocolate chips and strawberries. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack--although if you are anything like me, you'll nab one before they cool completely so you get to enjoy the nice, warm, melted chocolate!

And I must say, I've seen a few other recipes where they advise withholding a small amount of the filling and using it for a topping but I've never actually done it until this recipe. Best idea ever. Putting just a little bit of strawberry and chocolate on top makes them look as tasty and tempting as they really are. Plus, if you are baking these for other people, it makes it significantly easier for them to perceive what these muffins are composed of (provided, of course, you haven't told them the name of them).

Happy Monday!

Yes, I know that today is Tuesday. And yes, I know that "happy" is usually not a word that goes with "Monday". And up until I came home from work last night at 8:30, I certainly would not have classified my Monday as happy. But it's hard for my mood not to change when I come home to this!

Yay for a dozen roses! Darrell had to run to the store yesterday after work because we had forgotten an ingredient for dinner, and when he was there he saw that they were having a sale on roses. So he bought me some! I think I need to start sending him to the store more often....

We also cracked open a bottle of wine with dinner, which is another surefire way to improve my mood.

Sadly, this wine wasn't anything spectacular. It's label as a "Tenacious Red", which translates into a generic red table wine. And that's about all it was. It went down easily enough, it didn't have any unpleasant or lingering aftertaste.....but it also didn't have much flavor in the first place. Drinkable? Yes. Memorable? Nope. We picked this up because it was reasonably priced ($10) plus came with a rebate, but I don't think we'll go back. We've got two more wines from the same distributor in our pantry.... Hopefully those are a little more remarkable than this one was.

Halfway There!

Step One: Obtain passports (aka finally get mine updated with my married name and replace Darrell's expired one that he's had since middle school)

Step Two: Plan an international trip! (I've got my eyes on London sometime in 2012--fingers crossed!)

5K Victory and Jazz Fest!

Don't get too excited--this wasn't any sort of spectacular race, and I certainly didn't get any type of prize. Rather, for me, the victory was in running the whole thing. My time was mediocre at best (somewhere around 31 minutes), but considering my legs had been sore and tight all week from soccer on Sunday, and then to go out and play another full game on Thursday and beat them up again--I was pleased just to be able to run the whole thing. Of course, a lot of my motivation to keep running was due to the fact that I had a running buddy--my good friend Matt!

The 5K was in support of Jazz Fest, which, for those of you not from the area, is a three-day jazz music festival held every July in Sioux Falls. It's pretty ridiculous--last year they estimated that attendance was over 75,000 people, and as we were walking in last night we were walking past cars from as far away as California! They set it up at one of the soccer complexes in town (which houses around 20 full-size soccer fields) and just fill it up with people and musicians and vendors--and porta-potties, of course! Here's a shot from last night in front of the main stage:

Normally, Darrell and I would head down there for the afternoon since we have a free day, but there are excessive heat warnings for like the next four days (temps in the nineties with the humidity making it feel more like 110) and I'm just not that dedicated of a Jazz Fest fan. Besides--we made sure to get our funnel cake when we were there last night, so I'm set! Here's a parting shot of Darrell and I enjoying the music last night--hope everyone has a good (and cool!) weekend!

New Toy!

Look what the greatest husband in the world bought me!

Super excited! Although I might take it back and downsize--it's a six quart bowl, which means it has the capacity to make 8 loaves of bread and 13 dozen cookies. And I just don't know if I'll ever need something quite that big. But Darrell thought the other ones looked small, and he didn't want to get the wrong one, so he just got the big one :-)

And, to be even cuter, this was how I "found" my new toy:

A series of crossword puzzles randomly hidden throughout the house, with certain squares highlighted to guide me to the location of my next clue. Super fun--except when I couldn't unscramble the letters to figure out the location of the next clue. The hardest one? RATPIES, which unscrambles to the word Pirates. Which is only my favorite movie ever.

Does anyone with a mixer have any input on the sizing? Am I wrong in thinking six quarts is too big for household use?

Chicken Penne Al Fresco

So not only did we get some fresh produce out of our garden this week (more about that at the end), but we also desperately needed to do something about our basil plant.

We had a pesto recipe all ready to go when we stumbled across this gem of a recipe while doing our menu planning for the week. We've made it a handful of times, and it's a great pasta recipe for the summer, but making it with fresh basil made all the difference in the world. It was so much more fragrant and flavorful--and we barely made a dent in our basil plant so we'll definitely be making this one again before the summer ends!

Chicken Penne Al Fresco
(I believe we got this out of a Pampered Chef cookbook)

4 garlic cloves
2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
16 oz box penne or rotini noodles
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups water
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 1/4 cup fresh basil
1 oz grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups diced grilled chicken breast

Saute tomatoes with garlic. Add pasta, broth, wine, water, salt, and pepper. Cook until pasta is tender; drain. Add basil, cheese, and chicken. Garnish with additional cheese and basil if desired.

I know those directions are pretty succinct, but for anyone who hasn't cooked out of a Pampered Chef cookbook before, they always make their recipes super long and detailed, and of course, explain which Pampered Chef utensil or bowl to use at each point. So this is mine and Darrell's interpretation of their recipe, slightly altered. But--a lot easier to read and follow. And aside from the great taste of this dish, one of my other favorite things is that it uses a little bit of wine with the broth--which means that the remainder of the wine pairs wonderfully with the dish. It's the perfect recipe for a dinner out on the deck... Grilled chicken, fresh basil, (maybe soon) fresh tomatoes, and a nice chilled glass of wine. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it. Good thing we still have some leftovers in the fridge.

And as I alluded to at the beginning, we put our first garden produce to good use early this week!

We didn't want to do anything too drastic to it because we wanted to get the full flavor of the zucchini, and let me tell you, that was probably one of the best decisions we've ever made. All we did was rub it with a little light olive oil, sprinkle it with a little salt, and roast in for about 15 minutes at 450*. And it was OMG sooo good. We've got a few store bought zucchini in our fridge, so I think we're going to cook them up this same way and compare the tastes--but I'll be honest, I don't think they'll compare. Even if we don't have much success with anything else, I'll be content in the deliciousness that this one zucchini brought us. Actually, that's way not true--I'll be sorely disappointed if the other vegetables don't produce because this zucchini was so good I can't wait to try every thing else!

Struggle Bus

For anyone who has watched me attempt to walk and navigate stairs the past few days, I lame my blame on these cruel weapons of torture:

After nearly a year hiatus, I finally pulled my good ol' soccer gear out for a co-ed game on Sunday. And despite training for and running 5Ks, the game still kicked my butt. It may have also had something to do with the triple-digit heat index, but I don't think the heat has anything to do with the dead weights I've been dragging around below my waist for the past few days. All I can say is thank goodness we had subs.

I've got lots of this to look forward to though--I had just been a "sub" on the team, but one of their full-time girls had to quit so I got bumped up on the roster--which means a game tomorrow and another one on Sunday. Oh, and did I mention I'm running a 5K on Saturday? My legs (and feet!) are going to hate me.

Vegetable City!

Okay, so maybe we don't have that much yet, but we're certainly making progress in our little garden!

We've got a few little squash trying to make their way out of the woodwork--super excited for them to ripen!

I counted NINE little tomatoes yesterday morning! These two are definitely the biggest, but they still have a ways to go, which is good because with the number of tomatoes that are growing I'm going to have to learn how to can some salsa and marinara sauce!

This guy is the first official piece of produce to be picked from the garden! He measured in at a healthy eight inches, and actually surprised us a little bit because a few days ago he was only two or three inches long. If all of our squash/zucchini ripen that quickly we might be eating vegetarian for a few weeks!

Everything else looks to be progressing pretty well--I saw the first sign of a flower on our of our pepper plants, so hopefully they'll be pollinating and producing peppers soon!

Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon

Friday night was a momentous occasion at our house, and what better way to celebrate a special event than with a little vino?

Now, I know that champagne is usually the go-to celebration drink for most people, but I have a husband who is not to fond of champagne, so it's wine for us. We've had this little gem sitting in our cupboard for nearly two years now because we were saving it for a special occasion, and finally had reason to break into it Friday night as we crossed another item off our 101 in 1001 list--Darrell's car is officially paid off! Over the past couple of months we've been making some aggressive payments to it, and were able to get it paid off over a year and a half before we were "scheduled" too. Definitely looking forward to not making that payment each month....more money for wine?

Anyway, this wine, as we had expected, was pretty great. It took me a few sips to get used to it because for the past few weeks I've been drinking a fair amount of sangria, as this was (as you would expect) no where near as sweet. Or fruity. But still oh so good. I've heard people throw around the word "full-bodied" when referring to wine, and I think this wine would definitely fit the bill--even small sips had plenty of flavor and body! It did have a slightly acidic smell that I was concerned about at first because I thought the wine had perhaps fallen victim to cork taint, but (fear not!) it was perfectly drinkable. I think I was just taken aback initially because it's been so long since we've opened a bottle of red (they are just marginally different from the moscatos I've been making sangria with). Guess we'll have to remedy that by drinking wine more frequently--and we're off to a good start this week with a Chardonnay chilling for dinner tonight!

Pink Sangria

Doesn't that just scream summer to you? I needed something cool and preferably fruity for our 4th of July outing at the lake, and this fit the bill perfectly. And like the dessert that I made for the 4th, this recipe was also a little bit improvised and made up. But fear not--I made it again last night for a get together with some girlfriends and it's been an all-around hit!

Pink Sangria

3 cups pink lemonade
2 (750) mL bottles of wine (to keep it light, I used a sweet white--in my opinion, a Moscato worked better than a Riesling, but it may just have been the variety I bought. A blush would probably work well too)
1 cup lemon-lime soda (I forgot this the second time and it still tasted fine!)
4 shots of Triple Sec (optional)
2 lemons, sliced
16 oz frozen strawberries or raspberries

Combine all ingredients in a one gallon pitcher except the soda and allow to chill for at least two hours. Add the soda and stir well just prior to serving.

There's just a little bit left in the fridge right now, and all this talking about it has made me thirsty... It's five o'clock somewhere, right? Bring on the weekend!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie and a Possible Pest

So this is really more of a good idea than a recipe. And really, where can you go wrong with ingredients like this?

Protein? Good
Potassium? Good
Calcium? Good

Throw it all in the blender with a little honey for some sweetness if you desire...

And within in seconds you have this tasty drink by your side!

I really don't have more of a recipe than that; I secretly hate using measuring cups and spoons when I don't absolutely have to. I've made this twice in the past two days and it's been a little different each time, but with a combination of peanut butter, honey, and banana, it's hard to screw up. Unless, of course, you make it too runny (I strongly dislike runny smoothies). I always start with less milk than I think I'll need, because it's way easier to add more milk if necessary than take excess milk out.

And now, on a totally unrelated note, does anyone have a clue what this is?

It's got the fairly standard build and wing structure of a dragonfly, but I can't find any information about one with these particularly distinct colorings. It sounds like dragonflies are welcome garden visitors because they eat other pests--but I had seven show up literally overnight, and have never seen ones like this before, which concerns me slightly. Any help?

All-American Trifle

Happy 4th of July! I hope you have been enjoying wonderful weather for your three-day weekend like we have--couldn't be nicer!

I (shockingly) volunteered to bring dessert to our family festivities, and since I couldn't find a recipe that I was particularly sold on, I decided to improvise with one of my own. And it turned out pretty great! What's even better is that it could be easily adapted to any holiday by using different colored berries, or even using a flavored pudding (or just adding food coloring to a vanilla pudding!)

All-American Trifle
(adapted from a whole bunch of different recipes to create one of my own!)

2 packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups cold milk
1 container whipped topping
1 pan of brownies, cooled (I just made mine from a box mix)
4 cups assorted fruit (approximately)

In a large bowl, combine the pudding mix, milk, and whipped topping. Whisk to combine. Cut brownies into bite-sized pieces. In a glass bowl (or trifle bowl), layer ingredients, making sure to go all the way to the sides for a pretty presentation. Chill until ready to serve.

Super easy. Since you can't see the bottom of the bowl too clearly, I started with a layer of brownies, then did raspberries and blueberries, topped with the pudding, and repeated. We also served it with additional whipped topping, which I almost think could be mixed into the pudding if you choose. Whatever suits your fancy--which is the beauty of this recipe!

Pico!

What's a girl to do with an out-of-control cilantro plant?

Make some pico de gallo, of course!

Hopefully in a few months we'll be able to make some with tomatoes fresh from our garden, but for now, store-bought ones will have to do. We didn't really have much of a recipe, just threw together four tomatoes, a red onion, two jalapenos, and cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste. The result? It was good. Not great, but definitely a good snack. Darrell and I both agreed that it was missing something, but couldn't come to an agreement on what. But hey--we'll have plenty of time and cilantro (and hopefully tomatoes!) to try out a few different variations this summer until we come across one that is great!