Summer Cooking

Thought I would share a few new recipes I've tried recently that we've liked. Many contain ingredients that I'm just experimenting with for the first time, but we've enjoyed them and most all are healthy! With our CSA box I've been introduced to many new vegetables that have been surprisingly tasty, when prepared well.

Pasta Primavera. I made this for a dinner party we hosted a few weeks ago and while it's a bit time intensive for a regular weeknight meal, it was really delicious and a good meal to cook with friends in the kitchen.

Asian Coleslaw. This makes great leftovers for lunch. I don't usually use both purple and green cabbage, just whatever I have. I've also subbed in parsley for cilantro and it was fine. And instead of vegetable oil, use toasted sesame oil (I get it at Trader Joe's)--it makes such a difference!

Roasted Beets. No real recipe for these, just remove beet greens, scrub the beets, wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, until fork tender. Peel the skins and eat like a potato. Or slice up and put in a green salad. I'll do a batch of these and then eat a beet for lunch the next day.

Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Tian.  Put this together earlier in the day and then it just bakes like a casserole so no work before dinnertime! And don't peel the tomatoes--waste of time!

Sesame-glazed bok choy.  I didn't have peanut oil, so just used toasted sesame oil and it was great. Also subbed toasted cashews for the sesame seeds. We ate this with rice and frozen wontons from costco. Potstickers or teriyaki chicken would be good, also.

Swiss Chard with pine nuts and currants.  Toasting the pine nuts makes all the difference in this recipe. Even Paul, who usually turns up his nose at cooked greens liked this. And Kate was excited about the raisins. I think we ate this with baked salmon.

Quinoa Salad.  I adapted this from another recipe and here's what I came up with. This also made great lunch leftovers. And don't be afraid of the quinoa! It's just like cous cous or rice, a whole grain with a lot of protein. I get mine in the bulk section of Sprouts, but TJ's sells it also.
1 1/5 c quinoa, cook it like rice with 3 cups liquid. I used 1 1/2 c water and 1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c or so jarred salsa
fresh chopped cilantro, maybe 1/3 cup
frozen sweet corn, 1/2 cup
juice of 1 lime
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
chopped cherry tomatoes
chopped mango
chopped avacado
1/4 lb chopped cooked shrimp

Mix cooked quinoa with all the ingredients. Serve warm or at room temp. Add or take out whatever ingredients you can think of. Season with salt and pepper.

Portobello Mushroom Burgers. We LOVED these. All of us. Don't have a grill so I cooked it on a cast iron grill pan. Ate it with parsley aioli (mayo mixed with a little chopped parsley), burger fixins and homemade sweet potato fries (just peel and cut up a sweet potato, drizzle with oil, s&p and roast 450 for 30 mins or so. TJ's also makes good frozen sweet potato fries)

Spinach and Orzo pasta. Made this for a lunch potluck. I followed the recipe exactly, but next time I'll try adding a little balsalmic vinegar.

Refried Beans. (Thanks, Maria!) Really easy way to cook dried beans. And a recipe I haven't tried yet, but want to. It sounds delicious with some beans and tortilla chips. Shrimp Ceviche

Finally, last night we went to dinner at Cafe Rio--now just 20 minutes from our house! It brought back good college memories. I have to use some serious will power to not eat the entire salad and tortilla.

What have you been cooking this summer? Any suggestions?

Colorado

is so beautiful! We spent the weekend with all 4 of Paul's siblings and their families. We are all spread across the country and it was fun to have a mini-reunion and meet the newest baby in the family, Elaina. Somehow I didn't get any photos of her! The girls loved being spoiled by their grandparents and Aunts and Uncles.

Lawn games.

Picking flowers with Grandma.

 

Park with Grandpa.

Trampoline time, walks on the trails behind the grandparents home, bike rides, lots of eating, conversation, clean air and gorgeous weather.

Summer!

Summer is officially here! June has been a great month and is flying by. We had a visit from cousin Emily and her sweet Jack who is just 3 days younger than Gwen.

After several readings of "Strawberry Shortcake and the Easter Bonnet" and "Imogene's Antlers" Kate is an aspiring milliner and comes up with new creations daily.

A few other highlights in Kate's week: A friends summer kick-off party complete with inflatable water slide. She spent 2 hours going up and down the slide and loved it. Later that afternoon I found her asleep leaning over her bed with her head on the pillow and feet on the floor.

And a Joy School "graduation party".  We did a joy school co-op for 2 hrs a week and Kate loved it. The kids are all moving on to a "real" preschool in September and Kate will miss her Joy school friends!

CSA Day at the Farm

We signed up to be a part of CSA or Community Supported Agriculture for a local farm. We get fresh, organic produce boxes a few times a month and they are always delicious. The variety of produce changes from week to week, depending on what's harvested and Kate loves looking through the box when we get it to see what's in there. 

They had a day at the farm last weekend especially for CSA members. We got to walk through the farm, pick our vegetables, talk to the farmer and then we took them up to the BBQ's where the kids washed them, and workers cooked our food. Then we ate! It was delicious and the weather was so nice.

After our lunch we stopped to pick strawberries for dessert. Gwen made a total mess of her self (as usual) and could have stayed there all day! The girls loved it.

Las Vegas

Jacki and I lived next door to each other in the dorms freshman year of college. She's a small town girl from Montana and one of the most genuine people I know--we were instant friends. We stayed best friends and were roomates all through college and because she's moved back to that small town in Montana, I rarely see her.  When she told me she was going to be in Las Vegas for a couple of days I decided to pack up the girls and meet her there!  It was an adventure. The girls behaved well and put up with lots of walking and stroller time. Hopefully I didn't increase their chances of lung cancer too much with all the second hand smoke that is Las Vegas--it's really no place for kids!  They did have a little fun, too and I loved seeing Jacki.

tired kids on a HOT day

Highlights of the trip: Seeing Jacki, her husband Kyle and meeting their sweet--and incredibly well behaved--10 month old, Connor. The fountains at Bellagio, M&M world where Gwen must have said "More" about 1000 times as she ate m&m's. She's got that word down. Swimming at the Mandalay Bay and seeing the Shark encounter. Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Lions at MGM and lots of lights!
Random side note. I checked out this audio book from the library to listen to on the drive and loved it!

Memorial Day Weekend

Picnics

Beach

BBQ
Welcome Summer!