Food Friday!

This whole blog thing has made me get even more excited about making different meals for Alex and myself. It's a nice place to put all of my favorite recipes. I have the rest of my life to become Betty Crocker, so might as well start now ha. I made some good food this month. One of the best parts about cooking is I know exactly what I'm eating. I would like to keep my life and body healthy forever and cooking for yourself is the best way. Here's some more meals from February!

Don't mind the crock-pot picture. Looks kind of weird. I promise this is good ha. My mom used to make roast a lot on Sundays. It brings the best memories. I kind of made up this recipe. I just use baby carrots, onion, potatoes and a good chuck roast. Throw it all in the crockpot (aka my best friend), add seasoning (I just put garlic, thyme, pepper, salt...honestly I think it's different every time) and beef broth. Put on low for about 6 hrs. One thing I need to add is some sort of gravy packet so you get a gravy with the liquid to put over the meat.

Well this was a new one! Again, from Pinterest. One that I pinned a super long time ago and never made. It is baked penne with chicken, broccoli, onions/garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and smoked mozzarella. I've never used smoked mozzarella but it makes the pasta taste like it has bacon in it. This was an easy one, and I like meals that I can just throw in the oven so I can go do other things!

Alright, this is one of my favorite meals EVER. I got it from my cousin's wife. They are the healthiest people ever and also vegetarians. It's wilted wintergreen soup. Sorry that I'm retarded and forgot to take a pic of the actual soup, but here are ALL the ingredients. You sauté onion and garlic, pouring in vegetable broth to steam them while stirring. Add thinly sliced red potatoes, dill, juice from half a lemon, and salt/pepper. Then you sauté the kale and red chard in a separate pan and add into the soup. So easy, so healthy, and so amazing. I serve it with french bread. One of my absolute favorites. 

I also found this on Pinterest, made it a few days ago, and fell in love. This will be a repeated meal in our home, I'm sure of it. I took two chicken breasts and cut them in half so they were thinner, then sliced the tomatoes. you rub pesto, salt and pepper on each chicken breast and put them in the oven. Take them out, add tomatoes, any cheese you want (I used pepperjack), and that's IT! Put them back in the oven. I also used dill. It didn't call for it, but I had some extra. Oh my goodness this is so good. Something about cheese, tomatoes and pesto. Pretty healthy too. 

Last but not least, a dessert! I made this chocolate banana bread. No oil or butter either! The secret is to use applesauce. So tasty, moist, chocolately, banana-y. I love chocolate and bananas. Of course I have to add chocolate chips. What's a banana bread without them? This is also on my Pinterest. 

Another good month of meals. Most of which are healthy. I really do have a problem with sweets though (as most girls do)...but thank goodness for lent! No I'm not catholic, but I 100% support the season of lent. I have made a commitment to give up sugar. We will see how this goes. Easter cannot come fast enough!

xoxo, kay

   

Santa Barbara!

This past weekend was THE BEST. We took a trip with 3 of our closest couple friends that we've been planning for what feels like over a year. It was the perfect little getaway. Santa Barbara has all the good things of California: mountains, trees, the ocean, perfect weather, and one of my favorite families (The Nelsons). We beached, boated, ate delicious Mexican food, relaxed by palm trees, woke up to the sun, played games, hiked. Ugh, not fair it had to come to an end. (Disclaimer: all the pics were taken with my phone. I'll catch up to the nice camera people one day)

These seals were crazy! They took over this abandoned boat with a pirate ship flag and smelled horrible haha.

Good thing Alex and Jordan had each other to play catch with and talk about sports.

So breathtaking, am I right??! These pictures do not do the place justice. I wish I had a picture of all of Santa Barbara to show how green it was too!

So I grew up with the Nelsons in Seattle and Annie has been one of my best friends since birth. They moved when we were in 7th grade .It was so fun to reconnect at BYU and to hang out like old times and go on double dates. Allie and her husband also came. Allie was my roommate freshman year and is now one of my best friends! Jordan and Alex were BFFs growing up in Boise and Kayla and I were lucky that they chose us because Kay and I are soul sisters, I swear. So sad that this year all of us will be parting ways. It was so great to take this trip together before that happens!

xoxo, kay

February Food!

There's a handful of "go-to" meals I make that I could basically eat all the time. Since I like cooking, I try to switch it up. Here's a couple oldies but goodies. 

So there's only a couple of meals that Alex and I make together and spaghetti is one of them. Growing up, I just ate noodles, with sauce and cheese. Alex's brother wouldn't eat veggies growing up, so his Mom would make their spaghetti a little more "gourmet" with lots of veggies and meat. We've been making this for a while and probably have it once a month. So good.

It takes a little time to prepare because of all the cutting of vegetables. We use onion, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, celery, and mushrooms. Chop them all really fine, sauté, sweat them, then add ground beef and some kind of tomato paste and whatever seasonings you're feeling that day! Sometimes Alex sneaks in some Worcestershire, ketchup or other things. I usually don't notice. It helps him with his creativity :)

One of my favorite go-to meals is Spicy Sausage Pasta. Probably not the best meal nutritionally, but I LOVE it. I was never a smoked sausage person, but in this dish it's so good.

You've probably noticed, but I cook almost everything with onion and garlic. You just can't go wrong. So naturally, you cook the O/G and smoked sausage until the sausage browns, then add chicken broth, cream, ro-tel tomatoes with green chiles, and dry pasta. You bring to a boil, then reduce to low for about 15 min. Top it off with cheese of your choice and green onions. Ugh so good. Also on my Pinterest.

Next up is something that takes a little more effort and makes a mess: Sweet and Sour Chicken. I doubt the sauce is gluten-free, but the base of the chicken is. Sometimes I like these meals that take a little longer because I appreciate them more. I've also made this a couple times and it's really tasty.

This is not my own picture. Totally forgot to take one. Also from Pinterest. The base is just dipping the chicken pieces in cornstarch and egg and baking them in a pan full of oil. Smells kind of like donuts when you make it. Same concept. I usually don't cook them fully through and throw them into a glass-bakeware dish. The sauce is ketchup, soy sauce, white distilled vinegar, garlic salt, and sugar (though I use xylitol). Side Note: I am a big believer in xylitol. It tastes the exact same as sugar AND helps your teeth! Don't eat too much though...not good for your digestion. You put the sauce over the chicken then bake in the oven for about another 30-40 min.

If you're looking for an easy meal, just make egg and avocado salad. I grew up eating egg salad, and loved guacamole. Who knew they mixed? Yet another Pinterest meal. I see a trend here. 

It just feels more gourmet when you toast the bread ha. After boiling the eggs, you just mix the avocado, some mayo, curry powder, and salt and pepper. I usually let the eggs cool a little before mixing them in. So easy. I eat most meals with salad too. None of that iceberg lettuce crap. I go for the real stuff. Spinach, arugula, kale, etc. I love my greens. 

Now this is a meal I know nothing about. Alex had literally never eaten mac and cheese growing up and I was in shock when he told me that. I need to remember that his Mom made mostly Japanese meals though, since she is from Japan. They ate an "equivalent" of mac and cheese in egg and meat form. 

This, here, is Nishoku-Donburi. Alex made it for me, but I helped mix the eggs :) Go me. You mix the eggs with sugar and salt, then scramble them. The meat is just ground beef, soy sauce, brown sugar, and salt. Super simple. You serve it over rice. I was going to mix the two, but Alex got mad at me and said I had to separate them haha. He's very picky when it comes to his meals. It's pretty tasty actually. Good mix of sweet and salty.

I actually feel really accomplished when I'm cooking and learning new meals, or perfecting old ones. My children better appreciate the food I make haha.

xoxo, kay

January

Well, that month flew by. I feel like I just came back from Christmas break. A blog is a great way to remember memories I've had... Let's be honest, I am the WORST at remembering things. So thank goodness for this. Here's some of the highlights from January!

I guess in January we were still in Seattle. We always go to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite activities ever!) It's just a huge garden that they make into lights every year! So cool. And worth the cold.

This here is Lauren. She has been one of my best friends since about 5th grade. I hadn't seen her since my wedding! Ah, SO great to catch up. She is the cutest. We had a tea party and brunch at my favorite little tea room, Elizabeth and Alexander's. 

So unfortunately at the end of break, I caught the horrible cold/cough going around that lasted weeks. Most of January I just laid around trying to get better. Alex and I watched A LOT of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and CHOPPED! I love Chopped. So Alex "prepared for me" bananas and saltines with a PB&J/Whip cream spread. Haha, so classy. 

 When I finally got over that dumb cold, we went to Nicolitalia's Pizza (best place in Provo) and ice skating in Midway with some good friends! The guy to my right is JRL (John Ross Linn...we call him JRL). He is the greatest. He used to be Alex's roommate and has helped us move like a billion times. That's his GF Jane and her cousin and date. Jane makes glorious donuts that we consumed the next day.

Finally, Alex's Christmas present came to pass! We went to the Jazz game vs. Golden State. We were cheering for Golden State, only because Steph Curry is a God. He didn't do so hot that game, and was still the leading scorer. Jazz won, which I'm totally fine with still! It was a great game. Makes me miss playing basketball!!!

Next day we went to the Leonardo to see Body Worlds. I went to this before in Seattle with my physiology class. This kind of stuff is totally up my alley. It's more of a spiritual experience for me. I love the human body and it's incredible that God created our bodies with such intricate detail. Every part has a purpose and fits together. Oh it also reminded me to eat healthier---ah-hem. There's a ton to do at the Leonardo so we played and walked around for another hour after the exhibit. The bottom picture was from a gallery about homelessness. It just pulled at my heartstrings. So beautiful.

After the Leonardo, we walked around SLC. I never realized the courthouse was so pretty. It's right across the street from where we were. Who knew Utah had cool buildings. Coolest building though is obviously the Salt Lake Temple. It was amazing at sunset. We walked around temple square and City Creek to kill some time. That night we went to Red Iguana with some friends (amazing Mexican food), and then got gelato. I really hope gelato tastes better in Italy because I'd rather just have ice cream. 

Such a fun month! I usually hate January because it's right after Christmas and usually freezing. However, the weather has been great and I feel good about life!

xoxo, kay