Monday, July 25, 2011

Summer Treats

So summer has definitely taken over my lifeI have been keeping myself busy with random things as well as not making myself meals.  I am what everyone should call a "slacker," but while slacking I have for sure been enjoying myself with fishing trips, trips to the lake, and hanging out with great friends.  Well with all that out of the way I am  back to blogging.  I am making a new goal to get back into this and do at least two blogs a week!!  Seems like a big goal but I can do it.  So on that note lets get down to business...summer love.  

The garden is INSANE and I of course don't have an updated picture, but it is crazy.  The cucumbers have taken over, which is fine because I love them.  Today Matt and his parents picked seven, count them SEVEN cucumbers.  I am trying to perfect my cucumber salad.  
Tonight I started with my usual, two cucumbers thinly sliced along with an onion thinly sliced.  You then need to put these in a bowl or colander with a tablespoon of salt and let them sit for a bit.  Tonight I was antsy to eat so they didn't sit as long as they should but oh well.  Add a little white wine vinegar and sour cream and you have a great summer treat.  Oh I forgot the best part.....fresh dill.  I honestly think the dill makes the dish, so delicious.  I also just eat these cukes plan with some ranch.  I will have to learn to like them many new ways since I think we will have them until next year.

For dinner I felt the need to use some more garden goods.  Fresh basil is probably one of my favorite things to use.  I have the perfect recipe to use it in as well.  I am not sure exactly where the recipe came from but I am pretty sure it came from my Aunt Theresa.  
 Four ingredients and some pasta and you can make a great pasta and marinara sauce.  It is so simple.  I just took a 1/4 cup on olive oil and sauteed the garlic in it until it became fragrant.  Then I put two cans of diced tomatoes in and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Before serving throw in 8-10 chopped basil leaves, add some salt and pepper and throw over pasta.  This is so yummy and I love how quick it is to make.  Quick and simple delicious dinner with fresh ingredients from the garden!!  I think that is the part that makes me the most happy, that I grew some of my own parts of the meal!

Ok on to the amazing house I live in.....ugh.  So lets see in the past three week our newish tv crapped out, my cell phone crapped out, our a/c stopped working (this was by far the most horrible and expensive to replace), the kitchen drain was draining on the floor, the coffee maker stopped working, the sewer was backing up in our basement.....and Matt lost the only set of the truck keys.  I mean honestly, the ac breaking was enough.  I can finally use the phrase and mean it "when it rains it pours!"  One day at the house it was 90 and it felt better outside than it did inside.  Needless to say we spent a few nights at the in-law's (thanks for the hospitality Pat and Janene!)  The next big task was getting the crap out of the basement (literally)  thank goodness for this handy boyfriend I got.  Forty bucks will get you a roto rooter for four hours....and voila, poop be gone!!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Festive Feasts

For the first time in a long time, we had no plans this weekend and it was WONDERFUL.  It also gave me plenty of time to sleep in, drink some summer drinks and make some delicious food!!  Lets start off with the perfect summer drink...
 I am enjoying one of these as i speak, perfect blend of beer and lemonade.  So back to the task at hand, happy 4th of July everyone!!  In celebration of America's birthday (and a day off work) we decided to make some red, white and blue themed meals.  To start off bright and early we made homemade pancakes with blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream.
 We typically keep the dry mix in our cupboard at all times.  Regular pancakes are a weekend staple for us, but the fruit and whipped cream was a special holiday bonus.  I must say this might actually become a staple, I cut the blueberries and strawberries up and put them in the batter and then used more as topping.  They were freaking delicious.  The whipped cream just topped it all off, literally.  You must try these....not just on the holiday, more like tomorrow!!  Well since we slept in we ate late so lunch never happened today.  But dinner, ohhhhh dinner, it was so worth the wait.
So tonight we went with an oldie as the main course, steak with pepper cream sauce.  We actually used just one steak to feed both of us, that way we had more room for sides.  I have heard of the red, white and blue potato salad so that was my goal for tonight.  After sifting though numerous recipes, I found the winner, thanks Bobby Flay!  Grilled Red Potato Salad with bacon blue cheese vinigarette....sounds delicious right??  Well I can tell you positively that it doesn't just sound delicious....it is DELICIOUS!!
 Wow my mouth is still watering talking about the potatoes, but then we have to get to the cucumber salad.  This happened on a whim, we were at the grocery store and I saw cucumbers and I needed to have them.  I knew what kind of salad I wanted but I just had to find the right recipe.....here it is!!  Cucumber salad will be a need for some fresh summer meals.  I am very proud of my festive meals and new recipes.  I will be making all of these again and I urge you all to try them as well!  Happy Birthday America!!!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The joys of the Farmers Market

Ahhh summer, there really couldn't be a better way to start the day then hitting up the Des Moines farmers market.  We might have headed out a little late but we still made our first appearance today.  Our main goal for the morning was to try the pupusas.  Honestly I didn't know what they were before and I can't honestly say what exactly they are now, even after eating one.  It was good, I wouldn't have tried it if it wasn't for my friend that owns the Gooner stand at the market, I have mentioned this before, but seriously go get some gooners from him, you won't regret it.  Anyway, point of the post is that you never know what you are going to find and buy at the market, today it was elk ribeye.  Matt really wanted to find a meat stand and today the elk won out.  So after a quick trip to Fareway we started up on dinner.  Marinated grilled elk with asparagus that was topped with a vinaigrette.  
.I found the marinade for the elk by googling elk ribeye marinades.  And then i found the vinaigrette for the asparagus by checking out foodnetwork.comI have never had elk before and I must say I will for sure be having it again sometime.  The combination of the two were delicious, def a great summer meal.  

So on the note of meat, we feel that we are set for the rest of the summer!!  Matt is great at finding the sales on meat.  Although the price has gone up, he still found some great deals.  Today we bought two whole pork loins, I believe it was about 17 pounds total.  And it was about a week ago that Matt bought a 12 pound strip loin.  He likes to cut everything himself and then we vacuum pack everything.  Our freezer is officially full.  
Matt took the cruddy parts of the pork loin and used our handy dandy meat grinder to make some ground pork.  I mean look at the picture of the freezer, it looks amazing to me!!

As far as pictures of house projects or the garden....I got nothin.  I am hoping tomorrow we get a move on some more house projects, and today we visited the garden and most of it is looking fantastic.  The cucumbers and the beans have little flowers on it, which is super exciting.  Look for more updates soon!!