Cleaning House

Starting the summer off with the wedding of my cousin (who is has also been one of my best friends since I moved to California) is probably going to be really hard to beat! The wedding itself was beautiful- Ashley has a way of making her visions come to life, and this was no exception. It looked like a fairy tale!!! I’m waiting for pictures to be posted because I, dork that I am, barely took any photos at all. We’ll have to rely on M for those.
As M mentioned, last weekend was also baby sisters graduation from high school. Not sure how I feel about that yet….
…happy that she’s done with high school?
…excited that she gets to start college?
….I feel really old? (Maybe)
….feel like she should still be collecting rocks and playing tea party with Kool-Aid and Cheerios?
that’s it.

Ah well. We all have to grow up eventually. 😉 I’m sure Linds feels like we wish she’d be 4 forever! Hehe…;)

I started off my summer after wedding and graduation by tackling my toilet. Sorry for the face plant into my reality, but there ya go. My home suffered during this past semester so it is now time for spring cleaning! And it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. For years I have tried to use a pumice stone- never again. Drywall sanding screens are the only thing that even made a dent and my toilet bowl looks brand new. I’d post a picture, but I forgot to do a ‘before’ shot and I feel like that might be too much info for one post. You’re welcome. 🙂
~K
P.s. here’s two pics of two cuties just cuz it’s Thursday.

Walking!

I’m a winter person. In general, I do not like summer- I prefer being cold to the oppressive heat of the Central Valley. However, I must admit that once summer gets here, it’s never as bad as I make it out to be. Curtis and I have been walking at night once it’s cooled down, which I must say we never do in the winter. It is nice too, to have some time away from TV, internet, laundry, and cleaning to chitchat about our day and relax. It was lovely.

Before our walk I made dinner. This morning before work I had halfway planned ahead by letting some ground beef thaw for spaghetti and assumed I’d have the rest of the necessary items the recipe requires. I get to the point where the ground beef is browned and ready only to realize that not only do I not have spaghetti sauce, but I also do not have spaghetti noodles. Awesome.

Then Curtis saves the day and gives up his boxed Velveeta Mac n’ Cheese noodles. My hero! The sauce problem I solved by finding deep in the back corner of my pantry a can of seasoned diced tomatoes. So I threw that in with the meat, along with some garlic, onions, dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and a teensy bit of whine I mean WINE….and voila! It smelled like pizza. Tasted pretty good too!

It really did smell like pizza…

So after this somewhat heavy meal Curtis reminded me that I had wanted to go for a walk (bless him, I know he was tired) and he pulled me out the door. 🙂 Cuz I was all ready for a bowl of ice cream (is it still National Dairy Month?) and some Restaurant Impossible. Hehe, I am so easily distracted, I’m telling you. And distracted may not be the correct word…more along the lines of ‘ready to just relax.’

🙂

-K

Lemon Spinach Pesto

It’s finally summmmerrr!!! Ah, how I love summers! Even though technically summer starts on the 21st, who really waits for the official day? No one I know. Bring on the BBQ’s, arnold palmers by the pool, tan skin, summer salads,vacations, and cute little baby nieces in their frilly bathing suits. I love every minute of it! Also, did I tell you guys that Joey and I are going to be going on a Bible tour of Israel for the next two weeks?

We are so excited we can hardly stand it! We’ve been looking forward to this trip for over a year now, and it’s a little crazy to think that we leave on Sunday already. Please keep us in your prayers! I’m not sure what we’ll be eating in Israel, but as long as it involves lots of hummus or this, I’m pretty excited for it.

In the meantime, lets focus on American food. After all of the Oreo cake and pretzel m&m’s, we were pretty sugared out and ready for some protein. And it’s summer, so let’s make it brightly colored, shall we?

 

I love anything lemon-y. It’s so light and flavorful, and citrus screams summertime! We eat a lot of chicken in our house- I’m getting better at learning how to cook beef in different ways (since we live on a dairy), but I’m much more familiar with chicken because my mom always cooked it for us. Chicken is great because it can stand up to so many different flavors, preparations, and sauces. So, even if you have chicken every.single.night, it can feel like a completely different meal if you change up the flavors! Sounds good to me.

 

This particular recipe is one of my very favorites, and its so fast! I might even be able to beat out K’s 11 minute meal. Depends on how long it takes your chicken to cook… so cook it fast and I can call it the 10.5 minute meal! In all seriousness, the only time consuming part is cooking the chicken- I just pan-fried it on the stovetop with a little garlic salt and pepper and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

The best part of the meal takes about 3 minutes, and can be done while the chicken is on the stove! Just dump some lemon zest & juice, parmesan, spinach, EVOO, and pine nuts in a food processor and let ‘er rip! This is what I love to make when I want a good, fast healthy meal, and with little time spent in a hot kitchen.

Pretty much the greenest sauce you ever did see, huh? I know its scary, you’ve never had a sauce that green. Your kids might freak out a little bit (or your husband might request a more normal looking sauce with his chicken…ahem.) but rest assured, this is so refreshing and the flavors are all there! Its a slighty cheesy, creamy, fresh, and lemony accent to that chicken … and goes along perfectly with some crusty bread and steamed veggies.

This sauce is so good, you’ll end up dipping your fingers everything on your plate in it. Not that I did that, or anything.

~M

Lemon Spinach Pesto

serves 4-5

2 cups fresh spinach

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 TBSP lemon juice

1-2 tsp lemon zest

1/3 cup + 2 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper

1/3 cup fresh parmesan, grated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees- toast pine nuts for 5-10 minutes, watch closely. Cooking times may vary with your oven!

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor, and puree until smooth and creamy. Add more olive oil to get your desired consistency.

Refrigerate, and eat with your chicken! And vegetables… and bread….

Enjoy!