NY State of Mind & Counter Top Challenge

I'm heading to NY for the weekend to spend time with family, friends and food! I can't wait to share all the fun things we have planned when I get back. I wanted to leave you with a funny video of David. First check out this challenge that David took on after he saw Kyle do this one Saturday night.


You know you want to try this now, but please just watch your teeth and head. I just envision hitting my teeth on something. Wear a mouth guard.

Sunday's Super Sauce Day

 On Sunday I showed Michelle how to make Grandma's sauce. Since she was unable to come last year to the canning and learning session. Michelle is going to take all of my jars that we have canned and transport them back to TX with them to use. We will can more in July so I can replenish my stash. We have come up with our annual name for our canning event. I don't want to reveal the whole thing yet, but here is a sneak preview- Sauceapalooza. Shell got comfortable on a chair to watch the cooking show.

 I normally make enough for 4 people but we were having David's parents over so I used 2 pans to fit it all.

 David and I also wanted to try out the new kitchenaid mixer attachment that I bought that is a strainer and grinder so we can can our own tomatoes without grandma's machine. You can also use it for other fruits and veggies.

 It had the same components that you would need so it worked pretty well.

 We just got enough tomatoes to make 1 jar (we figured 7 tomatoes per jar).

 Shell even got in on the action.

 It was a lot of work for 1 jar, but will be worth it when we are doing a bunch at a time.

 Making sauce is such tough work.

I totally forgot to take a picture of our food since we devoured it, but this was what was left in Shell's bowl (she was the slowest).

I learned that I need to make the sauce the day before because it takes a while to thicken, especially with the bigger quantity. David's parents brought a delicious cake and fresh blueberries for dessert. 

Saturday Steak Night

Since James got back from his tour of duty he has been craving steak so we decided to grill out on Saturday night.

Michelle made her famous steak marinade and we let it sit for the night.

We used a mixture of soy sauce, worcestershire and steak dust seasoning.

We waited until 8:30ish to start grilling since David had his online class all day so it was very nice outside.

Of course I had just gotten into my comfy clothes when we decided to take pics. Looks like I need some new t-shirts.

Sister shot in front of my garden

We also grilled corn to go with it

Little Madeline is so cute

The perfect summer meal- grilled steak, corn and sweet potato fries! Yum.

Friday Fun with Family

We had such a fun weekend hanging out with Michelle and James.

 On friday morning I found Molly sprawled out waiting for them to come out of their room. They have Bella, the cat, in there blocked off so Molly won't eat her get her. During the night we close our door so Bella can roam the house freely. She likes to wander.

 I took a half day and we went to Moe's for lunch! They don't have many chain restaurants in Abilene, TX (or the desert) so James was craving Moe's. I could always go for Mexican so I was in! Michelle has decided that she is a straight haired person now, even though we have an abundance of tight curls that we were born with.

We got home and got ourselves some adult beverages and the boys fixed our garage door. I don't think I mentioned this, but the springs in our garage door broke last weekend and David repaired them. We had to find the parts (which was not easy to do) but was way cheaper than having someone come out. We spent I think $130 for it all instead of $400 plus for an installer to do it.

 James fixed himself a beverage in one of the mason jars I have that my grandmas sauce is canned in. This one's for you Julie! I know you love mason jars.

The cousins love each other and had a lot of fun playing and cuddling. Maddie had a tag she found in her mouth. We also went to Ippolitos and had a friend over for drinks. Wish we took more pictures that night. More to come on their visit tomorrow.

They're Here!

After a long 16 hour drive my sister and her husband have arrived at our house! They came in early this morning (2:30am) and are resting up.

Their fur babies did really well in the car Michelle said. They are expert travelers! I am looking forward to hanging with them this weekend. Happy Friday and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Michelle & James

Memorial Weekend Fun & P90X Update

 This memorial weekend the family decided to celebrate by going to the pool. We cooked some pizza and headed on over.

 Ian was all set and ready to go with his dive gear on.

 David's parents were hard at work getting fresh watermelon ready.

We also celebrated Annslee's birthday.

Fun was had by all and of course I brought some frozen margarita's in thermos type containers to the pool. I found a bubba mug that holds almost TWO pitchers of margaritas. That's nuts.

 I got a new swim suit from Macy's that I love. The straps can do a variety of things. You can make it strapless like shown above or they can go halter or regular bra style. 

P90X Update- WE ARE FINISHED with the program. Towards the end we would work out around 3 times a week instead of the 6, but still completed most all the scheduled work outs. I really love some of the workouts especially cardio X and ab ripper so I will pick and choose the ones I want to continue. I want to find something that's a little less time consuming though, 1 hour-1.5 hours a day is a bit much for me. Check out our summer beach bodies above. David wants to flex his muscles for the camera so I'll post that picture next week sometime. He lost a total of 20-25 pounds in the 4 months we've been doing it! We still need to get his body into the sun more as he is a similar shade to Casper the ghost.

All the girls are doing some sort of working out and are sporting their bikini's well.

 Darrin and Stacey are also on P90X and still love the program.

 Here is a better shot of Davids beach body (I keep saying that word b/c that's what Tony from P90X always says.) I really enjoyed the nutrition part of P90X. I loved learning what "good" foods are and how much protein matters. I think we will still continue to eat similarly as its working for us. Maybe I'll do a post on foods soon.

Mango Quinoa Salad

I wanted to post this recipe before memorial weekend, but it got deleted by accident. This recipe is tasty as a main dish or a side and comes from Our Best Bites. Plus, it's super healthy and you can add grilled chicken or a side of salmon to make it more of a main dish.

Ingredients-

2 cups cooked quinoa at room temperature, or chilled (I used chicken broth to cook my quinoa and it gave a nice flavor)
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium mango, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced

4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)
Dressing-

4 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.  Add mango,

red pepper, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.

This dish has amazing presentation with all the bright colors. Perfect for summer!

In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth and pour on top of salad.  Toss to combine, add salt and pepper to taste. 

Chill for at least one hour before serving. You'll be the hit of the party if you bring this. Enjoy!