Quick update and new camera!

Today has been a hot and busy day! I made a veggie pot pie, two platters of enchiladas, Mexican rice, and a blackberry cobbler. It was 100+ degrees outside today, and baking all day didn't help with the heat, but I'm excited to have a few days of dinner already cooked :)

For my birthday Michael bought me the nicest Canon DSLR and I have been going picture crazy! Speaking of my birthday, Michael took the day off and took Michelle and me up to Oregon where we played in Ashland at Lithia Park, shopped in Medford, and got ice cream. We got dinner in Yreka, and ended the night with cake at home. He is so sweet.

Of course I have to post some of the pictures I've taken with my camera ;-) Here they are below.

June Favorites

June has flown by in a blur! Seriously, it has flown by so quickly and I had no clue July here! 

So, I came across this list on a vlog channel that I like to watch weekly, and she did this June Favorites video. I thought to myself "Hey! This would make a good thing to try on my blog", so here's my first installment. I'm liking the questions that she answered, but I might switch some up over the coming months as I fill them out and see how relevant some are to my life. 

I'm two days early, but I think I'll be too busy the next few days to write out a proper post. 

Well, here we go!

1. Funniest Thing That Happened
 - A few weeks ago Michelle woke up and immediately farted. I said "whoa boofa!" and she said "haha baby-boofa-butt!" and started laughing. Bahaha! Also, she's been adding "ia" to the end of everything so she sounds very Italian. Sounds like "Momia, Dadia, Auntia,". Which always has us laughing :)

2. Book(s) you read
-Seriously? None! I have been such a failure these past few months when it comes to reading. I've usually got a huge reading list and a book to cozy up with, but lately I've been so consumed with projects and plans with family that I haven't read anything. Boo. I would love suggestions for good reads though!

3. Shows/Movies you liked
-Ok this one is easy (lol, no time to read but there's always time for tv!). At the beginning of the month I was just finishing up a Dexter binge watch, but couldn't get myself to start the next season. I really liked Jula Stiles character, so I was bummed that she left. So, I caught up on the new season of Orphan Black (SO GOOD!), watched Modern Family reruns, and then stumbled upon Law & Order SVU. There are so many seasons - and there's no real "end" to each season, so it's easy to just continue watching the next episode. The only downside is that the content is dark (nothing too graphic, but the whole show is about some kind of sexual assault - including kids and elderly- so obviously it can be hard to watch).

4. Something you accomplished/made you proud
-After months of planning and prepping, I was so proud of the birthday party we threw for Michelle. It was fun, cute, and very successful. Mish had a blast and loved singing the Happy Birthday song with all of her friends and family <3

5. Foods you tried/loved
-  I didn't really try anything new, but we did eat at a new restaurant in Yreka that was freaking delicious! They make the best veggie burgers and everyone there was very friendly.  We also had some really good Brazilian food in Berkeley last weekend that was so good. I just got a salad, but it was so spicy and flavorful! We ended our meal with Dole Whips, which I've never had (I guess I have tried something new! Duh!) and it was SO good!

We also had AMAZING fried olives at Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa for our 10th anniversary. Yum. So much yum.

6. Song/Album you listened to most
- If we're talking in general, Mumford and Sons will top my list every month. I have their two cds in my car and they are always on. But other than my guys, I've been playing "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith and "All of Me" by John Legend a lot! Those songs just get me right in the heart, man. So good!

7. Youtuber/Blogger you enjoyed the most

-That would have to be Anna Saccone and The Saccone-Joly's. I follow a lot of really good vloggers and bloggers, but I love that family. They'd probably top my list every month too, so I'll just jot down my favorites in general (since this is my first monthly favorites blog).

--Youtubers/Vloggers

1. The Saccone-Joly's
2. ObbsandLala

--Bloggers

1. Runs For Cookies
2. Refashionista
3. Love Taza
4. Merricks Art
5. Anna Saccone (she also blogs!)

8. Health/Beauty product you used a lot

- Hahaha. Ok, so I fail at putting on makeup and doing my hair daily. I guess the thing I used the most would have to be my Sonicare toothbrush. It's pricey, but so worth it! Brushing with a regular brush is great and all, but this thing makes your teeth feel like their going to the spa everyday. Whiiirrrr

 9. Favorite item you bought

-Uh oh. I spent too much money this month and we definitely felt it towards the end. My very favorite? Definitely our new panini press! I have been eating paninis and toasties like crazy, so it only made sense to buy one to save money. I also went crazy at the Victoria's Secret Semi Annual Sale. New bras and undies! I'm also really in love with the new rug I bought for our family room. It's so plush and pretty :)

10. Something you learned 

-That my friend Wendy is having another GIRL! Such wonderful news! She already has one of each (Liam and Cambria), so adding another girl into the home sounds like heaven to me! Then again, I'm biased. ;-)

11. Goals for next month

- Get out more and/or go camping!! I mean, yes, to get out more is my top goal, but I've been dying to camp! 

12. Something you're looking forward to

- 4th of July, my friend's Pinterest party, my 28th birthday, and (hopefully) camping!

Whew! That was a long one! Did you stick around until the end? Is anyone even reading this? Lol

Actually, I'm adding my own last question! 

13. Favorite Picture(s) from the month!
Because I got the cutest pictures yesterday, I'm going to toss them in. They make me smile <3

Taco Night. It's a magical night!

Taco night!

Probably one of my favorite meals, but I don't make it a lot because I can't stop myself from eating 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 tacos! They're too good to stop at one, and my diet definitely can't handle that ;-)

I know what you're thinking..Jess, what the heck do you put in a taco? Fake meat? No! Just veggies? Kinda! But are they flavorful? Heck yes!
Instead of meat, or any fake meat products, I use lentils! Trust me on this, you don't miss the meat when you eat these tacos.

Michael doesn't mind eating lentils in his tacos, but he prefers ground turkey, so we make two different fillings!

In order to make your lentils taste awesome and get that "taco meat" flavor, you must prepare them with delicious taco seasoning. I'm lazy, so I buy the pre-measured baggies. I also up the lazy factor by buying ready to eat lentils from Trader Joe's.

Basically what I do is pour my ready-to-eat lentils in the pan, toss in 1/4 water, and taco seasoning. In this case, I had 1 lb of lentils, so I used the whole packet. After the water and seasoning coated the lentils, I heated them in the pan until a "gravy" started to form and thicken.

My Lentils

While I'm doing that, I also cook Michael's turkey. Just saute it with taco seasoning and water (follow the directions on the taco seasoning packet). Ooh yeah, the house is smelling good!

Michael's Turkey

 Now heat up some beans, chop your veggies of choice (we do avocado, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce), and additional toppings (shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, salsa).

I know you don't need a pic of this, but come on, look at those colors! 

 And assemble! I always put beans, lentils, tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce on mine :) Michael likes his piled high with everything- cheese, onions, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and more. I don't like cheese on my tacos. C'est la vie.

Now whose taco is whose?

Turkey!

Lentils!

And what does Michelle eat when we have tacos? Our feisty toddler eats a deconstructed taco with both sets of fillings, and a little cottage cheese on the side.

Viva el taco!

Breakfast Hash Egg Scramble

This morning was hectic. We had to hurry up and get breakfast started so we could watch the Niners defeat the Panthers!! However, we were short some of our favorite breakfast staples. No bread products, and no hashbrowns. Sure, we had eggs, but how much fun is it eating a plain old egg? Boo.

So, I improvised.

I knew I had veggies, cheese, sausage (turkey breakfast sausage), but I wanted some starch! I checked the freezer, and voila: frozen crinkle cut french fries! I know, this sounds crazy, but I wouldn't be writing a blog about this meal if it wasn't a hit in my house.

So I did what any sane person would do; I made a big old skillet of breakfast hash/egg scramble!

May not look the prettiest, but it was tasty!

I'm not going to get too into specific measurements in this post because I truly believe this is one that should be tweaked according to your preference and how many people are eating it. I'll just let you know what I used in parenthesis, but be aware this fed my family of 3.

Also, I made two versions of this today because I wanted to make a meat-filled one for Michael and Michelle. So I'll just list all of the ingredients, and you decide what you want to add or omit. Here we go! 

Ingredients:

• Eggs (I used 5), whisked and seasoned with salt and pepper
• Bell Pepper (1 large), chopped
• Onion (1 medium), chopped
• Mushrooms (about 5 or 6), sliced
• Turkey breakfast sausage (not in links, just the kind in a big tube)
• Shredded cheese (we used about 1/4 cup total)
• Crinkle cut fries (thawed or nuked, and chopped into chunks. We used two servings)
• Salt and Pepper - don't leave it out!
• Butter and Oil

Instructions:

• Defrost, or nuke crinkle fries. 
• chop into chunks, set aside.

• Chop your veggies

• saute in order of cook time. I started with bell peppers. 

• Add in any veggies that will be in every egg scramble served. We both like onions, so I threw them in the skillet. 

• Whisk your eggs and season them
• set aside until end.

•  Saute other veggies. In this case, saute the mushrooms.
•  I like to do it in butter and oil - tastes better.
• notice I'm doing them seperate? I love the taste of mushrooms in things, but I don't like eating them whole. I know, I know.

• Cook your meat of choice, here we cooked the sausage.

•  Now, throw everything you want in each scramble into the pan (except the eggs).
• this is your chance to cook the potatoes and get them nice and crispy.
• Make sure to season everything with salt, pepper, and even a little garlic powder.
• I had two skillets at this point, one for the meat-eaters, one for the vegetarian mama.

MINE.

THEIRS

•  Once everything is cooked to perfection, toss in your whisked eggs and the cheese. Cook until done!

 

And that's it!

meat-lovers on the left, veggies to the right!

Serve it up with your favorite sides, toast (wish we had some), and some delicious toppings (chives, avocado, salsa, hot sauce, or my favorite... ketchup!

No matter what you put on it, it's good! It's one of those one-pot-meals that a mama loves to make, and Michelle likes to eat! Michael eats anything I make, bless his heart.

 

Vegetarian Chili

Chili, need I say more? I made this pot of chili for my family while we watched the San Francisco 49ers defeat Green Bay last weekend. We had it with hot dogs (veggie for me!) and baked potatoes. Mmm, I still have a cup in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. 

One of the reasons I love this meal is because it's so easy, and it's so delicious! Being a vegetarian can be hard if you don't have good versions of mainstream meals. I usually come across chili with corn in it, and I despise corn in chili, so I'm glad this pot is so easy to throw together.

Oh so good!

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can black beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 small can (4 oz) tomato paste
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (fire roasted if available)
• 1 jumbo can (26 oz?)  crushed tomatoes, fire roasted
• 1 packet chili seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 pepper (diced) from a small can (8 oz) of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Either one pepper diced, or 1/3 of the adobo sauce in the can

Instructions

• saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic
• add of of the ingredients and cook on medium high until everything starts to bubble. Lower heat to low/medium-low.
• simmer in pot (at least 20 minutes works best for us, but it can stay on the stove for a while if cooked on low) 

Serve with cheese, sour cream, raw chopped onions, chips, hot dogs, baked potatoes, or any other dish that's screaming for some delicious chili. Mmm, chili.

Chili dog with mustard!

Vegetarian Pot Pie

This pot pie is one of those meals that my whole family loves, and we're wrestling over the leftovers the next day. It's so easy to whip up, and cooks very quickly. It tastes like something that's been cooking all day, and is so savory and thick for a vegetarian meal. 

This meal is also one that Michael will eat vegetarian, but prefers to have with chicken in it. I'll explain how we do that below.

Yum!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 medium onion (or 1/2 large onion) chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup frozen peas (or 1 cup canned, drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (of chicken if you want the meat! Lol)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 packed of Lipton's Mushroom Soup
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, cut to 8x8 (I use pepperidge farm)
• 1 egg (optional: for egg wash)

Supplies

• 8x8 casserole dish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Make sure puff pastry is defrosted (according to box instructions)
• Chop all of your veggies, keep potatoes to the side.

• Saute celery, onion, carrots, and garlic for 2 minutes.
• Toss in potatoes, saute for 3 minutes.
• Coat veggies with flour, stir in, cook for 1 minute

• Salt and Pepper
• Add milk, broth, and soup mix. Stir together.
• looks good at this point, huh? So creamy!
• Add peas and cook for 5 minutes. 
• If adding chicken to whole pie, put cooked chicken in at this step.

• Place pot pie filling in an 8x8 baking dish (mine is Pyrex), and cover with puff pastry sheet.
• mix egg with TBSP of water and brush on top of pastry sheet.
• Pierce top of pie to vent.

• Bake for 25-30 minutes. 
• If you're adding chicken into just one serving, it still tastes good! Just bake or pan fry up some chicken (white or dark meat - your choice) and toss it into the bowl before your scoop in a serving of the pot pie. 

Now, if you're like me, you are are dying to sneak a taste. Careful! It's very hot (duh).  

It's so pretty!

So creamy and savory!

Hopefully you enjoy this dinner as much as we do!