Marshmallows and Breakfast - But Not Together

We love our "new" kitchen (aka new to us).  The extra counter space as lend itself to a lot of new recipes and foods to try.  Experimentation with marshmallows ... recipe found here.

As easy as boil...

Mix...

Spread and let set...

It is absolutely delicious.  If you're marshmallow fan or kind of like it - give it a try!  You won't regret it :).  And also makes the BEST rice crispy treats.  You'll never buy them at the stores again!  Well maybe if you're in a pinch ;).

Since we brought a huge package of raw tortillas a little while back, I am finding ways to use it the last dozen of them.  Breakfast burrito time!

A little bit more time consuming than some of our other breakfasts to make but well worth the time.  It was delicious.  Kids loved it as well.  Win Win :).

Stuffed with bacon, eggs, potatoes and a little bit of bell pepper.  Yum!

Summer Cooking With Garden Vegetables

This has been a great year for our little vegetable garden.  We were blessed with a lot of yummy vegetables.  I think I accomplished by goal of eating something home grown daily :).  Here's some shots of some of the great foods I was able to make with my little humble garden - keep in mind that this is for a family of 5!  Yes even baby Aya had a lot of yummy baby foods made from this garden.

Pizza!

Great any time of year, but especially summertime.  Sorry I forgot to make a shot of the veggy loaded pizza.  But this one has fresh tomato marinara sauce - fresh the garden of course!

Marinara Sauce

First time making marinara sauce.  Can't go back to the bottled stuff!  Next year I am definitely growing more roma tomatoes.  I mixed in some overripe heirlooms and early girls into this sauce.

Pesto

A family favorite around here.  Lots of basil this year.  We also use the pesto for pizzas, spread for breads or other yummies.

Cucumber Salads

We made this for home, parties and to bring to potlucks.  A good (and cheap) way to enjoy cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden.

Other yummy stuff from the garden not pictured: 

GREEN BEANS (many many many meals of this stuff and we're still loving it.  Growing more for a late fall harvest)

BOK CHOY: Not a lot of it, but enough for an occasional stir fry or baby food

LETTUCE: Baby lettuces, butterhead, etc.  Great by itself and used plenty in burgers and sandwiches.

Love our garden! :)

 

Pickling...A Lot

We were blessed with a LOT of cucumbers from our vegetable garden this year.  I've made cucumber salads, gave them to family & friends and eaten most of them sliced along side our meals.  So after my last harvest I was left with over 20 cucumbers.  So I decided to do some pickling...and it was FUN :)!

I used a variation of this recipe (added less sugar and a ton of bell peppers and onions).

First do a lot of slicing.  Remember I had 20 cucumbers to go through...

A lot of other yummy stuff like bell peppers, onions and garlic.

 

Then I salted the pickles, drained it (after 3 hours)...

 

Then poured in the prepared pickles mixture (with the lowered sugar content).

 

Voila! Seven bottles of pickles ready to refrigerate and enough to last for months...and months :)

Watermelon Aqua Fresca

I remember last summer - I was pregnant and LOVE LOVE LOVE fresh watermelon.  Don't get me wrong, I still love it but haven't been in the mood for cut up watermelon.  So I had a little idea - Watermelon Aqua Fresca.  I used to make this years ago and totally forgot about it until recently.

Super easy recipe:

- Half a small watermelon (the big ones don't fit in our fridge)

- 1 cups of simple syrup (1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water ... put into a pot and boil until sugar dissolves.  Then cool :))

- Optional - Lime or Lemon

(1) Cut watermelon into cubes and blend well

(2) Pour blended watermelon through a shifter.

(If you have a baby around, save the pulp - makes for a yummy treat for your little one!)

(3) Pour in the cooled simple syrup.  

(4) If you like, squeeze in some fresh lime or lemon juice to taste.

(5) Chill in fridge for a couple of hours, pour over ice and enjoy!

Inspiration For the Kitchen Floormat

I'm inspired....



AND....


I found these pictures online - so pretty.

Now I have a direction to go on what I want to do with the kitchen floormat design :).  Still need to write up a design draft but at least now I have a starting point.