Tomato Zucchini Salad

I am such a fan of salads that I can keep in my fridge and pull out whenever I have the urge to chow. This one is so so so easy. Paula made it and I tried it. That was two days ago and I have made it twice since then. I loved it that much.

The perfect salad for gardeners...

Tomatoes
Zucchini
Salt and Pepper

Cube the tomatoes and zucchini. Salt and pepper. Toss. Enjoy!

Birthday for Paula

What started out as whipping up a quick batch of cupcakes for my friend's birthday...

I thought and thought and thought about how to make them special and this is what I ended up with:

• I used a round box (I scrounged it at a restaurant, it held a brie wheel... yahoo, for recycling!), and put two layers of ribbon around the edge.
• Decorated the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, Belgium Chocolate (V-Chocolates), silver dredgees (from Orson Gygi), and sprinkles (by Ghuitard so they look good and don't taste like wax).
• I printed out the "happy birthday paula" and a bunch of words to describe her on the computer.
• I punched them out with circle punches and put them on skewers (for the tall ones) and toothpicks (for the short one).
• I tied ribbons on the sticks of the happy birthday signs.
  
  

Dessert Cheats

Here are a few recipes that take a short cut and use a cake mix or a brownie mixes. I like to stock up when they have those crazy sales so I always have them on hand. So so easy.

I made these tonight for my weekly playdate with Mo and Sara. The kids (and the dogs, whoops) loved them.

Cake Mix Cookies

• 1 pkg. Devils Food Cake Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil (1/2 c. butter also works... and tastes great, of course)

Mix batter. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet (use a cookie scoop if you have one. If you don't have one, put it on your wish list). Bake a 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.

You can use any flavor cake mix. Yellow cake mix and white chocolate chips are good.

For these sandwich cookies I used cream cheese frosting, but melted green mint chocolate chips are my favorite.

Brownie Mix Cookies

I love these ones as much as the cake mix cookies...

• 1 (19 7/8 ounce) box brownie mix
• 1 large egg
• 2 T. water
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil

Mix (easy, huh?). Drop by teaspoons (or, of course, by the handy dandy cookie scoop) onto a a greased cookie sheet. Bake about 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Variations: Add in 1 cup mini chocolate chips. These are great with the mint chips. My favorite with these it to drizzle them with white chocolate and then sprinkle with crushed mint candies or candy canes.

Bundt Cake

My friend made for a get together and we all raved about it and wanted the recipe. She sent it to us and I realized that it is a recipe that I have been making for years. Um, whoops. This is a great moist, rich cake.

• 1 pkg cake mix (I like chocolate, of course, but any flavor works)
• 1 (4 serving) pkg instant pudding
• 1/3 c. oil
• 1 c. oil
• 1 c. water
• 4 eggs

Blend. Mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool for 25 minutes. Invert onto plate.

Two of My Favorites from Janine

Tomato-Cucumber Salad

1 seedless cucumber, cliced
1/2 small onion, thingly sliced
2 cups small vine-ripe tomatoes, cut in quarters
Combine above and add:1/4 cupe olive oil & vinegar dressing (homemade or store bought is fine)
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Coconut Rice Pudding

2 14 oz. cans light unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened if you can find it; I've used sweetened before & is fine)
2/3 cup jasmine rice
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean or 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine coconut milke, sugar, shredded coconut, rice & salt in heavy saucepan. If using vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise and scrape seeds from bean; add seeds& beanto saucepan.
Bring misture to a simmer & simmer of medium heat, stirring occasionally. Adjust heat so that mixture is barely simmering; cover and partially cook until liquid is slightly translucent and pudding is thickened to consistency of loose oatmeal, stirring and scarping bottom and sides of pan frequently, about 45 minutes. Remove bean if using, or stir in vanilla extract. Can be made 6 hours ahead, cover and chill if serving later, rewarm in micro until just heat through before serving. Great w/ fruit on top! (We sliced up fresh Mango and it was so so so good).

Pork Tenderloin Surpise Packages

I first had these at a church function and felt so guilty because I was eating them at the end of my cleanse. Hardly any fat or calories for 10 days and then bacon wrapped pork. I later made them for the Fourth of July barbecue. Without all that deprivation 10 days beforehand, they were still delicious.

2 slices of bacon
1 slice of pork tenderloin
1 slice of onion
1 slice of tomato
1 slice of green pepper (I used red)

Cross 2 slices of bacon and place pork tenderloin where bacon crosses. Season with salt and pepper. Place onion on top, then tomato and green pepper. Bring slices up around stack and secure with a toothpick. Place on grill and cook for 45 to 60 minutes. Before serving, place a slice of cheese on top and heat to melt (the lady that made them for us used processed cheese. I didn't used any).

The heat has to be indirect because it cooks for so long so we put them around the edge of the Weber grill. Karl put them on their sides for part of the time. To make super sure that these were cooked thoroughly, I wrapped them in foil and put them back on for an extra 10 minutes.

Toffee Apple Dip

Or Bacon Grease is what my friend Sue and I call it. Because it really looks like it.

This is another from the Favorites cookbook. I guess that is why it is called "Favorites." Everyone seems to want these recipes.

1 8 oz block cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat one and it works great, the sugar and toffee make up for it)
1/4 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. vanilla

Mix well until smooth. I use my food processor because it is easy. A mixer or a spoon works too.
Then stir in:

1/2 bag Heath or Skor chips (found in the baking isle. I like the ones with chocolate and if I can't find them I add some mini chocolate chips)

Serve with apple slices (as we found out at Kristi's house, it is also good on pretzels. It is also good with a bunch of other fruits, too)

I am blogging this with a broken computer (I named him Stupid). The screen is mega dark but I can kind of see it if I get really close. Like how close Karl gets when he doesn't have his glasses on. I started texting Kristi the recipe but it was taking too long. Using Stupid was faster.

Rickshaw

Rickshaw 460 N Washington Ave., Ketchum

To start off our eating fest... Rickshaw! For some reason, either it wasn't here last time we came or we just didn't notice it, we didn't know this place was here.

I. Loved. It.

The idea of this place is that your order a bunch of dishes and try them all, tapas style. It is a very me way to eat. We ordered 4 dishes, the Green Papaya Salad, the Floating Market Soup, Pearl Balls, and Chiang Mai Noodles. The ambiance is hip-ish and full of sun-kissed athletic Sun Valley type people... and us.

I could eat the crunchy Green Papaya Salad and the comforting Chiang Mai noodles all day, they were that good. We wanted to try more dishes but there were only two of us.

*****This is a 5 timer, or at least an every time I come up here timer.

Chicago Chocolate Cinnamon Cake

Okay, the following three recipes can be found in the Ivory Favorites Cookbook that you can buy from the Make A Wish Foundation. So, if you have the cookbook (because so many Utah cooks do) you have the recipes. I have made them so many times, though, that you might be interested in my notes.

I first had this cake in, you guessed it, Chicago. Grace was in my ward back there but I don't know who she got the recipe from. Jenn, one of my favorite people in the whole world, used to make this cake for me. Now, no one makes it for me (although Karl did make it once) so I have to make it myself and it always brings back great, fun, crazy memories of being with Jenn in Chicago. Those that know Jenn, know what I mean. So, now that I am in Salt Lake, I figure if I get the recipe out there, the chances of someone making it for me are greater.

Chocolate Cinnamon Cake

2 C. flour
2 C. sugar
1 C. butter
¼ C. cocoa
1 C. water
½ C. buttermilk (or Jenn's trick: 1/2 T. vinegar plus 1/2 C. milk or I use powdered buttermilk)
1 t. baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 t vanilla
2 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Boil butter cocoa and water. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix in buttermilk. Cool. Add eggs and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 or bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

Frosting

½ cup butter
¼ C Cocoa
6 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
3 ¾ C powdered sugar
Using the same pot you used for the batter (to save labor and for no other reason), boil first three ingredients. Take off heat stir in vanilla & powdered sugar. I dump it all back into my mixer because it is hard to get it smooth otherwise.

Jenn bought me a mini bundt cake pan (see what a great friend she is?) just so I can make this cake for myself. The little cakes turn out so cute and are the perfect size to give away. This cake is so rich it is perfect served with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

A few years ago my family went camping up in the Uintas. We got up there really late and it took a while to get set up and dinner started. My mom brought up the marinated pork tenderloin. By the time they were cooked we were all starving and they tasted so so so good. So, I wasn't sure if it was hunger that made it so good or if the stuff was really that great. Since then we have had it at several barbecues and even when we are not famished, the stuff still tastes great. This even won us some tickets to the movies (popcorn and drinks included) when we took it to the barbecue contest at Karl's work picnic.

I only make half the marinade and it makes plenty. I put it in Ziploc bag and put the whole thing in a bowl in fridge over night.

2-3 pork tenderloins sliced into 1 inch pieces

Marinade:
1 ½ c vegetable oil
¾ c. soy sauce
¼ Worcestershire sauce
2 T. Dijon mustard (Favorites uses dry)
1 T. pepper
½ c red wine vinegar
1 ½ T. dry parsley
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms

Blend the above marinade ingredients in blender. Pour over tenderloins and marinate for 3 to 4 hours. Grill pork on the barbecue at medium heat for about 20 minutes, turning and basting occasionally. Add mushrooms to remaining marinade and heat. Slice tenderloins and pour marinade over top to serve.

*Note: Like lots of the stuff I make, this one is in the Favorites cookbook but I got the recipe from my mom who got it from someone else, who... well, probably got it from this cookbook.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder

When I had Eva we were living in Chicago. Our friends, the Olsen's, brought us this soup after we had her and I have been in love with it ever since. This is a good one for crowds and taking meals to people because it seems to be a pretty tame, universally liked soup. I have tweaked it a little bit from the original recipe so here is my version:

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder

2-3 chicken breast halves (or use rotiserrie chicken)
½ c. chopped onions
1-2 cloves minced garlic
Chicken boullion (enough cubes or powder for 4 cups liquid)
2 c. hot water
½ to 1 t. ground cumin
2 c. half and half
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (14 oz) can cream style corn
2 cups frozen corn
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies, undrained
¼ t. Tabasco sauce
1 med. Tomato, chopped

Cook the chicken your favorite way. Mine is to brown both sides on high and then add about 1/2 c. water, put the lid on, turn the heat to med or med low and then let it cook until the water is gone. Remove from pan and shred.

Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are transluscent. Add shredded chicken, water, bullion, and cumin, stir until dissolved. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half and half, cheese, cream-style corn, corn, chilies, and Tabasco sauce. Cook and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted. Stir in chopped tomato.

Garnish with any of the following: cilantro, fresh lime wedges, olives, salsa, more cheese, and crushed chips.

This recipe is very flexible. I have added chopped carrots and celery to make it more “healthy.” The ingredients don’t have to be exact and it always seems to turn out. I have also cooked the chicken breast in the crock pot and then shredded it ahead of time.

A New Topic

Okay, I will be the first to admitit , I am obsessed with food. We all sat down for dinner a couple of weeks ago and (no lie) Samuel says, "I am going to get my camera and take a picture of my food like Mommy does." and then he took off.

Sometimes good food equals a good day. So, today, according to my food, it was a good day. This is a good place to get meal ideas because I know, for me, they are sometimes the hardest thing to come up with.

Met Karl for lunch with the kids and the we went to Settebello Pizzaria

~Caprese Salad

~Focaccia

~the Quattro Stagioni pizza (It is so me, one pizza, four sections, one topping on each section, to make it even more me I added artichoke hearts to the whole thing)

~Stracciatella Gelato

Wednesdays we have a "playdate" with my friend Mo and her daughter Sara. We alternate houses and tonight was my night to cook.

~Southwest Quinoa Chopped Salad with Chicken and Creamy Salsa Dressing

~French Dip light wheat french bread

~Corn on the cob

~Watermelon slices

~Brownies (thanks Mo!)

Oh, and for a late night snack... Boulder Canyon Parmesan and Garlic Potato Chips (these things are worth the calories)

Aaah, what a good day.

Light Wheat French Bread

I wanted to have French Dip for dinner. Didn't have French Bread. Just got back from the store. I hate it when I do that. My choices? Load the kids up (this alone takes more energy than baking bread), drive to the store, use my gas, and go get some bread or try making some. With the help of my bread maker (I haven't used that thing in at least a year. Another great reason why I don't declutter and get rid of stuff that I haven't used in the last year.) for the mixing and kneading I ended up with some pretty decent bread. Finally, a bread making victory (it has been a while since I have had one)!

Light Wheat French Bread

1/3 c.warm water
3 t. Saf-Instant Yeast
1 t. sugar

I just learned this trick in a cinnamon rolls class last night and am so glad!… mix these together and set aside. This is a safe way to make sure your yeast is alive and kickin’. After a few minutes if it all foamy bubbly then it means it is working. I tried this two different ways and this is the way that worked.

Add these to the bread maker in order:

1 c. warm water
½ T. oil
1 T + 1 t sugar
2 t. salt
2 c. all purpose white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour (I just couldn't resist. And since I am such a nerd and add whole wheat the following two things are necessary…)
1 T. Dough Enhancer
3 T. Vital Wheat Gluten

Then add the bubbly foamy yeast concoction on top.

Set the breadmaker to the “dough” setting. When it is done, pull the dough out. Divide it in two. Place on a lightly floured surface (I used a pastry mat to keep my counters clean… or my dough clean?). Roll into a long oval-with-straight-sides shape about 15 by 8 inches long. Start with the longest side and roll up tightly, pressing the seams to seal and tapering each end.

Place the loaves side by side on a greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise in a warm place (my back porch in July) 1 hour or until double.

Cut several diagonal slashes across the top of the loaf. Bake at 400° for 15-20 min.

The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory seems like it is a must visit for most here in Salt Lake ever since it opened up. I have been to one in Chicago, Houston, and Seattle. We went to celebrate Heather's birthday and they did a cute little thing with the cheesecake we ordered for dessert. Although the company was fabulous my final opinion is...

Jack of all trades (the menu is seriously a novel, we were making jokes like, "how about the one on page 13, third paragraph down?") master of none.

Granatto's , Oneity, and Luna's Italian Ice

We started the afternoon with a short dance class for Eva then walked over to Caputo's Deli. I asked for a recommendation and he said that, surprisingly, the turkey is their most popular. I told him I am daring and like a lot of flavor so he recommended the Muffaletta or the Godfather. I got the Muffaletta and loved it. It was perfect for me, flavorful, moist, and filling. The kids shared a spaghetti with meatballs and both seemed to like it.

After that we walked over to Oneity, one of my favorite places to buy clothes for Eva and Samuel. It is very... whatever Walmart is not. I love that about this place. They have cute stuff, good sales, and then they actually help people out along the way. They have some really cute summer dresses in right now.

This summer, they are selling Luna's Italian Ice outside their store so we gave it a try. It totally reminded me of those Grandma's Frozen Lemonades that you can buy at football games from the vendors that walk around. It was like a sorbet but a little creamier. I liked it at first, my lime and mango were super tasty, but as with many frozen fruity desserts, I putter out at the end. Seriously, the first few bites are so amazing and then towards the end I fall out of love.

You know how some people are good at ordering? Eva for some reason is just not one of those people. She orders, and then ends up wanting whatever somebody else has. No one wants to trade because she ordered something lame, so sometimes I just order knowing I am going to have to give some of it up. This is her and her "this is too sour" lemon Italian Ice.

I have gone into Samuel's primary class to see his teacher try and convince him to use a crayon other than blue. So, it goes with his food, too. "I want blue," he says. The name was Blue Moonberry.

So, even though all three of us couldn't finish (me, because I am weird with frozen fruity stuff. Eva because it was too sour. Samuel, because how much blue can one person handle?). I would still recommend it because I love Oneity and the first few bites were really that good.

Bellisimo Gelato

This is a photo of Karl "teaching" Samuel to share his gelato.

It seems like gelato places are popping up right and left. Either that or I haven't noticed them so much in Salt Lake before. Well, it seems like this is the year of the gelato for me (I know, I have high aspirations, don't I?).

Even though I love the idea of someone having a great idea, working hard, and making a living off of it, seems like it doesn't always work out. Businesses need that certain oomph (along with my high aspirations, I also have a lot of business know how. Do you like that technical description... oomph?) I am afraid this one does not have it. My lack of experience with gelato doesn't make me a fair judge of the place but I do know I have had better and the atmosphere is, well, boring. They did have coupons in a community calendar but I didn't bring them with me, sad.

Good enough to eat there... with a coupon.

Cards

I haven't been able to get started on scrapbooking even though everything about me wants to. I just get paralyzed by all the choices and I usually don't like my work a few days later. That is why I like to make cards and calanders. I get to make them and then give them away. I made these for our Relief Society service auction. The funny thing is that my friend Paula won them, I would have made them for her anyway.

Girly onesies

Here are some more onesies that I just made. Onesies are great for people like me that want results fast.

The first one I sewed a ruffle on the waist and then sewed a 1 inch grosgrain over the raw edges.

The second one I emroidered three lazy daisies and then made the stems extra long. I also put a tiny scallop around the neck.

The last one I scanned a scrapbook paper that I liked, printed it out on iron on transfer paper, cut it out and then ironed it on. I also emroidered French knots around the neck and the sleeves.

Self inflicted pain called a cleanse

Karl knows better than anyone that I am a sucker for advertising. Someone was very convincing and got me to do this 9 day cleanse about a year ago. Karl's friend was a distributer and gave me his price on the stuff. Otherwise it is a huge MLM thing and you end up signing up for big commitments just to get a discount.

Since I seem to not know how to explain things briefly, here is the long explanation:

-2 "pre cleanse" days if it is your first time ever- eat gross shakes and 500 calories.

-Official cleanse starts. Day 1-2. Drink this gross juice and 8 oz water. You are supposed to mix it in the water but I found that just prolonged the disgusting taste so I just guzzled the juice and then washed it down with the water. I forgot to drink enough water on the first day and woke up super dehydrated. Whoops.

-Day 3-7. Drink 2 disgusting shakes or the new soups. Both were unbearable. I found that a banana blended with the shake helped and the soup I got a huge straw and by the last day I could down that thing in a few seconds no joke. You can also eat 500 calories worth of healthy foods. It was my personal challenge to eat as much volume as I possibly could within the 500 calories.

-Day 8-9. Only have that gross juice again.

-Everyday you take two pills and if you are hungry you can eat these chalky "snacks" that I couldn't ever learn to stomach so I just did without. One time Courtney got me to envision a stale brownie and I could eat one but after that I couldn't focus hard enough and I could only envision chalk. Gross.

So you may wonder, "Why all that suffering?" I love the results. The first time I saw huge difference. The second time a saw a small difference. This last time I was just getting rid of my leftovers and didn't take it really serious. On days 8-9 I ate bacon wrapped pork, a hydrogenated oil dipped ice cream cone, french fries, gross amusement park food, and tub of movie popcorn. Not kidding. I did lose a few so it was still worth it. I also feel pretty good, a little kick off for the summer.

I do worry about messing with my metabolism and stuff like that but I have not patience to get results the good fashioned way. This isn't as drastic as some cleanses like Karl's lemonade diet or anything like that. I think it works because the gross shakes and juices have tons of vitamins that make your body think you aren't starving. It is hard for me because I love to eat so much. I also go in to it realizing that the weight and "toxins" can come back just as easily as they left.

Asparagus, Green Bean, and Hearts of Palm Salad Recipe

I ussually have a few restaurant reviews by now but I am doing this stupid stupid stupid 9 day cleanse. I complain the whole time but I love the results so I am doing it for the third time. I had leftover stuff from the first and second times and so once this stuff is gone, so hopefully this is the last. So instead, I am posting a salad that I love that has totally saved me. I get the munchies at night and usually reach from something chocolatey and delicious but tonight I grabbed a bowl of this and don't feel totally deprived.

Paula, my fellow food adventurist, introduced me to this recipe.

The salad is from Martha Stewart so you can just click on the (longest I have ever seen in my life) link:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.aced15a43a1d10e593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=1944b4317ff33110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=2ac60eb74ce5f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=print&rsc=communitytools_tv&lnc=38f9cf380e1dd010VgnVCM

I made it once following the recipe exact. I made it another time substituting a can of artichoke hearts for the hearts of palm and it was good too. For the cleanse I cut the oil in half and used two Stevia packets instead of sugar. Stevia is a natural calorie free sweetener.

El Toro Tacos Review

My parents frequent this taco stand on State Street by the Sears parking lot. My biggest dilemma when I would pull up to this place was which one to go to since there were two stand. One night Karl and I even got a couple of tacos from each stand to compare and be fair. Well, come to find out they are owned by the same people.

The good:
-Mega authentic Mexican food
-My steak and chicken tacos were so flavorful and delicious
-If you are an authentic food junkie you can try the crazy stuff like tongue
-My mom's quesadilla was perfectly comforting
-Nice workers that are very good at hand signals and facial expressions when you don't understand Spanish
-Some college age English speaking girls that are obsessed with the place that answered all my silly questions (that is how I know that the same owners run both stands and that lengua means tongue- they said it is delicious. Um, maybe next time, right?). Granted they may not be eating there when you to but, hey, you never know.
-The price! Two tacos for $1.50. The (big) quesadilla was $3.
-All the great fixin's to make your tacos, crunchy, spicy, limey, tastey...

The okays:
-I was kind of nervous to walk up to the stand until college girl made me feel not so out of place. You have to be kind of daring... This ain't no Taco Bell (although some may argue that you have to be pretty daring to go to Taco Bell).
-You have to eat it outside or in your car or I guess if you have self control (which I don't) you could take it home to eat it.

Go for the experience. I dare you.

Fish Tacos kind of Recipe

I took my car into the Toyota Dealership to get my 45,000 mile check up. They told me it would take 90 minutes. Since my kids were home with Karl, I loaded my bag with 2 books, a magazine, snacks and what not and decided to take advantage of my hour and a half of alone time. Ever since I became a mom, as long as I know my kids are in good hands, things like waiting rooms, dentist visits, grocery store visits, etc. have become mini vacations for me. So, there I was in the waiting room, setting up camp and I notice that the TV is set really loud to cartoons. Out of the 7 people in there, non of them were kids so I mustered up all my courage and asked if anyone minded if I changed the channel. They all seemed relieved for the change. No one would suggest any channels so I went straight to my favorite... Food Network. No shame, I bet those men wish they would have spoken up. They had a free popcorn and hot chocolate (I love free stuff, almost no matter what it is) so I was chowing, reading my cupcake cookbook, and watching Tyler Florence make fish tacos. That is where my dinner was inspired...

Simple (Ghetto Style) Fish Tacos

I say ghetto because instead of frying up beautiful fish like Tyler, I dipped into the Costco Sized bag of fish sticks that my friend dropped off on my door step when she was purging her house of non Weight Watcher friendly foods.

Ingredients:

• Tortillas- corn or flour (I made mine with half whole wheat, the recipe wasn't good enough to share so I will keep working on it and share a good one when I find one. If you have one, please share.)
• Fish sticks
• Shredded cabbage
• Salsa (fresh is best)
• Cilantro
• Sour Cream
• Creamy dressing from Cafe Rio (yes, I went there for lunch, it was a very good day) or something similiar. The cilantro lime dressing is also good on them.

Prepare the fish sticks according to directions. Warm or cook the tortillas. Assemble the tacos with the ingredients that you like.

I served them the Mexican Rice and cucumber slices.

Samuel ate three tacos! He cracked us up. After we finished the meal Karl said, "This marks the first time you have ever made fish sticks." And after how fast and easy that meal was, probably not the last.

Mexican Rice Recipe

When I taught school in Chicago it was in a mostly Mexican community. Karl used to tease me that I would come home with a Mexican accent. Every Friday the faculty would have breakfast and different teachers would sign up to bring a dish. I think that is where I developed my love for authentic Mexican food. Elisa, my mentor teacher, and great friend, taught me how to make a few Mexican dishes. This rice is one of the things she taught me. My recipe has changed over time and I mostly blame it on my bad memory, but I always think of her when I make it.

Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cups long grain white rice (I recently used brown. If you do, add more water and more time)
• 2 T. canola oil (or whatever oil your arteries prefer)
• 2 large tomatoes (or three medium, or 4 Roma, or... you get the point)
• Enough chicken bullion powder or cubes to make 4 cups liquid (it depends on what brand you use)
• 2 cloves garlic- crushed (I use the diced stuff in a bottle. I apologize to the garlic purists out there)
• 1 t. Adobo (A seasoning that is in the spice aisle with a yellow label and blue lid, I use it for anything I want to taste Mexican)

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for about 3 minutes (I seriously don't know why but I made this step easier by sticking the in my Pyrex measuring cup, adding water up to 4 cups and putting it in the microwave for 3 minutes). Add the tomatoes and the water your boiled them in to a blender or food processor. The total amount should measure 4 cups. Add the bullion, garlic and Adobo. Blend until the tomato is no longer chunky. Follow all the blending hot stuff in a blender precautions please.

Heat the oil in a frying pan that has fitted lid. Heat the rice in the oil on medium high until it starts to brown but not burn. Carefully add the tomato liquid. It may spatter (is that a word?). Bring to boil, stir, cover, and reduce heat to low or medium low. Wait about 10-15 minutes until the liquid is gone. Check. If rice is still hard, pile it into a mountain type shape and cover again. Add more water if necessary.

This makes a lot, so you can freeze it, share it, or just eat it all week like we do. Brown rice works but I didn't like it as much. I just do it so I can feel better about all the other crap I eat.

Embroidered Onesies

I started embroidering onesies and selling them at a childrens store in Chicago where people would actually pay for handmade stuff. Here, in UT, I just make it for friends and family since no one really pays for this stuff because they all make it themselves. I like to personalize them when I can. The hardest thing is to come up with cute but not too cute stuff for boys. Any suggestions?

Can You Tell the Difference Between These Two?

I went to the movies with some friends to see a chick flick (Made of Honor) that we all thought our husbands would never want to see. Usually when I go to the movies I like to do the whole popcorn and M&M thing. But, I had just had a huge cheesy lasagna meal, followed by brownie pudding cake, followed by brownies, fruit salad, and spinach dip at a jewelry party. I was all filled up. I also felt guilty spending so much on treats if my whole family wasn't there to enjoy it. So, I got just a Vitamin Water. It was $4.25! I understand the whole movie theater mark up thing but it kind of hurt when I stopped by the nearby Macey's after the movie was over and the same stuff was $1. I got a bottle and am drinking it right now. I seriously think it doesn't taste as good. It is missing that certain flavor that I loved at the movie theater... perhaps the name of the flavor is, "atmoshphere."

I commited a foodie sin

I took Trax with the kids (5 and under are free!) down to Karl's work, he hopped on and we went down to Gateway. We were super hungry and were getting desperate. So we ended up eating at... Costa Vida. I said, "That is lame that we came all the way downtown and ate at Costa Vida." He agreed. We will plan better next time.
No offense to the Costa Vida fans. It is just that I am a Cafe Rio person myself and how about the number of Costa Vidas we probably passed to get down town.

So, can you help me out? Where do you like to go when you are down town? Kids or no kids suggestions are welcome.

Hagermann's Bakehouse Cafe Review

Hagermann's Bakehouse Cafe
684 East 11400 South
Draper


So, I texted Paula, and said, "I feel like a delicious lunch, do you want to meet me somewhere?" and accidently sent it to Karl. This is the second time I have accidently invited Karl to lunch when I meant to meet up with Paula. Whoops! Karl said, "So, did you get a delicious lunch?"

After looking at our choices and we chose Hagermann's Bakehouse Cafe.
The Goods:
-While trying to figure out what to order, Samuel climbs up on a chair and peers over the counter to the sandwich maker guy. The guy gives Samuel a chocolate chip cookie. I love places that realize that being nice to your customers is way better than being stingy and stupid.
-My Turkey Pomodoro sandwich was so so so delicious.
-My Tomato Bisque was as fabulous as Citta (I will do a mega positive review on that someday). I loved loved loved it.
-Cool people, like the above mentioned sanwich making cookie giver, and cool atmosphere. Not too fru fru, not too sterile.
The Okays:
-I got some soup to go (yes, I loved it that much) because when I was eating it I thought, this would be so yummy over pasta. I paid for the "bowl" size and I got the "cup" size. I didn't realize until I got home. Believe me, I really missed those four ounces. It was so good over pasta. Eva, my spice phobe, even loved it.
-Samuel ate, mostly Sun Chips (he was so proud of his chips he wanted me to take a picture. I just liked the way his eyes and lips looked in this photo, a cookie and a tiny bit of soup for lunch. Not so healthy, but I made up for at dinner.

I totally recommend this place. I noticed after I went that there is a buy one get one free coupon in the happenings book.

My mom's cupcakes

My mom made these cupcakes for Mothers Day. She put these little purple and white flowers on them and dusted them with powdered sugar. I don't know if she is so hip that she made totally "in" cupcakes or if she is even hipper and doesn't know she is being hip. Anyways, pretty, huh?

Orchid review

Saturday night the family ventured out to a new place, Orchid.

The goods:
-Karl and I were able to have a quiet dinner.
-The cool dishes the food came in.
-Samuel and Eva liked it.
-The mango smoothie with the tapioca things that we took home.

The okays:
-Samuel and Eva like it because it was so mega sweet. The Three Flavored Chicken and the Pad Thai were so sugared.
-The prices. It seemed like they were trying to go all fancy with small portions and high prices. I say you have to do quality or quantity or both but you have to have at least one of these.

I wouldn't really recommend this place. Not so great.

The Pie Review

After living in Chicago my pizza world was totally opened up. Instead of being totally disgusted by all the non-Chicago mediocre pizzas, I just put them all in different categories. Like, Chicago's stuffed pizza is under the, "This is the best grease and white flour I have ever tasted" category. Little Ceasars is under the, "This is the only thing to eat and waiting 7 hours until the next decent meal is out of the question" category. Pizza Hut is under the, "Oops, I ordered this again because I forgot that I didn't like it when I ordered it 10 years ago" category. So, I am quite happy with all pizzas. One of my latest favorites is the Greek pizza from the Pie. It has Gyro meat, Tomatos, Feta and other Greekish stuff on it. For a party their gigantic 23" pizza is a huge hit. Every time we order we are amazed at how big it is. I cut carrots and cauliflower so I wouldn't feel so guilty about eating so much grease. Have you seen these yellow carrots? I got them from Harmons and was more excited about them than anyone else in my family.