38 Years...& Counting!

I am not sure what happened to this week. Yesterday it was Sunday and today it is Friday. I guess the combination of being incredibly busy at work and moving in a week has made the days fly bye.

Anyway, something special, that I don’t think should go unnoticed, happened this week – my parents celebrated their 38-year wedding anniversary! I am a very blessed person to have such wonderful parents who have unconditionally loved me, and who have represented what love is. I know there are not very many people that can say the same thing, and I know I take it for granted most days, but today I will not.

I am thankful that my parents love each other.

I am thankful that my grandparents loved each other.

I am thankful that my husband and I love each other.

As my grandfather would say, "Cheers!" ;-)

~Until later, K

Caprese Salad Bean Dip

So it went something like this.

My Husband: “Can you make some sort of appetizer.”
Me: “Sure.”
My Husband: “What are you going to make?”
Me: “I’m not sure.”

When it comes to appetizers, that is usually how it goes. We are hungry, and we have nothing planned. What do we do? Search the fridge and pantry to see what we have and what might go well together. Sometimes its a success, and well, other times we do not blog about it. ;-) Regardless, appetizers are a great place to experiment with different ingredients, and throw things together. If your experiment doesn’t turn out, no worries, you still have a full dinner ahead!

Since I still had an abundance of fresh basil, I decided to make that the focal point of my appetizer. All I had for a base were crackers, so I decided I should make some sort of spread-like dip, in which case, I found a can of cannellini beans which makes for a good “dip” base. The rest goes something like this:

1 can cannellini beans
½ cup packed basil leaves
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
⅛ cup olive oil
a few shakes of red pepper flakes
salt to taste
**squeeze of lemon

Add all ingredients to food processor except for olive oil and puree for about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Process again and slowly drizzle in olive oil. Process until it is a creamy consistency.

Serve with sliced tomatoes and crackers, slices of toasted baguette, or whatever you desire. Have your guest spread the dip on the cracker or baguette, top with a tomato, and try to eat some before your husband devours it all!

**When I made this I did not add any lemon (surprisingly, since I add lemon to almost everything!) but wish I had.

Farmers Market

Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week, in spite of the fact that Monday is right around the corner! As I mentioned in my last post, part of our Sunday mornings is spent at the local Farmers Market. And for the next few weeks (only two more weeks and we’ll be moving!), the Farmers Market we scour is in Dale City, VA. This venue has a wonderful selection of fresh produce, baked goods, and other tasty findings. We have also attended the Occocoquan, VA Farmers Market, but we were not nearly as impressed, as the selection was much, much smaller. Don’t get me wrong, the vendors that were in attendance had a beautiful selection, there were just a handful of them.

As I mentioned, we will be moving, which is not surprising as it is expected to happen every so often when you are married to a Marine. What you wouldn’t expect is that we are moving to Madison, WI…nowhere near a Marine Corps Base. Why? For law school. Anyways, my point for telling you this is because I’ve heard Madison has one of the best Farmers Markets in the country, and I am super excited!!!

Where is your local Farmers Market? It is always fun to see what is in season locally, support the local farmers, and (most importantly in my opinion) eat wonderful food! 

Menu For This Week

Since my husband purchased his new MacBook Pro today for his first year of law school this fall, I decided that I should inherit his iPad. Of course, he is not aware of this yet. Anyways, I present to you my first post on my iPad!

I have found that our key to eating well is planning our menu ahead. Not only do we eat better, we end up having less waste and saving money. Since we got back from our vacation a month ago, we have been very diligent about making our list and sticking to it.

Our week begins with filling our travel mugs full of coffee and heading off to the farmers market to buy our fresh produce. Also done on Sunday is washing all the produce, which I do for two reasons: 1) it saves time later during the week and 2) it will last longer. Here is our meal plan for the week.

Sunday:
Turkey Sliders with Potato Wedges & FM (Farmers Market) Veggies (I buy whatever looks good!)

Monday:
Chicken Ravioli with Creamed Spinach
Tuesday: Go to Wegmans
Fish Burritos with Fresh Salsa & Chips

Wednesday:
Grilled Steak with Mushrooms & Foil Packet of Potatoes & Fennel

Thursday:
Breaded Pork Chops with Angel Hair Pasta & FM Veggies

Friday:
Roasted Cornish Hens with Butternut Squash Risotto

During the weeknights, the hard part (deciding what to eat) is all done! What is on your menu for the week? Its not to late to plan ahead...and you most definitely will be glad you did!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Perfect Margarita

Those of you who have spent some time with me know that I love margaritas. After years of trial and consumption, I have come up with my perfect ratio of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, and I'm finally going to share it!

 2 parts tequilla

¾ part triple sec

¾ part fresh lime juice

lots of ice

My newest variation, well garnish rather, is to add a few fresh basil leaves and float them on top. For such a simple addition, it really adds a fragrant aroma and another layer of flavor!

Tomatoes + Basil = Goodness

One of my favorite things about summertime is fresh, sweet tomatoes are available. Every time I go to the grocery store or farmers market I load up on tomatoes, and it always crosses my mind that I may have purchased more than we need.  However, that has never been the case! Another fresh ingredient I always have in my fridge this time of year is an abundance of fresh basil. If you don’t grow it in your garden (which is super easy to do btw), you can usually buy a huge bundle at your local farmers market.

Twice this past week, my husband and I wanted a quick appetizer, so I threw together some bruschetta. It is one of the quickest, easiest, not-to-mention healthiest snacks you can make.

My Bruschetta

1 large tomato, diced

2 – 3 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

Drizzle of olive oil

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

**A few pinches of FRS herb blend

To serve along its side, I thinly sliced a day old baguette, drizzled some olive oil on top and sprinkled it with my FRS (fennel, red pepper flakes & salt) herb blend, and then popped them in the oven under a broiler for just a few minutes.  Enjoy!


**Combine 1-teaspoon fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes & ½ teaspoon course salt (gray salt is my favorite!) in a mortar and pestle. Crush together. This recipe can be multiplied and kept in your spice cabinet for later use…and it is very yummy on roasted vegetables!

Amazon + Diapers

I am fairly confident that I have (well actually my husband has) found where to get the best prices on diapers. Amazon offers two separate programs, Amazon Mom and Subscribe and Save. Each program offers 15% off, so by utilizing both you save 30% on diapers, all the time! On top of the 30% off, there are no shipping charges. In addition, you are not only limited to diapers, you can order many items through these two programs. For example, we also save 30% on diaper wipes. So here’s how these two programs work…

Amazon Mom

Despite the name, anyone is eligible to sign up. It is free and there are no strings attached. I would give you all the details here, but it would be much better for you to read what Amazon wrote on the FAQ’s page.

Subscribe & Save

Subscribe & Save is a program offered for frequently purchased items, which for us definitely includes diapers and wipes. However, beyond baby supplies there are many more products available. My husband even orders his razor blades through this program and saves a ton of money.

So how does it work? Again, sign up…no obligations…15% off. You set your items up to deliver ever one, two, three or six months. For instance, we have diapers set up to deliver every 2 months. If we do nothing, we will get diapers delivered every two months. Simple. However, if we are running low on diapers and need them sooner, all I have to do is log on to my Amazon account, go to “Your Account”, then to “Manage Subscribe & Save Items” and have the diapers sent out now. Same thing applies if you have an abundance of diapers or are going to be out of town. You can either cancel the subscription entirely or change your delivery schedule. It really couldn’t be easier or more convenient!

When it comes to brick and mortar stores, I do not have enough patience to shop around for deals. However, when it comes to cyber shopping…I am always determined to find the best deal, and Amazon has made it ridiculously easy! I hope you all at least give it a try and share any great deals you find!

Search Amazon.com for subscribe and save products

Search Amazon.com for amazon mom

Just cute...Not at all related to this blog post

Sunday Brunch

Now that my husband and I have an almost one year old, our dining out schedule has changed quite a bit. We still eat out, however, we tend to steer clear of the quiet, white linen tablecloth restaurants. Baby G actually does quite well eating out. He mostly sits in his high chair, smiles at people, and eats whatever is in front of him at the moment.

If there is one meal I enjoy most, it is brunch. I love being able to get breakfast, or lunch, or perhaps even a combination of the two. I love having an excuse to have a spicy Bloody Mary or some sort of cocktail in the late morning or early afternoon. And mostly, I love spending time with my family, planning the days ahead.

My husband and I have a new favorite “brunch” place in Occoquan, VA. We first visited Cock and Bowl over a year ago and at that time we gave it a four-star Yelp rating. However, since then it has most definitely moved up to a five-star restaurant. It is a very small restaurant and sits in Olde Towne Occoquan, VA…which if you are ever near the northern Virginia area, you must visit Occoquan. During the summer, you can dine on their small, quaint patio nestled between neighboring buildings and shady trees. Although typically the Pandora radio station puts on a great show, this last weekend there was live music, which was wonderful! In the winter months, although I dearly miss sitting on the patio, you can hardly beat the “eating at your mothers house” ambiance inside.

Although I’ve had many delicious items on the menu, the eggs benedict are phenomenal! In fact, it just gets better and better each time. As of last Sunday, this is how it was prepared: beautiful poached eggs (always done perfectly!) and crispy bacon (BACON!) on top a toasted croissant (yes, a croissant rather than the english muffin) and then drizzled with hollandaise sauce. It is absolutely spectacular! Low in fat and calories…not so much!

So beside the wonderful food, they have a beer selection that reads like a book! It is always fun to try something new and, surely, there will be something on the beer menu that you’ve never had before.

Vacationing With Family

The Outer Banks – An Ideal Destination

My husband and I just went on our first “real” vacation since our honeymoon five years ago and…we invited our family to come along?!?! Strangely, both my family and my in-laws all get along, very, very well.

We rented a house, Afternoon Delight, in the Outer Banks from Twiddy in the Corolla, NC area. We stayed on the northern most part of the Outer Banks – about 7 miles past where the road ended. Well, actually, the road did not end but the pavement turned into a wide-open beach and that was our road into town for the week, which is only accessible by 4 wheel drive vehicles. On the journey to the beach the first crew of people almost ran our jeep into some wild horses…which truly are not that wild anymore. (My mother may or may not have broke the “stay at least 100 feet from the horses” law and actually pet one). Everyone in the jeep was pretty excited to see the wild horses on the first day. By the end of the week the horses were just part of the scenery. You could walk right past them, they’d walk up to you, and if you were crazy lucky enough, you may or may not even manage to pet a few! The vacation involved a lot of eating, cocktails, walking, bocce ball, pool, and reading. Although we were quite isolated on the beach, our accommodations were first class…we even had wireless Internet!

We had all decided that since there were seven of us on this trip and we were going to be vacationing for seven nights, everyone would be responsible for planning one meal. We ate well! Yummy shrimp with a peanut, cilantro dressing, Pete’s BBQ chicken, grilled grouper, juicy burgers, fettuccini, steak, pasta with a portabella mushroom red gravy, and…

Fresh crabs. The last night of our stay we ordered a bushel of crabs from Carova Beach Crab and Seafood. Live crabs were delivered right to our beach house and were steamed in a bath of Old Bay Seasoning. Once the mound of crabs was piled onto our table we all saw the challenge that lay ahead, and immediately knew we were NOT going to eat all of them. Although we did a commendable job, we did not finish them.

We are already planning our next vacation to OBX! There are so many wonderful destinations, I can’t decide if I want to go back to the same exact location or explore a new area. Regardless, the Outer Banks are an ideal destination for a family vacation and we will return!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter Oreo Cookies

If my house was on fire and I only had time to grab one item from my kitchen, I would reach for my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe card that my grandmother gave to me years ago. This beat up recipe card means more to me than my entire china collection…that I have only used twice since it has entered my kitchen five years ago…however, I still consider it completely necessary!

I spent many childhood days in my grandmother’s kitchen, which surely has contributed to my love for cooking today. Not only did she teach me the joy of creating something beautiful in the kitchen, but also, the joy of making others happy through sharing wonderful food. It was my grandmother making pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, and homemade toast, of which awaited me every morning at the cottage.  It was my grandmother jumping up from from her seat at the dining room table to offer seconds to anyone still hungry (actually to anyone who wasn’t quick enough to cover their plate before she could refill it). And, it was my grandmother strolling down the sidewalk to every single one of my softball games with an ice cream bucket full of cookies in hand.

I enjoy many different aspects of cooking; however, my favorite thing, above all others, is to make something wonderful for someone else – bringing joy to their lives through scrumptious food. This weekend I combined two of my husband’s favorite things – Grandma’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Oreos. Although altering the original recipe, this one maybe even better! Either way, for me, just getting out this recipe card and reading my grandmother’s message on the back makes these cookies better than any other recipe. I plan to keep this recipe in my file box until hopefully someday I can pass it along to my children, and someday hope to take ice cream pails full of Grandma Leone’s cookies to their children’s ball games!

Ingredients

2 ½ Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Butter Flavored Crisco

2/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

2 Eggs (room temperature)

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

½ Cup Chocolate Chips

½ Cup Peanut Butter Chips

½ Package Peanut Butter Oreos (roughly chopped)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix shortening in mix master with whip attachment for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix again until thoroughly incorporated – about 1 minute. Add white and brown sugars – mix for about 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and mix for another minute or so. Add vanilla and mix until combined. You cannot over mix during any of the previous steps, in fact, the longer you mix, the better cookie you will have. 

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium size bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to the mix master bowl while it is running on slow speed. Once all the flour is incorporated, stop mixing. At this point, it is possible to over mix and doing so will result in a tough cookie (no pun intended).

Add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter Oreos, and stir until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, drop 2-inch balls on baking sheet. Make sure to allow space in between for the cookies to spread. Bake cookies for 8 – 11 minutes or until they are slightly golden around the edges. Cool on baking rack and enjoy!

Daily Meditations

I consider myself an extremely lucky, fortunate, happy, and blessed person.  However, at times, it is entirely way too easy to focus on negatives things…both in my life and in the lives of loved ones. A few years back my grandfather gave me a gift that has allowed me to focus on the important things in life – Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women – a book that was once my grandmothers.

Each meditation starts with a quote of some sorts followed by a summary of how it relates to daily struggles and/or emotions woman face. The end leaves you with an approach, or somewhat of a goal, on how you can tackle each particular day with grace and overcome difficult times.

When I first read the back of the book…originally developed for people recovering from alcoholism and other addictions…I felt a little silly reading it. After reading a few pages, I realized that this book really is for all women, as we all lose focus every so often. One definition of meditate is to focus ones thoughts on, which is exactly what this book is about – focusing your thoughts on positive things.

I like to keep this book on my nightstand and either read the daily meditation right before I go to bed or early in the morning. I also just found out that the Hazelden Meditation Series has a website, which has a new meditation each day. However, I am especially fond of the cute, little book I have, which I am sure is because it reminds me of my grandmother and the amazing person she was.

Here are yesterday and today’s meditations.

Love has a hundred gentle ends.
  —Leonora Speyer

On occasion I realize it's easier to say the serenity prayer and take that leap of faith than it is to continue doing what I'm doing.
  —S.H.

Rain Day Blues

Is there anything worse than cold, cloudy, rainy, sleety, possibly even snowy days that come around this time of year? It is officially springtime, after all. One thing that I really enjoy doing on days like these is sitting down with a nice cup of tea and my pile of catalogs, for which I thank my husband. During one of our many moves when we were homeless without a home, we directed our mail to my mother in law’s address. When we changed it back to our new, permanent address, he informed the post office to redirect all of “The Rock’s” mail. Needless to say, our stash of catalogs has increased dramatically!

I have been eying up this fantastic yellow raincoat from Boden for a few years now. Maybe even one of these years I will splurge and order it. I am also dying to attend a wedding this summer just so I have an excuse to buy a new dress, which would of course mean buying new accessories, too. I have fallen in love with this entire look.

 

When my sister was here a few weeks ago we were browsing through Boden’s Spring 2011 catalog and she asked how can she get away with wearing pink shoes a green dress? Is this not a fashion faux pas? Aren’t you supposed to match your shoes with your purse? The answers are she just can, no, and no. Since I am by no means an expert on fashion, here is an article from Ladies' Home Journal on fashion rules to break. Note, I said Ladies' Home Journal…not Harper’s Bazaar. So I think we all can agree, LHJ is probably not on the cutting edge of new fashion trends so we can assume we are safe to break these rules!

Disclaimer:  Do not inform your husband of these new rules! Once he knows you do not need a new pair of shoes, purse, and other accessories to go with a new dress he will assume you already have something to “match” in your closet.

Google Reader + Apple = Best Magazine Ever

After years of giving my husband grief about spending so much time analyzing his Google Reader, I had to apologize to him because I am now addicted. I was skeptical at first because it just seemed like a waste of time to go through the work to set up the account.  Also, I figured I’d never have time to read anything on it anyways. I was wrong on both accounts. First of all, it couldn’t be easier to set up...it really only takes a few minutes. Second, not only do I have time to read my subscriptions on Google Reader, it saves me time. I like to describe it as my personal magazine. There are billions of blogs and RSS feeds out there that you can follow containing information you would never find on the newsstand. The blogs I follow contain everything from very useful information (parenting advice, cooking techniques, and real estate information) and to useless knowledge (fail blog).

There are also many apps available where you can access your Google Reader on your iPod Touch, iPad, or iPhone. The one I use is called FeeddlerRSS. Once you sync your FeeddlerRSS app with your Google Reader you access your personal magazine when you are on the go. The combination of these two products has allowed me to stay current on many topics as well as learn things that I’m sure I never would have had if I continued along with my skeptical opinion on Google Reader.

If you are interested in setting up your own Google Reader account follow these instructions on ehow.com. Another great feature is the sharing capability. You can follow anyone who has a Google Reader account and if you want to share a particular article you can simply click “share.” If someone else has shared a posting with you then it will appear in a folder on the sidebar in the “people you follow” tab.  

Make sure to add http://4thegoodtimes.blogspot.com to your Google Reader!

Mumford & Sons + P.S. I Love You Soundtrack

Mumford & Sons has quickly become one of my favorite artists. Sigh No More has been my husband and mine’s go to album when we fire up our iTunes. Rarely do I want to listen an entire album; however, I could listen to this entire album over and over. It is right up there with the PS I Love You Soundtrack, which is one of my all-time favorites. "Love You 'Till The End" and "No Other Love" are my two favorite songs. The movie is equally as good. If you have not seen this movie you must. Make sure to grab your tissue box though first!

 

Purging: rid of; clean out

Before I went to bed last night I scanned our house and tried to figure out how in the world I considered the weekend to be a productive one, which I had. It seriously looked like a tornado had gone through the house, however, somehow I still felt like I had got a lot accomplished over the weekend. 

 

As much as I enjoy cleaning, which I really strangely do, my weekend involved very little of it. The weekend was filled with a two hour trip to Wegman’s, shopping trip to Kohl’s, sunshine, stroller walks outside, a 3 mile run, NCAA basketball, yummy food, margaritas and old vine Zin! Life really does not get much better as far as I am concerned! Sometimes an accomplishment is not anything you can physically measure; rather it is mental feeling – the ones we too often forget about.

My one physical accomplishment of the weekend was purging. I asked my husband, “Do you want to do something fun?” He immediately hesitated and quickly assumed I had a not so fun chore planned for him. So, when I said, “do you want to go through our clothes and get rid of things we don’t want anymore?” he was thrilled (really he was).

My goal is going through my closets at least twice a year and getting rid of things that I do not wear anymore. Generally, my rules are if I have not worn something in more than two years I do not need it, if it does not fit anymore to get rid of it, and if I am waiting for something to go back into style – it will not – so get rid of it. Another reason I like to shuffle through my clothes is because I will often find something that was lost in the mess of stained shirts, pants from high school, and bras with wires poking out that I had completely forgotten about.

The question is, when you drop off your bags of clothes at the donation center how to claim the donation on your taxes. Money Blue Book is a great reference as it explains where to donate, how to claim the donation on your taxes, IRS documents you need, and some other very helpful guidelines. Making the correct documentation right away will make it easier come April 15^th when you are brainstorming any deductions you had the previous year and guessing the value of your donations. 

With springtime officially here, I know everyone is going through their closets, packing away the wool sweaters and getting out the shorts. While doing it, you may as well fill a bag to take to Good Will. Like everything in life, getting rid of the clutter will make you focus on the more important things.  You may as well apply the same philosophy to your closet,  and while doing it you may as well reap the benefits from Uncle Sam!