Well, that’s because I was a loser and did the video here and there for like a week….it was more like the {30 Day DEAD} for me.
Of course I came up with all sorts of excuses that I had to get ready for vacation, blah blah blah, but now that I spent 2 weeks eating everything under the sun, I must turn this on for the next 29 days and DO IT!
I know it works because my girlfriend Lisa looks amazing!
*****
Need some fresh, new summer salad ideas? Head on over here today where I shared my Asian Chop Chop salad and see what other salad inspirations you can find.
Back from the East side…we spent 2 glorious weeks in the Carolinas and now we’re here to spend the last few weeks of summer on our turf.
More pics to come, but first I need to share this easy recipe for refreshing Watermelon Agua Fresca.
No, we didn’t sip this in the south, but since we DID overindulge heavily, my first stop was to pick up a cart full of fruits and veggies to get us back on track with our {attempt} at eating healthier!
One of our favorite restaurants in Nor Cal was Aqui, nestled in the adorable Willow Glen area of San Jose. Aqui serves aguas frescas out of big jars and was a must to wash down their delicioso fare and the perfect thing to sip out on the patio.
It’s a breeze to make and I chose watermelon as my first attempt. Just picked up a personal sized {Dulcinea} watermelon and used about half of it for the drink {4 cups, chopped}.
Add the chopped melon to 4 cups cold water {I did it in 2 batches in my blender} and process until smooth. Run through a fine mesh strainer, pour into a pitcher, add 2 tablespoons sugar, stir and serve over ice with a squeeze of lime.
{umbrella optional!}
Other juicy options….cantaloupe, mango or honeydew cucumber ~ just follow the same process.
If I do drink iced tea, it must have lots of lemon and a little sweetner. The southerners have it all figured out with their infamous {sweet tea}. It’s a little too sweet for me, but I wanted to share a recipe that strikes the perfect balance between lemon and sugar and will have you thinking you’re on a wicker rocking chair under a leafy palm porch fan…
Drop tea bags into boiling water that has been removed from the burner. Let steep for 8-12 minutes. Remove tea bags and pour warm tea into a pitcher and add 1/2 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved and fill the rest of the pitcher with ice. Serve with an extra squeeze of lemon and a mint sprig, if desired.
{Another summertime favorite is the Arnold Palmer ~ half iced tea [unsweetened] & half lemonade}
Lean ground pork was on sale this week at Ralphs so that means double the {other white meat} recipes for you!
This past weekend we took a last minute trip to San Diego to visit our 102-year old great great cousin {3rd cousin? my grandmother’s cousin} as she is….well, 102 and had taken a little turn for the worse and placed in hospice care. I am happy to report that she was doing a bit better yesterday, but we felt we had to go down and visit {just in case}.
Anywhoo, as I was relaxing at my mom’s on Saturday, I came across this Moo Shu Pork Burger in the July 2011 issue of Family Circle. To view this recipe on their site you have to register, so to spare you, I will just provide it here because you NEED to make these. Really. I was a little concerned with the whole flour tortilla coming into play, but it TOTALLY works. These things were incredible. Jay said he liked them better than the banh mi, but he doesn’t have the connection to Story Road that I do….nonetheless, these were definitely up there and we will be making them LOTS!
6 Tbsp. mayo
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
1.25 pound ground pork
4 oz. crimini {aka baby portobello} mushrooms, finely chopped {I used my mini food processor}
2 scallions, trimmed and chopped {I used 4}
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. ground ginger
6 small flour tortillas {I used Tia Rosa soft taco size}
1 cup arugula
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
Mix mayo and 1 Tbsp of the hoisin and set aside. Mix meat and the rest of the ingredients well and form into 6 patties. Drizzle grill pan or fry pan with a little olive oil and grill on each side for about 5 minutes {until juices run clear or meat reaches 150*}. Heat tortilla on your stovetop and then spread hoisin mayo on one side along with some arugula, a burger and then some radish slices. Fold the tortilla in half and then bring the bottom up to make a little burger envelope of sorts.
I paired these up with a rice noodle salad with miso dressing. I used about a half pack of maifun rice sticks {Dynasty brand on Asian aisle}, soaked them in warm water for about 15 minutes, boiled them for about 2 minutes and then rinsed. I added, chopped carrot, sliced radish, cucumber, red pepper, cilantro and green onion. Sprinkled with a bit of rice vinegar, salt and pepper and a little of my new addiction, miso dressing.
When we lived in the Bay Area, the kids and I would frequently visit Happy Hollow Zoo with our friends, the Cohens.
Each time I would exit the 101 onto Story Road, I would quickly notice it was littered with {Vietnamese Baguette} shops. I never really gave much thought to it other than the fact that there were so many.
I recently came across this post on Not Without Salt. Ahhhhh, Banh Mi! It immediately clicked that this was the baguette sandwich pictured in these store windows. I knew I had to make it…just by reading the ingredients alone, I could tell that this sandwich was right up my alley.
I chose to do more of a slider version and picked up these rolls…
The only changes I made to the recipe were substitute the fish sauce with soy sauce, use jarred jalapeños, and didn’t sear the meatballs in oil first ~ I just baked them from the get-go…about 22 minutes to be safe. Also, I made 11 meatballs instead of a dozen.
I slathered on the Sriracha mayo then halved one meatball and put both halves on one roll.
Added the colorful toppings…
…took a bite and almost died.
This sandwich was beyond amazing…the soft rolls soaked up the juices from the meat and the rice vinegar and literally molded the bread to the meatball. The carrot and radish provided crunch. A million things came together in this meal and if I knew then what I know now, I most certainly would have pulled off at one of these little Vietnamese eateries, ordered a banh mi and enjoyed it in the shade of a tree with my good friend, Nancy, while the kiddos ran around and played in the HH park {or watched the weird puppet show as we occasionally did while eating our lunch}.
Story Road took me to and from Happy Hollow many times. The memories of these visits with Nancy are some of the happiest days of our time in the San Jose area. The kids would run free, see all five animals at the mini zoo, ride old rusty rides, freak us out and disappear in the maze for a minute, laugh and play while Nancy and I chatted about this and that.
Nancy, I miss you terribly and would love it if we could share a banh mi and get caught up sometime soon!
Last time we were in San Diego we went to a cupcake shop called Batter Up. It’s the cutest concept and the cupcakes were delish, but the store decor needed a grand slam.
It was pretty blah.
By the time we walked out, I had already redesigned the place and had a blueprint in my head.
Real live stadium seats bolted to the floor.
Old lockers filled with fun cupcake liners, cookbooks and all things cupcake related for sale.
Astroturf on the floor.
Pennant buntings hanging from the ceiling.
Apothecary jars filled with peanuts and cracker jacks.
Large glass vases holding baseballs.
The cupcakes needed some fun, festive baseballin’ names, ya know?
But I digress…
Now…back to Cake Batter Ice Cream.
This recipe is SO easy and SO out of this world…er…ballpark?!?
I ended up using whole milk for one of the 2 cups of whipping cream…made it a little lighter. Ha!
I tapped the cake mix through a mesh strainer to make sure there were no clumps.
Next time I will add rainbow sprinkles into the ice cream the last few minutes while the machine is running.
I only wish that I had red, white and blue sprinkles instead…
But, this ice cream was more than I imagined it would be. If you’re an ice cream lover and you don’t have one of these, you need to treat yourself to one!
Next up….some refreshing summer sorbet in our new sorbet cups!
Other festive treats to celebrate our country’s {Happy Day}…
Patriotic Pancakes
{separate batter into 3 different bowls and use red and blue color gels and leave one plain. stack ’em up with a blue pancake on the bottom, then regular and then red on top. drizzle with maple or blueberry syrup.}
Oreo Pops
{use a lollipop stick and push it into a double stuffed oreo. cover the oreo in milk or white chocolate and sprinkle with rw&b sprinkles}
Dipped Rice Krispie Treats
{dip about 1/4 of the square in milk or white chocolate and sprinkle with rw&b sprinkles}
Jell-o Parfaits
{make red and blue jell-o and alternate with cool-whip in a clear plastic cup for the kiddos}
Mixed Berry Shortcakes
{bake up some simple biscuits. cut up fresh strawberries, sprinkle with a little sugar and let sit for 30 minutes to macerate. mix in some fresh blueberries. slice biscuit in half, spoon berry mixture and a little juice over bottom half, put the top on and add some whipped cream}
Sliced bananas, freshly churned soft vanilla bean ice cream, a drizzle of Hershey’s syrup, a swirl of whipped cream, some rainbow sprinkles, coconut {for me}, peanuts {for Jay} and the proverbial maraschino cherry on top.
These would also be fun served in small mason jars!
*****
The slip n slide also came out this afternoon after a brief hiatus…
Last week was filled with necessary errands in the beginning of the week and a couple pool play dates at the end.
Tomorrow this guy starts summer camp thanks to his grandparents and sweet friends…for his birthday in February, we decided in lieu of {more} toys a nice gift would be a 3-day a week summer camp at his preschool. Three of his best buds chipped in and gave him a week as well! It’s a win/win situation ~ a fun 3 hours for him and 3 hours for me! We’re so grateful….thanks again.
This girl is going to gymnastics camp mañana. Same thing…for her b-day, the grandparents generously gave her the same 3 days a week to tumble and jump this summer. Again, it gives me a little time to myself and his preschool and the gym are right near each other so it’s perfect.
It’s a GREAT way to break up the summer.
I’ll say it again ~ thank you Lolo & Lola, Gramma, Popsi, Emma, Landon & Dylan.
This gift is truly the cherry on top of this mama’s banana split!
Last night while I was tucking him in, I told him to get a good night’s sleep so he’d be well rested for his game in the morning…
He said, “I’m going to catch the ball for you, Mama!”
Bless his heart.
He tried and tried to catch the ball {for me} to no avail which resulted in him exiting the field on the verge of tears and come to me and say, “I can’t catch the ball for you!”
Broke my heart.
Of course I assured him that it was an awesome game and that he had a great couple hits.
Gonna miss those cute little munchkins in orange shirts…..
*****
This evening’s dinner was definitely a home run, though.
Coconut Chicken and Curried Quinoa with Cilantro & Pineapple
If you’ve been flopping along with me for awhile now, you’ll know that I love all things coconut so this was a must try.
Absolutely delish.
We’re trying to eat more quinoa and less rice and pasta. I’m always trying to find new mix-ins to doctor it up. Tonight I sauteed some onion and garlic along with some curry powder for a bit before adding in 1 cup rinsed quinoa and 2 cups water. {normally I use chicken stock}. Once the quinoa was done cooking, I stirred in chopped cilantro and about half a small can of crushed pineapple.
I was afraid the quinoa would be too bland without the stock, but it was perfect with the chicken.
{you could certainly make rice and stir in the cilantro and pineapple before serving, too!}
A festive summertime meal for backyard al fresco dining.
