This is another fun place we went a couple of months back. It is great for little kids--lots of animal feeding and a tractor ride where you get up close to the animals. 
Hello goat friends
11 August 2012
Reston Zoo
07 August 2012
Don't you miss the recipes?
I miss posting them. Pinterest has changed things and I pretty much get everything from there. I think I've made half of my food page. For real. Have I done half of the crafts or suggested exercise routines and what not? No. Food? Yes. Anyway, rather than just say--"check out my food board," here are a couple of winners. I've also made them both for others to good reviews.
Yummy chicken spinach salad:
From here:
http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/04/02/spinach-salad-with-chicken-avocado-and-goat-cheese/
My re-telling of it....
Ingredients:
a bag of spinach, I think recipe girl cuts it up, I don't.
some chicken, cooked and shredded-I've cooked myself and used rotisserie chicken to save time although I'm not sure it actually does save time (OH HOW I DREAM ABOUT HAVING A KITCHEN AID JUST TO SHRED CHICKEN IN IT SOMEDAY)
a container of grape tomatoes, halved
some pine nuts, toasted
crumbled goat cheese
corn-TJ has awesome frozen veggies including both the blackened and white/yellow sweet corn, just in case you are wondering (they also have AMAZING chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels...)
and dressing--this is my new favorite dressing because I can remember it via 3-2-1--- 3 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs vinegar (I've used apple cider), 1 tbs dijon mustard...plus salt and pepper...and I added honey because I like sweet things.
Layer stuff, toss with dressing, crumble goat cheese on top. DEVOUR!!!
The chicken pot pie that made Cory no longer hate chicken pot pie
From Here:
http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie-make-1-freeze-1-with.html
Ever since we've been married Cory has refused chicken pot pie for some reason to do with peas, little onions, or lima beans..who knows? Anyway, I finally convinced him to let me make this and of course he loved it because chicken pot pie is really awesome. Very basic recipe but a great go to cooking for someone else who just had a baby meal in my opinion because this particular recipe makes two pies. I've done this twice on Sunday where I made one for them and one for us which was frozen so we could eat it later in the week. ANYTHING to avoid cooking dinner less often during the week because it throws my whole night off.
Ingredients:
For the crust (from all recipes--best pie crust or something like that..I've used it lots and it is great although it calls for all shortening and I do half and half..I also double the recipe to do 2 double crust pies)
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
4 cups flour
1 cup cold water
a little bit of salt
cut shortening/butter into flour until it resembles a crumbly pea sized texture (PASTRY CUTTER??? MY BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP!!)
Add a little salt
Add water as much as needed
form into balls and refrigerate until read to roll out
For the filling (and this may be nothing like the recipe but this is how I do it...)
Onion, diced
like 4 carrots, sliced (or half a bag of baby carrots roughly)
a few stalks of celery sliced
4 chicken breasts
6 ish potatoes, diced
frozen peas, maybe half a bag
butter
flour
cook the chicken separately and cut into pieces (I did this in a second pan with some seasoning and olive oil but you could do it however you prefer)
In a big pot, cook the onions in a little olive oil, when soft, add celery, carrots, potatoes
cook for a little while (it was a while for me because I was chopping as I went so the onions cooked for a long time but it was fine)...
Add 4 tbs of butter, when melted at 6 tbs of flour and mix it around with the veggies (this is your thickener, usually the ratio is 1:1 but this kind of presumes you put in some fat in the olive oil previously)
mix in 3 cups of chicken broth and stir it up for a while
The recipe has you mix in some cream at the end but I just used milk -1/2 a cup
Put the chicken back in--cook until the potatoes are tender, adding the peas at the very end
As for seasoning I think the recipe says parsley flakes and salt and pepper --also good is dill, maybe sage, cajun seasoning (half kidding-we put cajun seasoning on everything in our house)
Roll out the pie crust, fill the pie, brush some egg wash on the top and cook at 375 for 40-45 minutes
For fun with the second one I made last weekend I did itty bitty little pies in a muffin tin and froze them so we could choose how much we wanted to cook later on. I had enough filling for 15 but this required an extra crust. I used a large cup as a mold for the bottom crust so it would go up the sides of the tin and then a smaller cup over the top. I froze them overnight and then the next day they popped right out and I stuck em in a plastic bag. Not sure how long they will take to cook--maybe 30 min frozen? we'll see how it goes.
Yummy chicken spinach salad:
From here:
http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/04/02/spinach-salad-with-chicken-avocado-and-goat-cheese/
My re-telling of it....
Ingredients:
a bag of spinach, I think recipe girl cuts it up, I don't.
some chicken, cooked and shredded-I've cooked myself and used rotisserie chicken to save time although I'm not sure it actually does save time (OH HOW I DREAM ABOUT HAVING A KITCHEN AID JUST TO SHRED CHICKEN IN IT SOMEDAY)
a container of grape tomatoes, halved
some pine nuts, toasted
crumbled goat cheese
corn-TJ has awesome frozen veggies including both the blackened and white/yellow sweet corn, just in case you are wondering (they also have AMAZING chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels...)
and dressing--this is my new favorite dressing because I can remember it via 3-2-1--- 3 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs vinegar (I've used apple cider), 1 tbs dijon mustard...plus salt and pepper...and I added honey because I like sweet things.
Layer stuff, toss with dressing, crumble goat cheese on top. DEVOUR!!!
The chicken pot pie that made Cory no longer hate chicken pot pie
From Here:
http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie-make-1-freeze-1-with.html
Ever since we've been married Cory has refused chicken pot pie for some reason to do with peas, little onions, or lima beans..who knows? Anyway, I finally convinced him to let me make this and of course he loved it because chicken pot pie is really awesome. Very basic recipe but a great go to cooking for someone else who just had a baby meal in my opinion because this particular recipe makes two pies. I've done this twice on Sunday where I made one for them and one for us which was frozen so we could eat it later in the week. ANYTHING to avoid cooking dinner less often during the week because it throws my whole night off.
Ingredients:
For the crust (from all recipes--best pie crust or something like that..I've used it lots and it is great although it calls for all shortening and I do half and half..I also double the recipe to do 2 double crust pies)
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
4 cups flour
1 cup cold water
a little bit of salt
cut shortening/butter into flour until it resembles a crumbly pea sized texture (PASTRY CUTTER??? MY BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP!!)
Add a little salt
Add water as much as needed
form into balls and refrigerate until read to roll out
For the filling (and this may be nothing like the recipe but this is how I do it...)
Onion, diced
like 4 carrots, sliced (or half a bag of baby carrots roughly)
a few stalks of celery sliced
4 chicken breasts
6 ish potatoes, diced
frozen peas, maybe half a bag
butter
flour
cook the chicken separately and cut into pieces (I did this in a second pan with some seasoning and olive oil but you could do it however you prefer)
In a big pot, cook the onions in a little olive oil, when soft, add celery, carrots, potatoes
cook for a little while (it was a while for me because I was chopping as I went so the onions cooked for a long time but it was fine)...
Add 4 tbs of butter, when melted at 6 tbs of flour and mix it around with the veggies (this is your thickener, usually the ratio is 1:1 but this kind of presumes you put in some fat in the olive oil previously)
mix in 3 cups of chicken broth and stir it up for a while
The recipe has you mix in some cream at the end but I just used milk -1/2 a cup
Put the chicken back in--cook until the potatoes are tender, adding the peas at the very end
As for seasoning I think the recipe says parsley flakes and salt and pepper --also good is dill, maybe sage, cajun seasoning (half kidding-we put cajun seasoning on everything in our house)
Roll out the pie crust, fill the pie, brush some egg wash on the top and cook at 375 for 40-45 minutes
For fun with the second one I made last weekend I did itty bitty little pies in a muffin tin and froze them so we could choose how much we wanted to cook later on. I had enough filling for 15 but this required an extra crust. I used a large cup as a mold for the bottom crust so it would go up the sides of the tin and then a smaller cup over the top. I froze them overnight and then the next day they popped right out and I stuck em in a plastic bag. Not sure how long they will take to cook--maybe 30 min frozen? we'll see how it goes.
06 August 2012
Utah Trip
A few weeks back we went to Utah for my grandpa's funeral. It was a sad reason to go and I miss my grandpa already but it was wonderful to go and participate in a very sweet graveside service and memorial the next day. He was a great man and I have wonderful memories of doing things together during trips to Utah every summer as a kid (and having some great conversations as an adult as well). A lot of co-workers from the furniture store in SLC he worked for for like 50 years came to the service and said wonderful things which was so nice to hear. Plus we got to introduce Carter (and Harrison) to aunts they had never met and it was Carter's first time meeting her uncle Aaron and Grandpa Larry. And of course lots of time with Cory's fam as well. We got stuck in the airport in DC for about 5 hours and missed our connection due to weather on the way over and had a crazy night in a SKETCHY hotel near the midway airport (the ONLY thing available that didn't involve driving my two carseat-less children across the city in the middle of the night in a taxi cab...). It was NOT funny then, but hey, it's funny now, right? Despite the reason for the trip and the eventful beginning it really was great to get out of town and see family (and friends too--we love you Utah Wheelers!!!). Plus Utah is just a beautiful, peaceful place to visit. I spent most of the weekend joking about how all of the houses there are for sale for like $7...that's how it feels compared to out here anyway :)
(Yes I pretty much wore that outfit all weekend. It was awesome.)
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| Happy O'Pa with two happy gradnkids |
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| Visiting Cory' grand parents |
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| I think great O'pa and Harrison are making the same face :) |
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| Teaching Great O'ma how to use the ipad |
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| Went out for pizza and introduced Harrison to air hockey and fooseball. LOVED IT. |
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| We spent the day with Joe and Alissa and their cute kiddos at Thanksgiving Point. Such fun for kids. |
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| What does water do to rocks? Or...a drinking fountain of course! |
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| I'm spiderman!! |
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| Alissa and sweet Hazel |
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| We went out to dinner at a place in the canyon my grandpa used to take my mom and her sisters. It was pretty fancy pants but the kids did awesome. There was a waterfall outside that was so pretty. |
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| Sunday we went to the cemetery in Logan where Cory's brother and more distant family members are buried. It was such a pretty day. |
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