Go-To Dish

I first heard of Quinoa (ki-nwa) because one of the Aveda shampoos has Quinoa as an ingredient. Low and behold, I find out, Quinoa is not only good for your hair, but your body as well. It is somewhat of a funny food, as it is a lot like a grain, but it is in fact related to beets, spinach and....tumbleweeds. Because of it's significant amount of amino acids, quinoa is actually a complete protein! Anyway, onto the delicious stuff...

My beautiful, wonderful and talented friend Jessica cooked this dish for me a few months ago, and it has become the "go-to" meal in my house ever since.

What you need:
Quinoa (a little spendy, but buy it in bulk at Winco or Freddy's and you will save some money)
Italian seasoning (or basically any seasoning, I didn't have what the recipe called for a couple of times and made do)
Tons of veggies (I use, spinach, diced mushrooms, diced zuchini, garlic, chopped onion, shredded carrots, peppers, whatever is in my fridge)
Sharp Cheddar (yum)

What to do:
- Mix 1 part Quinoa, 2 parts water in a pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer until water is gone. Put lid on and set aside.
- Put the vegetables (minus the spinach), and seasoning in a pan or wok with about 2 tablespoons Olive Oil. Saute until delicious.
- Add spinach towards the end
- Add salt and pepper to taste

I usually throw the Quinoa in with the vegetables once they are done and add a little grated cheese.

The BEST thing about this meal is you can serve it so many different ways, and you do not have to follow the recipe exactly. Jessica stuffed red peppers with her Quinoa mixture and baked the peppers with the stuffing inside. I serve mine with Panko and Parmesan encrusted Tilapia.

photo is a little busy due to our lack of white dishes.

Try it out and let me know how it went or if you made any yummy changes.

Mom's Day Madness!

This Mother's Day, Mike and I hosted for my side of the family, which proved to be most rewarding and a little chaotic. I tend to over-commit myself and end up stressing out when I entertain (although I must say, it always turns out spectacular)! Because of this lovely little fact about myself, I kept the menu very simple. BLTACs (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and cheese), my Grandma's macaroni salad and fresh fruit with homemade whipped cream. If you ask my Brother, he would say he could have done without the whipped cream - only because I gave him the tedious job of whipping it.

We put a pretty table cloth on our table, and made the island look pretty. It's amazing what a $10 bouquet can do for a small space. By the way... If you ever want fresh flowers for an event, or just to add some color - you should drive out towards Boring. There are so many flower stands with beautiful bouquets for anywhere from $5 to $10. Such a steal, especially keeping in mind they are double or triple the size you can buy for that much at a grocery store. Sadly, it is no longer the most convenient option for me, and seeing as I am a chronic procrastinator...I settled for Freddy's selection.

 Obsessed with my Anthropologie bowls. The table cloth is from an antique store in Missouri.

 Grandma & Mom opening their much deserved Mother's Day gifts.

In the end, although our tiny kitchen was crowded...I think the day was a success! I even had some wonderful and experienced ladies help me load the dishwasher after!

If these walls could talk...

Finally! We have hammered the first nail(s) in the wall! I have had newspaper cutouts taped to the wall for weeks now, just waiting for my mom's approval on the placement of our "photo collage".  She was brilliant when she recommended tracing each picture frame on newspaper and cutting them out. This allowed me to tape the cutouts to the wall and play around with how I wanted them organized. I have hung photo collages before and I can tell you - this was much easier.

Michael and I love looking around at antique stores and we found quite a treasure last time we were there. The antique mall in Troutdale has a large collection of old newspaper pages out of the Oregonian, New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. They had the most interesting photos and topics on them and we bought 3 different ones. After all was said and done, the total came to $20.80. We plan to purchase frames and matting for the newspaper pages and hanging them upstairs. Such an inexpensive way to get beautiful, entertaining and unique wall art! I am so excited to see how they turn out and I think our guests will have a fun time enjoying the content of the papers. 

I can go to sleep tonight feeling a little more accomplished and a little more like this is our home. Tomorrow is Mother's Day and the first real event we will hold at our new home. It's a little stressful, because I always want everything to be perfectly coordinated and put together - but I am sure it will all come together.

The Great Outdoors

Photo of our new address on the front of our house!

Progress with our house is coming along slowly but surely. It's amazing how much time and effort (and money) goes into making improvements - both big and small. The painting downstairs is done and we will soon be hanging pictures and art on the walls. We were so thankful for all of the help we received with moving in, cleaning and painting. We certainly have some amazing folks in our lives.      

One thing I was so excited to accomplish was purchasing flowers and pots and planting some colorful flowers to brighten our porch. After much anticipation - and a few setbacks, I have planted two large pots of beautiful flowers, along with some Oregano and Coriander. We are looking forward to re-landscaping our tiny little yard, hopefully in the near future. I cannot wait until we have a little garden and some cozy chairs to lounge in. Summer makes me so hopeful and happy.

Just planted my Oregano in a pretty pot! My Cilantro (not pictured) did not look so pretty...let's hope it perks up a bit. I have a lot of Yumm Bowls to make and they are not the same without Cilantro.

African Daisies! I forgot the trailing I used. My mom and Kim (long time friend/neighbor growing up and new neighbor), helped me plant them!



I am thoroughly enjoying cooking for both Mike and I and I am trying to get inspired by my numerous cook books. I am finding that it is so difficult to find the time to cook elaborate meals, but I am trying. I would love to post any news and pictures of new and exciting recipes I try out for my lovely future hubby and myself. If anyone has any "must try" recipes, shoot them my way so I can try them!

Home Sweet Home

Life has been wonderfully chaotic these past few months. New job back in September, wedding planning, school and becoming homeowners! What an adventure! Looking back - buying a home was not as hard as I thought, and it actually went pretty smoothly. Some of you who are friends with me on Facebook may be a little hesitant to believe that - seeing as I probably complained a lot! I am just too impatient, so everything seemed ten times harder than it truly was!

I am an instant gratification kind of person, so naturally, when we moved in I wanted everything painted right away. Did we succeed in accomplishing that goal? No. But we certainly came close. We got the entire downstairs painted, along with the stairwell and upstairs hallways. Project for this weekend: Painting our bedroom and possibly planting some flowers/herbs! How exciting. I will definitely post pictures if I find the motivation to garden.

Wedding planning is coming along, although I almost had a panic attack the other day when I realized the countdown is almost in double digits. Yikes! My mom and I got to try out the food for the rehearsal dinner last weekend when Mike was off camping. It was such a fun day and we left with a rather large bag of leftover Thai! Official rehearsal dinner menu: Chicken Pad Thai, Mussaman Curry, Chicken Satay, Fried Wontons and egg rolls. Can you say delish? Thank you Crystal at PeemKaew in The Pearl for making our experience so fun!

Oh ya...and I got to try on my wedding dress again! It was even prettier than the first time I saw it and I did NOT want to take it off. 

Grilled Pizza

A few weeks ago I called my Aunt Suzie on the phone and she and her family were grilling pizza on the BBQ. I love pizza and have made it numerous times with lots of yummy ingredients you can't normally get at a pizza place. Problem is, every time I cook them they take forever and cook a bit unevenly (could just be my problem). I thought I should copy this idea and cook them on the BBQ!

My dad, Mike and I set out on this wonderful pizza adventure and it turned out deliciously! We bought our dough from Winco to save time because although making dough is easy, I think you have to let it set over night.

 
If you want to do it, it's super easy. Buy already made dough (or make your own - we used wheat). You roll it out and put it on the grill about 3 minutes on both sides. Take the crust off the grill and put any toppings you would like, put back on the grill for about 5 minutes or until it looks like you want it too!

We made three kinds:
1. Tomato sauce, canadian bacon, roasted peppers, motzerella and tomato
2. pesto with goat cheese and tomato
3. Margarita pizza

Hello Goodbye

Officially graduated from college?! Really? Where did the time go? I am not sure if I am understanding right, because it certainly does not feel like a big deal and it does not feel like anything has changed. Maybe it's because I had to go through thirteen years of school to graduate from high school, and then after 4 short years I am graduating yet again. I am trying to cherish this moment and see it as an important milestone in my life - but am failing. Does anyone else feel this way?

Although the excitement of being done with my undergrad has thus far eluded me, I was very grateful for my last few days in Eugene and my first couple of weeks back home in Gresham.

Sadly, the end to my time in Eugene did not end as I had planned, but I guess that's how life goes sometimes...okay, most of the time. Leaving my three best friends was so bittersweet. I am moving on to bigger things and moving closer to Michael and to our families, but leaving this group of people was heartbreaking. Most people don't understand us at all, as we laugh when things are sad, make jokes about serious things we can't handle, but most of all - we just love each other unconditionally. It's a weird and empty feeling going from seeing the same three girls almost every day, to seeing them once in a month. I know we are all adjusting and getting through this hard time, but only time will tell how strong our friendships really are. I hope all my friends in Gresham get a chance to meet them, as you all have heard a lot about each other, because I love all of my friends and my everyday conversations are filled with thoughts of you.

Here are the girls and I at our "goodbye" dinner and dessert.





Leaving Eugene was sad, but the weeks following the move were busy busy busy. We had family come from out of town, had a graduation get together to celebrate the end of my Undergraduate schooling! Woo hoo! I was so thankful that so many people were able to come and I truly enjoyed the evening.









And of course, I must thank my wonderful Grandma for cooking delicious Mexican fare for all to enjoy!