Fun summer dinner idea

Summer is right around the corner, for those of us here in Washington, and already in full stride for most everyone else. When the sun is high and the sky is clear few things sound as good to me as throwing on my shades and heading outdoors. Obviously Lewis feels the same

 Grilling is a great way to get outside during the summer months and the perfect excuse to pass off dinner responsibilities to the hubby:) This week I thought it would be fun to plan a meal cooked entirely on the grill! I haven't decided exactly what it will consist of yet but there are a few options:

Turkey burgers - chipotle cheddar or turkey fajita burgers
Chicken and steak kabobs
Corn on the cob - Here are some fun ideas
Sweet potatoes - this looks like a yummy recipe or just brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt + pepper / brown sugar!
Broccoli with olive oil and salt + pepper
Zucchini
Peaches + rhubarb

What are your favorite things to grill?

Spicy avocado marinade

Hi friends! I hope you all had a relaxing memorial day and weekend. We had fun just hanging around town, taking walks, eating with friends, and cuddling with Lewis.

I made this cilantro avocado buttermilk dressing last Friday to go with our dinner salads. Jeff loved it on his but I didn't think it was anything very special. Partially because I put in an entire jalapeno and the spiciness overwhelmed all of the other flavors. Anyway, I had a bunch leftover and decided to use it as a marinade on some chicken breasts a few nights later. It was amazing! Here is the recipe with a few slight changes or you can follow the link for the original

Ingredients:

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 small jalapeno

1/4 cup of fresh cilantro

1 medium avocado

1-2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp chopped scallion or onion ( I didn't have any onion or scallion and it turned out fine)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt and more to taste

Method:


Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth
Pour over chicken/turkey/ salmon and let sit refrigerated for a few hours
grill/bake and enjoy!

Banana bars

These banana bars are out of control good! The original recipe calls them "one a day banana bars" but I find that I typically eat more than one a day. Definitely make these soon, they won't disappoint

Banana Bars

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cups butter (softened)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flower
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 a package of chocolate chips

Method:

• Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar
• add egg and vanilla, beat well
• stir in mashed bananas
• stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to banana mixture and beat until combined
• stir in chocolate pieces and spread the batter into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish
• bake @ 350 for 25 minutes or until the top is golden and a knife/toothpick comes out clean

Meals for this week

Today my little partner in crime and I are going grocery shopping for the week.

 Last week/weekend we pretty much exhausted the surplus of food we received from family and friends over the past month so we have been running on empty over here for the past few days.

Here are our meals for the week

Monday - Thai takeout
Tuesday - Taco salad
Wednesday - Southwestern pulled brisket + crash hot potatoes and veggies / salad
Thursday - Cashew Chicken with brown rice and salad
Friday - Fish tacos + side of some sort...
Saturday - Stir fry

One Year Later

Last spring we moved to Washington. In April our friends Adam and Lindie took us to the tulip festival in the Skagit Valley. 

And one year later we made it back to see all of the beautiful flowers, this time with a baby and grandparents!