it makes me very happy.....

being home. as much as I love roadtripping, it feels so good to sleep in our own tiny house in our own tiny room. 

clean sheets.

fresh utah peaches....

....for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bredtime snack.

technology....all of our family lives so far away and I love that I can reach them so quickly via phone or text. after text after text.

kids who sleep in.

drinking ice cold water.
the

grilled guacamole

I LOVE guacamole. I could eat it every day (and often do). 

It pairs well with so many things, and it's perfectly easy to throw together. 

I also love putting veggies on the grill, and in the summer it's just about the only way I cook vegetables--brush with olive oil and grill. easy easy. 

So when I pulled out my guac ingredients when I was already prepping to grill some fish......I just

a summer salad

 aaaahhhhh summer salad. so easy, so good. 

 

I love taking a handful of this, and a handful of that from the garden and throwing it together and calling it a salad. This was the first broccoli I've had from the garden--it has taken forrrrrrevvverrrr to grow, but it has been fun to watch a GIANT broccoli plant (it could gobble my children) grow out of the ground from a tiny little seed. 

A

how to eat zucchini

Zucchini.

 

Do you grow it? Then you probably have 700 zucchini right now.......right?

 They kind of explode starting in July. The good news is, there are so many things you can put zucchini into, and so many ways to eat it (personally, I never get tired of it simply grilled.....yum)



**gardeners tip*** I kind of laugh that I am giving any kind of gardening tip, because I am still pretty

beet it

Beets. Did you know they are rich in dietary fiber, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, and C? It's true. [source]
A few summers ago I was wandering the farmers market and saw a pile of purple and gold beets overflowing a little farmer's table. They were beeeeaaauuuutiful. I had to have them. I had never had beets before (unless you count the canned variety,

how to eat......cabbage

Cabbage?Cabbage!To be honest, up until about a year ago when I thought about cabbage, I thought of it mostly as a garnish. I had never bought cabbage and cooked with it, and wasn't really sure how to.........and then I started exploring, and I am now a true cabbage believer.
Cabbage is good source of vitamin K, C, A, and fiber.It's rich in antioxidants, helps boosts immunity, and contains sulphur

meat and meatless

Mmmeeeeaaaaattt.
I have to say it like that, and then I always picture meat-loving Ron Swanson for some reason.

Just one tiny word can become such a hot topic!
Lovers, haters, and all the inbetweeners.
I have posted my thoughts on meat before, but like to revisit the topic every now and then.

Before I headed off to college, I had no problem with meat, and ate it any time it was placed in front

a winter favorite

Brussels Sprouts. a favorite? really?yes!Teeny green adorable members of the cabbage family. They tend to be one of the more snubbed veggies out there in veggieland, but only because you've been eating them wrong.....these are a big time favorite around here--even with my kids! We eat them often in the winter months--they are very versatile and and contain a healthy dose of fiber, and more than

eat your greens

Last month I decided to start spotlighting different fruits and veggies--why we like them, and how we eat them. (I kicked things off with pomegranate)
This week I want to talk about greens.We love greens. Now had you asked me a few years ago....I would have gagged. I didn't understand how to eat them.....or why you would want to. When I thought of "eating your greens", I imagined soggy spinach in

everything in its season

I cannot tell you how happy I am to find myself leaving the farmer's market Saturday mornings with a bag full freshly picked deliciousness, just waiting to be gobbled up by my little family. As we move deeper into summer and each week passes, there are more and more options for dinner growing in our own backyard, and coming from the local farms around us.



When foods are picked the moment they

burrito bowls

This is one of my favorite go to meals--we have it at least once a week for lunch, and it's a perfect quick dinner--especially if you already have the rice cooked. 

\\

Burrito Bowls

-cooked brown rice

-black beans

-pepper jack cheese

-avocado

-salsa

-sour cream

-tortilla chips



....is that not the easiest thing you've ever made??

And the good thing is, you can mix it up. As spring

black bean and rice soup

Most mornings I wake up with some idea....an inkling at least of what we'll have for dinner. 

This day I had no idea.

I opened the fridge, the cupboard......nothing. 

I opened the freezer......spanish rice from a few weeks ago. 

What would I do with that?

The same thing I do with every other left over ingredient.....throw it in soup.

And so this soup was born....and it's kind of one of

fire grilled

-your favorite homemade crust

-peppers

-tomatoes

-artichokes

all thrown on the grill



-salty olives

-fresh mozzarella

-goat cheese



all grilled to melty perfection.

yes, we eat a lot of pizza.

I love it. I can't get enough these days.

When I'm not eating it, I'm probably thinking about it.....strange? no.



I'm still using the same old crust recipe--I can quickly throw it together from memory (although this time I added a teensy bit of wheat flour). I still used the grill, but also used a pizza pan this time (one with little holes in it), which made for a much easier grilling