the eco font!

so check this out, there's an 'eco font' that used up to 20% less ink. how? by putting little 'holes' in the text. here's a blow-up a what it looks like, but when you have it in a normal print size, it's hard to see those little cutouts. try it out!

new template, new options

so i added a feature that you can just click to comment on a post -- i put a few categories up :) and new template, you know, because i have the attention span of a gnat!

fork lickin' chicken!

i bought the biggest bag of chicken you've EVER seen from costco, and as a result, we've been eating a lot of chicken! i tried out several new recipes and these are the two we've really enjoyed so far. they're both from cooking light although i added a little more butter to the first one so it's not quite as light ;)

Chicken Piccata with Capers
Nate and Sarah actually had this in Venice last week and it was so good I wanted to try it at home. It was really close! This was our definite favorite of the two recipes.

I only made 2 chicken breasts but we still used all the sauce (poured it over top the chicken and a pile of angel hair), so keep that in mind!

Ingredients

* 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
* 1-2 tablespoons butter (I added a tablespoon of butter to the sauce at the end)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 cup white wine
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons capers
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 8 ounces uncooked)
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Place each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Place flour in a shallow dish, and dredge chicken in flour.

Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add white wine, 1/4 cup lemon juice, capers, and garlic to pan; scrape pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Whisk in another tablespoon of butter) Serve chicken over pasta. Top with sauce; sprinkle with parsley.

Here's my satisfied customer :)


Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa
Of course, this one has cilantro so it was an immediate favorite of mine :) The recipe only called for the cilantro in the marinade, but I also put it in the salsa for the top of the chicken. Also, we had it with saffron rice, but turns out I don't really like saffron rice! Next time I will try it with black beans and rice.

Ingredients

Chicken:
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
* 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* Cooking spray

Salsa:
* 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2)
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Directions

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado (and cilantro!); stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

new blogger!

fletcher (laura and drew's latest addition) now has his very own blog :) you'll find it on the list on the left, or here: http://theycallmefletch.blogspot.com/

yay!

beachity beach beach beach :)

we just got back from an awesome weekend at the beach with ryan & sarah - it was the perfect weekend for sure :) just one picture for now:

i feel like ari's disapproving look is appropriate here ;) i am six months behind on pictures! totally unacceptable! i'm on a mission to get them all published asap so you'll see more action on our smugmug site than there has been in awhile! i'm working from current events and going backwards for now. have a good wednesday ;)

now i'm an aunt three times over!

laura and drew had their baby today :) laura and the baby are doing well! i'll post more later!

... and it's later! his name is fletcher william and he was born at 12:54 pm today :) he was 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. can't wait to meet him!

Strawberries in Meyer Lemon Syrup

We had this for dessert tonight - it was in my Cooking Light this month and looked delicious but I wasn't sure where to get Meyer lemons. We ran across them at Publix and ta-da! This was simple and delicious!

The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar but I actually might have preferred a little less so it would taste a bit more tart. Also, my arm almost fell off when I was trying to get the whipping cream to 'form soft peaks' - I ended up throwing it the freezer for a minute or so to get it a little more solid ;)

4 cups quartered small strawberries
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream

1. Place berries, juice, and sugar in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill 20 minutes.

2. Place cream in a medium bowl; stir constantly with a whisk until soft peaks form. Serve whipped cream with berry mixture.

Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup berry mixture and 2 tablespoons whipped cream)

And if you can't find Meyer Lemons, don't despair! According to Cooking Light, "Meyer lemons, available through May, have sweeter, more aromatic juice than regular lemons. To ensure the dessert doesn't get too tart if substituting regular lemon juice, begin with 2 tablespoons juice, and taste; add more juice if desired."


ps: after nate finished his, he hunted down the extra lemon/strawberry/sugar juice and mixed it with the leftover cream and ate that too! don't tell him i told you ;)

Taco Salad!

this is a favorite recipe in my family, taco salad! the ingredient combo might seem a little strange, but it's super tasty, trust me ;)


romaine lettuce
kidney beans
fritos
shredded cheddar cheese
ground beef (spiced with plenty of chili powder, cayenne, crushed red pepper, garlic, pepper)

chopped:
tomato
avocado
green onions
jalapeno (optional)

thousand island (we used to buy kraft but in effort to make this slightly more healthy i've been using a yogurt based dressing by bolthouse farms that is just as good! it's in the product section)

make a salad with all of the above :) easy, eh? a word of warning: nate and i usually start with a normal size bowl and add what looks like a normal amount of lettuce and then somehow after you add all the stuff, you have created the salad that ate conneticut! don't say i didn't warn you ;)

cleo digs the porch

she loves to sit next to us on the couch, or also the ottoman which we thought we purchased for putting our feet up but turns out to be cleo's location of choice when nate and i are both sitting on the couch :)

snakes on a porch!

well... snake. and it was a baby. but still! check out this baby snake that made it's way onto our porch this morning. i actually stayed calm... mostly because it was so still i thought it was dead, but snakes aren't near as scary when they're worm sized! nate shooed it into a shoe box and released it into the yard. now it can grow into a big five-footer that scared the #@$%! out of me last time i saw one while doing yard work. yay!

spring cleaning!

i cleaned out my closet yesterday, it's been on my list for awhile! and although i had no issue giving away clothes i've purchased within the last few years that just didn't work out or don't fit, i was really reluctant to let go of some pieces that have been around for so long they're almost memorabilia at this point! most of the clothing in that category happens to be denim. i am finally getting rid of a pair of gap overalls i've had for 10 or more years (nate says he has underwear older than that. i say gross.) they have a bleach spot on the back pocket from cleaning the bathroom in the apartment cassie and i shared for years, and when the little clips for the straps broke, one of my co-workers at danaher soldered it back on for me :) i also go rid of a pair of shorts i bought right before highschool graduation. i remember because i ripped them less than a week later at a graduation party (fell backwards on a fence i think?) and sewed on the little heart patch you can see in the picture below. my compromise with finally letting them go is immortalizing them on film (well.. on a few megabytes anyway) ;)

it's the journey.. not the six dollars you save at costco!

nate and i are heading to the beach with friends in a few weeks and wanted to purchase some cocktail supplies beforehand. we've been meaning to check out the liquor store at costco so this evening, we called our friends to see if they wanted to join us on our trip :) they headed to our house and we headed out at around 8 only to realize that it closed at 8:30 and was a 35 minute drive away! we weren't sure if we were going to make it, but we did- with 5 minutes to spare!

as it turns out, if you're a good bargain shopper like they are, you can find prices at or within a few dollars of what we found at costco, but it was still an entertaining trip :)

so if you give your wife a camera...

no, nate didn't write the comment below. i highly suspect my brother-in-law actually but haven't had the chance to verify that yet :)

"...if you let your wife become a photographer, she'll probably ask for a fancy new camera. Once she gets her fancy new camera, she'll tell you she needs a nice case to 'keep it safe' (oh, and an extra memory card.) and while you're getting the case, you might as well go ahead and pick up a portable hard drive to store all those pictures on, you know, because it's black friday and it's a super deal. Once she has all that storage space, she's going to need to fill it up with some especially artsy stuff, so she'll probably want a new extra versatile lens to attach to her fancy camera. And of course, if you let your wife become a photographer, she'll probably want to grow a beard. Oh, wait. That stopped working."

if you give a mouse a cookie....

...he'll probably ask for a glass of milk. if you let your husband join a band, he'll probably ask for a new pa system. once he gets his PA system, he'll tell you he needs a set of microphones. once he gets the microphones he'll probably need to get some stands for them (oh and some wind screens). and while you're getting the microphone stands, you should go ahead and order a music stand, you know, to get the free shipping. once he has all those stands, he's going to need somewhere to put his drink, so he'll probably want a drink holder to attach to his mic stand. and of course, if you let your husband join a band, he'll probably want to grow a beard.

our nephew cadiem :)

hello from blacksburg! we arrived this morning to visit cassie, jeff and cadiem. he's a little over 4 weeks old now and ridiculously adorable (of course!) we haven't done a full blown photo shoot yet, but i did photograph them all day anyway while they were up to their daily goings-on. here's a few of them:




this is the funniest face he made all day for sure :)

and here's the whole family :)

and one more of mom and baby :)