Beet It!
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dinner, wedding dress Leave a comment »I have my wedding dress in my possession!!!! I picked her (she needs a name!) up from the tailor this afternoon after a bit of a snafu – the first time I went to pick it up there was a snag and a spot. I don’t know if they happened at the tailor/j.crew factory or in my home but they fixed and cleaned it for no extra cost. I now do not want to open the bag until my wedding because I am worried I will do something stupid and snag it again! Nick’s tie is on the way and I just have a few more décor issues to work out…plus about 10000000 more other little things that need to get done!
At least the weather is really nice and I was able to take a great walk on the rail trail before heading home for a delicious dinner!
Inspired by Jenna’s quinoa and beet salad.
Delicious farmers market beets, goat cheese, lentils (cooked previously!), parsley, lettuce, S&P.
The creamy goat cheese and the mild beets were a great combination with the meaty lentils.
Eat your beets! They make your pee red – at least I hear that is true!
Super happy that tomorrow is Friday but not so happy that the weather is going to get hot and humid like typical Maryland. At least it will be a 3 day weekend!
Got any good plans?!?!
Happy Thought
Posted: June 29, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: garden 1 Comment »First tomato!
Farmer’s Market Tuesday!
Posted: June 28, 2011 Filed under: dinner | Tags: farmers market, zucchini Leave a comment »Today was another successful day at the farmers market! I was able to get beets, beet greens, 2 heads of lettuce, a pint of blueberries, a pint of cherries, 3 apples, a dozen farm fresh eggs and baby zucchini and yellow squash all for under $25! To me that is a good deal (berries are expensive)!
Tonight I used some of my squash and lettuce to make a lovely dinner.
Zoom in on the squash.
I simply cut the squash lengthwise and roasted it for 30min with garlic powder, chili powder and olive oil.
I topped a bunch of herby lentils with a bunch of squash and cut it up all together to enjoy them together. Lovely dinner of farmer’s market find and cooked at home lentils! Delicious!
Stamp Out Loud!
Posted: June 26, 2011 Filed under: wedding, weekend | Tags: wedding 1 Comment »Whew this weekend was kind of crazy. Always moving but we got the wedding invites stamped and addressed!
Mom and I had a little cheese party while we re-visited our stamping skills that we haven’t used since 1998.
Like our bows? They were on the invite boxes.
Lunch break!
Sissy did her part by keeping us entertained and only stepping on a few envelopes.
Nick didn’t really have anything to do, but he kept us company.
After our little stamping party we made a trip to Lancaster to have dinner at our rehearsal dinner location
The restaurant is keeping with the wedding theme of sustainable happy food from the local area.
We had dinner with Nick, Nick’s mom, Nick’s dad, Nick’s step-dad and my momma beans!
Because it is a place that gets meat from a responsible place and the animals live happy lives I took advantage and ordered some meat!
Waaaay too much steak on top of some lovely greens. My only complaint about the restaurant is the portion sizes were a little large for a sustainable restaurant. I guess they want you to have leftovers? They only serve local beer, which Nick was really excited about and they even have local wines (not sure if they are good are not).
Less than 3 months to go!!!!!
Crunch time and the rocks are here!
English Peas
Posted: June 21, 2011 Filed under: recipe | Tags: farmers market, recipe 1 Comment »Tuesday are always my favorite in the summer because of the farmers market! Today I picked up lettuce, arugula, kale, English peas and cherries.
Tonight I attacked the English peas!
I love peas! They are so cute and sweet to the taste. I even had a cat that used to eat them frozen! This afternoon I shelled a bunch of peas and thought about how to showcase their flavor.
I grabbed some basil and a pepper that I knocked off my accident 
What I came up with was garlic peas with basil and olive oil. Simple and easy, not even really a recipe but I wanted to showcase the peas!
Garlic Peas
- 1 clove of garlic pressed
- ~ 1 cup of fresh peas – frozen would work too though
- small bunch of basil
- S&P
- Olive oil
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add garlic. Start browning the garlic and add the peas for flavoring. After a few minutes of saute add enough water to cover the peas 1/2 way and cover. Cook the peas for about 5min then stir and add S&P. Recover and cook another 5min. Remove lid and cook until liquid is gone or peas are cooked to your liking. Add the basil and stir until just heated then serve!
Delicious garlic and basil flavors.
Eat your peas (and carrots)! I swear I was enjoying this bite.
Look who I caught snagging a snack while we were out on the deck!
Bad Sissy!
Coconut Aminos
Posted: June 19, 2011 Filed under: dinner | Tags: coconut aminos, dinner, lentils, wheat berries 1 Comment »Do you like soy sauce? Do you not like how much sodium is in it and are looking for a delicious alternative?
Try Coconut Aminos!
I found out about this stuff at a raw dinner Nick and I attended and I thought I would give it a try. It is just coconut sap with added sea salt. It costs about $5 for a bottle which I believe is more than regular soy sauce but I think your blood pressure will thank you.
I used the coconut aminos in a lovely lentil wheatberry bowl with summer squash and zucchini.
I also mixed in some carrots, onions, basil and parsley.
The verdict? Delicious! I loved how the squash absorbed the flavor and I didn’t feel like I was eating a salt block as I do with soy sauce.
A final wedding note – I was very giddy to find this milk bottle yesterday!
(For those who don’t know N’s last name is Warner!)
Minimoon
Posted: June 15, 2011 Filed under: wedding | Tags: honeymoon, wedding 5 Comments »This is part of my mini series about keeping things simple with our wedding. The following is our personal take on a honeymoon and only reflects US.
At Katie and Billy’s wedding everyone was asking Nick and me where we are going on our honeymoon. I guess it is a pretty common question to ask, but I had no idea so many people were that interested.
When it came to planning our honeymoon, which is really a minimoon, I sort of put it off to the side because the actual wedding is way more important to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good vacation, but Nick and I can have fun together anywhere (awwwww). Nick also has a fear of flying but says he would get on a plane to any place we could not drive to. I asked around to see what the hot stops were for couples and most people said some place in the Caribbean or overseas.
I’m not going to lie, going to Santorini Greece is one of my lifetime goals but at this point in our life it is an unrealistic destination if we want to put a nice chunk of change down on a house in a year. House >>>> Vacation. So, tropical island? Most people tend to go to all inclusive resorts for their honeymoons to make things easier and they usually have “really good deals”. Well the really good deals that I found were way out of our budget and we are not really all inclusive people (unless it is La Panacea in Costa Rica). I am not a fan of over crowed pools and buffet dinners of food that is handpicked for Americans – give me local cuisine please! It works for a lot of people and it would be really nice to not have to worry about a thing for a week after a hectic wedding day, but I don’t want to spend money on something that I only like 50% of the time. We also looked into bed and breakfasts, but we felt like a honeymoon/minimoon should be spent enjoying each other and not other guests.
All this being said Nick and I decided to spend 3 night and 4 days in Lost River, WV for our minimoon. Don’t know where that is? That is because it isn’t on many maps and the road, the house we rented is located on, is made of gravel. Perfect.
The house is situated on the top of a hill overlooking the George Washington National Forest and includes a giant kitchen and fireplace. We will be able to hike (you know we love to hike!) the forests and relax on our deck while enjoying each others company without 50 million other couples. There are a bunch of rainy day options if we need them, but I would be more interested in having a fire and playing board games. That is just how we roll – even if I am sore loser in monopoly every time 
We are hoping to be able to take a bigger vacation for our one year anniversary or maybe summer 2012, but for now this is what works for us. I am thinking RVing through Canada in the summer could be really fun! We aren’t going to make any serious plans as of now because you never know where you will be in a year!
Where are you/did you go on your honeymoon and why did you pick that place?
Goodwill Adventures
Posted: June 13, 2011 Filed under: wedding | Tags: wedding decor Leave a comment »Now that Katie’s wedding is over and we are quickly approaching the 100 day mark I decided to finally go and look for a few things on my list.
I went to Goodwill after work to see if I could scavenge any good things.
I think I came out pretty well! I really wanted some fall colored unique glass pieces.
I’m not sure exactly what I will use these for, but I might put single flowers in the on side tables or just place them as is. They are pretty unique and I love the old medicine bottle and the short green one. The green one has 1976 stamped onto the bottom and that may not be old but it makes it more likely to not have been mass produced in China.
Three other great things about these bottles are that one, they are recycled – one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, two by buying them at Goodwill I am helping others and third, the only thing I can find close to them are 50% more expensive and at IKEA (not that I don’t love that place).
Along with my bottles I also picked up a stack of 5 pales for .90 each.
I have been looking for something a little more rustic but I could not pass them up at that price. I may paint them to give them a faux rustic finish but we shall see. Overall I spent less than $20 at Goodwill and I think my money was well spent. Now I need to find another location to raid!
Do you know of any good places to find pretty glass bottles?!?! Re-used preferable but I know Pier1 used to have a ton.
Katie’s Wedding!
Posted: June 12, 2011 Filed under: wedding | Tags: wedding 2 Comments »This past weekend we celebrated Nick’s sister’s wedding!
It was a great time and Katie looked amazing!
It is a lot different being at a wedding when you are planning your own and I took lots of mental notes. Here are so photos from the day.
Katie, her mother in law and maid of honor.
Katie and her flower girl.
Flowers!
Nick in his tux.
Ceremony location.
All of the guys.
Some of the bmaids and the mother of the bride.
Giving her away.
Ring bearer almost falling into the pond.
Candle lighting.
And they’re married!
Wedding party!
MOH speech.
First dance.
Father daughter dance.
Congratulations Katie and Billy!
I hope you guys have a great time in St. Lucia!
Wedding Close Ups
Posted: June 5, 2011 Filed under: wedding | Tags: wedding 1 Comment »We got a lot of wedding stuff done this weekend! I met with my ‘”florist”, we picked up our invitations, my wedding hair flowers arrived and the best thing we did was get out wedding suits! There was a super sale at Joseph A. Banks this weekend, buy 1 get 2 free plus 3 shirts free, so we got our dark grey suits and shirts all today! Now we just need our ties!
Remember that game when you were a kid where you saw a close up of something and you had to guess what is was? Here it is for our wedding!
Now it is time to focus on Katie’s wedding! This week is going to be crazy!
