the green monster

I'm still on my health-ier kick and doing well (except for this weekend when I went on a girlfriends' getaway). I ran across this blog and got some great recipes. I especially love this smoothie called "the green monster." It's packed with good, healthy stuff and best of all, Ella has been asking for one every day. EVERY DAY! The girl does not eat anything green because she says it's weeds and she does not eat weeds! Hmph!

 

I love that it uses ingredients we have around most of the time: bananas, spinach, ground flax seed, peanut butter and milk.

 

Just throw everything into a blender and pulse until mixed thoroughly.

Then watch your little monster gobble it up! I promise you cannot taste the spinach at all. (Love the bed head!)

Green Monster Drink (kid-friendly version)

1 frozen banana (or 1 banana + a few ice cubes)
2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 T. ground flax seed (good omega 3's)
1 T. Adam's peanut butter
milk (I add until it covers the other ingredients about 1/2 to 3/4)

Green Monster Drink (grown up version, though I also love the kid-friendly one)
1 frozen banana (or 1 banana + a few ice cubes)
2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 T. ground flax seed
1 T. ground almond butter or a handful of almonds
unsweetened almond milk

Enjoy!

P.S. This post is especially for Helen. She made my favorite green drink and put it in the blender instead of juicing and told me it was GROSS! I tried it in the blender and uhh...yeah, it was gross. I changed the recipe to only juice it. Sorry, Helen! But I promise this one is for the blender and very yummy! I will even bring you the ingredients to try if you don't believe me! :)

FTL and Stamping Bella

Just a quick post showing you a card that I did for clean&simple's Fall To Layout. 

I am leaving town in about 5 minutes through the weekend.  I am driving back to my hometown - about a 7 hour drive that I am really looking forward to...seriously...I like the "alone-time" with a good audio book.  A childhood friend is celebrating a big birthday and a new home and I want to celebrate with her!

• Stamps: Stamping Bella image, misc sentiment
• Paper: Papertrey Sweet Blush, Stampin' Up Going Gray and Vanilla
• Ink: Stampin' Up Going Gray, Versamark, copics
• Accessories: Papertrey ribbons, Stampin' Up Scallop Border and embossing folder, Silver Pearl Embossing Powder

My secret surprise!

This box came for me yesterday. I had my family from Florida visiting and there were special instructions on the top so I decided to wait until this morning to open it. Please excuse the crazy hair and general first thing in the morning look!!!!!!

This morning Katy finally awoke (the pre teen sleeping in is starting) and these are the photos she took of me and the box...

Yup, those are tears! I am so overwhelmingly touched!!!!

This is what was in the box!!!!! I want to take more photos later when the light is better and I can see through the tears...

This is what makes it so special!!!!! Sara, Jodi, Amy and Nicole...you are amazing people are wonderful friends...I LURVE YOU!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys are very good at keeping a secret!!!!!!!


Sara blogged about it here for better pictures!!!!!

My dream rooms

I was blog surfing this morning with my coffee and visited one of my favorites at 320 Sycamore and she had a pic of her penny tile kitchen cabinet backing and a link to the idea in House Beautiful by Designer Tom Scheerer. I looked at the other photos presented and I am in love with the bright rooms!!!!!  Talk about a happy place...I am there!!!!!

I am still doing chairs so the BIG room makeovers will have to wait for a bit. Here is some little progress on the chairs.

The basement workshop where it is nice and cool!

The outside workshop that is slightly sloped :o)

All three chairs were sprayed with Heirloom White

I am very near to completing the harvest gold chair! The back cushion and the hem are the final tasks!  

Things are still slower than usual with kids being out of school, family visits and just the normal nice pace of summer...

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying out of the heat!!!!!

Kim :o)

Ina's Fresh Peach Cake

 

Just a few blocks up the road from us is a very big orchard and farm that we love to visit.  This past weekend they were having a corn festival which meant that they had pony rides, craft booths, and live music.  The kids love going there and I don't mind taking them because I love visiting their farm stand.  It's a very quaint store, with an old-timely feel to it, and I could literally spend at least an hour, or more, walking around looking at everything.  They sell all kinds of decorations for the house, as well as beauty products, toys for kids, cookbooks, kitchen equipment, all sorts of local food mixes, jams, jellies, pickles, and lots and lots of gorgeous fresh produce.  

Anyway, this weekend I went a bit mad buying things while I was there.  A couple dozen ears of corn, all sorts of fresh peppers, gobs of peaches, cookies n cream fudge for my daughter, and a loud ass pop gun for my son (I'm already regretting that purchase).  Yep, I couldn't even carry it all to the car.  I had to use one of those wagons they provide to haul my goods.  When I got home I laid out 24 ears of corn on the counter and got "the look" from my husband.  It was the same look I got when he found out we had 28 boxes of pasta in our pantry. 


Needless to say, I shucked corn outside for a LONG time and when I was done I came in and saw the peck of peaches laying on the counter.  That's when I remembered Ina's recipe for her Fresh Peach Cake and decided to make it as a reward for shucking all that corn.  Surely shucking all that corn burned enough calories for a slice of cake? 

Fresh Peach Cake

Adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?

Serves 8

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1-1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 extra-large eggs, at room temp

1 cup sour cream, at room temp

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy.  With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan.  Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture.  Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans. 

Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes (mine took more like 80 minutes), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

**You can make this recipe even easier; substitute 16 ounces frozen peaches, defrosted.

 Notes/Results:  I'm not usually the biggest fan of a coffee cake or breakfast cake, but Ina's Fresh Peach Cake is really fabulous!  Of course I might be a bit biased because peaches are my absolute favorite fruit, BUT saying that, I think this is exquisite.  My favorite part of the cake was how the bottom and the sides got all caramelized, sweet, and crunchy with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Of course the inside was moist and fragrant with peaches, AND I'm not usually a huge fan of nuts on my cakes/breads, but the pecans on top of this cake were really nice because they gave that added crunch and of course they paired perfectly with the peaches.  A slice of this cake warm with a little bit of cream poured over it is swoon-worthy.  I highly recommend this recipe if you love peaches and/or you have an abundance of peaches right now.


Note:  The only drawback to this recipe is that I think the baking time is off in the book.  Ina says to bake the cake for 45-55 minutes, but this is simply not enough time.  Mine was wobbly in the center and I found I had to bake it about 80-90 minutes total.  Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.

I submitting this to my friend Michelle @ Ms. enPlace for her Garden Variety Wednesday.

Deconstructing with Colors

For today's challenges, I am playing along with the Splitcoast Color Challenge (Pool Party with Wasabi Chips??!!) and the sketch from deconstruction jen.

No time for chit-chat today. Andrew's high school marching band runs the snack shack at a community pool as a fund-raiser.  The problem is that marching practice has already begun, school starts August 8th, and the snack shack stays open until Labor Day - so...we parents get to run the snack shack.  My husband and I are doing two days this week.  Yesterday I cooked more corn dogs and made more smoothies than I ever want to see again!  If I survive the heat of today, I'll be back tomorrow with more challenges!!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Sweet Summer, sentiment from Vintage Labels
• Paper: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Au Chocolat dsp
• Ink: Memento Brown and copics
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Chocolate Satin and embossing folder, Cinnamon Stickles (on flower centers), misc gems colored with copics, Fiskars crimper

Chicken with Shallots

I've been in a little bit of a rut lately.  I haven't really felt like doing anything, much less cooking, which is pretty strange for me.  When I do get in the kitchen I don't really feel like being adventurous or making some grandiose recipe.  I just want easy, simple, classic recipes that I know I can count on to be great.  Whenever I'm feeling this way I turn to Ina Garten.  Ina never disappoints.

I pulled out my How Easy Is That? book by Ina and literally had a field day marking recipes that I wanted to try. This recipe for chicken with shallots was a standout for me, not only because the whole family can eat it (allergies, etc.), but also because I love the pan roasting method that Ina uses to cook the chicken and well, let's face it.....she tops off the chicken with a creamy buttery shallot sauce that is all kinds of heavenly.  That sauce was so good that I poured it over my potatoes and green beans too.  In fact, the entire meal was so good that I'm already thinking about when I'll make it again.

 Chicken with Shallots

Adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?

Serves 4

4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6-8 oz. each)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

1/4 cup dry white wine (I used chicken stock)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used fresh orange juice)

1/4 cup minced shallots 

3 tablespoons heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced at room temp

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels and sprinkle them generously on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes,  until it begins to smoke.  Place the chicken breasts, skin side down, in the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes without moving, until golden brown.

Using tongs, turn the chicken breasts skin side up, place the skillet in the oven, and roast for 12-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a medium saute pan, combine the white wine, lemon juice, and shallots and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until only 2 tablespoons of liquid remain in the pan.  If it reduces too much, add an extra splash of white wine or water.  Add the cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bring to a full boil.  Remove from heat, add the diced butter, and swirl the pan until the butter is incorporated.  Don't reheat or the sauce will "break"!!  Sprinkle with salt and serve the chicken hot with the sauce spooned over it.

Notes/Results:  This is a terrific dish!  The subtlety of the shallots really shines in this velvety sauce.  We served the chicken with baby red potatoes and fresh green beans and it was magnificent.  I had to laugh when I looked up and everyone was topping their chicken, their potatoes, and their beans with the shallot sauce.  The sauce was so good that we wanted to put it on everything!!  I think this is a terrific family meal, but I also think it would make for an impressive meal to serve company.

I did make a few changes to the recipe, based on what I had on hand.  I didn't have any white wine so I subbed chicken stock.  I also didn't have any lemons so I used fresh orange juice.  I was a little nervous about using orange juice in place of lemon juice, but most of the juice reduced to nothing so I don't think it changed the flavor of the sauce overall.

Stay tuned for more Ina dishes....  I've got her Fresh Peach Cake getting ready to go in the oven now!!