Mediterranean Cooking Round 2

I have not given up on Mediterranean cooking, in fact, I thought I would give it another go. Not Paella of course or Spanish food, but I moved on to Italian, and man was it a hit! I'm not a newbie to making Italian food, but I thought I would try something new that was not in my repertoire and I think I will be making it again.  I made Giada De Laurentis' Pork Chop with Fennel and Caper Sauce.

Girls Weekend Away

A couple of weeks ago my mom and I headed out to have a girls weekend. We traveled on down to the hill country, to the small town of Marble Falls and we loved it. We had such a great time. We stayed at a little B&B on the main downtown square, shopped, tasted wine, went to a brewery and hung out at the piano bar across from our room.

We also went zip lining...so fun!

And rappelling

After getting super hot zip lining, we headed out to Krause Springs to cool off. And boy did we ever, that water was chilly!

We finished the trip with some wine tasting at Flat Creek Estates, their wine was absolutely wonderful. We also bought a case of raspberry sparkling wine for my sisters wedding. I will definitely go back.

And...FLOP!

Last night I tried making Paella (a Spanish dish) for the first and last time ever. Needless to say it was a big flop, and I will be leaving it to the pros for the making. Unfortunately I got busy talking with my good friend Jenn who came over for dinner and I wasn't paying attention and the bottom turned completely black! I burned dinner and this is not common practice for me and I was filled with disappointment. To top it off, the rice was not finished cooking and no one likes crunchy rice. Everyone politely ate the dinner, but the leftovers were thrown out, which was a shame that it was not so good, because the flavor was delish. If you are brave and decide to try it out, or Mediterranean cooking is your forte then be my guest. The recipe was from Tyler Florence, his Ultimate Paella!

Sharefest day 2

Our day 2 of Sharefest was much warmer than the first, and it was a day filled with...


Caulking...

Painting...

Laughter...

Roof building...

 And Fun!

The finished product! 

Thank you Cassie for taking such wonderful pictures!

Meat and Sweets with the Gardners

This summer Drew and I are beginning a Gardner family summer tradition! Throughout the summer we want to host a BBQ with friends and family and for each BBQ we will be grilling a new meat and method (not just burgers and dogs) and baking a new dessert that I've never made. A couple of weeks ago we had round one of meats and sweets with the Gardners, we had a great time with wonderful fellowship.

Mindy, Mike, Ryan, and Brandon enjoying dinner...after dinner came a heated game of cherades, (I think the boys cheated).

Tim and Ashlyn enjoying some pool time, the pool was a great refresher to the warm weather.

Sebastian having fun in the sand table

The girls chatting and hanging out, and Cassie enjoying her chicken.

Drew and JP hanging out

It felt great that evening when the sun set...Mindy, Kara, and Mike enjoying eachothers company

Ryan being cool and trying on Ashlyn's floaties

Cute couple...Ben and Mikaela

Drew and me

Of course the cute kiddos



For our first ever meat and sweets we grilled chicken, here is the recipe and for dessert we made smores, the kids and adults loved them!

Honey Mustard Chicken:

12 chicken drum sticks

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup country dijon-style mustard

2 teaspoons shredded lemon peel

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons onlive oil

4 garlic cloved minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, in a small bowl stir  together honey, mustard, lemon peel, lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, hot pepper sauce, and black pepper. Pour over chicken; seal bag. Turn to coat chicken. Marinate in fridge for 4 hours turning occasionally.

2. Drain chicken; place any remaining marinade in a sauce pan. Bring marinade to boil. Preheat grill, reduce heat to medium. Adjust for indirect cooking. Place chicken pieces on grill rack over burner that is turned off. Cover and grill for 50 to 60 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (180*F), brushing occasionally with the sauce during the last 5 minutes of grilling.

Makes 6 servings

Answer to Prayer

It has been a long three years since graduation, each spring bringing anticipation of getting a teaching job and then pain and disappointment of being rejected. Through that pain, God has taught me some very valuable life lesson on being patient and waiting on his perfect timing. Although this past three years have been hard for me (as I seem to find my value in the job I have), I would not change them for the world. During the three years Drew and I paid off all our student loans with an inconsistent salary on my side, God always provided a job for me, and he placed valuable people in my path to mentor me and help mold me into the teacher I am today.

I am blessed beyond belief, and praise God for his provision and grace in my life. His timing is truly perfect. I am going to be working with a wonderful team, teaching Special Education in my neighborhood school (a minute and a half drive y'all), and I couldn't be more excited. I knew when this school opened 2 years ago that I was going to work there, of course my plan was the year that it opened, but God knew I had more growing to do. Pray BIG and God answers BIG!

Have you praised God for his perfect timing in your life?

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Meal Planning Monday

There were a couple things that didn't end up getting made last week, so they are repeats for this week!

Monday: Balsamic grilled bruschetta chicken with roasted broccoli
Tuesday: Garlic quinoa with grilled shrimp
Wednesday: Life Group get together
Thursday: Jamaica mission trip dinner
Friday: Church
Saturday: Brazil mission trip dinner
Sunday: Kitchen is closed