Archives for May 2018

Grilled corn and poblano salad

May 31, 2018 / By Courtney / 6 Comments

Friends.

This recipe.

I’m so addicted it’s not even funny. I’m obsessed, obsessed. I ate it for four days in a row no problem. And I want more. Kind of like the bbq chicken quinoa salad. It never ever gets old. In fact, I swear I crave it more.

This salad has so much goodness going on. Pulled rotisserie chicken, charred poblanos and corn, spinach, plenty of cilantro, orzo pasta, all tossed together with a zippy lime vinaigrette.

Of course, you could leave it meatless and skip the chicken. Or leave it carb free and skip the orzo. You could replace the orzo with rice or quinoa. You can save a step and use Trader Joes fire roasted corn and not deal with charring the corn on the grill. The poblanos you can just roast a bit in the oven. So much versatility, you can really make this one your own in terms of what you want to eat and how much effort you want to put in.

For me, I think next time I would skip making the orzo and just throw in some quick cooking quinoa from Trader Joes. Definitely not skipping the charred poblanas and corn as I love to grill and the flavors were so amazing!

This one is perfect for meal prep for lunches during the week or for busy sport weekends on the go. I know I’ll be making it over and over again.

GRILLED CORN AND POBLANO SALAD
Recipe adapted from Little Spice Jar

INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD:

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta (or rice, or quinoa, or skip)
3-4 ears of corn, husked
2 small or 1 large poblano pepper
2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped up
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie works great)
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro

INGREDIENTS FOR VINAIGRETTE:

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
good squeeze of honey
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your grill. Spray the ears of corn with cooking spray or rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper then wrap in foil. Cook the orzo pasta (if using) according the package directions while the veggies are grilling. I gave them about 12 – 15 or so minutes on the grill, rotating every once in awhile. Let the veggies cool. Dice the poblanos (remove the skin or leave it on, whatever you prefer). Chop the kernels off the corn.

For the vinaigrette combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl and whisk together. Taste, add in more salt/pepper/honey if needed.

In a large bowl, toss together the orzo, corn, poblano, spinach, shredded chicken, and cilantro. Top with desired amount of dressing and serve immediately. For meal prep: portion the salad out into containers, pack the dressing separately and toss right before eating.

I have a middle schooler!

May 30, 2018 / By Courtney / 2 Comments

And just like that, he’s off to middle school.

Middle school.

Not preschool. Not elementary school. No, we are done with those years. Check them off the (too short) list. We are now an official grown(ish) kid that is off to navigate a brand new school with brand new social situations and, gulp, advanced math. Dear Lord help me. Like, actual for real help me. I stopped understanding his math around second grade. I could not be more serious.

All kidding aside, I can’t believe we are here and yet I can most definitely believe we are here. I’ve honestly never been one to reflect back often on the baby years with sadness and wishful thinking. I don’t want to go back to those years, I really don’t. And we did preschool, thank you very much. We also did kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade, and yep, fifth grade. It didn’t fly by. It was six years of elementary school and it felt like six years and it was awesome.

Yet I most definitely don’t want to fast forward either. I can’t imagine him in high school and I don’t want to, at all. (Hold me). I want to enjoy Logan exactly right where he is in this moment of his life because he’s rocking it. And I could not be more proud.

He’s ready to move on. And I’m so ready to watch him move on. At times I do feel sadness of the younger years slipping away as he grows another inch in what seems like a Saturday afternoon. He’s definitely way more ‘big kid’ now. He wants his freedom, his friends, his phone. He has broad shoulders. (What the heck). He texts girls. He sleeps in. He wears a size 10 shoe. He knows where babies come from. Friday nights are spent at open gym with friends, post family dinner of course. But those are good, healthy, wonderful things. I want him growing big. I want him happy with his friends. And I want him still wanting home.

Which he most definitely does. I remember a very specific few ‘pre teen’ days with him. They are bound to happen, and it’s hard not to take those moments personally. (Hello, I am your mom! Why so mean!) I honestly hadn’t seen him smile in days. Why so angry? It all came to head with a rough baseball game with zero hits and I could just tell in his face he was so. over. it. He turned to me in the car and said that all he wanted was to go home, order Lou Malnatis, and be with us, which of course includes his best friend Ryder. I’m on it Logan, I’m on it. It was not lost on me that him craving home was an absolutely amazing thing. And it made my heart feel so full.

I know as he grows more and more those moments may appear less and less. Comfort may shift to a girlfriend instead of Lou’s and wrestling his brother. And yet right now, this exact moment, we are in a pretty magical stage. So extremely independent with a personality in full force. You know when they are little and you just wonder what your kid is going to be like? At eleven you know. You know real well.

Logan is loyal. He is so ridiciously funny. Not like joke funny, smart funny. With quick wit. My favorite kind of humor. And when I can make him laugh at something I feel like a million bucks. He loves baseball and pool dates and big social gatherings at our home. He’d have a party here every weekend if I’d allow it. And when he smiles at me I could melt into a puddle on the floor. Not in like a weird way or anything, just in a way that I can’t believe that he is actually for real mine.

I’m am so excited for this next phase of his life. And I’m so excited for his group of friends as well! I’ve watched most grow up since the very early years and I can’t believe they are going to tackle middle school all together. What a group. I have no doubt they are going to do big, wonderful, things. And perhaps a few dumb things along the way. We are talking about middle school aged boys. These things are bound to happen. Yesterday Logan hit a (pitched by his brother) golf ball towards our home and broke a lantern outside our garage. This was way better than the alternative, which was killing his brother.

So bring it on middle school. Until then we are going to soak up this summer and all it has to offer. Come mid August when the bus rolls around to actually take him to sixth grade I’m sure my whole ‘cool as a cuc’ disposition will melt away and I will be a blubbering mess on the side of the road. Wait for it….

Minted Brag Boards

May 29, 2018 / By Courtney / Leave a Comment

Sponsored by Minted

I love the idea of brag boards for your kids.

Especially when they are as darling as Minted’s pin boards.

Have you all seen these? My goodness. They could not be cuter if they tried. My favs are the in the clouds, island style, (swooning over the pineapples!) and of course, the Chicago toile print. A bit biased on that one but I just could not resist the Navy Pier ferris wheel and the deep dish pizza reference. Well done Minted, well done. They also have other cities including San Francisco, Texas, New York City, and Atlanta.

The pin boards come in a variety of sizes to fit many different types of spaces from small (5″ by 7″) to extra large (40″ by 55″). Ours are 18″ by 24″ and fit our mudroom space well. They come ready to hang, including the sturdy frame and any hardware you would need. Easy peasy.

The end of the school year is the perfect time to complete this project in your own home. It’s so fun for the kids to have their own special spot to display end of the year report cards and any artwork and notes they would like to showcase. I also took the liberty of printing a few pictures for them of some of their favorite moments and friends. I have caught both boys a few times just standing in front of their board and staring. So flipping cute. And many times when they come home from school they have asked to put up papers or artwork that they are excited about. It’s nice to be able to have a place to really display what they are proud of. This allows for many other items to hopefully go ‘tossed’ unnoticed. Ahem. We can’t keep all the papers can we moms? Distract them with these brag boards!

Another thing to grace the present of these pin boards recently is the summer chore chart although I really dislike using the word ‘chore.’ I’m not exactly sure why, but am also not exactly sure what else to call it. ‘Summer expectations’ maybe? I tell the boys these are nice normal things people that are apart of a family are just expected to do. I’m not asking for anything outrageous here. And I don’t pay them for it because I feel like they should just do it. Most days I don’t have to even mention what’s on this list, they are trained pretty well. From time to time I do though, especially on the weekly tasks as they can lose track of the days of the week in the summer. Don’t we all?

Here is what is gracing the boy’s summer ‘expectation’ list in case it may give you an idea or two for your own home this summer to keep those kiddos in line. And I’d love to hear any other ideas you may have in this area, it’s always interesting to hear what kids are responsible for in their own homes.

DAILY

Bring in dishes after meals
Laundry goes in laundry baskets
Hang up wet swimsuit
Put shoes away under mud room bench
Clean up toys in family room and/or basement
On game days, remove baseball uniforms in laundry room and put in wash
Garbage goes in garbage cans (and remind friends of this)
Bring in mail

WEEKLY

Monday: Clean play room
Wednesday: Yard need to be cleaned up and toys put away in garage
Friday: Garbage bins need to be put away in garage

See? Nothing too outrageous here. And these items really do help me, a lot and I think it’s important for the boys to contribute around the home in the summer otherwise it most definitely can feel overwhelming doing it all yourself. Posting these up on the bulletin boards is a great reminder to the boys what needs to happen as they frequent this space in the home so much. Way to be subtle, mom.

So what do you think? Aren’t the Minted brag boards darling? I’d love to hear your favorite pattern and how you feel you could use one in your own home. You don’t need them to be brag boards. They would work great in a home office space. The pineapple prints could look SO cute hanging in a kitchen with some handwritten recipes pinned up. Ok awesome, and now I want that.

Happy pinning!
C

My Mom’s Brisket

May 25, 2018 / By Courtney / 2 Comments

At last.

I’m sharing the good stuff, my friends.

It can be such a tease, right? When you see a food photograph on Instagram with no real way to get the recipe. I try not do to that too often, because I just don’t think it’s fair. And it’s drives me batty when I see something I want to make and I can’t figure out how.

But one in awhile I throw something out there that is special. That deserves a little patience. My mom’s brisket is that recipe. I grew up eating this recipe. It’s truly the best. And so wonderful for spring and summer entertaining, especially if you are gone all day. You can prep the brisket in the morning, let it cook low and slow and bam. You’ve got yourself a meal for a crowd!

This is served best with homemade mac and cheese and a giant spinach salad. Bonus that you can also make the mac and cheese a day ahead and just bake off when ready.

A note on the brisket, you really want to stick to the pounds indicated. Once I needed more and the butcher assured me the cooking time would be the same. It was not. If you need more than four to five pounds of brisket, don’t double to eight to ten. I would make two individual 4-5 briskets if that makes sense. They will cook perfectly that way.

For the BBQ sauce, you can definitely go homemade if that is your jam. We love the Q’s barbeque sauce that is readily available in stores near us. It’s better than anything I feel I can make at home and feel this is a step worth saving for sure.

Other than that, you now know all the family secrets. Well, maybe not all of them. But all the brisket ones.

Enjoy!

MY MOM’S INFAMOUS BRISKET

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 lbs of beef brisket
3 cloves minced garlic
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp black pepper

DIRECIONS:

Rub brisket with minced garlic. Mix all of the remainder ingredients to form a rub. Rub over both sides of brisket. Wrap in heavy foil and place on a baking tray. Bake at 200 degrees for at least eight hours or so. Overnight works too.

Thinly slice brisket (it should basically fall apart) and toss with BBQ sauce. Enjoy!

Easy shrimp and avocado bowls

May 23, 2018 / By Courtney / 6 Comments

So, I’m totally fascinated about how moms who are home eat lunch. And actually, how all people eat lunch.

Like, I really want to know. Do you make a point to each lunch everyday? Do you pick up lunch? Make it?

I remember playdates with other moms when our little ones were little and not in school and no one would like, eat. And I wanted to legit die. I’m all, can I eat Timmy’s chicken nuggets? Or at least get a Welch’s fruit snack?

I also remember back in my traditional working days getting an hour off to eat lunch, and I would take the whole hour and it was glorious. Does that even happen anymore? Can you ever disconnect from your job?

Lunch is a big part of my day. I basically think about it every minute post breakfast. I get anxious if there is an appointment around lunch time that does not involve lunch because I need to eat. The time I tried Orange Theory at 12:15 was the last time I tried Orange Theory at 12:15.

I’m not sure if this is the norm though?

Many days I do pick up something. Salads on the go or, as all my loyal Instagram followers know, I have a bit of a Roti fetish. (Like will drive completely out of my way Roti fetish. It’s fine). Leftover soup is always good too! But from time to time I really enjoy ‘making’ a lunch that feels a bit more special. But let’s be honest, I don’t really want to cook cook because that is for dinner time. More just assemble.

And that is why I LOVE the Fresh Express Salad Kits. I get the Asian one often, and the doctor it up a bit with my own stuff. Sometimes spicy shrimp, sometimes rotisserie chicken. I throw in cucumbers and avocado and extra cilantro and lime. The dressing is straight from the salad kid and oh so delicious. Bam, the most beautiful and easy shrimp and avocado bowls.

Totally a lunch that feels a little elevated but still comes together in just a few minutes.

So tell me, are you doing the same? What are your favorites spots to grab a quick lunch? I’d love to get some new ideas!