Tuesday, October 9, 2012
PANAMA CITY BEACH
Loving life at the beach looking after the crew of six kiddos between the ages of one + four! Tons more pictures to come!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
FIT TO PRINT
I am SO excited to order our Left Coast Life coffee table book through Shutterfly! I think it is so important to have physical prints of pictures from life's biggest moments - here's a sneak peek!
If you need help with album design, let me know! I'd love to help!
If you need help with album design, let me know! I'd love to help!
Friday, October 5, 2012
HALF-VEGGIE BURGERS
Kevin and I had a little adventure in the kitchen last night.
I had a quinoa / black bean burger at Burger Up while we were passing though Nashville & it was delicious! Kevin & I decided that it might be nice to try and come up with a half quinoa / have beef burger to resolve his carnivorous tendencies while still being a little healthier. We came across this recipe and thought we'd give it a try! I didn't want to go through the trouble of documenting the process just in case they turned out terribly, but to our great surprise, they were pretty tasty! We subbed ground turkey for the ground beef & guessed a bit on the proportions of the carrot & "courgette"(zucchini). The texture came out a little like a sloppy joe, but the "burgers" were very moist and didn't make us feel like we had eaten a ton of bricks afterwards! The true test of any recipe is, "would you make it again?" I think as we continue to revise our half-veggie masterpiece, the answer is yes!
Here's what we did (with conversions)...
+ Cook quinoa according to packet directions (we used garlic quinoa)
+ Grate half a zucchini, and half a carrot (we had to improvise with baby carrots)
+ Shred one slice of bread (next time we plan on using Panko)
+ Mix the grated zucchini, carrot, bread, garlic & parsley in a bowl & add ground turkey (about .5lbs) worcestershire sauce, egg yolk (might use two next time to bind the mixture more) & quinoa (about 2.8 oz)
+ Season with salt & pepper and mix well
+ Divide mixture into patties (our mixture made about 5)
+ Cook burgers in a pan for about 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through
+ Serve on potato rolls with hummus & complete with a side of sweet potato fries!
And my terrible documentation...
Cheers!
I had a quinoa / black bean burger at Burger Up while we were passing though Nashville & it was delicious! Kevin & I decided that it might be nice to try and come up with a half quinoa / have beef burger to resolve his carnivorous tendencies while still being a little healthier. We came across this recipe and thought we'd give it a try! I didn't want to go through the trouble of documenting the process just in case they turned out terribly, but to our great surprise, they were pretty tasty! We subbed ground turkey for the ground beef & guessed a bit on the proportions of the carrot & "courgette"(zucchini). The texture came out a little like a sloppy joe, but the "burgers" were very moist and didn't make us feel like we had eaten a ton of bricks afterwards! The true test of any recipe is, "would you make it again?" I think as we continue to revise our half-veggie masterpiece, the answer is yes!
Here's what we did (with conversions)...
+ Cook quinoa according to packet directions (we used garlic quinoa)
+ Grate half a zucchini, and half a carrot (we had to improvise with baby carrots)
+ Shred one slice of bread (next time we plan on using Panko)
+ Mix the grated zucchini, carrot, bread, garlic & parsley in a bowl & add ground turkey (about .5lbs) worcestershire sauce, egg yolk (might use two next time to bind the mixture more) & quinoa (about 2.8 oz)
+ Season with salt & pepper and mix well
+ Divide mixture into patties (our mixture made about 5)
+ Cook burgers in a pan for about 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through
+ Serve on potato rolls with hummus & complete with a side of sweet potato fries!
And my terrible documentation...
Cheers!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
DATE NIGHT
Kevin and I had a truly Left Coast Life date night last night which included one of my new favorite restaurants - Blue C Sushi!
Please indulge my digression on my opinions about food...
I love tapas style meals. Not only are these restaurants usually home to some freaking fantastic food (MAS Tapas & Bang! in C-ville) but also encourage conversation & sharing. Not the good behavior building - you have to share your toys - type of sharing, but a truly communal experience where you get to try lots of different foods and talk about it. These restaurants force you to slow down, and enjoy good food and conversation. There was rarely a time when I didn't spend three hours at MAS sipping on sangria and savoring bacon wrapped dates or goat cheese spinach artichoke dip. You don't have to feel awkward about asking to try your date's pasta dish or your mom's salad (granted some people don't feel awkward about this anyway, but you get the point); you get to try everything anyway! And for smaller (5ft tall) people like me, getting a massive steak with a heap of mashed potatoes and asparagus at a restaurant just makes you mad when you can't finish it. Tapas style meals are the perfect portions to let you try different foods, stop when your full, or just order more if you're still hungry!
Okay I'm done. Promise.
I'd never seen a conveyor belt of sushi before... so needless to say, I was practically giddy watching little trays of sesame noodles and tempura shrimp rolls circle around me. Kevin and I picked out a smorgasbord of delectable treats including seared tuna, pork wontons and tempura lobster, and washed it down with some moshi ice cream. In the center of the restaurant you could watch the sushi chefs wrap up inventive concoctions while anime cartoons flashed on the wall. Loved. Every. Minute.
So if you're planning a date night out with your boyfriend, family outing with your parents, or getting together with a group of friends, tapas-style restaurants are the way. to. go. Best atmosphere, best food, best night!
Cheers!
Please indulge my digression on my opinions about food...
I love tapas style meals. Not only are these restaurants usually home to some freaking fantastic food (MAS Tapas & Bang! in C-ville) but also encourage conversation & sharing. Not the good behavior building - you have to share your toys - type of sharing, but a truly communal experience where you get to try lots of different foods and talk about it. These restaurants force you to slow down, and enjoy good food and conversation. There was rarely a time when I didn't spend three hours at MAS sipping on sangria and savoring bacon wrapped dates or goat cheese spinach artichoke dip. You don't have to feel awkward about asking to try your date's pasta dish or your mom's salad (granted some people don't feel awkward about this anyway, but you get the point); you get to try everything anyway! And for smaller (5ft tall) people like me, getting a massive steak with a heap of mashed potatoes and asparagus at a restaurant just makes you mad when you can't finish it. Tapas style meals are the perfect portions to let you try different foods, stop when your full, or just order more if you're still hungry!
Okay I'm done. Promise.
I'd never seen a conveyor belt of sushi before... so needless to say, I was practically giddy watching little trays of sesame noodles and tempura shrimp rolls circle around me. Kevin and I picked out a smorgasbord of delectable treats including seared tuna, pork wontons and tempura lobster, and washed it down with some moshi ice cream. In the center of the restaurant you could watch the sushi chefs wrap up inventive concoctions while anime cartoons flashed on the wall. Loved. Every. Minute.
So if you're planning a date night out with your boyfriend, family outing with your parents, or getting together with a group of friends, tapas-style restaurants are the way. to. go. Best atmosphere, best food, best night!
Cheers!
Monday, October 1, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
COLOR RUN
Literally the happiest 5k on the planet - The Color Run was a BLAST! First and foremost, loved getting to hang out with my dear friend, Abby, all the while getting blasted with pixie dust (no, it did not taste good.) At risk of destroying my camera, we didn't snag too many pictures, but the event was awesome all the same! 15,000 other runners joined us for the occasion in Portland & helped conclude the race with a blinding color celebration (cue thousands of people throwing a cup or two of dyed cornstarch in the air)!
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| Before... |
After...
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| Blinding color celebration in center left |
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