sitting at the adult table

Brian and I are hosting our first Thanksgiving this year now that we have a house big enough for everyone! Thank goodness for parents who help us out.  Brian and I are blessed that our families do Thanksgiving all together, including his sister's in-laws as well! My mom helped me organize all of the prep so we created a timeline:

3 weeks before// invite everyone and has them to RSVP
2.5 weeks before// gather RSVPs & inspiration
2 weeks before// create menu and share with everyone what they can bring
1.5 weeks before// grocery shop for what you can
1 weeks before// set table
week of// clean house & shop for & prepare everything else

Have you hosted Thanksgiving at your house yet? Any tips?

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date night

Friday night Brian and I ventured to the east side to grab some pizza. For some reason it's hard to get up and out on a Friday after we've both had hard, busy weeks. I forced myself this time by getting all ready to go when I picked up Brian from work so I couldn't tempt myself with the couch.

We set out for Sellwood Pizza Kitchen only to find out it is not longer there.. awkward.
Luckily we found Laurelwood down the street and decided to check it out

my hot date that usually looks like this: 

gluten free pizza. thank you Portland. 

and of course our night has to end with blizzards & red box (we rented Young Adult  ... wouldn't recommend it)

how was your weekend?! 

if I had a Kitchen

I would be making this for dinner this week:

Monday:

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Tuesday

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Wednesday

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Thursday

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and Friday night is pizza night! what are you cooking this week?

b-an-an-as

I've had to be on a strict diet the last few weeks due to some health things I've been trying to figure out, I'm off of it now and have been craving making treats!

Some Banana treats I'm thinking it's time to try:

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Do you like banana with your dessert? What have you been dying to try?

gluten free: Deschutes Brewery

Portland Pub

210 Northwest 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 296-4906


ENTIRE gluten friendly menu

so happy about this one. such a great place, great feel, they make their own gluten free buns for burgers and sandwiches. THE BEST. also so gluten free beer, haven't tried it yet...

eggs for days

saw this here and followed to the recipe here. going to have to try :) Brian and I love eggs

on the list to bake:

Would be perfect for Valentine's Day...

Red Velvet Cake Balls Found here

halloween traditions

dinner:

chili + rice.

My mom always made a mean batch of Chili on Halloween night to warm us up before we adventured out into the cold for candy gathering.

in college I didn't have my mom but still wanted the chili, so I just made it from a can :)

and my wonderful roommates my sophomore year introduced me to a rice cooker and to adding rice into the mix with chili. It quickly became one of my favorite easy meals and my new easy Halloween meal until I learn to/have the time to make great Chili.

movies: so because I actually HATE scary movies with a passion, these are my Halloween favorites:

Hocus Pocus

Double Double Toil & Trouble

Teen Witch

treats:

pumpkin pie

candy corn

joys pumpkin bread

{recipe and pictures to come!!}

tgifffffff

Filling in blanks on Friday because I am tired ... and feeling blah.
Play along with Lauren today and don't forget to link up on her page! 
It's SUPER fun!!

1. Today for breakfast I ate Olivia's special smoothie made in my bullet! banana, frozen berries, sugar, rice milk. YUM.

2. My go to/never fail recipe is pork tenderloin. So easy and cheap to make and can feed lots of people. You just marinate it with olive oil, rosemary, balsamic vinegar. salt & pepper and then cook in the oven on 350 for like.. 30 minutes? I check it a lot to see so I never know the time something is supposed to be in for. I usually serve with rice and zucchini with Parmesan or asparagus

3. Something I eat that other people think is weird is probably a lot of what I eat is werid! I am allergic to gluten and dairy so my substitues are super off. I eat rice cakes and corn chips with a lot of things that people would never think to eat it with. I've had to get used to it... and my girlfriends do this now, but my lunch all through college would usually be: turkey meat, corn chips and humus... that i just eat with my hands. gross i know.

4. My worst cooking disaster ever was hmm... not sure if i've had anything noteworthy yet... i don't have that much time to cook/haven't tried a lot of new things...

5. If I could only eat one flavor of ice cream the rest of my life it would be oh i don't even know. pretty sure cake batter from cold stone but I would probably die from all the dairy... i love coconut and i love mango sorbet with strawberry sorbet...

6. One food I hate and avoid at all costs alllll seafood. i hate it all.

7. What is your favorite meal? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner?  hmm... i think breakfast. i don't eat a good breakfast that often but on a saturday, to have eggs and toast and fruit and coffee...mmmm so good. and i love bagels. although I am allergic to gluten.. ilove them.

P.S. This week is my lucky week because I won 2 giveaways!!!! so fun. Thanks Cole and Beth!

P.P.S. the tile saw we were borrowing broke... so our kitchen project is slightly being posponed... until we fix the saw... we're read to do the counters! so ready. my kitchen sucks right now.

P.P.P.S. ALSO want to wish Liz from From Portland to Peonies a happy wedding weekend!!! I am so excited for her and can't wait to hear all about it. What's so fun is that Liz is getting married at the same venue that I did! It's so magical there!!!!

craving this

How good does this look!? Thanks to Rachel over at Heart of Light

Pretty sure this just inspired me to have a little mini party this weekend! Maybe set up our fire pit that has just been sitting there for the last year...

Summer sangria (makes about 8 drinks)


1 cup loosely packed basil and mint leaves
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups good quality peach juice (TJs has a nice one)
1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
1 liter of sparkling water, if desired

:: Place herbs in a small saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Smash the leaves with the back of a spoon, until they're a bit bruised.
:: Add about half of the peach juice and heat the mixture over medium heat. Bring just to a simmer and then turn off the heat. Allow the mixture to stand for five minutes or so.
:: Pour the mixture through a mesh sieve and into a heatproof pitcher. Add the remaining peach juice and the wine.
:: Chill at least one hour or overnight. Serve with sparkling water to taste (we filled each glass 1/4 full with sparkling water and then added sangria) and garnish with herb sprigs or peach slices, as desired.

our own YUMM bowl

One of Brian and my favorite restaurants is Cafe Yumm, it's great because I have food allergies (gluten & dairy) and I can have a meal here without getting sick!!

We've been spending way too much money there lately so I decided to make my own Yumm bowls at home, we bought the sauce and had it the other night!

In the 2 bowls I put:

1 layer of brown rice
1 layer of black beans
1 layer of Yumm Sauce
1 layer of Salsa
1 layer of onions
1 layer of avocado

{other ideas to add: olives, cheddar cheese, chicken etc.}

 YUMMM!!!

my hubs is out of town on a business trip so my friend Holly is coming over tonight and we're gonna make them!

Anyone wanna try and tell me how they like it? I know Cafe Yumm is only in Oregon (because we're hippies...) so I want ya'll to try it and let me know what you think!! It's way good. promise.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

1 stick margarine or butter, softened
3 large or 3 1/2 small very ripe bananas
2 cups rice flour (or prepared GF baking mix)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons GF baking powder
1 teaspoon GF vanilla

{I also add chocolate chips and shredded coconut into the mix before baking}

Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla and bananas.
In another bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. Combine and beat until dry ingredients are moist.
Turn batter into 5 x 9-inch loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and 30 minutes or until toothpick comes clean out of center.
Do not under bake. Yields one loaf of 10 large slices.

smores!? yes please.

Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen!?

quick fix

When I have left-over meat (pork in this case) from the night before or a few nights before I like to make this easy meal with it.

Here is what you need:

Tortillas (any kind)
rice (optional)
feta cheese
humus
lettuce/spinach of some kind
left over meat

put it all in and wrap it up! LOVE it.

PS don't forget to check out my giveaway and enter to win!! beautiful necklace :)

bruschetta

I love this so much. SO easy and super tasty. See full recipe here

Ingredients


6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil

solution

So I've realized that I have a real problem with snacking. Living with a boy now makes it SO much harder. He snacks constantly and so I feel like I need to catch up. I end up snacking right along with him. I either make my own or just eat off of his plate because it looks so good. I decided as of right now that I need to begin to kick this habit. I need to eat more protein and vegetables because I am for SURE not getting enough of that. My mom always said when you are trying to kick a habit to replace it with something else. If you're trying not to snack, when you have the urge to snack have a go-to item so you aren't tempted (brushing your teeth, gum, mints, tea, water etc.) I LOVE tea so that will work great for me ( should go with water but sometimes I need a little bit more flavor). Today was BEAUTIFUL out and I wasn't in the mood for a warm drink--- so I looked through my fridge and came up with this tasty drink!

Started with this:

cut the strawberries
put it all together
added a little rice milk
and ta-da!
I also thought I could add sugar
and/or add Sprite to change the taste.
SUPER refreshing :)

quick and easy summer dessert

5 minute Mousse
1.5 cups of cold milk
1 {3.9 oz} package of Jello instant pudding
1.5 to 2 cups of heavy whipping cream WHIPPED

Found this here and I'm excited to make it!

Oba!

I love the Happy Hour at Oba! The margaritas are fabulous and so are so many things on the menu. My favorites are the grilled baja chicken tacos as well as the tostada. It's not necessarily the cheapest happy hour around but it is a lot cheaper than going to that restaurant for a regular meal. If you want "fancy" restaurant food at a not so fancy price- Oba! is a great place to go! And the portions are good sized as well. Check it out if you haven't and let me know what you think!!

(favorite margarita choices: traditional lime, guava and mango)

Happy Hour Times:

4:00 - 6:30 p.m.,daily

late night happy hour: 9 p.m. - close, daily

all day sunday

YUM

How good do these look!? and gluten free.. wow!

{via cannelle et vanille}

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

A few favorites from being an Irish girl myself...

1. The Secret of Roan Inish: great movie with a classic legend from Ireland

2. Irish Soda Bread: incredibly amazing..

3. Four Leaf Clover: how pretty is this?

4. The Reilly Family Crest: love the history, story and legends behind it.

5. Potatoes: a food favorite

6. The Countryside: Although I've never been to Ireland, I hope to some day, I am captivated by these images of the countryside. My dad has lots of pictures form traveling over there with relatives and their cottages looking similar to this, so enchanting.

What are some of your favorites? Irish or your family's heritage?