CSA bounty Week 4

This Wednesday's box was fun!

We got:
*swiss chard (kind of like spinach)
*red leaf lettuce
*squash
*pickling cucumbers
*broccoli

We turned it into:
*More chicken stir fry...I had a few sugar snap peas left from week 3, so with the fresh broccoli & some other goodies I had around it was delish!

*Manicotti-I stuffed it with a mixture of ricotta, mozarella, parmesan, asiago cheese & the steamed chard leaves.

*More salads!!!

*I have plans to try to can some pickles this afternoon...we'll see how that turns out!

CSA Bounty-Week 3

I'm a bit late on sharing details from week 3, but week 3's week's box contained:
*collard greens

*sugar snap peas

*squash

*zuchinni

*beets

We turned it into:

*More chicken stir fry...it was so delicious the last time we had to have it again. The fresh sugar snap peas make it so amazing!

*I was pretty skeptical about the collards, but I tried making timbales. I found the recipe in a great vegetable-based cookbook I got from the library. I steamed the collard leaves and used them to line 4 ramekins. I made a stuffing with small pieces of ham, grated gruyere cheese, chopped steamed collards, and diced onions. You fill the ramekin with the stuffing and pull the collard leaves over the top to cover the stuffing. Brush the tops with olive oil and bake in a water bath for 30 minutes.

I have never enjoyed collards before, but these turned out to be delicious.

*Roasted beets-Again, I was pretty skeptical. I'd never had fresh beets before. I washed them, roasted them in the oven with the skin on. When they cooled, the skins peeled right off & I sliced them, brushed with butter, basil, and parsley...delicious!!!

Details on Week 4 coming soon...

CSA Bounty-Week 2

This week's CSA produce was delightful!
I didn't take a picture, but our box contained:

*mixed salad greens
*cabbage leaves
*baby spinach leaves
*sugar snap peas (amazing!)
*carrots
*sweet onion
*squash

We turned it into:
-Salads- we've been eating lots of delicious salads
-I used the sugar snap peas, carrots, and onions (with some broccoli, mushrooms, and bell peppers) to make a chicken stir fry that we loved!
-I'm planning to roast the squash and onions early this week for dinner

Until the next box arrives, you'll find us eating lots & lots of salads!!!

Cheekwood

Last Saturday we spent the morning at Cheekwood Art Museum & Botanical Gardens.

They had a train exhibit with model trains & replicas of local landmarks, which was pretty cute!

I snapped only a few shots while we were there...

CSA Bounty-Week 1

We picked up our 1st CSA box this week... *Carrots
*Mixed greens
*Baby lettuce
*Onions
*Squash
*Radishes

We turned it into:

*Several delicious grilled chicken salads

*Silver turtles (grilled hamburger patties, potatoes, & carrots cooked in foil wrapping, hence the term silver turtles) with roasted radishes, squash, & onions and cooked greens

The fresh carrots were by far my favorite. They were just amazing!
The roasted radishes surprised me & were pretty good, especially paired with the squash.

Can't wait to see what next week's box holds!

waffles

I used to always prefer pancakes over waffles hands-down.
Then Chris' mom introduced me to her amazing waffle recipe.

Tarr Waffles

1 3/4 cups of flour
3 tablespoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 beaten egg yolks
1 3/4 cups of milk
1/2 cup of oil
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 beaten egg whites

Beat egg whites until stiff.
Combine other ingredients & mix until smooth.
Fold in egg whites and mix well.
Pour batter onto griddle.

Makes 5-6 waffles, depending upon the size of your griddle.

Maybe you'll become a waffle kind-of girl too!

storing fresh produce

We picked up our 1st CSA box yesterday!!!

It was chock full of delicious fresh produce which quickly led me to the conclusion that I have no knowledge of how to properly store some produce straight from the garden.

Thank goodness for the internet!
I found a great chart for information on prepping, storing, & using garden fresh produce.
You can find it here.

More on our fresh goodies to come...

priceless...

We love our Sadie!
She's such a part of our little family.
She's also quite photogenic!

Chris is often amused by engaging Sadie in what I term "doggie torture" (evidence below).
I guess she doesn't look too tortured!

And in another moment of silliness, Chris put Sadie in the chair (our nice chairs) with him, so here they are chilling together. Chris was so amused with himself & the look on Sadie's face is one of absolute bliss. Not that she has any cares in the world anyway!

P.S. They (mostly Chris) got in trouble for this one after I snapped the pic.

shooting for 100!

I realized that I've been blogging for going on 4 years & I haven't yet wrote 100 posts in 1 year.


So, it's my new goal! (kind of late in the year to be setting such lofty goals, huh?)


I'm aiming for 100 in 2011...guess i better get to writing!

summer of the cicadas...

They're h-e-r-e....the cicadas that is.

Until just a week or so ago, I was entirely unfamiliar with cicadas.

Unfortunately, I have quickly been forced to become all too familiar with them.

Apparently...

*Cicadas are insects that thrive in tropical conditions (I wouldn't typically think of Nashville as tropical, but ok)

*The life-cycle of a North American cicada is 13 years. So, they live in the ground eating on tree roots for 13 years, and then burrow their way out to lay their eggs. They then shed their outer coverings and begin their adult life.

*Cicadas make a loud noise, a mating call, produced by tymbals on their abdomen. They produce one of the loudest insect sounds known.

*Fortunately, cicadas do not sting or bite.

This means...

*There are holes (about the size of a #2 pencil) all over our yard.

*On warm, non-rainy days all other sounds outside are drowned out by the sound of the cicadas.

*When you walk outside, you step all over their crunchy shells they leave behind.

*And worst of all, they apparently like to hover near the ground & hence when running will fly into your legs...GROSS!

Supposedly, the cicadas will be with us for about 6 weeks...yuck!

Atleast we won't have to worry about them for another 13 years.

one reason.

I love my job for so many reasons.

Last night, I was reminded again of just one of these reasons.

Belmont School of Nursing held our pinning ceremony @ 6 p.m. last night.

It was a lovely ceremony that holds so much meaning for our students.

As I sat with the rest of the faculty in the choir loft looking out at the graduates and their families and friends, I was so inspired knowing that I was looking out over 84 soon-to-be nurses...WOW!

I love knowing that as I work with these students that I have the power to impact the way they think about nursing and the care they will provide to their future patients.

It's just one of the many reasons that my job is great!

sometimes it's the little things

like...

squeezing in a morning run before work,

enjoying homemade blueberry pancakes with my co-workers,

getting great deals @ CVS & Walgreen's,

half-price caramel frappacino @ Starbuck's Happy Hour,

a nice chat with Mom,

an evening walk with Sadie,

delicious grilled steaks for dinner...

that make days like today so great!

adventures galore!

We have had some fabulous adventures over the last month and even more fabulous adventures to come over the summer!

To recap...

-Chris' parents & Erin came to visit in early April. In addition to showing them the sights of Nashville, Chris's dad, Chris, Erin, & I went zip-lining along the Harpeth River. It was unbelievably fun!!! We're already imagining our next zip-lining adventure.

-We were home in Atlanta this past weekend celebrating 2 wonderful occasions, Mom's graduation from Brenau (go Mom, MSN, RN, OCN!!!) and Mother's Day. It was a great weekend with lots of fun and celebration.

Between those fun adventures, it's been very busy with the end of the semester upon us.

I've also accepted a PRN position at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. I will be working on an oncology floor, very different from where I was at Duke, but I am nonetheless excited about the opportunity to get back in the hospital and work with patients without too much commitment (only 2 shifts a month, no weekends, no nights, no holidays, no on-call!!!).

We've also been quite busy planning our summer adventures.

-Cheri & Abbey will be arriving on June 9th for the CMA Festival. We've been planning it for quite some time & it's fast approaching. We have 4-day, all-access passes so we're looking forward to lots of great concerts by the river during the day and bigger concerts at LP Field in the evenings. Lots of great music by lots of great country music stars. Definitely can't wait for some sister fun!

-Destination: Stockholm, Sweden. We leave 6/18 & will return on 6/26. Our home base will be Stockholm, but we will take a couple of day trips out from the city to see more of the countryside & the Baltic Sea. Europe, here I come! Here are 2 gorgeous pictures of our destination...

-Destination: Yellowstone. We leave on 7/1 for Jackson Hole, Wyoming where we will meet up with Chris' parents and Erin and head to Yellowstone National Park. Visiting Yellowstone is on my bucket-list, so I'm so excited about the opportunity to go and to go with people who have visited several times before and know the best places to see. We'll return home on 7/7. We're looking forward to it & I'm hoping to capture images half as awesome as these...

Summer, here I come!!!

i'm bad at this...

I've been a horrible blogger lately.

So, maybe April has flown by just as quickly as March.
I'm blaming it on it being the end of the semester and all that goes along with that.
The countdown to graduation is on though, 2 weeks from Saturday!

Between the craziness at work and the crazy weather (tons of rain & close calls with tornadoes), we've been busy planning our summer...
-4-days of fun with my sisters at the CMA Festival
-8 days in Stockholm, Sweden (more on that to come)!!!
-a week in Yellowstone with Chris' family

Hopefully, I'll be back to blogging soon and can share the details of our exciting upcoming adventures!

inspiring words...

Inspiring words from our pastor's daily e-mail devotion:

"I wonder how much of our anxious worry could be alleviated each day if we just remembered Who remains in control of our world. We worry and complain about the things that we need as though God is unable to meet those needs.
Paul offers these words to the church at Philippi... "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19)
Just as the ancient Israelites had to learn the lesson of God dependency, we too must learn to trust God for the needs of our lives. Do we possibly think that the God Who gave bread in the wilderness can't help with our hunger? Do we think that the God Who led their steps can't provide us with direction? Do we think that the God Who heard their cries turns a deaf ear to ours?
The problem is not a lack of resources on the part of God, it is a lack of trust on the part of His children. If God gives you a vision, He will provide the means for its fulfillment. If God gives you a calling, He will provide a way for you follow His lead. If God gives you a talent, He will provide a place for it to be used.
Rather than worrying about what you don't have, learn to depend on the One Who possesses all things. Trust God for both the daily bread and for the supplies to fuel whatever dream He plants in your heart."

-Jon Roebuck