Tuesday Food Day

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Butter Sriracha Shrimp

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons Sriracha
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pound head-on shrimp
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Preparation

• Whip butter with Sriracha and melt in skillet.
• Sauté minced garlic in it and toss in shrimp. Just before they're done, add lemon zest and mint and basil and let them wilt.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/06/sriracha-buttered-shrimp#ixzz21Z805JVM


Y'all know how much I love Sriracha and love to feel the burn!  I am so weird about spicy things and love to pile on the hot stuff until my eyes water and I can't feel my mouth!!!  Big R asked me if I was trying to sabotage him for something.  Had he done something wrong because this dish is so freaking spicy???!!!!!  Ha Ha!
 I would seriously consider cutting the Sriracha down to 3 tablespoons instead of 6 if you are worried about it being too hot.  Big R could barely eat it but I was loving every bite!!!!I found this recipe on none other than Pinterest.  It is a recipe from Bon Apetit and has 25 recipes using Sriracha.

This is during preparation

While cooking.  It just looks like it's hot as fire doesn't it?!

And of course I put everything on a salad!!!  I made some Quinoa and black beans to put with the shrimp and it was delicious!!!!  Definitely a thumbs up for this recipe ...that is if you can take the heat!!!!!

Loves

There are just a few things that I must share with you today.  Let me start by saying everytime I walk in a store for something I come out with something else.  Happen to you?  Thought so.  So my list here are things not on my list of needs, but rather wants once in the said store.  Glad I took a chance.  The first being this ridiculously perfect Divine Oil body spray by Claudalie.

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Have you smelled this?  Pure heaven.  Reminds me a little of the Kai body oil.  Just love this stuff and not that much considering how much you get!  The scent stays around all day too.  A win win!

Next up, Eye Definer by Sonia Kashuk at Target.

Totally obsessed with this stuff.  Cheap and very easy to apply.  The pencil is not hard and goes on very smoothly.  Easy to smudge too if thats the look you are after.  Thank you Elizabeth for introducing me to this stuff! My favorite shade so far is "Blue Denim" but definitely want to try out a few other shades.

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On to the face.  Not sure what the deal is, but my face has been looking horrible lately!  I am 34 years old and still getting bumps all over my face!!!!  WHY!!!!!!  Ugh!  Well, anyway, just discovered this face wash and am loving it so far. Has a wonderful grapefruit smell too and really feels like you are getting your skin clean!

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This next one is  a DIY that my neighbor informed me of after our late night rendezvous in the cult-de sac.  Wondering why I said  "CULT de sac"-well it's a little nickname we gave ourselves after my husband's brother moved in two houses down from us.  So we have one neighbor in between (our age) which equals some late nights of wine drinking after the kiddos go to bed.  So back to my point, after one of these said nights, I spilled red wine all over this dress.

Arg!!!  Only worn it twice and I thought it was ruined!!!  

Here is the picture of a small area of red wine spilled before.

Well on to the awesome combo of ingredients and......

 during the process....

Voila!!!!!  

Y'all this combo really works!!!!  I didn't even deal with the situation that night either.  This is the next morning I decided to give it a try.  Can't believe it but I am so happy!!!!!

Tuesday Food Day

Do you fall into a routine easily?  With food of course.  I have a terrible habit of eating the same things over and over and forget to make some really yummy recipes that I have stashed away!  Because I feel inclined to post what I've been making lately, I'll show you two easy as pie salads I had this week.  The first one incorporates butter beans, which if you follow this blog at all, you know how obsessed I am with them!  I always use frozen and just throw them in salted boiling water.  I make a whole small bag or 1/2 a large bag at a time so I can have leftovers for my lunches during the week. 

Yarra Valley Feta + Pickled Okra + Butter Beans   

Lemon Dressing

So easy and so yummy!  

Yarra Valley Feta-marinated feta in olive oil and spices. 

 The most delicious feta and it's spreadable too so you can even put it on a cracker!!  I don't know if it can be found in all stores?  I found it at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section near the cheeses.

Pickled Okra- You can find in a jar at any grocery-at least in the South!!!  

Found these in the same section at Whole Foods as the feta

Butter Beans-cook in salted water for at least 10 minutes

Bibb Lettuce

sliced Heirloom tomatoes

Salt + Pepper

Lemon Dressing

1/2 Lemon

olive oil-a few dashes

Salt + Pepper

garlic-crushed optional.

I am addicted to spicy things so I always put a healthy amount of Sriracha on my salads to rev up my metabolism too!

 I know most people drink white wine in the summer but I am a stickler to red wine all year round.  Particularly Pinot Noir.  You know, this is pathetic to admit, but I think one of the main reasons I like it so much is it doesn't turn my teeth red. Ha!   From that comment alone you can tell I know slim to none about good wines.  I usually go for "Two Buck Chuck" at Trader Joes or for Crane Lake-$4.99- at Whole Foods.  It seriously tastes good to me!  But the other day I was feeling crazy and decided to try "Meiomi" Pinot Noir-mostly because it was on major sale for under $20.  For those of you in Mt. Pleasant/Charleston it was on sale at both Whole Foods and Bottles for $19.99.  It is delicious and doesn't break the bank!

The first course of supper last night.  A little "Make Your Own Caprese" salad.   I topped this with the same lemon dressing as I used on the above salad and it was delicious.  A balsamic would have been better but I have to admit I was feeling a little lazy and didn't feel like dealing:)  Yesterday was a Monday of all Mondays.  

Hope y'all enjoy your week and please do share some yummy recipes with me. 

 I'm clearly in a rut!!!!!

Weekend Happenings

We have had a very busy past couple of days!  It's what we call around here, BIRTHDAY WEEK.  Not mine of course, but the hubs.  He makes a point to celebrate for at least a week around here, which is fun and exhausting at the same time!  This was a big one (35) so we skipped town for a night to do a little R&R.  It was absolutely perfect.  Just what we needed.  We were able to stretch one night away into two days which was even better.  

Really missing this place right about now!

Getting ready for the birthday dinner

Finally got to wear these new kicks.  Thank you Lauren for convincing me these were a good idea:)

I tried to find a link for them, but they are sold out online probably because they are last season.  I found these at the Tibi outlet in St. Simons, so head there f you are in the area and looking for some awesome deals!

Ha!  I felt like we were on the Bachelor or something.  Somehow they caught wind that we were celebrating a big birthday...somehow???  Ha Ha!

Heart of Roses

Seriously??!!!

We came back to celebrate again with Big R's family and out of the 25 photos I took of the boys, this was the best one.  Oh well.

This was the best...blowing candles out on the birthday cake.  

Hope y'all had a great weekend too!

Matchbox Parking Lot

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I have gotten some of the best ideas from Pinterest over the past year.  Especially for the kiddos.  Here is a prime example of a fun learning activity for the little ones.  This blog is full of fun activities so be sure to check it out here.  

Little R is starting kindergarten in the fall and I have heard from so many parents of past kindergartners, "if only we had kept up the momentum over the summer between preschool and kindergarten, maybe it wouldn't have been such a huge transition?"  So, here is my late attempt at getting back on track before school starts in about 5 weeks-yikes!!!  We haven't quite gotten to sight words yet so my rendition was just reviewing basic numbers and letters in our "parking lot"  Here are the steps I took:

Supplies needed:

Poster Board

Marker

Ruler/Business card

I used my business card to draw out each "parking space" and then filled each space with a capital letter or number.

While I was doing that, Mr. Big was working on his own masterpiece

And big brother was practicing his letters on this awesome gadget.

Here's the "lot" all ready for the game to begin!  I would call out a letter or number and Little R would drive the car to the appropriate spot.  We would talk about words that started with the letter while he was driving around too.  If he was stumped by one we would just skip it or I would give him hints about where the letter may be hiding.  

I will admit, boys will be boys sometimes, and this game did not last forever.  We did get through about half of the letters and numbers and we plan to play again later in the week.  I definitely don't want to turn him off from any of these learning tools so just trying to go with the flow.  After all, it is summer right?!!!!!

And in case you are interested, here is another great site chock full of activities for children, 

75 Kids Activites

And if you live in a house full of jokesters like I do, then you may appreciate this link, 

Pranks

Tuesday Food Day

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Pan-seared Scallops

4 large dry scallops
salt
pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup white wine
"Pat the scallops dry with towel or paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the scallops (both sides). Heat olive oil in a frying pan (don’t use non-stick) over high heat. When oil is hot, place the scallops in the pan with at least one or two inches between them (so they don’t crowd and steam one another). After two minutes, the base should be browned nicely. Flip the scallops and cook for another minute or until base is browned. Remove from heat and set on serving dish(es). While still on high heat, drop a pat of butter into the pan. Move the pat around the pan until melted completely. Pour in the wine and use a whisk or spoon to scrape the fond from the pan and stir it into the liquid. Leave the heat on high and let the sauce boil until it reduces to desired consistency. Immediately remove from heat and serve with scallops."

recipe via use real butter

Are you drooling yet?  This is what I cooked one night for supper last week and it turned out just like this.
 Ha, what a joke!
 I will say these scallops were absolutely delicious but I burned the hell out of the sauce. She mentions putting your pan under a ginormous flame-meaning crank it as high as it would go. Lets just say don't do that with a cast iron skillet.   3 smoke alarms alerted us the house must be on fire due to all the smoke.  So as you can imagine, we ended up with a "burnt butter sauce".   I ditched that and started over on a lower heat.  Not quite like the one above but it was delicious nonetheless! 

 I served them on a bed of  grilled zucchini and yummo!!!

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Grilled Zucchini Salad
serves one

2 small zucchini
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (I used basil, mint, tarragon, and cilantro)
salt and pepper
lemon juice

"Using a mandoline (or a steady hand and sharp knife) very thinly slice the zucchini.
Toss the zucchini in olive oil and salt and pepper.
On a hot grill pan or indoor grill, sear the zucchini until dark marks appear, about 30 seconds. Flip over and repeat on the other side.
Toss the grilled zucchini in a bowl with the fresh herbs and a hefty squeeze of lemon. Taste and add more salt if needed."

recipe via Not Without Salt

I will definitely give both these recipes a whirl again!
So what have you been cooking lately?  I want to hear!
 Is it just me or has everyone ditched their cookbooks for recipes on Pinterest (that's where I found both of these)???!!!

Bits & Pieces

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We most definitely did!  Spent two evenings on the boat, went crabbing, worked around the house, watched a really good/saddest movie ever (The Descendants), went to a good friend's baby shower (with babygirl attending-came  a little earlier than expected but all is well and the party still happened!!!), gave the boys both haircuts, ate lots and lots of boiled peanuts, and finished our gallery wall!!  Wish I had taken more pictures to document all of our events but jut didn't happen.

I know you have all seen the July/August issue of House Beautiful by now but the one article that stuck out to me most was the "Five Rooms in One."  Did y'all see this?  Wow.  Crazy this space is only 425 square feet!  The designer, Zach Motl, features his own Brooklyn studio and it is bachelor pad perfection in my eyes.  

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This daybed jumped off the page at me.  What a statement piece. 

 Crazy of all crazies is it is an IKEA Malm twin bed! 

I know.  

It really is.  

They took the headboard from a second twin frame to replace the footboard of the other twin.  Love this idea and how economical.  

And that chair and the broad check throw folded in the seat.  Love it all in it's masculine glory!

On a completely different note, (and in no way comparing) another idea for using IKEA beds in a different way.  

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Do you remember our daybeds in the playroom?  We used two Odda frames and put them together to create one long "sofa bed."  

 I am planning to get a bunch of pillows to line the back of the frames so it will be squishy and comfy for the boys.  And yes, I still have yet to put the mattress ticking spreads on the beds...still waiting on Little R's new spreads to come.

Back to Work

  Coming off a week and a half vacation, Monday was freak out day!  My list of "to dos" was a mile long because I had totally checked out over the past ten days.   I don't think I have worked this hard all year!!! 

Here are a few pieces I have been working on this week...

Commissioned piece:

Brothers 

 A series of 3 paintings for Little Stuart's room.

The sweetest and funniest little guy you will ever meet.  And you must check out his super talented mom's ETSY site here.  We grew up together, went to college together and married best buds-how lucky and weird is that??!!!

On to a few abstracts I have been working on.   

Note to self-bring my nice camera to work next time.  The Iphone takes great pictures overall but when it comes to artwork, I really need a good camera with a great lens!

 Abstract 1

Abstract 2

Abstract 3

Abstract 4

I'm not sure how I feel about this last one.  I think it needs to be framed and it may speak to me more then.  All of these paintings are painted on 16"X16" watercolor paper with acrylic paint.

Now changing gears here.  I cannot tell you how proud I am of my little R!!!  He had his first tennis lesson day before yesterday and he was a NATURAL!!!!  His dad is a huge tennis player and I grew up playing all my life until I hit college-ha!  Needless to say we were both hopeful that the little guy would take a liking to the sport.  So far so good and he actually has pretty good form.  

To end our badgers night the other night, they had story time with "DaaDeee." What a precious moment.  They love getting all "snugged up" as Big R says and reading books.  

(I know, so pitiful that I still jam Mr. Big into a baby sleepsack.  He is clearly to big and old to be in one but he loves it so.  Have I told you he has kicked a huge hole out the bottom because it is too small for him.  He wiggles his foot out and touches my leg every night when going to bed.  Can y'all see it below?  My sweet baby:))

Bookshelf + Wall Styling

I know I promised pictures of my gallery wall and bookshelves earlier this week.  Well, they aren't complete...STILL.  But I thought I would show you what I have so far.  I got a great idea from Young House Love on how to go about making a gallery wall.  

Lay out your pictures on the floor

I used computer paper because I couldn't find our newspaper to make templates of each piece of art

Taped the paper together to make the right size.

This is where I got impatient and hasty with my work.  I literally eyeballed the paintings that were laying on the floor and just taped the coordinating piece of paper to the wall wherever I thought it looked right.

Once again, eyeballed where I thought the nail should go and marked it with an "X."

The you just hammer a nail into each "X" and rip the paper away.  Then hang your art.  Really pretty easy but I could have been more diligent with my measuring.

This is how I first hung them...

This is how I changed it up slightly. I can't reach the top templates to put a nail in the wall so waiting on the hubs to help me.  I have a few more paintings to add...some below and some to the side so there will be another post with the finished wall to come!

On to the bookshelves.

These really turned out pretty grainy with the IPhone but you get the idea.  I am not loving these and will probably change them around again but for now.....

Still have artwork laying against the wall above the shelves and the bottom shelves need attention!

Not sure if I have shared this piece framed yet?  

It's for sale...any takers????

$100

(The one above on the right is $125)

And while we are on the subject of framed art...I hung a few pieces in Little R's room

His walls are not symmetrical on either side of the window, but I hung the art like they were.

Jut ordered new spreads for him and I'm going to pick up his campaign chest/side table so there will for sure be more updated pics of his room to come!