Livin' It Up... Growing Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are a staple that end up in my cart every grocery trip. Their smaller size makes them perfect for snacking and adding them into every dish I can.

Tomatoes provide an abundant amount of vitamins and minerals. One cup of cherry tomatoes will provide 25% of daily recommend Vitamin A, 32% Vitamin C, and a substantial amount of Vitamin K and potassium. Tomatoes are an excellent source of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that has been linked to a reduced risk of cancers.

Cherry tomatoes need to be planted where they will get full sun exposure, in well drained soil, and maintain a moderate moisture content. They can even be grown in large containers. 

I woke up early Sunday morning and had my usual cup of coffee before going to the doctor to finally get my chest congestion addressed. I had a terrible cold at the beginning of May and have not been able to shake my cough which was unproductive and started to sound like a wheeze. Sure enough it's bronchitis so I was prescribed a z-pack and told to take over the counter cough medicine. 

After the doctor appointment I got my car washed and headed home to pick up the truck and head to the downtown Houston Galleria area to pick up items to try my hand at growing cherry tomatoes. I stumbled on this amazing nursery, Buchanan's Native Plants, after reading Yelp reviews about a year ago about a food truck that is normally parked out there on Sundays, Good Dog. 

After experiencing flash flooding over the last couple of weeks we finally got to enjoy a sun-kissed afternoon and made it out to the nursery. 

Picked up cherry tomato seeds, those recycled cardboard containers, soil, fertilizer, a shovel, some sort of liquid seaweed food for plants, and a watering can. 

(40-Oz to Freedom... Named after Sublime's song? Ha!)

Walking around the nursery worked up quite an appetite so we stopped at Liberty Kitchen and Oysterette for lunch. Parking is limited and without reservations you are looking at a 45 minute wait time (that was around 11am). We got seated near the bar at the "side-by-side" seating which I loved because we could watch TV and people watch which included seeing all of the servers bringing the food out. I tried their Bloody Mary (too spicy), campechana which was so delicious. My favorite part were the fried oysters on top. To end the meal we order their Cake & Pie Shakes, mine was with a slice of apple pie (oh em gee!!!). Next time I will get an order of just fried oysters, maybe be a complete fat ass and get their lobster mac and cheese, and forgo the milkshake. It was too much and I ended up wasting more than half of it. 

After lunch we stopped at a local shopping center where I picked up a pair of Old Navy's High-Rise Belted Soft Shorts (4") in Navy Floral. These shorts are so incredibly soft, light and airy, long enough to cover my big ol' butt, and hides some of my cellulite on my thighs. Also picked up a plain white tee to go with the shorts and a pair of their white rock star jeans which I will need to return because they were not flattering at all. Bummer! I was looking forward to owning my first pair of white jeans. 

Then I walked over to Ulta and picked up a new perfume, Vince Camuto's Limited Edition Fiori. Free with purchase was a 2-in-1 blanket tote which will be perfect for Summer trips to the beach. Fiori stands for "flowers" in Italian. The top notes are pink grapefruit, white nectarine, and base notes of sandalwood (fave!) and cedar wood. 

One last stop before home was to pop into Kroger to pick up some chicken for a possible dinner (if I even get hungry since I still feel full from lunch) and on a whim I picked myself up a pot of mini pink roses.  

I have never had a garden before, nor have I ever successfully kept a plant alive longer than a week. Good thing I have my mom because she has quite the green thumb and I can ask her anything about gardening. I grew up with my grandfather's garden in Utah. I was the only girl he allowed into his garden. During my Summers there I would wake up to the smell of coffee, Grandma would pour Grandpa's cup and make me my choice of hot chocolate or apple cider. I miss the sound of the whistling kettle. Then we'd sit down and have a bowl of Grape Nuts together before heading out to the garden together. The first thing we'd do every morning is step into the chicken coop and gather the eggs and race them into the house for Grandma. While I was doing that Grandpa would grab my stool  and a salt shaker and place me in front of the snap peas. I'd eat my weight in them. My grandparents were also big eating dinner in front of the table people so we'd set up our TV trays while watching the Nightly News. Once dinner was cleaned up Grandpa would take me back out to the garden with a mini basket to pick raspberries. We'd top vanilla ice cream with them and head outside to sit in the rocking chairs playing card games until bed time. Some of the best days ever!

My mom is also good with gardening, but me... that's a whole other story and think the gene may have skipped a generation. While living in Oregon my mom had an amazing garden with some standouts being corn, a blueberry bush, and my favorite were the tomato plants. Mom and I would bite the cherry tomatoes in half sucking out the insides to fill the other half with basil infused olive oil. Those tomatoes were incredible because they were warmed by the sun. 

Once home I changed into "play" clothes and finally stepped out onto the patio to get started on the planting of my "garden". I say "garden" because I don't think I can call it that since it's going to be one potted tomato plant and a small mini rose bush. #small-patio-apartment-living. Being outside and gardening was so relaxing. I planted 10 seeds in hopes that two will work out. We shall see. 

Because I was outside, getting the patio cleaned up was needed since the winds swept a lot of dirt onto the ground. My patio is also empty and I also decided it was time to find some patio furniture as well. I am in love with this Ciudad Bar Collection from Pier 1 and will be ordering this soon so I will have no reason why we're not enjoying dinners outside and getting to look at those pretty roses and watch the progression of the growing of my cherry tomatoes. I am so looking forward to the end of Spring and Summer nights!!

Speaking of Summer... where has the year gone?!! I cannot believe we are already half way through 2015 and Little Man is no longer a 1st Grader. Boo!

While cleaning up the patio a salamander was found and decided to capture it for Little Man. Researched the care before swinging over to PetCo to pick up the needed supplies for creating a habitat. Little Man has been begging for a dog or any other pet and because his newest obsession is Pokemon and his favorite is Charmander I knew keeping this little guy is what I should do. After spending about $100 an amazing home was built for Charmander. I'm hoping to keep him alive for the next 3 1/2 weeks so when buddy returns from his Dad's house I can surprise him. If it does not work out then I'll head back over and let him pick out a different reptile (no snakes!) and we can claim Charmander evolved to Charizard. 

This has been such an enjoyable day and to end it I watched Iron Man 3 and continued studying for the CLFP exam I have coming up in 20 days. Eek!

Hope you enjoyed your Sunday as well!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Avocado Cilantro Lime Rice

I am not a Mexican/Spanish rice fan, however, the fact that this recipe has avocado in it was worth giving it a try and it sounded like something Little Man would really enjoy since he loves avocados and rice.

This tastes like guacamole but with rice in it and I'm not really a fan of my avocado being heated, room temp is fine though. Surprisingly this was perfect for Taco Tuesday and provided a nice filler for our chicken burritos.

... and this is super simple to make outside of waiting for the brown rice to cook which takes about 45 minutes. To be honest, this isn't one I'll be jumping to making again.

Avocado Cilantro Lime Rice

Adapted From: Cooking Classy

Makes 4 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 4 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• dried coriander, to taste
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• garlic powder, to taste
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

And Action:

Mash avocados in a large mixing bowl. Stir in lime juice, coriander, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir in the warm cooked brown rice. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Greek Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

Stuffed chicken recipes always seem laborious but they always look and sound so delicious. 

So I sucked it up... but rolling up the chicken and flipping it in the pan proved to be the reasons why I felt a stuffed chicken recipe was laborious. I don't like touching raw chicken and keeping the chicken together was somewhat difficult. Next time I need toothpicks. But, it was so worth it and took less than 30 minutes to get dinner on the table. 

The chicken cooked evenly and came out moist. The flavor was incredible and the stuffed chicken was a nice detour from the boring go to of just a plain chicken breast. Oh! And that pan sauce! Sampled spoonfuls of it while it was simmering down and was my favorite component of the meal. 

Little Man also enjoyed this meal which is always a victory and a recipe worth keeping. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Greek Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

From: Food Network

Makes 4 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 3 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 chicken cutlets, boneless, skinless
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 8 oz ditalini
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

And Action:

Combine 2 cups spinach, feta, and 3 tbsp water in a bowl. Spoon the mixture evenly onto the chicken cutlets and roll the chicken up tightly. 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until browned, 3 minutes each side. Add the chicken broth, vinegar, and sun-dried tomatoes. Partially cover and cook until the chicken is just cooked through, about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ditalini and cook as directed on package. Put remaining spinach in a colander and drain the ditalini over the spinach to wilt it. 

Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Add the pan sauce to the ditalini along with the mint and season with salt, toss and serve with chicken. Enjoy! 

Doin' Some Cookin'... Chunky Monkey Smoothie

Little Man loves all of the ingredients in this smoothie on their own so I knew I'd be able to convince him to give this a try. This smoothie is delicious as followed by the recipe, however, next time I will use lowfat chocolate milk instead of the chocolate chips and white milk.

This smoothie mimics the flavors of one of my favorite ice cream flavors from Ben & Jerry without all of the guilt... peanut butter, bananas, chocolate... and I'm sure you probably have all of the ingredients on hand to make this now.

Chunky Monkey Smoothie

From: Crazy Grain

Makes 2 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 cup low fat milk
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 frozen bananas, chopped
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

And Action:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Livin' It Up... Little Man's 7th Birthday

The year has raced by!

It was time to plan another birthday party for Little Man. Can't believe he's going to be 7 on June 2. We're celebrating his birthday early since he'll be with his dad for Summer visitation once school lets out on the 29th and he'll be there until the 15th. This is the first year I won't be with him on his special day. I cannot believe that this was the only holiday that was no discussed during mediation and I am kicking myself. The most important holiday of the year and I am going to lose out every year. Boo!

It came as a surprise when I asked Little Man what theme he wanted his birthday to be this year and his response was, "Hot Wheels!" I mean, he loves zipping his Hot Wheels around the house and all over the furniture but his current obsession is Pokemon.

Next I needed to know what he wanted to do for his birthday. He exclaimed, "Saint Arnold's!" Excuse me? My almost 7 year old stated he wanted his birthday to be at a brewery?? He let me know his Grandma Debby took him and they have root beer there too. So that is what we are doing... taking the tour, having floats, and eating burgers for lunch.

Little Man's guest list consisted of one, his best friend since kindergarten, Ethan. Since the invites were so few I reached out to his mom via text message. I was concerned she wouldn't be okay with dragging her son to a brewery but to my surprise she thought it sounded like so much fun and also wanted to join in on the fun.

Saturday morning came and we were woke up with a phone call from my best friend, Kelly, who needed Tylenol and a thermometer for her sick kid. So we got dressed and dropped that off for her. After that Little Man got hungry so we stopped at McDonald's for Sausage McGriddles and over to Starbucks for a Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino. Then we went home so he could watch Disney Channel and relax until it was time to meet up with his best friend Ethan to go to Saint Arnold's.

We made it to the brewery before the 1pm tour time and received our glasses and tokens for (4) beer samples and got the kids root beer. I'm not a big fan of their beer but the root beer was amazing! We didn't make it through the tour because the kids were rowdy, the room was hot (I'm talkin' everyone dripping in sweat hot), and the tour guide got pissy with us and shushed us up one too many times before we made an exit because the kids were giggling and having fun.

The kids were hungry so we made it over to the concession stand and ordered just about one of everything. Burgers for the kids with fries and chips, nachos, pretzel with mustard, and bratwurst before we ordered a round of root beer floats. The food was amazing! The burger was hands down the best I've ever had. 

The kids were having so much fun running around and just enjoying each other's company that we were able to just sit there for 3 hours chatting and doing lots of people watching.

If you decide to check this place out here are a few insider tips:

1. Ignore the abortion protesters outside. I'm an antagonist and it was extremely hard to keep quiet. I believe that no two people decide to live life the same way and at the end of the day a person has to live with the choices they make.
2.  Don't attempt the tour if your little ones can't sit still or if you are wearing too thick a layer of clothing. You may sweat your ass off.
3.  Seating may be hard to find when it comes time to eat. Think about the scenes in Harry Potter when the kids are eating in the mess hall. We may have to be brave and ask people if it's okay to nestle in between them and you'll get rejected over and over and end up having to sit on the floor in a puddle of crumbs. You won't be the only one on the floor, promise, and it's not looked down on. If you are smart like some of these other regulars bring some chairs or a picnic blanket, cooler (no outside beer allowed), and board games. 
4. You get to keep the glass they give you at the door as a souvenir. So for $10 you get to take the tour, have (4) beer samples, and keep the glass. Great bargain and good date idea!
5. ... and an after thought, no issues finding parking since they have 3 large lots within one block of their building. 

It was such an enjoyable afternoon because there was no pressure and no expectations. I would definitely go back, without kids, bring a board game, and grab all of the yummy grub again.

We came home and Little Man was so surprised to see the house completely decorated with the requested Hot Wheels theme. Now it was time to open presents and all he wanted was Pokemon cards. Well that is what he got. 800 of them!

The best gift of all was what my mom had made for him which was a handmade card that also tied in the Saint Arnold's activity. She's quite the balloon artist.

After the gifts were opened all Little Man wanted to do was lounge around and watch movies. Set the sleep timer on the TV for him and ended up falling asleep around midnight.

Little Man kept exclaiming numerous times throughout the day, "This is the best birthday ever!" He said his favorite part was that his best friend was there to enjoy it with him. I think this birthday came in first place!

I am looking forward to the many adventures, memories, and lessons coming up in the next year of raising a boy as we race through life one day at a time.