Do you love eggs too?

I just sat down to get this post rolling and I had to ask myself, "where should I start, the chicken or the egg?".  I'm not trying to be philosophical here, I'm truly not sure if I should talk about chickens or eggs first.  Let's talk chickens.

http://www.howtoraisechicken.com/

I'd really like some. Not like hundreds or anything, just a few. Although, I'm pretty sure our current subdivision would shun prohibit chickens in the back yard. Our homeowners association sends out letters urging people to trim hedges, paint mailbox posts, and take other measures to maintain orderliness and tidiness. I haven't researched, but I'm pretty sure that keeping live-stock is a no-no.

Maybe there will be chickens in our future, but I am trying to remain realistic; our family is a little bit farm-life debilitated (we're not great at growing, tending, mending or building- I do like to weed though!). Also, our dog tends to consider chickens as prey (I know this because there was once an unfortunate event at playgroup where Remy snuck into our friends' chicken coop. Let's just say six screaming children were scarred that day. Bluey did make it, but he always had a limp after that).

Here's Remy, sorry and embarrassed. 

Anyway,  I want chickens for their- EGGS!

http://www.canecreekfarm.us

I can't stand buying industrial laid eggs that were produced by chickens who've had their beaks cut (or burned) off and are barely able to move. I just can't stand it. And yet, I do. I try to buy the cage-free eggs, but I'm no fool;  "cage-free" hens are generally uncaged inside of a barn or warehouse, with no access to the outdoors, and their beaks are often still cut. You can read more about this issue in this straight forward and informative article on the Humane Society's website. 

Note: I do not consider myself an animal activist. I have, however, read Michael Pollan and I've seen the documentaries on food production in the United States. The idea of consuming industrial meat and eggs just creeps me out. 

Anyway, I really like eggs. Example: when we arrive at a party or social gathering, I don't head straight for the wine, champagne, or even the desert table. You can find me scouting out the deviled eggs platter. What? You don't serve deviled eggs at your parties and social gatherings? You thought they were a thing of your mama's generation? That's just silly.

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com

And don't even get me started on egg salad. In 4th grade, my class was going on a field trip, and I begged my mom to make me egg salad to take for lunch. An exciting trip outside of school called for an equally exciting lunch option. She obliged. We left our lunches on the bus and when we returned to partake several warm hours of sitting in the sun later, the school bus smelled. Bad. I knew that my egg salad was the culprit, but how could I confess? I slumped down in my seat, clutching my lunch, hoping no one would be able to pin point the exact location of the smell. I stayed there, still as stone, my 4th grade self thinking (hoping) that I might POOF! disappear, leaving only a small brown bag containing an egg salad sandwich behind. And yet, despite this horrifying experience, I still love egg salad to this day. I have, however, learned the techniques of proper refrigeration methods and now, I add things like avocado and curry to egg salad. I'm so grown up. And fancy.

This is me around the age of the egg salad incident. I'm like, "Yeah, so I like egg salad, what of it?"

Now can we please just talk about the egg sandwich that inspired this post? I had these ingredients to work with: farm fresh eggs from my friend Laura's chickens, baby spinach, fresh mozzarella and pesto:

How can one go wrong here?! One can't. Just fry up that egg, over easy. Ooooooh, are you one of those people who don't like the yolks? Who think that us people who love the taste of the runny, warm, oozy, yellow yolk mixed into everything, are kinda....gross? Sorry! (But not really, I think you're crazy).

Just look at the end result!

And for the benefit of all you crazy people out there, I even made and taste tested this recipe with scrambled eggs (you're welcome).

I highly recommend this egg sandwich; the combination of the egg and pesto was really something special. I love that this could serve as breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner. ¡Buen Provecho!

So I'm ready to wrap things up now, but I guess I'm not sure if this post was:

A. A chance to mention my disdain for industrial farming
B. A chance to share embarrassing smelly stories from 4th grade
C. A recipe
D. All of the above

One thing I do know is, I don't care which came first, I'll take both the chickens and the eggs (please).

Do you love eggs too? Are you a yolk person or not?

A Disney Trip

I would be remiss if I didn't write a quick bit about our recent family trip to Disney World. Our two day stint began at Animal Kingdom, where we got to see these beauties:

The entire park was like eye candy; I especially loved the Asian inspired section. Here, we caught a close up of the tigers: 

And explored all sorts of nooks and crannies. I really loved the architecture and the subtle colors of this section of the park. We took the opportunity to stage a mini family photo shoot. This shot being one of my faves.

I didn't get a picture, but the Lion King show was probably the highlight of the day for all of us. I loved the music, costumes, and energy of it all. We almost didn't even make it to the show as there's so much to see and do that we sort of just stumbled upon the last showing of the day, and I'm so glad we did.

Our second day, we went to Magic Kingdom.  It was my first time there and yes, I'll admit, it all felt a little magical. 

And crowded. We did a lot of hand holding and waiting in lines. We did manage to go on several rides though, the Buzz Lightyear ride might have been our family favorite...

Oh, but I can't forget the Teacups! I insisted we go on because to me, it seems a quintessential Disney experience. 

The three of us loved it. JD said he did too, he looked a little queasy to me though...

We didn't go on any of the major rides as not everyone in our party met the height requirement (That's really funny. No, I'm talking about myself). We do talk about going back one more time when the boys get older so they can experience the rides. But until then, I will look forward to our annual trip to Cape Cod. The beaching, biking, shopping, mini-golfing, whole-family-together-time is near and dear to my heart. As far as this Disney trip goes, it's the nuances of our family, like our rendition of the Simpson's inspired monorail song that we sang (a lot) during the weekend that I am most thankful for.

Pantry Clean-Up

Y'all, I'm so embarrassed. I've organized my pantry and as a result, I'm about to show you how unorganized I am:

The inspiration behind this pantry clean up was not all of the Pinterest photos and organizing blogs out there, suprisingly. You see I always admired their antics, but considered them to be for those who considered organization a priority, for those who invited other people to look into their pantry. Me? I'll have you over, cook you dinner, and talk (or dance) the night away with you- but don't you dare look in our closets. 

This was working really well for me, actually. And then we put our house on the market. The first time someone called to say they were coming to see the house, I panicked and went to throw everything in sight into a closet. And then it dawned on me: these people are coming, to look in my closets! Gulp.

So I hauled all of the stuff that I normally would have put in the closet into our SUV (Sport Utility Van) and drove away. For real. But I fear I may not always have time, even for this clever maneuver. One realtor actually called when they were in our driveway to say they wanted to see the house. Thank goodness it was presentable at the time. The only bummer was that I was making hard boiled eggs. Wasn't the olfactory experience I was going for...

Anyway, check out the before and after pic of the pantry (don't mind the poor lighting, it's been dark and rainy for three weeks now):

This is what I did (I can't believe I'm actually giving tips on organizing. This is funny, like, I'm laughing at you  with you, for reading this).

1. I got rid of a whole lot of things that I didn't have a use for: a few tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs, expired items, untouched items (I tried to like you green tea, I just couldn't).

2. I actually had empty canisters in this closet, and boxes of things that could have been stored in said canisters. Why wasn't I using them? (Lazy) Hey, I heard that.

3. Recently, at my friend Rachel's house, I noticed that all of her spices were stored neatly in a kitchen drawer: genius! Even with my three tiered shelf in the pantry, I used to have a hard time finding the spice I needed.

4. I have a LOT of those small wooden crates that clementines come in. I couldn't bare to toss them and I couldn't bare to see my friends toss them, so I have a collection. I organized bags, jars, cans, snacks, and miscellaneous items into the different crates.

5. Things were looking MUCH better, but it needed a little pizazz. So I covered the clementine boxes with paper from my favorite stack and it looks sorta snazzy all of a sudden.

I stare into my pantry a lot now. I stared a lot before too, but that was only because I couldn't find anything I was looking for. Now-a-days, I just admire the organization that a non-organized person has attained. It makes me want to call back all of the people who have visited our house with their realtors and say "Please, come back! I've organized my pantry! I'm not totally gross! Just don't look inside my mini van!".

My go-to muffins

We make muffins a lot around here, especially when we have to bring a snack for our little friends. These are my go-to muffins. This recipe is from the April 2011 issue of Whole Living (One of my favorites. In my eyes Martha can do no wrong ;).

Ingredients:
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C whole-wheat flour
2 Tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I usually double cinnamon, so I use 2 tsp)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/3 C vegetable oil (I use canola oil, often I will do half coconut oil in a recipe like this)
1/3 C buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, add 1 Tbsp vinegar to measuring cup before adding milk  and let sit for a few minutes)
2 large eggs
3/4 C light brown sugar (I often do half maple syrup or honey here)
2 C finely grated carrots (4-5 carrots)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cups. Whisk flours, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Whisk remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Confession: I do not do my own mixing. I have people who do that for me.

Fold dry ingredients into wet and mix just until combined.

 Meanwhile, peel the carrots and grate in a food processor.

I also have people who peel my carrots for me. 

But don't get too jealous, I still do all my own clean up.

 Add the carrots to the batter along with a top secret ingredient:

 a dollop of sour cream.  

When I snapped the above picture my 5 year old casually said, "Mom, can you send that picture to my iPod?" Oh Lawd. 

Then my little guys reallllly wanted to add bananas and strawberries to this particuar batch, so I obliged.

 With the extra ingredients we added, there was some extra batter to make some mini muffins too.

 Bake for 20 minutes (mini muffins a little less) and enjoy!

Let me know if you love this recipe as much as my cooking team and I...

Color Love Wall Decor

I spotted this zebra at Ikea and I couldn't stop thinking about it as I perused through the awesome, overwhelmingly fabulous home superstore.

Granted, I liked almost every display there, but there was something about this large print that I kept going back to. I considered it for my bedroom, but wasn't sure if it was too big, too wild? Luckily, I was there with some of my closest girlfriends who recognized my affection for the print and wouldn't let me leave without it. Suggestion: always go to Ikea with a group of fabulous friends, as much time as your head and budget can handle, and follow it with a trip to the mall and dinner at a restaurant afterward. You won't be disappointed.

So the photo is up in our bedroom and I love it BUT, it's is black and white, and the walls are white. I've been thinking that we needed to add some color into the mix. So I began with these 4 white canvases knowing that they were going to need some color love.

I started by painting them gray (this paint was left over from the gray barn wood that I used for the string heart).

But that just barely qualifies as colorful, eh? So I broke out this very wonderful paper stack and started cutting away. I used a spray adhesive to attach the paper to the canvas and I had a happy little flower-like number at the end.  

Something was still missing though, so I called on the one fiber that can pull me out of almost any crafting dilemma: jute! I used a glue gun to place jute around the border of each paper design and I was finally happy with the finished product.

And, I like the juxtaposition between colors and patterns in the room.

I'm satisfied with the room mostly, but I think it is missing a large, green, air-purifiying plant. Ikea actually had some great plant options that would have worked well, but we were totally, officially out of room in the vehicle. Ah yes, that's the other advice I have about Ikea. No worries that you may feel a wee bit "uncool", DON'T drive there in anything smaller than a mini-van. You will regret it.

Chicken Noodle Soup. For you.

Let's talk chicken noodle soup, shall we?

I won't make you read some really long story about my great grandmother making us chicken noodle soup while her cocker spaniel ran around the house with my great grandpa's dentures in his mouth or anything like that (this time).

All I'm going to say is:

1. You can make your own stock (I'll show you how).
AND
2. Those pale yellow droplets floating in the chicken stock- they're super healthy! In Real Food, a book on eating well that I really respect, Nina Plank writes, "chicken fat...contains palmitoleic acid, an antimicrobial monounsaturated fat", and these are proven to fight infections. I'm not a scientist, but I'm going to go with that.

Here's the process:

Stock
Place 2 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in large pot.
Cover with 6-8 cups of water.
Add: 1 large onion, 1 peeled carrot (sliced in several large pieces) & 2-3 celery stalks.
Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Bring to a boil, then turn on low and simmer ALL DAY.
OK, you don't have to cook it all day long, but the longer you do, the more flavorful it will be. I would say you will need at least 3-4 hrs. (you can also do this in a crock pot for 6-8 hrs). Add 1-2 cups of water during cooking, as you will lose some of the liquid during this process.
Remove chicken, it will fall off the bones after being cooked so long. Discard bones, set chicken aside.
Strain broth and set aside as well.

That's it! It might take a while, but it shouldn't need much attention once you set it to simmer. Heck, I started the stock, then presumed to clean the house like a crazy lady (I even did the "put a sock on your hand and clean the blinds and ceiling fan maneuver"). Then I played matchbox cars (with my little guy), prepared for Spanish class, pulled some weeds, folded laundry, researched karate classes in the area, and I may have even took a small but mighty power nap- all while it simmered away. Disclaimer: my husband works from home, I didn't sleep with the stove on, and completely unattended to :). I'm doing it, aren't I? the grandmother and the denture story...

Chicken Soup
Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large pot.
Add 1 medium yellow onion (chopped), 2-3 carrots (peeled and sliced), 2-3 celery stalks (chopped) & 1-2 bay leaves.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook on medium heat 7-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender crisp (you don't want them to be mushy, just soft enough to pierce with a fork).

Add prepared stock and chicken.
Cook on medium heat for 12-15 minutes.
Add 4 cups of whole wheat noodles (I used Ronzoni Healthy Harvest). Real quick: generally, I don't prefer whole wheat pasta. I've found that it is too thick and doesn't ever quite reach the point of 'al dente'. However, these noodles work perfect for soup, because they soak up all the fabulous broth you've spent all day preparing, and don't seem to get too soggy like regular pasta would).
Bring to a boil and cook 5-7 minutes or until pasta is soft.

Eat it up, every last drop. My picky little eater will only eat the broth, those are his noodles pictured next to my bowl. Nothing gets wasted.

P.S. That bread on the table- that's Peasant Bread, recipe courtesy of Alexandra's Kitchen. It was my first time making this bread, but I will so be making it again. Like, tomorrow. I don't think this bread has the same healing properties as chicken soup, but I'll tell you what- one bite had me feeling blissful. And the smell of our house? Heavenly.

    

String Heart

My last post was about a few Pinterest mishaps that have come my way, but not all of my Pinterest ventures have gone awry. Recently, I spotted a DIY String heart that caught my eye and made its way into the "I-need-to-make-this-or-it-is-going-to-haunt-me-night-and-day" category.

And so it was, and here it is:

Here was the process:

I bought a piece of plywood from Lowes; I really wanted a piece of barn wood for this project, and I even scoured dumpsters and fields as I was driving around, but couldn't come up with any. I guess I could have visited a barn? So, I used this faux barn wood painting tutorial on The House of Smiths. Plywood wasn't the best platform to work with here, but it did the trick. (The House of Smiths is a really fabulous home decorating blog, by the way.)

Next, I folded a piece of wrapping paper in half, drew a heart of desired size, cut it out, and taped it to the "barn wood". With a sharpie, I made a mark about every 1/4 inch or so.

I bought small black nails (they were actually labeled as "tacks") and hammered them in on the specified spots.

Next, I ripped the wrapping paper off (felt like a kid at Christmas, I did).

Then it got really fun. So much so, that I don't have any pics to document this step. I started winding yarn around this way, and that way, and didn't stop until I darn well wanted to. The only glitch at this part, was that some of the tacks were not nailed in quite far enough. They would start to loosen and sometimes came out altogether, so I had to use brute force and make sure they were nailed in far enough (but not too far as to peirce through the wood). Once I was content with the yarn pattern (I redid the whole thing twice because it wasn't just so), I wrapped the yarn around the outside of the heart to define it, and then I hung that thing.

This was meant to play a Valentines inspired role in our decor, but the more it sits above our mantle, the more I fall in love.

I haven't broached the subject with the fam yet, but maybe they've been struck by Cupid's arrow too, maybe they'll let me keep it up.