Poached eggs with pasta and asparagus

This is super simple, I promise! I cant remember where I got this recipe but Ive made it twice now and it always makes me feel fancy. I would love to make this for company because I feel like it would be an easy, impressive thing to make.

3 eggs

1/2 lb linguine

3 C asparagus, chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 T EVOO

1 T butter

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Boil the pasta as usual and save about 1/2 C of the water before draining. While that is cooking heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add in the garlic and asparagus until soft and browned. This takes about 6-7 minutes and set aside.

Using the same pan, fill with hot water and bring to a simmer to poach the eggs. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of this part and I'm kind of bummed so I decided to attach a website for you. I learned online and was excited that it is much easier than I thought. Don't be intimidated, eggs are cheap so practice on a Saturday morning.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/


After you drain the pasta throw it back in the pot with the excess water and add in the asparagus with a little bit of butter. I usually would leave out the butter but I figured a little bit wouldn't hurt this time and it was worth it.

Definitely use a slotted spoon for the eggs so you can just transfer the eggs straight to the top of you pasta. Sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and cheese. I think next time I will used shaved parmesan because I just think it looks even fancier, however it was still delicious!

Turkey burgers

I dont have a grill and I still wanted to attempt some burgers this summer. I only had feta cheese and lets face it you cant eat a burger without any cheese, especially a turkey burger. So I grabbed some of my neighbors fresh basil chopped it up and threw it in a bowl. I added some ground turkey (about a pound), feta, one egg, salt and pepper.  I was excited how easy it was and how juicy they turned out.  I did have to make them in a pan but I think they turned out just fine. So fine Ive made them twice in two weeks.

Chicken salad

This recipe is also from "5 ingredient fix." I love how I watched the show for ten minutes and came up with two great recipes. This is a healthier version of a typical chicken salad. I was pleasantly surprised with swapping mayo for greek yogurt. 

3 C chicken (chopped)

1 stalk celery (chopped)

about 12 grapes (halved)

1 C non fat plain greek yogurt

salt and pepper

1/4 C craisins (Ill put these in next time)

Everything mixed together

Scoop a small amount on one side

Fold the sides in to keep everything together

Cut it on an angle to make it fancy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/schoolhouse-wraps-recipe/index.html

Chocolate peanut butter banana chips

Flipping through the channels on a lazy summer morning I stumbled upon "5 ingredient fix" on the Food Network. The simplicity of the Memphis Banana Bites inspired me to give it a go. 

All I did was melt semi sweet chocolate over a double boiler and mixed in some peanut butter. While that is melting, I layed out the banana chips over some wax paper on a plate or cookie sheet. When the chocolate mixture is smooth, I poured it in a large plastic bag and cut off a small corner. Make sure you snip off a corner AFTER the mixture is in the bag. (I fold over the edges of the bag just in case the mixture hits the sides of the bag on the way in.)

A double boiler uses the steam from the boiling water below so make sure you arnt boiling your glass bowl.

 

 

 In the Food Network recipe she makes little banana sandwiches but I had to adapt because my chocolate mixture was too warm. It wouldn't stop in between each chip and was looking really messy. So I decided to just smother it over all of them, put another layer of chips on top and drizzle (with a heavy hand) on some more chocolaty goodness. 

A thank you to my sister for letting me use her kitchen and a shout out to girls nights!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/memphis-banana-bites-recipe/index.html

Sweet summer time!

I recently discovered a delicious new

cocktail and I thought I would share

it with you. Its a perfect drink for

the summer time and I will be

taking full advantage of that

for the next few weeks.

Mmm it tastes like

a creamsicle!

Family

My Dad called me this morning and really put me in a good mood. We talked for awhile and as I got off the phone I realized that I was just so excited for the day. I haven't had one of those days in awhile with all the busy parts of life lately. Ive had soccer, Lee has been working, not to mention its the last few weeks of the school year. For those of you who don't know kids are bonkers right about now. They are like monkeys in a cage, I was teaching kindergarten yesterday and I had kids climbing up the fences out on the field. They just run around like chickens with heads cut off. Okay maybe not chickens but defiantly monkeys in cages.

My Dad is coming to my soccer game today and that just reminds me of old times. I had a soccer tournament over the holiday weekend and one night about 30 kids were out in the parking lot playing capture the flag and I just had to join in. It was just a great mixture of two childhood memories. One being going to soccer tournaments with my Dad and the other being capture the flag with the neighborhood kids in the summer. When did I get so old? I guess 25 isn't old, but its not running around the neighborhood barefoot either. Kids that are 10 years younger than me have already had a different childhood than I did. Pros and cons of the internet I guess.

Anyways, today's going to be a great day! I finally have time to go the gym, get the house back in decent shape, get some coaching in, but my favorite part is spending time with my family. Last night we finally got to see some of Lee's family and that's always a good time. I'm really lucky to have such great in laws. (and they don't even read this I don't think so they really are that great) Now I will see my Dad for a bit at my game and then its girls night.

I cant help but post about the fact that my "girls" are my family and I know that wherever life takes me they will always be apart of it because that's how family works. I always knew that my sisters would be my best friends but I never knew that my '7 years older than me cousin' would be too. You see my Mom past away when I was younger and we spent a ton of time at my Aunt and Uncles and my two cousins played with us a lot. I was 0-4 years old when she was sick and I only remember bits and pieces but its fun to hear them tell me everything. Seven years is a big age gap, that means when I was in Kindergarten she was in 6th grade. I love to think who would have ever thought we would be so close today... maybe my Mom.

5 Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas

Well its soccer season so that means I am a busy bee with no time to blog, or cook dinner. I decided to share some of my quick fixes that Ive been loving.  All winter I have had a really hard time eating salad and Ive finally gotten the summer itch and this dressing has me eating salads everyday. Which explains why the bottle in the picture is empty.

#1- Ideally, I would precook chicken for the week but I'll be honest and say that it doesn't happen. So I buy a bag of precooked chicken at Sam's Club and its been awesome for quick and easy lunch and dinners. Last night I threw a bunch of lettuce, chicken, pepper, parmesan cheese and caesar dressing in a bowl, tossed it and then wrapped in in a whole wheat tortilla.

#2- Tortillas are something that Ive been eating a lot lately too. Whenever I need to curb my fast food craving I throw a tortilla in a pan and sprinkle on some cheese, chicken, hot sauce, and a some drops of ranch and its just like taco bell. Mmm.

#3- Cereal has also been on the dinner list quite a bit lately, Multi-grain Cheerios to be exact. Along with cheese, veggies, and/or crackers. I really like the laughing cow garlic and herb for only 35 calories a wedge.

#4- I really think that I honestly made a dinner in less than 8 minutes the other night and 6 of them I wasn't even in the kitchen. I threw some salmon on the George Foreman grill and sprinkled on some Mrs. Dash seasoning and let it cook, put it on a bed a lettuce to finish it off. Easy peasy.

#5- Lastly, my fellow teachers and I are eagerly awaiting summer vacation and with this weather I think we feel like we are coming out of hibernation. So some of my dinners have been at happy hour and not gonna lie I cant wait for more free time with my coworkers!

Cheers to Oberon!