Tostadas

I have accidentally been somewhat vegetarian lately. Surprisingly, Husband hasn't been complaining. Like, at all. This little gem is soooo easy to make: chop, heat, bake, and done. Amazing.

Ingredients: 

• 6, 6 inch corn tostada shells 
• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 can black beans
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup shredded cheese - I use Mexican blend packaged kind that you can buy in the store
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• (optional) 1 avocado

How To Cook It

• preheat oven to 425 degrees
• place tostadas shells on cookie sheet, set aside
• in large skillet, heat 2 Tbsps over medium high heat
• add onion, jalapeno, and garlic; cook until onion is tender
• stir in black beans and tomatoes, heat through
• sprinkle tortillas with half of the cheese
• spoon tomato/pepper/bean mixture over the cheese
• sprinkle remaining cheese
• bake for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted
• sprinkle with cilantro and avocado

Closet

I'm kind of obsessed with my denim jacket. Don't judge.

Dress: Forever 21

Belt: Forever 21

Jacket: American Eagle

Boots: Nordstrom / Steve Madden

Watch: Urban Outfitters

Peacock Ring: A gift from my sister

Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza is interesting to me - people usually do it as like a fun date night or something fun to do with roommates or friends. I never understand why this is like, an event. I very rarely order pizza because it is SO easy to make at home and so much less expensive. I put like, a frillion toppings on my pizzas so now whenever I buy pizza, I'm hugely disappointed when I see 2 toppings on my sixteen dollar pizza. Lame. But I guess I'm just a spoiled brat that way. I'm also not real big on marinara sauce on my pizzas, I prefer lighter aiolis and/or just the juices and greases of the meets and veggies. Delicious.

Ingredients

• pizza crust - you can do this homemade or buy dough or just buy the crust. I usually just buy the crust because I'm lazy but my cousin says it's super easy to make the dough
• 4-5 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 package of grape tomatoes - sliced
• 1/4 red onion - sliced
• 1 small jar artichoke hearts - chopped
• 1/2 lb bacon - chopped
• 1/2 cup mozzarella - grated
• goat cheese - to taste
• oregano - to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes - to taste

Before it goes in the oven

How To Cook It

• preheat your oven to 450 degrees
• start cooking your bacon - you can leave it in strip form at this point, no need to chop it yet
• sprinkle minced garlic and olive oil on pizza crust, use a basting brush to spread - this is pretty much your pizza sauce
• chop tomatoes, onion, and artichoke hearts and spread evenly on pizza crust
• wait for bacon to finish cooking, then chop and spread evenly on pizza crust
• top with cheese and spices, the cheese will melt and seal in all the awesome
• if you are using store bought pizza crust, it says to just place the whole thing directly on the oven rack (again, I have never made my own dough or bought pizza dough you have to cook so, sorry, I can't help you here)
• bake for about 10 minutes until crust starts to brown slightly
• slice pizza and enjoy (if you have not yet invested in a rolling pizza cutter, do it, they are awesome - ours is CutCo brand and it's amazeballs)
• I prefer to sprinkle a little feta on top of my pizza once it comes out of the oven, but I am a cheese crazed loon

Make sure you have napkins, cause this pizza is LOADED with goodies and you will need it - this aint no 2 topping sad excuse, you made this yourself and if you're not messy you have failed, FAILED!

Camping

We have two seasons in Oregon: rain (9 months) and summer (3 months). The rain never seems to end and right when I think I'm going to drown myself in the lake puddle on the corner of 14th and Jefferson, summer rolls around and ALL IS FORGIVEN! Nothing beats summer in Oregon. During these few short months, you can see the purpose to all the rain.

BAM! Purpose.

We went camping at Lost Lake over the weekend (love you Julia) and it was awesome. I. Love. Camping. I LOVE IT! You get to be dirty and stinky and nobody cares! I have never been to Lost Lake and I didn't realize what I was missing. The lake is b-e-a-utiful and you can rent all sorts of fun lake stuff: paddle boats, kayaks, paddle boards, etc. We just brought floaties and swam.

 

There was a fair amount of wild life, mostly chipmunks and salamanders. Yay! You can also take a hike around the lake, there is a path that circles the whole thing, about 3.5 miles. If you don't want to be with the crowd on the main beach, hike this bad boy and find your own spot. There are a ton of small beaches you can have to yourself if you are willing to walk there.

We lived mainly on hot dogs and sandwiches... until Saturday night when Carson dreamed up this delicious pot of awesome. FRANK AND BEANS! He just cooked up some bacon in a small pot, then added the franks (without draining the bacon grease) then added the *cough expired cough* beans. We poured them over onion buns and added a bit of cheese on top. It. Was. Bomb. Yay Carson. 

Omnomnomnom, amazeballs.

And Kegan went out Saturday night and took this amaaaaaazing long exposure picture of the stars...

Closet

It's casual Friday (even though I'm writing this post on Wednesday, it WAS casual Friday). I took it probably a little too far this week, my shorts are TOO SHORT! But oh well.

Shirt: Love Culture

Shorts: Old Navy

Shoes: TJ Maxx / Steve Madden

Belt: Forever 21

Necklace: Forever 21

Watch: Urban Outfitters

Grapes and Thyme

I was cleaning out my closet the other day and I stumbled across an old 'Real Simple' magazine. Of course I got distracted and started leafing through it, aahhh the days before Pinterest. Anyway, I came across this recipe and thought I would try it out. It is super easy and delicious.

Ingredients: 

• olive oil - preferably one that tastes good plain, as you will use it for cooking and for flavor
• balsamic vinegar
• a couple cups of red grapes - I like red because they are a little sweeter
• salt - the recipe calls for kosher but I used my Himalayan pink salt and it was yummy! 
• fresh thyme sprigs
• rustic bread 

After the oven, my grapes didn't burst so I cut them and put them back in the oven. Burst grapes = more juice = yum!

How To Cook It

• preheat your oven to 450 degrees
• spread grapes onto a cooking sheet, drizzle with around 2 Tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt
• now here the recipe says to just wham a couple sprigs on top but I tried that the first time and I don't think it gives it enough flavor, so I strip the sprigs of their leaves and add them
• toss the whole grape, oil, salt, thyme mixture until grapes are coated
• bake for around 10 minutes but check at 8 (don't be surprised if you see a small amount of smoke coming from your oven - a SMALL amount), when the grapes start bursting, it is time to take them out
• while grapes are in the oven, heat a grill pan or a panini press to med-high (or if you are being lazy, just pop them in the toaster)
• brush the bread with olive oil and grill until toasty
• pull your grapes from the oven, in a small bowl drain the juices from the grapes and then combine it with your ricotta cheese, also pull out a few of the roasted thyme leaves and mix it in as well, it should turn out a light purple (see below)
• spread ricotta to the toasted bread and top with the roasted grapes (if you did not strip the thyme leaves, remove the sprigs now, they don't taste good. if you stripped the thyme leaves, congrats you are awesome and this is going to taste better)
• drizzle with balsamic (this is not in the recipe but I find it adds just a bit more tartness and flavor to cut the sweetness of the cheese and grapes)

Enjoy!

Closet

I love dresses because you get a nice breeze all around. I've been wearing them a lot lately!

Dress: Nordstrom Rack

Belt: Forever 21 

Boots: Nordstrom / Steve Madden

Necklace: Charlotte Russe

Watch: Urban Outfitters

Taco Salad

I wanted to applaud myself for my planning abilities: last night it was still super hot and I thought to myself "Self, you are so smart, you planned a no-stove/no-oven Taco Salad for dinner so you don't have to sweat all night!" .... then I remembered I had decided to make Rice Crispy Treats for the potluck at work today. I'm an idiot. Whatever.

Ingredients: 

Salad

• 1 roast chicken - shredded
• 1/2 bunch (approx) cilantro
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 can black beans - rinsed
• 1 c. sweet corn
• 2 avocados
• 1/2 bunch green onion
• 1 head romaine lettuce - chopped

Dressing

• 1 c. Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 tsp ranch seasoning

How To Cook It

• chop and combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl - exclude the tortilla chips
• mix Greek yogurt, taco seasoning and ranch seasoning in a small bowl - stir until blended
• pour about half the dressing over the salad and coat the salad, adding more if needed
• top with tortilla chips

Enjoy!

Closet

It's supposed to be 95 degrees today with 50% humidity. And we don't have air conditioning. I probably should have shifted the skirt for the picture so the seam isn't as glaring but you know what? Live with it. Speaking of the skirt, people may think I wear dresses/skirts to look cute - they are wrong. I wear them because it lets a breeze flow... around. Ifyaknowwhatimean...

Top: H&M

Skirt: American Eagle

Sandals: TJ Maxx / Steve Madden

Necklace: a gift from my sister (but you can't even see it so I don't know why I'm mentioning it)

Watch: Urban Outfitters