PINTEREST INSPIRATION... PINSPIRATION?

Naw, that sounds too much like perspiration, which doesn't sound quite so appealing!

Last night's dinner was completely inspired by my new-found Pinterest addiction... if you haven't jumped on that bandwagon, you'd better get to it!

The inspiration piece... yum!

My poorly-lit version

And our extra healthy side!

4pm

I don't want to....

answer the phone

design a flyer

rearrange anything

clean anything

write emails

update the website

reorder anything

read anything

follow up on anything

or stay here for another 90 minutes

Weekend please?

IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK...

...to take photos WHILE cooking. I kinda suck at it, actually. I'm right handed, and my camera fits perfectly in my right hand. Snapping non-blurry photos with my left hand while pouring ingredients with my right and not chopping important parts out of the photo and NOT dropping my camera in the mess is HARD WORK! So for this post, I'm stealing google images, okay? My camera remains in its special case free of barbecue sauce and salad dressing and flour, and that's the way I like it.

Impossible to do on your own...

Last night we hosted dinner at our house. Nick's parents, his aunt Becky, and cousin Ryan joined us for Barbecued Chicken, Greek Salad, Potato Salad, and Garlic Flatbread followed up with Brownies & Vanilla Ice Cream! This may sound like a big job for a girl who works until 6pm and wants to have dinner ready by 7! It's all about efficiency baby!

At lunch I stopped by Mike's Meat & Farmer's Market to pick up a few things, including their ultra delicious, ginormous boneless skinless chicken breasts. (If you haven't made any purchases there, get to it!). Afterward I ran home and put my chicken breasts in a brine which consisted of:

Brine:
2 quarts water (I used some leftover vegetable stock too)
2 TBS salt
A handful of fresh Thyme (I didn't bother stripping the leaves from the sticks)
Fresh ground pepper (probably a Tbs)
About 1TBS Garlic Powder (although if you have more than the 5 minutes I had, some fresh minced garlic would be great!)
(Cutting corners = efficiency (and yet still delicious))

You could probably do this in a large Zip-Lock bag, but I had a big plastic bowl that I put mine in. Place your breasts in the pool (haha) and put it all in the refrigerator. Don't skip this process, even if you only have 15 minutes. I left mine there for about 5 hours and ohhhhhh my goodness was it worth it! (Prep at lunch time + marination = efficiency)

Fast forward 5 hours and as soon as I walked in the door Nick started up the grill while I patted my chicken dry with some paper towels. I arranged them all on a cookie sheet to take outside and let Nick do the fun/hot job of grilling them for 10 minutes. 5 minutes, flip, 5 minutes. PERFECT GRILL MARKS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME, so do us all a favor and make sure your grill is clean-ish and if necessary, wipe the grates down with olive oil PRIOR to turning it on to make sure things don't stick/rip/get messed up. Actually though, it will taste great either way. The point of this grilling process is not to cook your meat all the way through, but rather to crust up the outside and give it pretty grill marks. Got it? Good. (Letting your husband do the hard stuff = efficiency) While he's working on that, I preheated my oven to 350º.

Sidenote: We love PAM Grilling Spray! Also: The best part about
 google images is that I can change Nick's ethnicity at will!

Okay so once 10 minutes has passed feel free to put them back on the same cookie sheet to bring them back inside (don't worry, it's on its way to the oven, so no bacterial worries!). (Fewer dishes = efficiency). I slather the chicken in my favorite BBQ sauce, which you can purchase jarred at Country Boy's Barbecue. I just realized that my last food post was all about their BBQ sauce too... what can I say, it's delicious and we like meat! Anyway... make sure you get the sauce ALLLLLL over the meat and then stick 'em in the oven. I baked them for 20 minutes, flipped, added more sauce, and baked for another 10 minutes. Depending on the size of your breasts you may want to adjust the timing but mine were huge (haha) and I wanted to make sure they were fully cooked.

I love this photo because this is EXACTLY what they looked like! 

While the meat was in the oven I prepared the potato salad, which was a recipe that I came up with on the spot based on all the crap I needed to use in my fridge -- maybe I'll share that later. Nick's mom brought the salad. (Taking advantage of guests who offer to bring a side = efficiency).

When your chicken is done, take it out and let it hang out on the counter for a while to seal in all the juiciness. This is when I popped the flat bread in (actually, I'm going to be real honest with you here and mention that this was a fresh, but pre-made basil pizza dough that you can purchase in the bakery at Mike's Meat). I put a little butter and minced garlic on top and baked it at 450º for about 5 minutes while I set the table.

Voila! Dinner was ready in less than an hour!

After we ate I mixed up some brownie batter (Umm... hello giant box of Ghirardelli brownie mix from Costco). Why make brownies from scratch when they've completely perfected it in a box? I do add some chopped walnuts to the mix, because I like 'em. But I buy those pre-chopped too... efficiency might be turning into laziness, but I'm not ashamed!

Success! We love love love having people over for dinner, even on a Thursday night. I extra love my hubby who is going to finish up those dishes today =)

RANTING

There is nothing more infuriating than a customer trying to talk to you and to someone on the phone via their bluetooth device. I CANNOT TELL WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO, SIR! Please do not expect great service if you can't show me the respect of hanging up the phone. The end, amen.

THE GAME OF LIFE

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC MATERIAL

My family (and I) are all still recovering from the events of Saturday. My parents were in a vehicle about a half hour ahead of Nick, Ward, and myself heading home over Blewett Pass. They were one of the first vehicles to come upon a terrible, horrific scene. A man on his motorcycle was hit by an oncoming car and killed. When my parents arrived at the scene of the accident my dad realized that the man had been decapitated and was laying there for all passerbys to see. My poor dad. He pulled a sleeping bag out of the back of the truck and covered the man's body, but not before being exposed to a scene that no person could be mentally prepared to encounter. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a paramedic, firefighter, police officer or soldier that comes to expect to see these kinds of things. My prayers go out to the family of that man, the driver of the vehicle who hit him, the emergency responders that had to deal with the situation, and to my parents whom have not slept since. The next day I was searching news websites for more information on the crash and realized that this was just one of many horrible events of the weekend -- there were stories of stabbings, drownings, fires, shootings, and just a tiny blurb of the accident that had such an effect on my family. So often we read these headlines and don't think another thought about it. There are so many very real, very difficult situations that families and friends have to come to terms with every single day. Be thankful for the days that we are given, for they are numbered and uncertain.

I am very thankful for my brother's decision to sell his motocrycle after seeing the aftermath of the accident. No amount of preparedness could have protected that man. I am glad that I won't have to watch Ward ride off into the sunset on one of those things again!

And to add yet another happy note to this post, the reason we were coming over the pass was that we had attended a funeral that morning in Enumclaw. A second cousin of mine, Jazmine Walker, lost her life to a rare form of brain cancer earlier this month. She was 23. She was also the captain of her cheerleading squad in high school, prom queen, a double major graduate of WSU, and working on her Masters degree all while undergoing surgeries and trial treatments with a big huge smile on her face. I think she was an amazing girl. I'm glad to know that she is in heaven now without pain and looking as beautiful as ever!

"Jazz"

THIS LITTLE PIGGY GOT... EATEN

Okay, that was a gross way to start out this post. Sorry.

My new favorite recipe is Pulled Pork! Typically recipes call for the use of a pork shoulder or pork butt (aka: plenty of fat) but I've discovered a way to do it with a pork loin (aka: much less fat!). We purchase the giant pork loins at Costco (about 7lbs for $18), divide it into thirds and freeze. This recipe can be modified with spices/flavors and so far we've enjoyed it as an awesome taco filler or with Country Boys' BBQ sauce and cornbread (which is what's on tonight's menu). Try it sometime!

INGREDIENTS:
2-3lb Pork Loin, trimmed of excess fat
1-2 quarts Vegetable Stock
2 large, or 4 small yellow onions, quartered
Spices of your choosing... just make sure to use a about 3TBS each (yes, that seems like a lot, but trust me it needs it). I usually use: sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne/chili powder, paprika, and cumin)

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot or dutch oven (I highly recommend Le Cruset French Ovens) add your quartered onions, pork loin, and spices. Top with the vegetable stock (or chicken, or water, or whatever). The liquid should come just about to the top of the meat. Bring all of this to a boil, then turn it down to low and cover. Let this simmer for 3-4 hours depending on the size of your pork loin. It's best not to lift the lid at all until at least 3 hours have passed. When it's done you can poke it with a fork and it will literally fall apart in the pan.

NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE!

For Tacos:

 

Tacos... yum!

When I'm making meat for tacos I like the meat to remain VERY juicy, so I strain most of the liquid out (leave the onion chunks in there... they are tasty!) but I leave a little bit of juice. Once it is drained I add a few TBS of taco seasoning and re-warm the meat until I'm ready to serve it. It should look about like this:

Juicy & delicious!

For BBQ Pork (sandwiches or as an entree):

Are you hungry yet?

For the BBQ pork I strain the liquid completely. After doing so, return the meat to the pot and add your favorite BBQ sauce to taste. I use the canned sauce from Country Boy's BBQ in Cashmere and I use an entire jar. Heat the meat up and toss/stir continuously over med-high heat to dry out any excess liquid. Stack it on a bun with cole slaw or on a plate next to corn bread and coleslaw and enjoy! It should look like this:

Caramelized goodness!

Enjoy!

TODAY...

Today might just be the most boring day I've ever had at work.

Today is the day for a revival of this sad sad blog.

Today Ashley&Katie are headed to WSU... we will miss them! (go cougs)

Today I spent about 2 hours organizing my desk and workspace. I think this will actually allow for more poductivity. Like blogging, for example.

Today I hope to spend some time cleaning out my old car to prepare it for a FOR SALE sign.

Today I have some serious grocery shopping to do.

Today I have very little patience for snotty customers.

Today I am thankful for the opportunities placed in front of me daily.

Today I am hungry. Like REALLY hungry. Have you tried TRIO bars yet? Delicious. Available at Costco!

Today I am actually liking that it smells like wildfire outside. It's just not summer in Wenatchee without a little bit of haze =)

GUACAMOLE SALAD

Guacamole Salad: Ina Garten

I love salads. I hate boring salads.

One of my favorites is a Barefoot Contessa recipe which is great as a side to quesadillas (as we had for dinner tonight), on top of tacos, on top of chopped romaine lettuce, or as a dip for chips. The ingredients are of course always available, but tomatoes and avocados get particularly delish this time of year. Try it sometime, it's super easy to throw together and oh so fresh and tasty!

Ingredients

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup small diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Directions

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well. Just before you serve the salad, fold the avocados in. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

Bon Appétit!

HELLO MONDAY

I love weekends. I hate to say that I live for 'em, but I totally do!

Friday we got off work a little early to celebrate with Nick's cousin Katie as she graduated from WHS. Congratulations to all of the grads, but especially Katie Mullin, Tyler Shales, and Julie Wren! I have say, this was by far the most enjoyable graduation I've been to yet: Mallory Gillin nailed her amazing speech. I wish I had a video of it, but you can check out Nick's Facebook Page if you are interested!

We love you Katie!

Saturday I tackled a massive pile of dishes and eventually made my way to the refrigerator/freezer and found some really nast-o experiments growing in the back. I located all of my long-lost storage containers and did some serious scrubbing. Once I was done I tackled the pantry and in total we hauled out THREE garbage bags of stuff! I was shocked and we had to make an emergency run to the grocery store to restock our now-empty fridge. So here's the good part of this story: Lately we have been making a conscious effort to be smarter shoppers. Case in point -- reusable grocery bags! I always thought these would be a real hassle, but so long as you remember to take them with you they're great! Eventually I'd like to find some cuter ones because the Safeway standard issue bags aren't so adorable. Any suggestions on where to find some fun ones?

Not cute.

Sunday was our first day helping out with Kinderpraise at our church. Picture this: Nick and Adelae dancing around with a bunch of 3-6 year olds. It was pretty entertaining to say the least. I was pretty impressed with the comprehension of some of the little kiddos... they learned their bible verse and understood the stories surprisingly well for their age. Afterward I asked Nick if he wanted kids (joking) and he said "Only if I can select the ones I want."

We finished off the weekend with a hike up Castlerock, which neither of us had ever done for some reason. We were a little worried about running into snakes since its not a very well-traveled trail and there are lots of hot rocks and grasses which the rattlers love. Thankfully we saw limited wildlife and enjoyed a great view!

Hello Wenatchee

And the Go-Pro's maiden voyage:

Castlerock Hike 6/12/11 from Nick Winters on Vimeo.

ONWARD

I'm not big on reading. I enjoy it, but rarely do I have the focused energy to spend on actually finishing a book that I start. In March of this year we went on a trip to Phoenix, AZ so I picked up the new book by Starbucks' ceo Howard Schultz titled "Onward". After years of being a loyal Starbucks patron, and also actively interested in business concepts,  I was curious what I might find.

This week I finally busted through the last third of the book that has been patiently waiting for me to find free time. What an inspirational story! I think Howard is an exceptional man (even if he did sell the Sonics) and I enjoyed learning more about this company that sometimes gets a bad rap. I highly recommend it. I bought mine at Costco for $10 off the cover price.

And my new favorite quote, which I printed out and posted at my work desk:

"Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don't embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and communicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. Hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it's how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear, and do. Believe." -Howard Schultz

WELL FED

All day long it felt like Friday to me. It's 12:20am and I'm still pretending I don't have to go back to work tomorrow. That should be nice and painful at about 7:30 tomorrow! I think this feeling is stemming from the fact that we have taken 2 3-day weekends in a row, making this the first full work week I've had in a while. What a whiner, huh??

Today was Nick's dad's birthday, which meant we got to go to his parents' for dinner. I'd rather not cook on weeknights, so I was pretty excited. And man oh man when we got there the smell of barbeque was in the air! Nick's mom went all out with beer-brined barbeque chicken, slow-cooked ribs (in the smoker!) and of course all the fixings -- coleslaw, potato salad, and baked beans. I would love to be able to stay at home and cook all of these amazing dishes all day. Did I mention the coconut cake? She is my hero! We had a great evening sccchhelebrating Jerry's special day with family. 

 The yummy meats. Did you know I used to be a vegetarian?
Thank goodness I've moved on!

 Coconut Cake!

And the birthday boy! Happy Birthday Jerry!

I BLOG NOW?

And so it begins.

I have been interested in starting my own blog after realizing my interest in reading everyone else's posts, looking at photos, and searching for recipes -- it's like Facebook 2.0 for me! I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this yet, but I hope to keep up on posting regularly. My web designer husband denied me a custom blog until I prove my blogging worthy of the effort I was asking him to put forth. I really feel that the visual aspect of blogs are just as enticing as the words they hold, so that was my main concern with starting my own blog. I did a whole lot of research and looked through hundreds of templates, some of which I really really really wanted. Unfortunately none of the PRETTY ones are free, and all of the COOL ones require some web design skill (or at least a good understanding of the terminology) which I do not possess.

Blogspot seems to be about as user-friendly as it gets and at least somewhat customizable... I guess I can deal with that for now. Eventually I want to upgrade to this baby:

Here's to blogging!