Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Crafts

So like most girls these days I spend a lot of time dreaming on Pintrest.
I have recently decided to stop just dreaming and to try out some of these fun crafts I've been pining. 
So for this Christmas I decided to make a wreath. 
Here are the two pin's that inspired mine:


And Here is my final outcome:

I have to be honest I was surprised that no one at Michel's stopped me to ask if I was ok. I spent an hour pushing a cart around with a mock up sitting on top of the cart. Michel's has become my new best friend. I love my final product and can't wait to pick my next one. :)


Wednesday, November 05, 2014

What to do with a Leek

In my last post I talked about the farm box we started getting. In one of our last boxes we got some Leeks and potatoes so naturally I decided to make Potato Leek soup!
 I posted a picture of the Leek soup I was working on. I had a request for the recipe so I decided to share it on here.

The Mis en Place

Katie's Potatoe Leek Soup
Ingredients:
2 Leeks- the white and light green parts
5 baby potatoes
4 baby carrots (you can use regular carrots also)
1/2 yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Bay leaf
1 1/2 quarts Chicken stock or broth
1 cup Heavy cream
1/4 Cup White wine
Salt and Pepper

Method
1. Chop up all your vegetables. save 1/3 of your potatoes and dice up into even pieces.
2. in a large pot heat just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. When hot add your Onions and sweat them down for a minute then add your garlic and 2/3 of the potatoes. cook for another minute before adding your carrots and leeks. Let this all cook down for 1 to 3 minutes as high heat without burning. 
3. Salt and pepper both side of your Chicken breast and add to you pot.
4. Pour in your white wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan. 
5. Add you chicken stock.
6. Add in your bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Let this come to a boil then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
8. Remove Chicken breast and set to the side. Blend remaining soup up until smooth.
    This can be done easiest with an immersion blender if not a blender works. 
     Add in the heavy cream while blending.
9. Return to heat and add in the remaining 1/3 potatoes that are diced. Also shred the chicken breast and return to the soup.
10. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked all the way. also add more salt and pepper if you desire. 

11. You are now ready to ENJOY!




Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Fall is finally here !

         So I guess I have to accept the fact that fall has arrived and very soon the weather will be cooling down. This always make me a little sad. I love summer and the heat, It's my favorite season.

However there are a few things about fall that I love. For one Halloween. The one time a year I can dress up as something silly and just be a kid! Also who doesn't love carving pumpkins.

Another fun part of fall, are all the different foods in season. Robert and I recently started getting a farm box delivered to the house. We use Farm Fresh to You. Every other week we are get a box full of organic and local fruits and vegetable. The box has been forcing me to get back to finding creative things to cook for dinner. Not just the boring chicken with potatoes or pasta. This week we got leeks and potatoes so I'm going to make us soup. I haven't taken the time to make soup at home in forever. I  can't wait! We also got a sugar pie squash, I have no idea what to do with it yet, but I'm sure something fun will come around. I have never actually done anything with one before.

Our farm box this week

I can't wait to see what else we get in the coming weeks. Hopefully some more creative meals to come. I will post them here when they happen.
If you have been thinking about a farm box, or have never even heard of it before, I suggest checking out Farm Fresh to You. There are so many different options to choose from too. You can do all vegetables or just fruit. We get the smallest mixed box they offer. It's $26 a box unless you customize it and add more. I think this weeks was $27. It had everything pictured above plus 2lbs of bananas and 2 more pears and apples.






Have a great week everyone,
                             Katie

Monday, September 22, 2014

Back after a Long Absence

So it turns out I am really bad at this blogging thing.  None the less I am going to give it another try.
I hadn't even realized it had been two years since my last post!

So much has happened in my life since the last time I wrote I can’t dream to fitting it all into one post. So I’m going to break it down into a snapshot.  Then I will try to keep this going (At least for a little while).

In the last two years I've seen friends get married; my siblings have graduated from college and the cherry on top I got married myself.

My life for the past two years in photo a nut shell:


Yes we Saw Batman Live for Shannon's Birthday. It was amazing!
Ashlie, Audrey and I got to spend Halloween 2012 Trick or Treating at Disneyland.
Halloween with Stormtroppers who could ask for more!



I started dating the Love of my life Robert.
Best decision I ever made.
In May of 2013 Robert proposed and asked me to be his wife. (Ofcourse I said yes!)
 Robert proposing in Laguna Beach where we had our first date.
 
It has been an amazing journey these last two years. I met the man I plan on spending the rest of my life with, I have friends I hope to still have in twenty years, and I can't wait for what life is going to throw at me next.
I know this post has been a bit cheesy and probably not my best but hopefully it will be my new start to get this off the ground again. I so much more to share and I plan on getting up here to share with all of you.

Till next time :)