simple joys bring great pleasures

yesterday was a simple but good day.
it was filled with...
lots of mugs of peppermint tea
rain drops
flowers
red lipstick
 ... and a cupcake run with my mom, also never doubt that you may not like a flavor until you  try it, my most recent adventure was a lavender lemon, it was delish!



simple joys bring great pleasures :)

it tastes like spring

well folks i think that we can finally say that it tastes and feels like spring in minnesota now. hooray! it has been a rough, long winter but now our friend mr. sunshine is back and did we miss him more then ever. it's almost like i forgot what it is like to have fun, ha! you spend all winter indoors, cold, drinking tea, but then when spring finally rolls around you have all of this energy, and it's almost like "oh yeah, this is what it is like to have fun again!" so needless to say, we are loving spring. with all of this spring loving it has really inspired me with my cooking. how i longed for fresh produce, and grilling! i love the quick but delicious meals on can make over the summer. this one i highly recommend! this meal is kinda lemon-y themed. lemon reminds me of newness and makes me feel so fresh, so i just let it inspire me and put it in all of the dishes that night. surprisingly it did not over power the taste at all and was such a perfectly balanced spring meal!



lemon-garlic chicken marinate

1/2 cup plain yogurt
juice and zest from 2 lemons
2 pounds chicken breast
lots of garlic, minced, ( i did 4 cloves)
salt
pepper

in a large bag combine all ingredients and let set for 6-12 hours in the refrigerator. when ready for grilling, take out of the fridge and grill medium high until centers are no longer pink


lemon- parm asparagus

1 bunch asparagus, with the ends trimmed
1 lemon, zested and juiced
a few dashes of the best olive oil you got
salt, i like to do koshar in this recipe
fresh parm

1. pre heat oven to 400, then place asparagus on a pan, add lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt and roast for 8-10 minutes
2. once asparagus has completed cooking, sprinkle freshly grated parm and serve


lemony potato salad

8-10 red potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup mayo
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup onion
salt and pepper

1. cube potatoes into bite sized pieced.
2/in a large pot place potatoes in salted water and boil over high. reduce to a simmer and reduce for about 15- 20 minutes until the potatoes feel tender and cooked. drain and let the potatoes cool.
3. in a large bowl, combine mayo, zest, juice, and onions. add potatoes and season with salt and pepper!

radishes

so radishes are one of those vegetables i kind of forgot about, we never ate them growing up. and the more people i talk to, the more they say they don't just snack on them, but hey i have been doing it lately and it is so delish! just slice them up and salt, perfect snack for one or ten!

so enjoy the spring food! what types of springy meals have you been coming up with?

a trip to kansas!

a few weekends ago a few girl friends and i decided that it would be fun to take an impromptu trip to kansas city. the idea started out with the idea that chad and i should take a quick little road trip the two of us for a quick weekend. we thought of somewhere we had never been together, and came up with kansas city. but...but his work got so crazy busy, so busy that he was going to have to work over the weekend so that idea was vetoed early on in the week. in the process of this, i casually was talking to my friend tuesday evening, when she said, why don't we make it a girls weekend and go visit a friend from high school..  we talked back and forth and by wednesday evening we had decided that it was a done deal, we would be heading to kc friday afternoon! best last minute idea ever. first off the weather was actually warm (amazing what six hours south does!) and our friend was able to show us all around the inside spots of KC! i haven't been to kansas city in several years and forgot what a beautiful and charming place it is. there are so many fun restaurants and coffee shops, not to mention, the food was absolutely amazing.

**the farmers market was amazing! and huge! i fell in love instantly and keep telling everyone i run into how much i love it. i also picked up some whipped vanilla honey that has been amazing on toast, it gets me excited for the minneapolis farmers markets that will be opening up here soon!**

**anytime you go south, you gotta get BBQ!**

**thanks kell and laur for a great weekend!!**

after our little trip it made my travel bug stir even more. how many more  charming cities are out there that i haven't explored yet. how many other cute-sty towns could chad and i live in? we are open to suggestions ;)

it's that time, again..

happy wednesday! this space around here has been quite. mainly because i am spending the majority of my focus on finishing up my coursework from the semester and decided to go on a mini road trip to kansas city over the weekend. i will be posting more about my adventures, recipes, and fashions soon. just have to get through this one last stretch... finals week, never a fun one for me. but thank goodness this one is coming to an end, and is my second to last finals week, ever!

simple spring fashions

i have been trying to build my "closet" for several years. which hasn't always been easy. i am trying to focus in on what colors and styles look and feel the best on me. i am working towards building a prettier, happier, more beautiful, heather. and with this i have slowly started to buy less, but better. and now after several years of this quality buying, i can say that it is slowly paying off. with that, i have found tremendous value of purchasing well made clothes. recently i was looking through the emerson fry online catalog and was in love with all of the basic designs of their new spring collection. quality things here, breathable, beautiful clothing.

all images from http://emersonfry.com/

an american party

it was one of our friend's birthday over the weekend. so we thought that we would celebrate by having a grand ol' american time. this included playing a variety of games, listening to country music, and dressing as 'american' as it gets. it made me pretty happy, it was basically that 4th of the july, just three months early and we were celebrating a friends birthday!  and let's be honest, you can never over celebrate america can you?! usa!

how was your weekend?

chocolate turkey chili

hello delicious. though it may be getting late in the soup season, i still love whipping up a pot of chili in these crisp spring months (to be honest i love soup year round, i am a weird duck). with my major sweet tooth, i am always looking for an excuse to eat chocolate. so when i came across this recipe it was perfect, two of my favorite foods whipped up into a delicious, hearty meal! i have made this recipe a few times this year (always freezing the extras so i can have more later) but never thought to share it with all of my friends on this little space. why you may ask? i simply don't know! so i won't make you wait any longer, don't feel like you can only make this in the winter. this is good year round!

chocolate turkey chili

1 tablespon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, mined
1 pepper, diced
1 pound turkey
2- 15 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilles
1-14 ox can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 ounce dark chocolate cut into tiny pieces
a dash of cayenne pepper if you like it spicy, like i do!

1. in a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, add onion, garlic, and pepper, cool stirring occasionally about 5 minutes until softened
2. add turkey and cook until no longer pink (about 5 minutes) crumble the meat with a spoon as it cooks. add the beans, tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, corn, chili powder, cocoa powder, and oregano. bring to a boil. reduce heat, stir in chocolate pieces and simmer for 15 minutes.

enjoy!


recipe source