Ginger-Soy Glazed Salmon

    As promised, I am going to try to catch up on my recipes!  I realized I deleted my original photo of this recipe so I had to use my Instagram pic. I served this with a simple stir-fry of Bok Choy and Shiitake mushrooms.

Ginger-Soy Glazed Salmon

- 4 skin-on salmon fillets

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1/3 cup green onions, thinly sliced

- 1/4 cup soy sauce

- 1 tbsp sherry

 - 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

- 2 tsp honey

- 1 tsp sesame oil

- 3/4 tsp Asian chili sauce (such as Sriracha or Sambal Oelek)

1) Preheat oven to 500*. Whisk together garlic through chili sauce. Pour the marinade in a shallow dish, add salmon flesh side down,  marinate for 5 minutes.

2) Place salmon on a foil lined baking sheet, skin side down.  Reserve leftover marinade for the glaze. Bake for 8 minutes. Meanwhile bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan. 

3) Removed salmon from oven, baste with the glaze. 

Serve atop your favorite stir-fried vegetables or rice.

Enjoy!

Catching my Breath

     The past 3 weeks or so have been  a blur. One event or project after another. I've been so stoked about the weather warming up here that I've spent a lot of time trying to get my garden planted up. Also teaching the kids to now stay out of my flower beds! Frustrating. 

     Even more frustrating and time consuming, potty training. Yes, James and I have gone down the rabbit hole of toileting. It's been almost a week and a half now and I am so over it. I would rather have a newborn than a toddler learning to use the potty. But, I know I can't give up now as I have in the past. His teacher was actually the one to give me the push to get started. I wanted to wait until this summer. James can't move up and on to any new class settings until we get him potty trained. So this is crucial to his progress in school. If anyone has any tips I would love to hear. Bear in mind he is on the autism spectrum, but he is super smart. 

    On another note,  even though I've been busy, I haven't stopped cooking and I have lots of recipes waiting in the wings to be shared! In the meantime I'll share some pictures from the  past few weeks.

This beautiful baby girl made her debut just before Valentine's Day. 

You can find pics of her lovely mama at her baby shower in this post.

Now her and I each have a son and a daughter and I am so looking forward to the years to come of them growing up together. What's funny to us is that my children are 15 months a part and they teased me when I got pregnant again when my baby was only 6 1/2 months old. After she had her first baby I would tease them right back and sure enough she got pregnant again less than 6 months after. Haha so hers are 14 months apart. I've known this woman since I was 5 years old and it's such a trip how our little families are paralleling each other. :)

Caught these two in the act! 

James had the time of his life on a field trip to a bounce house place.  Think, a warehouse filled with giant inflatable slides, obstacle course, and jump houses. The most amazing place on earth to a 3 year old.

On one of our frequent Target runs. Brooklynn had to stop and say hi to the dog.

For our wedding anniversary which was March 3rd, Steven got me  tickets to see my favorite reggae group, Iration. I got to meet them and view a private performance!! 

It has been so warm here I brought out the water table for James & Brooklynn.

They think it's a pool...

Steven's twin sister came this past weekend to celebrate their birthday.

Happy 27th Steven and Stefanie!

Easy Go-To Recipes

Today I thought I'd do a quick post about some of my go-to's. These are things I make on a regular basis and they're quick and easy.

Italian Seasoned Breakfast Potatoes

- 2 Russet Potatoes, diced

- 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 3 tbsp Olive oil

 Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add potatoes, Italian seasoning, and garlic.  Cook stirring frequently for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and soft on the inside.

Insanely easy and delicious.

This next one is more of a trick than a recipe. 

I always cook my bacon in the oven. Less mess, even cooking, no flipping, better flavor. I like to spiral my bacon. It makes for a very pretty and unique presentation.

Twist the ends of your bacon strip in opposite directions and lay on your baking sheet. Bake at 400* for about 15 minutes.

Cucumber Mini Sandwiches

- 1 cucumber

- Sliced deli meat of choice

- Dijon Mustard

Peel and slice your cucumber into 1/4 in slices. On half of your cucumber slices, add a dollop of Dijon mustard. Maybe about a quarter teaspoon, followed by a little deli meat. Top with another cucumber slice.

I like to peel my cucumbers because mine always seem to have the yucky waxy film on them. I use whatever deli meat is on sale that week. In this photo I used roast beef. This is a perfect light snack, that is surprisingly satisfying. 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend, enjoy these easy go-to's!

A Day in King's Canyon

 Last week we went for a day trip to the awesome King's Canyon to see the giant sequoias. Although they're in our own backyard, neither of us have been since we were kids. I was craving mountain air and hiking. And we kind of pegged it as our Valentine's Day trip. The temperature was perfect and there was only a tiny bit of snow left on the ground. Unfortunately the area known as Cedar Grove  is closed this time of year, so we stayed in Grant Grove. The main attraction there of course, the General Grant Tree. The second largest tree in the world, designated the "Nation's Christmas Tree". It stands 267 feet tall and almost 30 feet in diameter. King's Canyon itself was only the third to be given national park status, after Yosemite and Yellow Stone. With Brooklynn in tow on Dad's back, we spent a lovely day basking in the natural beauty of California.

We stopped at Dunlap Vista headed East on Highway 180.

We started with the Grant Grove Tree Trail. It's more like a walk than a hike, the path is paved and there's some short fencing protecting the trees. It is the most touristy area.

This is the Tennessee Tree.

Centennial Stump. The "California Hoax" =D

The General Grant Tree

Afterward we did the North Grove Loop trail. It was almost 2 miles with a lot of ups and downs. I broke a sweat and it felt so good!

Next was a quarter mile easy trail to get to this beautiful spot where we stopped for lunch.

Panoramic Point 

Our final stop of the day was the Big Stump Loop. 

This tree is truly massive. It was once struck by lightning, taking off at least 20 feet of the upper portion. It is now growing a new top, hence the name, the Resurrection Tree.

Big Stump Meadow. The Site of the Smith-Comstock Mill in the late 1800's.

Mark Twain Stump

The other end of Big Stump Meadow

If you're wondering what the Sequoias feel like, the bark is really soft and feels fuzzy.

Shattered Giant. The trail leads you right across it.

I already miss the mountains and want to go back. <3

Looking forward to camping this summer!

Beef Roast with Parsley Tomato Sauce and Savory Sweet Potato Mash

This recipe comes from  Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis I've always admired Giada for her beauty and her Italian cooking. I am Italian and I find her flavors and style super comforting. I was psyched when my mother in law gifted me this cookbook. Although I've had it for a while, this is the first recipe I've made from the book. It turned out perfectly. I had some of the tomato sauce left even after eating all the leftovers so I used it as a topping for scrambled eggs and it was delish. The book recommends serving the entree with buttered egg noddles. Since I'm still following the Paleo lifestyle the majority of the time, I swapped the noodles for sweet potatoes. Er- yams, whatever you'd like to call them. I'm referring to the pale sweet potato, not the orange variety. I call them sweet potatoes because that's what my mom always called them and that's what they're labeled as at my grocery store. It was recently brought to my attention that others call the pale ones yams and the orange ones sweet potatoes. Call them what you want, this recipe is yummy. 

Beef Roast with Parsley Tomato Sauce 

serves 4 to 6

- 1 (2 - 2 1/2 lb) chuck roast

- sea salt

- black pepper

- 4 Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise

- 2 tsp Italian seasoning

- 3 tbsp plus 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1 1/2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley

- 2 garlic cloves

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1)  Preheat oven to 375* F 

2) Season roast with salt and pepper. Season tomatoes with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. 

3) Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in an oven safe skillet or dutch oven on high heat. Sear beef on all sides until browned. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, around the roast and place into oven. Roast approximately 30 minutes for medium rare. Remove roast from oven and let the meat rest for 15 minutes before slicing. 

4) While the meat rests, place parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the parsley is finely chopped. Add 3/4 tsp salt, red wine vinegar, and tomatoes and process until pureed. While the  machine is still running, stream in the remaining half cup olive oil.

Simple Savory Sweet Potato Mash

- 2 large sweet potatoes

- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled

- olive oil

- sea salt

-black pepper

1) Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes.

2) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and garlic cloves. Boil approximately 8 minutes or until tender.

3) Drain potatoes and garlic and transfer to a medium sized bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash potatoes with a few tablespoons olive oil to get to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day

     I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! We sure did! If anyone happened to look at my Instagram then you saw my #heartshaped everything. I had so much fun with it.

     Since Steven had to work the day of Valentine's Day, we went out Friday night. My mom watched the kids and we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Then paid a visit to my dad at the wine bar where he is the chef. 

Sorry for another grainy pic. The front camera on my phone isn't the greatest, especially in low light.

Saturday morning we dove right in to love day, starting with breakfast.

Followed by Valentine's baskets!

Brooklynn gravitated to the chocolate first...

And James to the hotwheels.

Then wanted me to go with him to his room to use the race track. Haha He was getting frustrated with me.

You can see what went into the kid's Valentine's Day baskets in this post.

I threw a basket together for Steven at the last minute on Friday. He's been wanting this shaving set for a while. He loved it.

Van Der Hagen Safety Razor /  Van Der Hagen Luxury Shave Set /  Van Der Hagen Razor Blades / 49ers Vintage Zebra Pants, similar here  

Steven is a die hard San Francisco 49ers fan. His dad used to have pajama pants just like these circa circa the 1980's. We've been eyeing these since the beginning of football season last year. I finally got them on clearance, Score!!

Here's how we spent the rest of our day:

Strawberry Lemonade Hand Pies. I'll share the recipe soon.

These lovebugs are so easy to make. Hot glue a magnet and pom poms to a clothespin. Add googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennas.  Great for holding papers or displaying kid's artwork on the fridge.

Aaaaannnnnddd apparently it's spring because it's been in the 70's and I've been in a tank top and flip flops for the past week. So happy spring from California!! <3