Food – Page 10 – Copper Acorn

by Alexis - September 17, 2009

Crazy Ridiculous

Crazy Ridiculous is the only way I can describe how I’m feeling after going grocery shopping. As written in older posts, I have $60 for 2 weeks. Impossible? Read the old posts. I went to the dollar tree to get boring things like Foil and Sandwich Baggies. Spent $15. I then went to a grocery store chain called, ‘Grocery Outlet’. Crazy. I got all the food below for 24!!! That’s TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS! (and no the expiration dates are all good) Most of the things I bought were certified organic (different from only ‘organic’ foods). I also bought things I would not normally buy…like 4 lbs of frozen peaches, bag of spinach & artichoke chips, 5lbs whole wheat flour and a bottle of pure lemon extract. We seriously need people to come over so I can make dinners.

But people, I’m in heaven because I have nearly HALF of my budget left to only buy Chocolate Chips and T.P. You better believe I’m either splurging in the meat isle or I’m taking myself to get a peti or mani. 🙂

by Alexis - September 15, 2009

The past 3 days

The past 3 days have been crazy. Being in Duvall visiting Trav’s parents, going to a square dance in a barn ( Yes! And it was SO much fun!), biking a meer18 MILES!!!!!, arriving home at 11:30pm (H.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. with a capital H) and having a friend over for dinner last night. All ok, just packed full. So, the pictures migh tbe all a bit pushed together. But here it goes:

The barn dance was crazy fun! There were white Christmas lights everywhere, AMAZING FOOD and even a professional Hall-er (lingo for professional square dance/line dance person). It was the birthday of a past friend of Travis’. She was turning 60 and it was so cool to see her dance with her black cowboy hat and boots! I hope I am that lively when I’m 60. The food was incredible. Shrimp, filled puff pastries, wrapped asparagus, as much fruit as you can eat, cake and of course brie. Brie people! I picked out as many raspberries as I could and scarfed (and I mean scarfed) on the brie. *sigh, it was so good… This was MY kind of how-down! Anyhoo, it was fun and I got pictures of it.

I made homemade tortilla chips last night with my beef enchiladas and they were so good! Pictures of course. 😉 I didn’t put salt on them because I’m married to a healthy person. He’s trying to conform me but I like salty food too much.

The chips were great and super duper crazy easy to make. (healthy=no , yummy=yes!) Just cut triangles from corn/flour tortillas. Heat some oil in a sm/med pan and dip them in. Flip when one side is golden brown. I like mine a little too brown for most people, so picture shows that. You can make yours however you want.

by Alexis - September 14, 2009

Watermarking

I’ve been wanting to watermark my photos for sometime now. And just recently I was reading a friends blog (very cute) and because of a story she linked, it pushed me into actually doing it. Sometimes fear…cautiousness is a good motivator. So here is what my new photos will look like. Nothing too different but I was trying to try a couple different kinds of pictures to make sure it didn’t look too dorky. Enjoy 🙂

by Alexis - September 9, 2009

I lied

OK, I lied. I admit it early on. I told you I wouldn’t take any pictures today, my birthday and I lied. I did take pictures. I was doing a great job of restraining myself, but for some reason my camera was in my purse today and while Trav, Emma and I were at a cafe I thought I’d take a couple adorable photos of Emma (in her pig tails! Yes!) and then that night when a large group of us went to a favorite restaurant (Roadhouse), I also snapped a shot of the dessert I shared with a friend. It was so massive and delish. *sigh, I love hot fudge and WAY worth the $5 price. I also took a photo of their Southwestern Egg Rolls- the main and only reason I chose this place for dinner and dessert. Have a great night and I’ll see you tomorrow!

by Alexis - September 9, 2009

Today is my Birthday!

Today is my birthday! Yay to me. 🙂 I’m about to go to lunch with a really good friend and enjoy the Olive Garden’s never ending pasta bowl. Yum, you know I think pasta must be a staple food in heaven. 😉 Anyhoo, I’m not taking any pictures or anything today. I’m more or less just enjoying today. I’m visiting friends, eating out and watching girly movies while Emma naps. I thought I would send you some photos of yesterday. I must say that I patted myself on the back because I colored Emma’s face. She looks so cute! I can’t wait for Halloween! I’ll blog tomorrow. Happy September 9th!

by Alexis - September 8, 2009

Heaven

I experienced heaven today.

by Alexis - September 4, 2009September 4, 2009

Homemade Soft Pretzels

As promised, I made pretzels. The whole process took longer than I thought but they’re really really good. Chewy and only kinda crunchy on the bottom. So yummy. I made salted, plain and cinnamon sugar. I really wanted to make parmesan but alas, I didn’t have any in the fridge. Next time. These little puppies don’t have any butter OR shortening. Only a tablespoon of oil. AND they’re perfect for: lunches, picnic items, homemade gifts (which people like more anyways, *Christmas-hint, hint) So not only is this a healthy snack but perfect for anything! Next time I’m going to mix cheddar cheese into the dough…mmm sounds good huh. 🙂 Speaking of chesse, I’m looking for a cheese sauce/dip I can use with the pretzels. Any favorites?

If you want the recipe comment and let me know. I would be happy to give it to you. It’s just so long that I don’t want to fill up an entire post on that. I would rather show you a pretty picture of them! Enjoy!

by Alexis - September 2, 2009September 2, 2009

Brown Sugar

OK, I was looking here, and she has one of the BEST blogs out there. And recently she wrote about making brown sugar. Well if you read my last post you know that I need some. As I was over at a friends house, who is an avid blog reader too, I told her about the recipe found on the blog. It’s just 1cup of sugar for 2 T of molasses. I, like most people don’t have molasses in their cupboard- but she did! She gave me some and I was SO excited to come home and make it. I know, I’m a nerd. 🙂

Another girlfriend was there and asked why I would make brown sugar when I could buy it cheaper….hmmm. She has a point. Molases IS pretty expensive. Yet after making it I’ve decided that it’s WAY worth it. The quality is amazing and it smells heavenly. I can’t wait to make pretzels with it!!! I have 2 things to say to my friends : Amy- will I ever do this again…I’m not so sure. It is way more expensive. But it was sure fun 🙂 Carolina- Buy another bottle of that stuff because it’s amazing! Seriously.

by Alexis - September 1, 2009

Ice Cream Sandwiches

I know I told a couple of you that I was going to make homemade pretzels. Sorry, my brown sugar is gone and so hopefully this week sometime I’ll do it. If not, for sure next week. I’ll also post the recipe here too- it’s really simple. Well, it seems that I blog a lot about food. Huh, I guess it’s just an avenue for my creativity. I would love more fabric, crystals, card stock, stamps and spray paint. But as it is, we will always need food! So I’m able to have fun in the kitchen and spread the love Internet style.

I needed to make cookies for Trav’s lunches and I’m always trying to come up with fun little desserts. So, voila! This is the best of both worlds. This is obviously so simple a child could do it. (hint, hint for all you mommies and aunties- fun project for a rainy day!) Right now they’re in my freezer hardening up. I think we’ll add them to tomorrow’s dinner plan. Enjoy!

by Alexis - August 28, 2009

Organics to You

To those of you who know Travis or myself, I am sure you have heard about our fruits and vegetables. Weird, huh. 🙂 Well, we are both very happy customers of a small local company here, in Portland, called ‘Organics to You’. Like most people, there is no way that we could afford buying organic fruits and veggies- it’s just so stinkin’ expensive! That was until I found these people on the Internet and since signing up a year ago, we couldn’t be happier. I think my two favorite parts is that they deliver TO MY DOOR and they cater to my likes/dislikes and fruit allergies. They really are amazing! Of course I have to give their web page: organicstoyou.org

Most every city has something like this. I first found out about this option from a friend who lives in Seattle and does it. I thought- ‘Whoa, I gotta do this’ ~Enjoy the pictures, all the produced shown came in the box along with a recipe that goes with the veggies in it. 🙂 Now to find recipes for them all. Fun stuff. Oh, one last thing I almost forgot: If you ever buy bunches of herbs, just cut off the bottoms a bit and stick them in water. (just like you do with flowers) They soak up the water and will keep for you way longer. I got Basil and Italian Parsley.

Herloom Tomatoes-yum.