2 in 1

May 28, 2015

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As someone who loves to cook, you can often find me in my kitchen making a new recipe, or a tried and true favorite. I love browsing the internet for new dinner ideas, or quickly pulling up one of my recipes to make. I don’t ever print out recipes anymore with the convenience of devices, it’s no longer needed!

I was excited to receive an Intel 2 in 1 Laptop/Tablet Lenovo Yoga 3! It makes cooking so much easier to have the recipe at my finger tips. I like that it is not just a tablet, but also a laptop, and doesn’t require a stand. It can bend in all directions depending on how I need to look at it. It can take me through a recipe start to finish, and even help me browse for recipes to use in the future. It is also really nice to have a keyboard to help with faster searching.

I made this amazing pasta dish for dinner the other night with a fresh arugula pesto. It was so good, and fresh. I kind of had to laugh to myself too when my kids thought it was so awesome to eat green pasta! They asked it if was Leprechaun day again. Little did they know they were eating loads of greens!

Here’s the recipe I adapted from Blue Apron.

Fusilli Pasta with Arugula Pesto and Snap Peas

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

16 oz Fusilli pasta, cooked and drained. Reserve 1-2 cups of pasta water. (I used Gluten free Fusilli)

1 1b Sugar Snap Peas, snap off the top and pull of and discard the tough strings that run the length of the pod

5 Ounces Fresh Arugula

3-4 Cloves Fresh Garlic, minced

1 Lemon, zest lemon and cut in half

3 Tablespoons un-salted Butter

3 Tablespoons Pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped (toast over high heat for 1 minute in a skillet)

1 large Shallot, diced

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

Directions

Cook the Fusilli according to package directions. Be sure to reserve 2 cups of the hot pasta water before you drain the pasta.

Place the arugula, lemon zest, all but a few tablespoons of the parmesan cheese (save the rest for garnish) in a food processor. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Pulse until leaves and cheese are fully chopped. While pulsing the food processor drizzle in enough Olive pile to create a rough paste. Pulse in juice of one lemon to taste, and season again with salt and pepper to taste.

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the chopped garlic and shallot; season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally about 2 to 4 minutes or until garlic and shallot are softened. Add the sugar snap peas, and season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minute, or until peas are bright green and slightly tender. Remove from heat.

Add the pasta, and arugula pesto to the skillet. Add a cup of the pasta water, or more if it still looks dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped pistachios, and remaining parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

So, tell me in the comments, what is your favorite go-to dinner to prepare?

{all photos by me}

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Recipe // Watermelon Mint Feta Salad

Even though it’s been raining just about the entire month of May here in Utah, I am going to will Summer to come if it’s the last thing I do.

When I was a little girl, I used to lay in the grass in the summer. My parents had planted mint leaves, and they somehow made their way into the grass, and while I would lay back enjoying the sunshine, the smell of fresh mint would be in the air. That smell reminds me of summer, and takes me back.

Watermelon, mint, and citrus just screams summer to me. And, maybe if I make it enough, summer will come.

You will need:

Seedless Watermelon Sliced into cubes

Fresh Mint Leaves

Feta Cheese Crumbles

Lemons

Limes

Olive oil

Zest the lemon and limes.

In a large bowl add the desired amount of Watermelon you need.

Add a few drizzles of olive oil to barely coat the watermelon. Add the juice of one lemon and lime. And, some of the zest. Wash and chop some mint and sprinkle onto the watermelon. Sprinkle on the desired amount of feta cheese and mix. Add a teeny sprinkle of salt and pepper if desired.

Enjoy your summer in a bowl!

{all photos by me}

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Travel // Great Basin National Park

May 26, 2015

A few weeks ago were heading down to Southern Utah, and decided to make a little detour on the way there.

I had no idea where we were going for the first night, but my husband had an idea, so we set off!

We headed out towards central Nevada, where we found some of the loneliest roads in America. I think they are really called that. For a good hour or two we didn’t pass a single soul. Husband is keen on the road less traveled, and that’s really where lots of our fun ends up happening, so I am usually up for the adventure!

We found ourselves near Baker, Nevada home of the Great Basin National Park. We had to drive over an hour past however to find suitable lodging in Ely, Nevada since the motels in Baker were a little questionable. I’ve stayed in my fair share of questionable motels with the husband pre-kids. But, now that we have kids, it’s not as much of an option. We ended up staying at the Ramada Inn in Ely. Not many options there, but it was clean and there was breakfast, so the kids loved that.

We explored Lehman caves with an hour guided tour. I couldn’t imagine stumbling upon these caves back in the day. They were huge! So many rooms and places to explore, and we didn’t even see it all.