How does your garden grow?

Happy Dad’s Day all!  How are you all doing?  Life is good with us even though the past month has completely flown by.  Thank you all for the nice emails, comments and facebook posts checking in on me.  I have missed chatting it up every day with you all.  I am hoping the crazy days have passed and now all the summer fun begins (meaning fun blog posts & travelling!)….starting with our trip to Las Vegas next weekend, camping over the 4th and our trip to Seattle with the Alaskan Cruise – I cannot wait!

Speaking of Seattle ~ all my Seattle friends, I’ve built in time for a get together this trip since I missed meeting up with you all this past February. Let me know if you are going to be around mid July (July 19-22).

I am totally hoping most of our garden comes in before the trip, but, if not, we will be stocked up with a ton veggies when we return.

The one thing I cannot wait for this year ~ our 7 tomato plants (4 cherry, 3 roma) to start turning red.

The thing I’ve decided is better to buy….Strawberries!

I mean they are super cute and all, but, you wait so long for these tiny little berries……

But, I do like that they attract lady bugs over other funky bugs or worms.

Baby peppers!

This year we have two garden bullies ~ the cantaloupe who is taking over the Thyme – it’s a good thing they are getting along and sharing the sandbox.

We have two cantaloupes growing so far

The other bully – the Paddy Pan Squash…..

Isn’t is crazy that those big leaves make these sweet, little squashes.

Nothing too fancy yet, but, here is what I’ve picked so far…2 squashes, 2 peppers, a cucumber and those strawberries that took forever to turn red.

This year I am totally hooked on all the delicious farmer’s market fruits ~ I cannot pick a favorite yet, so most days include a bowl like this….

I am also completely IN LOVE with this Buckeye Creek Blueberry Balsamic and Olive Oil.  They are perfect drizzled over crisp salads and tomato slices.  For those wondering, I bought these at the Vacaville Farmer’s Market but she also sells them at the Davis Market.

I have also been digging just about any type of salad this year….whether I make it or buy it.

This Harvest Grain salad has shown up at every BBQ we’ve had this year.

I am totally re-creating these two that I had at work lunches…..

Asian Noodle Salad……all the veggies were pickled which made it even more amazing.

Asparagus Salad ~ I’ve never thought to eat asparagus raw, but, it was quite tasty when it was finely shaved with pistachios and butter leaf in a creamy fresh herb dressing.

I’ve also learned Better Than a Big Mac Burgers taste pretty awesome when made with ground turkey too.

It didn’t hurt that we added these awesome green tomatoes I picked up at the Farmer’s Market.

Served up with my favorite “chips” dipped in organic ketchup.

I think tomatoes are the other thing I cannot get enough of this summer…we’ve had this No Cook Summer Garden Pasta and this Baked Caprese Pasta a few times too.

Last, but, not least, my favorite new veggie this year.  I’ve had regular swiss chard, but, as you all know, I love all things MINI so I end up stocking up on baby swiss chard every week. 

I’ve decided that Pinterest is not always a good thing for me ~ I see so many recipes that I am like OMG ~ I totally have to find a reason to make that!  These White Chocolate Gooey Lemon Bars from Crazy For Crust did just that to me.

Totally off topic super cool fact ~ I did not realize Dorothy lives near me and in the town I used to work…So funny considering we’ve gone to a few blogging events yet never met.  Anyway, she is totally a hoot so be sure to check out her site.

The biggest challenge for me was finding a cake mix that had ingredients I could recognize….I found this fantastic Meyer Lemon Cake mix at my local grocery store.  I am pretty sure they are the same peeps that make the ones you find at Trader Joe’s.

I promise – this recipe is totally worth the 1/2 cup of butter…..

Plus the cake….

Make sure you line your pan with foil and a lot of nonstick spray to make it pop out of the pan easier.

It really is that easy – combine the butter, egg and cake….then, press 2/3 of it into the pan.

Cover with white chocolate chips and a little sweetened condensed milk for good measure.

Avoid eating the other half of the lemon cookie dough as you drop it into pieces on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes until the top is slightly golden.  Cool completely, remove and slice into 16 squares.

Are you all ready for this because I cannot believe I am saying it?

They are only 6 points+ each and so rich you can only eat one at a time!  It helps if you give the others away though

I think that pretty much brings me up to today…..After heading back to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning (I am excited to report I netted being down 1/2 lb. during my mini break), a group of us went to Mel’s Diner for Brunch.

I knew I wanted two things…..coffee & lots of it!

And bacon…I resisted the lots of it part.  I ended up eating my two eggs with two slices of bacon for 8 points+.

Plus 1 1/2 slices of dry wheat toast dipped in my eggy goodness (3 points+)

And managed to eat only 1/3 of my potatoes since I saved them for last ~ Success! 4 points+

Dinner involved The Husband’s favorite: Bill Bailey’s Carne Asada.  I have to admit it’s kinda my favorite too because he cooks whenever we have it.

4 oz = 4 points+

While the carne asada cooked (it takes about 15 minutes), I prepped all the toppers.

Taco – Dillas

Topped with romaine….

Homemade Salsa that I improvised using hot sauce & taco seasoning because we did not have any peppers or cilantro.

And AVOCADO!  I had 3 Carne Asada Taco-Dillas for 4 points+ each.

My super cool purchase of the day ~ the new Samsung Galaxy s5.  I really went back & forth trying to decide if I wanted another Droid (it’s what I’ve used for 6 years), but, in the end decided to branch out and try something new.

This phone is pretty awesome so far ~ it’s super fast with an amazingly vivid display, dustproof, water-resistant and I almost think smarter than me.  I love that it syncs with my Fitbit Flex, acts as a pedometer and you can take your heart rate on it too!  I am super excited to check out the camera, but, also feel a bit clueless as everything is new on it (like, I had to send a “test text” to The Husband to make sure I knew how to text LOL!)

There are so many fancy features that I cannot wait to check out! I love that it remembered all my apps, downloaded them and even remembered my wifi password, etc from my Droid Razr Maxx.  However, it’s not too cool that they re not alphabetized…must figure that one out.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What type of phone do you have or would love to own and why? If you have any Samsung tips I’d love to know them.

Night all!