the happy kitchen

I follow a girl named Sara Stewart on Instagram [@sara.haven]. I found her account on my discovery page a while ago, probably due to the number of Trader Joe's related accounts that I also follow. However it happened, I'm glad that I stumbled upon her page. Her account is a great follow. She posts a lot of recipes, meal prep ideas, and great pictures of food. She is a very relatable person with very relatable[food] content and I am all about it. She posts a lot of "blender" recipes. Pretty self-explanatory, but all you have to do is throw the ingredients into a food processor or blender to make the batter. Sounds easy enough. I have never tried any of the blender recipes before but always have them bookmarked. In the corner of my kitchen were a couple spotty bananas begging to be used, so I thought today would be a good day to try one of her recipes. I had all the ingredients already, so I saved myself from having to brave the crazy grocery shopping experience for...

So, [my favorite place] Trader Joe's makes a Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad. It comes in a portioned container in the to-go salad area. I bought it once a lot time ago. It was good. I enjoyed it. But, as I was eating it, I thought about how I paid $4 for one, little portion and I could probably just make it myself. Since then, I never bought it again. Instead, I developed my own version that I like so much better. When I make this, I can get everything I need at Trader Joe's so I am not quite sure what other stores/brands may carry. I have made this orzo salad with fewer ingredients but enjoy this combination the most. With every bite, there is a little bit of everything and it all goes together well. There is no meat in this dish, but the addition of garbanzo beans gives it the protein it needs. Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad INGREDIENTS: 1 lb. orzo pasta 12 oz marinated artichokes, drained and roughly chopped (about 8.1oz drained) 12 oz. fir...

Bella's fourth birthday was on March 19th. To celebrate we normally would go to Carmel for a weekend around that time. We always eat at Portabella, walk around downtown, get Bella a toy at Diggity Dog, let her swim at the beach, and [of course] celebrate with lots of decorations and cake. We had our annual Bella's Birthday trip planned but canceled it last minute due to the shelter-in-place order. It is one of the best weekends of the year for us, but we decided it was better to be cautious than not. We are really bummed out that we could not go this year- just bad timing. Hopefully, we can reschedule the trip once everything settles down. Poor little Bella. She did not understand what happened to all of her birthday festivities this year. So, today we celebrated her birthday at home. I made her usual peanut butter dog cake and we put up all the decorations for her unicorn-themed birthday party. She got a lot of new toys that she was excited to play with right away. I am sure...

I forgot how long we have been doing this shelter-in-place. I just know it has been long enough that I can't actually tell you for sure the exact day of the week. We are trying to establish somewhat of a routine around here though. I have always been an early riser, so I go to sleep and wake up just as I would on any given day. I still shower, but I may be wearing sweats or "athleisure" more often than not. Currently, our dining table is doubling as our "office workspace" with our laptops side-by-side. After we each make our morning Nespresso, we plug in our earphones and get to work. Ryan is doing actual  work. My work is making this blog happen and doing some continuing education to stay busy. At some point during the day, in addition to taking Bella outside, I will also go to our second bedroom to do a workout so I don't bother Ryan while he is on work calls. I stopped doing my 1000+ piece puzzles daily because it was hard keeping my iPad charged. I felt ...

Do you ever wake up and just feel like baking? No? Just me? Yesterday, I woke up at 7am with an urge to bake something, so I figured it was a good opportunity to bring back another recipe from the vault. Let me tell you how this recipe came to life. It all started way back in 2013. I was already a few years out of college and trying to find my place in the world. In addition to a few part-time jobs, I had just got accepted into dental hygiene school. One of the part-time jobs that I had after college was working as a baker in a small local bake shop. Although it was not the most glamorous job, especially for someone with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics/Chemistry, it reignited my passion for baking and creating in the kitchen. I dedicated any free moment to experimenting with the endless possibilities that I had constantly streaming through my head. My head is a very busy place, filled with baked good dreams wanting to become reality. Welcome to my head space. It's an adven...

So, since the shelter-in-place, Ryan has been working from home. I am currently out of work. Completing a 1000+ piece puzzle a day has been helping to pass time and keep my mind stimulated. Bella gets lots of loving all day long and she's happier than ever. Other than that, the biggest part of my day is thinking about what I'm going to cook or bake next. Obviously, I have been trying to be compliant by staying in as much as possible and thus limiting my number of trips to the grocery store. I have been making all of our meals and trying to keep it interesting can be challenging. For the week, I try to have a repertoire of meals that I could make that are straight forward and not terribly time-consuming. This is helpful because, during a normal work week, time may not be as plentiful as it is now. Something that I don't make super often, but nice to have in my back pocket as a dinner option, is chicken enchiladas. The great thing is that you can take the skeleton of this...

Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the government has ordered a '"shelter-in-place" in our area with the intent to decrease the spreading of this virus. This pandemic has really created a lot of panic in the world, and particularly within my surroundings. Never have I ever seen grocery store shelves so empty. Everyone is stocking up their carts with non-perishables, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper! But it's awful how this hoarding mentality is creating a situation where people who actually need certain items can't acquire them. Insane. Maybe things will start settling down.. one can only hope. Now, as I do my best to practice "social distancing", I suddenly have a lot of free time on my hands. Every once in a while, when I go to the grocery store, I pick up a few bananas. I always think maybe I will need them in case I decide to make a smoothie or pair with a spoonful of peanut butter. And sometimes, depending on how the week is going, those s...