Potatoes gratin - my first time making it

I made a layer of cauliflower and topped it with herbs and garlic - everyone liked it

Uncle I I comes to visit

Aaron drove up to see the BSU/BYU game with a friend. We met at Red Robin, where engrossed in conversation did not notice Liam pouring multiple sugar packets on his grilled cheese. Cassia began copying him with the salt and pepper, to whoever had to clean our table I am sorry. 

I told Aaron about how yesterday I dropped Liam off for school and he said "see you later, chicken fries!" before slamming the door. Also about his teddy bear that he named "farty bear". Aaron in return showed us pictures of his Alaska trip, complete with a video of a humpbacked whale. 

Afterwards my kids played in the street and I took home a bag of garlic from my parent's garden. 

Oh, and BSU won.

Dinner!

Cassia salts her own food now

She can also brush her own teeth.

fishing @ Park Center

Another Parks and Rec free fishing day. This time Jerad and Cassia got to come along. The good news is Liam caught a 9.5in rainbow trout, the bad news is Cassia fell in the pond. She was OK though, not too happy (I even gave her a cookie after and she crumbled it up and threw it on the ground then stepped on it) but eventually did return to her happy self and sat on my lap and helped me fish. Liam was so excited about catching a fish and had it for dinner. I just cooked it in olive oil with salt, pepper, and some fresh lemon. 

Cassia post fall (at least it was shallow water)

Jerad teaching Liam to cast

Cassia pre-fall

trout!

Jerad's pic

grillin

We have a grill! Liam helped me by putting in the briquettes, which made baby very angry and we had a half hour of tears. She is only one though, so it's OK. We grilled apple hotdogs and they were loved by all, especially Cassia who wanted something tasty after crying for half an hour. Liam says he wants to grill again. 

saucy tart

I needed to make something different, and after scouring my current favorite website (www.gojee.com) I found this little number:


http://www.alexandracooks.com/2009/09/21/tomato-corn-cheese-galette-%E2%80%94-a-favorite-summer-meal-%E2%80%94-with-a-chocolate-chip-cookie-for-dessert/

Cassia helps but getting the flour out. All over the floor and in the dog water.

I made a pie last night and was still in the dough and rolling pin mood so I decided I wanted to make this. I changed it to fit what I had (and added meat for Jerad) and of course made the dough GF. You have to let the dough set in the fridge to chill an hour before cooking it, so make that first then start on the filling.

Beef, basil, and mushroom tart 

Filling:

-stew meat (I used beef that had been rubbed with salt and pepper and sat in the fridge 2 days)

-some baby bellas (crimini) mushrooms chopped

-medium onion, chopped

-some garlic, chopped

-fresh basil, thyme, and parsley chopped

-feta cheese

-a tomato, cut into slices

Crust:

-1 cup chicpea flour

-1/2 cup rice flour

-1/3 cup cornmeal

-6 tblspn cold butter, cubed

-a little sugar, a little salt

-a little olive oil

-a little cold water

-a little milk and an egg yolk mixed together (for the finishing touch!)

Start cooking!

1. preheat oven to 375
2. Mix the dry dough ingredients together. then cut in the cold butter, when it's clumpy add a little olive oil and cold water.
3. roll the dough into a ball, cover, and put in the fridge an hour.
4. heat canola oil in a large pan. add the meat and stir. after a few minutes add the onion.
5. after the meat starts to cook, add the mushrooms. stir occasionally
6. chop some garlic and the fresh herbs  up and place in a large mixing bowl when the meat, onions, and mushrooms are done combine them and stir. add salt and pepper.
7. (I ended up with some leftover filling, so I made some brown rice and added salt and fresh basil to it. I mixed the remaining filling with the rice.)
8. take the dough out after an hour. since it's GF it will be crumbly, so what I did was roll it out on a silicone baking sheet then moved the whole thing onto the baking sheet. 
9. Once it's rolled out place in your filling, leave about 2 inches from the sides. 
10. sprinkle on some cheese (I used feta) and top with tomato slices
11. roll the sides up and pinch closed the best you can (GF is tricksy)
12. take your egg and milk mixture (I also added a little salt and pepper) and brush the edges of the tart crust.
13. place on middle oven rack for 20-35 minutes 
14. eat it.

roll out!

meat + onions

meat, onions, and mushrooms cooking. chopped herbs and garlic.

mixing the fillings

added to the tart crust

about to go in the oven

ta-da!

nom

dinner!

GF pasta with pesto and mushrooms cooked in butter and fresh basil and parsley...the kids downed it. 

Cassia has to eat with Liam and eat the same thing as Liam

Liam shows the peas he picked out

Liam's Hawaiian Pizza

Bountiful Baskets gave us a pineapple last week and Liam had the great idea of making Hawaiian pizza. Winco now sells GF pizza crusts (2 for 4.80) and then we bought some Canadian bacon. Liam assembled everything and then ran outside with a blanket to make us a picnic. He did a great job!

Boise food truck rally

It was nice to visit the North End! Went to the Food Truck Rally...Jerad and the kids hit up Brown Shuga, a soul food truck, and I played with the kids while he waited in line. It was wind though, so we didn't stay too long. On the way home we stopped at Big Bun and shared a coconut pistachio shake which was delightful.

Playing downtown

Went to pick up some Greek food at Cazba, let the kids play and destroy things while we waited.

I still love Bountiful Baskets

combination of leftovers (mashed potatoes and turmeric rice), antelope  from my parents, and BB fresh herbs to make some meatloaf!

glaze for the meatloaf, the garlic ginger stuff Jerad bought in Oregon. It ended up sinking in the meat and flavoring it. VERY good!

I love using whole food

part of my bounty

Liam decorates pizza

Mai Thai birthday dinners!

Called Becky to babysit and Jerad and I went downtown for our birthdays. We wanted to try something new, so we went to Mai Thai. It's beautiful and somewhat upscale with zen waterfalls and bright colors inside. Jerad had duck and I had rec curry with shrimp. We even did dessert, Jerad had star anise bread pudding and I had GF lim cheesecake. It was awesome! Definitely need to go back!


http://maithaigroup.com/

A DUCK

Jerad's

mine

shrimp!

bread pudding!!

mine was almost too pretty to eat! almost.

home!