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Love Ash 

Summer Salads Week 3

The Pioneer Woman's 

Perfect Spinach Salad Recipe

This is not a recipe that I would normally make because I don't normally eat bacon. Although lately there has been something about bacon...ahhhh bacon. Since I love the Pioneer Woman I thought I would try her take on this classic salad.

Check out this hilarious clip from one of our favorite comedians Jim Gaffigan, all about bacon.




Here's what you'll need: 

3 Whole Eggs 

7 slices thick-cut peppered bacon

1 small whole red onion

1 package white button mushrooms

3 tbsp red wine vinegar 

2 tsp sugar 
1/2 tsp dijon mustard 

dash of salt 

8 ounces baby spinach 

Hard boil your eggs.
Fry the bacon until crispy.

Drain the fat into a bowl and reserve. 

Slice the red onion very thing and add to the skillet.

Cook slowly until onions are caramelized.

Remove and set aside.

Slice mushrooms and add to same skillet.

Cook until caramelized and brown 

Chop the bacon. Peel and slice the eggs. 

Make the hot bacon dressing.

Add 3 tbsp of bacon fat, vinegar, sugar, dijon and salt to a small saucepan or low heat.

Whisk together and heat until bubbly. 

Add the spinach to a large bowl. 

Arrange onions, mushrooms and bacon on top.

Pour the hot dressing over the top toss to combine.

Arrange the eggs over the top and serve. 

Here's a few things I would do differently next time: 
I would not use any bacon fat for the dressing. 
I would use some olive oil or avocado oil in it's place
I would leave the onions raw.
Other than that the flavor is awesome and the salad delicious.

How are you liking the salad recipes? 
Any suggestions on what I could make next? 

xo 
Ash

Summer Salads: Week 2

 This weeks salad can be served warm or cold.

Red Potato & Green Bean Salad 

2 pounds red potatoes 

6-8 ounces of green beans 

-dressing-

1/4 cup olive oil 

4 tsp whole grain mustard 

1 tbsp honey 

2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar 

Rosemary 

Parsley 

-Season to your liking-

Enjoy

xo 

Ash 

Carlo's Bakery: Las Vegas

Matt and I are in Las Vegas visiting our great friends Justin and Monique. Monique and I decided today was a good day to visit Buddy the cake bosses new restaurant Buddy V's Ristorante and Carlos Bakery ; we did what we do best...eat!! 

Once we arrived the line was pretty long but it moved  quick. 

Check out these desserts! 

I'm really happy...can you tell? Once we got our goodies we walked right across the way to Buddy V's Ristorante. 

The ristorante decor was just smashing. I had to share a little of it. I now want a whisk light in my kitchen. They are so cool. Wouldn't it look great as the light above the kitchen sink?

We couldn't wait to try our desserts. 

Carrot Cake 

Mini Cannoli's 

 Lobster Tail: Flaky puffed pastry filled with a decadent french cream and a touch of Bailey's Irish Cream...what else needs to be said. 

Here's what we ordered at the ristorante. 

Aunt Nina's Mozzarella En Carozza...amazing.

Macaroni and Cheese Carbonara...amazing.

If you are in Vegas...run don't walk to Buddy V's and Carlos bakery.It will not disappoint.

xo 
Ash 

Summer Salad Series: Week One

Every summer I am always on the hunt for new healthy salad recipes. I thought it would be fun to share what I'm cooking up in the kitchen.

I will post a new salad each week for the rest of the summer.

Lately I have been obsessed with lime and cilantro combinations. There are two recipes here. I have made both and it's so hard to narrow down my favorite. Try them out and let me know which one you like the best. 

Sorry I didn't take pictures of mine...I get so excited to eat I forget :) 

Black Bean Salad with a Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette

This is so good!!!! The mix of cayenne pepper and a small amount of sweetener is amazing!! Note I used Sucanat in place of sugar. 

Next up is a similar salad. There are more veggies and more work but its worth it. I felt like I was chopping cilantro for a year. 

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing

Both websites have such wonderful and healthy recipes on them. 
Until the next salad! 
XO 
Ashley 

Valentines Day Menu

Valentines Day has never been something we celebrate. Matt likes to say everyday is valentines day :) Sweet huh? Well this year I found some amazing new recipes and wanted to make them for my sweetheart.  

We went out to a great local Carribean restaurant in Auburn Joe Caribe on a date a couple days before February 14th. If your in the area I would go for sure. I had the yellow curry chicken and Matt had the Jambilaya.

For our romantic Valentines Dinner we stayed in and here's what I made. My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures!! 

First Course: Salad 

I kept it simple spinach, carrots, feta and this dressing I have been loving lately. 

• 1/4 cup vinegar (red wine or apple cider) whatever you like
• 1 tbsp mustard 
• Garlic and onion powder 
• 3/4 cup avocado oil (costco sells it now...yay) 

Main Course:  

• Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce (courtesy of Martha) 
• Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes
• Roasted Balsamic Vegetables 

Dessert

Molten Lava Cakes  

Aren't these adorable. They were so easy and AMAZING!! 

The espresso powder in them adds such an awesome dimension. I will now add it to everything chocolate. I did over cook them a bit but it wasn't bad. 

I hope you had a super sweet Valentines Day with your sweetheart! 

xo Ash 

I made a huge mistake...

This huge mistake began when I wanted to make a special dessert for a friend's birthday celebration. She loves lemon desserts and is a healthy eater. I was also thinking of another friend who is gluten free and thought for sure I could find a recipe for something with lemon, was gluten free and semi healthy. 

I found this recipe on pinterest and thought how cute it would be if everyone got their own little cake. 

My first mistake was thinking I could substitute gluten free flours and use my own custom mixture. I tried to save $6 by not using exactly what the recipe called for.

When I mixed everything together it smelled and looked great. However, when I poured it into the pan the batter seemed a little lumpy.

They came out of the oven a little cracked and looked dry, but I thought they couldn't be that bad. I put the sugary glaze on and couldn't wait to share my dessert. 

My second terrible mistake was bringing them and serving them (ha).

Here's a close up of the culinary delight.

I wish I could forget the looks of horror and disgust on everyone's face. Some said it tastes like beef and oregano.

The best part of the horrible mistake was that we laughed til we cried and it was probably the most memorable dessert I had ever made. 

I thought this would be a great nailed it picture. Have you seen the nailed it pics, they are hilarious. 

Hopefully my next recipe will be a success! 

Merry Christmas 

Ashley 

While the hubby was away...

Recently my husband was out of town on a business trip and lets say I had more time on my hands than usual. I went on a crafting marathon. Although I missed him it was super fun spreading all of my burlap, paper, glitter and fabric all over the house.

Here are the Smashing projects I worked on. 

I have been loving Jones Design Blog . Two of my projects were from her tutorials page. 

A Ruffle Pillow  

Ruffle Wreath : Sis in Laws birthday gift

Sparkle/Lace Pumpkins
Here they are all together. I love how the lace and ombre one turned out!!!!

Bunting Banner:

I have been seeing variations of these on pinterest but I wasn't crazy about them. There was chalkboard paint involved and it seemed time consuming and messy so instead I used chalkboard contact paper and sewed squares onto burlap.

I didn't sew the pieces on to any ribbon. I pained some small clothespins brown and they work perfect for attaching. 
I made 12 total so I can use them all year long for different holidays/special occasions. 

Our basil plant was huge this year so I made a batch of Pesto and froze it in ice cube trays. 

Pesto Recipe
4 Cups fresh basil
1 Cup grated parmesan
1/2 Cup of toasted walnuts
5 cloves of garlic
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2-3/4 Cup of olive oil (I ended up using less)
salt and pepper

Toast walnuts at 350 for 8 minutes. In a blender or food processor combine all ingredients and add oil in gradually.
Pour in ice cube trays and freeze for a few hours. 
Pop them out and put in freezer bags.

Until next time 
xo Ashley 

Summer Fixer-Upers

Summer has officially come to a close and I found myself reminiscing on all of the projects I was able to complete within the last three months! 

Our back door was getting pretty dingy so I painted it using the same paint I used on our front door last year. 

Cost $0 

Mirror next to the front door, $5.00/garage sale. Here's the before and after.

Next was the biggest project, painting our bathroom cabinets.

New hallway decor

I've had this window for a couple years and finally got it up on the wall! Thanks Matt 

Wheelbarrow planter. This has been sitting around with weeds and dirt all summer. I'm glad I finally got my act together and cleaned it out, circa 1940's 

That's it for my summer fixer-uppers. Hope you enjoyed my frugal-fun updates. 

Ashley