The new addition to the Fam

When Haws and I got married, we bought each other beach cruisers as wedding gifts. They didn't get a ton of use that first year, but recently I have been loving my beach cruiser! I will just take it out for a 30 min spin whenever I have time and enjoy soaking up some vitamin D while the summer days are so nice. My girlfriend and I are big fans of the farmers market on Fridays down at the beach and decided to ride our bikes down. The first time we did it, we had to ride with our bags full of fruit for the hour long ride home. It was not the easiest task. Since then, I have really wanted a basket so that I could hop on my bike to go pick up a few things at the store or use it when I go for my farmers market ride. Yesterday I went and bought a basket. These things are not as easy to find as I thought. But I stumbled upon a bike store that actually had a great selection. I went with the basic silver basket and I even put it on myself! Well, I put on the top part and Haws figured out the right way to attach it to the wheel. So today I set out for the long ride to the farmers market with my friend and it was a success!!! I got all the fruit in the basket and had no problems handling the load... except for when I stopped for a drink of water, let go of the handle bars, and my bike feel over spilling strawberries onto the ground. Yes, I picked them up and put them right back. I even installed it myself! Well, sort of. into the basket, no harm done. Now I know not to ever go hands free with a loaded basket.

I am excited about the adventures I will take with my new basket :)

summer peach cake

I was at Trader Joe's the other day and they had a case of organic peaches on sale for $6.99! I couldn't pass it up, but then got home wondering what we were going to do with all these peaches! I can only eat so many in one day and they always go ripe at the same time. So I looked on my trusted gluten free website, Karina's Kitchen, and found a recipe for peach cake. It did not disappoint. I was so good I had to tell myself just because it's gluten free, doesn't mean it is calorie free, it is a cake still after all! As I started cooking, I realized I would have to make some modifications since my usual gluten free flour blend had gone bad. (have you ever seen those little bugs in your flour??? gross! I am glad I caught it before I started mixing it in!) To try the original, vegan recipe, check out Karina's website. I am going to share how I made it :)

Before baking

Brown sugar crumb top

Baked to perfection! It only took 20 min longer than the recipe called for!

Gluten Free Summer Peach Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and dust a 8 or 9-inch round cake pan with gluten-free flour. I use a 9-inch spring pan.

First, you'll need:

2 cups sliced organic peaches. Set aside.

Whisk together the dry ingredients

1 cup rice flour and 1 cup GF pizza crust mix (authentic foods)
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat to combine:

1/3 cup light olive oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening

1/3 cup all natural apple sauce
3/4 cup organic light brown sugar
1/4 cup pure agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup organic greek yogurt, vanilla

1/4 unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient mix and beat to combine.

1 egg

2 egg whites

Whisk till frothy.

Add to the batter and gently combine.

Scoop the cake batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Place the peach slices into the batter in a concentric pattern (or any pattern you prefer).

Make a cinnamon brown sugar topping:

4 tablespoons organic brown sugar
2 tablespoons gluten-free rice flour
1 tablespoons Spectrum Organic Shortening
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Rub these ingredients together till a crumbly mixture forms. Sprinkle on top of the peaches.

Place the cake into the center of a preheated oven and bake until firm and golden, and a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean- about 30-40 minutes. ( mine was taking a while, check occasionally to know exact time)

Cool on a wire rack.

This cake was especially good warm, even better served with all natural vanilla ice cream. You can wrap leftover slices in foil and bag them to freeze for future treats.

mediterranean halibut

Mediterranean Halibut

This was delicious! I got the recipe from Womens Health Magazine and made a few modifications of course :)

Makes 4 servings Prep 10 min Bake at 400 for 1 hour

1 lb small white potatoes, cut into quarters

1 large red bell pepper cut into strips

1/2 med onion

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp crushed garlic

4 halibut fillets, about 5 oz each

1 can of artichoke hearts (trader joes)

1/2 c. cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/2 lemon

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1. Heat oven to 400, spray a 2 quart casserole dish. Spread potatoes, onion and bell pepper in dish with half of salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for 35 min stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender.

2. Mix garlic into vegetables. Season fish with remaining salt and pepper and place on top of veggies. Distribute artichokes and tomatoes over casserole and squeeze lemon over fish. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

3. Bake at 400 for 25 min or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

what happened???

I use to be such a consistent blogger, and then all of a sudden I am a huge blog-slacker! So what happened? I know i get busy, but it really doesn't take that long to put up a post. Maybe I just haven't been in the mood, or maybe I am just to busy looking at other peoples blogs to do my own. Also, I think facebook has sucked up a little but more of my time, not that I do much on there either. Maybe I have been really bad about taking my camera with me when I do things or just not taking the pictures when I do take the camera. I always think "someone else will take the pictures and then send them to me"... but they rarely do.
Anyway... I am here and I an going to try to blog at least once every 2 weeks. I just want it for journaling purposes anyway.

A couple of months ago Haws' mom gave me a cherry tomato plant to grow in my yard. Considering all the plants in our house and back yard end up not lasting very long ( I water, just think we have a bad place for plants) I kept my expectations low for the tomato plant. I love cherry tomatoes, so I tried a little harder to help them grow. I bought some potting soil and got a planter from my mom. This past week I was so excited to see my first cherry tomatoes growing on our plant! We have picked 4 so far and they are delicious! I was so happy they lasted and actually produced some tomatoes. Thanks Mary for the plant! I hope yours is doing as well :)

I had time to cook!

So I made Sloppy Joe's. For those who know me well, you are probably thinking "Lori wanted to make Sloppy Joe's!?!?" Yes. I was craving red meat and Haws was craving chili, so sloppy Joe's came to my mind as a wonderful way to satisfy both of us. I made them healthy of course :)

I can't remember the last time I had a Sloppy Joe. I think it was when I was about 9, so I don't have a real way to compare the original ones with these.But these were yummy! I had to eat mine with out the bun and they were still good! Haws had about 3 of these bad boys.

I did NOT use any premade mix, which in my opinion makes everything better. I used Laura's 100% natural extra lean ground beef in the recipe.

From Foodnetwork

Sloppy Joes

2006, Ellie Krieger

Prep Time:

15 min

Inactive Prep Time:

hr min

Cook Time:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef


• 1 onion, diced


• 4 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 jalapeno, minced


• 1 red pepper, diced


• 1 can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed


• 1 1/2 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar


• 1 tablespoon molasses


• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce


• 1 teaspoon mustard powder


• 3/4 teaspoon salt


• Freshly ground black pepper


• 8 whole-wheat burger buns

Directions

Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

Sara and Dave Lecky

Sara and Dave got married on May 16th. It was a beautiful day and they are a great couple. I have course known Sara all of my life and love her like a sister. I couldn't have picked out a better man for her than Dave. I only got a few shots at the wedding... but here they are!

I was pretty happy with myself for getting these shots. Don't they look so happy?

Robin seductively eating her meal

Our table. I love every ones face in this picture.

Do you think it's a genetic thing???

The Best Two Years

Haws and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary today. The past few years have been amazing and so much fun. I love this man more and more every day. It is weird to think how little we knew about each other when we got married compared to how we know each other now. I look forward to learning more and more each and every year. Here are a few shots from some of the good times... they are not in any kind of order and some are from when we were dating.

The Alpine Slides in Utah while visiting Dana and Chase

Halloween 2008

Teeth whitening for the wedding

Maui 2006

Hotel in New Mexico for Dana and Chase's open house.

Tornado Simulator @ BodyWorlds Science Center

Old Town San Juan, Puerto Rico

"Love" in Las Vegas