Recipe Roundup

In the past few weeks we've tried some really great recipes that I found on Pinterest.  I highly recommend these great dishes if you're looking for something quick and easy to make but also pretty healthy.  Enjoy the deliciousness :)

BBQ Shrimp Flatbread

Creamy Shrimp & Mushroom Pasta

 For this pasta dish, I used about 3/4 of the box of pasta but I didn't have enough sauce.  If you need to make more than 4oz. of pasta, I would definitely double the sauce ingredients. 

Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon

I absolutely loved this salmon recipe!  I wanted seconds but I only made (1) 6oz portion for each person.  This is definitely making its way into our lunch/dinner rotation.

Overnight, No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal

These oatmeal recipes are amazing!  My husband can have some pretty crazy work hours where his "lunch" hour becomes his "breakfast" hour.  These quick and easy oatmeal options make breakfast for him so much easier.  I make these the night before he has to be at work and then he'll just pop them in the microwave.  Since these oatmeal recipes are made with fresh and healthy ingredients, they are better-tasting options than the boring oatmeal packets where you just add water and much less expensive than purchasing the Perfect Oatmeal at Starbucks.  The 3 flavors I've been making (per my husbands request) are the Mango Almond, Blueberry Maple, and Apple Cinnamon.  After trying all three, he says his favorite is the Mango Almond.  I've been wanting to try the Banana Peanut Butter, but I'm not sure how the banana will taste after soaking all night long.
I can't thank Pinterest enough for all these great finds!
Thanks for stopping by :)     

Backyard Oasis - Phase 1

On Thursday, my good friend and I took our 15 month old boys to the beach.  I'm happy to report that the boys had a blast and we (the moms) were pretty proud of ourselves for tackling a successful day trip on our own.  The only downside was that there were a whole bunch of bees that came sneaking up on our little spot under our umbrella and I got scorched.  But my skin will heal and the bees didn't sting anyone.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to snap any pictures because priority #1 was hanging on to our little guys since all they wanted to do was run into the water.  I love that they are so adventurous!  Being out there reminded me how much I enjoy soaking up the sun.  Luckily for us, we only live about an hour away from the beach so we will be heading back out there soon.  

Back on the home front, my husband and I have been planning on what to do with our decently sized backyard since we moved in over a year ago.  We planned to maintain a grassy area where Nicholas could play, but we also wanted to add stamped concrete.  One area would be for a dining set under a pergola, another would be for a sandbox, and lastly, a small, cozy sitting area with a fire pit.  As much as we'd love for this whole project to happen overnight, we know that's just not possible.  But little by little, we've been tackling what we can.

The first project we finished, well my husband really, [ I picked out the fabric :) ] was the sandbox for Nicholas.  I found this great pin on Pinterest with step-by-step instructions on how to build this fantastic sandbox.  The sandbox only took 2 days to complete.  A few days later, Nicholas and his friend Milo broke it in.  The sand freaked them out a little, but they got over it and then ran to the pool!  And since we live in South Texas, this sandbox and pool will be getting a lot of use!   

Here's the semi-complete sandbox.  All that was left was to stain it,
staple the canopy on, and fill it with sand

Here, Milo & Nicholas tried it out for the first time.  I think Milo was telling me a joke here :)

"Mom, could you please stop taking pictures of me? It's embarrassing" 

As soon as they saw the sprinkles of water, they just had to check it out :)

Next step of our backyard transformation - the pergola.  Most of the cedar needed to finish building the pergola has already been delivered and hauled from the curbside to the backyard.  My husband has made the drawing as to how he's going to build it, so all he needs is time.  After the pergola goes up, next on the list is landscaping! That's the one part I'm not looking forward to.  The extreme heat and lack of rain where we live makes having nice plants and flowers challenging.  But, we're still going to try.  

This is what one side of our backyard looks like right now.  In a few weeks  the pergola
will finally be completed (my husband only has 1-2 days a week to work on this project).

Stay tuned to see the big reveal!  Thanks for stopping by!