Wednesday, July 10, 2013

BzzAgent Report: Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil





I recently received a BzzAgent Kit for Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I use quite a bit of evoo in my cooking. This company is unique because it makes only olive oil.

Olive oil is good for you! According to their website, "Beyond the flavorful taste, there are many health benefits of olive oil. It’s naturally free of cholesterol, trans fat, salt, sugar, and gluten. In addition, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat (that’s the good kind)." That's something we can all get behind, right? You can substitute it for butter or margarine and other oils.

I have used it to replace margarine when making scrambled eggs and sauteing vegetables. You can even use it for cleaning and on your skin!

Here are two recipes I made with it:

Pan Roasted Chicken and Mushrooms with Cream Sauce

Add 1 T olive oil to pan and turn heat on to medium. Add 1 cup sliced mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan.

Add 1 T olive oil and 3-4 chicken breasts. Heat over medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side or until completely done. Remove from pan.

Put mushrooms back in pan and add 1/2 c chicken broth. Heat for 3 minutes. Add 4 oz cream cheese cut into cubes and 1 T Italian seasoning. Gently stir until sauce comes together. Pour over chicken and serve.



And then I did grilled zucchini. I had one small zucchini from the garden that I cut into quarters. I put it in a Ziploc bag with Filippo Berio evoo, Pampered Chef chipotle rub and a bit of kosher salt. I did not measure anything, sorry. I let them marinate for about 20 minutes and then Jon grilled them over medium heat for 15 minutes. They could have grilled a few minutes longer, but they were delicious! 





(BzzAgent is free, and is not a referral website!)


Monday, July 1, 2013

Fire Safety House

Last week, we took Connor to Chick-Fil-A for their family night. They had the local fire station come out with their fire safety house.  It's a converted rv that they use to train people (kids mostly) on how to get out of a house that's on fire.


Then, Connor and Jon sat in the fire engine.




We went inside and had dinner. 
Connor met the Fire Cow.


However... after all of this was over, Connor started freaking out. He didn't want to go in his bedroom. He was convinced that it was going to fill with smoke. He has been concerned that the smoke alarm is going to go off and asks me at least 10 times every day. This event was last Tuesday and he's still talking about it. 

He wore his fireman rain coat a few days last week, saying it made him feel safer.


Monday, June 24, 2013

A Few Updates


We have a new car (truck)! 
2013 Chevy Equinox LT1
We love it! 


Connor got to meet Spongebob at the new Meijer grand opening! 


Acorn squash is taking over everything!


Melrose peppers


First Rutgers tomatoes


Peaches!


French Marigolds


Nasturtiums

Friday, May 24, 2013

The Garden Is In!


We should have peaches this year!


Sprinkles is thrilled about that!


Surprise Ice Petunias


Torenia


Apricot Punch Superbells


Connor and Madison taking a break.


Plot 1: 4 jalapenos, 2 Melrose peppers, 2 chocolate bell peppers
1 crimson rhubarb, 1 fairytale eggplant, 1 acorn squash, shallots


Rhubarb! So excited for this next year!


New tomato plot:
2 Rutgers, 2 Black Krim, 2 Italian Giant Beefsteak
1 Box Car Willie, 1 Heinz
Carrots, basil, lemon thyme, thyme

The plot to the right is bush green beans.


Plot 2
4 zucchini, 1 nasturtium, icicle radish
not planted in this pic - watermelon


Yum, watermelon!


Garden 2013

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

4th Birthday!

Wow, I am really far behind! Sorry about that :)

Connor is 4!




Madi has to supervise gifts.



Lots of fun things to play with! 


3 layer chocolate and vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream made by yours truly.
The bulldozer had chocolate covered raisin "rocks" and a road of crushed Oreos.


Connor LOVES it when people sing to him.
Not really.


Those star candles were tricky.


It was a checkerboard cake. 
Wilton makes the checkerboard pan.


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Breakfast With The Bunny

Last weekend, we went to Breakfast With The Bunny!

Connor loved the Easter Bunny! We were one of the first ones there, and the Bunny came out to visit us early. I didn't get a picture of it, but Connor went running to him and gave him a huge bear hug, arms and legs around him, nearly knocked the poor Bunny over :)





Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Quick Visit to Fair Oaks

On Sunday, we made a quick visit to one of our favorite places, Fair Oaks Farms. They had a small model train show going on. There's not a lot to do there during the winter. The outside play areas are closed (of course).

We did see one calf being born. This solid black boy wasn't getting any attention from his momma, so the next to calve momma took care of him :)