DIY: Photo Backdrop

A couple weeks ago I set up a photo backdrop for a graduation party. Austin, my friend Jeannie's son, graduated from high school this year and had friends and family over for a backyard cookout to celebrate. (Hard to believe I taught this kid social studies when he was a 5th grader, and now he is kissin' a girl behind a sign and going to college!) I had a lot of fun coming up with speech bubbles for the party guests to hold, and turns out the kids graduates liked them too.

The process for making the backdrop was pretty simple, but it took a LONG time. Honestly, the wind kind of ruined it because the streamers wouldn't stay put for pictures. Rascals. Had we been indoors, I think it would have worked better.

Salmon with Couscous and Pesto

Growing up less than an hour from the Gulf Coast, seafood was regular fare in my house. I love fresh seafood, but am a little intimidated to cook it myself. Do you ever feel that way?

I really enjoy salmon and have repeatedly tried to make it at home, but here's what happens most times. I'm scared of overcooking it, so I get slimy salmon that's undercooked. Then I keep cooking a bit more, and it ends up dry and hard to choke down. I drench it in lemon and butter to disguise my fish failure while Stu does his best to pretend he doesn't hate it. Blech...

Then we avoid fish for a few weeks until again we're reminded of all the health benefits and say, "We really should be eating more salmon." And the whole ugly cycle repeats itself...until recently. I was asked to try out some of the new fish and shrimp options from BumbleBee SuperFresh™. They tout fresh frozen seafood that comes already seasoned with cooking methods that produce perfectly cooked fish each time. Quite simply my answer was, "Yes, please. How soon can it be here?"

BumbleBee SuperFresh™ has a few different flavor combinations for tilapia, shrimp, and salmon. I first tried the salmon with garlic, black pepper, and olive oil. Two fillets of salmon came shrink wrapped, and little parchment pouches were provided. All I did was open the packages, put the fillets in the little pouches, and bake for 20 minutes. THAT'S IT. The salmon came out perfect with zero guess work. Hello, little brown bags! Goodbye slimy and dry fish!

The main kicker for me is that the fish is already seasoned perfectly. No need to marinate. You foodies may be saying, "Seriously, garlic, pepper and EVOO? That's too simple." Hear me out. I think people tend to add too many seasonings to cover up poor quality seafood. (Ahem...yes, me.)  Starting with high quality fish and adding a few choice spices is the key to great seafood. You don't want to mask the flavor with a million ingredients unless you're covering up bad fish. BumbleBee SuperFresh™line is all cleaned, cut, and frozen within hours of being harvested. This is obvious when you taste it, which is why they don't need to use any breading or coating to mask flavor.
Do you love my little fish platter? Totally worth the $7.99 I paid for it at Tuesday Morning.

Since all I had to do was pop the salmon in the oven for 20 minutes, I had time to make couscous with lemon basil pesto. Okay, I'm going to toot my own horn here. Sorry, but this combo was delish. I love pesto but never put it on couscous before. Couscous and pesto are an "it couple". Really. They hang out with fish and then magic happens.

I used Middle Eastern couscous (AKA: Israeli couscous AKA: Mediterranean couscous). The grains are larger and rounder than what you might have had before. Typically the kind of couscous sold at the market is already steamed, then dried, and boxed. It's considered "instant" since you just add boiling water and cover to prepare. Middle Eastern Couscous has to be steamed or cooked like pasta, so it takes a bit longer. It's usually sold with the bulk items that you weigh and pay.
Middle Eastern Couscous with Lemon Basil Pesto 
Couscous:
    -1 cup Middle Eastern (Israeli) couscous
    -2 cups water
    -2 tablespoons olive oil
    -Pinch of sea salt
1.  Over medium heat, add oil and couscous. Stir and continue cooking until couscous is slightly browned. It should produce a slightly nutty aroma when browned.
2. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Add dash of salt and continue to boil uncovered.
3. Stir frequently to ensure that grains do not stick to the bottom of the pan. (Lower heat if necessary.) Continue boiling 10-13 minutes or until the liquid is evaporated.
{Serves two.}

Lemon Basil Pesto:
    -3 cups fresh basil
    -1/2 pine nuts (Walnuts work fine if you can't get pine nuts.)
    -1/2 cup high quality extra-virgin olive oil (You really taste it, so splurge for the good stuff.)
    -Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
    -1 garlic clove
    -1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1. Add all ingredients (except olive oil) to a food processor and pulse several times. Add in olive oil and blend until smooth. (Note: This will not work in a blender.)
2. Add 1/2 cup pesto to couscous and stir until combined. You may want to add a little more taste.
* This recipe yields more pesto than you'll need for the couscous. You could make some of this yummy dip with the left overs or use it as a spread on sandwiches.

Seriously, this was the easiest way to make seafood. Since the fish was no fuss and easy clean up, I had time to make the homemade pesto. This meal is going on the dinner menu master list. (Yep, we have on of those, or I will stress out trying to remember what to add to my shopping list each week.) Plus, this works for the dairy-free season of my life.

Confession, I cheated this week and had a slice of pizza for the first time in ages. CHEESE! It was a weak moment that was totally worth it. So far, Gemma has handled it ok...I'm thinking I need to test her tolerance with some frozen custard sometime soon, but that might be pushing my luck.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored review BumbleBee SuperFresh™.  I was provided with samples of the product to try at home and was paid to blog about my experience.

DIY: Checkered Planters

Hi everyone, it's Jen-the other sister behind Eat. Sleep. Make. I'm happy to be here sharing an easy tutorial for how to make checkered planters with you. If you read our blog, you know that my sister-in-law, Shannon, and I LOVE estate saling. In fact, Shannon even wrote a 3-part series on how to prepare for and find the best stuff at estate sales. If you know what to look for, you can furnish your home or add to your collection pretty inexpensively. And don't turn something down just because it needs a little work - that's the fun part!

These little checkered planters are an example of a cheap estate sale find (I think I paid $1.50 for 3) that are transformed into something pretty and useful with a little paint.

Big News and a Little Salad

"I quit." I've never said those words before. Sure, they've come up when dieting or painting or trying to convince Stu why we need new throw pillows for the couch. But I've never said them in a professional setting...until this week.

This little sign has been propped up in our home office for the better part of year and taunted me for just as long. Finances, routine, and fear kept me from heeding its powerful little message. That has just changed though. After nine years of teaching, I'm stepping down and leaving the classroom. There are so many elements that led to this decision.  I have a million thoughts and feelings running through my head, so I'll try to break them down as best I can. (WARNING: Full-on rambling ahead. I actually had a carpal tunnel flare up when I finished this post.)

On Leaving Teaching...
I spent my entire 20's and part of my 30's in an elementary school. I've met some amazing kids, families, and coworkers in that time. I've watched my 5th graders move through middle school, start driving, go to college, and begin lives of their own. I feel so honored to have been just a tiny part of their stories.  Seeing them grow and being a part of their lives over the years has most certainly shaped me. It has been a huge privilege, and nothing that I say in this post is intended to belittle that.

Full-time Teacher, Part-time Mom...
I know that not every new mom can stay home with their baby. I have some friends who could and  choose not to. They feel like working allows them to be a better mom. I learned in a few short weeks that this is not the case with me. I was frazzled and had very little left to give my baby after spending all day with 130 other kids.

Knowing our financial situation, Stu and I had completely resolved to putting Gemma in daycare come fall. But something in my heart just ached every time I thought about it. I didn't want to hear from the babysitter that she said a new word, took her first step, or even tried bananas for the first time. I want to be there for those moments. All of them. Everyday. I'm not naive to the hard work and occasional tears that stay at home mommas face. I'm sure there will be days when I will pull my hair out and wish I had research papers to grade and lessons to plan. But I'm ready for those kind of bad days.

On Living Creatively...
A few years back I was feeling very restless. I knew I wasn't being fulfilled by teaching like I had in years past. We had just bought our house, and my dad had flown up from Texas to visit. As per tradition, each night we stayed up late talking and drinking chai. On the last night of his trip, I cried and told him how unhappy I was teaching.  He asked what I wanted to do, and I couldn't give him an answer. Then he gave me one piece of advice that literally changed my life. He said, "Allow your self time every day to sit and think creatively. Don't set an agenda. Don't allow distractions. Just let your ideas flow onto paper." 

The very next week, I started filling a notebook of ideas for what would later become The Lovely Cupboard. Fast forward a couple years into blogging, and I had fallen in love with this outlet. I was cooking and painting and hosting, then putting it all out there for you to see. I felt inspired and filled notebook after notebook with ideas for future projects and posts. The joy I felt from creating and sharing was something I had been missing and desperately needed. The connection I made with other bloggers and hundreds of you was a bonus.

But two years into blogging and working I hit a wall. It wasn't enough...Nine hours of the day were spent at a job that I increasingly resented. I was just clocking in and clocking out, waiting for when I could work on projects. I felt like a huge part of my brain shut off from 7:00-4:00 and didn't wake up until I got home. Then the blog grew, I started making a little money from it, and balancing teaching and blogging became too much. Every Saturday and most Sundays were occupied with blogging. I was essentially working two jobs and burning out quickly. I couldn't keep up with pace.

Another visit and a similar conversation with my dad led me to realize that ultimately leaving teaching was the only option for me. He told me, "If you were meant to create, you'll never be truly fulfilled doing anything else." Until hearing this, I felt guilty for even wanting to leave the classroom. How could I leave teaching? What's more purposeful than impacting kids' lives? What was I going to do, stop teaching to cook and craft? How selfish of me. Not to mention the depressing amount of student loans that will follow me well into my 50's.

The thing is, purposeful work becomes the wrong work if it keeps you from what you should be doing. 

The Next Phase...

While I love blogging, I'm realizing that it is my hobby-a way for me to connect with people like you and be involved in an awesome creative community. I want and need to still enjoy blogging this time next year. I admire full-time bloggers, seriously. The amount of work that goes into solid content delivery, marketing your blog, and managing sponsorship IS a full-time job...but it's not one that I want.

The past few years I've done interior design during summer months, and it has been the most fun I've ever had "working". I've never fully launched the business before now because I could only take a few clients at a time. This fall instead of going back to teaching, I'll be going into business for myself.  I am terrified and so excited. If you've grown up with a family business, you know how it shapes you.  Risks and reward are two sides of the same coin.

 I have always wanted to start a business, but was far too "level-headed" to leave a government job with benefits and stability for something that I dreamed about day and night. After months of praying, talking, and rehashing our options, Stu and I realized this is one of those moments. One of those times in life you know you're at a crossroads. There is a tiny window of time that would allow you to get out of your comfort zone and take a step of faith. If you pass it up your life will go on like normal. It won't be bad, but you may never know what could have been.

Goodbye Paycheck...

I don't really know what the next year will look like. A much stricter budget? Absolutely. Dinners out, new clothes, and spontaneous trips to see friends out of town won't be in the picture. Our little family will enter a season of simplicity and intention. We will appreciate togetherness knowing that a price was paid for it. I'm pretty sure this is an "impulse buy" that we won't regret.

The Little Salad that Could...

And then there's this salad. Oh my...It was a clean-out-the-fridge kind of recipe that just happened. I wanted a creamy, dairy-free salad and this darling walked right into my life. We've eaten it twice in a week, and I have a feeling a third appearance will happen by Wednesday. 

CUCUMBER SALAD
-2 average sized cucumbers, sliced and quartered
-10 ounces fresh or frozen (thawed) corn
-1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
-1/2 of a red onion sliced thin
-3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
-1/3 cup mayo
-2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
-1/4 teaspoon sea salt
-cracked black pepper

Instructions:
Wash, dry, and chop vegetables. Add mayo, vinegar, dill, salt, and pepper. Combine and refrigerate for one hour.

So there it is, friends. What I've been struggling with for weeks and finally decided. My family and friends know, my coworkers know, and now it feels completely real since you know too.

Coconut Key Lime Bars and the Orange Book

I learned to cook from a mom and a grandmother who rarely used measuring cups, but I learned to follow a recipe thanks to an orange copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook. I can see that tattered book so clearly in my mind, the cover dusted in dried flour and pages stained yellow from butter.  I learned to bake peanut butter cookies and strawberry shortcake and my first pot pie from those pages. I devoured all of the pictures like they were my keys to another world. (Normal eight year old's were reading Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, and I was reading about homemade candy...Might explain why my mid section was always a bit rounder than all my friends'.)

My proudest moment in the kitchen happened when I was ten years old. I'll never forget pulling a pan of stuffed tomatoes out of the oven and feeling like such a gourmet.  If Instragram had existed in 1991, I would have blown it up with pictures of my fancy tomatoes from a dozen different angles. (If I remember correctly, it was something like tuna, Parmesan, and crushed croutons shoved in a tomato with a parsley sprig on top.  Old Betty sure was a fancy broad.) 

I remember flipping through the pages and reading all the notes my mom had scrawled to the side of recipes over the years... I actually found a copy of that old orange book recently on eBay and was tempted to buy it, but realized that the old flour stains and my mom's handwriting were the best features of the orange book. A "new" copy just wouldn't have the same appeal.

One of the most baked recipes in the book was lemon bars, my brother's favorite dessert. Ryan always wanted them to be "super lemony", so my mom and I doubled the amount of lemon juice the recipe called for and zested lemons until their rinds were paper thin. Our lemon bars were so tart they could knock you off the kitchen stool if you weren't careful.

These little key lime bars are a bit more sophisticated than traditional lemon bars...A white chocolate and cashew crust is crunchy, buttery, and sweet. The key lime and coconut filling is full of tart goodness with a little exotic flavor from the coconut. 

These should be eaten while laying on a lounge chair barefoot, wearing a floppy hat, and staring at the Pacific. How much better would that Corona commercial be if it was lime bars instead of beers in the bucket? (My husband might disagree, but I bet some of you would side with me.)

 

Ingredients:

• Crust
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup dried coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate,  chopped 
• 2/3 cup cashews
• Filling
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
•  2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (or regular lime juice)
• Zest of one lime
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and extra dried coconut for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line bottom and 2 sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment. (Basically cut the sheet of parchment paper to fit two sides and leave a little length on the other two sides.)
2. Add cashews to food processor and pulse until no large pieces remain, and it looks like the consistency of coarsely ground corn meal and set aside. (That's the only way I can think of to describe it.)
3. Combine flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter, and pulse until largest pieces are the size of peas. Add coconut, white chocolate, and ground cashews and pulse a few more times until mixture holds together.
4. Add mixture to pan, and pack down firmly.  Bake until crust is golden brown, around 18 minutes (more or less depending on your oven.) Remove from oven, and reduce heat to 300 degrees.
5. Filling: Whisk together eggs and cane sugar in a bowl. Next add flour and lime zest, and whisk together. Stir in lime juice with a spoon. (Do not whisk or you will create foam.) Pour filling over hot crust and bake until filling sets, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
6. Run the tip of a knife along the 2 sides of the pan not lined with parchment, then remove from pan by lifting with parchment overhang. Transfer to a cutting board, dust with powdered sugar and extra dried coconut. Cut into 1-inch squares. In other news, I just got in a bunch of cute decorations from Minted for a garden party I'm having for my BFF later this month. Some good new for your Monday...The folks at Minted are offering all of you 10% off all of the Father's Day gifts PLUS free shipping! They have several art prints and a lot of "manly" journals that would make perfect gifts.
 1. Art print      2. Journal      3. Journal       4. Journal 

This is only good until June 6th, so head over and check out all the great gifts for Dad that they offer. (Enter code TLC10SHIP to receive the discount.)

Pina Colada Granola

I'm a reluctant granola lover. It took me a while to get on the granola band wagon, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it felt a little too "crunchy" in the metaphorical sense...Regardless, I am now a permanent resident of Granolaville, USA. After my friend Jeannie shared her homemade chocolate cherry granola with me, I was hooked. One bite in and I said, "This is shockingly good. Wow." After 25 bites... "I can't stop. Someone help me and take this granola far, far away." After the bag was empty and sad looking..."I need to learn to make this."

That was pre I-have-to-give-up-dairy-because-my-baby-is-lactose-intolerant days. Since eating anything with butter and chocolate is out of the question now, I decided to come up with a vegan version. Even though granola seems more fitting as a fall or winter snack, the pina colada flavors feel perfect for summer.

Instead of butter, I used coconut oil, which was delicious! Coconut oil is my new BFF. It has a whole slew of health benefits when used in cooking, and it's also a natural moisturizer for your hair and skin. Since it has anti-inflammatory properties, it's great for nursing moms as a substitute for lanolin. This article has even more household uses of the ever versatile coconut oil.
Pina Colada Granola

    -4 cups rolled oats (not instant)

    -1 cup chopped pecans

    -2/3 cup coconut oil

    -1/3 c brown sugar

    -1/3 c honey

    -1 teaspoon cinnamon

    -1 teaspoon almond extract

    -1 cup dried coconut (Avoid sweetened coconut if you can.)

    -1 cup chopped dried pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt oil, sugar, honey, cinnamon, and almond extract in a sauce pan on low heat until sugar dissolves.

2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Spread oats and pecans evenly on the baking sheet. Pour liquid mixture and stir until it is well distributed.

3. Bake for 12 minutes, stir, and return to oven for another 10-12 minutes until oats are golden brown.

4. Allow to cool and then add pineapple and coconut. Store in air tight container.

Of course when you eat granola, you most certainly should be wearing yoga pants. Whether or not you actually practice yoga is irrelevant. A black pair is pretty much my uniform these days. If they're matched with a stain free v-neck, I consider it a small victory. When I do get the chance to slip away for a quick lunch or coffee date, it's typically preceded with a text to the other party that goes something like, "I'm wearing yoga pants and a pony tail. Please don't judge me or dress cute."

I'm not complaining, just stating the fact that every single minute of free time is now precious. What did I do all day before a baby??! I could have painted my house five times over and responded to every email growing stale in my inbox with full paragraphs. The phrase, "I don't have time" had an entirely different meaning pre-baby. Seriously. I know many of you have been through this and are probably chuckling to yourself remembering when you came to realize the same thing...On the flip side, time does tend to stand still for just an instant when I get a big toothless grin and an almost-laugh from a pretty adorable baby girl.