Jessica

My Italy Bucket List

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I have to admit I’m falling behind on planning for Italy. I planned everything to a T when we went to Ireland but honestly I don’t have it in me this time. I just want to get there already. I want to be drinking wine on a side walk at a little café. I mean doesn’t that sound delightful?

While I don’t have our transportation, or plans set in stone yet I do have a few things that I know I want to do. I thought it would be fun to share that list with you.

Eat gelato every day

Wander through ancient ruins

Source: cntraveler.com

Eat Seafood & Drink Spritz in Venice

Go on a wine tour in Tuscany

Spend an evening strolling through city streets as the sun sets

Buy fresh ingredients and cook a meal on my own

Go to an authentic trattoria

source: trevifountain.net

Get a photo in front of the Trevi Fountain

Eat Pizza

Visit some epic Dan Brown movie sights, because why not? (eg. The Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, etc)

Eat Pasta (Basically we are eating all the things here)

source: en.wikipedia.org

See the Vatican

Go to a gallery and see some beautiful art

And there you have it my bucket list. We aren’t really looking for anything ground breaking here, but it was a fun little post to put together. Happy Friday!

Kofta Meatballs with Tzatziki

By Jessica

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We eat a lot of salad in this house.

Like a lot of salad.

We are talking basically everyday for lunch and a dinner or two each week, sometimes more. Its A LOT.

Why so much salad you ask? Because it’s easy, it’s healthy and you pack a ton of veggies into salads and we love our veggies. But really sometimes we need to spice it up a bit right? Right.

I’ve been dreaming of warm summer days that are coming soon. I’m hoping that by then my deck might look a little more put together and my grill could possible be used for more than a tool rest. I’m picturing the kind of days we had the last time I made Kofta, with pretty blue skies and toasty warm weather. It’s coming man, I can feel it.

I decided to make Kofta Meatballs last week as a way to bring back those summer feelings and really liven up our kind of tired salads. I’m over winter vegetables for a little while man. I just want a really nice sun warm tomato right now so this salad hit the spot for the whole house.

The warm meatballs are bursting with flavor that is perfectly balanced by the cool and creamy tzatziki. You really couldn’t ask for a better summer salad.

Kofta Meatballs with Tzatziki

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground lamb, beef or venison
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
With your hands combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Using your hands shape golf ball sized balls and place them on the prepared tray about 1 inch apart.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. The meatballs should be browned and cooked through. Remove from heat and serve.

Tzatziki

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, shredded, & drained

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp fresh dill

sprinkle fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined.
Serve chilled.

Recently

By Jessica

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I realize that I am a day late, but seeing as meal plans are some of my most popular posts, I figured they should not be messed with, so this recently post is getting posted a day late.

Anywhoodles…

In the beginning of the month I was able to get outside for a short stint to build a fire pit in our backyard, only for it to be hailed and snowed on shortly there after (we are talking hours people). That polar vortex was no joke. I was outside in sandals in the morning only to be bundled under blankets watching snow come down that afternoon. The next few days were filled with more snow, and storms causing power outages, trees to come down and lots of damage to homes and buildings around us. It was not so fun.

The poor weather did force me to get a bunch of stuff done inside however, including some decorating and even more purging. I really need to have a garage sale soon. There is so much to get rid of.

As month rolled by the days warmed up. I was able to get some of the cooler weather seeds into the ground (think peas, arugula, kale, radish, lettuce etc.) and my early spring flowers have started to bloom in full. I’m loving the early bursts of color!! I’ll be posting more garden stuff soon. So hold tight.

During my super inspiring trip to Philly Chuck and his dad got a solid start on our fancy new deck. I can’t even tell you how excited I am for this to be done. It is going to be a huge addition to our home and really make our lifestyle that much more feesable. Seriously we are outdoor people after all.

In addition to my trip to PA, Chuck and I made it out to NH for family stuff, and a big party for a friends 30th birthday.

It’s been an intense and busy month, but we made it through and I’m looking forward to more spring fun!

Spent on Groceries in April: $250.97

Total for the year: $843.59

Cost of Garden Supplies 2016: $68.28 (we bought and planted blueberry 10 bushes this month)

Weekend Links

By Jessica

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I spend a lot of time on the internet and every so often I come across some really interesting stuff. This is a regular post where I divulge all of the best stuff I’ve discovered on the net lately. Enjoy!

Steps to a handstand. I love the tips, tricks and millions of videos in this post.

This year’s Dirty Dozen & Clean 15… just so your in the know.

Reasons not to believe everything you hear about the latest health craze.

Every Little Bit Counts. And thank the lord for that!

As it turns out writing your notes (with old school pen & paper) may be for the better!

Our world is changing and fast.

On that same note: How the Apocalypse Will Bring Out the Best in People.

Since we are on climate change, lets talk about something we can do to help slow it down.

I’m adding in my favorite pins from this week too, because I want you to drool along with me (click the photos for links)

Sweet Violet Syrup

By Jessica

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Violets are one of the first things to pop out of the ground in spring, along with tulips and daffodils of course, but the great things about violets are that they are edible. Both the flowers and the leaves can be eaten, and are a great addition to salads, cocktails and to decorate cakes, I mean look how pretty they are!

These little babies have been used for centuries for their medicinal properties. Its recorded to have been used as far back as Ancient Greece to prevent headaches and dizziness. I found out that violets actually contain salicylic acid, which the natural “raw” material for aspirin. So it stands up to scientific analysis against these claims.

I had always known that these pretty little flowers were edible but other than salads, and maybe a decorations for sweets, I had no idea what to actually do with them. I mean tossing the leaves and flowers in a salad is easy enough but can get boring pretty fast and honestly I don’t bake all that often. This year however I put in a little effort (thank you internet) and came up with this delightful syrup recipe.

The sweet syrup is a great thing to have around because it can liven up a cup of tea, a simple cupcake recipe or even a cocktail. Because its a simple syrup it can be used to sweeten just about anything (use it like maple syrup or honey), so long as you don’t mind the floral touch or bright purple color it adds.

To test it out I made a pretty pink cocktail mixing rum, lemon juice and the syrup. We don’t follow exact cocktail recipes in this house, but it came out pretty darn good anyway. I also tried it in my chamomile & mint tea when I had a headache last night and it was a really lovely addition.

Using it as a cocktail got me to thinking about turning it into a wine next. I think a pretty purple wine would be awesome, so that might be on next year’s list of projects.

Sweet Violet Syrup

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2 cups

Ingredients

2 cup water
4 cups violets, loosely packed
4 cups granulated sugar, white

Instructions

Place the violets in a sterile jar large enough to fit the blossoms.
Bring the water up to a boil in a small sauce pan.
Pour the hot water over the violets and seal the jar. Let it stand for 24 hours.
Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve, gently pressing any additional liquid from the violets.
For every cup of liquid yielded, add 2 cups of sugar. Stir together over medium low heat until the sugar dissolves. DO NOT BOIL as you will lose the color of the infusion.
Note: If the mixture does boil or the color becomes a dark brown or black add a drop or two of lemon juice to turn the infusion a more pink color.
Store the syrup in sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Jessica

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