Delicious Food PLUS Learn how to make your hair grow:)

Alright so here is an amazing breakfast dish that can also be made for dinner if you have the desire:

Spinach Tart

9 in tart pan, lined with pie dough

9 oz baby spinach

2 T butter

2 heaping cups cheddar cheese

2 whole eggs, plus 2 yolks

2/3 c heavy cream

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground black pepper

*Preheat oven to 400'. Bake tart for 10-15 min. Gently cook spinach with butter until wilted. Drain and chop finely. Spread spinach over bottom of crust. In processor, pulse cheese, eggs, yolks, cream, mustard, and seasoning. Pour over spinach and return to oven for 20-25 min until top is golden. Turn off oven and let sit in oven for additional 5 min. Serve.

Easy quick last-second dinner:

Poppyseed chicken

*Cook 2 chicken breasts (this serves about 2-4 people) and shred. Place shredded chicken on bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Mix 1/2 can cream of chicken soup with 2 big scoops of sour cream. Spread over chicken in dish. Sprinkle poppyseeds. Layer 1 package crushed Ritz crackers over poppyseeds. Sprinkle with more poppyseeds. Melt half cube of butter and drizzle on top. Bake 350' around 20 min or until golden brown.

Now for my favorite and healthiest meal: Super easy and quick!

Lemon Garlic Pasta

(serves 2)

4 oz dry spaghetti (I used about 8 oz)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp pine nuts
5-6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded

*First, start your garlic oil. Pour in olive oil and chopped up garlic into a small frying pan and let it cook over low, until the garlic starts to brown on edges. Immediately remove from heat and reserve.

While that’s starting up, boil up some spaghetti.  Chiffonade some basil leaves.  Add cheese, pine nuts, And dump it into a large bowl, with the garlic oil, garlic chunks and all. Squeeze in lemon juice. Throw in the spaghetti and toss until well combined. Plate, crack some black pepper on it, and nom.

My new favorite bread:

Almond Poppyseed Bread

(Or Cake as Kyle calls it:)

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/8 c. canola oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

Glaze:

3/4 c. white granulated sugar

1/4 c. orange juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

*Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar, and flavorings and beat for 2 minutes. Alternate adding in flour mixture and milk and then mix until just combined. Add poppyseeds and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pans (5 mini pans or 2 regular loaf pans) and bake (35-40 minutes for mini pans, 1 hour for large pans; keep an eye on them). While baking, prepare glaze by combining all glaze ingredients. Drizzle over loaves right after they come out of oven.

Ladies: I have recently found a miracle product called Flaxseed. Not Flaxseed oil, but the actual seeds (milled). It is high in fiber and Omega-3, along with providing the same benefits as fish oil without the cholesterol and fishy taste. It also.. dun dun dun... helps your hair and nails grow:) Yay! A serving size is 2 Tablespoons. It has a light nutty taste and you can sprinkle it on your cereal, on yogurt, oatmeal, etc... It's about $4 at Walmart found in the breakfast isle. You're welcome:)

Easter, RSL Soccer, Golf, ETC...

So this is random but Kyle and I thought it was hilarious. We found this little guy called "Shoulder Buddy" at our friends house that clips on your shirt. So funny. Kyle did his hair also:)

Happy Easter! Kyle and I colored Easter Eggs on Saturday before we headed down towards family:

Kyle's favorite egg:

My fave:

That night we headed down to go to the Real Salt Lake game! Kyle's parents have season tix with great seats! So fun!

Kyle bought me a new golf glove, then we went and hit golf balls:)

Ladies: New way to organize your boots - this made my day seeing our closet floor:)

MEXICO Spring Break!

Rocky Point MEXICO here we come!! Think we got enough groceries? Ha

The condo we stayed at was gorgeous! Seriously perfect weather there.

View from the balcony:

Cute little Ansley

One night we had crab boil - mmmm so good!

On the way home to AZ we just had to stop at Tia Roses - my absolute favorite restaurant! Orange Mango Salmon tacos and mango lime shrimp tacos. Oh. My. Goodness they are the best in the world:

It is perfect that Kyle's parents have a condo in St George because it is half way between Mesa and our home so we always drive half way there and stay the night before completing the trip to AZ.

Gorgeous view from their condo:

Raquel's Birthday, General Conference, ETC...

So my birthday was last Sunday March 25 in which I finally turned 21 years old:) My husband is so sweet to me and definitely spoiled me on my birthday. He woke me up at 9:00 in the morning singing happy birthday to me in which he handed me cards from my parents, his parents, and him. Then he gave me the piece of paper below that read:

So we ran downstairs to find this:

Kyle and I love to play tennis (when it is warm) but never have enough balls so I was very excited to find that gift along with a season of Friends and a huge bag of my favorite chocolate:) Then Kyle handed me a second note that read:

A tennis racket! And a white and pink one! I LOVE it! I had to borrow one each time and never expected him to get this for me! So awesome! Then Kyle gave me another paper. I thought for sure that was the last gift. But the last paper read:

A sewing machine!! Oh my gosh I was in awe I was soo excited! I have always wanted my own sewing machine and Kyle picked out the perfect one:)

Kyle made macadamia nut waffles for breakfast and then after church we had a yummy roast that was cooking during church. Just when I thought that day was perfect enough, Kyle then brought out a Lemon Meringue Pie - YUM! Then Sang Happy Birthday to me a second time:)

Here are some miscellaneous things that have happened after: I sewed a cute pincushion for my first sewing project: 

For Easter time I made some cute cupcakes! It said to sprinkle shredded coconut on the cupcakes but I grated white chocolate instead and it still looked the same.

One night after work Kyle made me dinner: Pretty impressive:)

Kyle's new excitement: hitting foam golf balls against our curtains - Ha

I found this picture on my dad's phone - it was the day I received my Endowments along with Sterling. Such a cool day!

Funny face:

General Conference was amazing! Thanks to Kyle's brother Tyson and his wife Marie, they gave us 2 tix to the morning session and it was amazing! It was the first time for both Kyle and I to actually go to conference and we had such amazing seats! We were in like the 20th row up front. Such an amazing experience being there.

It was pouring like crazy outside as we waited in a huge line. Luckily Kyle had an umbrella in his car we brought.

Recent Updates of 2012

So as of right now Kyle and I are at one of the computer labs at Utah State for Kyle to study for a test this Thursday. Which gives me time to update our blog:) I know I need to be better at updating it. I was so good at updating it and then slowed down. But alot has happened, alot of little things that is:

Yes, I switched over officially to a Utah license plate! Bittersweet:)

I decided that our kitchen was a little bare so with the help of one of the girls I work with in the salon, she helped me sew some curtains:)

 Note to self.. Do not put liquid dish soap in your dishwasher on accident. This picture was taken after it settled down a bit too.. oops!

My Mom introduced to me to the most amazing recipe for French Bread. Thanks to the ingredient SAF Yeast, this bread rises extreemly fast allowing you to make it quick before dinner. Yum!

Thank you cards for weddings takes extreme amounts of time. You wouldn't think it but it takes hours and days. We did postcards which were way cute, eliminated envelopes, and even saved us on postage! My New Years resolution was to get them out by the beginning of the year. I think getting them out officially by the first week of February was indeed a success.

So for a Relief Society activity we learned different decorating techniques and practiced them on cupcakes! What a fun night!

For President's Day this year, Kyle and I went down to St George with Kyle's family for the weekend. So much fun! While we were there we went to the Parade of Homes around St George where we found an amazing car that left Kyle drooling over:)

Easter is around the corner... which means.... CADBURY MINI EGGS!! Thee most amazing chocolate ever. Best day at Smith's Grocery Store when I saw these. They only come out during Easter so make sure you stock up!

Just have to brag a sec about an amazing color I did on a girl a few weeks ago. Her natural haircolor was a dark brown when she attempted to bleach her hair herself. Her hair turned orange and underneath it was red chunks. The after picture doesn't do justice. It turned out beautiful in the end!

                                    Before                                After

One Friday night I decided to surprise Kyle with a little date night. While he left to go rent a movie, I picked up chinese food, Sparkling Cider, and some Temptation Cupcakes for dessert. Yum! Such a fun night!

I know alot of my posts are about food, but I love when I find great new recipes! Here is a quick and amazing recipe I found that I whipped up one Fast Sunday:

Lemon Garlic Chicken:

In a dish, coat with 1 T olive oil. Thinly slice half a lemon and lay around the bottom of the dish. In a separate bowl, combine 3 T Olive Oil, the juice of the other half of lemon, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mix. Drop about a large handful of green beans in the mixture, coat, and place on top of lemons. Cube 2-3 small red potatoes, coat in mixture, and place on top of green beans around egde of dish. Coat two chicken breasts in same mixture, and place in middle of dish. Pour remaining mixture on top of chicken. Bake 450' for 50 min or until done. (I added more seasonings on top of chicken such as garlic/herb seasoning and lemon pepper. I also thought the vegis were more intense with lemon then the chicken - so next time I will probably marinate the chicken with the mixture instead. This recipe was halved, by the way, for 2 people. The original recipe is twice this much. Overall it was really good and easy!)

Kyle and I found out that Cold Stone recently combined ownership with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: AMAZING. So we went there in search of our favorite carmel apple: Apple Pie. It is dipped in white chocolate and rolled in brown sugar and graham cracker. Yum!

So pork chops have never been that great to me. Every single time I have them they are ALWAYS dry and not flavorful. Well fear not. Because I found thee most amazing recipe for pork chops and they are to die for! I am serious. It will forever change your thinking of dry pork chops. And this recipe is cheap, fast & easy, and delicious! And of course, it is found in my favorite cookbook Best Bites.

Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri

2-3lb pork tenderloin (2 small-med pork loins - I actually used 2 thick chops that were on sale for $3 total! Score!)
1 1/2 C chopped parsley
1 1/2 C chopped cilantro
1/2 C loosely packed oregano leaves*
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T red wine vinegar (I used normal vinegar - that's all I had)
3 T chopped garlic (6-7 cloves)
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 t kosher salt (Or normal table salt)
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

*Fresh is best, but if you don’t have access to fresh oregano, you could use fresh cilantro and parsley and add in 1 Tbs plus 1 tea dried oregano leaves - that is what I did!

Place pork tenderloins in a ziplock bag and set aside.

Place parsley, cilantro, oregano, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse several times until finely chopped. Remove mixture and place in a bowl. Add red pepper flakes and then stir in olive oil by hand.

Remove 1/2-3/4 C chimichurri (the herb mixture you just made) and place in bag with pork tenderloins. You just need enough to coat them well. Be careful to not cross-contaminate since you will be serving the remaining chimichurri over the top of the finished meat. Seal bag and set aside to marinade for about an hour or longer if you need to. Place plastic wrap over the remaining chimichurri and set aside until ready to serve.

When ready to cook, preheat grill. (Kyle and I cooked ours indoors on our George Foreman grill. Worked like a charm!)  Remove tenderloins from bag and let excess marinade drip off. Place on grill and cook for about 5-8 minutes before flipping to the other side. You want the internal temp to be about 160 degrees, so check with a thermometer and take it off the grill when it reaches 155-158 since it will continue to cook a bit as it sits. Remove from grill and let stand 5 minutes before cutting. Slice, and serve with remaining chimichurri drizzled on top. 

I promise you it is the most amazing pork you will ever have! It cuts like butter. And the ingredients are cheap!

Look how juicy...

New addition to our bedroom! Beautiful picture our wedding photographer printed for us:)

Well that is it! There are some random little things that have happened in our recent lives. As of this weekend, Kyle and I are driving down to St George and then the rest of the way to Mesa Arizona, then finally to Rocky Point Mexico for Spring Break! Sooo excited! I'll try to keep this updated more:)