My favorite salad

This summer I have been loving making my own salad dressing. I just started doing this, so my dressings have been pretty basic vinaigrette. One night though, everything came together perfectly and I created my new favorite salad.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

baby spinach

seedless cucumber

green pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

To prepare the chicken:

Brine the chicken for a few hours (you can prepare the brine bath before work and let it soak all day). Remove from the brine bath and grill (no need for seasoning). Once finished on the grill, let sit for 2-5 minutes to rest. Cut the chicken into strips.

To prepare the dressing:

When I started reading about vinaigrette, I read about how french chefs prepare the dressing in the base of the bowl first and then toss the salad in the dressing. It makes great sense because you can control the amount of salad dressing and it gives you a place to emulsify the dressing. So, start off by getting a large glass bowl. Pour one tbsp. of olive oil, 4 shakes of the balsamic vinegar bottle (this is very technical obviously), the juice of a lemon, oregano, parsley, and garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I say to taste because really this is just what I like and I threw in my favorite ingredients. Whisk all the ingredients together and you'll notice it takes on an entirely different texture and look!

Once the dressing is prepared, cut up the cucumber, dice the green pepper and throw the spinach and veggies into the bowl with the chicken and toss to coat. Top it off with some Parmesan cheese. It's so simple to make!

Just have fun experimenting. That's what life is all about :)

2nd Best Investment for the Garage

A year ago we were busying buying new gadgets and gizmo's for the yard and house. And the garage was quickly becoming a death trap of random stuff all over the place. We knew we needed to get it into check and quickly. Enter the Rubbermaid Fast Track system. We found it at Home Depot and not only is it incredibly affordable compared to other options in the store, it is so versatile and easy to install! Mr. W installed 4 tracks and we had started to organize the garage within 3 hours. It's a year later and it's still awesome. We've added another Fast Track on the 3rd wall and more stuff is off the floor now. We still have more organizing to do with the garage, but this was most definitely a very large step in the (now clear to walk through) direction.

FYI--The total cost for everything you see here was roughly $400 including the red tool chest and 2 door cabinet for storing paint and supplies.

Oh, and why is this the 2nd best investment and not the first? Stay Tuned...

Something is holding me back

Please let me preface this post by saying I am fully aware that I am spoiled when it comes to my kitchen tools. When my husband and I were dating, he purchased the sacred KitchenAid mixer as a Christmas gift to me. Most women would be turned off and think it was a sign that he expected me to be a '50's housewife one day. I however knew it was true love and that he really knew what I enjoyed doing.

When it came time for us to select items for our wedding registry, I knew I wanted a food processor. But I came to find that I was incredibly picky about which one I wanted. Granted, all I really need it to do is to make crusts, breadcrumbs, etc faster than I could with my hands and small tools. Still, I found it harder than anticipated to find the right one for me.

Now we have been married almost two years and our house is still missing a food processor. And there have been so many recipes that I look at and say, "wow that is what I am going to make" only to find that I "need" a processor to accomplish the task. So, for now, I will continue to library each recipe I wish to make until the day a food processor comes home to me. At least I finally found the perfect food processor after a lot of searching. The KitchenAid 12-cup features a 12-cup food bowl, 10-cup chef's bowl, and 4-cup mini bowl. Definitely worth the extra money to get the versatility in one product.

Making a list, no need to check twice

I was born to be a list-maker. I always have at least 4 lists going on at one time. A list at work on my computer. A handwritten list next to my computer. A list at home of groceries to buy. A list of home-oriented "to-do's" in the kitchen drawer. Lists. Lists. Lists. There is something actually gratifying about checking off the to-do list. A sense of accomplishment. A satisfaction knowing that you did something productive that day.

However lately, my struggle to maintain multiple, organized lists has been quite the daunting task. Specifically, I needed a way to constantly be in touch with all of my lists at once. And I also needed a way to share tasks with my husband when they apply to both of us. We have tried a series of different ways to make it work. And I finally think we have stumbled on the answer. http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

RTM (Remember the Milk) is a way to do all of the above things I have mentioned already doing and wanting to do. Except it's even better than I could have imagined. It syncs with my Blackberry Curve. It works offline. You can prioritize tasks, assign due dates for tasks, postpone tasks (God forbid) if you don't complete it by the designated time, etc.

I have a good feeling I have found the solution to all my needs wrapped up into one beautiful website. I can now breathe a large sigh of relief knowing all of my lists will always be at my fingertips waiting for each task to be diligently handled.

A little fun in the yard

We have suffered a loss in the W household. Are we grieving? That would be a NO! HA! We "lost" two trees in our front yard and couldn't be happier about it.

Here is the before picture:



I think it's safe to say the right tree is dead. Considering this picture was taken in April and it has looked like that since last June. But, in the spirit of trying to re-do the front yard landscape, we might as well rip out the tree on the left as well, right? It is pretty boring, the leaves are so heavy that they shade the whole front yard and we can't grow any grass.

We were going to call a company to come out and take care of business. But that's not fun and it would probably cost a lot more to hire out for such a simple job. One of our neighbors mentioned that Home Depot rented stump grinders. Perfect! We planned on taking a day to put the trees out of their misery.

So, with newly purchased chainsaw in hand, we got to work. The dead tree was incredibly light and easy to remove and break down. Once we were left with the stump, it was time to grind it down under the soil.

Mr. W hard at work

Once the stump was into the ground deep enough, we put down some dirt and filled the hole. We'll deal with the shrubs and lack of grass eventually. We had another tree to work on!

Next we got to work on the "live" tree. Mr. W wanted to make sure it was under city permits before cutting it down, so we worked on pruning it for this day. We bought this little nifty tool at Home Depot and tried to take out some of the weight in the tree for now.

Not too shabby for an afternoon's worth of work

The next day Mr. W came home and announced the tree was under city limits and could be uprooted! So, the following Friday we spent about an hour removing the tree. Of course it was much heavier and required a lot more work.

That Friday was a big day for the W's. We painted the dining room and removed the tree.

Dining Room primed and taped Friday morning:

While we waited for the primer to dry, we went outside and took care of the tree. After it was said and done, it was back inside and painting the dining room! Busy bumble bees!

The only time Auburn/Clemson/UF colors will ever be in our house

And here are the After pictures!

Mr. W still hard at work digging up the roots of the tree.

The dining room with our new chandelier and paint!

And here is Polo enjoying some time on the front porch while we work in the yard! Next we will figure out what to do with the shrubs and overall front yard. Definitely some color (other than green!)

I'm going to do it.

There is a woman who is featured from time to time on Martha Stewart's show. She has been baking her way through MS' Baking Handbook. When she comes on I always think, "Man, what an awesome idea. You just bake from one page to the next." And it really is a great idea. No discrimination of recipes, no worry about what type of dessert to make, just open and go. So, when Martha Stewart announced the above book would be published, I knew I had a challenge waiting in the wings. I have always had a special love for cookie baking. I love how the dough can be surprising in texture. I enjoy learning the ingredients of cookies and how they incorporate together to make a delicious memory.

I picked up the book this past weekend and will be blogging every recipe, page by page as I tackle them. In a way, I am nervous and scared because there are some things I keep failing or am too scared to try (Madeleines, anyone?) But in another way, I am so excited for the challenge of trying new recipes and discovering new ways to bake.

Happy Cinco de Mayo: let's eat sushi!

Mr. W and I usually eat mexican every Sunday night so of course we embibed in our own tradition last night. I hosted a party on Saturday evening and was supposed to go out for sushi, but we never made it out of the house, ha. So of course I have been craving it all day at work. And I didn't have a chance to meal plan for the week, so all the more reason to enjoy sushi and some egg drop soup on this fine fiesta holiday :)