Caramelized Pork Tacos w/ Pineapple Salsa

Caramelized Pork Tacos w/ Pineapple Salsa

DSC_9996Oh Tacos. So difficult for me to try to photograph yet so delicious that I can’t help but share.

Tacos are one of my favorite things to make when you’re tight on time. They’re always a crowd pleaser and as you can see with this recipe, the flavor combos are endless. This particular recipe is a new favorite of ours.DSC_9989

 Last week we shared the recipe for the Pineapple Cucumber salsa which is totally a great salsa to make not just for tacos but for chips, a topping for fish, and eating by itself.
As you learned last week, the salsa is incredibly easy to make. These tacos, even though the process involves heat, aren’t that much harder to make. Check it out:
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See?!? You can top this with spicy chili sauce or anything you want. Then serve with some tortillas chips and the remaining pineapple salsa and it’s the perfect dinner!
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So delicious.
But serious question time. Seriously bloggers, without a freaking taco stand holder thing (technical term), how do you beautifully photograph tacos?!? I commend all of you who have managed the feat.
They’re so delicious though. Ahhh my head will be filled with taco dreams until I make these again.
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BUT WAIT!!!
What about that delicious spicy mayo that you see on the tacos? Well, you gotta come back next week to see that recipe.
Trust me, it’s worth the wait and it’s possibly the easiest part of this whole meal. Don’t miss it!
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xoxo

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash (2)

Pineapple Cucumber Salsa

Pineapple Cucumber Salsa

DSC_9930 copy My biggest weakness in life is chips and salsa. Scratch that, it’s just the salsa.

Seriously.

I put salsa on everything. Eggs, salads, rice, fish, chicken, sometimes just a spoon that goes directly into my mouth. I can’t help it.

Red, green, fruity, spicy, canned, fresh, chunky, smooth- never met one I didn’t like.

GIMME ME ALL THE SALSAS!

This particular salsa is probably the easiest thing in the world. THIS one I made a while ago is easy too, but this bad boy only has 5 ingredients (not counting salt because, c’mon).

5 ingredients people!!DSC_9907 copyALWAYSSUMMERBoom. You’re done, and well on your way to happy salsa land. If you’re obsessed with SPICY like me, you can throw in some jalapeño too, which I did.

I made this salsa to put on some delicious caramelized pork tacos *tune in next week for those!* and it was soooo good. But I also ate this with chips and by the spoonful. I think it would also be delicious with some nice light fish or even shrimp!

Possibilites are endless 🙂
DSC_9914 copyDon’t forget to check back for the delicious pork taco recipe! Have wonderful and safe weekend!

xoxo

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash-2

Curried Vegetables w/ Creamy Polenta

Curried Vegetables with Creamy Polenta

DSC_9858pmLately I’ve been feeling a little, blah.

It’s freezing outside, it’s the middle of January, I see approximately 7 minutes of sunlight a day, and the list of BLAH-ness goes on.

I still feel a little sluggish after the holidays and my body is still craving fresh and nutrient dense foods.

My favorite recipes are the ones that aren’t “recipes” at all. You can throw in any ingredients you want and really get creative. Some of my favorite examples of things you can do this with are stir fry’s and curries, although there are many more.

This was inspired by something I saw over at Naturally Ella and threw in whatever I had on hand. It turned out beautiful and delicious! DSC_9864pmI love polenta and really think we should eat it more. Especially when it’s creamy and made with really fresh and delicious pasture butter(my personal fav). It’s so simple to make and is the perfect base for a healthy dish.

There are so many delicious ideas I’ve seen recently. For starters this one, this one, and this one. Soooo good.  DSC_9881pmIt’s also really easy to make. Take a looksies, and make this this week when it’s freezing out and you need a little warming pick me up 🙂 ALWAYSSUMMERDon’t forget you can use any veggies or ingredients your heart desires!! Experiment and have fun, that’s what cooking is all about 🙂

Enjoy!DSC_9866pm

xoxo

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash

Roasted Cauliflower Beer & Cheese Soup

Roasted Cauliflower Beer & Cheese Soup

DSC_0330editWinter.is…..here. It’s snowy, it’s sleeting, it’s icy, it’s…..COLD.

But that’s nothing this delicious and *BURSTING* with flavor soup, can’t fix.

Jake helped me make this soup and when we got to the part where you put all the ingredients in the blender and puree into the freaking smoothest thing this side of, I don’t even know… he was a little concerned.

“Wait. What are you doing? You’re going to blend it all up? It looks good enough as it is. Are you sure?”

Truth is, he had a good point. The soup did look delicious and great as is, before blending. But seriously you guys….. don’t be tempted. The silky smooth creamy velvet texture that a Vitamix blender creates is out.of.this.world.20160106_171020editNow we were  fortunate enough to have received a Vitamix as a wedding gift, but any high powered blender will work well (I’m told). I’m still learning the ways of the Vitamix and all the amazing things we can do with it. This was the first soup we made and I am SERIOUSLY impressed. I’ve obviously had a regular blender for most of my life and I’ve tried to make blended soups, both in the regular blender and also with an immersion blender. But seriously while those other two methods obviously work to a degree and definitely have their place in my kitchen for other tasks, I’ll never, EVER use either one again for the purpose of creating a smooth blend of ANYTHING(smoothies, soups, dips, hummus, etc…).

Yummm. I’m actually eating leftovers of this for lunch today so these pictures are making me hungry already. DSC_0322editEven though the soup does have beer and cheese in it, because, why not? Oh and Bacon….we got a hearty 6 servings out of this batch of soup so for each serving you aren’t really indulging toooo much. But it will taste like you are. While eating this soup, it was like an EXPLOSION of flavor. So many of them. We both said aloud, “Wow, this is great. It’s like you can taste all the individual ingredients but yet they combine to make a kick a** combo!” Paraphrasing of course 🙂 And no lie, the leftovers were even better.

But it was really good, and overall pretty simple:
ALWAYSSUMMERWe used some pretty serious dark beer in ours, a dark ale from a local brewery, so our soup had some serious beer flavor, which we loved. But if you aren’t really into that, you could try a lighter brown ale (like Newcastle or something similar).

Additionally, you could make this vegetarian/vegan by omitting the bacon. If you did this, I would add an extra tbsp of oil when sauteing your veggies. I honestly still think it would be delicious even without bacon, so no fear of missing out on flavor!

Serve with some crusty bread or crunchy crackers and ENJOY!!!20160106_170921edit

xoxo

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash

Organize your 2016

{Organize your 2016}

Brownies

HAPPY 2016! Ok so I’m not really one for New Years resolutions. Maybe it’s because my mind is constantly going 20,349,823,094,832 miles an hour and I think of things all the time I want to do to try to improve my life, my fulfillment, and my happiness and I’ll make the change when I think of it, not wait until January…..orrrr maybe it’s because each time I make one, they never stick.

What? Don’t look at me like that! They’re both sort of true.

Anyway, usually when the year comes to a close and the new one is right around the corner I think of organizing and getting ready for the turn of the calendar. *Oh and trying to mentally prepare for how many dates I’m going to have to erase when I accidentally write 2015 still* Seriously I swear it takes me until May to get the hang of it.

Calendars. Speaking of Calendars…(I bet you didn’t think this post was going in this direction) I wanted to share with you today some of the best free calendars and life organization tools that I’ve come across recently.

Did I mention free? 🙂 Bless these individuals for having the patience, creativity, and time to make these awesome resources and then HAND THEM OUT FOR FREE!

Here are some of my favorites!

  1. Kate at Small Paper Things has my favorite calendar templates. Simple, understated and beautiful. Not to mention her weekly planner, saves.my.life. Check out her post HERE. And honestly I love her entire site. It’s gorgeous and pretty much everything I want in life. Check her out and subscribe!
    • My Faves:
      • Calendar is so damn cute because it’s so simple.
      • Weekly Planner is like my favorite thing right now. I have it on my desk and it help my keep my head on. *I’m serious*

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  1. Marie at Blooming Homestead has so many cute printables on her site. Her menu planner is ADORABLE and I plan to print it, laminate it, and put it on the fridge! She has birthday and anniversary lists by month, school work trackers, and a billion other adorable things in her Family Planner sets. She even has them available in 3 different prints/patterns. The floral stripe is my favorite but they’re all SO CUTE.  In addition she also has cute 2016 calendars available too!
    • My Faves:
      • The menu planner. Cmonnnn it’s like I want to menu plan now 🙂
      • The calendars are gorgeous too.
        • Note that you’ll be directed to Dropbox to download the files. 

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  1. Jamin & Ashley at The Handmade Home have another great assortment of printables that make me feel I need to get my life together 🙂 Kidding; that are awesome for helping streamline your life! Also after reading this post I felt like I needed to run out a buy a reusable bound leather planner so I could print these pages and file them. I resisted the urge but I’m sure it will come back. They make it look so glamorous to be organized!
    • My Faves:

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I know there are TONS of other great resources out there for this stuff and totally possible to create your own! I was drawn to these few examples in my recent searches and wanted to share with all of you.

Cheers to you and a happy, healthy, fulfilling, and organized(if you want to be 🙂 ) 2016!

xoxo

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash