Summer Simplicity

Tags

nature, photography, picture thursday, summer

Tasty Tuesday: Blueberry French Toast Bake

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4th of july, blueberry, breakfast, food, french toast, recipe, summer, tasty tuesday

Here it is… a new recipe that my mom made on the 4th of July weekend! Quite tasty, if you ask me…

BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST BAKE
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 c. milk
1 T. sugar 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. chopped nuts
1/4 tsp. salt Powdered sugar
6 eggs Blueberry or maple syrup
10 slices (1 inch thick) French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

Generously grease a 2 1/2 quart casserole or 9 x 13 baking dish. Beat flour, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and eggs in a large bowl by hand until smooth. Stir in bread cubes until coated. Pour bread mixture into pan. Top evenly with cream cheese, blueberries and nuts. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Heat oven to 400°. Uncover and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with syrup.

Yield: 8 Servings.

Nothing like a tasty breakfast out on the patio…

And a perfect place for the dog to sleep…

Tasty Tuesday: Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Tags

crumble, dessert, food, fruit, recipes, rhubarb, strawberry, summer, tasty tuesday

IT’S SUMMER!!!

Summer officially begins when I start craving fruity desserts. Since living in the south, rhubarb has been scarce. But Roomate K and I were able to hunt some down She made a fabulous pie, and I made Strawberry-Rhubarb Cumble (thanks for the recipe Annette).

Is it summer for you? Here’s what you’ll need to make this summertime dessert:

Filling:
3 cups strawberries
3 cups rhubarb
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

Topping:
3/4 cups quick rolled oats
1/4 cups wheat flour
1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons soft margarine

Just mix up your filling, pour it in a well-sprayed 13×9 pan, top, and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes (or until fruit is tender). Enjoy!!!!

Picture Thursday: Flowers!

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flowers, gardening, nature, photography, picture thursday, plants, summer

This weekend I found a set of 8 little flower pots at a yard sale for $4…WIN! So I bought myself some “supertunias” (apparently a petunia hybrid) and planted some little pots for our front steps.

Purple and yellow is one of my favorite combinations!

It may not look like much, but having a little color in front of our house is a happy thing!

How to get your boot-ay off the couch (right now!)

Tags

exercise, fitness, run, running, summer, workout

Sometimes, I feel like it is more my nature to settle into the couch than into a workout routine. But I never regret it when I get myself moving. Lately, I’ve been gearing up for a 5k, and I feel so much better about myself. For those of you like me who have a hard time getting started, you absolutely need to check out this post: Nine Tips to Keep Yourself Exercising over on The Happiness Project. It’s from a while back, but I use it for encouragement all the time and thought you might enjoy it too!

My favorite two tips:

Always exercise on a Monday: This will always get you in a good habit to start the week. If you don’t go on Monday, your chances of going later in the week are much lower. Plus, we all need a morning boost to get us through our M-days.

Never skip exercising three days in a row: I know that if I skip Wednesday, and I skip Thursday, I CANNOT skip Friday. And if I do, I can consider myself officially out of a routine. The more days I skip, the less likely I get back into my routine.

So go get ‘em! Do something good for your body and your mind!! Happy Summer!

Photo courtesy of iStock

Tasty Tuesday: Memorial Madness

Tags

cookout, food, grill, holiday, memorial day, picnic, recipe, summer, tasty tuesday

It was an all-in-all successful Memorial Day. I realized that we had a cookout last Memorial Day, just after we moved into the house. Hard to believe it’s been over a year! Anyway, take a look at the goodies we enjoyed…

Want to make these little delicious treats? Just melt Hershey’s kisses onto tiny twist pretzels (275 degrees, 3 minutes), remove, and immediately press a single m&m on each. Refrigerate until eating to make sure they are deliciously solid!

See the iced tea I brewed? To try this flavored, yet unsweetened tea, just brew orange spice, orange pekoe, and lemon teas (4:4:2) in 1 gallon of hot water. Allow to cool and serve over ice!

My dad’s famous pasta salad. Sorry, can’t give out this recipe…but with pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, and green chilies, it definitely has a little kick

Chicken kabobs! A summer favorite. We also had burgers stuffed with cheddar and blue cheese, but as I was on grill duty they disappeared far too quickly for me to take pictures of them. I also highly recommend grilling a few skewers of just meat and just veggies just to have them on the side…

And though it was supposed to rain, it ended up being quite warm and humid. Luckily, Tucker found a nice cool spot in our bushes…

Picture Thursday: Boys who play frisbee

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boys, frisbee, life, park, photography, picture thursday, summer

Tasty Tuesday: Perfect picnic and new cheese

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cheese, fontina, food, love, picnic, summer, tasty tuesday, whole foods

What’s your perfect picnic spread?  I think we pretty much nailed mine this weekend.  First, I discovered a new cheese that I love–Fontina.  So so good!!  So boyfriend and I made ham and fontina cheese sandwiches on the most delicious whole wheat rolls from Whole Foods.  This was accompanied with giant seedless red grapes, multi-grain wheat thins,  hummus, yogurt covered pretzels, and Arizona iced teas.   He doesn’t know just how good he has it!  Here are some quick snaps of our spread and of our happiness!

Fun Friday: Two movies I CANNOT wait for!

Tags

500 days of summer, film, fun friday, love, movies, paper heart, summer, trailer

Here are two movie trailers that have just made me SO pumped for movie watching!  Talk about a few of my favorite actors…

Wait, when is summer break again?

Tags

adjustment, job, life, school, self, summer, swimsuit, work

As I have been working since May, my body is itching for a break…considering it’s been about 9 months, I would say specifically summer break.  Three months of a completely different lifestyle?  Yeah, I could go for that.  I was told the other day that the school to work adjustment sometimes takes 2-3 years.  Ugh.  I cannot wait 2-3 years.  Some days I wake up and desperately do not want to be working 8-5.  Other days, I want to spend 8-5 studying and writing in a bookstore, coffee shop, or my front porch.  Mostly though, I think I am longing for something to be passionate about during my 8-5.  I think a little excitement might make those 40 hours even just a little better than they already are.  That, and a nice long summer break.

Speaking of summer, I am in love with these swimsuits from Victoria Secret (I know, I  know, but I promise they’re not skanky…) that I discovered via Oh Joy!

 

One in sunny summer yellow, and one in bright ruby red.  Maybe in 10 pounds…