12 Goals for 2012 {+1}

1) Try 100 new recipes

2) obtain and sustain the life of 3 new plants

3) read 20 books {one more than I finished in 2011}

4) make a miller scrapbook

5) go to 5 new places

6) find eco-friendly hair products that I like

7) compost!

8) become a merc member

9) use daily feats consistently

10) blog at least 3 times per month

11) shop at the farmer's market regularly

12) explore local parks and nature trails

13) get into a yoga routine with kyle

What are your goals or resolutions for 2012?

All for now!

Alexandra

Honeymoon Revealed!!

For everyone who had been wondering,

We have an official honeymoon location!

We are very excited! 

so 

here it is,

revealed

at 

last.

Quebec City, QC, Canada 

Complete with castles, ice skating and carriage rides.

We are taking 5 days and 6 nights to play in this beautiful winter wonderland.

Have you ever been to Quebec?

All for now!

Alexandra

Travel Mix Volume I

If you are anything like me ...

you are nearly always thinking about traveling.

{wanderlust}

And sometimes when you can't travel, or your friends are traveling and you are just waiting for your turn... Or, you finally get to take a trip, you need some inspiring travel music. 

So I have created what is {for now} the "perfect" travel mix. Its eclectic to say the least, filled with genres ranging from alternative to catchy classics, with some splashes of dreamy favorites and Celtic Woman.

This mix is meant to inspire travel but also to inspire personal journey. You don't always have to leave home to make a discovery. 

So here it is.. I hope you enjoy.

Travel Mix Volume I

1) Life in Technicolor* - Coldplay

2) Africa - Straight No Chaser

3) Beyond the Sea - Celtic Woman

4) Down Under - Men at Work

5) Old Enough - The Raconteurs 

6) Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney

7) When You Wish Upon a Star - Cliff Edwards & Disney Studio Chorus

8) The Voice - Celtic Woman

9) You Belong to Me - Patsy Cline

10) Roam - The B-52's

11) Buildings and Mountains - Republic Tigers

12) Orinoco Flow - Celtic Woman

13) Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love - Coldplay

14) On Top of the World - Jem

15) Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

16) Spanish Lady - Celtic Woman

17) Many the Miles - Sara Bareilles

18) Kokomo - The Beach Boys

19) Drops of Jupiter - Train

20) Everyday is a Winding Road - Sheryl Crow

This is what currently exists and is what I have been giving to friends who are jetting off {or after they've returned.. sorry Juliet!} It fits nicely on a CD but there are a few songs I am thinking of adding. Especially as a playlist it could be longer.

Here They Are: 

Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Island in the Sun - Weezer 

Curbisde Prophet - Jason Mraz 

Cruz - Christina Aguilera 

Paradise - Coldplay

What are your favorite travel songs?

*- possibly my favorite song EVER

All for now!

Alexandra

Window Garden

I have decided to start making some shorter posts.

{in between the longer ones}

Kind of like tumblr, or pinning or something

but on the blog. :)

Enjoy!

Window Garden

we've got {left to right}: rosemary, an orchid, recovering parsley, some kind of flower ..., and MORE parsley!

I love it! It livens up our room!

All for now!

Alexandra 

Snapshots of Nebraska // Summer 2011

Omaha is great.

Kyle had never been to Nebraska. ha.

And after 9 hours of summer class....

I was ready to get out of town :)

Our first stop....

Muncher's Bakery, Lawrence KS

 Home of the best doughnuts/ and mini cinnamon rolls in the world.

 At the zoo!

 Kyle feeding the crazy fish :)

I love these fish :)

 Sundial, garden of the senses

swan fountain

King Kong Burger

 always wanted to try it... but they were out of ice cream.

 so we went to Zesto!

Which unfortunately was awful.. :( 

Old Market <3

 My first Experience Actually Shopping Here! :)

 All made of Paper! How Cool!

 Nothing Bundt Cakes!

 Adorable Store!! :)

Our Bundt cakes which were mini and delicious.. and sadly, never got finished. :( 

Wind Turbines, so Inspiring!

The Lied Lodge, Nebraska City

 THE BEST BURGER OF MY LIFE!

 Kyle's! :)

Dining Area! Every time I've been here, the food has been phenomenal.

 Cool Lighting

 Epic Mantle

 Amazing Hanging :)

 Environmental and Nature Related Quotes Around the Tops of the Walls.

 I love this place.

 Hiking Around

CRAZY CATERPILLAR!

Beautiful Handles!

This was our trip! It was a blast, we played our wonderful St. Louis road trip mix! It was the perfect refresher trip!

What do you like to do for a short weekend trip?

All For Now,

Alexandra

21st Birthday

Well, I'm finally 21. 

{as of july... I'm a bit late on this... }

I'm not much of a drinker...

But here is what we made to celebrate!

Summer Berry Sangria

{borrowed, adapted and enjoyed from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time}

1 750ml bottle of white wine

{I used cupcake vinyard's chardonnay}

1/2 cup cognac

3 cups lemon lime soda

1 1/2 cups {or as much as you want} frozen or fresh berries

{I used blueberries and strawberries}

1) Mix together in a pitcher.

2) Let chill for 1 hour then serve.

Enjoy!

A Caperinha 

{The official cocktail of Brazil}

1 oz cachaca rum (Brazilian)

raw sugar

lime

1) Place the sugar and cut lime in the bottom of a glass. Grind up with a wooden spoon.

2) Pour cachaca rum over the lime and sugar.

3) Serve with ice.

Enjoy!

The sangria is really nice and light, not too potent, the A caperinha on the other hand is rather potent, but very lime-y :) 

Other than that we played board games and chatted. It was really low key but perfect :) 

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage recipe?

All For Now,

Alexandra

Steak and {the best} Asparagus {in the world}

One weekend I had the urge to cook! I made chicken salad for lunch on Saturday. This recipe set for dinner that night, and then a coffee cake for breakfast Sunday. It was really fun! Sometimes a girl just really needs to cook!

This particular recipe set is especially good for a date night in. Seriously you impress the socks off of your date, man or woman I promise!

Garlic-y Steak

Your favorite steak X's 2 

Salt and Pepper Rub

Mustard, White Wine, Garlic, beef broth, salt and pepper sauce.

1) Rub steaks with salt and pepper {yes really, that's all you need}

2) Cook to desired "done-ness", while cooking stir together other ingredients over medium heat until combined.

3) Top steaks with asparagus spears {below} and sauce. 

4) enjoy!

{The Best Asparagus in the World}

*note* if you don't like asparagus, or your date doesn't or whoever really I can promise you that this recipe will change your mind.

Ingredients:

Asparagus

Olive Oil

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

1) Rinse asparagus.

2) Trim asparagus to correct length. {this is a very important {yet easy} process that makes ALL the difference}

a) hold both ends of the asparagus

b) pull both ends down with even pressure on both ends until the asparagus snaps and breaks.

c) the "head" end is the part you keep, the other part disgard. *at this point you may feel like you are wasting food and money but if you cook this part as well you will not be pleased. Its too tough to eat*

3) Place "head" ends of the asparagus in a dish and drizzle with olive oil.

4) sprinkle with sea or kosher salt to taste

5) grill on an outdoor grill or george foreman grill for 4-5 minutes.

Enjoy!

{wasn't that delicious!?!?}

Serve the garlic-y steak and asparagus with a potato of some kind we've done both mashed and baked before!

All for now,

Alexandra

Orange. Cherry. Nut. Brownies.

For those of you who are my facebook friends you may have noticed my recent {slightly obsessed} updates about orange cherry brownies. Well, here is the recipe. And you can decide for yourselves whether or not they are worth obsessing about. Personally I get pretty bored with plain brownies, so this mixes it up a little for me. 

Orange, Cherry Brownies

Borrowed and Enjoyed From: The Katie Brown Workshop

Ingredients:

1 Box Mix of Brownies (non- peanut butter etc)

OR

Your favorite home-made brownie batter

The Zest of 1 orange

The Juice of 1/2 orange

1/2 cup cherry pie filling ( I like to use more!)

1 Cup walnuts roughly chopped (optional) 

1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

2) Mix up the brownie mix or your homemade brownie mix according to the box or recipe. Stir in the orange juice and orange zest. Mix well. Mix in the walnuts (optional).

3) Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Swirl in cherries using a knife to distribute them evenly (for smaller cherry chunks, roughly chop first, I like the whole cherry pieces). 

4) Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

These brownies are flavorful, moist and slightly cakey. The perfect brownie for me! 

What is your favorite way to spice up a pan of brownies?

Alexandra

Curry. Curry. Curry.

I am one of those people who gets into recipe ruts.

You know how it is, you find something that is delicious and or easy and then you rotate your favorite menus. 

At one point I became bound and determined to try something interesting and new! 

Here is what I stumbled upon!

Chicken Curry

{Borrowed, Enjoyed and Adapted from College Cooking by Megan and Jill Carle}

Serves 4 people/makes 4 meals

Ingredients: 

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 onion

1 lb potatoes

2 T low-sodium soy sauce 

1 tsp. dried chicken bouillon 

1/2 cup water

2 tsp. curry powder

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt OR Greek Yogurt

1) cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, 

Peel the onion and cut into thin slices 

 Cut the potatoes into cubes. 

 2) Generously spray a large pan with cooking spray. Add the chicken and veggies. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

3) Stir together soy sauce, bouillon, water and curry powder.

Then add to the pan.

4) When liquid mixture is added to the pan cover and cook for 10 minutes. Or until potatoes are soft. 

We couldn't find a lid... so we used a cookie sheet and a towel.. haha.

5) Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes.

6) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

7) Serve immediately!

Enjoy!

This meal is quick, easy, low-fat, filling and delicious! What more could you ask for?

What are your favorite out-of-the-ordinary recipes?

All for now!

Alexandra