Sunday, March 10, 2013

Road Trippin

After many weeks of anticipation I headed up to NM to see one of my sweet friends whom I had lived with while living in Colorado a few years back. She had her adorable baby girl this past summer and I hadn't had a chance to meet the little munchkin yet, so I jumped at the opportunity spend some time with my sweet friend and her husband. They were so kind and welcomed me into their home for a few days while I got to know little Reen and catch up on life. It was so much fun to experience being around Reen as she's in a stage where everything is so new and exciting to her. I could certainly see why her parents grow more and more in love with her with each passing day.

Little Reen was beyond precious

Hi there!

So happy to have been able to spend time
with these two before we left TX.
One fun thing on the agenda for the weekend was going to pick up their Bountiful Basket, which is a super cool concept! Basically, it's a food co-op where you order from a list of whats available from your local farmers and pick up what you've ordered about about a week later at a convenient local location. At the one we visited they had fresh baked homemade bread and fresh fruits and veggies for this weeks picks! Check out their website to see if there's one in your area. It's a great way to support local farmers and get fresh fruits and veggies from you neighborhood, not sent in from who knows where!

"The Haul"
The drive too and from NM was actually pretty enjoyable! It was mostly backroad Texas Highways, so there were few cars to meddle with on the roads, other than the occasional oil company truck running from rig to rig. I got the idea from a friend, who has been traveling a lot on the road lately, that I should try a book on tape for my long journey (8 hours total each way) and I'm so glad I did. It really helped me stay focused on the drive and stay awake, something I'm generally terrible at after 2 hours in the car. I chose to try out Stephanie Meyer's "The Host" and really enjoyed listening along as I made my long treck out of state.

The usual scenery along the drive 
On they way home the winds were really rough,
creating pretty bad dust storms. Gotta
love West Texas...

Kitten did not approve of me leaving her
at home for two days.
All in all it was such a fun trip and I'm so glad that I made the long journey to see my friend and her newest little addition before we moved away from Texas! It's so much fun to see people grow and prosper as they start families. Although that's not in the cards yet for Mitchell and I at this exact moment, I know when that time comes it's going to be one super fun and exciting adventure ;)

Until next time,
The Etheridges



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Good Times With A Good Friend

My sweet friend decided to head down this way to visit me this weekend! It was so nice to have her here and show her around good ole Del Rio, which took about 10 whole minutes. None the less, we spent the day doing girlie stuff like watching chick flicks, something I don't get to do often while hanging out with the hubs and his friends, and just catching up. With the lack of good dining in the area we decided to stay in and cook a delicious meal, chicken pot pie, and then share a glass of wine while watching, you guessed it, more chick flicks. She was so sweet and didn't complain once about the lack of entertainment I had to offer and we enjoyed picking up right where we left off ;) We then went to Chinto's this morning for their famous super breakfast tacos (seriously, if you are ever in Del Rio, for whatever reason that may be, you have to try them) which were an all around crowd pleaser. It was sad to see her go, but I'm so looking forward to moving a little closer to her in a few short months!

In other news I decided to try out a new, healthier, dinner option the other night. When we were planning our wedding and met with the caterer, one of my favorite items on the menu was a strawberry pecan spinach salad. Sadly, we weren't able to serve this to our guest for obvious reasons, but I remembered how delicious it was and decided I would try a recreation of sorts! When I was in San Antonio the other day and visited on of my favorite places, Trader Joe's, I picked up some insanely awesome fresh strawberry and thought this was as good a time as any to try it out! Apparently it's a pretty traditional southern dish and super easy to make! I also added some oven baked chicken to it that I had marinated in balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing fancy, but still delicious! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
8 ounces of spinach 
1 1/2 cups of cleaned and sliced strawberries
1/2 cup of pecan halves, lightly toasted
2-3 oz. of goat or blue cheese crumbled (I used feta)
1/4 cup of canola oil
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. each of onion and garlic powder


Toss spinach, strawberries, cheese,  and pecans. Combine all other dressing ingredients until well blended. Drizzle lightly over salad mixture. 
*Serves 4-6

Kitten had her lady parts removed this past week.
She was obviously thrilled about the
car ride home...driving to Florida is going
to be SO much fun...not.

Bowling! Love this girl.

Love, 
The Etheridges