Homemade Ice Cream

Ice cream is one of our favorite desserts.  Adam asked me to pick up some ice cream recently, and I went to get the all-natural kind.  I expected to look at the ingredients and only see things I could pronounce.  However, that was not the case.  So, I got us an ice cream maker, so I can make it at home and I know what goes into it. 

So far, I've made chocolate, a vanilla with a fudge swirl, and vanilla with a custard base.

I only took pictures of some parts.  Here is the vanilla base getting cooked up.

And here is my ice cream!

My birthday

My birthday was in July, and I had a great one.  I got a very nice dinner out wth Adam at the Melting Pot, which is one of my favorite places to go. My group at work also took me out for lunch.  I got some great birthday cards, and an awesome gift from my bestie, Maria.  She got me an awesome sunglasses case and a cute necklace.  I already wore it to work and got some great compliments on it.

My good friend Jessica (probably my closest friend in Texas), got me some awesome canvases (she knows I love art), some paintbrushes and paint, along with a Michael's gift card.  I'm so excited to use them and the gift card to make some crafty artsy fartsy stuff! 

I also had my friend Courtney make me some excellent cupcakes.  They were blueberry cheesecake flavored, and one of the best cupcakes I've ever had. Everyone at work loved them. 



Happy Graduation to Adam!

Adam graduated from college recently, from Lone Star College.  He got his A.S. in geology, and now is attending the university Sam Houston for his 4 year degree.  I did not make him be a geology major, he did that on his own!  Having a geology degree is always good for the Houston area, since we are a definite oil and gas prominent area.  It's a terrific career path and I love what I do.  Adam has taken to geology with enthusiasm, so I know he will enjoy the job he gets too. 

What a cutie I have

I am so proud of him! 

My dogs

I love my dogs!  I have two of the sweetest dogs in the world.  Boomer is the chihuahua, and Cobalt (Coby) is the mix.  I sooo want to get the SkyMall doggie DNA test for him to see what breeds he's got.  They're the best of friends, and don't like being separated.  They love other dogs and people too, and think their parents are the best ever. 

 Sitting like a man with me

Boomer relaxing

I told him to look pretty for the camera

 Coby likes his pillows

Cuddling with Adam and each other

Birthday parties

A friend had her little girl turn 5 recently, and threw a pool party for her.  I knew Kaelyn liked to garden, so I wanted to have a cute gift.  I got her a pot that I personalized, some seeds, gardening gloves, and a cute garden sun catcher.  I wanted to share!

Happy 5th Birthday to Kaelyn!

My garden

My garden this year is great.  Here are a few pics of my flower beds in the back and front with my favorites. 

Petunias this year I did purples, whites, and greens mixed in with my roses

Big rose bush

Orange roses - my fave rose bush I have



Yellow rose of Texas

Front yard garden, with my sago palm, purple sage, blue plumbago, and hibiscus!

Close up of the orange hibiscus

Avocado Chicken Parmesan

Here is the second of my new recent recipe try-outs.  This is the Chicken Avocado Parmesan from here.  I did things a little differently, but the core of the recipe is the same.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Bread Crumbs
Pasta Sauce (I had leftovers of the sauce I make)
Avocado
Monterey Jack

Coat chicken in breat crumbs, pan fry in skillet until golden brown.  Add pasta sauce on top, avocado, and monterey jack.  Heat until cheese is melted.
First, I prepared the chicken.  I don't see the point in dipping chicken in milk, and then bread crumbs.  I figure, the chicken is sticky enough to hold a majority of the bread crumbs on, and its one less dish to get messy.  So, I coated the chicken in bread crumbs, and the put the chicken in a hot pan sprayed with Pam. 



Then, while my chicken cooked, I got the other ingredients ready.  I sliced my avocado, my sauce was ready from a previous dinner, and I shredded the monterey jack.  I think monterey jack pairs better with the avocado in the recipe, as opposed to what a mozzerella would taste like. 

Soon, my chicken was cooked through and golden brown in the pan, so I was able to add my sauce, avocado, and cover with cheese.  Then I covered it and waited a few more minutes for the cheese to melt before serving.  I also got my salad ready, baby mixed greens with tomato and feta. 

Finally, I had a delicious dinner for Adam and I, and this is definitely a "keeper"

Turkey roll ups

I have two posts to share today - both on recipes I found on pinterest.  I make dinner for Adam and myself between 5-6 nights a week, so I am always looking for new recipes.  Here is the first one - turkey roll ups.  I thought this would be a great, easy wrap to bring to work with me for lunch.  I ended up trying out the first recipe on Adam, and he ended up eating 3 whole wraps.  I think it was a success. 

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb wedges
Cucumber
Turkey

I started by spreading one wedge of cheese onto a tortilla, and slicing up some cucumbers

Then I added some turkey to the tortilla.

And wrapped it all up.

Yum!

Dining Room Redo

Our dining room was a hot mess when we moved in.  We had lovely carpet and a nice, emerald green wall.  Don't get me wrong, green is my favorite color.  You just have to use the right color green so it looks nice. 

Really, lovely.  We used it as a dumping place for our things when we were moving in, before everything found a spot. 

We ended up redoing the floors to a laminate wood - Adam installed those, and I will have a post on that renovation later - we did the living room and hallways in laminate also.  Then, I installed the chair rail (crown molding is still yet to be installed), and repainted a nice dark sage green, to complement the lighter sage green in the living area.  We also got a new dining set from craigslist, which I absolutely love.  I did have to recover the chair cushions to a neutral color on them.  I think it looks really nice. 

Vienna

When I go back home to Virginia, I always try to get a lot of time in with my best friend Maria.  We've known each other since kindergarten, and our families are very similar.  In fact, growing up, our dads were always confused for each other since they kind of look alike.  Maria recently bought an amazing, gorgeous condo, after a long, long short sale.  She and her family repainted as soon as she moved in, and it looks fantastic.  To welcome her to her new place, I wanted to get her some housewarming gifts. 

First, I got some cute bowls, for when she has parties.  Then, I made her a painting for her room, since I like to paint.  Here is the painting I made.

We also made a trip to my favorite ice cream shop, which I heard, unfortunately, filed for bankruptcy recently.  We both got sundaes at Friendly's, of the Reese's variety.  THE PEANUT BUTTER SAUCE IS SO FREAKING GOOD.