Picky Cooking

One thing not everyone knows about me is how picky of an eater I am. I try not to be... But it's been this way since I was young. I've gotten better over the years, now liking most vegetables and seafood, but I still have some issues with meat.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnjWZT3yWWc

Settle down. I eat meat. I just don't eat red meat, pork or lamb. Seafood, chicken and turkey and eggs are all fair game, though.

My sweet husband has gotten used to my culinary preferences and doesn't complain much when I alter recipes to fit my needs. Don't get me wrong, it took many attempts to find the perfect Turkey meatloaf and other recipes (yes, i will post this recipe soon, but with me doing 99% of our cooking and grocery shopping... He gladly tries all my attempts with grace. OR ELSE! ha...kidding...kinda.

There are few menu options Trae dislikes, but one that has never been a favorite of his is Pesto. This hurts. I LOVE pesto. So instead of kissing my beloved sauce behind, I decided I would find a version Trae loves as much as I do. A culinary challenge, if you will.

Giada-I-over-pronounce-all-Italian-words-de Laurentiis had a Pesto segment on the Today show last week that demonstrated different pesto options.

I made the Grilled Chicken with Spicy Pesto tonight for dinner. Super easy and very fresh. The whole dinner took about 40 minutes and considering I served it over a bed of spinach and walnuts tossed in a bit of the Pesto...it was a full meal thrown together in 1 bowl. The best kind!  This would be really good over all kinds of meats/dishes.  I have a bunch of pesto left over and am popping it in the freezer now for future meals.


http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47801909/ns/today-food/t/pesto-perfection-giada-shows-three-ways-make-it/#.T96N4e17xG5

** The only difference I would make to the recipe is I would add another 1/2 - full jalapeño.  We didn't think this was spicy at all, and we love spice. Test it as you go and see what you like!

So... Was this version a success?! Clean plate and all thumbs up. He liked it first and second helping.

Back on the Blogging bandwagon!

I don't know why it's so hard for us to keep up with this blog thing. I mean, I LOVE reading other blogs during the day and I would be upset if they never updated their blog... so what's the deal??  I'm jumping back on the bandwagon, friends. Here we go.

If we're catching up from my last blog, let's hold me accountable for some activities I said I would be trying out this year.
1. Photography: I've been spending some good, quality time with my camera and the editing tools that we have (i use lightroom currently). I've even spent some time going on newborn shoots with my good friend and professional Austin baby photographer, Jenni Jones. *plug alert*  (jennijonesphotography.com)  She is so good she makes me want to be good IMMEDIATELY. Like now. Have you ever met anyone like that? Bottom line... I'm working on it.  I need to learn photoshop.. that's still on my "to-do's" for a weekend/few weeks that I make free.
2. Sewing Machine:  I got one for Christmas from my Husband!!! I took 3 introductory sewing classes and haven't touched it since. Having that said, I am glad to have it and look forward to pulling it out and planning projects with it soon...very soon.
3. Train Dogs: Oh man... we hired a trainer and they were good for like 3 months. Now it's like they've digressed and are doing it smugly. For instance, we've had George almost a year now and he's successfully ruined landscaping lights, several potted plants, a hot tub cover + 1/2 (the second is on its way), 2 inside shutters, a coffee table, our new outside patio furniture... yep all of it, some A/V cables that our contractor was using, an arm chair, and many many dug holes in our backyard. It's a little discouraging.

All in all.. a decent start.

In true Schultz fashion, things have been VERY face paced for the past few months leaving little extra time for hobbies.  We are still fixing up Misty Brook, making necessary changes to make this a home for the next 3-5+ years.  This deserves its own special blog post featuring before/after pictures. To be continued...

We have managed to fit in a few fun times with friends, though!  For St. Patty's Day we went up to Dallas to see the Ratliffs, Shepherds and Hubbards.  In fact, it was Tessa that asked us to blog more and suggested we post more about George!

So without further adieu ... Meet George Schultz.

George's story:
Last July while on our anniversary trip to Seattle & Portland, Trae and I started discussing getting Colbie a doggie "sibling".  We felt that she was bored and needed companionship while we were gone. .. or at least I thought she did. :) Trae was pretty unsure about adding a second dog, but when we saw George's face on Austinboxerrescue.com we were in love.  George was around 6 months and was a little underweight but otherwise friendly living with a foster family.  He got his name "George" from a young boy, named George, who chose to donate his birthday money to ABR to sponsor a dog, rather than accept gifts.  We thought the name suited him perfectly, so didn't change it.
While George has managed to successfully ruin several hundred... possibly thousands of dollars worth of our home in our first year, he has also warmed our hearts with his sweet face and loves his big sister Colbie so much he cannot bear to not be by her side.
We look forward to George's puppy years to be over and are glad he's part of the familia...most days. ;)