The Jansson Family

Day 4: 30 Day Photo Challenge

2012-03-06T01:18:00.017-08:00

Day 4: Bad Habit (nail biting)

Day 3: 30 Day Photo Challenge

2012-03-05T01:15:00.001-08:00

Day 3: Fruit

Day 2: 30 Day Photo Challenge

2012-03-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

Day 2: Snack Time

Day 1: 30 Day Photo Challenge

2012-03-03T02:15:00.001-08:00

Day 1: Brings Joy

30 Day Photo Challenge

2012-03-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past several months, 30 day photo challenges have been extremely popular on blogs and facebook alike. I've been wanting to participate in one for quite some time now but never got around to it.

I know it's not the first of the month but that's ok by me. 30 days is 30 days, right? I'll be starting with day 1 (brings joy) tomorrow!

What's Better Than Fudge?

2012-02-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

What's better than fudge? That's easy. Fudge that takes 5 minutes to make...in the microwave. As y'all might recall, when I was at home over the Christmas holiday, I helped my momma organize a box of recipes. That's when I stumbled on this microwave fudge recipe. I don't know who it originally came from...it was just a photocopied, handwritten recipe in pretty cursive.

We're having a potluck lunch tomorrow at the office and I thought why not break try one of my "meals from home" recipes? This one fit the bill - fast, easy, required only a few ingredients and did I mention fast?
Ingredients:
1 stick butter or margarine
1 box (16oz) powdered sugar
1/3 cup coca
1/4 cup milk
1tsp vanilla extract
nuts (any variety) if desired
Directions:
Use a 2qt bowl suitable for the microwave. Put in 1 stick of butter. Dump in the powdered sugar. Add in the coca and milk - DO NOT STIR.

Fudge pre microwave - fight the urge to stir!

Place in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Take out the bowl, stir, add in your vanilla and nuts (I added in 2 big handfuls of chopped walnuts). Stir until the lumps disappear. Pour mixture into a buttered dish and refrigerate for 10 minutes before serving! Hope y'all enjoy!

A New Home for Vintage Pieces

2012-02-27T21:14:00.001-08:00

As y'all know, Mr. Jansson's grandmother passed away last month. She generously left several items to us and we've started to incorporate them into our home.

This metal traveling trunk was an amazing piece! (It's my understanding that it belonged to Mr. Jansson's great grandfather.)We've decided to use it in our living room as coffee table. I think it fits the space nicely, has excellent potential for additional storage and adds character to the room. Check out this detail!

The other piece of furniture we were given was this dresser that we've decided to repurpose as a bar. The inside of the dresser has these handy cubbies that are perfect for storing various bottles and the drawers at the bottom are serving as an excellent storage area.

The chest fits perfectly against the wall in our office and compliments the other antique family mementos that were left for Mr. Jansson by his grandmother.

We're happy that these pieces work so well in our home. Not only are they functional and attractive but they also serve as a reminder of a truly remarkable woman that will be missed but never forgotten.

Happy National Pistachio Day!

2012-02-26T01:18:00.005-08:00

Happy national pistachio day to all of my fellow pistachio lovers! In honor of this day, here's some fun facts about this delicious snack:

Pistachios are native to the middle east.
It takes 7 to 10 years for a pistachio tree to mature.
Pistachios are related to mangos.
The hull is unique as it opens when the nut is ripe.
Pistachios are one of the only two nuts mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 43:11).
One serving of pistachios contains as much fiber as half a cup of cooked broccoli.

No More Tree!!!

2012-02-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to tell y'all that thanks to Gentle Ben's Tree Service we no longer have our 100 foot cottonwood tree in the backyard! I was at work today but got tons of tree updates via texts from Mr. Jansson. He was sweet enough to take pictures of the job for the blog. It's crazy to see these guys at the top of our 100 foot tree with a dangling chainsaw!

Not only did he take photos, but Mr. Jansson also took several videos. Here's a short one that really gives you a sense of what a gigantic undertaking this was.

We are so excited the tree is gone but not looking forward to chopping all the wood that's piled up in the backyard now! (To save money we chose to have the brush taken away but asked the tree service company to leave the rest of the wood.) On the positive side, this is an excellent excuse to have a ton of fire pit time this summer!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Recipe Revamp: Butternut Squash Quinoa

2012-02-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

While at Costco this afternoon, I saw 2 pound containers of cubed butternut squash. I've never cooked with butternut squash (it's not Mr. Jansson's favorite) but I felt adventurous and purchased a container. Once home I started looking online for a good recipe...I knew I didn't want anything sweet so that narrowed down the majority of my choices.

I stumbled on this recipe for a butternut squash with cumin couscous. It sounded pretty good but I didn't like some of the ingredients it called for and didn't have all of the others on hand. So, I revamped this to fit my taste and what was in my cupboard. The result is this:

Delicious! It's acting as a side tonight with supper but would make an excellent mid week meatless meal. Here's my version:

Ingredients:

One 2 pound container of cubed butternut squash

2 TBS olive oil

diced onion

1 heaping TBS of minced garlic

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

One 32oz container of chicken broth

One 15oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup quinoa

Directions:

I started by heating 2 TBS of olive oil in a large pot. Next, I added in some onion and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Then, I added in the cubed squash, garlic, cayenne, cinnamon and cumin. I gave it a good stir to coat the squash with all the spices before adding in the chicken broth garbanzo beans and salt. I let the mixture come to a boil and then lowered the heat (so the mixture was simmering) and put a lid on the pot for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I removed the lid and let the mixture continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

In a separate pot, I cooked 1 cup of quinoa according to package directions. I placed about 10 spears of fresh asparagus on a small sheet pan and drizzled them with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper before popping them into the oven to roast. After the squash mixture cooked for 10 minutes sans lid, I poured it though a colander to drain the excess liquid before dumping it on top of my prepared quinoa. I removed my asparagus from the oven (you want it to be slightly crunchy) and cut the spears into smaller pieces that I added to my quinoa mixture. Give it a good stir and serve right away! You won't be disappointed.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Y'all

2012-02-14T02:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to take a moment to share the love and thank each of you for taking an interest in our family and reading what I write each week.

I love this blog (it's become one of my hobbies) and I'm thankful for all you loyal readers who seem to love it too.

Lots of love to each of you,

Happy Birthday!

2012-02-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my beautiful, smart, funny and loving mother. I hope that today is just as special as you are to me! I love you! (Mr. Jansson and your grandog send their love too!)

TIMBER!!!

2012-02-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: We've secured a date to have this bohemith cut down! The big day is Friday, February24th!!!

Meet our 100 foot cottonwood tree that overshadows nearly all of our backyard. We hate this tree.

In the spring our yard, gutters, deck, and patio furniture are covered in sticky flowering pods. In the summer, it blocks the sunlight from our yard until mid afternoon. In the fall, our yard is covered and gutters are clogged with leaves from this tree. And in the winter we worry about wind storms and heavy snow taking out a limb. (Specifically the large limb that's 12-14 inches in diameter and is situated right above our bedroom.)

Needless to say, this tree is coming down. We've called three different tree removal companies and have received estimates from each. After some deliberation and negotiating, we've chosen to go with Gentle Ben Tree Removal. They'll be here the week of the 20th to chop this sucker down and we couldn't be more excited!

Expect a review and additional pictures to come in a couple of weeks.

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

What a game, huh? Mr. Jansson and I aren't huge fans of the Patriots or the Giants. I mostly like the super bowl for the commercials. I think my favorite commercials this year were:

the Best Buy commercial

the TaxACT dot com commercial

and the VW commercial

An honorable mention goes to the Doritos commercial with the baby and grandma! What were your favorites this year?

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

2012-02-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

Watson has found a new sleeping spot - under the bed!

Say Cheese!

2012-01-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

As y'all know, I have been wanting to include a photo wall somewhere in the house. It took quite some time to find appropriate photos (I don't have many printed these days), coordinating frames and then came the hardest decision of all - which wall to use?

After lots of deliberation, I chose a wall in our hallway between the guest bathroom and our bedroom. I liked this location because this wall is the first thing I see when I come home everyday and most importantly, there is a ton of room for me to add on to this collage!

Meals from Home

2012-01-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

When I was home over the Christmas holiday, I helped my mom organize a ton of recipes. Among them were family recipes written on note cards with others jotted down on post it notes, printer paper, and even more that were clipped from newspapers, magazines, can labels etc.

With so many delicious looking recipes, I took full advantage of the organizing session and took camera phone photos of recipes I wanted to keep/try. Over the next few months I'll be sharing these recipes as I make them for various occasions. (They'll be labeled "meals from home").

Last night we all got together for my father in law's birthday. I was on dessert duty and was told that he'd like a pie or cobbler. Since this week has been super busy/crazy I choose to fix a cranberry apple crisp recipe from my new "meals from home" stash. My mom used to make this dish and I knew it would be delicious, easy and fairly quick to make. (The most time consuming part is peeling and chopping the apples.) Without further adiou, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups of peeled, chopped apples (I used 7 big granny smith apples)

2 cups fresh cranberries (If you can't find fresh, you can substitute 1-1/2cups crasins)

2 Tbl flour

1 cup sugar

3 packages of instant oatmeal (cinnamon & spice flavor)

3/4 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

1/2 cup butter (melted)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples and cranberries with 2 Tbl of flour, tossing to coat. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix well. Place the mixture in a 2 qt casserole dish. (I used a 9 by 13 pyrex dish.)

Combine oatmeal, pecans, 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar and butter. Stir well. Spoon evenly over the fruit mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. You can garnish with pecans and cranberries if you'd like but I prefer it un-garnished with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! (This should serve 8 people.) I hope you enjoy.

Happy Birthday Watson!

2012-01-27T23:39:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd birthday to our little man! Watson, we love you a ton. You bring us so much joy and we're very blessed to have you as a part of our family.

With a Heavy Heart

2012-01-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

I'm saddened to announce that we lost an important member of our family this afternoon - Mr. Jansson's grandmother. She was a beautiful, feisty, giving woman who loved her family a great deal. She'll be truly missed.

New Year Resolution Update

2012-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

As some of you may recall, I made a couple of resolutions for 2012. My main resolution was to cut our grocery bill to under $400 a month. For accountability, I wanted to give y'all an update on my progress. (Keep in mind, I started my resolutions on December 28th.)

Let's just say I rocked at cutting our grocery bill. This month we spent 388.68! That covered our breakfast, lunch and suppers all month. I've had several folks ask how we mange this.

We shop for expensive items at Costco. This month we purchased: bagged salad mix, 5lbs of cuties, diet pepsi, tri-tip steaks, boneless skinless chicken breast, paper towels, laundry detergent, toilet paper, quinoa, frozen meat balls, special k cereal, hand soap refills, on-the-vine tomatoes and even treats for Watson.
I cut coupons from the Sunday paper and browse the grocery store circulars each week each week to see who has veggies and dairy products on sale. (I'm looking for sides that would go with our steaks/chicken or act as an all veggie meal).
My biggest life save is my meal plan. I sit down on Sunday after clipping coupons and reviewing sale circulars to create our meal plan for the week based on what activities we have planned, our work schedules and what staples I have on hand. The trick regarding the meal plans is to stick to it! Only purchase what's on your list no matter how tempting other items in the store might be.

I'll continue to track our grocery spending in my handy spreadsheet - here's to hoping for another month under $400!

PS I did make another resolution to floss everyday. Let's just say that I've been doing way better at this than I thought I would! For full disclosure, I did forget to floss 3 days this month but I plan to keep this up!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2012-01-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

As of late I am loving these products. Give them a try if you see them at your local store!

Yet Another Snow Day...

2012-01-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

It's still snowing here. An ice storm warning has been issued and the governor has just issued a state of emergency. Here's a video I took a few minutes ago from the back porch.

This weather is really getting old and not boding well for my event early next week. Needless to say, I'm working from home again today. We're blessed to still have power - 90,000 Puget Sound residents don't. We're planning on remaining productive, safe and warm today.

We hope you stay safe and warm today too!

Snow Day

2012-01-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

Welp, it kept snowing. In fact, it's still snowing. We've had alot of accumulation.

snow accumulation near the front door - that silver cap you see is the top of one of our solar lights that line the walkway

The commuter buses aren't running, schools were shut down and my office was closed. With an event fast approaching (next week), I worked from home today. Check out my awesome spread.

please ignore the sweats, bad hair, lack of makeup and the mess on my kitchen table in the background. instead, please focus on my cute coworker

One of the many perks of working from home today was my little helper, Watson. He was bored most of the day...

watchin the snow fall

frustrated cause he can't stand with all fours on the windowsill

We did take a short 20 minute break to play in the backyard. (After about 20 minutes I thought my fingers were going to fall off.) Here are some photos from our quick playtime.


fun with the red ball

fun with the blue ball

more fun with the blue ball

We hope that each of y'all had a productive day (we sure did) and a nice, warm place to relax tonight!

The Snow is Here

2012-01-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

It was bound to happen at some point - it is winter after all. This morning our family woke up the sound of sleet. Now it's snowing.

We've got just a light dusting currently and I'm really hoping it stays that way. (Most of y'all know that Mr. Jansson and I disagree about snow. I don't like snow and I like it even less when you after to go to work and carry on life as usual. yuck!) According to our local weather man, accumulations could be anywhere from trace amounts to 3 inches...let's cross our fingers for trace amounts! Hope y'all have a great (and safe) Saturday!

UPDATE: The snow continued to fall all night - and is still coming down this morning. The boys (Mr. Jansson and Watson) are loving the snow. Here are a few wintery shots I was able to take from the warmth of the house.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

2012-01-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

I left work early today to go the eye doctor. I thought I had pink eye. Turns out I likely have a staph infection (or a slight chance I have bacterial conjunctivitis). I was at Fred Meyer waiting on my prescription eye drops and I saw this cute framed print in the home section - loved it and needed the reminder today!

Healthy Snack You've Got to Try!

2012-01-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

This weekend we tried a new snack - baked garbanzo beans - and they were amazing! Mr. Jansson and I scarfed handfuls of these down while watching tv. I think I might be hooked. I added 6 cans of beans to my grocery list for this week. At 89 cents a can, garbanzo beans are an incredibly inexpensive, healthy snack. (They were also idiot proof to make.) Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Two 15oz cans of garbanzo beans

2 TBS olive oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

2-3 shakes of cayenne pepper

Kosher salt to taste

Directions:
Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Open, drain, rinse and dry your beans. Then, place them in a large bowl and add in each of the above ingredients. Coat well. Next, pour your beans out onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place in the oven. After about 15 minutes gently shake your pan to move the beans around a bit. Let them cook an additional 15 to 20 minutes before removing them oven to enjoy!

Sweet Success Blue Ribbon Style

2012-01-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

We had our holiday party (a little late) this afternoon at the Blue Ribbon Cooking & Culinary Center. Our large group was split into four groups and each was assigned a chef. Each group was required to fix an entree, side and dessert. I was in group number one with Chef Jamil (he was from New Orleans). He split our group into sub groups that were each in charge of one aspect of the meal. My subgroup was in charge of dessert!

We made a chocolate tart topped with toasted almonds and served with strawberries and burbon kissed creme. At the conclusion of the event, not only did we all get to sample what each group had created but so did a handful of judges! My group ended up winning 2nd place (the sous chef award) for our creations!

This was a fun experience and I'd highly recommend Blue Ribbon. Their website describes all the fun event formats they specialize in - I think the Pike Place Market shopping excursion sounds like a blast!

Happy 2012 Y'all!

2012-01-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 from the Jansson Family! We wish you all the best in this new year!

Do you have any resolutions for the new year? I do! I'd like to cut our grocery bill to under $400 a month. I know this is a pretty tall order but I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of our grocery expenditures and I'm pretty pumped about the challenge. What are your resolutions?

New Year's Eve Party

2011-12-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight we're having some family over to our house for a new year's eve party. Mr. Jansson is smoking bbq outside and I just finished up making some black eyed pea dip and cheese straws. I might have tried a cheese straw (or three) and they are delish (if I do say so myself)! In case you're in need of an appetizer for tonight, or later next year, I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter (at room temperature)

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (at room temperature)

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and mix until dough is formed. Remove the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap before refrigerating for an hour or so. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into 1/4 inch thickness. Place strips onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a silpat. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and transfer cheese straws to racks to cool.
I hope you enjoy and happy new year!

Home for the Holidays

2011-12-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

I hope that all of y'all had a wonderful Christmas. We're back from spending the holiday in Tennessee with my family and have brought back lots of memories. Here's a few I was able to capture:

Visiting with my preggo best friend (she's 15 weeks along)

My brother's traditional New Year's Eve gumbo

Quality time with my Momma

The gumbo man himself...my little brother

Catching up with my other bestie

Meeting my newest cousin

As always, it was tough saying goodbye but I'm looking forward to the next time we all get together. We're having Mr. Jansson's father's side of the family over for a new year's eve party this weekend. Needless to say, I've got lots of prep work to do!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2011-12-25T02:15:00.000-08:00

During this busy and stressful time of the year, remember to focus on why we are celebrating:

Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Merry Christmas from the Jansson Family!

Last Minute Shopping Left?

2011-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

Still have shopping left to do? Most of y'all know that I love Kohl's and they are offering up an awesome shopping pass (good for in store and online purchases) that will get you 15% off of everything OR 20% off of your purchase of $100+ through Saturday, December 24.

Flying Over the Holiday Season?

2011-12-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

Are you traveling by air in the next two weeks? If so, you might consider these helpful travel hints from airfarewatchdog.

Remember there will be massive lines everywhere (afterall, the next 3 days are some of the busiest travel times of the year) so pack your patience! (LOL couldn't resist the corny advice, sorry.)

Mmmm.... Bacon

2011-12-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Mr. Jansson and I went to his aunt and uncle's annual wine tasting party. (So much fun!) I wanted to bring an appetizer and after a not so successful first attempt, Mr. Jansson suggested I change courses completely and try to my hand at fixing candied bacon.

I gave it a shot (it was super easy) and it ended up being a pretty big hit! It turns out salty, smokey, sweet and hot all at the same time - very addictive. Here's what you do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
Measure out 1 cup of tightly packed brown sugar and pour it out onto a plate
Add 3/4 tbs of cayenne pepper to the brown sugar and stir to incorporate
Cover two cookie sheets with aluminum foil
Slice by slice dredge 1 pound of bacon in the sugar/pepper mixture and place it on the foil lined cookie sheets
If you have leftover sugar/pepper add it to the top of the bacon slices so they are well coated
Cook for 15 minutes or until the bacon is done
When you take the sheets out of the oven there will be alot of smoke - that's ok (it's just the sugar burning off) just open a window or two and turn on the fan
Quickly remove each slice from the pan and let them cool on a rack before cutting in half and arranging on your serving tray
Enjoy!

Free Shipping FRIDAY!

2011-12-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

This Friday more than 2,000 online retailers will offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve in the continental US. To check out participating merchants - click here. Happy shopping!

We'll be there with bells on!

2011-12-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

We woke up bright and early this morning to take part in what has become a holiday tradition for us - supporting our beautiful niece, Sadie, at the 27th annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk benefiting the Arthritis Foundation. We met up with our other team members, Sadie's Stars, at the Westin Hotel for a team picture before bundling up to complete the 5k route.

Many walkers decide to dress up in festive costumes for the event. In years past, I've seen folks dressed up as: Mr. and Mrs. Clause, reindeer, gingerbread men, elves, snowmen, presents, giant Starbucks cups (this is Seattle), a snow globe....the list goes on and on. Mr. Jansson decided that he'd like to dress up this year too as..."Senior Navidad". (I'm pretty sure our niece is scarred for life with embarrassment.)


"Senior Navidad" in all his glory...

Mr. Jansson and I with the in laws.

There were over 10 kids who wanted to have their photo taken with "Senior Navidad". It was pretty cute how excited they all were to see him.

Needless to say, we had a great time and were happy that it wasn't raining this year!

Holiday Family Fun: Gingerbread Village

2011-12-09T02:15:00.000-08:00

I was recently at the Sheraton hotel downtown for business and was able to finally see the Gingerbread Village I've been hearing about. Each year the culinary team at the Sheraton partners with local architect firms to design and bake larger than life gingerbread creations. The theme this year is "holiday express" and featured edible representations of train stations from around the world. I took a few photos with my camera phone:

Grand Central Station - New York City

Gare du Palais - Quebec, Canada

Flinders Street Station - Melbourne, Australia

Kings Cross Station - London, England

Dunedin Railway Station - New Zealand

Island of Misfit Toys - North Pole

Go check out the Gingerbread Village this year if you're in town. Admission is free but donations are happily accepted for the JDRF northwest chapter. The village will be on display through January 1st!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T02:15:00.000-08:00

Southern Style Sass

2011-12-04T00:53:00.000-08:00

I've been following Wendy at A Southern Accent for over a year now. She is a smart, funny and creative mom who has somewhat recently started a side design business. (Check out her Etsy store!) Speaking of Wendy and her store, I nearly died when thumbing through my most recent issue of Southern Living because one of her adorable prints was featured in the December gift guide!

"kiss my grits" print by Wendy at A Southern Accent

Last week, she held a giveaway in which five lucky folks would win the "kiss my grits" print featured in Southern Living. Guess who won? This girl! Yes, I was one of the very lucky five. I can't wait to frame my print and display it proudly in my cube at work.

A big thank you to Wendy and best wishes for continued success in the new year!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-12-02T01:15:00.000-08:00

This time of year reminds me of popcorn. Maybe it's because visions of old fashioned Christmas trees with popcorn garlands come to mind. While garlands require a ton of patience to create, happily there are less time intensive ways of incorporating popcorn into the holiday season as my friend Kate is about to share. Read on!

photo by Taste of Home

The Food:Popcorn Balls (they're gluten free!)
The Friend: Kate

Ingredients

6 TBS butter

1-10oz bag of mini marshmallows (the Kraft brand is gluten free)

1/2 cup brown sugar

non stick spray

prepared non butter flavored microwave popcorn

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 cup M&Ms or other holiday candy (optional)

softened butter
Directions

Melt butter in medium pot over low heat. Add marshmallows and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Next, lightly coat a large bowl with nonstick spray. Add popcorn, then drizzle marshmallow mixture over popcorn and stir. Add optional nuts. Toss with a spoon. Allow to cool slightly, then add holiday M&Ms. Cover a baking sheet with waxed paper.Wash hands, coat them with softened butter (very important!) and form popcorn mixture into balls. Place balls on waxed paper. Leave a little space between the balls so they won't stick together as they harden. Enjoy!

These are delicious (not to mention gluten free) and can be made festive for any holiday by simply using various colored M&Ms! Try orange, brown and yellow for fall; red and green for Christmas; or pink, white and red for Valentine's day. I've got several followers who are mommas - this recipie (minus the nuts) would be the perfect quick and easy holiday treat for your kido's class!

Decking the Halls

2011-11-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

The Jansson family is getting into the Christmas spirit. Our Christmas cards were mailed this weekend and we did a little decorating inside today. Our stockings are now hung by the chimney with care and the tree is trimmed (with a few wrapped gifts beneath it)!

Through all of this, we've had the cutest little "reindeer" helper! Don't you agree?!

Next weekend the weather is supposed to be dry so Mr. Jansson is planning to put lights up outside (pictures to come). Have you started your holiday decorating yet?

Tree Trek 2011

2011-11-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

In line with Jansson family holiday tradition, we drove up to Stanwood, WA this morning to cut down our tree at Alan Acres. We do this every year on the day after Thanksgiving with Mr. Jansson's family.

Watson came along again this year on the trek and he was pretty well behaved. At first he loved this pony and they got along great but as soon as Mr. Jansson gave the pony a pet, Watson lost it. (He's a jealous little guy and thinks all of Mr. Jansson's pets should be reserved for him.)

We chose a noble fir again this year. Mr. Jansson did a wonderful job sawing it down! (I was supervising Watson's mission to pee on all the other trees.)

I usually buy an evergreen wreath at Alan Acres but they had pretty, fresh holly wreaths this year so I mixed it up a bit and took one home.

This is one of my favorite Jansson family holiday traditions. I love that it's truly a family activity and that all three of us can go together. I also like that we (i.e. Mr. Jansson) cut down our own tree - it makes it so much more special (and the tree lasts so much longer than one from a pre-cut lot). We hope that y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you too are getting into the Christmas spirit.

Pie with a Tennessee Twist

2011-11-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Figuring out tomorrow's menu? Asked to bring dessert to your family's get together tomorrow? I've got a fast, easy and delicious pie for you try! It's the pecan pie all of us southerners love but with a little touch of Tennessee (whiskey).

Perfectly placed pecans on my pies - ready for the oven!

Ingredients:

1 pre-made, frozen deep dish pie crust

1 cup light Karo corn syrup

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 TBS melted butter

1 TBS Tennessee whiskey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup pecan pieces

1 cup pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine all your ingredients except the pecans. After combined, stir in the pecan pieces and pour into your pie crust. (Crust doesn't have to be completely thawed.) Top with pecan halves. Place your pie on a cookie sheet and bake between 50 - 60 minutes. You'll know the pie is done when it's set (i.e. doesn't move when shaken). I hope you and your loved ones enjoy this little taste of home - I know I will!

To: You, From: The Jansson Family

2011-11-20T02:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving will soon be here and I know there are other folks out there like me who have started to prepare for Christmas. Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet?

After searching through a ton of personalized Christmas card websites, I chose to go with Shutterfly once again this year for ours. I thought the design was super cute, I was able to customize my message and I couldn't beat the price! (I saved $20 by using the following codes: "ship30" to receive free shipping on orders over $30 and "card40" to receive 40% off.) Here is a sneak peek of our Christmas cards:

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Pretty cute, huh?! They'll be in the mail soon family! If you haven't already, check out the selection (and pricing) of Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Lots of love,

*By agreeing to embed my card image here, I received a discount code from Shutterfly for $10 off my next order.

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-11-18T01:15:00.000-08:00

Today's Friday: Food with Friends comes from one of my very best friends, Kelly. I asked her if she'd be willing to share a recipe here on the blog and she graciously agreed. This hamburger stew would be the perfect ending to a cold day (Kelly suggests paring the stew with cornbread to make a meal). Sounds amazing! Without further adieu, here's Kelly.

An oldie, but one of my favorite photos: Kelly and I in our TN gear after the UAB game in 05. Love you!

The Food: Hamburger Stew

The Friend: Kelly

Ingredients

4 to 5 potatoes cut into small, bite-sized pieces

Chopped onion

1lb hamburger

1 can tomato sauce

1 can green beans

1 can carrots

1 can corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black eyed peas

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Boil potatoes until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, brown your hamburger, cook until no longer pink and drain. Next, add the hamburger to your potatoes and water. Then, add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for 30 minutes and then serve!

A huge thank you to my dear friend Kelly for sharing this recipe! As the temps continue to drop, I'll be trying this very soon. I hope the rest of you enjoy.

Spreading Holiday Cheer (a little early)

2011-11-16T08:14:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars! Between 2pm and 5pm, November 17 - 20, when you purchase one holiday drink you'll receive another holiday drink (of equal or lesser value) for free!

Chocolate, Pecans, Bacon - Oh, My!

2011-11-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

I felt like baking today. I wanted to fix cookies but also wanted to try something new. As most of y'all know, bacon has been the go-to foodie fad for some time now. I came across a recipe for chocolate chip pecan bacon cookies and decided to jump on the bandwagon and give them a try.

I was not disappointed - these actually taste great (if I do say so myself)! Crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle, these cookies taste like nutty chocolate chip cookies with an occasional bite of salty bacon that really compliments the sweetness of the chocolate chips. Delicious! Here's how you make them:

Ingredients:

7 strips of bacon cooked crisp and chopped finely

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup chocolate chips, semisweet

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Cook 7 strips of bacon until crispy. (I prefer to cook mine in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees.) When done, blot with paper towels and chop very fine. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda and salt. Using your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Next, add in the egg and vanilla until just blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat until the flour is incorporated. Then, add in the chocolate chips, pecans and bacon.

Drop tablespoons of dough about 3 inches apart on your Silpat/baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Transfer them to a cookie rack to cool. These should be stored in an airtight container. They'll last on your counter for a couple of days but after that, transfer to the fridge (if there are any cookies left that is)! I hope you enjoy.

A Must Watch for Fall Fashionistas

2011-11-10T02:30:00.000-08:00

For those of you who participated in the recent scarf swap hosted by Miss Sweet Tea, you might find this scarf tutorial interesting and helpful (I sure did)!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-11-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone. Thanksgiving is on the way and before we know it, Christmas will be here! I've started my Christmas shopping and have had a blast shopping for folks so far. To help spur ideas for your holiday shopping, I thought I'd share a few of my current favorite things (in no particular order) that would make perfect stocking stuffers.

These leggings from White House Black Market - so comfy and a great basic.
GinZing from Origins - I've only used it a few days but I think I'm in love.
EOS Lip Sphere - after trying several flavors lemon is my favorite (it's got spf to boot)!
A staple for any baker, I don't know how I managed before my Silpat.
These socks are perfect with flats - they don't show, keep my feet warm, and best of all - stay in place.

The holidays can do a number on your waistline (hello tempting bread baskets and desserts) so I've compiled a few of my favorite current snacks too.

Babybel light cheese - 50 cals
Eating Right sandwich slenders - 90 cals, 6 grams of fiber
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese - 80 cals, 14 grams of protein (serve with peaches or pears)
Light n Fit 4oz yogurts - 60 cals (try topping with a few multi grain cheerios for extra crunch)
Dry roasted almonds (a couple of handfuls, aprox 20 nuts) - 112 cals, 3 grams protein, 2 grams of fiber
Starbucks tall skinny peppermint mocha - 100 cals (when you need a little treat)

I hope these lists help give you inspiration and keep you on track. If you have any excellent stocking stuffer ideas or new, healthy snack tips let me know!

Hearty, Healthy (and Easy) Meal Idea

2011-11-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

The other day I made an awesome dinner (if I do say so myself) with a ranch, bacon chicken as the main event. This chicken is incredibly easy, tastes amazing and (believe it or not) is even low in calories too!

Thaw your chicken breasts. Lay them on a foil lined cookie sheet and grind black pepper on each. Next, sprinkle each breast with 1tsp of ranch dressing mix and then top each with 1 tbs of real bacon bits. Cook the chicken according to package directions.

This chicken is great paired with quinoa and zucchini or sauteed chopped brussel sprouts (just add in a touch of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of bacon bits, a pinch of kosher salt and a healthy grinding of black pepper)! Enjoy.

Thank You Everyone!

2011-11-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my birthday was yesterday. I wanted to thank everyone for making my birthday weekend so special! A big thank you for all the cards, sweet phone calls and facebook messages. I'd also like to thank my in-laws for hosting a birthday party for me on Sunday night (a special thank you to my father-in-law for outdoing himself on our authentic Mexican meal - it was wonderful)!

Work yesterday was SO FUN! My work group decorated our area as a Curves gym with an 80's twist. We had a blast leading exercise classes and stocking up the unhealthy snackbar! Here are a few photos from the fun day:

Most of the workgroup in costume - Rad!

Two of my favorites beating me up. Note I'm trying to work. ;)

Most of the office in costume after our hill climb class (we took the escalator down the hill).

Zombie eyeballs on sticks - my contribution to the scary potluck.

Thanks again to everyone. I'm one blessed gal!

Halloween is Almost Here

2011-10-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

In our house that means no tricks...

just lots of treats!

Happy soon to be Halloween from the Jansson Family!

Fall Scarf Swap Update

2011-10-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in a fall scarf swap hosted by Miss Sweet Tea over at Sweet Tea Diaries. After entering, I was paired up with Dixie Gator Girl and the two of us started emailing to learn a little bit more about each other. (i.e. What color is your winter coat? Would you prefer a pattern or plain scarf?) I had so much fun shopping for someone else! (Here's to hoping that Dixie Gator Girl likes what I sent her.)

I received my scarf (beautifully wrapped and accompanied by a handwritten card - two things I didn't do - sorry!) this afternoon. It is just beautiful and will look lovely with my black, wool winter coat. As you can see (ignore the rest of my closet please), it's got various shades of purple - from a light mauve to deep eggplant. So pretty! A big thank you to Dixie Gator Girl for the scarf and to Miss Sweet Tea for her fun idea!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-10-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jansson has never really been a marinara man. Instead, he prefers alfredo - particularly fettuccine alfredo! Each year for his family birthday party, he asks his step-mom to make her delicious fettuccine alfredo. This year was no exception. I captured a photo and the recipe to share with you.

The Food: Fettuccine Alfredo

The Friend: Lorene

Ingredients

8oz dried fettuccine (or 12oz fresh)
2 Tbs butter
3/4 cup heavy cream (or half & half)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Freshly ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

While the pasta is cooking, melt your butter in a large skillet. Add cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Simmer on very low heat for 4-5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet. Lift and stir to combine all ingredients and coat the pasta. Add the remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

I hope you enjoy the recipe - our family sure does! A big thank you to Lorene for giving me this recipe and a big thank you from Mr. Jansson for making it year after year.

Mexico con Amigos

2011-10-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hola! Mr. Jansson and I are back from our six night trip down to Cozumel, Mexico. This was my first trip to Mexico and Mr. Jansson's first trip to Cozumel. We stayed at an all inclusive resort, Fiesta Americana, with three other couple friends of ours.

View from our balcony on day 1 (while it was still nice and sunny)

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us (thanks to a tropical depression). We had 2 days of sunshine and 4 days of rain. The rain came down in sheets and was accompanied with lots of wind and lightning - not ideal beach weather.

Here comes the rain.....

That said, we did have some great times with some great friends. Here are a few pictures from a some of my favorite activities we did on our trip (lots of photos sorry)!

Mayan ruins at San Gervasio

On the scooter - we rode this around the island exploring.

In town having a few drinks before our shopping excursion

The whole group at Margaritaville!

Me giving Rachel the dolphin a kiss during our hour long dolphin swim.

Mr. Jansson being pulled through the water by Rachel.

We had a great time but I must say, I'm happy to be back home where the sun is shining! (Ironic since I live in Seattle, huh?) Later in the year, I'd love to take another trip, maybe a long weekend. I was thinking that New York City or San Francisco would be fun. Have any of y'all been to one of those locations? I'd love to know your thoughts!!!
Adios,

Sensational Salad

2011-10-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jansson's aunt made an amazing salad for his birthday supper the other week. It was extremely delicious! After my first few bites, I knew that I was going to write this post and whipped out my camera phone and took this picture.

Ingredients

Salad:

1 head bibb lettuce

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 cup watercress leaves

2 red delicious apples

3/4 cup glazed pecans, chopped

3/4 cup blue cheese, crumbles

Dressing:

1/2 cup walnut oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 TBS shallot, minced

2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Tear lettuce into bite sized pieces in a large bowl and add in the watercress. Cut apples into thin wedges and add to the greens. Sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and glazed pecans on the top. For the dressing, put the oil, vinegar, shallot, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a small jar with a tight lid. Shake until combined. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss and serve right away!

A Classy Touch That Couldn't Be Easier

2011-10-12T02:30:00.000-07:00

The main dish at our last small group potluck was soup. Everyone brought in sides or toppings to share. My first thought was to bring in cheese - who doesn't love cheese?! That said, I never feel right about bringing a store bought item to a get together unless I'm able to doctor it up a little.

Since a bag of shredded cheese wasn't going to work for me, I decided to try my hand at making parmesan crisps. I keep seeing these as garnish everywhere and wanted to try my hand at making them. They are SO easy and the perfect size to top a bowl of soup!

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and broke out my new silicone baking mat. Next, I took a heaping tablespoon of shredded parmesan, placed it on the mat, and then flattened out the pile. I was sure to leave space between each pile and was able to fit 6 piles per cookie sheet. Just pop them in the oven for 5 minutes and then let them cool on a wire rack. Couldn't be easier!

These were great as a topper on soup but would also be a fun garnish on grilled fish or a caesar salad. Hope you enjoy!

Hearty Northern Bean Soup

2011-10-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I felt like making soup - something hearty to combat the fall chill in the air. I stumbled upon a healthy recipe that called for northern beans and thought it looked delish. I made a few small tweaks and really ended up enjoying it (so did Mr. Jansson).

I've decided this soup doesn't look all the appetizing but it is filling, low calorie, cost effective, and most of all yummy!

Ingredients:
Butter flavored cooking spray
1 cup of baby carrots, halved
1 cup diced onion
3 diced ribs of celery
14 ounces of turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups of fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 15oz cans of great northern beans, drained and rinsed
12oz fresh baby spinach leaves

Directions:
Heat a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Add in your onions, carrots, celery, and kielbasa. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the chicken broth, italian seasoning, pepper, and beans. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle about 2 cups of the soup into a food processor and pulse until smooth. (This will thicken the soup without adding any additional calories.) Return the pureed mixture to your pot and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add in your spinach and stir until the leaves are wilted. Then, serve and enjoy!

Winning!

2011-10-06T01:00:00.001-07:00

A week or so ago I was reading one of my favorite foodie blogs Cinnamon Girl, when I came across this post. Cinnamon Girl had me at "feta cheese" and "giveaway". I entered. I won!

This past weekend my prize arrived and I am one lucky girl! As you can see the prize was a big one featuring: an Athenos serving platter, utensils from Crate and Barrel, 5 coupons for free Athenos products, and a $50 amazon gift card!

A big thank you to Cinnamon Girl (and Kraft Foods) for this prize!

A Quick Tip

2011-10-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're familiar with WD-40 and its ability to keep doors from squeaking and removing rusty nuts and bolts but I found another good use for it just the other day....

I wanted to use a silver plated picture frame but it had an adhesive price tag stuck in the dead center of the glass. (Who puts sticky price tags in the middle of a picture frame!?) I tried to remove the sticker using glass cleaner and soap/water but nothing worked - that is until I tried WD-40. With one squirt of WD-40, and a swipe with a paper towel, all the sticky residue was gone! I was so excited that I had to share.

Happy Birthday Mr. Jansson

2011-09-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 28th birthday to my amazing husband and best friend! I'm so blessed to have you as my partner in life. I hope you have a wonderful day sweetheart and know how loved you are!
XOXO

(And Watson too!)

Easy Monday Night Meal

2011-09-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

The weekend is over. Today is Monday. Mondays are rough on everyone! I'm not sure about you, but I don't feel much like whipping up a gourmet meal on Monday nights. I'm tired.

Tonight we're having leftovers from yesterday. (I LOVE leftovers and count myself as one lucky lady that the hubby loves them too. Not only do they save time but also money!) Since the weather is getting cooler and to me that means comfort food, I've added this light (and easy) chicken potpie dish back into rotation.

The ingredients are inexpensive, it doesn't take alot of hands-on time to prepare, and 1-1/3 cups of the chicken mixture + biscuits is only 342 calories! Enjoy and just think we've only got four more days to go until the weekend!

Confession: My Thumb Isn't Green

2011-09-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Do you remember months ago when I told y'all that I was going to start a garden? Well, that didn't go so well. The cucumber and zucchini I planted died and the tomatoes I planted in our topsy turvey are just now ripe.

The weather hasn't been great this summer. We had a tease of warmth only to have a pretty cool summer with a spike in temperatures (upper 70's & low 80's) this month. I clearly don't have a green thumb and will need to do some additional research if I plan to try my hand at a garden again next year.

On the upside, we've been enjoying the tomatoes we have now. I've been adding them into our salads at supper. They are so delish (way better than store bought tomatoes)!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-09-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

Ever have a hard time thinking up what to serve with your main dish? Well this week, my friend Vikki has agreed to share a side that you're sure to add in to your weekly rotation!

The Food: Baked Brown Rice

The Friend: Vikki

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups brown rice

2-1/2 cups water

1 Tbs unsalted butter

1 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375. Pour your rice into a square glass 8 inch dish and set aside. In a saucepan, bring your water, butter, and salt to a boil. Once boiling, pour over the rice, stir, and cover the dish with foil. Bake for 1 hour, fluff and enjoy!

Thank you Vikki for sharing this side dish. It sounds like the perfect accompaniment to chicken and veggies!

Starting to Look Like Fall

2011-09-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Officially, fall begins on Friday. (Time flies! Where did the summer go!?) By the look of your yard (and our gutters), it looks as though fall has already come.

The Jansson family isn't happy about what this means for us - cleaning the gutters and hours of raking as leaves continue to fall...

Seattle's 1st Mobile Food Rodeo

2011-09-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mr. Jansson and I met up with a few of my coworkers at the Seattle Mobile Food Rodeo. Twenty five food carts from Seattle and Portland were offering up their tasty creations.

The event took place from noon til 7pm but since we were watching our Vols take on Florida we didn't arrive to the rodeo until a little after 5. We didn't have to wait in line to enter (I purchased a $10 two for one ticket via Groupon a couple of weeks ago) but some trucks had already left and others were quickly running out of certain items.

We started by visiting Bigfood where we shared a sasquatch - spicy pulled pork shoulder with green chili mango chutney and slaw on grilled flatbread.

Our next stop was Happy Grillmore. There we chose to share a Lucy - Portuguese sausage sandwich with a fried egg, chipotle spread, and lettuce.

Next, we chose to check out Snout & Co for one of their pulled pork sliders. You could pick between two different sauces. We opted for the habanero honey and it was delish!

The last stop we made was for dessert at Parfait. We thought the blackberry beauty ice cream looked good and chose to give it a try. It was extremely good and full of berry flavor. (It reminded Mr. Jansson of his dad's homemade ice cream.)

Overall, the rodeo was fun - it was nice to be able to sample a variety of items from multiple vendors all in one place. (Mr. Jansson and I definately had the right strategy to share each item - that way we had enough tummy room to sample multiple dishes.)That said, it was a little pricey. The admission to get in was $10. Once you were in, you bought food from each cart. Most items I saw were between $4 and $12. I'm not sure if we'll go back again next year but I'm happy we gave this year a shot.

Meatless Meal - Mac n Cheese

2011-09-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight Mr. Jansson and I had a meatless supper and it was delish! Including one meatless meal to our weekly meal plan is not only good for us but also keeps our weekly grocery bill down. I've been a huge fan of Gina's from Skinnytaste.com for quite some time - she hasn't steered me wrong yet! Check her out for some great supper ideas.

Tonight I tried her baked broccoli macaroni and cheese (with a couple slight variations). This was super filling when served with a side salad and we have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow night! Here's my take:
Ingredients
12 oz elbow pasta
2 Tbs smart balance light
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup diced onions
2 cups fat free milk
1 cup fat free chicken broth
2 cups of reduced fat cheese (I used a combo of sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and mexican blend)
dash of onion powder
dash of beau monde seasoning
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1-12oz bag of broccoli florets
1/8 cup grated romano
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
butter flavored non stick spray

Directions
Pre heat your oven to 375. Spray a baking dish with non stick spray and set aside. Boil pasta and broccoli florets in salted water until al dente. In a large skillet, melt your smart balance and cook your diced onions until they are soft. Add in your flour and stir until well combined. Add in your milk and chicken broth. Whisk and turn up the heat to medium high until the liquid begins to boil. After boiling about 5 minutes, the sauce will become thicker.

Add in salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, and beau monde. Stir, remove from the heat, add in your cheese and mix well until the cheese has melted. Strain your pasta and broccoli then add them to the sauce and coat. Pour your pasta mixture into your prepared dish. Top the pasta with breadcrumbs and romano then spray the top with butter flavored non stick spray. Pop it into the oven for 15 minutes and then broil for aprox 2 minutes to make the breadcrumbs golden. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Excitement is Now Frustration

2011-09-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day - Missoni for Target was released today! For those of you who aren't sure what Missoni is, please click here.

For the rest of you, you'll understand when I say that I was SO EXCITED to go online this morning to see what would be offered. Perhaps like some of y'all I was super disappointed to see that the Target site was (and still is as of now) down. That's right due to the influx of Missoni loving folks trying to view and buy these items online, the Target site was overloaded. I'm so bummed!

Luckily, I was able to see some of the sneak peek images a while back. I'm loving the spinner luggage, rain boots, trouser socks, umbrella and cardigans. I just wish I could see everything they have to offer (dang site)! What do you like?

Don't worry though, you can bet where I'll be this weekend - making my way to Target (just to look Mr. Jansson)! ;)

A Little Something Sweet

2011-09-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend. With beautiful weather, good friends, and football (go VOLS!) - we sure did.

I wanted to make a little something sweet to bring to a Seahawks viewing party today but at the same time, wanted to choose something low calorie. Rice krispy treats seemed to be a perfect pick! That said, you might find this hard to believe (Mr. Jansson did) but I had never made rice krispy treats before. Crazy, huh?!

I chose to make mine with gluten free rice krispies (they're made with brown rice), smart balance, and marshmallows. The gluten free rice krispies tasted just like the original version to me and one cup is only 110 calories. (I bought a huge box at Walmart because they were on sale for $2. I'll definitely be enjoying a bowl or two this week for breakfast!) Anyway, back to my story...

The treats were easy enough to make - I lined a 9 by 12 inch pan with wax paper. Then, I heated 2 tablespoons of smart balance in a large saucepan on low. Once the butter had melted I poured in 4 cups of mini marshmallows and stired them until they melted completely.

After they melted, I removed the pan from the heat and poured in 6 cups of the rice krispies and stirred like crazy to coat. I then dumped the mixture into my pan and learned a very valuable lesson...you're supposed to PRESS the mixture into the pan. (I tried to spread the mixture into the pan - big mistake! It sticks to everything and makes a gigantic mess.)

Once pressed, I let them cool and then simply lifted the treats out using the wax paper for easier cutting. The batch made 16 treats (each coming in at 85 calories) - a perfect amount for the party!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-09-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Friday: Food with Friends. Today's post is all about pancakes - who doesn't love pancakes!? My friend Brittany has graciously agreed to let us in on her amazing family recipe for skinny pancakes. Without further adieu, here's Brittany!

This recipe came into my family from my great-grandmother who brought it with her to America from Germany. Now every day-after-Christmas (my birthday), family occasion, or sometimes just on a Sunday morning my family makes these for brunch. They are simple, quick, and since you are able to customize your dish everyone loves them.

The great thing about skinny pancakes is you can fill them with whatever you like, sweet (traditional syrup, white or brown sugar, berries) or savory (cream cheese, veggies, thinly sliced meats, cheese of any sort). My personal favorite is simply filling them with brown sugar to cure my sweet tooth or sautéing mushroom, onion, and spinach together and adding in a slice of turkey meat with feta cheese as a meal. And don’t forget to go back for seconds or thirds! Enjoy!

The Food: Skinny Pancakes
The Friend: Brittany
Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour

2 Eggs

1 ¾ Cup 2% Milk (or 1 ½ Cup Non Fat Milk)

Dash of Salt

1 Griddle or Frying Pan Lightly Buttered

1 Wire Wisk

Your Desired Fillings

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl mix flour, eggs, milk, and salt together and wisk until mixture has the consistency of thick cream. Next, in a lightly buttered pan or griddle heated to medium low, ladle one ¼ cup of the mixture on to the pan. You will proceed to cook them similar to pancakes, however note, they should be flipped early and often. Once done, load them up with your favorite filling(s) and enjoy!

A big thank you to Brittany for sharing this family recipe - these skinny pancakes look amazing and my mind is buzzing with all the fun fillings I'd like to try!

Hope You Had a Happy Holiday

2011-09-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great holiday weekend and hope that y'all did too! We had fun with family and friends, watched our fair share of football (Go VOLS!) and enjoyed the beautiful weather by taking a hike. Here are a few photos from this weekend:

What did you do with your extra day off work!??

Lunchtime Adventure

2011-08-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

It's been way to long since my last lunchtime adventure! This week I was lucky enough to be treated to a lunchtime adventure. A coworker of mine purchased a Groupon for Street Donuts. The Groupon got you two large orders of dounuts and two drinks for the price of one - an excellent deal!

As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of foodcarts and Street Donuts is no exception! Located in a parking lot at 2nd and Pine in downtown Seattle - this place is a Mecca for tourists and locals alike. Fresh, mini donuts are cooked to order and you get to choose two toppings for your donuts - some are traditional (chocolate sauce and coconut dusting), others more adventurous (vanilla pudding and nerds dusting).

I chose to go traditional and try the chocolate sauce and coconut dusting - it was delish! The donuts were warm and not the least bit greasy (or overly sweet).

One of the many perks of going on lunchtime adventures with friends is that you get to share and try the combinations that other folks chose. The curry and cinnamon dusted combo was really good - I'd probably get that on my next visit. Street Donuts definitely gets two thumbs up in my book!

A Weekend to Celebrate

2011-08-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

We celebrated two great women this weekend. On Saturday, Mr. Jansson and I took his grandmother to the Mariners game. She thought it was just the three of us going to enjoy the game but little did she know, Mr. Jansson had planned a surprise for her. The whole family was there to celebrate her birthday a few days early!

What a good lookin' group! (I love this photo because it showcases everyone's personality - they are so fun!) I'd also like to add that it was Larry Bernandez night - so fun!

For those of you who don't live in Seattle, here is a taste of Larry: http://youtu.be/pf_HoE-mRoQ

Today we got together with Mr. Jansson's mom, his other grandmother, sister, brother in law, and nieces to celebrate his mom's birthday (a couple days late). What a beautiful day for a bbq celebration!

We've had a great weekend getting to visit with the family and count ourselves awfully blessed to have these two ladies in our lives! Happy birthday you two!!!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-08-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing our bi weekly series, Friday: Food with Friends, I've got a pasta dish to share with you today. A coworker (and friend) of mine passed this recipe along to me. She makes it frequently and loves it - the dish also reheats well as she brings leftovers for lunch to make us all envious.

The Friend: Pat
The Food: Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce
Ingredients
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 TBS pistachios
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 TBS butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan (additional)
12 oz fusili pasta
2 whole tomatoes, diced

Directions
Cook pasta until al dente. Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup parmesan, pistachios, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed. Set aside.

Heat cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add pesto and stir. Drain your pasta and place it into a serving bowl. Pour the pesto and cream over the top and toss to combine. Add diced tomatoes and toss quickly -serve immediately and enjoy!

Thanks to Pat for this amazing sounding recipe. As I type this up, Mr. Jansson was reading over my shoulder and has decided we'll be trying this very soon!

Being a Bulldog Parent Means Lots of Questions

2011-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

As you can probably tell from our blog, Watson is a huge part of our lives, he's part of the family - he's our little man and a grandog to our parents. When we take him on walks everyone stares, most folks folks want to pet him, and almost everyone has a question or two. He has that effect on people.

I thought I'd share answers to a few of the most commonly asked questions I get:

Why does he look like that? English bulldogs were originally bred for bull-baiting.
Why are they so expensive? One of the reasons is because puppies are usually delivered via c-section due to their large heads.
Is he mean? Not at all! Contrary to what you may think, bulldogs are great with children (ask our nieces!) That said, Watson in particular doesn't like other dogs - he's kind of a bully (no pun intended).
Are they hard to take care of? Their cute wrinkly faces need lots of cleaning (along with their ears). Bulldogs can easily get overheated and are subject to respiratory problems.
Are they lazy? No! Watson will play fetch for as long as you'll throw his ball and then he'll bring you his tug toy.
Do they always drool? Yes, they drool....alot!
Why is he so noisy? Due to Watson's short snout, it's hard for him to catch his breath at times. It's also the reason he snores (I wear ear plugs to sleep).
How much does his weigh? Bulldogs are bigger than you may think. He's short to the ground but Watson weighs close to 60 pounds (he's full grown)!
Can he do any tricks? Watson can sit, fetch, come, and lay down. He pretty much thinks he's a person - if you are in a chair, he wants to sit in a chair (see photo).

Do you have any questions about Watson? If so, let me know!

Caught in Action: Pike Place Market Flash Mob

2011-08-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

There was a flash mob at the Pike Place Market this afternoon and my coworkers and I were lucky enough to catch it! Mobbers were celebrating the 104th anniversary of the market and Rachel the pig's 25th birthday. I was able to record the action on my phone - take a look!

Sharing the Love (and hopefully not my cold)

2011-08-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

I have a cold. Watery eyes, headache, runny/stuffy nose, and sneezing...lots of sneezing. I woke up on Saturday morning and had a sore throat that morphed throughout the day into a full fledged head cold. To lift my spirits (and maybe yours too), today's post is all positive! Here are a few of the things that I've been loving lately:

Kleenex ultra soft tissues - due to the recent amount of nose blowing I've been doing, I can attest that these have saved my nose. No red, dry nose yet!

The caprese chicken salad from Quiznos - it comes with fresh mozzarella pearls marinated in Basil Pesto Dressing, diced chicken, diced tomatoes, is topped with a caesar cheese blend and served with a side of fat-free balsamic vinaigrette. I had one of these for lunch the other day and it was surprisingly delicious (and only 260 calories)!

This too cute Lilly Pulitzer agenda - just in time for 2012 this 17 month agenda has weekly and monthly calendar pages, dates to remember, contacts, notes, and colored tabs for easy navigating. Call me old fashioned but I love writing down what I have to do (and the satisfaction I get when crossing something off as complete)! I might have purchased the small 4 3/8" x 6 5/8" version that would fit in my bag soo nicely...(Mr. Jansson, note the use of the word might here.)

And last (but certainly not least) Arnold Palmer half and half iced tea lemonade sticks from Arizona - these things are wonderful! I dump 1/3 of a packet into one of my 12 ounce reusable water bottles, shake, and enjoy! At 10 calories per stick, these are a great mid day pick me up.

Do you have some items that you're loving lately? Let me know about them! Just think, we made it through Monday y'all - only four more days to go until the weekend!

Friday: Food with Friends

2011-08-12T03:45:00.000-07:00

This week's Friday: Food with Friends has quinoa as a main ingredient. I've come to LOVE quinoa. It's filling and full of fiber and protein. If you haven't already given it a try, this recipe would be a perfect excuse!

The Food: Southwest Quinoa Salad
The Friend: Jenny
Ingredients:
3 cups quinoa
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bag (2 cups) frozen corn
1 pint (aprox 10-12) grape cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 onion finally chopped
3/4 bottle of onion dressing
1/2 lime squeezed
1 avocado, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Once the quinoa is cooked and had cooled, add olive oil and fluff. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a large serving dish or bowl. Cut up the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and avocado.

Add the corn, onion, cilantro, and grape tomatoes to the quinoa mixture. Squeeze the lime and add your dressing to the dish and mix until well incorporated. Top the dish with avocado and serve! A big thank you to Jenny for agreeing to share this salad recipe. I can't wait to make it!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

Family Roadtrip to the Lake

2011-08-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Mr. Jansson and I left work early. We swung by the house to pick up Watson and then made our way over the mountain pass for a long, relaxing weekend with some of Mr. Jansson's family. They were camping at Lake Pearrygin.

Since I'm not much of a camper and Watson is pretty susceptible to heat, we chose to stay in the nearby town of Winthrop at a lovely dog friendly hotel - the Mt. Gardner Inn. We loved this family run place! The accommodations were comfortable, the air conditioning worked, and they even left a little goody bag for Watson.

We took Watson down to the lake shore and he loved the water! Mr. Jansson walked out thigh deep and asked Watson to come. He tried to swim out but being so top heavy, he kinda sunk. Not to worry though, Mr. Jansson yanked him right up and got him back to shore. His near death experience didn't phase him much though because he got right back in!

One afternoon we drove into the town of Winthrop and had some ice cream as a family. We weren't the only ones who thought it was cute - several bikers stopped to take photos of our little man.

On the way home we stopped at a cute little reststop off of highway 20 that had an old train parked in the grass. Watson had a great time at the stop and then proceeded to conk out in the backseat on the way home.

We had a wonderful weekend! A big thank you to Mr. Jansson's dad and stepmom for feeding us breakfast each morning and letting us hang out in the evenings around the campfire.

Extra Seating at Reasonable Price

2011-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mr. Jansson and I lowered the seats in our SUV and took a trip down to Ikea with a couple of our friends to help them transport their purchases back home. (They are redoing their kitchen and needed to pick up a few additional pieces that had been out of stock.)

While we were there Mr. Jansson spotted a dark leather chair and ottoman. He sat in it, propped his feet up on the ottoman, looked at the price tag, and decided we just had to bring it home. I agreed as we've been looking for a chair to go in the living room and this one was the perfect size (not to mention price) and best of all it required NO ASSEMBLY!

A Faire Weekend

2011-08-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mr. Jansson and I made a trip out to Carnation, WA for a medieval summer faire experience at Camlann Medieval Village. It was an interesting experience to say the least!

This place is like a living museum - employees are dressed in period clothing, have period jobs and are willing to teach visitors like us skills like: candle making, archery, and swordsmanship. Upon arrival, you exchange your dollars to their coins that can be used to make purchases within the village.

Along with the demonstrations, you'll see musical shows and numerous carnival style games (i.e. try to shoot the wooden dragons with a crossbow and win a pretty beaded necklace for your fair maiden).

We decided to try lunch at the Bors Hede Inn. It was delicious and far from ordinary. We partook of some ale, meade, and hard cider. Our appetizer consisted of fruit and various artisan cheeses. The main course was chopped beef, pork, almonds seasoned with cinnamon and strawberries served on a "plate" of homemade bread.

Overall, this was a fun way to spend a few hours on a warm, sunny Saturday and with a $10 admission fee per person, I'd recommend visiting if you're in the area and looking for something to do (especially if you have kids).

Introducing Friday: Food with Friends

2011-07-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! I wanted to introduce y'all to our newest series - Friday: Food with Friends. Every other Friday we'll be sharing a special recipe from one of our friends with y'all. I hope you enjoy the new series and that it inspires you to throw a few new dishes into your weekly rotation!

The Food: Blackberry Cobbler
The Friend: Lindsay
Ingredients
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick margarine or butter
1 quart blackberries (or any combination of berries you like that equals 1 quart)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt your butter in the microwave and then pour it into a 2 quart baking dish. In another bowl, whisk together your sugar, milk, flour, and vanilla. Once combined, pour mixture over the butter - do not stir! Next, place your berries in the dish on top of the crust mixture and sprinkle brown sugar on the top. Bake for one hour or until the crust rises to the top and becomes brown. Enjoy!

A big thank you to Lindsay for sharing this delicious recipe with us (and for being our Friday: Food with Friends guinea pig)! If you'd like to submit a favorite recipe of yours to be showcased on a future Friday, let me know!

Lunchtime Adventure

2011-07-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we had another birthday in my department at work. You know what that means - another lunchtime adventure! We all got together at Ferry Noodle House on Marion Street. My advise, get there early (around 11:30 to avoid having to wait in line for a table).

All the food my coworkers ordered emerged from the kitchen looking absolutely delicious. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the noodle dishes you order from this place! I chose the tofu pad thai and it was amazing.

I'm not a huge tofu fan (I've had some bad experiences with tasteless, watery versions) but this was prepared really well. The price point was great at less than $8. a plate and I had enough leftovers for another lunch. I give the Ferry Noodle House and my pad thai two thumbs up!

What I Learned This Weekend...

2011-07-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend I learned that while Watson loves to play ball, he doesn't like to fetch near the sprinkler...

I also learned that Menchie's has a new fro yo flavor - chocochella!

It is amazing! It's a chocolate flavor a light hazelnut undertone - reminds me of Nutella. I think it might be my new favorite (especially when it's swirled with the cupcake flavor)!

I hope y'all had a great weekend and that today wasn't too terrible - we're one day closer to the weekend.

Oh Canada! (Day Two)

2011-07-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Day two of our Victoria trip started bright and early. Mr. Jansson heated up his "exquisite" dessert from the night before (tempura fried banana with coconut ice cream). We got ready, checked out of our room, left our bags with the bellman and decided to do a little sight seeing.

Our first stop was The Empress Hotel. It was massive and beautiful! Here are a few shots from the outside:

In the below photo you'll see several bee hives that belong to The Empress. These bees pollinate all the beautiful flowers on the grounds and in the future they hope to use the honey these bees are making in the hotel restaurants.

After exploring the grounds of the Empress, I was getting pretty hungry so we decided to try Murchie's. They had a huge selection of teas and delicious looking pastries! I went for a cinnamon bun topped with cream cheese and half black half green tea - yum! Mr. Jansson chose to go with the cafe au lait and a chocolate filled croissant.

After breakfast, we decided to walk over to China town before hitting up the Royal BC Museum. While there we walked down Fan Tan Alley - the narrowest street in Canada at about 3 feet wide.

It was still pretty early in the day and we were able to walk right into the museum and start exploring without waiting in any lines. We had a great time! Mr. Jansson had been to the museum before years and years ago - it was fun to see him try to guess what exhibits were coming next.

After the museum, we thought it would be fun to walk up to Craigdarroch Castle. (If you choose to do this on your next trip to Victoria, be advised it's quite a walk!)

The castle was pretty impressive from the outside. The original woodwork and stained glass inside was beautiful! Needless to say, after walking for 30 minutes to get to the castle, walking through the castle, and then walking 30 minutes back to the city - we were starving!

Mr. Jansson wanted to catch the end of the US vs Japan women's soccer match so we decided to get lunch at the Bard & Banker Scottish Pub where we could watch the match and have a pint or two. Great choice! Lunch was fabulous. The only thing that would have made it better was if the US had won.

After a quick trip back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, we made our way down to the waterfront for one more pint before boarding the Clipper back to Seattle. Our trip was short but we crammed in alot of sight seeing and activities. Victoria was a beautiful city and I'd love to go back again soon for a more relaxed trip.

Oh Canada! (Day One)

2011-07-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our 4th anniversary, Mr. Jansson and I took an overnight trip to Victoria, BC. I wasn't sure what to expect since I'd never been to Canada (in fact, this was my first international trip) but I was pleasantly surprised.

We chose to take the Victoria Clipper up to Canada to save time and have the opportunity to just sit back and relax. After arriving, we hopped aboard our tour bus and were taken to Butchart Gardens (about 14 miles north of the city). The gardens were beautiful! I can see why Butchart was listed as one of the 1,000 places to see before you die.

After the garden tour we were starving and decided to try red fish blue fish, a local favorite, for some fish and chips. After a 50 minute wait in line, we devoured our lunch!

The fish was very fresh and the slaw was amazing. Even if we weren't completely famished from waiting in line - I'm pretty sure the food would have tasted just as good.

After lunch, we checked in to our hotel, the Chateau Victoria. We were very pleased with our suite (it was quite large with a kitchen) and the amazing view!

After settling in and enjoying a glass of wine on our balcony, we walked around the city together site seeing before stopping into the Sticky Wicket Pub for a pint. I discovered Piper's Pale Ale - one of my new favorites!

After our pint, we were ready for some supper and were craving sushi. Azuma was close and the menu looked amazing, so we chose to give them a try. We found the sushi to be very reasonably priced (not to mention delicious) and the staff was extremely friendly.

After polishing off our sushi boat, we decided to splurge and have dessert. Our waitress highly suggested the tempura fried banana with coconut ice cream. Mr. Jansson couldnt' have agreed more! In fact, he ordered a second of this dessert to go and heated it up for breakfast the next day!

Sorry for such a long post - we crammed alot of activities into our short trip. I'll share day two highlights later this week. Stay tuned!

Today is our 4th Anniversary!

2011-07-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jansson and I chose "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds Five as our first dance song at our wedding 4 years ago today. I had Mr. Jansson's wedding ring engraved on the inside with the words "the luckiest" so he'd always know how I felt about him.

I still love this song (the lyrics are so sweet) and still feel like "the luckiest" girl to have married my best friend.

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you Mr. Jansson!

Lunchtime Adventure

2011-07-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jansson was off work this Tuesday and I took a half day of vacation. The weather was beautiful and we decided that it would be a perfect day for a lunchtime adventure date downtown before I had to go in to work. After working up an appetite with a long walk through Pioneer Square and down by the waterfront, we decided to eat alfresco at Delicatus.

The menu was extensive and full of local, creative sandwich combinations. Mr. Jansson chose the "Mudd Honey" sandwich. It consisted of sliced roast beef, turkey, slab bacon, white cheddar, horseradish aiole, and bbq sauce on an italian role - so delish!

While the Mudd Honey looked wonderful, I've had it once before and wanted to try something new. I chose "The Californian" sandwich with roasted chicken breast, chive aiole, slab bacon, spinach, sprouts, and tomato on whole wheat bread. It was really flavorful and reminded me of a grown up BLT with chicken. I'd definitely get it again!

All of their sandwiches are served with chips but I'd recommend substituting those for either a side of cole slaw (like Mr. Jansson) or a house salad (like me). Overall, we give Delicatus two thumbs up for a creative menu, high quality ingredients, a delicious product, friendly service, and outdoor seating. Give them try!

It was such a treat to be able to have a daytime date together and we really lucked out with the beautiful weather! I hope that we are able to have a few more of these before the summer is over.

Happy Birthday Brother!

2011-07-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

I want to wish my little brother a very happy birthday today!

You are an amazing guy - smart, hilarious, talented, loyal, goodhearted, and most of all one of my best friends! I love you and hope that you know how special you are to me!!!

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

I hope that each of y'all had a happy and safe Fourth of July. We had a great time at the Evergreen Speedway in Monroe with Mr. Jansson's aunt and uncle.

It was fun to watch the demolition derby, the figure 8s, the Elvis impersonator, and of course the fireworks!

Happy birthday America!
Love,

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

Weekend Recap

2011-06-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

We had beautiful weather this weekend so of course that meant that we were outside enjoying it! After watching the US vs Mexico soccer match at Elliot Bay Pizza with our friend C, we hit up the driving range on the way home.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Everett Aquasox game soaking up the sun. I'd never been to an Aquasox game, but it was lots of fun! You can get great seats like ours - first row behind home plate for just $16 - you can't beat that.

After the game, we decided to make a quick grocery store run to pick up fixins for cheeseburgers. To mix things up a bit, we decided to go with bison and aged Australian cheddar. For sides, we grilled broccoli and baked up some sweet potato fries. As usual, Mr. Jansson did an amazing job!

We hope that y'all had a great weekend and were able to enjoy the weather too! Here's to a great week for all of us!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Welcoming Summer With Open Arms

2011-06-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that today marks the official first day of summer? The weather here in the Northwest hasn't been very summer like. Lately we've had unseasonably cool weather with highs in the 60s and lows in the 50s. (This is a far cry from the humid 90 -100 degree summers I grew up with.)

When you think of summer, what comes to mind? I think of long days, bare feet, bbq, lightning bugs, firecracker ice pops, road trips, boiled shrimp, big sunglasses and lazy days around the pool. (Can you tell I'm looking forward to summer finally arriving!?)

What comes to your mind when you think of summer? Do you have any favorite summertime memories? Share with me!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Jansson Family would like to wish a happy Father's Day to our dads! We love you both very much and appreciate all you've done for us. We hope you have a wonderful day and know how much y'all are loved.

Watson would also like to wish his daddy a very happy Father's Day. According to Watson, his daddy gives the best ear scratches and is the perfect playmate.

Oh the Places You Will Go...

2011-06-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

We are very proud of Mr. Jansson's sister who graduated from high school this week. On Thursday we attended her graduation ceremony.

Afterwards, we were treated by Mr. Jansson's dad to a celebratory supper at Anthony's in Edmonds. The food was delicious and the view of the sound was beautiful!

When I graduated from high school I was given a copy of Dr. Seuss' book, Oh the Places You Will Go. In it is one of my favorite quotes that is just perfect for this point in a new graduate's life: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Congratulations class of 2011!