Sunday, May 9, 2010

I dream of daisies..

Hey heeeeeeey.... I'm BACK!

This has been one of the nicest, most relaxing and calming Sundays I've had in a really long time. I woke up before Nick as the sun was coming up. I tiptoed around, opened all the blinds and let the sun filter in. I got a head start on Laundry and filled the French Press with delectable coffee. It was a bit chilly today. I wrapped myself in a blanket and read blogs all morning with coffee in hand and a lazy cat rotting beside me. It was brilliant.

Nick woke up a few hours later and I decided to make us a more involved breakfast than usual.

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 10:30am.

For the Mr. I made home fries with red skinned potatoes, onions, butter and olive oil, seasoned with black pepper, sea salt and cayenne. Served with bacon (a bit burned... Whoops...) and wheat toast with butter.


My version was made with sweet potato, onions, spray butter and Pam. I had mine with a Morning Star Farms breakfast patty (crumbled on top) and a slice of wheat toast with Spray Butter.


This was SO good! I don't know why I've never though of sweet potato home fries before. I wish I had bell peppers at home though. That would have made it even more brilliant.

After breakfast the Mr. and I got dressed and went to one of MY ALL TIME FAVORITE PLACES EVER! Dayton Nurseries! He was on a Mother's Day mission. He was having a late lunch with his Mom and some other family members later and in typical man fashion, he hadn't bought her anything yet. :)

We roamed around the place for EVER! At least two hours! We spent the entire time fantasizing about what we would like in a garden, backyard, herb garden etc... We were in landscaping heaven. NOT for the current house we live in. For a future home...eventually...sometime...in...the...future...together... OH MY!


Some of the highlights. We both LOVE funky, unique, sculpturally interesting, wispy trees. My favorite being the Laceleaf Japanese Maple. So delicate, soft and gorgeous!


I also loved this Weeping Pea Tree.


And of course, Perennials galores.


Nick got his mom several different hot pepper plants (LOVED THIS IDEA) because she loves spicy food. He also picked her up "Something Else". I can't elaborate on what else because I may or may not have gotten a certain someone else the exact same thing for Mama's day. :-O Our brilliant minds just worked alike. We both fell in love with it as soon as we saw it.

After our secret garden filled fantasies, Nick dropped me back off at home. He headed over to his grandmothers house to meet his mom and family for a mothers day lunch. I decided to stay home, unwind some more and clean the house up a bit. I want to make sure we leave it in decent condition before we leave at the crack of dawn next Saturday. I DOUBT I'll have time to clean during the week so it's now or never. I'm sure my schedule with work, the gym and the usual will keep me busy enough. I just want to come home to a clean house after vacation. That will make me very happy! :)

LUNCH (meal #2) at 2:00pm.

I sauteed some yellow squash, zucchini and broccoli with Pam, Spray Butter, dill, sea salt and pepper. When the veggies were nice and tender I tossed in some cannelloni beans and sprinkled red pepper flakes on top. YUM! On the side I had a honey wheat FlatOut wrap with peppered turkey and light string cheese. I toasted the wrap in a pan until it was nice and golden and the cheese got all gooey. Freakin amazing! The dill on the veggies just added something special! I love dill!


I watched the FoodNetwork for hours this afternoon. My foodie filled heart was bursting with joy. I never really get to watch TV anymore. Between work, the gym, cooking, blogging, living my life, TV rarely fits in. Even when I do watch something it tends to be from NetFlix or our extensive DVR collection. I RARELY watch TV shows when they are actually on. Sometimes I wonder why I pay and arm and a leg for cable..... I have no answer.....

SNACK (meal #3) at 6:00pm.

I had another cup of coffee with a handful of pretzels that went unphotographed.

DINNER (meal #4) at 9:30pm.

For me: I made baked, breaded, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I had them marinating in a combination of Teriyaki, Franks hot sauce and Sriracha hot sauce all day long. I tossed them in flour, eggs and then a mix of Panko + regular breadcrumbs + basil + Italian seasoning blend + paprika. I placed my two pieces into a PAM sprayed pan and tossed them into the oven.

For the men: I used chicken with skin (two thighs, two drums and one breast) and the same method for breading. However, I pre-fried them in about 1/2 inch of oil for 15 minutes or so before adding them to my already baking chicken breasts. Just to get them nice and golden. Nick begs me to get a deep fryer all the time. I just can't bring myself to do it. It's like dipping things in heart attack juice in my opinion. I never deep fry anything!

We also had roasted brussel sprouts and parsnip fries to go along with the meal. VOILA! This was fantastic.


Nick's brother Dan joined us for dinner tonight. He came over to watch more Rally Racing. Now that I'm done eating, I think I'll head upstairs for some HGTV and Food Network lovin. Looking forward to it. Sometimes there's nothing better than watching TV from bed on a lazy Sunday evening.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... ;)

Have a great night my friends....
XOXO
Ildie

3 comments:

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

i LOVE fresh dill!! that can totally make a dish!! fresh herbs in general acutally

those are beatiful pics by the way!! i love your photography

sweet potato hash browns sound SO good!

Karin said...

The Japanese generally have the most amazing gardens.. and I want to get that fabulous tree too!! Now, I only wish that I'd be more talented when it comes to plants.. and not letting them die. ;)

Urm, I had plans to clean the apartment today but I only managed to vacuum the living room. Sigh..

Lindsay said...

YUMMY, I am so making that flat out wrap tomorrow! Love all the beautiful pics!

 

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