Real Food Friday

   So I had this post all ready to go and be posted Friday and then I forgot, oopss! So here is Real Food Friday on Saturday. I will do my best to get one of these up every Friday. I love seeing what other people make to eat, their favorite recipes and new foods to try so hopefully this will inspire you to fix these at your home. All of the recipes I will post will be 100% unprocessed food, all fruits and veggies I use are organic and as local as possible.

   Today's Real Food is a Banh Mi Burger

   This was an adaption of a Pinterest find, it was so tasty and easy to make. I buy my meat from a farmer in Tennessee and they make the best sausage. We aren't huge breakfast people, if we do eat a true pancakes, sausage and eggs breakfast its usually breakfast for dinner, so this was a great way to put some of that delicious sausage to use. For those of you that have never had a Banh Mi sandwich it is a Vietnamese sandwich that can be filled with pork belly, sausage or grilled pork and then topped with pickled carrots and diakon, cucumbers, cilantro, sliced chilies and a spicy sauce. We have an excellent food truck here that serves them for lunch. When I made this burger I served it with hummus and black bean and red quinoa chips and they were the perfect pair.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of sausage
whole wheat hamburger buns
sliced cucumbers
chopped cilantro
chopped mint
sliced matchstick carrots
jalapenos (opitional)
rice wine vinegar
mayonnaise
fish sauce
lime juice
Sriracha
powdered garlic
toasted sesame oil  

• first pickle your carrots, cucumbers and jalapenos if you are using them. Place them in a dish and cover with rice wine vinegar and let sit. Easy as that!
• now make your sauce, mix mayo, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and Sriracha together, I didn't give specific amounts because it is really to taste. As a guideline, go lighter on the fish sauce and Sriracha then the other ingredients. I mixed, tasted, added more, mix, tasted and so on until I liked what I had. Don't be scared of the Sriracha, I have a fairly low spicy threshold and was able to eat this no problem, it really mixes well with the other flavors and what you get is more flavor then heat.
  
  
  
• let's cook some burgers! make sausage into patties and either grill or cook in a pan until cooked through all the way.
  
  
  
• mix chopped cilantro and mint
• lightly brush inside of buns with toasted sesame oil and toast
• assemble: bottom bun, sauce, patty, herbs, pickled veggies and top bun.

I also want to leave you with a sneak peak of our latest house project.....

 I cant wait to reveal the final project this week!

xoxo
Ashlea

Pinterest Favorites

 As with most other women, I LOVE Pinterest. Need a new recipe for dinner? Pinterest! Want a new easy up-do for your hair? Pinterest! Confused on how to make a DIY household cleaner? Pinterest!

So in honor of this fabulous website, here are my 5 favorite pins right now:
 

 How to clean wax out of a candle jar

I tried this one the other weekend and it worked perfectly! I now have 3 clean glass jars to use for storage or decoration and it didn't cost me a penny.

Pork chops with pineapple fried rice

So so so easy and yummy!!

 cheap frame and fabric

I haven't made this one yet but its on the list! It will be perfect at our computer desk and is so much prettier than a regular pencil cup and paper tray.

Naturally clean and remove blackheads

I am always looking for a great natural cleaner for my face and body. This one has tons of favorable reviews and seems very simple. I can't wait to try and report back!

 I am very much NOT a morning person so I think this quote is genius - and I love Zooey.

 follow me on Pinterest!

xoxo

Ashlea

Mantel Make Over

   One of the compromises I had to make when deciding on our house was to not have a fireplace. I love fireplaces; the sound of cracking wood, the soft light on a cold night, the wonderful smell that fills the house. As much as I love all of it, I loved our house so I had to give up my dream of that beautiful fireplace.

  However, our home did come with a lovely faux fireplace in the downstairs living room which gives me a mantle to play around with and decorate. I have had it the same since we moved in, candles, glasses, antiques and some books.

                          Here is a picture of the living room and you can kinda see the set up.

    I was redoing some of the other areas of the house and decided I wanted to switch up the mantel. I wanted something simple for summertime. I had just gotten some family pictures printed and wanted to use them but wanted to do something different that picture frames. I went hunting through y craft closet and came across some mason jars and decided to use those instead. I also added a picture frame that I tied some burlap bunting I made that spell out family across it. Sorry the pictures aren't the best, the lighting was not cooperating with me.

xoxo
Ashlea

UPDATES!!

*WARNING* this post is long.......very long

It has been forever since I have updated but that is because I have been busy with the end of the school year, a trip to Thailand and Singapore, getting a new addition to the family, and some medical stuff.

First, the trip! I could write on and on about where we went, what we ate, what we saw and how amazing it all was but I think the pictures can do a better a job!

outdoor food market

my authentic bubble tea...yum!

view of the river from our hotel in Bangkok

one of the many beautiful temples we saw

beautiful :)

my attempt at an artistic photo

dont mind the hair, it was 100+ degrees and HUMID!

dried shrimp, fish and various sea creatures, the smell was, um, intense

another temple, the details are amazing!

super precious monk in the making

our welcome fruit at the wedding hotel in Chaing Mai

view from our hotel room

my encounter with the baby tigers!

no matter where you go......barf

gorgeous paper lanterns

temple

how they do "fast food" in Singapore

coolest building in Singapore

very excited about our boutique chocolate experience 

 The trip was amazing and reminds me of why I LOVE to travel, its seeing and experiencing foods, cultures, people that are so different and beautiful and at the same so much the same. I already have an itch to plan the next trip, Paris? Brazil? Austria?

Also here is a video preview of the wedding we went to in Thailand. The Indians sure know how to throw a party!
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UTDdEU9MM&feature=share&fb_source=message



On to the next big news, we got a PUPPY!!!

Her name is Penelope
She is Border Collie/Lab mix
She is 8 weeks old
She has energy, energy, energy
and she is precious <3

LOVE <3

Lastly, I had to have surgery on Friday. It was nothing major- very routine. We have started trying to have a baby and it has been more difficult than we thought it was going to be. Maybe in another post I will bore you with the details of my fertility struggles but for now, the surgery went great and all is well. Though it did cement my hatred of hospitals, even with the super sweet nurses and staff I had, I felt so uncomfortable the whole time. I was very happy to come rest and recuperate in my own bed with the best husband waiting on me hand and foot, nursing back to health.

So that is the lastest update of the past month or so, I have started my summer schedule of working part time and have a list of projects that I am ready to tackle so stay tuned for some DIY fun!

xoxo
Ashlea

Things My Dog Ate

Here is our latest installment of things my dog ate:

The back story

 I had my reusable coffee tumbler in my bag, some of the coffee leaked out

apparently onto a bag of feather I was using for a craft with my class

here is the carnage

(please excuse the dirty laundry on the floor, I must have been in a terrible rush that morning because I never leave dirty clothes on the bathroom floor)

xoxo
Ashlea

Why I Love My Family

     I just recently got the digital copy of my wedding pictures, they turned out so great. As I was looking through the pictures of the reception, specifically the dance floor I noticed something........my family makes the most ridiculous faces while dancing. Some look like they are in pain, some look like they think they are rock stars, others there are no words to describe. I took the liberty of collecting all these amazing faces and putting them into one beautiful collage. Wait for it...............................................................

I really love my family <3

xoxo
Ashlea

The Most Important Meal of the Day

I love to eat seasonal, stews and soups in Fall and Winter, grilled veggies and salads in Spring and Summer. So I have been working on my Summer breakfasts, something light and fresh, and I have come across some very easy and more importantly very delicious options.

Smoothies:
Now I give myself just enough time in the morning down to the minute to shower, get dressed, grab breakfast and give the husband a kiss before running out the door. Since time is of the essence I love that these are make ahead!
    Ingredients:
         - plain greek yogurt
         - various fruits (chopped)
         - coconut milk
   Directions:
        - Take a muffin pan and spoon, 2 large spoonfuls of yogurt into each section, put in freezer. Once frozen place in quart sized ziplock bag. (I had to warm up the bottom of the pan with my hands to get the yogurt blocks free)
        - Freeze chopped fruits and add to bag. ( I did a bunch of different of combinations, strawberry banana, strawberry kiwi, mango)
        - When you are ready to make them, set the bag out for 5-10 minutes to thaw a bit (I pull it out before I hop in the shower) then dump into a blender, add milk until you are pleased with the consistency and enjoy!

Breakfast Cookies:
These are a pinterest find and are my new favorite thing, the are literally grab and go plus they are filling and stick with me until lunch.
    Ingredients:
         -3 mashed bananas (ripe)
         - 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
         - 2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
         -1/4 cup skim milk (I used vanilla coconut milk)
         - 1/2 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit you want to add)
         -1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon
         - 1 tbsp honey
    Directions:
        -Preheat oven to 350 degrees
        - Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well. Let this mixture stand for at least 5 minutes to let the oats become good and hydrated.
        -Heap the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.

Yogurt:
Super simple and super yummy
    Ingredients:
        - plain greek yogurt ( you want to make sure and get the plain, the flavored ones have artifical sweeteners and preservatives in them.)
        - honey
        - granola ( make sure and read the label to check for whole and natural ingrediants or better yet make your own!!!)
    Directions:
        - mix and enjoy!

xoxo
Ashlea