Strawberry Poppyseed & Steak Salad

This salad was so great for a hot summer day! I used fresh lettuce from my garden, Brianna's Poppyseed dressing, strawberries picked fresh from the farm, red onions and leftover Southwest Steak. 

Southwest Steak

This steak was so yummy and I was able to make a few meals & salads with it. 

Ingredients: 

2 t. cider vinegar

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 beef top round steak (1 inch thick and about 1 1/2 lbs.)

1 T brown sugar

1 T chili powder

1 1/2 t. cumin

1 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Directions: 

Mix vinegar & Worcestershire sauce. Brush over steak. 

Mix brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne until blended. Sprinkle over both sides of steak.

Grill steak, covered, over medium heat. 

Serve with potatoes, veggies, or on a salad.

Stitch Fix August

It's like Christmas when a Stitch Fix arrives at my door! It is so fun to open them up and see what they have sent me! This time I had a different stylist, but she still did a good job. I had just got back from vacation, so I told myself I had to pick just one thing to keep!

 

Maxi Skirt: Sent back

Blue Cardigan: Sent back

Bird Scarf: Sent back

Coral Shirt: Kept

Floral Print Tank: Sent back

Returns are so simple! Just stick it in the big envelope they provide in the box and place it in your mailbox!! 

Check it out here!

Giardiniera

This is my new favorite garden recipe. This year, only my peppers have really been going crazy. Part of this is because they are one thing the stupid squirrels won't eat! With over 100 peppers, I had to figure out something to make! One of my favorite sandwich shops makes really good hot peppers.  I wanted to make something similar. I also have used Giardiniera in my Italian Beef recipe, and loved it. So I went on the hunt for a recipe that sounded similar. 

Ingredients: 
1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets (about 5 cups)
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
4 jalapeno peppers, sliced
6 serrano peppers, sliced
1/2 cup salt
1 cup white vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup canola oil
1 jar (10 ounces) small pimiento-stuffed olives, drained

Directions: 
Chop veggies (I used the food processor to speed up and get small pieces)

In a large Tupperware container, toss cauliflower, celery, carrot and peppers with salt. Add cold water to cover. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.

Drain vegetables; rinse with cold water and drain again.  Don't forget this step, or it will be salty!

In a large bowl, whisk vinegar, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. 

Add olives and drained vegetables; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, overnight to allow flavors to blend.

Transfer mixture to covered jars. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks. Enjoy on sandwiches or by its self!

Adapted from: Taste of Home

Washi Tape Words

I learned this really neat trick to get words onto wash tape!! It is so easy and perfect for my Etsy shop!

All you do is print out the words you want using an ink jet printer. Then put the wash tape over the words and press.  Remove the washi tape and it will show up! It works best to use it right away, and not let it stick to the paper for long.

Pinterest Projects

This summer I taught a Pinterest Project class at Summer at Barstow. We had so much fun!

Glitter state/letter in a dollar store frame.

They spent 2 days and 4,985,398 hot glue sticks building these fairy houses! They turned out soo cute!


Paper wreath

Free choice sewing project: bag

Burlap Wreaths

Stamped charms

Reclaimed wood signs

Dip & Dot Party

My "Italy" friends wanted to have a summer party with a great theme! We all love a good dip, so we started brainstorming around the dip theme. We came up with "Dip n' Dots." I think we all had too much fun shopping for polka dot themed things! I went on a hunt for swimsuits and something for the adults to wear.

We set up the polka dot stuff at night and the "Polka dot fairy"came with fun gifts!

Water balloons, Fun Dip, Dots Candy, and a swim suit!

Oh the balloons... these big balloons had quite the adventure!

I need to invest in the water balloon filler that can fill 100 up at one time! These girls LOVED the water balloons! 

This happy sun balloon was $12 and it lived at this table for all of 15 minutes, then it flew away. It provided some really good laughs!

Fairy gifts!

I made a sandwich bar for lunch. Dinner (which I didn't get pictures of was Italian Beef in the crockpot). We also had lots of dips!

Funfetti cupcakes!

 They loved the Fun Dip!

Swimming was so fun!

Evan's sweet polka dot outfit!

The girls! My polka dot dress was from Ann Taylor Loft

It was a great weekend had by all!