Crispy Vegetable Fritters (via Curtis Stone)

What do I do with my free time? Well, as crazy as this may sound, I research recipes. I have a bunch of cookbooks that I love to go through, and then I search the internet for amazing recipes. I’m super picky as to what I consider a good recipe, and who I consider a good cook. 

There are a lot of amazing novices or non-professional home-cooks out there, which makes searching Pinterest really fun.

Then, there’s a lot of “celebrity ‘chefs’” who shouldn’t be considered chefs at all. When your main ingredient in all your recipes is mayo (Paula Deen), you really shouldn’t have your own cooking show. Many of these chefs don’t even come up with their own recipes and most of them don’t even cook the food that’s on their show. Many of them have admitted to other’s doing the cooking backstage or during commercial breaks.

There are certain chef’s though that I can admire whose recipes are generally always delicious, professional and easy to make at home. 

Say what you want about his table-side manner or his anger-management issues, but Gordon Ramsay is a true chef who manages his own empire in the culinary world. He owns a ton of restaurants around the globe and has been awarded 15 Michelin stars total (Many chef's are lucky to just have one, they're one of the most prestigious awards you can get in the culinary world)! I trust all of his recipes and his advice. He has a couple YouTube channels as well as many TV shows to his name that have taught me so much!

I LOVE Curtis Stone!!! I consider Gordon Ramsay to be very precise and uniform about his cooking which I admire, but Curtis Stone has more of a laid back approach. Don’t get me wrong though, he is legit! He’s a highly acclaimed chef as well as celebrity chef, author and TV host. I have not found a recipe of his that I don’t like! He makes it really easy to understand what it is your cooking and how to cook it. You can find him and a lot of his recipes on Youtube. 

These are my two favorites, not to say that I don’t love others. If you want to know which chef’s and recipes I recommend and which I avoid, let me know and I’ll let your know!

And now on to what I made for brunch today:

Curtis Stone: Crispy Vegetable Fritters

1 russet potato, peeled

1 carrot, peeled

1 zucchini, ends trimmed

1 onion, halved and very thinly sliced

2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup sour cream

1/4 bunch fresh dill, leaves coarsely chopped (about 1 ½ tablespoons)

Mine turned out delicious, and will definitely become a staple. 

The HSG Scan (Warning:: Womanly details)

Yesterday I went to get an HSG scan. I've been seeing a fertility doctor in Coeur d' Alene who recommended I get one. This scan involves injecting dye up your cervix and into your tubes to check to see if there are any blockages. The dye lights up the tubes and they take x-rays of your uterus. My doctor told me beforehand that the most I would feel is menstrual-like cramps.

I laid on a table with an x-ray machine hooked on to it. He inserted the speculum, which wasn’t painful; Then, (according to the nurses, my doctor is the only one they know of that practices this technique) he took these clamps and pinched open the edges of my cervix to open it up more.

I can’t even describe the pain that I felt, it was more than excruciating!!!  I have pretty bad menstrual cramps, but on a scale of 1-10, my worst menstrual cramps were a 1 compared to the 10 that I felt. The most pain that I’ve ever felt in my life time. The process of shooting the dye up was extremely painful as well, my right side tubes were somewhat blocked, so he had to continually shoot dye up to try to reach those tubes. In a matter of seconds the pain was unbearable! I started to get hot flashes, which turned to cold sweats. I screamed, like Jason was killing me with a knife kind of scream, and then I blacked out for a couple seconds and then threw up.

He released the clamps and the pain almost completely abated. I was in shock and laid their clutching my husband's arm who felt pretty traumatized as well. The clamps tore my cervix and I was bleeding somewhat for the rest of the day. The nurses were all extremely sweet and sympathetic. They said that my doctor tends to have a “no nonsense” approach, and would rather just get it done his way than worry about the comfort of the patient. 

I couldn't move for 10 minutes, but Cameron helped get me dressed and took me home. A couple hours later though, the cramps started; I didn’t sleep at all last night, I couldn’t lay on my back, my side or my stomach due to the pain. I’ve heard from lots of women that it can be painful, but I wasn’t expecting this! 

I hope now that my tubes are clear enough. My doctor said that even though my right side is somewhat blocked, my left side is completely open. So the odds of conceiving should still be good.

I took some hydrocodone a couple hours ago and right now I’m feeling great…maybe a little too great, lol.

The Not-So-Secret-Garden and Bruno is 6 months!!

So I’ve been working on my garden the past week. We put up a gazebo tent on our deck - great shade! Bruno has been loving it! This week, I got tired of waiting for my herbs to grow, so I went out and bought some plants. I bought some Basil (a must have), thyme, rosemary and oregano. I also got some pepper plants and corn plants which I planted. 

Awesome enough, I got a bunch of tomato plants from family and friends this year. I'm really excited! I planted some more flowers as well.  

I have 3 rose plants that are about to bloom in the half wine barrel.

I'm really excited about my basil plants! 

I'm really hoping the corn does well in this flower pot. I also have a little itty bitty tomato on the plant my mom gave me (in the grey pot).

 Bruno was so cute today. He's grown so big!! We weighed him today and he's 75 pounds!! Can you believe it?!?! He's going to be a big dog!! 

He'll be 6 months tomorrow!!

I know all the pics look similar, but he's just so darn cute!!!

Cam took some pics of me with Bruno today. 

It was REALLy windy outside and the wind had blown off the tent cover...oops!

The sun was in my eyes....obviously.

I Don't Have a Clever Title

So this has felt like a really long week. I go through different phases in my cooking and it all really depends on what inspires me at the time. This week, I've really gotten into baking muffins. I had a bunch of bananas that I let ripen on my counter which turned into a whole lot of mini banana muffins. I hate eating bananas whole because I can't stand the texture, but I LOVE banana flavor!! I remember Western Family used to have these amazing popsicles and one of the flavors was banana - it was my favorite flavor....maybe along with grape.

A lot of times I will make snacks or leave fruit in a bowl on the kitchen counter for convenient meals, and a lot of times the food will sit there, and sit there, and sit there until it's gone bad. My muffins were perfect!! They made for easy, quick breakfasts and midday snacks and were eaten very quickly.

I'll have to post my muffin recipe later because I didn't take pictures of the finished product....so another time. However, tonight I attempted cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting and they turned out amazing! Granted, I used a box mix - I know, I'm a cheater.

I made the cupcakes and let them cool, my biggest challenge was the cream cheese frosting. I had some blackberries and strawberries in my fridge that I wanted to incorporate. Here's the recipe for the frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup blackberries

16 oz of powdered sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

I creamed that together and once the cupcakes were cool, I spread on the frosting. 

Cam's a really tough critic when it comes to baking and he really really liked them! Which made me feel good. Cam's a sweetie though and I appreciate his honesty.

This week I also painted and decorated our living room. I love decorating and feel I have a knack for it. I love finding cheap but cute things and coordinating them in one room. 

Cam and I went from spending no time in this room to most our time in this room. We love relaxing in the afternoon reading or talking about our day.

I will add frames to the paintings in the future, I just don't care about it now.

I worked more on my garden this week but I don't have any pics, so that will be for another post. 

Fun with Friends

Today was our friend Natalie’s birthday and they so nicely invited us over. There were so many cute dogs for Bruno to play with and let’s be honest, Cam was probably more excited than Bruno.

Cam loves not having to bend over to pet Panda and Akasha

Panda was in heat so she had to wear boxers....until she peed on them. Bruno then couldn't keep off of her. Silly Bruno!

Natalie's friend's dog Duff playing in the pool. I guess I was shocked (seeing as Bruno doesn't like getting in his pool) that Duff just walked in, laid down and chilled for a little bit.

Oh the many faces of Bailey...she is definitely the mommy of the group and doesn't mind laying down the law a bit. We like that all the girls show Bruno who's boss!

Emmy wasn’t feeling very well, but she sure was cute!

Bruno and Shiloh played and fought a lot. Bailey looks really massive in the background.

Chickens!!

The Crawfish were fun to play with!!