Getting out of the Cooking Rut...

So.. I've been going in and out of this cooking thing. When Nolan and I first got married, I was super excited about it and couldn't wait to use my cute little kitchen and new gifts we received from our wedding. But then something happened... I hit a rut and just didn't want to do it anymore. That meant more eating out and more money spent.

Well, looking at our budget, my husband and I spend a good chunk of our money on restaurants...
and while we're trying to save- that means we need more eating in, which equals more cooking for me... yup. So now I have to get out of this rut and start loving to cook again. Our budget will thank me.

Being a visual person, one site I love to find good recipes on is Tastespotting. It's full of tasty recepies collected from various cooking blogs. It's like Pinterest but only food is allowed. Click on the pic of your choice and BAM. You're brought to the recipe.





I also love watching my friend Rachel's little cooking show. Not only is she the cutest thing in the world, but to see a recipe be done so simply- she makes it look easy and I honestly take so much away from every episode. Plus everything she cooks with is healthy and totally organic. Check her out here!

I also found this wonderful cookbook online- the recipes are far too fancy for me to make, but it sure does look pretty :)



So yeah, I'm getting back into cooking and trying to get inspired here. Any other sites you guys like that has good/easy recipes?

These Prints!

I know a lot of you have probably seen these prints rollin around in the blogosphere- and most of them are sold out on the etsy shop they came from- but I am so inspired by the simpleness and the hand written type, that I just had to post these guys! They're just really pretty to look at :) I'm working on a logo right now where I dabbled with some hand written type, and it was really fun- can't wait to finish it up and show you.

By the way, have you guys entered to win this lovely calendar yet? I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow- so hurry up and head over here to get your entry in! Happy Thursday friends!

My husband taught me how to roast pumpkin seeds.

And its oh so easy. Nolan really is a better cook than I am, but I'm learning and he likes
to teach me these fun recipes every once and awhile.

After carving pumpkins at my cousins house last night, we had a ton of seeds left over.
Nolan wanted to take them home to our house to roast them. So we did.
They turned out pretty tasty too! Here's how you do it:

Pre-heat the oven to 375.
Rinse your pumpkin seeds.
Spray a baking pan with non stick spray and oil the seeds with olive oil.
Next put your spices on top. Nolan used chili powder, lemon pepper and salt.
Let them roast for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Take them out, let them cool, and eat up!




This was the pumpkin he carved.



Happy Halloween everyone!!

Pickles Pickles Pickles in the Summer.

So my fiance is OBSESSED with pickles. (The cucumber kind) He will literally eat a full jar in one sitting if he let himself. When he was little he was caught chowin down on 30 year old pickles from his grandma's basement... to this day he says they were the best pickles he's ever had. I'm just glad he's alive...

Anyways, I've been really wanting to be all wife-y and make some homemade pickles for him to eat!

So today I came across Sunday Suppers recipe for picked grapes and Im dying to taste and make some of these little guys. Its a new spin on a timeless classic! They sound like they would be perfect for a decently healthy snack on a hot day. They might even be cute as a gift, placed in a little jar with a little ribbon wrapped around the lid. Ok super cute.

I'm stoked to make some for my man... even though I don't think anything could ever take the place of regular pickles in Nolan's life... maybe if they marinate for 30 years.

Let me know if any of you have tried these or made them before! I'd love to know what they're like!

photos by Karen Mordechai