Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini

Last May, my sister, Melanie, introduced me to the wonderful world of paninis. Then I tried out Katherine's delicious recipe for Tomato, Pesto & Mozzarella Panini, and it was amazing. Last night I made my own version of a panini:

This panini has pesto spread on the inside of both pieces of the Italian bread (I used a Neo-Tuscan Boule). Then I layered grilled chicken (I grilled mine with some lemon pepper on it), tomatoes, avocado, roasted red peppers, and fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that comes in a ball). I spread a little butter on the outsides of the bread and then grilled it in a George Foreman-type of grill for a few minutes. I served it with a romaine salad and fresh corn on the cob. So good!

To make roasted red peppers, half the bell pepper and remove seeds and stem. Place face down on a sheet of tinfoil (crease the edges up so the juices don't run off), and place under the broiler. Broil until the skin is black all over, about 8 or so minutes. I covered the tops of the pepper with some tin foil when it got black and continued to broil it so the remaining sides could blacken. (You could also put the whole pepper under the broiler and rotate it as it blackens.) Once the skin is black, fold the tinfoil around it to seal in the heat (or place in a bowl and cover with seran wrap) and let sit for 20 minutes. Then rub off the black skin and cut into slices.

LDS Historic Sites

Jed and I decided to go to Kansas City and visit the historic sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was such a neat experience to remember the trials and the faith of our pioneer ancestors. Some of the tribulations they went through are just indescribable, and yet they still put their trust in God. I am so thankful for the heritage they passed on to us. Here we are at the LDS Visitor's Center in Independence. The Saints gathered here when they were driven from Kirtland, Ohio. But because of persecution and mob attacks in Independence, they soon fled to Liberty and then to Far West.
Jed and Benjamin in front of the cut-away replica of the Liberty Jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith and others were imprisoned the winter of 1838-1839.

Jed and Benny in front of Shoal Creek, where Haun's Mill is located. (Notice Benjamin's amazingly disheveled hair. That's what all day in the car will do to you!)

Jed and I are standing in front of one of the glass encased cornerstones to the dedicated temple plot in Far West. The people were never able to build the temple because they were driven from Far West during the winter of 1839. It broke my heart hearing about how they were forced to leave behind their homes and all their possessions, and flee out into the bitter cold and snow, with nowhere to go. The temple plot is very peaceful, though, and beautiful. I was glad that we could visit this site.

Here's our little family in front of the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. This is a very large and wide valley. The green expanse was beautiful.

Moving Days

Today the Paces moved. Next will be the Wilsons, then the Aanderuds, then the Sessions, then the Fields... along with everyone else. Then, there will be me. :) It's so sad to see everyone split up! Everyone is super busy these days with packing and moving. Here I am babysitting Ellie and Abbey while their parents packed up the trucks and cleaned out their homes.

Jed thought it was funny that I was entertaining three toddlers at once, and he took the picture. I didn't want them to get bored, so I was making different voices for the characters in our books, and whispering or speaking with emphasis sometimes, just to keep their attention. :)

Delightful Lemon Icecream

I like homemade icecream...if it's just right. If it doesn't reach that level of perfection, then I would almost rather have store bought. Sometimes it's too creamy and it coats the inside of your mouth with a residue of cream. Sometimes it's too icy and not smooth like icecream ought to be. Sometimes it's bland. But sometimes you taste that perfectly smooth and delicious homemade icecream that knocks you off your feet. Whenever that happens to me with any food, I try to get the recipe. A few years ago I got the recipe for this amazing lemon icecream. It is so wonderful that when I eat it I can't stop myself from closing my eyes and savoring every spoonful. If I could find one more homemade icecream recipe that I loved as much as this one, I would be truly happy!

Lemon Icecream
makes 4 quarts

4 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1 T. mexican vanilla
1/2 T. lemon extract
2 quarts whole milk (8 cups)
1 1/2 pints whipping cream (3 cups)

Mix all ingredients and put in a large pot. Heat on medium-high stove, stirring constantly, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160°, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, pour into a metal icecream canister and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Freeze in icecream maker according to manufacturers instructions. The secret to good homemade icecream is the ratio between salt and ice. For every 2 inches of ice, add a layer of 1/4 c. rock salt.
When the icecream is frozen, you can take out two big bowl-fulls and then begin mixing the remaining icecream again and it will fill up the churn once more. This is optional, but it makes more icecream for a big crowd.

*When I first got this recipe, I was so sad to discover that the eggs were raw. I didn't make it for a long time because of that. But I researched salmonella and discovered that heating an egg mixture to 160° will kill all salmonella that might be present in the eggs. This process didn't change the taste or texture of this delicious icecream! Now the whole world of raw-egg-homemade-icecream is opened to me!

*By the way, I don't recommend Martha Stewart's French Vanilla Icecream. It wasn't that great. Maybe because it was custard-based...? Or maybe because it didn't have much taste to it...

Guess who's TWO?!

Benjamin turned TWO years old yesterday. Crazy. Jed and I took him to the park and we had a blast going down the 'shlide' and pushing Benny on the swings.


That evening we had some friends over for cake and homemade icecream. We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Benjamin and he wasn't quite sure what that was all about. I made a Strawberry Yogurt Cake for his birthday ~ it had strawberry yogurt in the cake and in the whipped cream frosting. I also made Martha Stewart's summer shortcake & her homemade French Vanilla icecream, and my favorite Lemon Icecream. That sounds like a lot, but all the cake & shortcake was finished off. With everyone milling around and kids underfoot, my house has never felt so small! Luckily it was good weather and we all went outside.

The kids had a blast in the backyard, playing in the upside down pool and hanging on the fence.After the party, Jed did a little firecracker display for me and Benjamin. Benny likes them if I'm holding him. But otherwise, he doesn't want anything to do with firecrackers.

I found Benjamin like this the following morning. He was sitting inside the lego wagon Grandma Walker gave him, and 'reading' the book about the States that Melody gave him. Funny kid. :)

I'M HOOKED AGAIN!

So, I caved in to the temptation and read a novel yesterday! It was awesome and I loved every minute of it! I read it in the space of about 24 hours. After not letting myself read a novel for almost 5 months, I knew I was going to have no self control with this book, so I picked a short 200 page one that I could get through quickly if I read it nonstop.
I bought this out-of-print book by M. M. Kaye at the library booksale a few months ago. I bought it because I remember reading her other works, The Far Pavilions and Trade Wind, years ago and liking them. This was an enjoyable murder mystery with some unexpected twists. It was very suspenseful; this author did a great job in that aspect. It was published in 1955 and I could definitely tell. It had the same romantic ending that seems to be characteristic of that time period - where the hero and heroine suddenly fall in love and you have maybe 1 or 2 sentences to be excited for them, and then it ends. :) The Wedding Bargain by Agnes Sligh Turnbull (published 1966) is the same way. I think these early authors are very fun to read, but I sometimes wish they would prolong and develop the romantic climax a little. :)

I LOVE collecting out-of-print books from the 50's/60's/70's. I particularly keep my eye out for books by Madeleine Brent; I also consider Victoria Holt books when I see them. Sometimes Victoria Holt is hit or miss - I remember liking Mistress of Mellyn, but I hated The Legend of the Seventh Virgin. Is there anyone else out there that likes these types of books? Or has a good one to recommend to me?

*Althought this was an enjoyable read, I'm not necessarily recommending this book.... I only recommend AWESOME books. It would be safe to say that I would recommend anything by Madeleine Brent. Check out my book list to the right to see all my top recommendations. :)

Shrimp, Shrimp, I love Shrimp!

Last night I made Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Lemon Linguini for dinner. It was yummy, and the zesty lemon pasta was very different and fun. The recipes are from Eugena, and you can find them on her blog, http://eugenagunderson.blogspot.com/. (Just scroll down a bit and you'll see it.)

I made a few changes - I used only 2 T. olive oil in the beginning, I substituted white grape peach juice for the white wine, I substituted linguini for the spaghetti, I omitted the 2/3 c. olive oil that was supposed to go into the pasta, and I only added about 1 tsp (maybe 1 1/2 tsp) lemon zest.

Snip-Snip

Before:

After:

Yes, yes, I know - the 'Before' looks like I was really trying to do the magazine thing - no makeup, hair not styled, picture not focused, etc. But I wanted to take a quick picture and no one was home, and I had just got out of bed and was going to jump in the shower before my appointment, so I didn't want to put on makeup just for the dumb picture! So, there's an ugly before shot and a normal after shot. :)

COOKING CLUB!

We had a our last cooking club last night at my house. Everyone is moving in as little as 3 weeks, so we squeezed one last cooking get-together in. And it was so fun!

Our theme last night was 'Exotic Ingredients'. So everyone brought something that had a unique and different ingredient in it.

I made a Frozen Mango-Cream Cake. It has a macadamia nut crust and the frozen mango-cream filling is made of two blended mangos, freshly squeezed orange juice & lemon juice, sugar, and gelatin, with whipped cream folded in.

We took a few pictures of some of the other things that were brought. Not everyone's dishes are represented since some people arrived late. And I don't think a picture of Jill's Italian Cream Sodas in the sponge-bob cups would have done that delicious beverage justice! ;)

Allison's Cheesecake Strawberries & Ashley's Strawberry Turnovers

Melody's Vegetable Curry Katherine's Shrimp Pad Thai

Chicken Saltimbocca & Lemon Blueberry Biscuits

Last night I made Chicken Saltimbocca for dinner. That's Lisa's recipe from the SAA 2nd Edition cookbook. It was DELICIOUS. Jed and I both really liked it. I also made Lemon Blueberry Biscuits with a fresh lemon glaze:These were soooo good. Jed and I couldn't stop eating them. They had Yoplait lemon yogurt and fresh lemon zest in them. So delicious! In fact, I'll just post the recipe below.

I also served garden fresh green beans. My friend went out of town this weekend and told me I could pick her green beans on Saturday and Monday. She has four rows of beans, so the three of us have been feasting on them all weekend. They are delicious. I think I'll plant some green beans at our new place next summer. Problem is, when I pick green beans I always get itchy hives up my arms, where my skin touches the leaves. I remember that happening to me when I used to pick the beans in our garden when I was growing up; it wasn't until recently that I realized that not everyone gets a rash when they pick green beans! I totally could have used my allergy as an excuse to get out of picking beans in the hot sun when I was growing up... I wish I would have found out about this earlier! :)

Lemon Blueberry Biscuits

2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 carton (8-oz) lemon yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ c. melted butter or margarine
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze (I might make 1 ½ times this recipe next time):
½ c. confectioners’ sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp grated lemon peel

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine yogurt, egg, butter and lemon peel; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm biscuits. Makes 12-15 biscuits.

Hit or Miss at the Library

Last time we went to the library, I picked out some books for Benjamin. I got a book about MONSTER MACHINES. Boy, that was a huge hit! When we started looking at it at home, he was so excited about the big trucks and airplanes that he couldn't contain himself. He would point at the airplane and yell "aih plane!" and then cover his mouth and laugh, and then he would point to it and yell again. I can't describe the EXCITEMENT he felt - he was seriously flipping out over this book. He cried when he had to leave it and come to dinner - very traumatic.

I also got him some books about dinosaurs. As Jed and Benny were looking at one of them together, they came to a gruesome page...

Later on, when Benjamin and I were looking at it, he kept flipping to that page and pointing at the image and saying "uh-oh!" I kept trying to turn the page quickly, but after a moment he would turn back to it. Finally I put the book away. Well, yesterday he found it as I was in the other room, and soon I heard him repeating "uh-oh!" I knew exactly what he was looking at. This kid is drawn to this disturbing picture! Once he turns to that page, he'll stop turning pages and just look at it and say "uh-oh!" over and over. It's so fascinating to him. I think he is going to be warped from this book!

Isn't this a gross picture for a kid's book?!

Spaghetti with Peas & Zucchini Ribbons tossed with Garlic Shrimp

I made this for dinner last night - Spaghetti with Peas and Zuchinni Ribbons tossed with Garlic Shrimp. I got the recipes from my Martha Stewart magazine (thanks Mom!). The sauce is actually plain yogurt, which makes this meal very healthy. I thought it was delicious, but Jed wasn't too sure about a sauce made out of yogurt. He did have a great request, though - double the shrimp next time! We both LOVE shrimp. Mmmm...

Moving to the big MI

Jed, Benny and I went to Michigan last weekend to look for a house. It was a long 12 hour drive there and back! I find that searching for a house is always a bit discouraging at first. After a disappointing Saturday morning, we found a little home that was just right for us.It's a 3 bedroom home, only 20 minutes from the hospital and a freeway entrance is super close. (And family members: the airport is a whopping 15 miles from us! yippee!) The owner will be a first-time landlord, and he seems like he will take good care of the maintenance and all that. You can see part of the two car garage to the right of the house. And guess what! - That hot guy modeling the home in the picture is actually included in the lease! This is the entry way and front room. In the entryway picture you can see the bedroom through the open door. That will be Benny's room; the walls are painted blue- perfect for a little boy! The entryway, hallways, kitchen and dining area are tiled with slate stone (or something like that). The living room is hardwood floor, so we're in the market for a nice carpet-type area rug. There is a gas fireplace in the front room, too. I've heard that Michigan winters are forever LONG and biting COLD. I'm really looking forward to snuggling up with a good book on the couch, with some hot chocolate, a blanket, and a warm fire in the fireplace.... Aaahhhh....

Here's the kitchen. Marvel of marvels - the stove is included! In case you didn't hear all my complaints when I was researching housing in Michigan, many landlords do NOT include kitchen appliances. That's right, folks - NO STOVE. Sure, I understand it's normal to need to buy a washer/dryer, and sometimes a house doesn't have a dishwasher, and I guess I'll consider buying a fridge, BUT A STOVE??! Soon landlords will be asking me to bring my own cupboards and countertops too. What is the world coming to?

Luckily this place comes with the fridge, dishwasher, stove, washer and dryer. Bonus!

Here's the backyard. Obviously the trampoline won't be there when we move in. There's a lot of little trees but still lots of open grass, and there's a deck that our landlord is planning on staining before we move in.

And here's Benjamin's favorite part: An enormous sandbox. Or sandpile more like. It's behind the garage, and spilling over. I plan on taking out lots of it and planting a garden, maybe along the fence if it gets full sun. The landlord is taking down the treehouse, so that's good since Benny is too young to play on it anyway.

I'm really happy that it is landscaped. And the landlord is fine with me planting some other flowers or what-not.

Anyway, now that we've got a little home waiting for us I feel much better about our upcoming move. It's actually going to be an exciting adventure to move to the 'big city'!

Benjamin's Journal Entry

When I write up entries for Benjamin's journal, I always email them to my family just for fun. I figured I would just post it here this time for them to read.

Monday June 18, 2007 (Almost two years old)
Benjamin has been saying a ton of new words lately. He can say 'slide' (meaning, the slide at the park) and it sounds like “shlide”. Sometimes when we are in the car, he'll beg me to go to the park, by saying "shlide! shlide!" :) We can understand a lot of his jabber now - It's fun to realize that everything he tells us has a meaning, and now we are able to understand what his meanings are. I bet they always had a meaning, but we just didn't know what. He is really into cars - most of his alone-time play around the house consists of lining up all his cars. He has about six or seven play cars and he is always making a row of them, and then moving the row to another place in the house. It's so funny! When he chooses a place that all six can't fit, he sometimes gets really frustrated and throws the car down on the ground with an agonized yell and then puts his face in the carpet and cries. It's actually hilarious. But we've been teaching him to come tell us that they don't fit and then we can help him. So he often comes to me with a frustrated "fit! fit!" :)
Last week Benny and I went on a two hour long walk. I pushed him in his stroller and we went to Truman State University campus and walked around the walkways. Then he got out and pushed his stroller around. We went into the Biology building after awhile and looked at all their animal exhibits. They have live snakes, turtles, frogs, and lizards in glass cases on display. He was especially fascinated by the snakes, and thought it was neat when they slowly moved their heads to come over and look at him. He mastered the word ‘snake’ while we were there.
We had a twelve hour long road trip yesterday, coming home from house-hunting in Michigan. Near the end of the trip we were on the highway and there was a lot of construction going on. Jed and I kept pointing out the tractors to Benjamin and he LOVED it. When he spotted the tractor, he would yell out ”Truh-truh!” and point at it excitedly. Then when it was out of sight again he would say, “All gone.” There were tons of tractors on this stretch of the journey, so this continued for a long time. It was so cute how he would get so excited and yell out every time he saw one.
We also played with his magnetic doodle-drawer on the trip home. I would draw a picture and then hand it to him. He would say what the picture was of, and then erase it and scribble on it and then hand it back to me. The first time I said, “What a great picture, Benjamin! Good boy! I like your picture!” He was surprised that I made a big deal of it and then he happily smiled at me as if he was really proud of himself. Jed said, “What is it a picture of, Benjamin?” He thought for a moment and said, “snake!” After that, every time we asked him what he drew he said it was a snake. :) Sometimes he was too excited to tell me it was a snake to wait for us to ask him. After awhile he started to say he drew an airplane, but then it went back to drawings of snakes. Jed and I thought it was pretty funny.
While we were in Michigan we stayed with some friends who have three boys. Benjamin was OBSESSED with their train set. They have a wooden train set where each train has a magnet on the front and back of it. He played with that train set constantly, lining up all the trains in rows. He loved them. He would actually wake up in the morning and from naps and the first thing he would say was “train!” because he wanted to go play with it immediately. (Guess what was the first thing to come out of his mouth this morning - "train!" We really need to get our own set!)
Benny has begun to show his imagination. At dinner last week he started to pretend that a black bean was a car. He ‘drove’ the bean across the table and said “car! car!” Tonight at dinner, he put a rotini noodle on the table and said “snake”, then he would wiggle it around the table and say “ssssss.” Jed and I said, “Oh, is that a snake? Wow.” Then he put another rotini noodle behind the first one and excitedly said “train!” It was so cute! I was happy that he was learning to pretend-play.

Not that sentimental

I have officially ended my tenure as the SAA 2nd Vice President. My last big responsibility was the Graduation Senior Banquet, which was on May 31. Then I wrote up detailed instructions on every tiny thing I did for that event as well as all the other things I did, updated my enormous ten inch binder, and handed it all over to Ruth, the new lucky winner! I felt a great deal of satisfaction when it all left my hands, but then I also felt sympathy for my friend who will be tackling the job next year.
It was great to take on a big role in SAA this year, and I'm glad I did it. But it was also a ton of work..... I'M SO GLAD I'M ALL DONE! YIPPEEEEEE!

My Senior Banquet committee. The man in the middle is the President of A.T.Still University, and at the banquet I discovered that he is the nicest guy.

On the right is a photo of our SAA 2nd Edition Cookbooks, which I put together this year as one of my VP responsibilities. We gave a cookbook to each of the banquet attendees.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Today has been a GREAT day. It was jam-packed with interesting things and little accomplishments. Yes, I am a task-oriented person and every time I complete a task I feel a wave of satisfaction and accomplishment. If I have an especially productive day, I like to tell Jed every detail once he gets home. (Lucky guy.)

Today was one of those fulfilling days, and what is better, it was full of some of my favorite things.
After breakfast I vacuumed the house, super cleaned the bathroom and mopped the kitchen while Benny watched 30 minutes of Baby Einstein. We have two of their DVDs and I love them almost as much as Benjamin does. He gets to watch one every week while I clean. :) Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than just finishing cleaning my house. Afterwards we went downtown, where we strolled through the Farmer’s Market and visited Edna Campbells. That’s my favorite little shop in Kirksville – full of décor, jewelry, cookware, purses, ceramics…. it’s super classy and stylish and I love looking at all their fun displays. We came home and I let Benjamin walk around our yard while I inspected my growing garden and trimmed out the dead flowers from my coreopsis. My tomatoes are getting big, so I put cages around them and carefully lifted each limb over the first rung. I LOVE my garden – I check up on it all the time and glory in every new leaf and every inch of growth. Yes, I inspect it pretty much every day, and it’s NOT boring!
After lunch, Benjamin went down for a nap. (I confess, this is one of my favorite things. What will I do when he no longer takes naps?!) Once he was in bed, I prepared my Young Women’s lesson and read my scriptures. At this point of the day I usually start to get sleepy (um....due to the time of day, even when I'm not reading the scriptures……), and sometimes I buckle under the temptation to take a nice nap. But today I withstood the urge, and to wake myself up, I started to cook. I made a batch of whole wheat bread; 1/3 of it I made into a loaf and baked later in the afternoon, 1/3 I saved for a pizza crust for dinner, and the last 1/3 I put in the fridge so I could make cinnamon rolls tomorrow when my cousin is visiting. Then I defrosted a bunch of chicken and put it into two marinades, Lemon Grilled Chicken (for the pesto pizza I decided to make for dinner) and Chili’s Fajita Marinade for dinner tomorrow night. I then made some Coconut Syrup for Monday breakfast with our company. Most of you ought to know that I LOVE cooking.

When Benjamin woke up we read a few books together. It makes me especially happy that he loves reading his books. Hopefully we will be able to cultivate that through his growing years so he learns to love reading as much as I do. (Or maybe not QUITE as much – I can be pretty compulsive. It’s like an addiction; once I get going I can’t stop. That’s why I am currently ‘off’ of books. I’ve been sober since Feb 13, the longest dry spell of my life.)
Later on we went to HyVee to pick up some pectin and strawberries so I could make some homemade strawberry jam. I’ve been craving homemade jam lately, and I wanted to buy some at the Farmer’s Market this morning, but when I saw how expensive it was, I decided I’d just make it myself and save the $5. (Yeah, I know, I’m cheap.) I came home, made strawberry jam and then made a Pesto Chicken Pizza for dinner. Jed and I love Pesto Pizza. It’s one of our very favorite dinners. We also had a salad with a delicious Creamy Dill and Cucumber Dressing that’s from Edna Campbells. Everything good comes from Edna.
Before Benny went to bed, the three of us watched a Nature Video. What a treat! When Jed and I were living in SLC before Benjamin was born, we used to rent National Geographic videos at the library and watch them together in the evenings. Confessions of a true nerd.
We prolonged Benjamin’s bedtime and played Frisbee out in the yard together for awhile. Jed takes a break from studying for the boards and gives himself an hour or so of family time every evening around dinner. I love it!

More recent PROJECTS

Here is my cute little boy playing with some file folders. I made almost 30 file folders, and it felt like it took a year of my life. Now that I'm done, I'm glad I did it because he really loves them. But boy! those are extremely time consuming! You have to copy the pictures, color them, cut them out, laminate them, cut them out again, and then apply magnets so they stick to the folder. Hmmm, that description just made the process seem pretty easy and quick, but it WASN'T!

I did a lot of the finishing work in Montana, while Benjamin was playing with his cousins or taking naps. The process went much quicker that way. If it weren't for our stay in Montana, I would still be tediously cutting them out of their lamination...

While I was in Montana, Michel helped me sew some aprons. I used her pattern and she guided me through the process. She also gave me therapy for being a compulsive perfectionist... At one point, one of the ties wasn't sewing straight and it was driving me NUTS. I finished sewing it (for the 2nd time already) and announced that I was NOT going to use it. Luckily Michel pried the scissors from my hands before I could snip it into a million little pieces out of frustration. :) It's a good thing too, because we didn't have any more fabric left, and besides, after she ironed it, it really looked fine.

Sewing can be enjoyable at times, but at other times it can also make me so frustrated!!

I've crocheted a few baby blankets in the past month, and I just finished this one last week. If you click on the picture you can see the edging better. I've been experimenting with different edging patterns.