Lemon spaghetti

Looking for a quick and easy meal? Look no further.

This a yummy, super simple AND a delicious dish.

Things you'll need:

1 small bag of spaghetti

2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup shredded parmesan (or grated)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (3 lemons)
1 T lemon zest
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until tender - Whisk the oil, Parmesan, & lemon juice in a large bowl to blend - Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid - Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, AND IF NEEDED the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten - Season with salt & pepper – Top it off with lemon zest & basil.

NOTES:

I added grilled Italian chicken to mine, but also like to add in asparagus tips. YUMMY!

Great with a Riesling

Spinach smoothies

I think Popeye would be really proud of me for having a spinach smoothie every morning.

Now this is just a different variation of the Green Monster smoothie....which is all greens. This is more fruit and so delicious.

Here's my suggested ingredients:

-2 cups spinach (or 1 large handful)
-2 cups berry mix (fresh or frozen)
-1 cup mint green tea (or water)
-1 banana


Start with the spinach and juice in the blender - Blend till liquid - Add in berries -  Blend some more, and then add in the banana - Pour into mason jar or molds & enjoy.

My picky 11 year old will drink these and finds them delicious....SCORE! They freeze very well so start using those popsicle molds and trick your little ones into eating the fruits and veggies.

I was telling my GYNO about these and she had me write down all the stuff I use because she is having a hard time getting her kids to eat veggies.

Other suggestions are:
-2 cups pineapple
-1 banana
-1/4 cup shredded coconut

-2 cups pineapple
-2 medium peaches
-1 cup OJ

-1 cup strawberries
-1 banana
- 1 cup OJ

-1 banana
-1 pear
-1 mango
-1 cup OJ

-2 cups blueberries
-1 banana
-1 cup OJ

I have lots of other variations, but I really don't write them down. I just grab random fruit and toss it in. These just happen to be my top favorite ones. Greek yogurt is also very yummy.

This is pineapple, banana, and 2 peaches

My silly kitty

Oskar is partially blind and all the time cross-eyed. It's really funny to watch him when we are watching movies because our surround sound freaks him out.

At the time of these photos we were watching Hugo and the clock ticking was freaking him out. He was on the couch and these series of pictures just make me laugh.

What's that sound?

There it is again.

Is it over there?

Is mom making that sound?

Are you making a sound?

There it is again!

Mom, are you sure you aren't ticking?

Girl's trip!

Remember how I went to Palisade last month with a bunch of boys? Well this time I went with a girlfriend.

We stayed at the Wine and Country Inn and it is AMAZING!! I won't stay anywhere else when we go there. (pic of us poolside is 2nd to bottom)

The beds were extremely comfortable, nice bathroom, toiletries. We had a fridge, microwave and of course a coffee pot. Free wine sampling in the afternoon and a yummy tapas restaurant where I had the most amazing brownie dessert.  It was a warm brownie, topped with a toffee syrup and had a side of homemade cherry gelato. TO DIE FOR!

As you do on trips we shopped, ate a lot and drank even more.

When walking around town it seemed like everyone was coming out of there stores to tell us they loved our hats. Also I should mention this was a Monday and the town was dead. We really were the only ones there going in and out of stores. It was so VIP!

I bought some amazing lavender products from the Lavender Lady. We had a great time at the wineries we visited and made our way over to Peach Street for the amazing vodka.

Other highlights were the alpacas, moonshine, peach salsa and the hand picked fresh fruits.

We both came home with a box full of booze and Adams also had 2 boxes of beer.

Successful trip!! We are already planing our next one out in a couple of months.