Zucchini Zucchini lets see that bikini!!

About a week ago my dream came true and Kyle told me he wanted to start eating healthy!!!

Although I do enjoy my drive thru binge at Mcdonalds, and when bought, I can down an entire sleeve of oreos in one sitting, I actually do enjoy eating healthy! So when my fast food loving 5 meals a day Kyle told me he wanted to make a change my heart BURST!!

I tried making healthy meals for myself and staying organic two summers ago when I was first on my own but it is soo hard making healthy meals for one person.  Ingredients go bad really quickly like fruits and veggies and I always threw out so many leftovers it was doing more harm than good.  I am really excited that I have Kyle and his brother and mom to cook for so we can all enjoy some tasty healthy meals!!!

Here are some of the zucchini meals we have tried recently and all have been a success. They have a good amount of meat for Kyles needs, and a low amount of carbs for his moms needs, plenty of veggies for my satisfaction and SO MUCH flavor!!  It is soooo easy taking favorite recipes and substituting red meat for ground turkey or chicken, or replacing bread and noodles for zucchini and seriously they taste SO good! Let me know if you guys try any and thanks for reading :)

 Lasagna with Zucchini noodles and Spicy Turkey meat sauce

INGREDIENTS: 

• 4 large zucchini, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 pound extra lean ground turkey
• 1 - 14 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 - 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• handful of basil, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• handful of parsley, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• red pepper flakes, if desired
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 15 oz part skim ricotta
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 12 oz reduced fat or part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place sliced zucchini on large baking sheet coated with non stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes to help dry out the zucchini a bit. This is a critical step.
3. While the zucchini noodles are roasting, you can make the turkey meat sauce. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onions, and peppers and cook a few minutes until onions become translucent and garlic is fragrant; stir occasionally so that you don't burn it. Add in ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add in tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, parsley, and a few dashes of red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until sauce REALLY thickens up! Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat to cool.
4. In a medium bowl, combine egg white, ricotta, and Parmesan. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Add in 1/2 cup of the slightly cooled meat sauce and stir to combine.

5. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the turkey meat sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Place zucchini slices evenly over meat sauce, spread on 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, then sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on. Repeat layers again starting with the meat sauce, zucchini slices and ricotta mixture and finishing with mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake for 15 minute longer uncovered. Serve with a side salad. Makes 8 generous servings.

Recipe from: Ambitious Kitchen

Kyle looooves Pizza, craves it all the time, and probably eats it at least 3X A WEEK!  I have tried telling him how bad it is for him but he can't give it up sooooo I found the solution... Zucchini pizza crust! and he is a happy camper!

Zucchini Pizza crust

Ingredients:

• 4 cups zucchini, shredded
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Microwave the shredded zucchini on high for 6 minutes, let cool, place it in a tea towel and squeeze as much moisture out as you can.
3. Mix the zucchini, egg, mozzarella, parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper, press the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is lightly browned

When we made the zucchini crust, we made a BBQ chicken pizza!  This is what we added but creativity is key to fit the needs of your family! I can't wait to try different flavors of pizza with this crust.. so good!

BBQ PIZZA

Ingredients: 1/2 cup chipotle BBQ sauce 1 cup chopped red onion 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper 3/4 cup skim mozzarella cheese  1/4 cup corn 2 cups shredded chicken
Directions: Spread BBQ Sauce and mozzarella cheese on crust Place toppings around pizza

Bake on 450 for 10-15 Minutes until cheese is bubbling! If you like avocado it is really yummy if you put some slices of avocado on the pizza too!  :)

FINDING OUR PERFECT PRIME RIB RECIPE ONE EXPLOSION AT A TIME!

EMBARRASSING BEASLEY MOMENT!!

On Father's Day Matt & I decided we would attempt to make his most favorite, Prime Rib!  We read many many recipes.  We went shopping and found the perfect size meat at Costco.  We even got a few extra tips from the butcher.  He recommended that we get a digital thermometer so we could read the temperature of our meat without opening the oven.  So, I went searching for that digital thermometer and I found one at The Home Depot for $10.  I bought it and we were all set to make Matt's perfect Father's Day meal!

We scheduled our Sunday around cooking times for dessert, prime rib & all of our sides.  This meal was going to be the best Father's day meal Matt has ever had at home!!  The creme brulee was easier than we thought & was a success.  We began prepping the prime rib and we decided that we were going to do the oven off method which meant DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN FOR TWO HOURS!!  We put the prime rib in the oven and we realized that we forgot to add the digital thermometer so we had to open the oven and take out the meat, add the thermometer and start over!  About five minutes passes and a loud boom happens in the oven....We ran to see what happened and again we had to open the oven.  THE DIGITAL THERMOMETER EXPLODED!  

It exploded & melted but our meat was ok!  Apparently this digital thermometer was not oven safe at 500 degrees!  Lesson learned!  We needed a thermometer though, it was very important to know the temperature of the prime rib since we wanted to cook it med-rare!  I had to quickly go to Smith's (in my fat girls by the way) & buy any meat thermometer they had.  When I got home the house was so smokey but smelled so good, the meat had been cooking at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes & it was looking wonderful!  We decided that since we'd already opened the oven twice we would not open the oven until 1 1/2 hours after the oven shuts off.  

When we check the meat temperature again we need to raise it 5 more degrees so we put it back in for the 30 more minutes and when we pull it out it is 3 degrees above where we wanted it to be but still med-rare!  

Long story short but our first ever home cooked prime rib was delicious.  A lot of lessons learned!!  Next time we do prime rib, I'm sure we will nail it!  Our team work  just works!!  I love that Matt got to enjoy his most favorite meal at home & even though we had some explosions we did it our way!!

Still working on perfecting the Beasley prime rib recipe but stay tuned, it will come!

HAPPY COOKING!!

-paula

CREME BRULEE

My husband's favorite dessert is creme brulee   I finally attempted to make it yesterday since it was Father's Day!  I cannot believe how easy it was and it was honestly so delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

4 CUPS HEAVY CREAM
2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
6 EGG YOLKS
1 CUP SUGAR, 1/2 CUP IN MIXTURE & 1/2 CUP FOR CRUST
BERRIES (I USED STRAWBERRIES, RASPBERRIES & BLUEBERRIES)
RAMEKINS

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT HEAVY CREAM AND VANILLA EXTRACT IN A SAUCE PAN UNTIL HOT, BUT NOT BOILING.

IN A MEDIUM BOWL, WHISK EGG YOLKS AND 1/2 CUP OF SUGAR UNTIL WELL MIXED, POUR IN THE HOT CREAM GRADUALLY, MIXING CONTINUALLY.

PLACE SIX (7-8 OZ) RAMEKINS INTO A LARGE BAKING PAN. POUR HOT WATER INTO THE PAN TO COME ROUGHLY HALFWAY UP THE SIDES OF THE RAMEKINS.

POUR THE EGG MIXTURE INTO THE RAMEKINS AND BAKE AT 325 DEGREES FOR 45-50 MINUTES.  THE CREME BRULEE SHOULD BE SET, BUT STILL A LITTLE JIGGLY IN THE MIDDLE.  REMOVE THE RAMEKINS FROM THE PAN, ALLOW TO COOL TO ROOM TEMPERATURE, COVER WITH PLASTIC WRAP AND REFRIGERATE FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS AND UP TO THREE DAYS.

REMOVE THE CREME BRULEE FROM THE REFRIGERATOR.  SPREAD A TABLESPOON OF SUGAR ON TOP OF EACH CREME BRULEE.  USING THE TORCH, MELT THE SUGAR TO FORM A CRISPY TOP.  ALLOW THE CREME BRULEE TO SIT FOR AT LEAST TWO MINUTES BEFORE ADDING THE BERRIES AND SERVING!  

ENJOY, THIS IS SO WONDERFUL!!

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL FATHER'S DAY!

-paula

Book Review Time!

Me Before You

My mom and I read Me Before You together and saw the movie and I can't speak for her but I LOVED IT!  We will both share what we thought of the book, and the movie, and what we liked about each.

Jordans thoughts:

BOOK: I read this book in one week while still in school, which is very impressive considering I don't read too much in my downtime during school, but I literally could not put it down! I took it to work with me at Texas Roadhouse and read it when I had down time, that is how obsessed with it I was.  Obviously, it is a love story, but the book combines a good amount of humor, and the story really develops into a love story after you really get to know the characters.  The author also does a really good job at not making it too cheesy, it feels realistic, and not too fanciful.  They don't sugar coat Will's injury, or make it seem glorious, its really heartbreaking but gives you a really good perspective on life.  The author does a great job of giving you insight to both characters personalities that you really feel like you know them, and the ending will leave you needing endless amounts of tissues.  Seriously, do not read the final 4 chapters with plans to go out in public after. You will not have the will or desire to leave bed, and your eyes will be puffy and bloodshot.

MOVIE: As always, the book is better than the movie.  You get details into their lives when you read the book that you don't get in the movie.  The movie did a great job at showing the setting exactly how I pictured it, and it followed the timeline perfectly.  There were minor changes but me and my mom agreed that we actually liked the changes they made.  There were some irrelevant pieces, and an annoying character that didn't really belong there anyway!  I plan on seeing it again in theatres in case that lets you know how much I loved it, but seriously, bring tissues because me and my mom were SOBBING and our napkins were so loud lol

Paula's thoughts:

BOOK:  I too read the book in less than a week!  I could not put it down & when I did I wanted to pick it right back up!  I wasn't expecting to cry as much as I did but I loved the characters so much and I was really hoping for a different ending!  My favorite part of the book is shown in a clip of the movie which I cannot wait to see because that clip is exactly how I pictured the moment.  I'm not interested in reading the sequel but I would recommend this book, it's a great read!

MOVIE:  I WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!  

Let us know what you think if you read it and we love reading books together so tell us what we should read next!!

xoxo JC and PB <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh993__rOxA 

Starburst & Dinosaur Necklace

IT'S A FUN SURPRISE FOR YOUR GRADUATE!

I wanted to make a candy necklace to give to Maxi at his graduation and I thought about what would really surprise & excite him about a necklace....of course, DINOSAURS!!  I made the necklace out of his favorite starbursts and mini dinosaur toys.  He loved it and wanted to tear it open as soon as I gave it to him.  I made sure I at least got one picture before he tore it apart!  It turned out so cute and I will make a bigger one for Matthew's high school graduation.  

The directions are easy.  I didn't have time to take step by step pictures as I threw it together the day of his graduation (that's how simple it is to make).

SUPPLIES:
One roll of clear cellophane
scissors
ribbon
tulle
tape
candy and or toys


DIRECTIONS:  
Cut a three to four inch piece of cellophane. 

Start at one end of the cellophane leaving a little space at the end before you place two pieces of starbursts together and leave a small gap then place one dinosaur toy, continue alternating the candy & toys until you have reached the end of the cellophane leaving a small piece at the end to tie.

Next roll all of the pieces twice making sure it is tight. Tape as needed.  I had my older children help roll, it made it a little easier having more hands.

Tie a piece of ribbon between each gap.  I added tulle and four different colors of ribbon.

Repeat the steps above and tie the two pieces together. This made the perfect size for a four year old, I will have to do three pieces to make it big enough for my 16 year old next year.

I used Maxi's favorite things to make his necklace, you can use all candy, all toys, money, whatever you can think of.  =)

   

Maximus and his wonderful preschool teachers!

I told you the necklace turned out so cute!!

Happy Graduation Maxi!

-paula

Why I chose Springfield Ohio over Viva Las Vegas

This is a question I get more often than "How are you?"

Why are you in Springfield Ohio over Las Vegas?!?!

Over the years I have developed almost a scripted answer to this question that states how I got recruited to Wittenberg for track and it was my best scholarship option and everything just kind of worked itself out after that and I am happy here.

Now I do love Las vegas, i love going home and visiting my family, I love my house and my pool and the constant heat and sunshine, I just have a different kindof love for Springfield and a different vision for my life!  No area is right or wrong this is just my personal opinion.

I am ready to honestly share why in the world I love Springfield and why I really don't want to leave in 10 little bullets.

1. I love the green

     This is a very very minor reason, but it is so true.  I love that there is grass and trees everywhere, flowers can grow, and people have to mow their lawns.  When I picture my life with my family, and my future home I imagine a big yard, lots of real grass, maybe a trampoline, but plenty of room to play!  I really enjoy the scenery, I love driving on the highway and seeing different areas filled with trees, or farms, different flowers and plants, there is so much beauty that you don't get in a desert and personally I really enjoy that fact.

2. Yards

   Another very very minor reason, but like I mentioned above, I have always wanted a house with a big yard, but also I want my yard, and house to be unique.  Houses in Vegas are all newer, and look relatively the same just different shades of brown.  I want a stone house, or a brick house, with a big yard and options!  I want to have the option of having a fence around my yard, what kind of fence, and what kind plants I want!  I love all of the different options for houses and yards and neighborhoods in Ohio and I want that freedom of choice and design!

3. Small Town

    I have always pictured myself living in a small town, and this may come as a shock to everyone but Vegas is not a small town.  Springfield is big to some, and small to most, but it is literally the perfect size to me!  I love going to the local pubs, restaurants, and grocery store and seeing people I know.  I went to an event for work last week, and wasn't concerned with going alone because I knew I would run into SOMEONE I knew from somewhere and I did!  That being said, it is also big enough that there are options for things to do and everyone isn't in everyones business.   It is the perfect size for me because I get that small town feel but I am from Las Vegas after all and would not do well in a hobunk town that doesn't have a mall within 20 miles.

4. It is what you make it

Springfield is a town with its ups and downs like any other town, a lot would say theres more downs than ups, but it really is what you make it.  It is so easy to complain that there is nothing to do, but it is even easier to explore and find the gems in this town!  My first summer here I didn't have many friends, and worked nights so my days were open and got kind of lonely.  I spent that summer exploring and really found a lot of things I loved doing.  For example, the reservoir.  Everyone knows its there, but it is soo undervalued.  I spend so many summer days reading by the water catching some sun, or going on runs around the trails.  I found so many new trails I loved to run on and so many coffee shops that I loved trying new coffees and talking to new people. If you branch out there actually is a lot to love! 

5.  It is a blank Canvas

Recently, someone told me Springfield is a blank canvas and it is SO TRUE.  There is so much opportunity here.  Small businesses are all around this town and the opportunity for entrepreneurship is high, difficult to succeed like any type of entrepreneurial venture, but there are so many needs this town has that can be fulfilled with some creativity!  There are also a lot of community leaders that dedicate themselves to bettering the community, the owners of the Champion City Kings for example, all teamed up to buy the team so it could stay in town because it has so much potential to prosper in the community!  There is a blank canvas for creation, restoration, and augmentation!

6. Location, Location, Location

I have always loved the idea of a small town, but I am from Las Vegas and need a little civilization.  Although there are no major shops in Springfield, and not too many options for a non chain restaurant or a starbucks (probably my biggest adjustment since my move lol) Springfield is right in the middle of Columbus and Dayton!  A 20-40 minute drive is nothing for this Vegas girl who used to drive a half hour to school everyday!  I have no problem driving 40 minutes to the greene or 20 minutes to Beavercreek to get my shopping fix or for a special date night.  I am going to be working in Columbus in the fall which will allow me to explore some more of that area and I am really excited!  45 minutes is not bad and it is always nice to change it up no matter where you live.  Even living in Las Vegas, sometimes we drive 30 minutes to go to our favorite restaurant or to watch my little brother play soccer, and the strip and mall were still a half hour away from me anyway so it honestly is not that much different!

7.  There's always a friendly face

No matter where I go, if I am alone or with a friend, I always see a friendly face when I go out somewhere in Springfield.  I don't know if it is an Ohio thing, or a Midwestern thing, but people here are friendly to strangers!  Not saying Las Vegas is full of buttheads that try to trip you on the sidewalk, but it is very rare to go somewhere and engage in small talk with your cashier or people in line with you.  There is something calm about the attitude in people here that I really enjoy, people are not always acting in a hurry or too busy to socialize or do something so simple as hold the door open for you and say "Have a nice day" without knowing you.   There are mean people and nice people in every city, but in my 4 years experience I see a lot of genuinely nice happy people here, and I appreciate that.

8.  Seasons

Ohio weather is not always ideal, in fact there might just be more bad weather days than good... but that also means when there is a nice sunny day, people eat it up!! I notice that after winter when the weather warms up and the first sight of sunshine appears, people sit on their front patios, have cookouts, and just genuinely enjoy being outside appreciating the nice days.  Vegas doesn't get too much change and it is ALWAYS beautiful!  This makes it a great place to visit year round and probably where I will get married so I don't have to plan around rain ;)  But I really do enjoy the change of season, I love cool fall afternoons, and wearing light jackets, I enjoy the first snowfall and want my kids to experience a snow day, and spring is the most exciting time of year!  I enjoy experiencing 4 seasons and want to raise my family with that opportunity.. but some of the nonstop Vegas sunshine wouldn't be bad as well.

9. It is where I found myself

This reason is 120% cheesy but very very true.  I am the typical girl who moved away to college and found herself.  Wittenberg was the best decision I ever made and I am so grateful for all of the experiences and opportunities it gave me.  I spent my first summer in Springfield after my sophomore year, I just got over a really bad breakup with my first serious boyfriend and I was so lonely at times.  But the people I met in Springfield through the Champion City Kings, and all of the exploring I did on my own throughout the town, really helped me grow as an independent individual. I appreciated so many little things, and learned that I could be okay on my own, wherever life's journey took me.  I had some crappy customers during my two years as a server, a lot of bad times, but I genuinely enjoyed serving and meeting so many other people that live in this community, I love running on new trails, finding new coffee shops and becoming a regular at our little places. I also found my current boyfriend who has the values I developed my summer of exploring Springfield and being on my own.  We both appreciate the little things of this town, we understand perspectives of people, and are always looking for opportunities to grow. I really made a name for myself, and found a place to call home and that really really holds this place close to my heart.  

10. It taught me to be open minded

The fact that I came to Springfield, OH, a place so many people desire to leave and loathe so much, and I found happiness and made the absolute most of it, really shows me that I can never close the door to any opportunity, or any place!  It is so easy to make a judgment of a person, place, job, community, even a restaurant!  But you never know until you try for yourself, and living here truly showed that... so will I stay here forever? Maybe. Maybe not, but I will NEVER make any decisions on predetermined judgments others give me or at first glance, because if I had I would not be as happy as I  am right now, and I am extremely happy here. :)

Thanks so much for reading my extremely long post I hope it gave you an understanding into my decision and some perspective on our little town!
xoxo JC21