Another love......

Garden time! Although it was 25* this morning! Sunday was our first venture into the home improvement stores to check out the goods. I got 3 lovely sweet basil plants. And 3 lemon zest petunias! I love those things. I'm already dreaming of tomato basil goat cheese and prosciutto salads this summer! We did chisel the patio furniture out of the winter's dust a week or so ago, but it's all covered again due to a hellacious dust storm this weekend. That is the downside to 300+ sunny days a year! The hubs has been turning the soil in the garden for a few weeks. Taking out grubs too. Darn critters. But our compost is nice and black, so we are excited to see what the garden can do this year!

Working Out and Roasted Butternut Squash

As soon as I got home from school (3:45ish) I changed to workout. I love doing Insanity. I know I'm working my booty off, which is exactly the point. Well today was cardio recovery day. Which isn't a cakewalk either, but it's my favorite day because there is no cardio. Anywho...my 14 year old baby wanted to do it with me. Trying to workout with a 14 year old isn't that much different than working out with a toddler, he still talks the whole time!! I think I always workout harder when I work out with someone else, so I welcomed it. After that adventure, I went to see what veggie I wanted to cook tonight. I already thawed some chicken breasts to grill so I was half way there. I always try to keep a butternut squash on hand because they are so low carb and delish! So I will tell you how I cook those puppies right up!!

First I wash it off because I don't know how many times my kiddos have dropped it off of the butcher block. Or whose hands touched it at the grocery store.

Then I take the handy potato peeler and take off all the skin and cut the ends off. I cut it in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Then I cut it into about one inch chunks.

Does anyone else have one of those Pampered Chef oil sprayers? Well I love mine. I use it on all veggies. It's one of those pump kind that you put regular oil in. Mine is always full of extra virgin olive oil. I just like the fact that there are no added chemicals to my oil. Not that I'm a totally clean eater, but I like to do what I can. And did you know that aerosol spray oil such as Pam, is not good to use on your non-stick cookware? One of the chemicals eats away at the coatings, so that was my other great reason for getting the pump sprayer. Nonstick stuff can be pretty pricy. So I like to take care of it best I can.

Ok back to the butternut. I spray a large cookie sheet with it and toss on the squash. I spray the squash a little too. It helps it get crispy on then edges. Then I sprinkle on some salt and pepper and garlic. Fresh is always better but gees, I'm a busy lady and sometimes I don't feel like peeling garlic! So tonight I used the minced kind you see in the picture below. Anyways toss that together and bake for 40 min at 400*. I love this stuff. If you like rosemary you can also chop some fresh stuff up and toss that in too.

Best easy weeknight din-din

Ok so during the week I mostly like to make quick and easy. Tonight was that for sure. We had those great thick pork loin chops. I thawed those out quick like. Seasoned them with garlic salt, lemon pepper and dried parsley. Then threw them on the grill for 7 min a side. Yumma. As for my healthy veggie options, I had a bag of frozen broccoli florets. So I steamed them right up. And topped them with some very finely micro planed parmesan cheese. I also threw a bag of frozen okra in a pan with some rotel! Added a bit of season salt (tex joy steak seasoning) and let it simmer a few min while the chops were on the grill. Yumm yumm gimme some!

Sorry for the poor quality pic. It'll have to do!!

Homemade Pasta Buffet Night!

I forgot to load the pictures from pasta making with friends and family! I used the easiest recipe

http://www.thelittlekitchen.net/2013/02/20/how-to-make-homemade-pasta-with-kitchenaid/

Random Stuff About Brookie

Let's see, I'll start with a few things, just for focus and quickness....
I'm married to the BEST man ever. He was made for me and I am so thankful for him! I have 3 teenagers that I love dearly, but drive me crazy too. A 16 year old step-son. A 14 year old step-daughter, and a 14 year old son. I will have three in high school really soon (like 5 months) and I'm excited and scared at the same time. I hope they make better choices than me! Ha! I have four awesome parents. My mom and stepdad live here in New Mexico, my dad and stepmom live in Louisiana. They are all joys to be around and a few of them are pretty crazy!

I'm blonde and I love it. I don't think blondes have more fun, I just feel way hotter when I am blonde. I do pay for this blondness, and it's something that I will not skimp on! Even when my husband tells me how much I've spent on hair though out the year. (He's pretty type A. He keeps a very thorough budget and I have a love/hate relationship with that part of him!) 

My BFF is Rissa. We met freshman year of high school. We have pretty much been besties since getting kicked out of freshman girls chorus for giggling and talking too much. She is my family! I love her so much. She is one crazy lady too. You will love her! Boy do we have some stories. Can't wait to share! 

I LOVE TO TRAVEL. In fact, I wish it were my job. I'm still brainstorming on making it my job. We shall see how that turns out. I love to research for a trip. I obsess about what to wear before a trip. I don't check luggage and haven't since 2009. I aim to never check luggage again! I have not traveled as much as some, but more than others. It is a major focus in my life and before a trip is over, I'm already dreaming of the next one. I get sad when a trip is over if I don't have another one on the books because I don't have the excitment of looking forward and dreaming of that next place.  I may post some past trip pics/stories from time to time and will definitly post future trips. A big one is coming up this summer! I can't wait to share it!

I grew up partly in Cajun Country in Southwest Louisiana. Early in high school I moved to Southeastern New Mexico and that has mostly been home since then. I love and appreciate both places. I look forward to living in other places after our kids are in college. I'm sure I'll tell you in the future about where I want to live, where I have lived, and so on.

I teach kindergarten. I love my babies. They make me crazy sometimes, but I think they are ADORABLE!! It really is a joy to teach. I love the teachers I work with. Our team/school is super hard working and go above and beyond to get our kiddos where they need to be! Some of my posts may be about school projects, because that is part of who I am.

I'll end with cooking. I love to cook. I love the routine of cutting an onion. It is theraputic to me. I love to feed people. We rarely eat out. (Partly because there are few restaraunts in our town that can cook better than me or the hubs.) I love my table full of family, friends and newbies. I think cooking and sharing a meal makes such a connection. And wine makes it all the better.

Ok, so there's a few things about me. I really want to be myself on this blog. As I reread this post, I feel a little stuffy and serious. Not what I'm going for. Hopefully I'm not really stuffy and serious and that will show through with practice! Ok, Here are a few pics!!

This is Marissa and me. I'm on the right. We had a girls weekend away a few months ago and had the best time! This is just a little self portrait of one of those nights.

Me and the hubs on our wedding day. We are about to hit 4 years in May! He's hotter than ever!

My precious kiddos!

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Can you say yum? This is an amazing loaf of Italian style bread. It was Saturday morning and I had that feeling of wanting to be in the kitchen all day. And for the most part, I was. I started with this bread. Then I started making Giada's marinara sauce..which ended up in inviting my mom and step-dad and another great couple over for a pasta buffet. We made homemade pasta together and each family provided a sauce. I made the marinara, my mom brought an amazing parsley pesto, and my great friend Sara brought a spinach mushroom white sauce that was super tasty!