Cilantro Lime Avocado Salad

This dish is adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It's light, refreshing, and a perfect side to anything fresh from the grill!  

Note:

You will love this simple recipe, but keep in mind that once you add the avocado it's best served immediately.  To make in advance, just prepare until that point and add the avocado at the last.

Cilantro Lime Avocado Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Level: Easy
Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 .c of frozen corn, steamed and cooled.
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and diced.1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lime zest

Place the above items in a large bowl and set aside.

1/4 c freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1 drizzle of olive oil (approx. 1 1/2 tbs)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of fresh minced garlic
1/4 tsp of cayenne or chili powder

Whisk together the above ingredients and pour over the vegetable mixture. 

Toss well, but carefully, to maintain the texture of the avocado.

Season to taste and serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Pork Carnitas

This savory pork marinated in spices and olive oil steeps in broth, onions, and garlic until tender and soft.  Perfect for gently shredding and serving in a warm tortilla or over nachos.

Note: 

When I make this, it's typically for a crowd, hence the large portions.  Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit what you need.

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients

7 1/2 lbs. pork sirloin tip roasts

1 Tb. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 Tb. onion powder

1/2 Tb. garlic powder

1 Tb. chili powder
Pam Cooking Spray

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 c. low-sodium chicken broth

Directions

Trim the roasts of any visible fat.  Lay on a prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Massage into the meat and set aside. 

In a small bowl combine the spices.  Using your hands, pat the mixture onto the roasts until covered.  Place the roasts in a zip-lock bag and refrigerate overnight.

After marinating, allow pork to come to room temperature.  Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and spray with the cooking spray.  Brown all sides of the meat, and then arrange the roasts in a slow cooker.  Nestle the onion throughout, being careful to leave in quarters (After cooking, the onion quarters will be removed).  Top with the minced garlic and broth.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours and the meat is fall-apart tender.  

Remove the quartered onions which will be extremely soft, carefully shred the meat with a fork, season to taste, and serve as desired.

For a colorful presentation, place in a large serving platter and place a mound of shredded red cabbage & cilantro tossed in a lime vinaigrette and sprinkle with feta cheese or queso fresco.

Enjoy!

  

The Black Chasm Caverns

For Samuel's birthday, he took some time off of work and we hit the road!  We ended up at the Black Chasm Caverns, and explored over...and under!

The kiddies had a great time exploring while we waited for our tour to begin.

They also had fun watching water stream from the gold mining sloughs.

Almost there!


We are all anxious to dive deep into the earth!

And so we go!

 

It really is amazing!

And the girls-all but Iris-were mesmerized!

Gabriel was sweet-tart the whole way down and up.  It was only later that we realized we didn't have a bottle on us!  Good thing he's such an easy going baby!

This room was called the "Princess Room".
Iris, who was terrified the entire time, was finally won over!

Back on land we played on the see-saw!  This puppy is ancient and we nearly killed ourselves on it!

The adventure left us starving, and what better way to curb your appetite than a giant pizza from Alonzo's!

Talk about cheesy!


{The Pizza, not Samuel!
Although...}

{Happy Birthday Peanut}

We love you Dad!

It really is just a hill...

I'm pleasantly surprised!

But let me back up just a bit.

A long, long, long time ago...

when Samuel and I were just dating,

we got it into our heads to head up the hill to Daffodil Hill.

We heard it was amazing, and so we stopped for rations (Taco Bell, the 10 pack), and off we went.  I think it was June or July...either way, it was way past the daffodil season, and all we ended up seeing were a few limpy remnants.

Now, many moons later,

married and with five kids in tow, 

we decided it was time to head back up that same hill.

And so we go.

The pleasant surprise came when we happened upon the farm and saw that the parking was free!  

That's unheard of.

Everything nowadays has a gimmick, a draw, or a catch 

{Are you noticing the Tootsie Pops?}.

But the parking was free.

Uh.

They had horses...

Peacocks,

and of course...

Flowers!

And guess what?

It's all free!

Hence the mommy and daddy smiles!

We had fun poking around...

And Ava even threw a rockin' good fit!

And this peaceful place proved to be just the right spot to catch your breath...

and calm down.

And of course...

You can't beat...

The amazing photo ops!

I could have snapped pictures ALL day!

And I did!

All Grown Up...Samuel: 31 Years with Hair!

No, your eyes do not deceive you!  

On Samuel's 31st birthday, he sprouted a crop!

 

All courtesy of my mom, and her clever handiwork, and I don't know how you feel about, but I think it works, babe!

Per tradition, Samuel chose his birthday feast,
which consisted of:

Hot Pastrami Sandwiches,
Sweet n' Sour Slaw,
and
Steak Fries!

The birthday boy enjoyed a sumptuous dessert, and even managed to make a wish AND blow out his own candle!

No small feat considering the crowd standing by just itching to help!

For Birthday Sunday at his parents house, we ate a traditional chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and rainbow sprinkles and...

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake with a trio of sauces:

Raspberry, Peanut Butter, & Chocolate Fudge!

Later I surprised him with a night out at Thai Chili.  We heard the food was excellent, though the service slow, and found the description to be apt!  The fiery flavors were in stark contrast to the laid back and mellow atmosphere of the restaurant and staff! 

For those who have never had Thai-try it!
Just be mindful,
spicy MEANS spicy!

Happy Birthday,

Samuel!