Just need to POST THESE! Whew. That's better.

I'm seriously slacking in the blog department! I promise I'll get caught up eventually but things have been so busy with little bug I haven't had time to think! First things first. In order to get back on track I need to post my recent 365 images. I know some of them are posted in previous blogs here and there but I need to get them all on one blog to focus. Ha!

So, here they are:

Day 93.

Day 94. Just a reminder.

 

 Day 95. Chopped off my hair. 

Day 96. Sweet girls birthday party.

Day 97. Recipe Here

Day 98. April Showers

Day 99. Macro love.

Day 100! Isn't it obvious?

Day 101. Sleeping love.

Day 102. Backyard play time. (This photo scored me another feature on my 365 group!)

Day 103. Senior session stopping traffic!

Day 104. Happy birthday to this sweet girl. 

Day 105. New shoes for the big girl.

Day 106. Frosty macro morning. I laid a blanket out in my backyard and shot for about 20 minutes this morning. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm crazy. :-)

Whew! Now that that's over I can breathe! I'm currently working on editing a senior session which will hopefully be on the blog by the end of the weekend and of course I'm still shooting my 365. The weather is getting warmer so I'm trying to spend more time outdoors with the little one. She loves being outside.

Last Saturday we had a photoshoot scheduled for Miss Charlie's cake smash session with my friend Carla over at Carla Thompson Photography. I'm not going to post all the pictures here because her blog showcases them so beautifully, so I'll just post the link if you want to check them out. It's HERE and I'm totally in love with it and all the images she captured. Those are amazing memories that I will have forever!

I went back and forth about doing Charlie's cake smash myself but I don't have much to work with in that department and I really wanted to be able to watch little bug have fun with the cake instead of worrying about my settings and exposure and composition and all those fun photographer things. Carla did amazing and I got to get in some of the shots too! Yay!

Ok friends, that's all for today until later! Hope everyone is having a great day!!

xxx

Ryan

Dreary weather equals recipe blog!

I've had this recipe since last week and I've been trying to make it for a few days now but we've had so many events that I haven't had the time!

Tonight I was finally able to get home from work and get this going and boy was it delicious! This recipe is called Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls. Growing up my Grandma and my mom always made regular cabbage rolls and they are so delicious. This recipe cuts down the carbs and is a new way to make an old favorite.

Day 97/365

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of lean ground beef. (I used Venison)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of garlic, minced. (I buy the jars of pre minced garlic, so much easier)
• 1 small cabbage
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) of diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8oz) of tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:

• In a large pot or deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat
• Add the ground beef/venison/turkey and onion and cook, stirring, until ground meat is no longer pink and onion is tender.
• Add the garlic and continue cooking for one minute
• Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, salt & water
• Bring to a boil
• Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender. It took mine about 40 minutes

This recipe is SUPER easy and super delicious and it basically has half the calories of a traditional cabbage roll because you don't have all that rice. I think you could probably add some brown rice to this to make it more hearty but I prefer this version. 

Hope you have a chance to try this some time!

I'll catch up on the 365 tomorrow and update you all with our busy weekend!

xxx

Ryan

Turkey Sausage Bake!

I fully intend on doing a catch up blog tomorrow but tonight I want to share with you one of my favorite recipes that I found on Pinterest. Not only is this recipe healthy, it's really filling too!

Baked Turkey Sausage, Peppers, Carrots & Potatoes

(Yes, I eat on tiny salad plates for portion control)

Here is what you need to do:

Ingredients

• 1 package (at least 1 lb) of your favorite sausage links (johnsonvilles, evergood, generic smoked sausage, whatever you like.  i used smoked turkey sausage, 2 long links)
• 4-5 decent-sized potatoes (i prefer yukon gold or red bliss)
• 1 small jar banana peppers
• 1-2 bell peppers, sliced (I didn't do this on this recipe but I added carrots)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil (yes, it has to be OLIVE oil)
• salt & pepper
• Parmesan Cheese (enough to sprinkle over the top)
• *optional — 3 tbsp creole seasoning ( I use Tony's because it's THE BEST)

Instructions:


Spray a large baking pan w/ nonstick spray (make sure there is at least a small “lip” that provides a “side” to the pan, don’t use a flat baking sheet.

1. Slice sausages into thin rounds, about 1/5″ thick. 
2. Cut potatoes into 1/2″ chunks
3. Slice onion and pepper into strips
4. Leave baby carrots as is if you use them. Just throw them in with everything else.
5. Place all ingredients on baking sheet and drizzle oil over.  use your hands to toss everything together in the oil, making sure everything feels coated.
6. Add salt & pepper and spices (if using)
7. Top w/ sliced banana peppers
8. Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top
9. Bake at 400 for about 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender

There ya have it! This dish is really good and husband approved. It's one of his favorites as well. I added a salad to this meal too because I LOVE salad.

I'll be back tomorrow with a full 365 update and trip blog!

This photo is day 93 for the record. :-)

xxx

Ryan

Crockpot Pot Potato Soup Deliciousness!

Ok. This is hands down one of the easiest and most delicious crock pot recipes I've ever found. Of course I got it off of Pinterest but I've added my own little special touches to it to perfect the recipe.

 Here is what you need: 

1 (30 oz.) bag frozen hash-brown potatoes (I used the shredded but you can also use the squared cut) 2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth 
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup 
1/2c chopped onion 
1/3 tsp. ground black pepper 
Pinch of salt
1 (8oz) package cream cheese (room temp) 
2 stalks of celery chopped 

 Garnish: minced green onion, cheese and bacon if you have it handy. Bacon bits work too!

(PS. This is day 11 photo) :-)

How to prepare:

In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, broth, soup, onion, celery and pepper. 

Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.(DO NOT PUT IN CREAM CHEESE YET!)

Stir in cream cheese, cook on high for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until combined. 

Garnish with green onion, cheese and bacon bits if you wish. :-)

Tada!

Deliciousness in a bowl!

Let me know if you try it and add anything super awesome in it to spice it up. Definitely a good meal for a cold Saturday or Sunday while you're watching football!

Enjoy!

xxx

Ryan

A grapefruit a day keeps the doctor away!

Day 8.

An apple? How about a grapefruit a day keeps the doctor away! Not really sure if that's true but it sounded good to me!

This morning I figured I'd shoot early because there is a good chance when I get home tonight I'm either going to run and then crash or just crash. Deer chili is already cooking in the crockpot so I don't have to worry about dinner when I get home. Winning!

I woke up today (late) and didn't get to run but I also realized my throat was so sore! I never get sore throats and I think I jinxed myself because I was just telling my in-laws that I never get sore throats because I had my tonsils out when I was a kid. Welp, today I have a sore throat. Yay.

Since my throat is sore I didn't want to eat much for breakfast so a grapefruit and cottage cheese was on the menu. I took a picture of my grapefruit for my photo today.

Tada!

This photo really makes me wish I had white dishes. I love white dishes. White everything! Whenever we build our next house and get new stuff, I'm going with white. White white white! White is so clean and pretty and it photographs so well!

So there is my photo. Day 8. Kind of boring, but I wasn't very motivated this morning. Maybe my mood and throat will get better as the day progresses.

 TPW just posted their new lyric for the week and I'm really excited about it.

“And when you smile the whole world stops and stares for awhile.”  

I pretty much know what I'm going to do and I have the image I want in my head. Hopefully I can execute it tonight or tomorrow. I really love this project. It's so fun!

Welp, that's all I've got for right now. Hope you like my grapefruit. :-)

 xxx

 

Ryan

Day 2! It's a new recipe kinda day!

Hello friends!

As some of you know I LOVE to cook, bake and try new recipes and tonight I made a delicious dish and decided to blog about it and incorporate my 365 photo to it as well.

The dish is called One-Pan Venison Enchilada Pasta. Of course you don't have to use venison, but since I have a hearty supply here in my freezer thanks to the husbands hunting adventures, I rarely use any other type of meat. Plus it's so lean, I don't have to worry about all the fat and icky stuff that's in ground beef. Bleh.

Enough about that. Here is what you need:

Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced ( I was out so used a little garlic powder and garlic salt)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1.25 pounds of taco seasoned ground venison, turkey, or beef
• packet of low-sodium taco seasoning
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 19oz can of red enchilada sauce
• 8oz (about 2 1/2 cups) of dried rotini pasta
• 2 cups of freshly shredded Colby Jack cheese 
  
  
• green onions
• black olives (optional I didn't use olives)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet or sauté pan, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil over medium low heat until softened.
2. Add ground meat and cook, breaking meat up with a wooden spoon until browned.
3. Once turkey meat is cooked through, add pasta, chicken broth and enchilada sauce to pan.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduced heat to low and cover.
5. Cook on low, with pan covered for about 15 minutes.
6. Then remove lid and let simmer for additional 5 minutes until pasta is tender and sauce has reduced.
7. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese.
8. Top pasta with additional cup of cheese and melt under broiler for a minute or tow, or place lid back on pan and let heat from the pasta melt the cheese.
9. Garnish with black olives and green onions.

The end result looks like this (minus the matte Lightroom filter :-)

Please don't mind my old as dirt pan. I think if I'm going to start taking pictures of my cooking I should probably get some new pots and pans. But hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it right?

Thanks for checking out the recipe and day 2 of my 365 photo project! I'm going to try and do a recipe a week. Don't forget to follow my blog and "Like" my Facebook page! Click the link below and it will take you there!

Please "Like" my Facebook page :-)

Next time I will take more photos of the cooking process as well! It's hard to do when you're trying to entertain a 9 month old in a highchair and cook dinner at the same time!

xxxx

Ryan