Oh Boy! New Kitchen Toys!

New kitchen toys are exciting. I'm not sure what excites me more - new kitchen toys, new garden stuff or new clothes. I really like all three thing and they excite me for different reasons.

While garden stuff and clothes are great, this post is about new kitchen toys so lets get back to that...

Over the last few weeks I've become the proud owner of a few different new kitchen toys. Not just one, not just two, nope not three either - but FOUR new kitchen toys to be exact!

I can't pick out which thing excites me most though. Two of the new things are things I've been wanting and really needing for awhile. I got both of them less than 4 days ago and yes, both have already been used.

What are they you wonder?

I know I'm really talking them up so they better be good right?

Well - honestly who cares if YOU think they're good because I think they're all AMAZING.

Enough babbling - onto the amazingness! :)

I've owned the KitchenAid Stand Mixer and Food Processor for awhile and I was in the market for a new blender, so it made sense to stay with the amazing brand and now I'm the proud owner of a NEW Onxy Black KitchenAid Blender. 

The box.

The blender!

I used it yesterday - twice and man I LOVE it! I am glad I got it and I don't know why it took so long!

And since I have the awesome new blender, I had to get NEW popsicle freezer molds. I found these cool star shaped ones on Amazon and couldn't resist. These are an improvement from any other ones I've used in the past.  

The box.

The popsicle molds.

Yes - I've already used these too. I made smoothie popsicles using my new blender too! Read all about those in a future post. 

My next new toy was an unexpected find this weekend. While browsing my local Marshalls I found a pan I've been wanting forever! I walked out with a few other things, but the best buy was my NEW Cuisinart Saute pan.

I love the size, I love the color and most of all I love how well it cooks things.

Last but not least is the only new toy I haven't used yet, but I'm still very excited about it! I got a NEW salad bottle/mixer. It has the cool mixing wand inside and a few recipes on the side. 

Funny thing - I made salad dressing tonight, but forgot about this and didn't get to use it! Oh well - There's always next time. :)

Homemade Salsa

Growing up in Tucson, I remember enjoying chips and salsa as a snack on many ocasions. The salsa was always the best when it was homemade by my best friend's dad. I've asked for his recipe multiple times, but he says he doesn't use one so he can't really give me one. That wasn't much help!

After many failed attempts I've finally come close to making something that tastes quite similar to how I remember it. The look is a little different, but the taste is close and that's what matters more!

I didn't grow any of the ingredients in the salsa but I have hopes to use homegrown tomatoes and jalapenos soon!

The ingredients!

The end product - YUM!

Like my friend's dad - I don't have a set recipe because I go by the way it tastes in the end, but here's my best guesstimate:

3-5 Vine on Tomatoes depending on size

1 Red Jalapeno

1 Serrano Chili

Tiny bit of Red Onion

2 Cloves Garlic

Half Bunch Cilantro

Sea Salt to taste

Juice of 1 Lime

Chop up Tomatoes in Food Processor.

Add remaining ingredients and process until desired consistency.

Adjust salt and spices to taste.

I Want My Tomato Plant Now!

Yup - you read that right. And no, I'm not talking about the existing cherry tomato plant I've had growing for awhile now.

Last night, with the encouragement of a friend, I decided I needed to get another tomato plant, but not a cherry tomato plant. I was going to get one that I could use to cook! And I couldn't wait until the next day to get it. I wanted it then and I was going to get it! 

While cherry tomatoes are amazing, I never really have enough at one time to use them in anything. I usually eat them right off the vine. MMMmmmMMM! This time, I decided I was going to go with a slightly bigger tomato plant that I could use in salads, on sandwiches and most importantly in homemade salsa. :)

Since I wanted my tomato plant right away and the nursery was closed for the day, I went to the local Home Depot to buy another Topsy Turvy and look at their tomato plant selection.  I ended up with a Bush Early Girl that supposed to produce in 50 days!

Here she is!

Funny - I always called my other tomato plant male related names, 

and now "she" just came naturally with the new one.

I'm odd, I know this... 

And here's the cherry tomato plant.

The two of them together.

Now that the most exciting garden news is out of the way, onto the other amazing crops!

The jalapeno plants are doing great, but they need to start blooming soon so I can have some homegrown jalapenos to use with my homegrown tomatoes in my homemade salsa! :)

Sadly, I don't grow cilantro anymore, otherwise I could use that in my salsa too. I do have other amazing herbs and they're all doing just dandy! Can herbs be dandy?!?! If so - mine are. 

The basil

The chives

The rosemary

The mint

The flat leaf parsley

Which seems to be saved from the suspected bolting!

The thyme

Both my garlic and shallots are doing well too. I think so at least.

I just wish I knew how they were doing UNDER the soil. I have a hard time being patient, but I guess I'll have to do my best because I won't be seeing either of these anytime soon.

The garlic

The shallots

My radishes...they're troopers, they really are. They've been through two accidents and still seem to be doing great, but I recently realized that I didn't have them in the proper amount of sunlight. The green parts were growing quite tall in some areas and there were even two flower. Flowers on radishes? Yes. Odd I know. I've never seen it either - well, that is until now.

I cut them off after taking these pics, but as I mentioned before - given the history with these suckers I'm not holding out much hope!

My strawberries continue to do the best they've ever done. That's not saying much though because I've never really had great luck with them anyway. Oh well. It's still fun to watch the lil berries grow.

The lime tree. Well it's the lime tree and hasn't changed that much since last week.  Like the shallots and garlic, I have a hard time waiting to see what I'm going to get, but I'm crazy excited about future limes

My flowers are doing amazing too. The calla lily continues to bloom, the wildflowers I planted recently are sprouting and most exciting - my dahlias are growing like CRAZY and so are the other flowers I planted around them!!! No actual flowers from those yet, but the greens keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

And lastly, I recently got some wildflower seed bombs that grow flowers specific to the West Coast. I planted them in a hanging planter and am hoping for something great. I'll show pictures of them if and when they start to sprout!

Fun With Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - Take 2!

After my first adventure using Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough for something other than Crescent Rolls, I decided I was going to find more delicious things to make using it.  

After very little time spent searching online, I found this recipe for Magic S'more Crescent Puffs and knew I had to make it! 

So I did just that and man oh man was I glad I did. I just wish I'd made more. Not only were they tasty right out of the oven, but they were amazing the next day too! And they really did remind me of a S'more. Mmmm

They were so easy to make, so I'm sure I'll be making them again. Heck - I got more seamless dough at Ralphs this afternoon, which means I might be making them sooner than later!

Here's a quick look at how easy these amazing treats really are to make!

All the ingredients for the puffs

And the ingredients for the chocolate glaze

The dough cut into eight pieces

With the chocolate chips

And now with the marshmallows...

that were dipped in butter!

Yes, I almost forgot to take this pic. :)

The puffs pinched closed with the goodies inside

And now rolled in butter, covered in sugar graham,

placed in baking cups and ready for baking!

Halfway done baking.

Annnnnnnd done!!!

Covered in chocolate glaze and ready to be devoured.

NOM NOM NOM

Chicken Salad: 2 Ways!

I loveeeeee chicken salad!  I love it on toasted sourdough, on a bed of fresh lettuce and even just a heaping forkful right from the bowl.

But I'm very picky about my chicken salad - it has to be just to my liking and most importantly can't have TOO much mayo. In order to enjoy it, I usually have to make it from scratch at home. To avoid it being too mayo-y I almost always use a mixture of mayo and greek yogurt. It's so much better tasting and so much better for your!

I recently decide I wanted some chicken salad so I boiled two bone-in chicken breasts. After cooking and cooling, I went to town with two forks shredding the chicken into tiny pieces. I got my shredded chicken for my chicken salad, but the bonus was getting homemade chicken stock to use in soups or other cooking. I never throw away something I can use again.

Once I saw how much chicken I ended up with (I guess they were BIG breasts!) I decided I wasn't going to make ONE kind of chicken salad, but I was going to make TWO!!!

My original plan was to whip up a batch of the delicious Chicken Salad from my go-to gal's website, but now I was also going throw together a batch of her equally delicious, but completely different Curried Chicken Pasta Salad. 

Chicken Salad before mixing with "dressing"

And after!

YUM!!!

Curried Chicken Pasta salad before mixing with "dressing"

And After!

Holy Wow!!!

Try them. Enjoy them. Make them again and again and again!

A Week's Progress In The Garden

Let me start off by being honest - I had last week's garden pictures with the intent to do a post last week, but my parents were in California visiting and time sorta just got away from me! Sorrrrrrrrrry.

To make up for it, I decided I'd still use the pictures and post them with this week's pictures. This way you still get to see all the pictures AND it's much easier to notice the growth over seven days. Some of it is very noticeable, while others not so much. 

Without anymore blabbing from me, let's get to the stuff you wanna see!

The tomato plant finally has little tomatoes and I'm SO excited. I'd say that right now there are between five and ten little suckers at different stages of growth. I can't wait to eat the first tomato of the season!

Last Week

This Week

The strawberry plant is doing quite well too. There are many little berries and one that's starting to turn pink. It's the largest strawberry I've been able to grow too, so that's even more exciting! You'll notice that the plant is less leafy in this week's picture, and that's because I removed a few of the leave to let the tiny berries get more sun - the leaves were blocking the lil guys! 

Last Week

This Week

The jalapeno plants are growing amazingly, but still don't have any signs of peppers yet. I'm waiting to see the first bloom and it's not happening fast enough!

Last Week

This Week

The lime tree continues to do well - THANK GOODNESS! I just really wish that it were in season to produce because I want key limes now darnit! :)

Last Week

This Week

The radishes are looking a little better, but I'm still not holding out much hope that they'll be as big and wonderful as something I'd buy at the local farm or even grocery store. Oh well - it's still fun and that's what matters.

Last Week

This Week

The garlic just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So big that I had to trim down the shoots from it this weekend. I can't wait until it's ready to harvest, but I'm being patient... for now!

Last Week

This Week

The shallots are doing amazing as well, but like usual - there aren't tons of changes going on above the soil with these guys. I just hope what's happening under the soil is going to result in something great!

Last Week

This Week

And finally... the herbs. I love my herbs. I really do. I use them so often in cooking and am so happy to have them growing fresh right on my balcony!

The rosemary really started growing recently and hasn't stopped since. No matter how much I use, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger!

Last Week

This Week

The mint is officially back! No matter how many times I rip it out, it comes right back! It's a weed, but a tasty weed! :)

Last Week

This Week

My flat leaf parsley is finally starting to get more full. I noticed two shoots were starting to bolt earlier in the week but I quickly removed them and I think all is good. Time will tell though!

Last Week

This Week

The thyme is amazing and is getting SO big. I have so much thyme! Haha I wish I could say that about time though...

Last Week

This Week

The chives are really thriving and are finally back from the last time I used a ton of them! I can't wait to use them in a recipes again soon!

Last Week

This Week

And lastly, my basil! My lovely basil that is starting to become a giant like my basil plant last year. I still have yet to use any yet, but have plans to do so soon.

Last Week

This Week