Parties and Pesto!

Hello everyone, 

Well, February is almost over...Looks like I'm not keeping up with my New Year's resolution of updating more often! I'll try to be better with this. 😅

This month we celebrated my little sister's birthday! I can't believe she's 15 years old!! I remember when she was a little baby...she then grew into a troublesome toddler who would eat sticks of butter and try to breakout of the house and walk the neighborhood when we weren't looking...She's mellowed out for now. 😉 

Birthday Girl at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Nov. 2015

We went to the trifecta of birthday goodies here in Gilbert - Joe's Farm Grill, Joe's BBQ, and Liberty Market. She chose a blueberry scone from Liberty, macaroni and cheese from Joe's BBQ, and a vanilla bean milkshake from Joe's Farm Grill. Of course, we like to support these local businesses while getting free birthday meals, so we also brought home sliced beef brisket, ahi tuna sandwich (featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” w/ Guy Fier), beet salad and chocolate macarons. 

Mmm mmm! Happy Belated Birthday, Hailey! 🎂 🎈

Joe's Farm Grill

Ahi Tuna Sandwich + Beet Salad

Liberty Market Chocolate Macarons

We have also succeeded in cooking more this month. One of our favorite things to utilize is our AeroGarden 7 LED indoor, hydroponic garden. Isn't it beautiful? 

We also bought a plant-based protein shake to make our mornings healthier! We add banana and a little peanut butter. I still don't love it, but I'm also used to scoops and scoops of ice cream in my shakes... 😋 

The dilemma of our household in one photo. 😂 We are lucky to have such an amazing baker as our mother. That's her lemon poppy-seed cake for Hailey's birthday party!

Anyways, back to the planter...We are growing basil, thyme, parsley and mint. The basil is taking over, so we've been making pesto each week! We'll use some throughout the week on pasta (zoodles, actually - zucchini cut into noodles), paninis, salads, etc., then we'll freeze the rest so it doesn't go bad. 

Here's how we made the pesto, adapted from Food Network's recipe here: 

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (we'll sometimes throw in spinach as well)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup almonds (pine nuts are a bit pricey)
• 2/3 cup avocado oil and extra-virgin olive oil, divided (we will use a majority of avocado oil)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 
• Varying amounts of fresh lemon juice (we have two lemon trees in our backyard) to take away any bitterness 

We throw it all in the food processor and adjust to our tastes! So far, so good! 

Otherwise, we've been enjoying the beautiful weather as much as possible! It has been rainy all weekend, which we also love. We open up a few windows and breathe in the refreshing desert rain air. When it is sunny, we go for walks!

I hope everyone is having a great February as well! What have you been doing? 

Please share! I love hearing from all of you! 

Thanks for reading! 

- Erik