summer salads

Despite the fact that most people have already started school, we are still in full summer mode.  And so is the weather here so we're keeping on with easy easy summer meals.  Last year I posted three summer recipes I loved.  And now I have three more for you-

Southwestern Pasta Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

My mom made this while we were at the beach and I ate it for dinner and lunch the next day.  Then I convinced her to make it again the next week.  She added chicken to make it more of a meal and it is delicious.  Recipe and picture here

Avocado Basil Pasta Salad

Someone brought this to us after we had Mattie.  I've made it a few times since- easy and tasty.  Recipe here

Mexican Tomato and Corn Salad

My cousin-in-law made this salad last year while we were in Utah and I immediately fell in love with it so I asked her to send me the recipe.  It is so so so so good.  Recipe and picture here.

Bucket List Revisited

I guess since Labor Day has come and gone the Summer is over.  Hard to believe since around here it won't cool off until mid-October and none of us are starting school.  Nonetheless, here is my report on our summer bucket list.

Make Homemade Ice Cream: check, we made mint ice cream on the 4th of July

Roast S'mores: check, on our campout and while we were in Park City

Read 100 Books: check, this was probably the easiest since we read Jilly at least 5 books a day

Watch a movie outside: this one didn't exactly happen; we were going to watch a movie outside at my cousins' cabin in Utah but we decided to head home since it was getting late.  We did watch Fantasmic at Disneyland, so that will have to count.

Go to the beach: check, we went to Santa Cruz, Dillon Beach, and Virginia Beach

Swim in a lake: check, when we went camping, it was freezing

Bike in Downieville: check, Bryan took a biking trip while we were in VA

Watch all of "24": apparently I didn't realize how many seasons there are.  We've completed 3 seasons and will definitely finish the rest of them some day

Go on a date without Jilly: check, we went to see The Dark Knight Rises while Bryan's parents watched Jilly and another time we went out to eat and got a real babysitter for the Jilster

Camp Outside: check

Watch Fireworks: check, 4th of July and Disneyland

Visit VA and UT: check and check

Watch a Parade: check, Orangevale Parade and 4th of July

Jilly's first canoe ride: check, camping trip

Laboring

We spent Labor Day morning busy at home.  Bryan worked on the car

and I painted.

Then Jilly woke up from her nap and informed us that Labor Day was actually a day to take a break from our labors. So we packed a picnic and headed to Folsom Lake.

I wish every day was Labor Day

Three Summer Recipes

I have a love/hate relationship with cooking in the summer.  I love all the fresh fruits and vegetables, but I hate wasting play time in a blazing kitchen.  These are 3 recipes that we love, and that make frequent appearances at our table.

1. Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

recipe and picture found here 

One night Bryan came home from work and declared it was the perfect night for a picnic.  I had already made this salad, and it was perfect to throw in a tupperware container and take to the park.  It was one of my favorite nights of the summer.

2. Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

recipe and picture found here

This has been one of my favorite ways to use up our basil.  I am really loving the lemon/basil combo these days.

3. Southwest Pasta Salad

recipe and picture found here 

There are a few wonderful things about this salad.  1. It has lots of vegetables,  2. It makes a lot and stores great in the fridge,  3. It's very filling; I made it for Bryan and his brothers last year before they did the Tough Mudder and they all attributed their success to me (okay, maybe not, but they did say it was the perfect pre-race meal.)

Camping

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge camper but this trip turned out very fun.  We spent two days at Bear River Lake with Bryan's parents and his brother Chad.  Unlike her mother, Jillian was born to camp.  She loved running around in the dirt all day and collecting rocks and sticks.  I was super stressed about the nights because Jilly is such a bad sleeper, but she slept like a champ, mostly between Bry and I in the "H is for you-know-what" position.  Jilly slept great; Bryan and I - not so much .  But, all in all, it was a success and I just may be convinced to camp again.

It was chilly up there and somehow Jilly's pants didn't make it in the bag but luckily I did pack extra jammies so she wore these as pants

Uncle Chad's rock towers were a huge hit

 peach cobbler = my very favorite thing about camping

lots of time to relax and practice funny faces with daddy

hello world's largest pinecone

perhaps if she didn't have to wear that pesky life vest Jilly would love the canoe, but I guess we'll never know

we're just a little concerned about where this favorite activity could lead

We made it!  This is in the morning right before we left to go home

bucket list

I've seen a few summer checklists around this year and I thought it would be fun to make our own.  I found this free printable Summer Bucket List from Funky Polkadot Giraffe and on Monday night we made our list.

Should be a fun summer!

Summer Reading

I suppose since tomorrow is September that summer is ending.  It makes me sad that our slow, relaxing summer is fading away.  We've had fun playing with family, traveling, swimming, watching Prison Break, and reading.  One of mine and Jilly's favorite things to do this summer was to go to the library.  She would crawl around playing with the excellent toys and books while I sat nearby and read.  And, to top it all off- the library has great air conditioning- bliss.

I read some pretty good books this summer, here's the roundup:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Fascinating book; it tells the story of the first human cells to be reproduced in a lab.  But, they were cells from a black woman and they were taken without her or her family's knowledge or any compensation.  It was the perfect mix of science and a great story.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Wow, this book was intense.  Jeannette tells about her childhood with an alcoholic and paranoid father who was constantly moving his family from one terrible living condition to another.  

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

I started out really liking this book but then I just got sick of it.  I think part of the problem was that I was listening to it and couldn't keep up with all the story lines.  It tells about a haggadah and how it miraculously survived through centuries of turmoil in Europe.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This was not the most uplifting book, but was an excellent story about life on a circus train in the early 1900s.  I'm so glad I can finally see the movie now!

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I read this book in high school, but I didn't remember it at all.  I loved it; it's such a sweet story mixed in with Civil Rights history.  It reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird which is possibly the best book ever written.  

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magaic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

I'm not finished with this yet, but I love it.  It's part history part creepy murder mystery.  Can you tell I'm big into history?  Bryan is reading it as well, so it's fun to talk about together.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts

Yes, another history.  I'm not finished with this one either, but I love it.  We hear so much about Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, etc.  It's fun to finally hear about their mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and- in Franklin's case- girlfriends.

What did you read this summer?

Today

We were driving home from the store and Jillian was freaking out.  She usually loves being in her carseat so I couldn't figure out why she was screaming.  I finally decided to pull over and see if the seatbelt was pinching her or something.  We stopped at a nearby park and when I got her out she immediately started smiling, laughing, and kicking; she just wanted to be outside.  It was in the 80s and a nice cool breeze was blowing on us as I sat and read and Jilly crawled around exploring.

Good call Jilly-girl, good call.

This Week

I have spent a lot of time in my kitchen.  I made:
- Baby food!  Sweet potatoes, blueberries, and avocado/banana
- Strawberry Freezer Jam- hopefully it will last us all year
- These Brownies- anything named the Tim Riggins Brownie is bound to be amazing
- Cake Mix Cookies- with butterscotch chips
- Chicken Pillows- I've made a version of these before with pre-made crescent rolls, but the homemade rolls made all the difference
- Southwest Pasta Salad- I could eat this every day, all summer long

When I wasn't in the kitchen, I was usually watching The Kennedy's on netflix.  Love love love love it.

And, we did take some time to chill at the pool.

 Jilly with our friend Emily

Tommy gave her a little faux hawk while she floated around

This weekend we're having a Martinez Extravaganza- it's the first time all 4 brothers have been together for 3 1/2 years.  Look out world.  

What's in a name

When Jillian was born, Jillian seemed like way too long of a name for such a tiny baby (hello- it has 3 syllables!)  So she very quickly became Jilly.  That was just the beginning of her many nicknames:

Jilly (I spell it Jilly, Bryan spells it Jilli)
Jill
Hill Billy Jilly (the first time Bryan called her this I laughed so hard)
Jilly Willy (my little brother's nickname of choice)
Jilly Kate
Jilly Vanilly
Jilly Bean
Jilly Bug
J Dawg (reminiscent of our favorite hotdog)
Jillarama
Jillycita

The other day at a church bbq a little girl was playing with Jillian.  We've learned that little kids and old people have a hard time saying Jillian (it will be interesting when we teach her her own name.)  So when she asked what her name was I said Jilly.  A few minutes later our new friend went back to her mom and said, "the baby's name is Jelly."  So, the nickname list continues.

Sporting her summer hat and sunglasses