Winter Salad and Zombies

My family enjoys a good salad for dinner.  They're light and tasty and the whole family gets to help in its preparation.  The girls love to help me tear the lettuce and...gulp...chop the veggies.

faint

Teaching proper cutting skills is not my favorite part of mothering.  I watch the knife as it clumsily slices a cucumber and lurches closer and closer to dainty thumbs.

Tuck those thumbs in!!!!  

Aaaarrggghh!

Cutting lesson over.  Give Mommy that knife.  We'll revisit this in a year or so.

I am a tomato snob.  So you will never see a tomato in my salads during the months of...oh, we'll say November through June.  I refuse to eat anything less than a perfectly vine ripened tomato.  Preferably straight off my own personal tomato plants.  As a result, I have to try different  things with my salads during the 2/3 of the year that I shun fresh tomatoes.

This salad was excellent!  The sweet  and savory oven roasted golden beets and Yukon Gold potatoes.  The tang of red onion and the succulent pan fried turkey tenderloin.  Here's how you do it!

Winter Salad
4 medium sized golden beets (you could use red just as easily)
6 smallish Yukon Gold potatoes (you could use another variety of potato)
1 head red leaf lettuce (you can use...okay, you get it.  This salad is versatile.  I won't hold you to anything!)
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 cucumber, chopped
Cheese, diced  (if you want)
1/2 to 3/4 lb turkey loin
Salad dressing of choice
salt and pepper
Cooking Oil (I used olive oil)
Bit of butter
Johnny's seasoning salt (optional, but I think it helps turkey's inherent blandness)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

As oven is heating up, chop the stems off your beets and run a vegetable peeler over them.  Chop into quarters.  Toss onto cookie sheet.

Wash potatoes.  Quarter these and toss alongside the beets.  Douse with a goodly amount of oil and salt and pepper.  Stir around and cook for 35 to 40 minutes until tender.  Toss occasionally to avoid sticking.

While your root veg's are cooking, take your turkey loin, I had two smallish ones that came to about 3/4 lb. and pound in a plastic baggie to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Season liberally with salt and pepper and seasoning salt if you are using.  A word about turkey, it's bland as heck!  So, make sure you season it well on both sides.

Place skillet over medium heat.  Pour in a few tablespoons oil and a dab of butter. Once this is nice and warm, cook your turkey loin until golden brown and delicious.  Make sure to cook completely!

Let the meat rest while your root veg's finish cooking.  Begin tearing up lettuce and chopping cucumber and any other items you want to put in your salad.

Slice the turkey and arrange everything artfully on plates.

Add a dash or two of salad dressing.  Tragic day, I thought I had a nice vinaigrette in the fridge, I did.  It had expired.  sigh  I figured I could whip up a quick dressing myself...I didn't have Dijon mustard.  sigh  I got to enjoy Ranch dressing on my salad along with the kiddoes.  It was yummy!
 

 As a fun bonus, today I am reviewing a new product.

Oh my goodness, I didn't think I was going to like these.  Cookie Dough Oreo's though, are yummy!  They have a light brown sugar taste to the cream filling which gives it a nice complexity.  Dunked in some milk...oh baby.  After we had them last night, I asked my kids if we should give the rest to my sister Jullee over at The Grubery and it was unanimous NOOOOOs all around.

In fact, both girls turned into cookie zombies after I had put them away.  It was quite fun to watch them roam the house moaning: cookies.  cookies.  cookies!  And bump repeatedly into the pantry door pretending to try and get in, but not know how to turn the knob.

It was especially effective with this little zombie and her cookie crumble mouth.  Very zombie-esque.  This is the best shot I could get as she was too wiggly.  Just imagine blackened teeth and lips, foaming at the mouth and crashing into doors.  Too much fun on a Monday night.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

I could only be just a SMIDGE more last minute...Valentines Pillows

If you are a giant fail at Valentine's decorating (like me), then join in for one tiny attempt at showing the love.

Fun and easy conversation heart pillows.

Raw edges.

Simple embroidery.

Quick, easy and fun!

1. Make a heart template out of paper

2.  Trace heart shape on fabric and cut out two hearts. 

3.  Mark lines so you can write your message straight and even.  Use an erasable pen.  I went straight down the middle and across where I wanted the words to be.

4.  Write your words

5.  Embroider words.  I used a back stitch and, wait for it...yarn!!!  I wanted my words to really stand out.  Had to use a giant needle.

6.  Pin both pieces of fabric together.  You'll rarely see these words on this blog, but Wrong Sides Together!   Raw edges, baby!

7.  Using a walking foot, stitch the two hearts together using a 1/2" seam allowance.

8.  Make sure to leave a space, about 2 inches wide for the fluff

9.  Pink the edges.

10.  sorry, no pic.  Stuff with fluff until you feel it is fluffy enough.

11.  Sew the gap so the fluff cannot escape.

Make a bunch because they're so cute and easy!  And fast!!  And easy.  Best kind of last minute craft.

My kids have been sleeping with them, so I haven't even been able to use them in my non-existent Valentine's decor.

Tell your kid to lay on the pillows like she does at night and this is what you'll get.

No, with your head, like you do at night...

Close enough.

Happy Valentine's.

Heather

Winter Adventuring

The Great Salt Lake, which is often derided as being a nasty, smelly, inhospitable piece of work can also have snippets of beauty, if you look closely and go on a winter adventure with the family.

In late January/Early February the wetlands become a sanctuary for Bald Eagles.  So, gather up the crew, put on some warm clothes and boots and don't forget your binoculars. Winter adventuring can be lots of fun.  We saw several eagles in the distance and only one close up, it flew straight over us and it's wing span was HUGE! 

Tucked in, nice and cozy.

 We see you!!

Oh, hello there.  If you look closely, I know, my camera skills leave much to be desired, you can see this little fella's bright feathers.

Nice, drab feathers to keep the predators away.

Binoculars up!

Or...periscopes.  Whatever.

Happy wintering.

Heather