Best Burger Ever!

I Know I know I know.... This happens why too often. Me being on a Hiatus. I don't mean it I promise. I just get busy and when the weather turns and becomes a beautiful week who really wants to sit in and be on a computer? Not too mention I was kinda without my computer for some time but it's back!! I'm back!! AND I have a simple recipe that looks beautiful. Yeah I got a new phone for my B-day woohoo right?  Hell Yeah Now I have a decent camera to take all my pictures with and I'm all up on technology (haha well trying to learn anyway)

So whats been up with the blogging world lately? I feel like such an outsider anymore. Lol 

Anyway I'll let you in on whats been going on with me. I got a job!! A decent job. An office job. Hopefully a job I'll be at for a long time. It's pretty awesome.

Spring has arrived!!! Obviously we all thought spring came two months early since the lack of winter But I consider the start of the city's weekly farmers markets to be the start of Spring. I recently found a local garden center that sells produce boxes every week at a $10 or a $15 price. I  have been getting the $15 box which equals about $30+ that you would spend at the food store. It's pretty cool there's only one catch, You have no idea what your going to get in your box. I love this catch though. It makes you be creative in the kitchen while using healthy ingredients. 

(If anyone is reading this from the Philly area, The center I am referring to is at the corner of Frankford and Berks. Stop by and check it out Thursdays 4 to 7) The people  are sweet and friendly and they always have something cooking while your waiting for your box!! Also they have something going on all season. For example on sat. they were making rain barrels for your garden free of charge. The website is SUSTAINABLE.org  Helping communities to become self efficient. It's what I've been learning and striving for in my own life. It's not about being frugal anymore it's about helping your community and cutting back on the luxuries of life. Yes a super market is a Luxury. But when it comes to our produce we don't know how safe it is. Yes we all wash our fruits and veggies but sometimes its just more logical to know where your food comes from. How many people who live in the city have their own vegetable garden? How many people can tell you exactly what farm their milk came from?  By using the local garden centers and farmers markets you can ask these questions and expect an honest answer!

So in my last box I got some spring Pea Shoots. I didn't even know these existed. I Also spent an extra 5 bucks for a pack of grass fed beef patties. SO burgers for dinner I think so! I had a large onion I cut up and threw in a small pan with some olive oil, a pat of butter, and a pinch of salt and let the onion caramelize for about 20min. I cooked the beef patties, toasted my buns and started assembling. 

I prefer a little mayo and ketchup on my burgers. Then greens are the pea shoots! 

 Best Burger Ever!!

Best Burger Picture Ever!!!

 This was so delicious!

Come back to check out the recipes I'll be cooking up during this farmers market season!! Next week I'll take a picture of my veggie box!!!

Strawberry Yogurt Muffins!!!

I had the chance this morning to do a little baking I had been eyeing this recipe for a while ever since I pinned it on my Pinterest Foodie board.

 I had all the ingredients except all-purpose flour.. so I used whole wheat instead. I don't know about other people but i don't mind the taste of whole wheat and thought the muffins came out delicious. The yogurt made them moist which was great especially since I did up using the whole wheat flour.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup strawberry yogurt
• 1 egg
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup roughly chopped strawberries 
• 
  
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prepare muffin tins. I sprayed them with some non stick cooking spray.

First I gathered the dry ingredients

Then I put the wet ingredients and mixed them in a large bowl.

Then I slowly added the dry ingredients into the wet. Mixing with a wooden spoon just until everything is well incorporated. 

Now it's time to chop up some fresh strawberries and fold them into the batter

Get your muffin tins and fill 'em up!

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the muffins were baking I made a simple vanilla glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 2 tbsp of milk. Add and mix until you have the right consistency. SO its nice a thick but smooth enough to drizzle over the top of the cooled muffins.

They came out a little dark but I'm assuming that has to do with the whole wheat flour
AND we were very impatient and did not wait for the muffins to cool before putting the glaze on. HA it was a big mess because all the muffins were sitting in a puddle of glaze it's okay they were still great.

Yum Yum Gimme some!!!!

SPicy Pop Pulled Pork!!

I have been on a little Hiatus this past week. My Bad! I kinda took a header down my staircase last weekend and was pretty much immobile most the week. Honestly I didn't get out of my bed until almost Thursday! I missed out on a lot! Not too mention when I finally did make it downstairs my house was a disaster. That is okay though because My man definitely stepped up and did the best he could by taking care of us. Making dinners, entertaining our three yr old and rubbing my soreness away whenever I asked. He really does have a sweet side. 

I Feel a whole lot better now one week after my tumble. Still a little sore but I'm up and moving again. (As long as I can stand on two feet I can deal with any soreness that is still lingering) I'm cooking again!! I missed my kitchen. All week I kept thinking about all the things I wish I could have been making while I was stuck in bed. I kept making mental lists. So the first day I was really out and about was this morning. We took the family to the park for everyone to enjoy the beautiful weather. Sunny and chilly, especially by the river, but gorgeous none the less and fresh air! I missed fresh air! After the park I made John drive me to the market so I could get all those ingredients I kept mental noting all week. I came home got to work cleaning my house mostly my kitchen and getting into cooking mode. 

I thought I come back to the kitchen with Spicy Pop Pulled Pork! Recipe compliments of the pioneer woman! My house has been smelling delicious all day!

Simple ingredients and patience make for great pulled pork.

Start with one onion, quartered

 I Had a 3 1/2 lb pork shoulder I rested on top of the onion. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper over the pork.

I picked up a can of chipolte peppers in adobo sauce. I popped the can and added half the peppers. I'm kinda a wimp and these chipolte's are spicy.

Then This is the strangest part of this recipe.. I added in a can of Dr Pepper!!

Put the lid back on the pot, stick it in the oven and let slow cook for at least six hours at 300 degrees.

 You also want to turn the pork about three to four times during the cooking process.









 Yummy!





Update:
Pork was a little too spicy for our taste. I guess we aren't adventurous pepper tasters around here. That's ok I added a couple drizzles of honey and tossed the pork around It helped! I added the meat to tacos and also added BBQ sauce for a sandwich!

Baby Proofing!!

OK so it seems like everybody is pregnant these days. Women who had babies around the same time as I did are now going on there second. Some chicas I know are having there first...so exciting! I can't help that I'm a little jealous. I would love to be able to go on and have a second child. I wish it was a feasible option but at this time... unfortunately it is not. BUT for all those ladies out there who are enjoying a little him or her swimming around there bellies, Congratulations!  It's a happy time! It's a scary time, no matter if it's your first or fifth, baby's can get you a little over anxious and overwhelmed. Still in any case every women goes though her nesting period while pregnant. Whether it be cleaning the house ( I hand scrubbed my walls from top to bottom), decorating a nursery ( eh I made do with what I had), or purging your house of all things "dangerous" in your home (mostly heard of as baby proofing!)  

A little insight of my thought process:...... I was looking at a corner of a wall in my house and noticed a strip of blue tape that has been there for at least three years now. I was trying to figure out why I had blue painters tape just chilling on the bottom of my wall. Then it came to me!!! Yeah when my Lil slug a bug was just learning to walk he fell ... a lot. One time he fell right into the corner of this very wall and banged the side of his head by his eye. This was the start of those *gasping* moments. When he fell we noticed that a piece of paneling was loose  and that was when the blue tape came out. We taped up the corner of the wall until we nailed it, glued it.. whatever , I obviously was not the one to fix it. 

I remember a couple weeks of my wall being taped A close friend was over my house. We were in the middle of a movie when she just looked at me and said "Why do you have  blue tape on your wall?" well without missing a beat I replied with this "It's baby proofing tape!" No Lie My friend gave me a look and just said "They make baby proofing tape?" Me: "of course you can go to babies R us and get it." Hahahahahaha Oh My just thinking about this has me rolling. I had her so good. This almost never happens to me. Nobody ever believes what spills out of my mouth and for very good reason, I say nonsense things to get a rise out of people. Haha I guess they call that sarcasm. 

SO ANYWAY............. Back to the after thought of my intial thought process....... I was thinking why not making baby proofing tape! Hey they make cabinet lockers (hate those), door knob handle things ( hate them as well), socket covers, baby gates ( I actually love these and have a few),  and I'm sure there are other inventions I know nothing about or have never used. So why not tape!

Maybe someone already invented it BUT if not a little mothering tip. .... Invest in Blue Painters Tape (or green) and go to town. Warning: Tape peels easily and may become a tool for your child to tie you up and have full run of the house. Nah.. just kidding ...... But be careful.........

Side note: I'm linking up My Turkey Spinach and Artichoke stuffed shells. Check out this linky party over at Kitchen Fun with my 3 sons.

Are you up on your current events???

OK so I kind of took a dark turn with my last post but I want to explain myself.

Our economy is changing and has been for sometime now I'm sure you are all aware. I am not completely convinced that come December we are all on a direct path to doom. Although I do live with a man who is totally convinced!! I deal and I watch the shows he watches and I learn

What am I learning??? 

I am learning different ways to be self sufficient. I am learning that it pays to be strong and fit so I can outlast the weak. All this knowledge I'm gaining CAN be helpful for living life now. 

Gardening, farming, botany, sewing, first aid, purifying water, basic camping skills, these are all things that are worth learning about to just be smart. 

How many people in this world If you asked them to go camping they would crinkle up there nose and scoff usually saying something along the lines of "Me, sleep on the ground, in the dirt, No Thank you!" 

I'm one of those people who loves to camp thanks to my oh... about seven years of girl scouts. 

I guess what I'm trying to really say is how did our world come so far from the basics in life. You know all the basic knowledge our ancestors relied on to survive. The Simple Life most could call it. I'm longing for a life of simplicity. I think that has become my ultimate dream life. Weird I know. I'm all for technology. It has been saving lives and doing all sorts of incredible things but it seems it has been enabling the newer generations. I mean I know babies and toddlers who learned how to use an I-pad before they could talk!

Sign of the times??? I guess. 

And I guess it's just up to parents to teach the new generations about the simple ideas.

Thats all good but I have to teach myself first.......

So short term goals are set. Keep filling my little noggin with information. Keep up with current events. (so you know what the hell is going on around the world and your neighborhood) You know how many of my friends tell me they don't watch the news because it's too depressing. OK.... I understand not wanting to be upset but this is real life people!!!! You should know whats going on around you! (I'm yelling a little at this point) AND another tip... go ahead and READ your local paper. Reading the paper has become a lost hobby. But hey if you read the paper you can pick and choose what news article you want to read.

Speaking of......

While I was reading my local paper last night I came across an article that has a very personal effect on my family and my city. With the presidential debates in full swing its hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Nothing new there. Politicians have almost always come out to be heartless goons. The article below explains about how throughout every debate the topic about city unions (which Philadelphia has been built on) have been overlooked and never discussed. No one discusses the fact about how corrupt the unions have become. How jobs are hard to come by and the restrictions to "unify" strikes are ridiculous. If your a middle class hard working family No matter what city you reside in take a gander at the article it's short sweet and too the point!!!

Election Rhetoric and what it means to the folks of philly.

Also I'm linking up to Taste This Thursday linky party
Yummy recipes!!!!

Are you Prepared?!?!

Have you ever had one of them days where you don't want to move? 

Today was one of them days. 

I was a miserable cranky mess and rarely moved off my couch except for the occasional potty break for the little guy and to let my pups out.

So in lieu of my lazy day I got sucked into the National Geographic channel.

They had a "Doomsday Preppers" marathon on all day.

Now do you all remember the millennium? Y2K and all that crap. 

I do! and I also remember my mom gathering jugs of water, face dust mask, first aid kits, and whole smorgasbord of items that we might have needed in case of catastrophe. 

Of course the turn of the century came and went and we all survived without needing to open one jug of water!

No offense to my mom at least we were prepared, right?

Well this new show is all about people around the country preparing for said such disasters. 

One man was preparing for a catastrophic volcano event while another man was preparing for a possible solar flare caused by a electromagnetic pulse. Craziness right? I have to admit though the show was addicting.

Some people had some smart solutions for being self sufficient. For example a family was making their own bio-diesel out of used vegetable oil.  Cool  right?

In this picture they converted an in ground pool into a green house/ fishing pond.

Thats what their doing... fishing...... in their pool..... umm yeah.

Feeding the livestock!

It makes me want to start my own little farm. I realized that if the S*@t does hit the fan I am not smart enough to be self sustainable. I'll probably go loot the library first. Get all the books on botany, wild life, and anything else that might be of use.

I know if things really got bad my family and I would be strong enough to survive.

Hopefully nothing will happen to get that bad BUT in retrospect with the way this 2012 presidential race is going and all the debt that our country owes maybe just maybe something is definitely going to change the way we know life to be today.

Of course it doesn't hurt to start my own garden and start learning how to acquire a "green thumb." 

I just had to share what I have been thinking about all day.

BTW I do realize it is Valentines Day so Happy Happy...... 

Hahaha nice post for today... huh?

I wonder Is anyone else this crazy preparing for doom? 

Apparently according to the Nat Geo poll says that a whopping 25% of Americans have NOT done any preparations for widespread catastrophe. So most of use have at least thought of what we would like to do.... Just food for thought. Good night all!!!

Here's to the end of the world!

All pictures compliments of  National Geographic.

Today's forecast .....

Today was Sunny and definitely chilly but our little family bundled up and made our way to the park!

We had fun running off all that pent up energy.

Here's the Gang!!!!

Lil slug a bug really hates getting his picture taken these days. It's starting to get frustrating but maybe I'm just the only person in this world that still uses her camera phone that takes about ten seconds to actually take a picture and by then my over-energetic child is already half across the park!

So I have endless amounts of back and of course butt shots!!

Here he is climbing up the jungle gym.

Can I just say how much of a relief it is that he is old enough to play around the playground without me following him around. 

Maybe I'm just a neurotic mother but My boy has a way

  of making me gasp. You all know the gasp. That moment where you can see the start and ending of a tragic fall from a foot or so more off the ground. You know when all the other parents are starting to ask "who's kid is that?" You realize its your kid teetering on the edge of the monkey bar platform trying to do it himself. Even though he falls, gets up and laughs he'll ask to do it again. Meanwhile momma is still trying to recover from the slight heart failure just moments earlier.  At least my boy is learning to be an individual. Right? All in all I don't expect the "gasps" to dwindle away any time soon.

This is daddy getting the sticks to throw for the pups.

Oh hey look there!!! Yep He's doing it all by himself!!

OH wow He let me take his picture........ Nice!

I love my city. 

(note: I am aware that the picture is showing the Jersey side of the river)

Here Lil slug a bug was grabbing some leaves and throwing them up into the wind.

Of course I had to inspect his pile of leaves before He could even step into them.

It's a damn shame. I do love living in the city but when there are so many people in one area and not all of them respect the land on which they are living on its cause for dangerous objects, unwanted trash, and broken bottles ending up in areas like our beautiful park.

We still make the best of it. All the trash surrounding us in the city just means, as parents, we have to be a little more diligent to where our son roams.

The dogs love going to the park. In the warmer months they jump right into the river and catch big ol' logs floating by. 

Today the pups made new friends and had a blast running around and catching sticks!

Today was a good day for the park. Sunny and a little chilly but all around great day to soak up some vitamin D.
 Hope you all had a good Monday!!