9.12.08 x 2

a reason i've been too busy to blog lately..lil' kitty keeps me entertained. she's super sweet and loves to take naps with me. of course when she wakes up, she runs around like a crazy kitty for about 30 minutes. i have a feeling i'm going to have a hard time giving her back to my mom when she gets home from vacation.

seems like a lot of our friends are going green lately. i love it. i just bought a bunch of cloth napkins on clearance at wal-mart. yea, they're not made from any organic recycled material..but hey, not using paper napkins is awesome. i decided to make the switch earlier this year. it's so easy people. next thing to get rid of..paper towels. of course we bought a pack of them at costco a few months back..so we'll have to wait until those run out..but then, it's microfiber towels. they're great. i've got a few that i use for cleaning, love them. we waste so much paper these days its ridiculous. so there's my encouragement to keep up the green-ness. oh yes, our other next green step is to by some SiGG water bottles. it's so easy to buy cases upon cases of water bottles...but why do we have a filtration system hooked up to our water faucet if we don't utilize it. seriously.

i've been happy to be cooking again. the summer is always hard b/c it get's so stinking hot. we bbq'd alot..lots of kabobs, i think the fave of the summer was the bacon-wrapped chicken kabobs. delish. everything is better wrapped in bacon. potato slabs became a staple just like corn on the cob. now that it's cooled off a bit, i'm happy to be using the old stove again. a couple things this week.... spicy white chili.... not giving you the recipe though... getting ready for a potential chili-cook off next month, can't give you my secrets. A sliced sirloin with steak frites in a shallot pan reduction (wow, that sounded quite culinary of me, eh?) was served the other night when the Harrisons joined us for dinner. a yummy cut of affordable meat served with a sauce made of shallots, brandy, and some other tasty ingredients..and homemade french fries baked in the oven. yummers. it's way cheaper to make your own than to buy the bag of frozen ones. this has been something else i'm trying to do lately-make everything I can.... it's amazing the stuff we have in our cupboards that can make the most delicious stuff. my latest creation was a yummy herb vinaigrette for a fresh green salad..
tasty tasty....
1/3 cup evoo (extra virgin olive oil for those of you that don't speak rachael ray)
1/3 cup white wine vinegar (cider, rice or white can be used too-whatever you got on hand)
1 tsp sugar (add more if you like it sweeter..just not too much:)
1 tbs snipped fresh basil, oregano, and thyme (or if you don't have these fresh, use dried but just 1/2 tsp each, and make sure you crush the herbs in between your fingers to release the flava)
1/4 tsp dry mustard (or if use 1 tsp Dijon-style mustard if you don't have the dry stuff)
1 clove garlic (or 2 if you like it real garlicky..i used a HUGE clove that probably would be considered 3 small cloves...gotta keep those vampires away after all..)
and a few grinds of fresh black pepper... to taste

so easy, combine all the ingredients in a screw top jar and shake shake shake. put outkast on and shake it like a Polaroid picture. i used to love that song.
anyways, if you use fresh herbs, this will be good for 3 days (keep in fridge) or if you use dry it'll last up to 1 week in the fridge. good stuff. think next time I'll use balsamic vinegar to mix it up a bit.
aaahh, i love writing about cooking. maybe i should become a food editor. oohh, better yet, i could be a judge on Iron Chef. I love that show. even better-Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen nightmares just started up. sweet. it's on Thursday nights, so any of you that join us thursday night for our life group are more than welcome to stick around and watch it with us :) we're kind of addicted....
okay. 2 blogs in one day. 2 long blogs. I could probably go for 3; but I'll wait... are you even still reading? goodness. what dedication. loves you all-a.