Veggie Pesto Pasta

I bought some pesto last week to make eggplant paninis and ever since, we cannot get enough. I saw some pesto pasta dishes on Pinterest and thought I would try that one night for dinner. So Sunday night I pulled a bunch of veggies out and started chopping. I had some leftover eggplant, squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and a little roasted red pepper. This was such an easy dish. I just boiled the noodles and set aside a little of the pasta water. Then I cooked the eggplant, zucchini, and squash in some oil with minced garlic. Then I added the pasta, some pesto, and a little pasta water (less than a cup). At the very end I threw in the halved cherry tomatoes and roasted red peppers.

 

We had leftover bread from the paninis so I put spaghetti sauce on them with mozzarella cheese and oregano and put them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up. This dish will quickly become a staple in our house. I love any dish that is light and is filled with fresh veggies!

Ikea bookcase

A while back we headed over to Detroit for the day to hit up Ikea. We purchased this bookcase, 4 storage cubes, and picture frames for the dining room. I couldn't wait to put it together when we got home. Then I searched the house looking for accessories for all the cubies. I saw on Pinterest where someone took a bookcase and painted the back of it black. Ours doesn't have a back to it so I bought a cheap black curtain panel and super glued it to the back. I love how it looks. It adds so much interest to an otherwise plain piece of furniture.

For the frames, I used pictures from a coffee table book I found on sale at Barnes and Noble. Eventually I need to get something for the top of the bookcase....maybe a short long floral arrangement....but for now I love how it looks.

Weekend Food

After we kayaked and worked off some serious calories, we headed into St. Joseph to see what kind of treats they had to offer. As soon as we got parked I spotted this: 

It took very little to convince Dave that we needed to split just one. :) There are no calories when you split things, right?? Luckily the girl working the truck is a peanut butter fanatic too and said it was the best. So, one peanut butter cupcake:

 

 It tasted as good as it looked! I thought I was going to have to fight Dave for the last bite! Then we headed across the street to the farmer's market. There were lots of yummy fruits, veggies, pastries, granolas, etc. I love farmer's markets and have a hard time not buying up everything! Luckily we only walked away with one thing: 

It was only $1 so why not, right? Amish homemade oatmeal raisin cookies = HEAVEN!

Saturday night we had big plans to go out to eat but after a day on the water we decided a night in was more our speed. We made homemade pizzas instead. I am a huge fan of making pizza at home. I love that I know exactly what goes into them and we can each make them exactly how we want.

What a fun, food-filled day! Aren't those usually the best though?!

Kayaking

This past Saturday we headed over to St. Joseph, MI to do some kayaking....thanks Groupon! We bought a four hour tandem kayaking package. Before we left I decided to pack us a lunch we could easily eat on the water.

Veggie wraps: hummus, spinach, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, ceasar dressing;

sweet potato pop chips; blueberries and strawberries; chocolate almonds

It was a perfect day to be on the water. There wasn't a cloud in the sky but it wasn't hot either.....one of the perks to living in Michigan. :) The scenery was amazing.

Love adventures with this guy.

Notice my Bama hat? This guy who worked at the kayak rental place's dad played for Bear Bryant at Alabama! Small world!

Little kayaking tip: Steer clear of these!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

This past weekend Dave and I went to pick blueberries. This is our second time this summer and we can't seem to pick enough. Between munching on them and baking them into everything, they go quickly. This past weekend we planned to pick raspberries too but there were bees flying all over them so we had to resort to the farms pre-picked ones but they were still quite delish!

Once home I had to find something to do with all the raspberries so I found this yummy recipe. The only changes I made were using Splenda instead of sugar and I used regular applesauce instead of unsweetened because that is all I had on hand. I made a half recipe and didn't measure the raspberries, instead just throwing them in until I felt like there were enough. Dave approved and at 100 calories each, I love that they are a low calorie snack or breakfast treat.

Yes!

My 28th birthday is one I will never forget. I am a huge fan of birthdays and believe they should be a big deal. Well this year I spent mine away from my family and Dave was working so I decided to treat myself to a spa day. I finished up around 4:30 and started back to the house. Shelby, our newest puppy was getting stitches out that day so I thought Dave was at the vet with her. I pulled into the garage and there was a note on the door to the house that said "follow the roses". I didn't think anything of it just assuming it was a birthday surprise. I followed rose petals and candles until I found him down on one knee in his dress uniform with a ring. All I could say was "are you serious?!". There I was with no makeup on, greasy hair, in jeans and a tank top for this super romantic occasion. I said YES! We immediately called friends and family to share the happy news. After toasting to us, we got ready for celebratory and birthday dinner.What a night to remember. How will he ever top this next year?? Kidding!

Getting back at it

I am really going to get serious about blogging again. I have the time and stuff to talk about so why not? So let's start off with some money saving. I had an awesome couponing trip to Meijer today. I spent $12.91 and saved $50.03! Here is what I took home:

Transaction 1:
   - Jif Peanut Butter = Free (with mPerks code)
   - Crystal Light (5) = $4.95 (marked down to $1.99 plus $1.00 off each when you buy 8 participating products)
   - Kool-Aid (3) = $2.97 (marked down to $1.99 plus $1.00 off each when you buy 8 participating products, I had a coupon for $1 off 2 products, and Ibotta offered a $.75 rebate)
Total = 6.17 (plus I received $4.00 off to use towards my next transaction)

Transaction 2:
   - Jif Peanut Butter = Free (with mPerks code)
   - Notebooks (10) = $1.70 (marked down from $.99 to $.17)
   - Index Cards (2) = $.88 (marked down from $.49 to $.44)
   - Cereal (4) = $4.00 (marked down to $2.50 plus $1.00 off each when you buy 4, 2 coupons for $1.00 off 2)
   - used the $4.00 off from transaction 1
Total = $2.73

Transaction 3:
   - Jif Peanut Butter = Free (with mPerks code)
   - Apricot scrub = $3.66 (Buy one at $3.44 get one 50% off, 2 $.75 off coupons)
   - Reach floss = Free (marked down to $.75, coupon for $1.00 off but Meijers doesn't give the overage)
Total = $4.01