She Swims and He Cooks!

Hello again!  We are home from our beach mini-vacation.  Even though it is always hard to finish a vacation, it was actually nice to be home.  It was nice to be in our own beds!  We were in sort-of close quarters on our trip, so it’s nice to have more space!

Since we’ve been back, we’ve been fighting the swimming battle.  Sadie actually started swimming at the tail end of last summer.  However, we didn’t get to swim as much as I would have liked over the summer.  So we have had a rough start to swimming this summer. Every time Ryan or I would go to get her to practice, we’d get a lot of whining and crying.  “I Caaaaaaan’t do it, Mommy!  I’m SCAAAAARRRED!”  Luckily, we had booked some lessons with a great swimming teacher.  After 4 lessons, we’ve turned a corner.  Today at our pool, she swam and swam.  We honestly couldn’t get her to stop.  We even got her to jump in the water and then swim!  I was a proud mom today!  Check it out:

And here she is swimming back to the wall.

We decided to reward her with fro-yo afterwards.  She gobbled it up and then this is what happened next:

 

We know how to wear a kid out.

Sometimes I like to do look-backs.  Here’s a little look-back from the end of last summer.

She has come a long way!  I’m really excited that she is swimming so well in June, and we still have a lot of time to keep practicing this summer.  I can’t wait to see how she is swimming in August!

One other great thing that happened is this fabulous dinner that the hubby made for us yesterday!  I was very surprised when Ryan said he felt like cooking.  It took a little while for him to decide on WHAT to cook, since there are a lot of things I am not eating.  The conversation went like this:

Ryan: I saw this thing in a magazine.  You use a pouch of mashed potatoes…

Liz: I don’t eat potatoes in a pouch.  It’s too processed.

Ryan: Oh yeah.  What else do you not eat?

Liz: Grains and wheat especially.

Ryan: What about pasta?

Liz: No, honey, that’s wheat,

Hehe.  It is weird to try and explain the Paleo way of eating to other people.  I do eat some dairy (like fro-yo occasionally and sometimes cheese but not that often) but for the most part, I am close to Paleo.

So after some thinking, Ryan cam up with his own idea for dinner and he did a great job!

 

He sauteed some onions and peppers in EVOO on the stove while grilling some steaks.  He seasoned the steaks with salt, pepper, and some McCormick hamburger seasoning.  When the steaks were done, we topped them with the onions and peppers.  I would not have thought to do this, but it worked really well.  Very delicious!  He did a great job and was very proud of himself!  It was very nice to sit back and relax and have dinner just appear!  :)  Thank you, hubby!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

P4: Periwinkle, Park, Pool, and Potatoes

Happy Saturday!  Today has been a fabulous Saturday here at the Confessions house.  We decided to start with a trip to Old Town Rock Hill.  (FYI, for those of you who aren’t local, Old Town is our downtown area!)  We couldn’t decide what we wanted for breakfast, but we ended up at the Periwinkle Cafe and Bakery.  I’ve been wanting to try it out for a while.  I’ve been here before when it was Rock Hill Roasting Company, but haven’t been inside since it changed to Periwinkle. 

It ended up being a great choice!  I started with coffee—Autumn Spice!  DELICIOUS!  Loved this flavor.  It didn’t even need creamer, it was that flavorful!

I decided on a yogurt parfait.  Ryan opted for a breakfast sandwich.  Sadie wasn’t very hungry and just enjoyed her juice. 

  

Afterwards, we hit up a nearby park that has been redone and is fabulous! 

I cannot believe that it is already Labor Day weekend.  That means that most pools are getting their last weekend of use!  So sad.  We decided we wanted to head to the pool today to enjoy the sunny weather and relax. 

It was such a great day.  We thought about eating out, but decided to continue with our outdoorsy day and grilled out instead.  I had salmon in the freezer, but I couldn’t decide on a side dish.  I had potatoes, and I thought about making oven-fried potatoes, but then I thought… why not grill them?  I’ve never grilled potatoes, so I Googled it and got this recipe from Paula Deen.

This recipe was super-simple and pretty quick!  I only made one change—I didn’t use the House Seasoning.  I used this blend that I’ve been meaning to try.

It was on sale for 50 cents a few weeks ago and I thought, “What the heck?  I’ll try it.”  It was perfect on these potatoes!  VERY flavorful!  I think it would be great on all sorts of meat!  So glad I have this in my pantry!

The potatoes really were the star of this meal—maybe it was the butter… maybe it was just the flavor from grilling.  But we’ll definitely do this again!

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

A Hint of Summer

Happy Monday!  Were you one of the lucky people with a day off today?  I hope so!  I really enjoy any time that I have a Monday off.  It’s so nice to not get the “Sunday Blues.”  How did you spend Memorial Day?

We started with a trip to Home Depot to get some yard work supplies.  We needed new garden hoses and a few other items.  It was already hot and HUMID at 10:00 a.m. this morning!  I knew we were going to have to get to the pool!

We got a little yard work done, and then it was time to head to Ryan’s parents for lunch. 

Sadie always likes to enjoy her lunches “picnic-style” with her cousin Jerry!

Then we finally made it to the pool.  I think that the only way to deal with South Carolina summer heat is to be in water.  I’m a little worried… it’s already pretty hot… and we haven’t even gotten to JUNE yet!  Yikes!  It was SUPER crowded at the pool, but I don’t mind the crowds too much. 

Sadie played and played… and finally passed out.  Ryan said, “Well, I guess the pool won today!”

Here’s Ryan trying out one of the water slides.

We stopped by the Farmer’s Market on the way home to grab a few items. 

I LOVE fresh cherries.

And we enjoyed some corn cooked on the grill tonight.  So delicious. 

 

Ok… now on to my Summer Blog Project… Some of you guessed it!

I featured this photo yesterday…

… which is my Grandmother’s recipe box.  My Grandmother Dixie was such a wonderful cook.  Our visits to our grandparents’ house were always filled with delicious meals.  This summer, I’m going to be cooking my way through it.  I’m really looking forward to making some of the recipes that I always remember her making for us, like Chicken Divan… but I also can’t wait to cook some of the recipes she had in there that I have never tried!  And I actually tried out one recipe on Saturday!  You’ll have to check back in tomorrow to get that recipe and see photos.

I’m looking for a name for my summer project.  My grandmother’s name was Helen Dixon, but everyone called her Dixie.  I was thinking about “Dining with Dixie,” but I am not sure if that’s the right name.  I need to sleep on it.  Any ideas???

Easter Eve

Happy Weekend! 

All of our dogs have enjoyed time getting to know each other.  Well… not really.  Mady, Adrienne’s new puppy REALLY wants to play with Zoe and Baylee.  But those two aren’t interested yet.

As you can see, we’re really enjoying each other’s company here in Greenville.  It’s nice to have time with family. 

We’ve definitely had our share of fantastic eats over the past couple of days.  This morning, we had our trip to Stax’s Original for breakfast.  We all love Stax’s! 

I had the ham, egg, and cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato.  Tell me that doesn’t look good!

We had some fun at the park today. 

Sadie found a little gift at the park…

We went to this exact same park last year the day before Easter, too.  Maybe it’s going to become an Easter tradition. 

Speaking of Easter Traditions… we also dyed Easter Eggs today! 

We do this every single year.  Do you?  We tried making some fun designs with tape, rubber bands, and crayons. 

 

Lucky for us, Poppy grilled tonight!  He made hot dogs and hamburgers, and they were delicious!

Adrienne and Meredith are hard at work right now on another Easter tradition.  You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for that one!