Pork Potstickers

Hey guys! I know it’s been a while… I haven’t been cooking anything fun cuz the dude’s been outta town. No sense in cooking up a storm for just yourself, right? Last night, however, I got all excited and decided to make potstickers from scratch (minus the skins). Find the recipe here. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks, lots of stuff working on earrings – you can see what I’ve been posting here. Also, I’ll be in a wedding this summer in Hawai’i, so I’ve been working on some goodies for that

 

these are all the ingredients: ground pork, cilantro, shrimp, bok choy (i’m gonna use onions instead next time), and ginger.

 

 

here’s everything all mixed together before they got wrapped up!

delicious fried potstickers!! I used to make these in Japan all the time with my mom, but since she’s a vegetarian, I’ve never made em with meat before! I love love love pork, so this worked out well for me

 

Flank Steak with Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce and Roasted Cauliflower

I’ve been on a steak kick a bit lately – it’s all I’ve been craving. And when I make steak at home, it has to be flank steak. I love flank steak. All steak, really. I love meat.

Generally, when you buy flank steak you end up with way more than you need, so you get a few meals out of it. This week, I opted for steak with chimichurri sauce, and then I’ll be making Pho at the end of the week since it’s been a wee bit chilly here.

I decided that I wanted to try roasted cauliflower with the steak since I’ve been seeing recipes everywhere recently. They both turned out deliciously!! Couldn’t have been happier with the recipes, which are here:

http://www.sagerecipes.com/2012/04/11/grilled-skirt-steak-with-cilantro-chimichurri-sauce/

http://remcooks.com/2012/02/02/roasted-cauliflower-with-red-chile-cilantro-lime/

For the steak, I broiled it for 8 minutes, flipped em, then broiled for 8 more instead of firing up the grill.  Although delicious broiled, I’d say it probably would have added another dimension if it had been grilled instead. The crispy fiery taste would have been perfect with the chimichurri sauce (as the original recipe says, duh Leela).

Here’s my finished product

Pork Chops with Basil-Garlic Rub

Originally, my plan was to make dinners on Sunday’s a little fancier. However, we opted to go out for dinner on Sunday, so these got pushed back to Monday dinner. This rub would be amazing on ANYTHING. Even tofu, for those of you who aren’t prone to the carnivorous lifestyle. I apologize for the lack of after picture – this is a habit that I have to work on. The chops smelled so delicious as I was pulling them out of the oven that I started eating right away and completely forgot to take a picture.

Here’s the recipe:

http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/2558/Grilled_Pork_Chops_with_Basil-Garlic_Rub.aspx

Instead of grilling, I baked at 375F for 30 mins, then broiled for 5mins. I paired my chops with white rice and butter garlic corn. Roasted broccoli probably would also have been delicious, had we had any

I would highly recommend this recipe!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Croissants

Now that I’m back from my fun little jaunt to Oregon – it’s back to the simple life in my new sleepy little town

After a couple relaxing nights catching up on “The Walking Dead” and staying in with the boy, I’m spending today being domestic and catching up on stuff around the house… and squeezing some time in to blog and lay out in the sun! Today’s high says 77, but because of the high altitude, it’ll probably feel above 80 in the sunlight. It’s still in the low 60′s now, with a slight breeze so I don’t feel like I’m too hot just yet.

By the way, the Vampire Weekend Pandora station is amazing, and perfect for a little laying out!

Usually, I leave brunches on Sundays to the boy, since I cook dinners during the week, but we had a little collaborative breakfast today and made scrambled eggs and Raspberry Cream Cheese Croissants (thank you to Shannon, from So Rumbly In My Tumbly for the recipe!)

The recipe called for strawberry, but we had raspberry jam on hand so I decided to try the recipe with that and see how it turned out. It was delicious! A little on the sweeter side for what we’re used to eating for brunches, so I’d recommend it as an afternoon tea snack for those of you who aren’t prone to sweet things for brunch. Mine didn’t turn out quite as nicely as Shannon’s, which is why I won’t be posting a picture today

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday’s!

LeeMo Spring Cleaning Sale

It’s that time of year, folks – spring cleaning! Out with the old and in with the new

In honor of making room for new, exciting things, all LeeMo earrings have free shipping through my Etsy Shop until May 11th – now’s your chance to grab that gift for Mother’s day

Use code SPRINGTIME at checkout.

Happy spring, all!

updates + features

Ok, folks… I know it’s been quite a while since I’ve blogged. To be fair, I was moving across the Pacific Ocean back to the States

It’s true – I’m back in the States! Japan was wonderful, and I loved every second of it, but I was ready to be back in the states and start on a new path. I decided to relax a bit in Vernal, Utah (random, I know) – and I made a friend here who happens to be a fashion blogger!

She was wonderful enough to feature a pair of LeeMo Earrings on her blog, which you can check out here. Her style is adorable – and it’s always great to see how people pair different types of items! Go check out her Facebook page and become a fan, now!

Arashiyama

I went to Arashiyama in Kyoto with a friend of mine in early December to see the bamboo forest. They were doing a thing where they lit the forest up at night and you could walk through the whole area and see everything. It was absolutely gorgeous, as you can see!

I also decided to make another pair of custom chopsticks for myself with my new Kanji name