The Joy of Cooking!

Tim and I have fallen in love with cooking! When we first got married we lived off of rice-a-roni and pasta-roni (It was very pathetic--I know!). We are continually trying new recipes and/or making our own up. One recipe that I made up has become quite regular in our household. It's kind of spicey (but not too bad). Below you'll find the recipe...if you venture into making this meal please let me know how it turns out. I mainly posted this blog because my dad loves to cook and he finds joy in making dinners (or "nurturing the family" in his words) ...so I thought he would enjoy this blog. Love ya dad! Stay tuned for more recipes! :)


Creamy Bell Pepper Pasta

1 yellow onion (sliced)
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
4-5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pint heavy cream
2 cups parmesan-reggiano cheese (grated)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste (I usually add salt and pepper throughout the entire process)

In a stock pot begin to heat water. When water is boiling add desired pasta and cook. In a fairly large nonstick skillet heat olive oil. Add onions, bell peppers, salt pepper, red pepper flakes and saute until translucent. Add minced garlic and saute for another 5-7 minutes. After all ingredients have sauteed together add heavy cream (more salt and pepper). Bring heavy cream to simmer (3-4 minutes). Once it's began to simmer add grated parmesan cheese. Once cheese is melted, drain pasta and add to cream/cheese mixture and serve. This serves about 4 people and leftovers are never as good the second day.

We made this meal last night and I had it again for lunch today...when I reheated it it became very oily because the cream doesn't reheat well. We usually eat this with french bread that has been heated under the broiler with some butter or olive oil and garlic salt or rubbed garlic garlic cloves.

For you.... BEANA!

Just wanted to give congrats to Tad (Tim's older brother) and Sabrina (Tad's wife). They are expecting a little bambino October 10th. It's so exciting to think that we'll have another little one in our family. It's about time someone had a baby! I was getting a baby hungry :)

I've Caught the "tri-bug"

On May 19th I finished my first triathlon. I've been training with two other girlfriends since January and it has been a great bonding experience. I've gotten so close to these girls and I love 'em to death. Unfortunately, one of the girls injured one of her knees a few days ago and was unable to participate but she was with us in spirit. As for my experience...the swim was BRUTAL! On my first lap I turned around from the wall and swam right into one of my opponent's foot. I then proceeded to swallow half of the pool's water. I had a horrible time recovering from this. I never practiced for this happening, but I learned my lesson quickly. I had to do a lot of breast stroking and side stroking. It felt like the swim was never going to end, but 7 minutes later it did! I loved the biking and running. I finished the 10 mile bike ride in 40 minutes and ran the 5K in about 29 minutes. My overall time with all of the transitions was 1 hour 23 minutes. I actually shocked myself because I knew I could do the race in about 1 hour and 45 minutes but I thought with fatigue I might finish around 2 hours. So I actually did A LOT better than I anticipated. I felt good crossing the finish line and I had enough energy to run another 5K. It was so much and I look forward to my next triathlon (July 4th). We'll see if I can improve on my time. But in order for me to do so I'll have to practice my swimming. :)

Whirlwind Weekend

Victoria and Frances had never been rock climbing outside before. They have scaled a few indoor gym walls, and Vickey was nervous to have them climb but they did great. However, Victoria's face in a few of the pictures I took were hilarious! She looked terrified!


My Dad, Step-mom and two sisters (Frances & Victoria) came into town for the weekend. They came to good ole' Utah to run the "Race for a Cure" 5K run. My dad came out a couple of years ago and ran the race with me, Feef and Meg and decided this event NEEDED to be a family thing. While they were here we also did a hike up Millcreek Canyon, had a rather large family BBQ at our 1300 square foot condo, and taught my little sibs how to rock climb. We had a blast and I always look forward to our future visits with them. They are all so hilariously funny and I enjoyed our time with them. Love you and miss you already!


Feef scaling the wall and My dad and Vickey before our 5K run. My dad ran his little heart out...he ran the entire thing! Which is kind of a big deal because he doesn't run often. He likes to ride his bike around the "hills" in Kansas, but that is the extent of his exercising. It was quite comical... us girls were running fairly slow and my dad was huffing and puffing but he kept up! :) I can't until next year's run.


Us girls "running" or trotting the 5K race. I tried to take a picture of the entire road behind because it was amazing to see so many people running the Race for the Cure. My pictures don't do it justice, but to think that 17,000 people came out and supported such a great cause gives you goosebumps. It looked like a never-ending sea of people.

The Sibs!

Kailee

Frances (feef the beef)

Victoria

Dara (Dare Bear)

Brian

Meghan (Meg Peg Leg)

I am so lucky to have so many siblings. Family gatherings are a riot and I enjoy every single one of them. I thought I would tell one funny/silly thing about each sib.

Kailee- she passionately hates all cheeses (but little does she know pizza is loaded with it)
Frances- she can burp and fart anyone under the table (even Tim)
Dara- she chose to NOT drive until she was 18 years old
Victoria- she cracks herself up! She laughs at her own jokes (which happen to be semi-good) :)
Meghan- ummmmm well...I can't think of anything! :) Meg is Meg! That's funny enough!
Brian- he thought he would be older than Meghan someday (it drove him crazy that he was the younger brother)

Tim's new running partner!

Tim and Tug have started their nightly ritual of running (with hopes to get ready for the steeple chase run--17 miles up City Creek Canyon). At times I'm fortunate to join them and the times I have tagged along I've noticed that Tug will run his little (did I say little? I meant big) heart out and then he will chill in the middle of the trail and then you are forced to jump over him because he ain't moving. Tug also enjoys running at mach 20,000 towards you and at the last second he'll maneuver slickly around you. However, I was not "maneuvered" very well the other day. Tug saw me in the dust and decided that he needed to come and join me on the trail. So...he started his mach speed and came towards me like a bullet. I kept running thinking he would stop, but alas he did not. He plowed me over so hard and knocked the breath out of me. With that said... he can continue to be Tim's running partner. I'll stick with my triathlon ladies.