The first week of summer vacation has come and gone. (Thanks for all the great comments Friday–glad to hear I have support on the TV Is The Devil stance.)
I went on a two mile walk on Sunday. I saw a flowering cactus. The only reason I mention this is because I took a picture of this cactus on one of my first walks last year. I want to be that committed again. I’m working on it. The boys are on swim team, and there is a gym I can use right next to the pool. I might walk on the treadmill and skip the pretty pictures in favor of air conditioning.
On Saturday I went to Hobby Lobby for the first time in my life. Now I know where all the distressed wood ended up! Wowza. I didn’t see much I liked there, but I did like their terrarium section. I searched for something simple, but no luck. I ended up buying this faux rusty one because I really, really need a terrarium if I have any hope of keeping my maidenhair ferns alive. They just aren’t meant for my area, but heck if that keeps me from buying them the last 14 years. This is the longest I’ve been able to keep them alive, and it’s because I treated them like Beyonce. I misted them every day, plus gave them showers, plus moved them around the house in search of perfect light. Two weeks into that nonsense and you understand why I wasn’t leaving Hobby Lobby without a terrarium. I haven’t had to do much to them other than check their soil, and it’s still moist 48 hours later!
Buttercup, of course. She needs her own Instagram account so I can take pictures of her to my insane, bird-loving heart’s content. Did you see the video of her taking a bath? I mean, honestly.
Buddy sleeps with Mikey every night. Mikey says he can’t sleep without Buddy, and I think the feeling is mutual. Buddy’s cough is so much better when he sleeps with Mikey, and he wakes up more rested because he (Buddy) sleeps in. After Buster, Buddy’s sleep when to pot. He got up, wandered the house, barked to go out, barked to come in, coughed all night, and then got up by dawn. When you sleep with someone for 13 years, it’s hard to adapt to the new normal.
We were running errands over the weekend and decided to eat at Lazy Dog. We were pleasantly surprised with the food and atmosphere. The Mister got to watch World Cup and Nico had plenty of vegetarian options to choose from since he now refuses to eat “pig and bird and cow.” The Mister surprised me by ordering a vegetarian lavash sandwich. I thought for sure he would order a burger. When I asked him about it he said, “If my 7 year-old can do it, so I can I.” I posted a picture of it because I think it’s something easy anyone can recreate at home. It’s just lavash (you can use a tortilla or pita), spinach, sliced radishes, avocado, tomatoes, and gouda cheese with a drizzle of dressing.
Speaking of easy to recreate meals, the pizza I made later that night was amazing. I was originally going to make bread sticks, but pulling the dough out of the fridge reminded me I had some yellow squash and tomatoes fast approaching the point of no return. I ended up making two pizza-like things that we covered in arugula. SO GOOD.
Sort-of recipe:
2 packs of pizza dough (I used Trader Joe’s plain)
2 yellow squash
Handful of grape tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Garlic or garlic powder
Oregano
Basil
On one pizza I stretched out the crust and drizzled it with olive oil. I layered the thinly sliced yellow squash and then drizzled them with more olive oil. I dusted the squash and dough with garlic powder, oregano, and Maldon salt. (I’m not being a fancy jerk with that salt. The large flakes give a nice crunch to baked breads and it tastes..softer. I can’t explain it, but it does.) I baked it for around 20 minutes in a 450� convection oven.
On the second pizza the procedure was the same but I skipped the oregano and added tomatoes and basil.
This was a super awesome way to get rid of vegetables that were looking dicey. I think next time I will add red onion to the plain yellow squash pizza. I didn’t have any onions and I think it would add a nice bite to the sweetness of the squash.
OK, ready to face Monday. Not really.
Those pizzas look and sound great! I just picked up our first yellow squash of the summer at our CSA today. I’ve also got cherry tomatoes, arugula and even an onion. Looks like we’ve got a plan for dinner tonight. Thank you for the inspiration!
So he’s really going the vegetarian route, eh? Impressed but also not surprised. And that lavash thing looks good…more like tacos though. Was the lavash stiff like a taco shell? Never been to Lazy Dog, but now you have me thinking it may not be that bad to try. they have one at our local mall so maybe when we’re school clothes shopping we can try it. I sound like my mother now, spewing all my thoughts on plans and such out for everyone who doesn’t really care to hear