july in pictures

July is flying by at record speed!
We've been so busy traveling, celebrating, working on our tans...

For a week, we beached in Cadiz in southern spain. Bea got married to Agu, and after the celebration we lounged on the beach all week. Pretty amazing beaches, a super chill vacation including: tons and tons of local seafood, amazing cava and beers in tiny glasses, and a dose of spanish food to last til our next visit.

next on board was coming back and celebrating Mauricio's birthday! I won't disclose his age, since he doesn't look a day over 24.
we had a celebratory dinner at Jose's, a spanish-themed dinner at my parents' house, and a super stealthy surprise picnic with some of his friends to round things out.
i think he had fun celebrating getting a year older :)

lentil burgers

I'm always looking for a meatless burger recipe that will hold up if cooked in a skillet or thrown on the grill. i've probably made dozens... and this recipe wins the prize. really really meaty and tasty, with such a tiny ingredient list. I halved the recipe and it made five large burgers. For dinner, for lunch, and for Z :)

lentil burger

-3 cups cooked lentils
-4 eggs
-salt to taste
-1 onion, finely diced (i threw this in the food processor since i had it out)
-1 cup toasted whole grain bread crumbs
-1 tbsp olive oil

1. combine lentils, eggs and salt in the food processor. Puree until thick and creamy, like the consistency of hummus.
2. pour into a mixing bowl and stir in onions and bread crumbs.
3. let sit for a couple minutes.
4. shape into patties. (if it's too runny, add more bread crumbs. if too dry, add a bit of water)
5. cook in nonstick skillet with olive oil, 7-10 minutes on each side, or until bottoms turn brown.

moroccan dinner

**couscous with cinnamon and candied, buttery cashews. it was sprinkled with melted honey and powdered sugar after i put it on the plate.




**a spanish-like tortilla, with potatoes and eggs and moroccan spices (tumeric, cumin, paprika)

dippity-do da

today on my way back to work after visiting Z-dog at home (making sure she hadn't melted into a puppy puddle), i stopped at trader joe's to get some icey cold treats for my co-workers.

you wouldn't believe how many people turned one down-
but the ones that said yes were Super Psyched! only crazy fools don't love chocolate covered frozen bananas.

mauricio makes the family garage look so inviting.
saws! staple guns! recycling bins, oh my!

Cirque de Bebe

we had a baby shower for SIL Kelly back in february.
it had an amazing theme: cirque de bebe. It was like a french circus, with plastic zoo animals in glass bowls (resembling their natural habitat), big colorful feathers, french-themed foods (quiche, french macarons, ratatouille).

Week In Food