Product Review: Coolerwebs

July 22, 2014

So summer is in full swing and we have been enjoying lots and lots of time outside. We have been to the beach a few times and we hit the pool as often as possible.

I don’t know about you but whenever we head to the beach or pool we like to load up on drinks and snacks and our cooler is our best friend. Normally, we will keep drinks, sandwiches, fruit, etc., all in the main part of the cooler. I was the queen of Ziplocs and Rubbermaid containers, hoping to keep the sandwiches from getting soggy and the bags of fruit from getting water-logged. Well, my brother-in-law has created a product that eliminates the need for all the extra bags/containers. The Coolerweb is a mesh bag that attaches to the inside top (or outside) part of the cooler so you can keep things cold but also dry at the same time.

Here is the product description from the Amazon listing:

“Don’t get soggy or water logged! CoolerWebsTM is designed to fit on the inside of the cooler lids or on the outside. Keeps those cooler items you don’t want sitting in ice water getting soggy. It easily installs with a peel and stick Velcro type tape.”

When my brother-in-law asked me to give one a try I jumped at the chance. We took ours to the beach to test it out. They are easy to apply. You just place the adhesive side on the cooler and the web attaches with Velcro.

(via)

We had some sub sandwiches and a bag of grapes and it worked perfectly-no Ziplocs needed!!

We also found that it is great for holding bottle openers and koozies, so they are easy to grab when you get your drink from the cooler.

As a Mom to two busy kiddos, I am always looking for ways to make our lives a little easier. These fit the bill. The kids no longer have to dig around the cooler looking for fruit, sandwiches, etc. The items they need are right in sight and they can grab them easily (the top stays open) and head back to the pool or ocean.

Now I just need to convince him to make them in super-girlie colors too. Tee hee!

Get yourself one or two to enjoy this summer!

*Disclaimer: I was given a Coolerweb to try for this review. All opinions are my own.

Summer Pasta Salad Recipe

July 1, 2014

Can we talk salad bars for a moment? I’m normally not a huge fan of buffet-type restaurants. I love to eat but these types of restaurants normally make money on me because I can never go back for more than my initial plate. This is probably because I am intrigued by most everything on a salad bar and will normally try a little of everything. Thus the one and done.

My husband and I used to live in Atlanta for a short time right after we were married. I loved Atlanta. I always say, if Atlanta had a beach I would still live there. There are so many things to do and so many delicious places to eat. I became a forever-fan of Thai food while there and have yet to find anything quite as good here in Orlando. Even if we were just running to grab a bite for lunch it was almost always delicious.

There was a Jason’s Deli right across the street from where I worked while we were there. On a lunch break one day I was introduced to the chain. I know what you are thinking, Jason’s Deli? Really? Yes, stay with me. My girlfriend and co-worker at the time was with me and suggested I try the salad bar. Boy am I glad she was there. Best.decision.ever. This salad bar had everything you could imagine. The hard-boiled eggs weren’t chopped, they were whole (awesome)! But my favorite by far, the reason I would return to this location at least 10 times after this (we only lived in Atlanta for 9 months), was the pasta salad. It was flavorful and went perfectly with the rest of the salad fixins, but the most memorable part is that it was made with spaghetti noodles. Now, I don’t know about you, but normally if I were to make pasta salad, I would use small pasta shapes- shells, farfalle or wagon wheels if I could find them, but I never thought to use spaghetti. Well, my friends, it is still to this day my favorite pasta to use for pasta salad.

We have a few Jason’s Deli’s around here now and I’ve gone in hoping for salad bar excellence but have been disappointed each time. Don’t me wrong, the salad bar is still good, but no spaghetti pasta salad to be found (whole hard-boiled eggs were there though!). Since I can’t re-live my Atlanta Jason’s Deli experiences, I’ve decided that making it at home is definitely the best way to go.

I make all kinds of pasta salads these days but this version is one of my favorites. So in time for your 4th of July barbecue or cookout, here is a recipe I like and hope you will too!

Summer Pasta Salad

2014-07-01 15:35:46

Serves 4

Great for any cookout. This pasta salad uses spaghetti noodles!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 pound spaghetti pasta (I used Gluten Free Barilla because I really like the texture)
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1 small tomato, diced
2 slices cooked bacon
2 oz cheese (I used Colby but you can use any hard cheese you like)
1/3 cup black olives, chopped

Dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 avocado
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

While you are chopping the veggies, cheese and bacon, cook the pasta per the box instructions. Once you drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
In a food processor or blender mix all the ingredients for the dressing.
Mix the pasta and the veggies, then pour the dressing over to coat.

Notes

I used Gluten Free pasta for this because I really like the way the texture holds up the next day. It dries out a little bit, but that is how I like my pasta salad. Feel free to use regular semolina pasta, it will be great!!

Steph in Symmetry https://stephinsymmetry.com/

Happy Friday

June 27, 2014

Sorry for the radio silence over here. I’ve been busy splitting my time between summer fun with the family and work. It’s all about the balance right?

Some random things for a Friday.

We are trying to check things off our bucket list and have been pretty successful but we still have quite a few left.

We finally have a Trader Joe’s!! The store opened today. I can’t believe it has taken so long for us to get one. I am very excited and might even go this weekend to be part of what I’m sure will be a very busy opening!

I am trying to think of some fun recipes for July 4th! I have a pasta salad in mind that I might just try.

The kids are having such a great time so far this summer. Here is basically a photo dump of what we’ve been up to.

Some beachin’.

Some poolin’.

Some grillin’.

~~Tons of~~ Some restaurant eatin’.

Some ice cream makin’.

And lots of family funnin’.

Hope you are having a great summer too!

2014 Summer Bucket List

June 5, 2014

Today was the official last day of school for Little Man. I cannot believe he is done with kindergarten. I have been very emotional today so to take my mind off things I decided to jump on the Summer Bucket List bandwagon.

I keep seeing so many great ideas on Pinterest and all over the internet so I thought we would join in on the fun. Since I will still be working full-time, Little Man will be in camp for most of the summer, and The Princess will continue with daycare, our list will have things that can be done in the afternoons/evenings and on the weekends. I found this great printable.

I printed it out as a full-size photo on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and trimmed it a bit on the edges to fit in an 8×10 frame. I just used a dry erase marker right on the glass to write out our boxes and list.

Here are some highlights:

Make homemade ice cream

Go to the pool

Fish in the lake

Family Game Night

Eat outside

Clean rooms/playroom and donate toys

Dollar Movie

Little Man to read 6 Junie B Jones books

The Princess to practice writing her letters

Sidewalk chalk

Food Trucks for dinner

Beach

Breakfast for dinner

Mini golf

Feed ducks

Batting Cages

Ice skating

Outdoor movie or concert

Attend baseball game

Whew. This seems like a lot but I think we can do it! Little Man will be going on quite a few field trips during camp and The Princess has water day every Friday so there will be no shortage of fun things going on. Not to mention our family vacation to the Keys.

I look forward to a busy and exciting summer. Mainly to keep my mind off the fact that my oldest will be in first grade come August. Ugh.

What things are on your Summer Bucket List?

Roast Chicken

May 22, 2014

I can pretty much say this is the go-to meal at our house. It is perfect for during the week or even for entertaining. I think my family knows that if they come over for dinner on a Saturday night there is a 50/50 chance this will be on the menu (the other option is normally pasta of some sort). They are probably sick of it, but they haven’t complained yet.

Chef Jonathan Waxman really knows what he is doing. My husband and I watched him make this on TV once and thought, that looks so delicious, and really not too difficult. Proving again that if you have really good quality ingredients, making food delicious is pretty easy. The key is committing to basting EVERY 8 minutes. I’m not sure why it is 8 and not 10, but who am I to question Obi Wan Kenobi? He knows things, I tell you.

The skin is so delicious you will swear it was seared first. It gets so crispy and since the chicken is cut up into pieces, it cooks really quickly.

We have made tons of variations on this. Sometimes we change the citrus from lemon to orange or lime, add different herbs (rosemary, thyme, etc) once I used Tandoori spice and it was awesome.

You can change this up so many ways and it will come out delicious every time. I promise. If it doesn’t, come over to my house any given Saturday night and I will apologize personally by serving you roast chicken.

This is the tandoori spiced version.

Make sure you use a cast iron skillet. They work the best!

Roast Chicken

2014-05-22 11:14:20

Write a review

Save Recipe

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut in pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, cut in half
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Rinse the chicken and pat dry.
Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large cast iron skillet.
Rub the other tablespoon of oil onto all the chicken pieces.
Sprinkle both sides of all pieces with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Cut lemon in half and place cut side down in the pan.
Place chicken in oven and baste every 8 minutes until chicken is fully cooked (165 degrees). This normally takes about 35-40 minutes.
Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes

There are so many variations on this. Make it your own! You can use any seasonings you like and any high-temperature oil. We actually used duck fat once and it was amazing.

Adapted from Jonathan Waxman's Roast Chicken

Steph in Symmetry https://stephinsymmetry.com/

Mother’s Day Weekend

May 13, 2014

Such a wonderful weekend spent with family and loved ones. We decided to spend Saturday with my mom to celebrate with her. It was wonderful as always. I told her I would cook and she would be in charge of the beverages. I made shrimp and grits and this salad.

My Dad took over beverage making and made delicious margaritas.

My Mom has some beautiful gardenias growing. They smell amazing.

We ended the day watching Little Man play golf on the green behind their house. I hope he enjoys golf as much as we do.

Sunday we spent the day celebrating my sweet Mother-In-Law. It was a great time with yummy barbecue (I forgot to take a picture) and mimosas.

It was a perfect weekend and I just love the Mother’s in my life. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and showered your Mama’s with love.

Teacher Appreciation

May 7, 2014

via

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate my sons teacher. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but having your first child start kindergarten is a real emotional journey. Don’t get me wrong, we had firsts prior to this. The first time with a babysitter, the first time at daycare (can you say emotional wreck?) but nothing really prepares you for that look your child gives you the first day of “Big Boy School” when you drop him off and you say goodbye and walk away, then look back. Luckily (or unluckily) for me my husband was the one who had to take Little Man the first day. It broke my heart when my husband described the “I’m very scared but going to be brave” look he gave. What I realize now, is that he didn’t need to be scared and neither did we. The amazing person standing on the other side of that door made the fear go away.

From day one she has taken 15 children and made them her family. I have been lucky enough to help in the classroom a couple of times and I do not know how she does it. She is the most patient, caring, inspiring person. I have two little ones saying “Mommy, mommy” to the extent that drives me a little crazy. She has 15 little ones saying her name on repeat for 6 hours a day! She never bats an eye. Each child’s request is just as important as the next.

She goes through each day molding these little minds. She challenges Little Man. Makes him do things he may not even know he is capable of. He just adores her. When I drop him off in the mornings, I see her car at the front of the parking lot which means she was one of the first teachers to arrive. She stays and sits out in the hot sun until the last of her car-riders leaves in the afternoon (which is well after dismissal). I’m sure she leaves even later than that most days! She sends me texts to let me know how he is doing. She sent a text before a play to let us know which section of the stage Little Man was going to be on so we would know where to sit. Just today she sent me this picture.

They incubated eggs and they hatched!

She goes above and beyond. I know she is not alone either. There are so many wonderful teachers out there, many are my friends and I just think the world of them.

So the point of all of this is that yes, this week we celebrate our teachers and let them know how much we appreciate them. What I want my sons teacher to know is that we don’t just appreciate her this week, we appreciate her every single day. I was so afraid to begin the elementary school journey. Thank goodness I had this wonderful person to help me with the transition.

Thank you to all the teachers out there. You are helping create wonderful little humans and you are so very much appreciated. Every.Single.Day.

Friends and Family Weekend

May 5, 2014

What an absolutely fabulous weekend. My best friend Kristyn came into town with her husband and adorable baby. He is already four months old and this was our first meeting!! He stole my heart. Such a sweet baby. Look at this face. I couldn’t stop kissing it.

Friday night we celebrated their visit. We ate, drank and talked too much. It was perfect.

I guess I had Cinco de Mayo on the brain. Shrimp and Carnitas tacos, rice and lots of yummy toppings.

Plenty of drinks too 😉

It was a fabulous night with the girls I love and their families. I couldn’t ask for better friends in this world. Love them dearly.

Sun and Fun

April 30, 2014

I can’t believe it has taken me until Wednesday to do my weekend post. Such a busy week so far and it is only going to get busier! Sheesh!

This weekend was exactly what I hoped it would be. We grilled and chilled and had a great time. We were able to spend most of the weekend at my aunt and uncle’s taking advantage of the great company, awesome backyard and pool. The weather was beautiful and the pool was the perfect temperature for the kids (still a little chilly for me).

She is showing her muscles because she scaled the whole perimeter of the pool using her hands. She doesn’t know how to swim very well yet, but she finds a way to get around.

We grilled hamburgers topped with Chipotle Gouda and White Cheddar. Grilled buns, veggies, pasta salad, and sweet potato tots. Perfect warm weather meal.

Spot the avocado?

Just as good as I remember.

The kids watched from the driveway as a neighbor drove a remote controlled car.

Grassy toes.

Another great one in the books. Looking forward to this weekend. I will need it to get here quickly, this week has been a bear!

Happy Friday

April 25, 2014

What a busy week! This one has certainly flown by. We’ve been sticking to our Paleo-dinners-during-the-week and have really been enjoying it. We had two nights of carnitas (not pictured) which I think has become a new weekly thing. It is just so easy to throw some pork in the crock pot, shred it up when it is ready and you have dinner for at least two nights. Boom.

Another night it was roasted chicken with Tandoori spice, sautéed zucchini with onions and tomatoes with avocado on the side.

Picadillo- grass-fed beef, onions, bell peppers, tomato paste, a boatload of spices and green olives. Roasted sweet potatoes and avocado (I have a problem) on the side.

I even got a picture of one of the kids dinners which is rare because they normally eat faster than I can grab a camera. (Disclaimer: kids are not on board the Paleo train)

“Chicken and Waffles”- Chicken nuggets with the whole wheat waffles, (I made a big batch one weekend and put a bunch in the freezer) with maple syrup, corn, applesauce and cheddar cheese. The kids thought eating waffles for dinner was hilarious. Hey, whatever works.

So there is a little peek into what it looked like on the dinner front over here this week.

We are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Tee Ball game and beautiful weather. Sounds good to me.

Here are a couple other things I’m looking forward to.

As I mentioned before I am a big fan of meal planning. It really helps keep things running smoothly during the week which is huge for me. We recently signed up for Cook Smarts which I am really excited about. I love that I can tailor the plans to be Paleo or Gluten Free. I am also a fan of having the shopping list emailed. I will let you know how it goes.

I was excited to find this wine again in my grocery store.

My aunt and I really enjoyed this for a while but then it wasn’t available. I’m glad it’s back and I can’t wait to give it another try.

So there it is for this week. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!