House Projects Round #2

Since we put in the wood floors, we've been itching to get some more things done around the house. We have a long list to tackle, but here are some of the things that have been done lately (P.S., I am really bad about remembering to take "before" pictures, so for those of you who have not seen our house in person, just imagine that these things we've been working on looked much a little worse than the pictures posted here):

Cedar exterior framing, new door knobs, wooden screen doors:

We wanted to give the exterior of the house a little makeover, so we decided to stain some cedar a gray (barnwood color) shade to frame the windows. While we were at it  we also decided to put up wooden framed screen doors and new door knobs. I am still planning on painting both the front and side door one of these colors.

Here's the progess picture.

The windows on the outside of the house got the same cedar framing treatment.

Jacob at work on the front door.

Landscaping:

In progress picture, post weeding, trimming, and mulching.

Close up of the cleaned up rock walkway. I love this walkway - the rocks have moss growing on them, it's great.

Interior:

On the interior, we hung some really cool wall art. This stained glass beauty was given to us as a wedding present. I love how it warms the living room and gives such character!

The red window. We found this guy at the Re-Store in Boone for $10. Can't beat it! Looks like it was a side window to a front door at one point. We did nothing to this except hang it up!

Love ikea frames. Love wedding pictures.

This one is an ikea print that I framed and put above the toilet in the master bath. I think it gives the toilet area some class, don't you think?

And finally, my favorite little spot in the living room. It's been fun discovering all the wildflowers plant varieties in our yard. We moved into the house in September of last year, so this is our first spring here! 

Coming soon - painting the exterior doors, more on the landscaping, and (hopefully) a newly stained kitchen table! 

Sesame Tempeh Asian Fusion Salad

Good Morning! Spring is finally showing it's first signs here at 4100 ft. We've got all kinds of wild flowers popping up in the yard. Including these beautiful trilliums. I couldn't resist sharing.

In other news, it's the start of salad season! As previously mentioned in my recent pasta post, Jacob's parents brought us some garden grown greens when they visited Boone recently. These greens included two types of lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and mustard greens. The lettuce will be the featured green in this post, if you didn't already guess.

But first, tempeh.

And marinade for said tempeh. I love sesame oil and soy sauce combinations on so many different things - this tempeh was no exception. The marinade consisted of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, and honey.

Mix the marinade with the tempeh cubes, and toss. I let the tempeh marinate for about an hour before I roasted it, but it would have just as much flavor with 15-20 minutes of marinating. 

Line a small baking dish with parchment and put the tempeh and any remaining marinade with it.  Pictured next to the tempeh are some cabbage and mushrooms prepped and ready to be roasted along side the tempeh.  

I have a confession to make: I really like dole mandarin oranges. Especially on asian salads.

Next up - prep the dressing. The dressing used a lot of the same ingredients as the marinade - in fact, if you wanted to you could probably double the marinade as dressing, but I did make a few changes to this batch of dressing. The dresses also has canola oil in it to balance out the sesame oil and soy sauce. I also added some ginger and orange juice for some sweetness and kick. 

Next up - assembly! My salad started out with fresh washed, trimmed, and chopped lettuce. Then, I layered tempeh, carrots, mandarin oranges, sprouts, roasted cabbage/mushrooms, and some rice noodles that I had leftover from another meal. Topped it all off with asian fusion dressing and crunchy chow mein noodles.

The perfect spring meal. Easy, cheap, and quick. The best part - only a few small dishes to wash after dinner!

Sesame Tempeh Marinade and Roasting Directions:

- 1 package tempeh (we like the three grain variety, but any kind will do. Found in the produce section of the grocery store)

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp minced garlic (1 large clove)

- 1 tsp sesame seeds

- 1 tsp honey

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

- Cut the tempeh into cubes around 3/4 inch.

- Mix together remaining ingredients.

- Pour marinade over tempeh.

- Let rest for as little as 15 min or up to 1 hour.

- Line a baking dish with parchment paper.

- Heat oven to 400 degrees.

- Pour tempeh and marinade into baking dish.

- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy.

- Serve on top of your asian salad!

Asian Fusion Dressing Recipe:

- 2 tbsp sesame oil

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1/2 orange, juiced

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- 1 tsp sesame seeds

- 1 tsp minced ginger

- 1 tsp (or 1 large clove) minced garlic

Directions:

- Mix all ingredients except the canola oil in a bowl.

- Whisk the canola into the other wet ingredients, stirring vigorously to incorporate.

- Serve over top salads.

Other asian fusion salad topping suggestions:

- Mandarin oranges

- Chow mein noodles

- Roasted veggies (cabbage is great!)

- Cooked rice noodles

- Carrots

- Cucumber

- Sprouts

Basil's Fresh Pasta with Marinara and Local Greens

Our good friends Patrick and Laura are opening a new restaurant here in the Boone area - Basil's Fresh Pasta and Deli. We were happy to test out some of Basil's fresh pasta before they opened their doors, so excited that we had it for dinner just as soon as we got home from picking it up! Patrick also gave us some of Basil's homemade marinara sauce to go along with the pasta, yum! Here's what we created with the fresh ingredients that were given to us:

*Disclaimer - Jacob cooked most of this meal, I'm just writing about it.*

The pasta we used came in sheets that are normally going to be sold as lasagna noodles.

We made our own pappardelle using this sheets but cutting the sheets into thick strips.

The greens were grown and given to us by Jacob's parents. Lots of their produce will be featured on this blog throughout the summer months - they have a huge garden! We started out with some home grown green onions, garlic, and olive oil.

Then we added some freshly picked kale. This kale was very young, so it was super tender and didn't have the same look as kale from the grocery store. Salt and pepper were added for taste once the kale cooked down a bit.

The master chef at work.

Since the pasta was fresh (versus dry), it only needed one minute of cooking in boiling water. Jacob ensured the water was well salted and oiled before dropping the pappardelle in.

Once the pasta was tender, the kale was sautéed, and the marinara was hot, they were all piled into a bowl and topped with a layer of freshly grated parmesan. Side note: if you don't have a microplane grater (shown here), you need to get one. They're so versatile and work so well for so many different things. You can find them here.

The pasta was wonderful! Fresh pasta has a wonderful flavor that dried pastas often lack, and the sheets of pasta (that could also be used for lasagna) are so versatile. You can create your own shapes and sizes, which I love.

We thoroughly enjoyed this meal. 

Basil's Fresh Pasta with Marinara and Local Greens Recipe:

Serves 4 as main dish

- 1 lb fresh pappardelle or fettucine 

- 2-3 tsp salt

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 4 cloves garlic, chopped

- 2 green onions, chopped

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- Salt/pepper to taste

- 6 cups roughly chopped kale, rinsed well (sometimes sand likes to linger in kale leaves)

- 2 cups (or one jar) of good marinara sauce (if you can't get homemade, classico is my favorite grocery store brand)

- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Bring a large amount of water to a boil (a dutch over would hold the preferred amount of water for 1 lb of pasta).

- Add 2-3 tsp salt and 1 tbsp olive oil to the water.

- Saute the garlic and green onion in the remaining olive oil.

- Once garlic and onions are tender and fragrant, add the kale. 

- Once the kale has cooked down, season with salt and pepper to taste.

- Heat the marinara in a small saucepan on medium/low until hot.

- Once the water is boiling, drop the pasta in and count to 60. The pasta should be done cooking after one minute (if it's fresh pasta). If you are using dried pasta, follow the package directions.

- Layer the pasta, kale, and marinara in a large serving bowl or platter and top with parmesan cheese

- Serve with crusty bread and a simple green salad! 

If you live in the Boone, NC area check out Basil's Fresh Pasta and Deli next week when they open!

Weekend Hike.

This past weekend Jacob's family came up for a visit to celebrate Jacob getting his master's degree and Mother's Day. We spent the weekend eating delicious food and soaking up the sun. Here are some snapshots from our hike. We're so fortunate to call this place our backyard.

Foods Lately

The past couple of weeks have been very busy between work, Jacob finishing grad school (yay!!), and buying a (new to us) car! I haven't taken the time to snap lots of pictures of our meals, but I did manage to whip out the camera for a few.

Open faced burgers.

First season's batch of sweet tea.

Rosemary red wine chicken with mushrooms, orzo, and roasted veggies.

Smoothie in a bowl! Coconut shell and granola on top.

Chili mac on a cold, rainy evening.

Semi-homemade pizza.

Lunch for 25.

Chicken taco night.

 Coming soon: Butter bars, house projects update, and an awesome pasta review! Thanks for checking in!