Thursday Night

PJ chasing the kids around upstairs in their dinosaur mask before bedtime is the kind of energy I think we could all use right about now. And it was just the kind of energy the kids needed to go right to sleep.

Happy Friday-Eve friends! xoxo

Chicken Tortellini with Basil Pesto & Veggies

Pesto. Chicken. Cherry AND sun-dried tomatoes. Asparagus. Did I also mention you can make it all in one pan? This one’s a winner, y’all.

I came across this recipe the other night from Julia’s Album and once I saw the colors and all the yummy veggies, I knew I wanted to make it for the family. You know how picky little sis has been lately, so I knew this one wouldn’t be that popular with her, but had a feeling everyone else would enjoy it.

What also drew me to this recipe was how few ingredients it called for. Not only are they healthy, delicious, and fresh, there aren’t that many of them! AKA my favorite because it doesn’t take long to make. However, I switched out the ravioli for tortellini because I couldn’t find any ravioli at the store. It was still so good and the kids ate it all up. Also, I have never in my life cooked with sun-dried tomatoes before (why did no one tell me they’re so yummy and flavorful?!), so this was a much needed and welcomed switch-up from our regular dinner rotation ingredients.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 lb chicken breast boneless skinless, sliced

• salt

• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes , drained of oil, chopped

• 1 lb asparagus , ends trimmed, cut in half

• 1/4 cup basil pesto

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes , yellow and red, sliced in half

• 10 oz ravioli

Directions:

1. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium heat.

2. Add sliced chicken breast (seasoned with salt) and 1/4 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Cook everything on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, turning chicken slices over a couple of times until the chicken is completely cooked through.

3. Remove the chicken and the sun-dried from the skillet, leaving the oil in.

4. Add asparagus (ends trimmed), seasoned generously with salt, and 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes to the same skillet.

5. Cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is cooked through. Remove the asparagus to a plate.

6. Cook ravioli according to the package instructions, drain.

7. Add cooked chicken with sun-dried tomatoes back to the skillet.

8. Add basil pesto.

9. Stir to coat and cook on low-medium heat until the chicken is reheated, 1 or 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

10. Add cooked ravioli and halved cherry tomatoes to the skillet with the chicken. Stir to combine. Add more pesto if desired.

11. Season with more salt if needed.

12. Serve the chicken, ravioli, and cherry tomatoes together with asparagus.

Hope you enjoy all the pretty colors and yummy flavors like we did, and head to Julia’s Album for more delicious recipes like this one! xoxo

Our Laundry Room is So Close to Being Finished- Sneak Peak!

Oh friends. We’re in the home stretch with our laundry room makeover and it feels SO GOOD. Remember how PJ has been working on it since we started quarantining back in March? Well all his hard work is thisclose to being complete. We are in the staging part of it now that the construction & painting phase is complete.

I can’t tell you how proud of PJ I am for how much work he’s put into this over the last few months. It’s a fun feeling to see your husband get so excited and passionate about a project, put in the hours it takes to complete it, and then sit back and enjoy all the hard work he’s done to make it happen. Watching PJ work day and night to finish this room that our family has so desperately needed the last 3 years has brought us all an immense amount of joy.

I can’t wait to show you the final product! Keep an eye out on Instagram Reels for short progress updates where you can follow the entire process from start to finish.

Happy Monday, friends!

A Dreary (But Cozy) Friday to Start the Weekend

Happy Friday night, friends! Any plans for the weekend? PJ made us all chicken tortilla soup tonight, and older brother helped make toasted tortilla chips to put in it. YUM. It’s been raining all day- the thick, heavy kind of rain with dark clouds and tough winds, so soup for dinner was pretty much inevitable.

It was one of those days where you just wanted to curl up on the couch and relax and listen to the rain outside. But alas, there were clothes to be washed/folded and school to be taught (virtually). We officially finished our first week of teaching older brother virtual kindergarten and we survived! PJ worked with him all summer, so he already knew a lot of what we taught him this week and it was so rewarding to see him breeze through the work. Proud is an understatement.

I’m off to make chocolate chip cookies because Friday night. Maybe we’ll watch something on Disney+ and let the kids stay up a little bit later tonight.

Stay safe, friends, and have a great weekend. xo

Bleachers

I’ve been going back and listening to Bleacher’s 2017 album ‘Gone Now’ and it holds up so well. Have you ever listened to Bleachers? It’s the band name of fun.’s Jack Antonoff (who also produced almost all of Taylor Swift’s recent albums) and his music makes you feel like you’re in the most epic 80’s movie of all time. If you watched the film “Love, Simon”, he did a lot of the songs from that soundtrack and they kind of have the same vibe as the songs on ‘Gone Now’. Jack has a talent for creating these bombastic songs that feel equal parts nostalgic & current. In other words, they feel timeless.

There are no skippable songs on ‘Gone Now’. Every song has its own unique feeling and mood, but at the same time they all kind of sample and blend into each other, so each one sounds familiar. They touch on social issues like depression and loneliness, and also, of course, like every great song: love & heartbreak.

Highly recommend this album if you’re taking a road trip or if you need a soundtrack to dance around your house to with a glass of wine on a Friday night. Given the current state of everything, it’s probably going to be the latter.

The Fig Tree at The Land

There’s a tree on the land that has brought us (and the kiddos) so much joy this summer.

It’s a fig tree that was planted who knows when by the previous owner, I’m assuming. We were able to get a few figs from it last summer, but this year it seems like it’s going wild and producing so much more. The kiddos eat them like candy, and I love watching them (and PJ) try to find the ones that are ripe enough to eat. PJ surprises them with fresh figs when they least expect it and they always get so excited, like they’re eating them for the first time every time.

This past weekend we were roaming the land when we all got caught in a quick downpour. The kiddos jumped and laughed while it rained (their DREAM is always and forever to play in the rain) and after it all calmed down, PJ started pruning the fig tree while picking off a few for them to eat. The rain was fun and refreshing, but the best part was the color of the sky once it finally stopped:

Does it get any better than this? I have to admit, I started getting a little emotional looking at the beauty of nature all around us. The sky, the clouds, the trees, the grass, the bugs and animals making all kinds of noises. It was a lot to take in.

But in the best way possible.

Update! Tonight’s goodies 😊: