2011 September

Have you tried Pinterest?

It’s a fantastic site with beautiful pictures and tons of ideas on just anything you want to do! You create virtual “pinboards” and can see the pins your friends have made. It has TONS of crafty ideas, which plays to my creative side. As I “pin” pics, I always think I’m DEFINITELY going to make whatever it is. Recipes, a new wall hanging, fancy wrapping paper…. you name it!

Example: If you’re planning a wedding, you can get pictures of fun ideas other people have used. If you are looking for a beef stew recipe, you could search and find a million recipes (with pics).

That’s where I got the idea to make these beautiful fuschia babies….

I’m a huge fan of beets, while most people for whatever reason aren’t. I think they are one of the tastiest pink veggies that are awesome on salads, and delish on their own (pickled or not!) I also roast them quite a bit. When I was a kid, I used to love eating them in my salads + adding Ranch dressing because it would make my salad PINK!

Regardless, tonight was the night for me to try this new treat. They are even better than I thought!!!!!! And, while I love Kale Chips, these are perhaps my new fave.

Beet Chips

Inspired by Martha Stewart Living.com

INGREDIENTS

1 Large Beet

Pam Cooking Spray

Garlic Salt

1. Your beet should look like this. Remove the greens, as we don’t need them for this recipe. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the beet. Once you’ve got it peeled, preheat your oven for 350 degrees.

2. Next, you need a mandoline slicer. Put it on a setting that cuts the beets to a paper thin thickness. The recipe I read recommended 1/16″ of an inch. The first few I cut were not as thin as I would have liked. The thinner the better. Play with your mandoline. And, read the safety instructions on that thing… be safe. Today was my very first day using mine!

And, expect a little stainage. Even with washing my hands often, I’m still a little pink on the fingertips!

Look at how thin they slice up! Paper thin!

3. Place the beets on a cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam cooking spray. I also sprayed the beets on top with the cooking spray before baking. Also, sprinkle the beets with garlic salt.

4. Place the beets in the oven, and set your timer for 10 minutes. It may take more than 10 minutes to cook them, but you’ll want to check on them. The beets will get lighter in color when they’re done (as you see below.) Some of them cooked a little too long the first time around, but the brown-ness didn’t stop me from eating them… the non-burnt ones were very delicious though. Shoot for that!

5. Remove the chips from the pan and move them to a wire rack to cool.

6. Place chips in a bowl and enjoy!!!

I couldn’t resist catching one extra pic of the beautiful color of these chips! Yum! I wish I would have cooked TWO beets instead of one! So good!

Slow Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos

Skinny Vanilla Frappuccino

Jenny Volumizing: Cheesy Spinach Florentine Soup

Pumped Up Kicks

This weekend, I decided to debut my new sneakers…. and what better way to do this than to walk on my favorite trails! It’s a gorgeous fall day. Not feeling very fall at ALL…. 82 degrees and sunny. I. LOVE. IT.

I also found this shirt in my drawer. I bought it “waaaaaay back when” at Old Navy. You know, on those tables where every shirt is $5? A little salute to my birthplace… it seemed like a good choice for a walking shirt! PS… a year ago, it would have appeared in that oh-so-attractive “painted on” style. Thank goodness that’s not the case now!

My dad has been suggesting to me forever to take my camera out for my walk. Today, I did! Check out how GORGEOUS these trails are. I also wonder why I don’t spend more time on this beautiful walk.