Artist: GRIMES

Tell me you have heard of Grimes. Oh man. She's the BEST. I can't get enough of her fairy-esque voice. And watching her live on stage (via YouTube) is amazeballs. Enjoy :)

Wheatberry salad, say WHAT?!!

Have you had wheatberries? I love these chewy little gems. YUM. They are a staple in my kitchen and I always have them around. They tend to be fairly inexpensive so that makes it easy to use them often. This recipe calls for ramps, a wild Spring onion. But if you don't have access to them, scallions or red onion would be a great substitute.

Wheatberry salad with white beans

  

Salad:

3c cooked wheatberries

12oz white beans (I used cannellini beans here)

small handful grape tomatoes, quartered

3-5 ramps (Spring onion- or scallions or red onion)

Vinaigrette:

1/4c olive oil

1/4c red wine vinegar

juice of half a lemon

zest of 1 lemon

1/4c parsley

2Tbs Dijon mustard (I use dusseldorf, any brown mustard works)

1 small shallot, finely minced

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Mix the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients with a whisk or in a mason jar with a lid and shake!

Add all salad ingredients and mix well. Let chill overnight or for a few hours.

Yum! SO good.

Update on Rudy

It's been a week since his many "procedures" but Rudy is home and doing fine. When I went to pick him up, the vet tech told me that I came in on a good day and I received this note:  

  

I cried. How sweet was this?! I was already in a  vulnerable state. This really DID make my day.

Here is the patient after I picked him up. Because he's a cat, he loves to lay on my clothes, leaving little, tiny hairs everywhere. And I don't mind a bit :) 

I love Rudy!

 This is Rudy, my handsome little buddy. I just ADORE him. I mean, just LOOK at that face!
 At this very moment he is at the vet for a procedure for his liver. Turns out it might be more than his liver or something completely different. His blood test showed elevated numbers of something or another about his liver (I am no vet, so I cannot explain these things properly.) I just got a call from Dr. Flynn (Yes, medicine woman) that he might have a heart murmur which might mean heart disease. They are taking a chest x-ray of his heart and then possibly an ultrasound. 

Prayers to my little tuxedo man.

Crockpot lasagna

Crockpot lasagna. Who knew?! I didn't. Until recently. It's awesome to just be able to throw some ingredients in it and walk away. Whoever said "Dinner isn't going to make itself" never had a crockpot.

 Just browning the hamburger and onion like I always do.

 Mix these ingredients.

 

Not the cutest picture, but it's bubbling away.

 

Voilà! And it's complete.

Crockpot lasagna

1lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

2 28oz canned pasta sauce

15 oz ricotta cheese

4 cups mozzarella

1/2 parmesan

handful of spinach

1 zucchini, diced

1 lg egg

1 box lasagna noodles uncooked

salt pepper to taste

parsley, for garnish

1. Brown meat and onion in frying pan. Mix in pasta sauce.

2. Spray pot with cooking spray (something I ALWAYS forget to do.)

3. In large mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, egg, spinach and zucchini.

4. To assemble (which I found a little tricky. I had to keep reminding myself which order to layer.)

Spread 1 1/2 meat sauce into slow cooker; top with layers of noodles, broken to fit. Spread ricotta mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat layers and make sure the top layer is the mozz/parm.

5. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. (All crockpots are different, so this time may vary.)

Cookbooks!!

I got all these babies at a HUGE rummage sale. This sale was in an ice rink at a school and required tickets just to get in the door. Weeeeeee! Now that's my kind of rummage sale. It was intense but I got through it okay ;)

Plantland

How adorable is this place? I feel totally at home here. The first time I came here I just wanted to sit down with my book (or a glass of wine... or four) and stay allllllll day. But then I knew they would either a) call the cops and kick me out forever (sad face) or b) give me an apron so I could start work there (which wouldn't be the worst thing ever.) They have all the heirlooms that are in those fancy catalogs already in starter plant form. Bonus!

I want this planter

I was on my daily walk with my dog Millie and I spotted this planter. (I felt like such a creeper taking a random picture of someone's front door. I'm praying nobody was home to see me.) I'm guessing it's hand painted so I'll just have to use this as inspiration to make my own!

 

This is Millie smelling the flowers at the lakefront. I LOVE SPRING!!