BCT Sandwiches

This summer I've been on a BLT kick....but usually without the "L", only because I don't keep lettuce on hand very often. I've decided that the BLT is a very underrated sandwich!

Since Kyle likes 'em too (hold the "L" and the "T" on his) we've had them several times. And while I would love to use the same bacon Kyle likes.....


....I try to make my BLT healthier with this:


However, this presents a problem, since bacon doesn't last very long in the fridge, especially with only one person eating it. And as much as a like BLTs for dinner, I don't want to eat them every night for a straight week. So finally, the solution came to me last night:


Divide the bacon up into individual portions to keep in the freezer, then thaw one at a time as needed!! Hallelujah, no more wasted bacon!

Fry it up, and add the veggies (decided to slap some cucumber on there...in place of lettuce I suppose), and it's the perfect summer sandwich.


Don't worry, I haven't forgotten that I haven't posted pictures of the house. I decided to wait until Friday when we get the rest of our furniture to give the "tour".

We Are In The House!!

Well, we've been in for over a week now, but I've been super busy getting settled. We LOVE it here. Already feels like home.

There's so much to show and blog about, so I'll have to do it little by little so that I still have things to talk about a month from now :)

Let's start with one of the more critical things we had to take care of. We have a half bathroom on the lower level, which looks right out to the front porch. It looks like this:


This picture does not do a good job of showing just how visible you'd be to someone at the front door if you were sitting on the toilet. Or even more awkward, how easy it would be for the neighbors across the street to watch you go to the bathroom at night. We knew we had to do something, because after a week of having to go all the way upstairs to go to the bathroom, it was already getting old.

I didn't really want a blind or shade there, because there would never be a time when we wanted the blinds open. Plus I didn't want to block out all the natural light that comes in through that gigantic window. What to do, what do do....

Well, I found this "window film" at Home Depot. For only $24, it seemed like a quick, easy and inexpensive solution. I have to admit, I was weary that it would look cheap (which for 24 bucks, it is!), but I decided to give it a try. Plus it would definitely bring color to our very neutral home, hide the perfect view of the toilet from the outside, and still let light in.

It was very easy to put on. You just measure and cut the appropriate sized piece from the roll, spray the window down with soapy water, peel the backing off, and place the film on the window. It comes with a squeegee to remove air bubbles, and since the window is wet, you can the film around until it's even on all sides.

And now, the window looks like this:


No need to do the top, since it's below eye and toilet level :) Plus we still want to be able to see who's at the door when it rings!

So, here's the bathroom now.


Not sure that this will stay up for all of eternity, but it's a good solution for now.

On a side note, it is really easy to match other bathroom accessories (towels, soap dispensers, decor) to this window film since it contains just about every color of the rainbow!

Chill Out

If you're like me, you don't crave heavy pasta in the summer. But this Greek Pasta Salad is served cold, and loaded with lots of summer seasonal veggies, making it light and refreshing! I got this recipe from Women's Day magazine.

You will need:

5 oz (2.5 cups) dried conchiglie pasta (which are basically just shells)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/2 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup canned cannelini beans (which are just white kidney beans...and I just used the whole can)
1/2 small rid or white onion, diced
2 ounces reduced fat feta cheese
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (I didn't have any on hand so I eliminated it)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard (again, I didn't have any so I eliminated this too)
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper


Seems like a lot of ingredients, but I already had most of it on hand.

Step 1:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again and transfer to paper towels to absorb excess water.

Step 2:
Combine tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, beans, onion, feta, olives and mint in a large serving bowl. Add pasta and mix.


Step 3:
In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, honey, mustard, oregano, salt and black pepper.


Step 4:
Pour over the pasta and vegetables; toss well. Season with additional salt and black pepper to taste.

Step 5:
Enjoy!

Iowa Girl Eats blog

I have recently found this blog (thanks Chris!!) and I just wanted to share. It's done by a 27 girl who lives in Iowa (so very applicable to me). It has amazing recipes and great treadmill workouts. Check it out!!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Things will get back to normal after our move next weekend!!