Girls' Weekend

For Memorial weekend Katie came to Provo to stay with us and have a fun, relaxing girls' weekend. She just came yesterday morning and we have had so much fun already!

We started our wonderful day with a trip to the Provo temple. Nothing better than the peace you can feel inside that beautiful building.



After our temple trip Katie treated us to Tucanos. Jer had a free meal from his birthday so it was a perfect opportunity! Also, almost everything at that restaurant is gluten free so Katie could pretty much eat whatever she wanted.



 
Next stop, pedicures of course! We went to New Nails in Provo. They know us by name and we know everyone there by name too! They are the best in town, they even know our mom and ask about her everytime we go in. :o) Jer obviously opted out of this activity.

While waiting for our nail appointment, we went to the Downeast Warehouse sale and checked out the steals.

 


While Jer went with our downstairs neighbor to Laser tagging, Katie and I decided to do some more relaxing and watch a movie. Of course we chose, The Prince and Me. Sometimes it is the best to just lay around and watch a movie.

 Ok, this weekend did have SOME productivity. Jer had some friends over to watch a basketball game so Katie and I tackled our second bedroom. I decided to spare you all the "before" picture of this room, mostly because it was just embarrassing. Long story short, this is after 3 hours of work and much organizing into bins (thanks for teaching us the importance of bins, Dad! :o))

It is SO much better to have someone with you while you work on a big project like this, Katie is the best one for the job.

Today, Katie joined us for church and experienced life in the primary after many years of absence. I think she liked being a visitor. Not sure she wants to be part of it again though.

We had a yummy dinner after our afternoon nap. All of which was gluten free!

It has been a pretty gloomy memorial weekend (weather-wise). It hailed today! But I was determined to make this drink that I found a recipe for on Pinterest. Let me tell you, it was WELL worth it, and I will be repeating it many times this summer.

Watermelon-Strawberry Lemonade

 

 8 cups cubed and seeded watermelon

1 cup strawberries, halved

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup white sugar

2 cups water

(you may substitute Sprite or 7-up instead of water)

Just dump all this in a blender and blend till smooth. You can freeze your watermelon cubes for a more slushy drink if you like. My Blendtec "wildside" jar was the perfect size for this. 

We also had something that was very fitting for the gloomy weather:

Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

photo via Zupas

recipe from Bake 'n Make

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup
Yields: 9 cups or 8 first-course servings (or 4-5 hungry adults :)

2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

This was such a great use of the cauliflower I got in my bountiful basket and really tasted just like Zupas! 

*To make it gluten free, we just used all purpose gluten free flour in place of regular flour and it still thickened up quite nicely.

We also had a fruity green salad with this amazing dressing. Of course it is from my favorite cookbook, Our Best Bites!

Poppy Seed Dressing
Recipe from Our Best Bites

1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher salt
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. mustard
1 green onion, ends removed (both the “hairy” end and where the green part starts to get floppy)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. poppy seeds
In a blender, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard. While the blender is running, add the green onion. Continue running the blender and add the oil in a steady stream and is fully incorporated into the dressing.
Pour the dressing into a serving or storage container and whisk in poppy seeds. Serve over leafy greens.

Our next project is to make Gluten free cookies. Wish us luck! I'll let you know how they turn out. Maybe they'll be worth trying!