Memorial Day Weekend Fun

Beautiful Hydrangea's that my mom brought me from her garden!  

     I posted about Brandon all weekend and that was mostly for family and friends. What did I do? Watched and photographed Brandon's swims, cleaned, cooked, blogged, school work and got to hang with my parents. They decided to come down Sunday night and play! My dad and I got up at 6:30am and went for a 3.5 mile walk around my neighborhood. I love spending time with my dad- he is the best dad in the world! We talked about lots of stuff and enjoyed the beautiful morning weather. Brandon and I also made dinner for my parents on the grill and some dessert. 


Here is something for my foodies! 


On the Grill-


I marinated grilling steaks for about 2 hours with salt, pepper, garlic, Chef Leo's meat rub and coconut amino's.
Brandon grilled them with a little Chef Salt for a kick of  flavor (chef salt is another one of our friend the stone broke chef's creations that will be for sale soon!) 
We had grilled brussel sprouts and a large Garden salad.

        Dessert was delicious and easy. After making Lemon Bread  I decided that it kind of tasted like pound cake and then all I could think about was pound cake with berries and cream. 

Lemon Almond Pound Cake 

(Red, White and Blue for memorial day)

Ingredients: 

3 1/2 C. Almond flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Lemons Zest

2 Lemons, juice

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 C Honey

2 Tbsp Coconut Milk

1 tsp Cinnamon

5 Eggs

Process: 

1. Combine Eggs, Milk, Honey, lemon juice and Vanilla in a mixer, beat well
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest and cinnamon, mix well
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, beat well. 
4. Grease an 8x8 cake pan (or any cake pan) and pour batter into the pan. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes (time varies but start watching closely after 25 minutes) You want the top to be a nice golden brown and for a toothpick to come out clean. 
6. Top with fresh berries, coconut ice cream and a little dark chocolate drizzle. 

Crappy Phone Picture

This is an easy recipe and I ate it without berries and cream and still enjoyed it. Non- paleo friends loved it with the berries and ice cream but people who aren't use to the almond flour thought it was too nutty. (I had to make my mom ice cream, berries and chocolate instead because she didn't give me a chance to prepare the dessert properly for her without digging in!) 

Memorial day Monday- I spent at an auction house in Ashburn with Brandon and my parents. It was really fun bidding on antiques and watching bidding wars. I am still amazed at what some people buy- stamps, old letters, ugly lamps and broken plastic dolls! Crazy but fun. Afterwards we went to the All American Steakhouse in Ashburn and enjoyed delicious salads. This is a photo of what I had to turn down (Brandon couldn't resist and neither could my parents.) 

Happy Memorial Day weekend

My mom loves fresh hot gluten rolls! 

The Hooch bottle Brandon got at auction for $7.00. 

Lovely Lemony Meal

Today I came home and had this fabulous recipe in my head. When I came into the house and looked in the freezer, I was out of Chicken. I went into the garage freezer and found some Pheasant from Brandon's winter hunt. I was excited but knew that I would have to make a marinade and let it soak a bit longer. Pheasant is a bit tougher than chicken and it takes longer to soak in the flavors but if you do it correctly, it tastes like moist chicken. Fortunately I had time because Brandon was finishing his swim at the gym and he still had to heat up the grill. I got to use Fresh Rosemary from my garden so I spent a little bit of time weeding  while the pheasant marinated and I even experimented with a lemon bread.


Lemon Rosemary Pheasant


Ingredients: 


3 small Pheasants cutlets, thawed
1/2 Lemon, juice only
1 sprig Rosemary, broken apart
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sea salt
2 TBS Olive Oil


Process: 

1. Place Pheasant in a bowl. 
2. Add all ingredients to the bowl and let marinate for 45-60 min in the refrigerator. 
3. Remove pheasants and place on grill (Grill heat about 275 degrees). 
4. Cook for 5-8 minutes on each side until the center is no longer pink. Watch the meat, you do not want to overcook pheasant as it will get dry and tough if overdone. 

Smelled amazing on the grill and it was so juicy and flavorful!

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

Brussel Sprouts
3 Tbs Olive Oil (enough to coat the sprouts)
1 Tbs Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
(All seasonings are to our taste so add the seasonings you like best, Brandon adds old bay or Cajun seasoning at times. )


Process:

1. Slice the ends off of the sprouts and place them on a Grill tray lined with tin foil. 
2. Coat Brussels with olive oil and seasonings. 
3. Place on the grill at about 275 degrees for 30-35 minutes until Brussel sprouts are soft. I like mine crispy on the outside but watch them and cook them to your liking. 

They are really good when the leaves fall off and get burnt- tastes like a  Brussel sprout chip! 

Lovely Lemon Bread

Ingredients: 

3 1/2 C. Almond flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 Lemons Zest

2 Lemons, juice

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup +1 TBS (or 6 TBS) Honey

5 Eggs

Process:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. In a mixing bowl, combine Eggs, Lemon Juice, Vanilla and Honey. Mix on Medium speed until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder, Sea Salt and Lemon Zest. Mix until well blended.
4. Pour dry ingredients into mixing bowl with egg mixture. Mix until well blended. 
5. *Optional- Fold in Blueberries for a sweeter treat. 
6. Grease a loaf pan or make as muffins. 
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes. *Muffins for 30-35min. 

Mix until well blended

Blueberry Lemon Muffin option- great for breakfast or a light treat!

Lemon Muffin

Blueberry Lemon Muffin

Lemon Muffin

Lovely Lemon Dinner!