Back from Vacation!

This past weekend, we met up with my parents and three of my four sisters at Bass Lake for some relaxing, boating, tubing, video games, swimming, drinking, and food I didn't have to make myself!

We spent our first day there on a pontoon boat on the lake. My little guy got to help drive the boat, which I'm sure is totally legal!

Best 2-year-old boat driver ever!

We were only on the lake one day, but we spent a lot of time in the pool the other days. One of my favorite things on the trip was seeing my son get better at swimming. He had only been swimming twice before our trip, so he was still working on keeping his head up out of the water and just spitting water out if it gets in his mouth instead of freaking out. My dad was awesome! He helped with both of those things, and it made a huge difference!

I also really enjoyed taking a walk with two of my sisters. One is away at college, and the other lives an hour away and is busy working and being a newlywed. It's always nice to see them.

Sisters

While I love being on vacation, it is also really nice when you get back and you can sleep in your own bed and use your own shower. I wish our vacation could have been a little longer so I could spend more time with my husband and my family, but there was one "person" was super happy that it was over.

Roxie missed us a lot

Burrito Bowl & Chipotle-Style Corn Salsa Recipe

Steak Burrito Bowl - Full of yum!

A year ago, when my husband and I vowed to eat out less, I started trying to figure out how to make my own versions of some of the take out I was missing. Chipotle was at the top of the list for recipes I needed to figure out. Last July, I shared my recipe for Chipotle-Style Cilantro-Lime Rice, and I've used it as a side or the base for a burrito bowl many, many times since then.

I don't know what cut of steak Chipotle uses or how they marinate their meat, but I already had a favorite way to grill up some delicious tri tip, so I didn't bother trying to figure it out. You can find my favorite recipe here: Grilled Tri Tip with Tequila-Lime Marinade.

The last piece to the puzzle was the salsa. I like the fresh tomato (pico de gallo) and the corn salsa on my bowl. The pico de gallo is easy to throw together, but I had to play with the corn salsa recipe a few times before I felt like it was a winner!

I've been making my own burrito bowls for a little over a year now, and it has saved me a lot of gas (and extra hidden calories). No more trips to Chipotle when I have a hankering for some deliciousness in a bowl!

Now you have everything you need to make your very own Chipotle-style steak burrito bowl at home too. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Chipotle-Style Corn Salsa

2 cobs sweet corn (yellow or white)
2 medium jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped (measure before chopping)
juice of two limes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (optional, but I like it)

Mix everything together in a bowl. The salsa tastes better if you give it a little time for the flavors to develop.

I Apologize, But It's Instagram's Fault

I'm sorry. I've been a bad blogger. I blame Instagram.

I've been using Instagram a lot more lately, and the instant gratification and community aspects of it have sucked me in. I've been working on a bunch of creative projects, all at the same time, so I usually just have a little bit more of each one done at the end of the day. That makes for boring blogging. I'd much rather have some significant progress to share with you. Instagram makes it super easy and fun to share mini progress updates, and you get quick feedback to make you feel good and push you to keep creating.

Since I started using Instagram more, I haven't blogged as much, BUT I have been creating more! After finding myself in a bit of a creative lull, that makes me super happy. Being a stay at home mom can be lonely, but I've been able to connect with others in a way I wasn't before. I get to share with friends, family, customers, and other crafters working on similar projects, and it rocks!

I promise to be better about blogging, but for now, here's what I've been working on:

Sun Hat

Summer Stitching Club

The last time I wrote about Mollie's Wild Olive Summer Stitching Club, I had finished stitching up the Week 3 design (a swim suit) and had put a bunch of hexies together. I haven't gotten too much further on this project. I stitched up the Week 4 design (a sun hat), but I haven't made it into a hexie yet. This is high up on my to do list since I'll be able to add the next row of colored hexies too.

I got the Week 5 design yesterday, a picnic basket, but I haven't started stitching it up yet because I've been wrapped up in my Woodland Sampler.

Woodland Sampler

I like designing my own patterns, but I also enjoy stitching up patterns made by other people, especially ones made by other independent designers. I didn't know about The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Woodland Sampler until a few weeks ago, so it'll take my a bit to get caught up. I had to wait for the Monaco cloth I ordered online to get here so I could get started, but I've been stitching like crazy since it arrived.

So far, I have stitched some of the frames and finished the May and June designs. The July design came out yesterday, and I started that one too.

 

ABC Quilt

I was working on sketches for the letters I haven't stitched up yet, but I had some creative blocks with a few of the letters and ended up working on other projects. Hopefully I'll be able to share more on the quilt progress soon.