Liz Eaton Designs

[a moment.]

PK wants to keep up with her big brothers so badly, she will do whatever it takes. Sometimes I want time to stand still. I want to remember moments like this forever.

Skateboard School | Kids That Rip

The boys all just started at this amazing skateboard learning facility in Mesa called Kids That Rip, it is such a cool place to have the boys involved with. Dax has caught on super fast & can already drop in to the half pipe. The other boys are loving it too, but are younger, so it might take a little longer for them to get the hang of it. David & I both skated when we were younger, which is making it so fun to watch our kids love it like we did. This makes me so happy!! I hope they want to stick to it.

 

Recipe | Cucumber Salad

My family likes to eat at this place called Bandera, it's in Scottsdale, Az. I highly recommend it if you live here or if you are coming to visit. But if you are not in the area, I thought I would share this recipe that my sister came up with, that is based off of the cucumber salad there.

Ingredients for about 6 people:

Add all to one bowl

5 mini cucumbers

corn cut from one ear

1 T chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 copped jalapeno

1/4 C. chopped red onion

2 T. capers

1 C. chopped cherry tomatoes

Crumbled goat cheese to taste

One avocado, chopped

 

Dressing:

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

3 t. sugar (I used coconut sugar)

1/8 C. lemon juice

1/8 C. apple cider vinegar

1/4 C. olive oil

Wisk together & mix into salad

 

I like to put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before eating it, it even tastes good the next day!

YUM!

Mixed Media | Mandala

I have been painting more, exploring my love for mixed media. I have been obsessed with mandalas lately, probably for the past couple years, but my love has grown stronger since returning from Bali. Every mandala can be different, almost like a finger print or a snowflake, they are all unqiue in their own special way. I love that. It makes them seem more real. More alive. 

I have been playing around with different sizes, colors, textures, mediums & loving every single second of it. My goal is to do a whole series of these & sell them in my shop in the next few months. Watch this space to find out when they will be for sale.

Right now I want to get back to creating more of them. 

 

Garden update | 022414

Well, the garden boxes are looking really good, but they don't look much different than last week, at all. Hoping something is happening under the soil with all the seeds we planted. So, this week I thought I would highlight a few spots in our backyard that are making me very happy at the moment. We have planted quite a few new recently purchased pots & they are looking really good. We also added a bunch of river rock & some ground cover around the backyard.

We live in the desert. If you didn't know...

I am tired of the desert, as much as I love to be out on the trails right by our house, I just don't love the look for my backyard. So, we are attempting to make our backyard more green & less desert-ish.

Between river rocks, lots of new plants & vines, & some extra water & love, I think we might have a good start to hopefully some very nurtured plants. 

Recipe | Pot Sticker Burgers

I orginally got this recipe off of pinterest, but I have recently discovered that it is no longer available on the persons website it was on. It has turned private. So, I thought I would post the recipe here, or the best I can remember it. I am not very good about following recipes anyway, but it is good to semi follow one.

I make my burgers, more like slider size, or almost like big meat ball size.

Ingerdients for burgers:

1 lbs of ground turkey

1 cup finely chopped cole slaw mix (save rest of the bag for the side slaw)

1 egg

2 tablespoons coconut aminos (this is sort of like a soy sauce, you can find it at health food stores, like Sprouts)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 salt

Mix above ingredents together in a bowl, then form into patties of desired size, then cook them on a skillet, like pictured above.

 

Ingredients for cole slaw:

Rest of cole slaw mix

4 tablespoons of coconut aminos

2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup peanut oil

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon coconut sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Mix above ingredents in a bowl, refrigerate until burgers are ready.

 

**Sauteed veggies are good with the burgers & slaw also.

Enjoy!!!

 

Recipe | Homemade Thai Curry

On Sundays I try to make a meal plan for the week & grocery list to go along with it. I aim to make 4 home cooked meals a week, leaving date night for a meal, a lazy meal or take out, & Sunday at one of our parents houses.
Well, this week I planned to make Thai curry for one of the meals. I didn't really have a plan for how I was going to do it, but I bought a few random things at the store that I thought would be good in it.

Ingredient list for a family of 6 (most of those people are small):
6 chicken tenderloins, lay between parchment paper, then hammer with mallet. Then cut into strips.
2 heads broccoli, cut up
Couple handfuls of snap peas
2 zucchini,
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon Green curry paste
1 tablespoon almond butter, sub peanut butter
Curry seasoning, penzeys
Salt & pepper

Make zucchini noodles first. Peel zucchini with a potato peeler into a strainer, all of it. Then sprinkle with salt. Toss & sprinkle a bit more salt. Let sit, tossing once between for 20 minutes total. Or until sauce is ready.
Add some oil & all broccoli to a big pan, then hammer & cut the chicken & add it to pan. Add salt & pepper & curry seasoning. Sauté about 5 minutes.
Add coconut milk, almond butter & curry paste. Stir until all mixed. The let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Until chicken is almost done.
In the last few minutes add the snap peas. Stir all together.
Put zucchini into bowls, you can rinse first if you want to get some salt off, but it shouldn't have that much on them.
The add sauce over noodles.
We sprinkled with sesame seeds & enjoyed.
For my kids I made top Ramon noodles with out the flavor packet, then added the sauce over the top.

Everyone loved it & wanted more. I should have made more. Next time.

Of course I made this without a recipe, so forgive me if I didn't write down all the specifics.

Grow baby grow.

The start of our veggie garden. Actually our whole backyard.

Ever since I went to Bali in January, David has been as motivated as me to get our backyard more "green" or should I say, "less desert like." I love living close to the trails so that I can mountain bike or hike whenever I want, without getting in the car, But I love how lush & green Bali was, so why shouldn't our backyard at least be someone like that? We have been working on it for a couple of weeks now & finally have something to show for it. Well...no actaully edible veggies yet, but at least boxes with soil & the hopes that it will grow...

These 2 books have been a big help with figuring out what to plant & how to plant it. I would for sure check them out if you want to do square foot gardening or if you live in a very dry desert place, like Arizona. Here are the links to them. Square foot gardening & Extreme Gradening .

My goal is to post weekly updates about our backyard & especially the veggie garden. 

 

& remember EMBRACE THE CHAOS.

Currents. 02.17.14.

 

listening: Twin Forks on Pandora

eating: no gluten. or at least 90% of the time. So far, so good.

drinking: loving the V8 energy drinks. all flavors are amazing.

wearing: shorts & a tshirt, crew socks & board shoes (as Oli calls them)

weather: about perfect out, 75-80 degrees in the afternoon, so perfect, the boys thought it would be a good idea to go in the water?

need: to figure out how to blog more. 

thinking: I love art, working on mixed media paintings make me happy.

enjoying: The garden we just got planted. I hope it grows!

wondering: how to get more jewelry sales? How I want to make more jewelry for more people would be so cool!

internet find: Bohemian Kate a really cool blog, by what seems like a really cool girl. 

What I like & love are always changing, I think it's cool to be able to look back at where I was this time last year, or 5 years ago & see what I was interested in then, compared to what I am loving now. Follow my journey to see where the current takes me & my crazy family.

 

& remember whatever happens: EMBRACE THE CHAOS.

Finally made it here

That was a seriously long journey. Holy crap! Two days to get here. Insane. But finally made it here to the Gaya Villas in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. It is so beautiful & lush & green & humid. Wow it's humid.

I will tell you though, when we got off the plane in Taiwan earlier today I was having a small panic attack. I was hungry & tired & thirsty & everything was in a very foreign language & everything was so weird, but then I talked to David & the kids on FaceTime & then I started to calm down. But then we got on another flight for just over 5 hours from Taiwan to Bali. It seemed like forever! Like longer than the 14 hour plane ride right before that one.
All in all, everything is good. I am excited to be here. & now that my belly is full & the moon is out I am ready to get some rest! Hoping I can by pass the jet lag thing & just enjoy being here.
Until tomorrow...adventure on.