Tricia's Blog

Home Pictures

2010-01-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Enjoy Everyone

Paxton

2009-11-22T18:15:00.000-08:00

I had the honor of photographing one of the cutest baby's the other day. My co-worker, well actually ex co-worker :(, just had a baby boy named Paxton. She let me come over and humored me while I pretended to be a photographer. I think I got some great ones of the little guy, he was officially a week and a day old when I took these. I can't wait to take some more after he gets a little older.

Real Simple

2009-10-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

It have been over a month, sigh, since my last blog post. What is wrong with me. Well for one we just moved into a new house, so packing, unpacking, decorating, cleaning, and everything else that goes with a new place has made me exhausted. But this blog post isn't about that, it is about giving thanks to Real Simple Magazine. I want to thank you real simple for making my life, well, really simple. In the October issue they had a month of simple dinners with shopping lists and quick simple recipes that have help getting me out of the boringness that has becoming my cooking routine. I have gotten into a food rut and wanted out, and Real Simple has helped me. And I didn't have time to take my own pics, so here are some from Real Simple. Month of Real Dinners

All images are copyright of Real Simple Magazine....not mine.
Beef Bok Choy

Tilapia with Red Peppers

Orange Chicken

Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Onions

Alright I think that is enough mouth watering goodness for one post.

Collision Photowalk

2009-09-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am a member of the Houston Photowalk Meetup Group. One of our outings was at Elite Collision Center. We spent the morning taking images of wrecked vehicles. Here are some of my images.

Love that this car is in GATOR Colors!!!

A little bit of lens flare

World Wide Photowalk 2009

2009-09-09T17:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, I know I have been bad. It has taken me almost 2 months to actually post these pictures, but finally they are up. For the Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk, I participated in the Downtown Houston photowalk. It was a blast and I am so glad I did it. Going downtown by myself with a camera and a tripod is kind of scary, but with 50 other photographers it was a blast!

New House

2009-09-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

We put an offer on a townhouse in Montrose/River Oaks area last Monday. Here are some pictures of the place.

Our Garage

Looking from the Living Room to the Kitchen and Dining Room

Kitchen

Looking from the Kitchen to the Living Room

View from our Balcony

Once we actually get the place and move in I will post more pictures.

4th of July

2009-07-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our first 4th of July in Houston was spent with good friends, good food, and some great beer. We started off the Day at Saint Arnold's, and ended up at Chelsea and Derek's pool.

New Glasses to Add to the Collection

Anticipating the taps opening

My High School has a barrel

It took 3 shoots for Derek not to Blink, but I finally got it

Lasagna Rolls

2009-07-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

I got the inspiration for this recipe from the Whole Foods website. They turned out really well and I will definitely be making them again.

1 box of lasagna pasta
pasta sauce
ricotta cheese (I used the low fat kind)
shredded mozzarella cheese (I used vegan cheese in half for my husband)
spinach
ground turkey (1/2 lb is good for about 10 rolls)

Directions:
Put a large pot of water on high to boil. Once it starts boiling, add lasagna pasta and cook according to directions. While the pasta is boiling, cook the ground turkey. Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water.

On a clean work surface, lay out the pasta. Add a thin layer of ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, spinach leaves, ground turkey, and pasta sauce. Roll up and place into a cooking pan with tall sides. Continue until all are rolled. Then top with some more pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the center is warm.

Picture of them all rolled up before they were topped with sauce and cheese.

I'LL BE BOCK - Saint Arnold's Movie Night 6/19/06

2009-07-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

A few of us went to movie night at our favorite Houston Brew House. Terminator 2 was playing which gave us some good material for drinking games. And our parting gift was a six pack of Spring Bock, could not ask for a better way to end the evening:)

Summer Time

2009-06-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Summer time means fun with friends, pool parties, and enjoying the sun. Last weekend some of us did just that at Derek and Chelsea's pool. Volleyball and cooking out were the focus of this pool day. You could not ask for a better way to enjoy the summer.

I love action shots. It probably would have been more exciting if Derek spit the water out farther...LOL!

One Year Anniversary!

2009-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Our One Year Anniversary is today. I can not believe a year has passed since our wedding. It feels like just a few months ago we said our vows and went to Hawaii. And it is hard to believe that Matt has been working at TI for almost a year now. But time flies when you are having fun.

Matt bought me some beautiful sunflowers. Here is me having fun on our balcony with one of them.

Michele and Steve Get Married

2009-06-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

My wonderful cousin Michele got married on Sat, May 30th in Lawrence, Kansas. She got married to a wonderful man named Steve and our whole family is happy to welcome him into our family. Have fun in Paris!!!

Lawrence, Kansas

2009-06-07T16:53:00.001-07:00

I went to Lawrence, KS, home of the KU Jawhawks, for my cousins wedding last weekend. I will post some of those images soon, but in the meantime here is a image from around town.

Mushroom Risotto

2009-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things lately is risotto. It is easy to make, but it needs a little attention.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 medium onion diced small
1 8 ounce package of white mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
chopped garlic
1 cup of arborio rice
32 ounces of low sodium chicken stock (one box of stock)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, plus some for topping

In a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for about 10 minutes. Add chicken stock to a small pot and heat until just about boiling. In another saute pan heat another tablespoon of olive oil. Add diced onions and 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes until onions start to turn transparent. Add rice and saute for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock and saute until absorbed. Continue to add 1/2 cup of stock at a time until all of the stock is absorbed. Remove from heat and mix in 1/4 cup of cheese, cooked mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste. Plate and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top.

Lake Travis - Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2009-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend a group of us went over to Lake Travis near Austin, TX. Here are some pics from the weekend. Once I figure out how to add a slideshow I will post that as well.

Us starting our trip

Starting the night off with beer pong

James and Kerri talking strategy

Slip n slide time

Our house

Chelsea being a champ

Morning rain = shirtless football for the boys

What is better than just plain watermelon? Watermelon soaked in Vodka of course.

The boys swimming to the other side

The boys dominating the island

Last night fire

Beer pong by fire light

3 electrical engineers, 1 car battery, who do you think won?

If you picked the battery, you picked right.

Saint Arnold's Pub Crawl

2009-05-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Friday night a bunch of us went on a Saint Arnold's Pub Crawl. We started it off with Dinner at Freebirds, then headed to Front Porch in Midtown to meet up with the Saint Arnold's folks. It ended at Little Woodrow's and some rock, paper, scissors. Chelsea ended up as the winner for the night, congrats girl!!! We should really get you a prize:)

I still don't know how they consider that to be 1/2 a burrito. I was so full, I could barely drink my first beer.

First Saint Arnold's of the Night

Last Stop of the Night:)

Matt beating James

Me Beating Derick

Chelsea's the Champion of the Night!

Ben and Gabrielle's Wedding

2009-05-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Our good friends, Ben and Gab, got married a month ago (where does time go) in St. Augustine, FL. My husband was in there wedding and I had fun taking advantage of the open bar. Here are some photos that I took of there big day.

Photography Podcast

2009-05-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

I listen to two photography podcasts each week. They really help me think about what I want to photograph and they keep me up to date on the latest photography news. If you are into photography and want a great podcast to listen to check out TWIP Photo and Photofocus.

Rice University

2009-05-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

I went on a photo walk this weekend (May 1st) on my day off. I decided to go to Rice University hoping for some good photo ops, but I really don't think architecture photography is my thing. Maybe if I was at UF and the buildings had meaning to me, or I was in Europe on vacation, taking photos of buildings would be fun. I still haven't quite figured out what I want to focus on, hopefully I will figure that out soon.

Here are 3 images that I took this weekend.

8 Posts in 1 Day!!!

2009-05-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

I know, it looks like I went on a blogging spree. But really I just transferred all of my posts from my old blog to blogger. I wanted something easier for me to blog and post pictures and hopefully this is it. I might change blogs a couple of more times, but just stick with me:)

3 Years Together

2009-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our 3 years together. I can’t believe all of the things we have done in 3 years. We got married, finished our undergraduate degrees, I got my masters, and we got jobs and moved to Texas. I don’t think we ever thought we would be in Texas when we first started dating, but here we are. It is starting to grow on us though. We went to a restaurant called The Fish for dinner and then we walked across the street for dessert. The crepe was extremely yummy!!!

Photography Class

2009-05-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of taking a photography class at the Houston Center of Photography. It has forced me to learn all of the millions of settings on my camera. We walked around the neighbor yesterday and these are my 2 best ones. They are nothing really to special, just me playing around.

Laure and Rob's Wedding

2009-05-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Laure got married on Feb. 21st. She had a beautiful wedding in Gainesville, FL. The weather was perfect, her dress was very glamours, and the Groom had a wide grim on his face the entire time. You could not ask for a better wedding then theirs (well maybe my own...LOL). So here are some pictures I took of her big day.

Matt's Birthday

2009-05-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

My husband’s birthday was this weekend, the 22nd. For his actually birthday we just stayed in, watched the Magic game, and I picked him up wings (his favorite food). Friday night we went to dinner with some friends. The pictures are from us playing bulls**t before we went out to Rice Village.

Home Made Pizza

2009-05-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

So I absolutely love pizza. I think I love it a little to much because I always want it. I think I could eat pizza everyday of the week. But unfortunately my husband has high cholesterol so he doesn’t eat anything dairy, so cheese pizza is out. So I started making our own at home, and the great thing is it can be made faster than a delivery guy could make it to our house. I can make half of the pizza with non-dairy veggie cheese and the other half with real cheese for me. It is the best of both worlds!

So what you need -
Pizza Dough - at Whole Foods it is in the freezer next to the pizzas and at some other stores it is in a refrigerator
Toppings - we just use veggies such as onions, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach, but anything you like will work
Pasta Sauce - I just use past sauce because we always have some in the refrigerator
Olive Oil
Shredded Cheese - any kind you like will work
Salt
Cooking Spray

Coat the bottom of a baking pan with cooking spray. Spread out the pizza dough. Brush on olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Spoon on a spread out pasta sauce so that there is a thin layer. Add toppings, then sprinkle on cheese. Bake at the temperature and time that the pizza dough package says. Only takes about 20 minutes, then you are enjoying hot pizza.

Onion, Mushroom, and Spinach Quesadillas

2009-05-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

I love making these quesadillas. They are really easy and taste just as good without chicken as they do with. Also I love making these because there is so much good stuff in them you barely need to use any cheese in them unlike traditional quesadillas that have a ton of cheese.

Ingredients:
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 large onion, sliced
8 ounce mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 handfuls of baby spinach
2 tortillas (I use flourless sprout tortillas)
part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
cooking spray

In a large skillet on medium heat add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute until all of the liquid from the mushrooms is gone and the mushrooms and onions start to brown (about 5 minutes). Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted (about 2 minutes).

Lay out the 2 tortillas and add about 1/2 cup of cheese on each of them. Add half of the onion mixture on half of one of the tortillas, then fold over side. Repeat on second tortilla.

On a large skillet over medium to high heat, spray cooking spray and put on quesadilla. Heat till cheese is melted and then flip to other side. Repeat to second quesadilla.

Note: If you want to add chicken, add pre cooked chicken after the mushrooms and warm, then add spinach.

Beer and Onion Braised Chicken Carbonnade

2009-05-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from from the January issue of Bon Appetit magazine, but I did make a few changes. It is really good and chicken thighs are cheap. You can double the recipe for more people.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
serving: 2

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
ground allspice
salt
pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 teaspoons brown sugar
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup dark beer (I like Saint Arnold’s Stout, but any dark beer will work)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
pasta (any kind you have on hand, make enough for 2)

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet (one with a lid) over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and allspice on both sides. Add chicken to skillet until brown (about 3 minutes) then flip to other side and brown. Transfer to a plate.

Add onions and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cover and saute until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in bay leaves, mustard, and remaining brown sugar. Add chicken, then beer, broth, and red wine vinegar. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Turn water on for pasta to make sure it is done around the same time. Uncover skillet and simmer until sauce thickens, turning chicken occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Serve over pasta and you are done. Very easy!

First Post!

2009-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog entry of the New Year, 2009 here I come, and as a married women. I am starting this blog to hopefully keep our families informed of our lives here in Houston, TX. Also I plan to post recipes and photos from my new Canon Rebel XSi DSLR camera that Matt got me for Christmas.

Some of the pictures that I am adding will be of New Years and some of the first photos taken with my new camera.

Here are some flowers outside our apartment.

We moved to Stafford which is right outside Houston, TX.

Here are some pictures from New Year's Eve. We played Rock Band all night long. We almost missed new years because we were rocking out.