{"id":43611,"date":"2014-08-06T08:32:17","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T15:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=43611"},"modified":"2014-07-18T11:07:45","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T18:07:45","slug":"summer-cravings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=43611","title":{"rendered":"Summer Cravings"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the heat wave hit Portland (high 90’s) I decided I wanted to get one of those plastic kiddy pools for Bella. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find anything! I ended up going to 5 different stores and they were all sold out (or only had the inflatable pools that Bella would pop in one second).<\/p>\n

One evening I was driving home from work through Sellwood and spotted a pool outside a hardware store. I immediately pulled over and ended up buying the last pool they had! It BARELY fit in my car. I was so excited! I took it home and couldn’t wait for Bella to frolic in the pool and cool down.<\/p>\n

\"pool2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah, I apparently just bought a giant water dish. That above photo is Bella drinking out of her pool. \ud83d\ude1b We keep trying to get her to play in it but she won’t. I don’t get it. It’s almost 100 degrees out and you’d think she’d love it. I sent a video <\/a>of her drinking out of it to her foster mom, Jen. She promptly sent me a picture from last summer when Bella played in her pool! So I know she likes them, why won’t she get in our pool?!?<\/p>\n

\"pool1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maybe by the end<\/em> of summer she’ll be into the pool. Anyways, on to dinner.<\/p>\n

Despite it being a hot summer day and a cold salad or seafood would have been more appropriate, I was craving homemade marinara sauce and gnocchi. When I got home from work I started to simmer the sauce immediately. I added some fresh oregano and rosemary from my garden, too, with a splash of red wine. While the sauce was simmering, Michael and I took Bella for a long walk. It was stifling outside.<\/p>\n

When we got back from the walk I cooked the beef with a chopped up onion and added that to the sauce. The recipe called for it to simmer for about 2 hours, or longer, and I’d say it cooked for about 1.5 hours before we ended up eating. Here is the recipe for the sauce:<\/p>\n

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:111]<\/p>\n

While I liked the sauce a lot (it was thick and creamy), it could have used some more garlic and maybe some more salt. Other than that I enjoyed it. I made some gluten free spaghetti for Michael and I had gnocchi from Trader Joe’s (I love that stuff).<\/p>\n

While everything was finishing up I made a\u00a0salad\u00a0and dressing from scratch. I know that’s not a big deal but I rarely make my own dressing and I really want to try and do this more often. It’s pretty easy and you can make it any way you want, really.<\/p>\n

\"dressing\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I mixed up this dressing, using a Pomegranate balsamic in the recipe. It made enough for both of us to have a salad and there’s some leftover for maybe two more salads. Here is the recipe:<\/p>\n

\t\n
Balsamic Dressing<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 cup<\/span><\/div>\n
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Ingredients<\/div>\n