A Broccoli Brunch

Every now and then I get a lazy Sunday morning...today was one of those days! Got up late and finally decided to head down the stairs at about 10:00 :) Decided to lace up my running shoes and head outside to run to  my daily mile while the temperature was still about 86 (yea - factor in the heat index..and it was HOT!!) My kids saw me gearing up and decided that they wanted to join me too...so we did a 5 minute walk for a warm up and then they ran around the block with me before I finished off my mile. I love getting my workout in first thing in the morning...leaves me feeling energized for the rest of my day! Back at home, after I had finally cooled off, I decided to make mix broccoli into my scrambled eggs for brunch...was delish.

Broccoli Scambled Eggs

Canola oil

Fresh broccoli florets - cut into smaller pieces

Eggs

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. When oil is hot, add the cut up broccoli to the frying pan and sauté until almost soft. While broccoli is cooking, mix up the eggs with some salt, pepper and garlic. Add eggs too broccoli and stir frequently until cooked as desired. Enjoy!

Grilled Veggies and Visitors

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to have two of my cousins and their families come for a visit. I have spent soooo many hours with these cousins - as children we visited their family in NY often, they came to visit us here in VA a couple of times over the years - and I lived in their house for two years while I was in school in Brooklyn.  While we spent tons of time together in the past, neither of them had been to Norfolk since my wedding ten years ago.  

A while back we decided that it was prime time for them to visit..and I was thrilled when they picked a date and made plans to bring their families for a visit. The 5 days they spent with us made for an incredible time. The kids (there were 7 in total!) spent hours playing together, while the adults spent time catching up. (My cousins and I took a good number of trips down memory lane - lots of good laughs!!!) We spent plenty of time on the porch having popsicle parties to cool off in the big time heat we've been having down here and spent lots of time lingering over delicious meals. We also made time to visit the beach, botanical gardens and the children's museum. I truly enjoyed every minute of their time here - it was truly relaxing and I loved watching my kids get to know their cousins. Here's to hoping they don't wait another ten years to visit!! (I shared a few pics at the bottom of this post.)

I decided to go with grilled veggies for dinner on the first night of the visit. I normally stick to mushrooms, onions and peppers when I am grilling veggies in a basket. This time I found a bag of fresh green beans in my refrigerator and decided to add them to the mix. Everyone loved the addition of the green beans - they were soft and crunchy and had a great grilled taste!

Grilled Mixed Vegetables

Your choice of veggies (I used peppers, onions and green beans this time)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Oregano

Rice vinegar

Wash and cut veggies and place in a bowl. Season with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and rice vinegar. Mix well. Place veggies in a grilling basket and set on hot grill. I grilled them on high at first and mixed them pretty often. After a little while I lowered the flame to low and closed the grill to finish them off. Enjoy!

Fearless cutie enjoys the beach!

The girls spent hours playing with Mushky's American Girl Dolls

The whole clan LOVED the Play Do party on the porch

While anxious to go near the water at first, this cutie was super brave
 and filled his bucket on his own!