"NC Poor Couple Artichoke Bread"
This Artichoke Bread was born when I visited Mathew when he lived here:
Poor couple we were... little to no money, just scraping by to see each other while I was living in Ohio...So instead of eating out every night I was there visiting..we went to the grocery store in search for some cheap inspiration. I vividly remember walking around Food Lion in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and I though of making this yummy bread... I bought:
Ciabatta Loaf
Olive Oil
Fresh or Shredded Mozzarella
Grape or Roma Tomatoes
Can of Marinated Artichoke Hearts
I beleive this was the secret ingredient...
Not fancy but like I said, we were poor & there was no kitchen in his barracks room, just a lonely old toaster oven.
Directions: Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400
Line toaster or baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Cut bread in half lengthwise & then again into single portions of your choosing.
Drizzle with olive oil - cut tomatoes & artichokes into about 1/2 - 1 inch pieces and spread evenly onto the bread. Cover with cheese. Grind a generous amount of the Italian Blend Grinder onto the cheese.
Bake at 400 for about 15-20 min, or until the cheese melts & slightly browns.
Cool, cut and serve.
So this is what we had for dinner Friday night, along with our first lettuce from our garden for a side salad. It was perfect.
Then we headed on a little village adventure.
First stop of course was ice cream
Then we visited the park where this little guy loves to throw rocks and feed ducks
Saturday we enjoyed another park day, and we prepared for a little cookout with friends.
BBQ'ing is one of our very favorites in the summer.
Its just so much easier to eat outdoors, and thankfully there were no bugs!
These girls.
Samantha laughed so hard with them and they had the best time.
Little brother always in tow.
He bounced, and played by the girls ...and he was outside for the better half of the day wearing himself out.
Our friends brought this amazing homemade Carob Cake - which I am going to make soon. It was so amazing. I had a slice for breakfast too.
Since the kids were really loving being outside, we decided to forego the routine schedule, and let them stay outside until it got dark. We built a bonfire & they just layed in the grass having their evening snacks & relaxing from a long fun day.
We have a few more weeks of school still, but we got to work on our summer bucket list this weekend as well. I know two months will go super fast, so I want to try and get as much in as we can.
And I finished the third order of clothespins this weekend
a little work and a lot of play.
It was a good weekend.. Looking forward to celebrating our Daddy next weekend & more fun!
