Yum – the BBQ at my in-laws turned out great! Ben and I strolled down in the sunshine (they’re a 5 minute walk away!) and feasted on all our BBQ faves:
We’ve got fresh veggies and dip, strawberries, chips & salsa,
and of course, zee King of the grill, hamburgers! Grilled to tender, tasty perfection by my Mother-in-law, zee Queen of the grill. 
She put tiny, chopped up onions in the ground beef which gave the burgers such amazing flavor!
I polished everything off with a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Classic.
After wandering back home, my Mom came over to tackle some gardening with me. Fun Fact: I hate gardening. I mean I really, really hate it. My parents LOVE gardening with all their hearts, but neither Ben or I can get into it for some reason. Perhaps the love of gardening skips a generation.
Thank God for my Mom’s green thumb, though, because she helped me take our side yard from this:
To this! Notice the bright, new red mulch?! Love it!
We also cleaned up the bushes and plants in front of my house, and put more mulch down. Crisp and clean – a Type A personality’s dream come true!
We’ll be planting flowers in the next couple of weeks…can’t wait?! At any rate, THANKS MOM!!! 
As much as I hate gardening, it sure does work up an appetite. Lugging 50 lb bags of mulch around the yard is hard work! I came in and roasted up a feast: Sweet Potato Fries & Cauliflower!
I cooked my sweet potato fries the same way as last time. 1 sweet potato, 1 teaspoon EVOO and garlic salt. Shake everything in a plastic bag, lay out on a non-stick sprayed cookie sheet and bake @ 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
Flip sweet potatoes, turn the oven up to 450 degrees and roast for 5 more minutes. MMMMM!
My fries were a little softer than normal because I didn’t let them cool before piling on my plate. This caused them to steam while they were all on top of each other, but they still tasted scrumptious!
I seasoned the cauliflower the same way as my fries, and popped them in the oven during the sweet potato’s last ten minutes. They turned out golden brown and crunchy – yum!
LOVE.
I’m going to go wash the grass, dirt and mulch off of me. I feel like I have little buggies crawling all over me. Ew, you know?!
Have a great Sunday evening, everyone!
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What’s your most hated household chore? Your least hated?
I HATE cleaning the bathroom, but don’t mind vacuuming! Actually, I kind of love it…!
I hate cleaning toilets and showers! Ugh!! So gross!
I need to make sweet potato fries again. I always end up with soft fries though. Perhaps I need a hotter oven like you.
I hate the bathroom but I love folding laundry.
I love the crisp clean look! They removed a dead bush from the front of my house and I love the way it looks empty. I don’t want them to put another bush/tree in its place! haha!
I don’t mind emptying the dishwasher, cleaning dishes but I hate cleaning my room… I’ll take a clean kitchen any day!
I HATE laundry, ugh, every aspect of it sucks.
The yard looks good.
Laundry I don’t mind, but dusting… it gets so dusty here in Los Angeles!
I like doing laundry too, but i cant stand cleaning the shower and toilet.
I hate vacuuming! Yuck!
AWw, you’re mom’s love and knack for gardening is much like my dad’s. He has such the green thumb in the family and I am happy that a little rubbed off on me, but I still can not get as into it or as good as he is. Good thing we have these wonderful people in our lives to help us out!
Enjoy your night girl.
i agree. i dont mind vaccummig either but the bathroom? ugh…i hate the smell of bleach!
I hate cleaning the shower/bathtub – it always takes forever and I get soaking wet. I kinda like doing laundry. Am I weird?
I HATE folding laundry, ugh it’s the worst. I actually like vacuuming too though, somewhat theraputic for me for whatever reason
My most hated chore is a tie between cleaning up the kitchen (a necessity everyday with all the cooking I do), and dusting. My excuse for not dusting is my allergies.
My least hated chore is probably sweeping or mopping, oddly enough.
It looks great! My mom always helps me with the gardening because it seems as if I can’t keep any type of plant alive!
My least favorite chore…folding and putting away laundry. If I could have a magic laundry fairy do this chore for me, life would be perfect!
Your dinner looks awesome – love roasted veg. I hate cleaning the bathroom and packing dishes away!
I despise cleaning the bathroom and laundry the most! I pretty much hate all household chores
I dread doing the dishes! I really need to eat more cauliflower, too!
I hate gardening too! And emptying the bins
But I don’t mind washing up or vacuuming, cos you always see a nice difference after, v satisfying!
I’m with ya on the bathroom cleaning! Broke down & hired a cleaning lady so I never have to do it again! I don’t mind vacuuming either. Got a new vacuum this weekend. Isn’t that the best?! Those new ones work so well! I hate gardening, too. I really thought your before pic looked pretty good, too, though. You should see my yard. That’ll make ya feel better about yours!
I HATE dusting! SO tedious with very little movement. I’d much rather be vaccuming, mopping, etc. Cleaning the bathrooms ranks right up there though, too!
Oh my I HATE cleaning the bathroom! I use a fair amount of hair spray (I’m in the process of toning that down a notch!) and love to baby powder myself after bathing, so the powder flies all over & sticks to the hair spray & it’s just a mess! I kind of like gardening, but I’m a lazy gardner! I don’t want anything that takes to much care or anything you have to dig up & re-plant every year! What did you do w/ the hosts that seem to be missing from the “after” picture? I LOVE hostas! They are so easy to grow & care for & come in many heights & color variations! At some point I would like to till up my entire back yard (which is small) & just have it full of pine trees, hostas, shade loving plants, mulch & yard art! Nothing to mow!
Oh…I see! Mom got the hostas! I really should read your blogs in the correct order! TeeHee!
I love doing the dishes. I do not love anything where traces of hair are found- i.e. vacuuming/bathtubs/showers, bleh. Did I mention my phobia of loose strands of hair. YUCK.
omg, the sweet potato fry recipe! you are rocking my world! And it was so easy! Love love love.
Your dinner looks awesome – love roasted veg. I hate cleaning the bathroom and packing dishes away!
Kind of don’t agree with the commenter above me on his opinion, but that’s why it’s called opinions I think