Pesto Encrusted Salmon and Beachy Dreams

I have been slacking off lately.
Not only in cooking and blogging, but in housework and personal grooming.
We have a vacation scheduled to take our graduating son to Hawaii for his senior trip.
My husband is self employed which means vacations are few and hard to come by.
If he doesn't work...we don't eat...or pay the cable bill.
As Americans we love to eat and watch our TV!
That being said, I have really been dreaming about that trip.
I love the the ocean, the breezes, and the beauty of Hawaii.
I also look forward to not doing housework or all that comes with being mom.
I want to be Sarah.
I hardly know who Sarah is anymore, I have been mom for so long.
With the kids being 18 and 16 I am going to lighten up on being mom on this trip.
If your shorts and swim trunks need washed...then I guess you'll have to wash them.
If you want to have breakfast...cook it up kid...because Sarah only eats once a day.
I still cook and clean everything at home because as honor students and kids with jobs, I know it is hard for them to get their food and laundry done and keep on schedule.
So I help keep it all moving.
But in Hawaii...Sarah is on vacation.
The problem is...I wish it was here already.
I am having a hard time making myself do what I am supposed to do.
Cooking has been the same old trusted things I can put in the fridge for them, chicken, tilapia, turkey burgers, cauliflower, salads...nothing new...I just haven't felt like it.
When you are personally never hungry it's hard to get creative with food.
But I gave myself a kick in the pants and a pep talk yesterday...'You're still mom so get going!'
I made them Pesto Encrusted Salmon with green beans and mushrooms plus a big full salad.

Pesto Encrusted Salmon:

Salmon fillets ~ we used wild caught from Costco
Pesto ~ from Costco or you can make your own
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup) ~ made from raw milk; grated. From Costco

Turn on the oven to broil.
Place the salmon on foil or silpat lined baking sheet.
Spread with a generous amount of the pesto, you can coat the top and bottom if you love pesto.
Broil in the middle of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the center has lost most of it's deep pink color.
When done I grated some of the Parmesan cheese over the top of each fillet.

Green Beans With Sauteed Mushrooms:

Fresh spring green beans ~ bought from Costco
White capped mushroom container ~ bought from Costco
Kerrygold butter ~ bought from Costco (getting the theme here?)

Steam the green beans for 10 to 12 minutes until fork tender.
While the beans steam, saute the mushrooms in a generous heap of Kerrygold butter until they reach the tenderness you desire.
When the beans were done I popped them into the mushrooms and got them coated with the butter too.

We also had a big spinach salad filled with walnuts, bacon, and hard boiled egg slices.

I hope you try the salmon recipe and love it as much as we do.