Tag Archives: recipes

Goings on

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I love a random post…so here’s to another.

I just love this little family pic of us (minus my thunder thighs of course). It basically sums up what we do with our free time.

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Madewell is my go-to for tshirts. I know that sounds kind of dumb, but their tshirts are the best ever, specifically the Slub V-Neck pocket tee. I have four with two more on the way thanks to their big 40% off sale items promo…that ended yesterday. Whoops. I am not one for duplicates, so they must be amazing. I also splurged a little and ordered their classic Transport Tote in navy. I have been wanting the perfect tote for a long time and I’m hoping this one fits the bill. Also hoping it might can serve as a diaper bag as well.

If you follow on instagram, then you saw that delicious focaccia bread I made yesterday. It is sooooo good I can’t even describe. I used this recipe but decided to ex-nay the tomatoes. It was easy enough and just a little time consuming since you have to wait for the bread to rise two different times, but totally worth it.

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When did cereal get so expensive?

xo

Grub

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Food: something I’ve had a love-hate relationship with recently. It’s like I get reeeaaally hungry and then BOOM. not hungry. So annoying.

Things my appetite hasn’t waned for…pancakes. ice cream. cheeseburgers. chicken parm.

Regardless, here are things I’m making and eating and enjoying.

I IG’d this delicious morsel because, well, it was delicious. It was not so loosely based on this recipe from Real Simple. I replaced green beans with asparagus and orecchiette pasta with cheese tortellini. Yum.

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You’ve seen BLT chopped salads all over Pinterest. Well do yourself a favor and make one, any one. I made a little dressing consisting of ranch, lime juice, sriracha, and cilantro paste. What is that you say? This stuff…

I can say the basil version is better and I use it all the time. It is perfect for tomato sauces, pasta salads, added to mayo for amazing BLT’s, etc.

I have been craving carbs like a maniac, and am planning on making this tonight from A Kitchen Addiction. It has fruit so it’s healthy right?

 

In hopes of trying to avoid being a total fatty…I made these “healthy” cookies with no sugar, flour, all things good. This is my second attempt and I thought perhaps this recipe would be better. But guess what? There is no such thing as a delicious and healthy cookie. We ended up throwing most of them away.

A different recipe I made with ripe bananas was this one and it is insane good. Decadent Double Chocolate Banana Bread.

And for my last culinary masterpiece…

These are freakin good.

Friday Randoms

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Random posts are always my favorite.

– So, we half-assed moved. As in, there is still a lot of little crap left in the warehouse. Our carpet installers have just completely dropped the ball and are holding us up big time. But whatev. At this point, I don’t have much care left in me. I have just been relaxing and watching a lot of tv and doing a lot of online browsing. After not having tv or internet since Nov 1…we have earned some time on the couch.

– Speaking of couch…we got ours back from the upholsterer. I like it. I can’t say I wouldn’t have preferred velvet, but velvet + dog slobber just wasn’t in any way practical.

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– Madewell is offering 30% off sale items {code: BYEMARCH} and I scooped up two more of my absolute favorite tees. I ordered a size up so hopefully they will accommodate the growing belly throughout the summer.

– I have been cooking up a storm this week. If you follow on instagram then you have seen a couple of my go-to recipes, Baked Egg Rolls & Italian Frittata. Mike’s uncle lives in the midwest and he and his wife own and run a restaurant. He visited once and brought with him their egg rolls and served them with big leaves of lettuce and assorted herbs {any herbs you want, I usually use cilantro and/or basil}. You sprinkle some herbs on a leaf of lettuce and wrap around the egg roll. It was amazing and I try to always eat my own egg rolls this way. Since my egg rolls are baked and just shy of bland, I always like to have a tasty dipping sauce. I love Newman’s Own sesame ginger dressing, which I recently mixed with a sweet thai chili sauce and added a healthy squirt of sriracha. Basically I just make it to taste. Nothing fancy or measured. Egg rolls are one of those things that you can use what you have in the fridge. I have added chicken, shrimp, and fish and it is all good.

I don’t really have a recipe for the frittata…there are hundreds of variations so I suggest just looking it up online to find one you like. Once you make it once, you won’t need a recipe! You can also eat it hot, cold, or room temp for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Plus it is packed with protein and veggies (and in my case, cheeese too).  This is what I added to mine (I only used half the italian sausage + shredded sharp cheddar and sprinkled some feta on top):

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– We have zero window treatments. How am I supposed to decide on and afford window treatments for every window in our house like right now? I mean, people are staring at our every move at night because there is zero privacy. I also hate to waste money on temporary options because unless they are from Dollar General nothing in the drapery world is cheap. I want to try my hand at making my own. It can’t be too hard right? More than the cost savings, I don’t want to wait for someone to do it for me. The lady that did our sofa and chair took forever, and while she was good and very reasonable, I want something now. I cannot get this fabric out of my mind, and it is not too expensive, so I may give it a try. The colors are perfection and it is just fun and formal at the same time. Plus it has dogs and ginger jars…a win win.

That is all for this Friday. We will be busy moving the rest of our junk out the warehouse this weekend. Fun fun!

Random Round Up

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My custom Lucchese boots are finally home. I am pretty obsessed with them. Never have I ever had such a great pair of boots and I plan to wear them for life.  Why do I always take selfies pre-makeup?!

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I have been traveling an enormous amount lately for work which has meant a lot of lonely nights in hotels. Somehow I started watching New Girl on Netflix…this is strange because Zooey Douchewhatever is not someone I would typically like, but I love the show. It is seriously funny and cute. So watch it if you are looking for a new tv binge. Yesterday I was cleaning, it was raining, and Mike was napping, so I reluctantly started Breaking Bad. It is good. Duh.

We were supposed to have a big yard sale yesterday, but it rained on our parade. Everything in our house has a price tag on it. We are selling everything except the tufted craigslist sofa and chair I recently purchased, my favorite RL blue & white lamps, a couple sets of awesome pillows…and that’s pretty much it. I want a big yellow sign on the front of our house that says “EVERYTHING MUST GO” like furniture stores keep out year round. I have given away, donated, consigned or ebay’d probably 10 garbage bags worth of clothes and at least 50% of my shoe collection this year. It is an amazing feeling to have space in my closet again.

And last but not least, a Pinterest recipe round up:

One Pot Chicken Risotto – so I was thinking this was going to be a quick, easy version of real risotto. But it is just like making actual risotto except you add some chicken. It actually took longer to get the right consistency IMO. Probably won’t make it again.

Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas – these were the heat. Delicious, easy, amazing the next day too. I will make these a million more times. I love enchiladas and this was a different type of sauce that is a great alternative to the red kind. Katie Perks…if you haven’t made these yet, you need to asap.

Easy White Chicken Chili – This was pretty good, especially if you aren’t afraid of a little cumin. I omitted the beans because they are gross to me, but next time I might add black beans instead of no beans at all.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps – These were delicious. I totally hate all kinds of Mexican food, obvi. Cooking these in a skillet gives them a nice crispy outside. I will make these again and again.

Recipes on my radar:

Italian Drunken Noodles

Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chips – Whoa. Pretzels and chocolate always make me think of my sister. I will definitely be making these for the holidays.

Kale and Chicken Egg Rolls – I love homemade egg rolls. I usually bake mine, and would probably do that with these to make them a teeny bit healthier.

Chicken Sausage Brown Rice Stuffing with Celery and Mushrooms – um, Yum.

So that was like 3 posts in one, but one post is better than none.

Make This

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I have been a Pinterest freak lately with all the new house ideas, and inevitably while scanning Pinterest I come across delicious looking recipes. One of which includes this recipe by the great Rea Drummond aka Pioneer Woman for restaurant salsa. It is turn the bowl up drinkable good.

The only thing I did different was I only had one can of Rotel, which I think is the better choice, and I did not have a jalapeno on hand. I did have some weird jalapeno hot sauce that I used in its place and it had plenty of tasty heat. I rarely ever buy salsa from the grocery store anymore as it is and had been using a similar recipe, but this is superior to any I’ve ever made or bought before. So go. Make salsa.

I have pinned many other recipes but we have been eating out so much lately, salsa is about the only thing I’ve “cooked”. If I were going to mess up a bunch of dishes…here’s what I would be whipping up:

One Pot Chicken Risotto

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Braised French Onion Chicken

Butter Pecan Cake

No quinoa kale salads here. Risotto, gumbo, and french onion anything are always a favorite. Lets add some butta to that please with this decadent Butter Pecan cake. I love pecans in any way, so I know this is heavenly. What are you cookin up good these days? Do tell.

Let me TELL you

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Right? I hope so. My excuse du jour is that my old laptop got sent back to my corporate office, probably awaiting a technological death, and finally I have a new one resting upon my desk.

However, after an afternoon full of emails and phone calls, I’m stepping away from said laptop to whip up this:

Yum.

*Side note: Our IT guy said to not use Firefox on our new laptops. Say what? I’ve used internet explorer for all of 30 minutes and can’t take it any longer. Sorry IT guy. Is this just me?

A success story

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I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th holiday. Mine was quite nice. We spent a lot of time on the water, caught and ate fresh flounder {which is perhaps the best thing ever}, booze cruised, fine dined with friends, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Most of us do a lot of pinning, and for those that don’t, I have created boards for you. I love it when I actually read or hear about Pinterest ideas that really worked, DIYs that weren’t total fails, and recipes that were actually delicious.

My latest Pinterest success from The Dramaterialist:

See my before & after for both a blush and a bronzer on Instagram.  A perfect project for those mornings when you are up early and feeling productive. It really took no time at all and I was happy with the results.

Recent recipe success includes: Chocolate Chip Cookies for Two, Avocado & Tomato Salad, Sante Fe Chicken, Breakfast Casserole. Next on deck, I have a giant container of blueberries and this Blueberry Cream Cheese Crostata sounds like the perfect summertime dessert…or breakfast. Check out my recipe board on Pinterest for the links to these great recipes and more.