New Recipe Wins

Since I wasn't actually sick, just felt horrible at night, during the first trimester I tried to keep up with quick meals for Stephen. I would pick at my food or just eat a tiny bit to get by (won't mention the night I ate a bagel for dinner... or french dip and chips ;)) but now that the nausea is pretty much behind me #praisetheLord, I've been trying to make regular meals again.

I wanted to share some winners that are quick, easy meals to make on a weeknight.

Cold Sesame Noodle Bowls
I'm not going to lie, this one was a complete shocker at how delicious it was and I was surprised that Stephen loved it too! It was so quick to make and was very light and refreshing. We did saute the zucchini noodles for a few minutes but then let them cool before eating.

Minute Rice with Teriyaki Chicken
The chicken was a little bit of a fail for this meal because I wasn't feeling well and didn't want the house to smell... I didn't cook it according to the instructions. It wasn't bad but it would be really good if you made it according to the recipe.

I was sent the Minute Rice quinoa and brown rice to review and it was delicious! Definitely the perfect side for this meal, especially with my night nausea. The flavors were great, without being overbearing and it was super easy to make. One bowl made 2 servings which was perfect for Stephen and I.

Sweet Chili Salmon
This one isn't totally new to us but is definitely our go-to for when we want salmon. It's super delicious and has the perfect amount of flavor too; not to mention it's a breeze to cook in the oven!

We usually pair it with quinoa or brown rice and roasted broccoli.

via

Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Last night, we tried out Christina's crock pot hack with our buffalo chicken sweet potatoes. It never really looked appetizing to me, but everyone says they're amazing so I took a chance. I did use a shortcut and just used buffalo sauce without adding anything else to the chicken. It turned out so delicious and I was shocked that Stephen loved it! Definitely a re-do, especially since it was basically the easiest recipe ever.

I hope these few recipes helped out with week night meal planning! I always look for quick recipes during the week and love mixing things up. Linking up with Jessi

Five on Friday

One
I'm super excited to finally share our Christmas cards this year! They should all be delivered by now but we were so excited with how they turned out. The day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to get a feel for what cards we liked and which company we wanted to go with before the black Friday sales. Stephen mentioned Amazon did cards so we looked into them and were shocked to see how cheap they were! We ended up purchasing them that night and we're super pleased with the quality for the price - they even included free return address printed on the envelope!! Definitely using them again

Since we traveled around the country a lot earlier this year, we decided to use a picture from NYC & San Fran and incorporate that into the card text.

Two

At work on Wednesday, they had our annual Christmas lunch. It's something fun they do and provide all of the employees a Christmas style lunch. Y'all, best cornbread I've ever had in my life. Every year, I look forward to this event because of the cornbread lol

Three

We made another one of Christina's soups this week and it was delicious! We have yet to find a recipe of hers that we didn't love and this tortellini soup was no exception

Four

Last night, one of my co-workers hosted our second annual cookie exchange. It was so much fun and I can't wait to try all the delicious cookies! My sister sent me an amazing sugar cookie recipe and then I dipped half the cookies in dark chocolate and added sprinkles & crushed candy canes to them. 

Five
And now that I've realized almost my entire FoF post is about food... we are hosting our #basicchristmasparty tonight with our friends from our fall party! We are so excited to have hot chocolate, see Christmas lights, build gingerbread houses and play a Christmas game :) Tomorrow, we're going to Disney to see the Christmas decorations before we lose our passes and hopefully, we'll get to see Kurt Russell read the Christmas story at Epcot!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Can't believe Christmas is coming so quickly!

Five on Friday

How crazy is it that this is the last Friday in October and we officially have less than 2 months until Christmas!? I honestly can't believe it and even though this is my absolute favorite time of year, I wish it would slow down a little. I'm sure November will go even faster because we're going to be pretty busy but with all fun events :)

One
I have two delicious, colder weather recipes to share with you today. The first one is the black bean, sweet potato and turkey chili recipe that my friend made for our #BasicFallParty. Every time she's made this recipe, it's been a huge hit!! She said she used this recipe and also added in some cooked, ground turkey.

Two

The second recipe is Owen's crockpot quiona Mexican casserole. Thankfully, I had this dish planned before I knew the colder weather was coming so this hit the spot. I've been going through a phase where I'm not a huge fan of Mexican-type food (outside of Tex Mex) but I couldn't get enough of this stuff! This will definitely be on repeat in our house.

Three
I'm sure everyone is saying the same thing but I am legit obsessed with this cooler weather! We have been so excited to have real fall weather the past few days and even though it's supposed to be in the 80's again today, we all loved the weather in Florida while it lasted. Since it was cooler, I busted out my fall clothes for work and even curled my hair ;)

Try to ignore the dusty mirror... cleaned it the 2nd day lol

Sweater (need one of these in every color) / Skirt - last season / Boots (Similar, Similar) / Purse (Kate Spade Outlet)

Sweater (old) / Button Down / Pants / Shoes (old) / Necklace (on sale!)

Four
I recently found a new, fun podcast which is just in time for Halloween. It's called Deadly Manners and it's a fictional thrilled based on a 1950's murder mystery and is voiced by Hollywood actors. It definitely captures you and at ~30 minutes an episode, it's not too much overload (although I do hate having to wait for the next episodes).

Five
With all of this beautiful weather, we've been coming home after work and going on bike rides through the neighborhood. We love being able to get out and enjoy the weather while getting in some exercise!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I will be utilizing my time by working on all my PPE orders and tomorrow morning I'm doing the breast cancer walk with some co-workers in downtown Orlando.

Double-Smoked Potatoes

Today's Friday post is going to be a little different than the usual 5 - I'm going to share an amazingly delicious side recipe for the grill. For Christmas last year, Stephen's brother got him this perfect cookbook for smoking. Stephen's really been enjoying it and a few weekends ago, he made these delicious twice-smoked baked potatoes on the grill. They were so delicious that I had to share the recipe :)

Ingredients:
- 4 large baking potatoes
- 1.5 Tbsp bacon fat, melted butter or EVOO (we used the olive oil)
- Salt and pepper
- 4 strips of bacon
- 6 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter - thinly sliced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 2 cups of coarsely grated white cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Spanish smoked paprika for sprinking

Directions:
1. Allow for your grill/smoker to reach 400*F and make sure you have enough supplies to smoke for an hour and a half.

2. Scrub the potatoes on all sides with a brush and rinse well. Prick each potato several times with a fork. Brush or rub the potato with the olive oil (or butter or bacon fat) and season generously with salt and pepper.

3. Place the potatoes directly on the smoker rack and smoke for about 1 hour until the skins are crisp and the potatoes are tender on the inside.

4. Meanwhile, cook your bacon (I completely forgot to do the oven method and made a huge mess) and make sure they're crispy.

5. Once the potatoes have cooked, transfer to a cutting board and let them cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out most of the potato flesh, leaving a 1/4 in- thick shell. Cut the flesh into chunks and place in a bowl (at this point, I should've smashed them a little before adding the other ingredients because I wanted them a little more smashed).

6. Add the bacon, 4 Tbsp butter, scallions and cheese to the potato flesh and stir to mix. Add in the sour cream and some salt and pepper to taste.

7. Spoon the mixture back into the shells, mounding it in the center. Top each potato half with a thin slice of remaining butter and sprinkle with paprika. Place your potato halves in a shallow, aluminum pan and place back on the smoker for about 20-30 minutes or you can heat them up in the oven at 400*F.

Stephen and I really enjoyed this side dish and plan on making it again in the future!

Five on Friday

One
First and foremost, I have to say Happy March!! I love the month of March, I just feel like it kicks off all things bright and colorful and the cold is gone from Florida (it's actually been quite hot lately).

Anyways, I'm pleased to say that I jumped on the egg roll in a bowl bandwagon and I'm not looking back. It's an easy dinner that's healthy (I replaced the pork with ground turkey and used broccoli slaw) and there's a few different ways you can eat it! We ate it by itself earlier this week but I think next time I want to add lettuce wraps - y'all, so good :)

Two
Another health-food related item, I tried avocado toast for the first time yesterday and I liked it! Honestly, I'm shocked I liked it lol I'm not a huge avocado fan but the 2 I bought this past week were actually ripe when I used them which I'm sure adds to it but it was so delicious! I topped mine with turkey bacon but I think I'd love to add a fried egg as well and eat it like an egg sandwich.

I found this fun graphic on pinterest with different ways to make avocado toast - I can't wait to try more combos. Please share ways you like to eat yours!

Three
I went into Style Encore the other day to sell some clothes and walked out with a new dress. I absolutely adore the button up dresses that are flowy on the bottom and this one fit perfectly! I cannot wait to wear it in Charleston next week :)

I bought it consignment but it still tags that said it was from Marshall's (I found it online at eBay)

Four
I saw two bloggers talk about the new Kristin Ess collection at Target and I'm now intrigued... this beach-hair spray caught my eye and I'd love to know if anyone else has tried it before. With summer on it's way, I'd love to achieve the beach wave look but I'm not sure if my hair thinks the same

Five
I'm excited because tonight, we are celebrating my SIL's birthday! We're hanging out at our old college stomping grounds, getting pizza and hitting the trampoline park. I'm so excited to see them again - it's been since Christmas.

I'm so thankful that not only is Lauren my sister, she is my friend :) Happiest of Birthdays!!

Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

This recipe is actually a Publix Aprons recipe that I tried and loved a few weeks ago. I thought it'd be the perfect thing to make for Valentine's Day. I'm not going to lie, the pictures could be a lot better and the steaks could look better - Stephen ended up getting home extra late that night so they sat in the sauce and soaked everything up for like 2 hours... thankfully they still tasted amazing!

Ingredients:
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- Grilling steaks (we used NY Strip)
- 1 tbsp smoky Montreal steak seasoning
- 2 tbsp herb garlic butter
- 8 oz fresh, presliced baby portabella mushrooms
- 1 tsp flour
- 2 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 1 10.5 oz can condensed beef broth

Directions:
1. Preheat the over to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Season the steaks with steak seasoning

2. Place 1 tbsp herb butter in a pan, melt and add the steak; sear 3 minutes each side or until well browned. Place the steaks on the baking sheet (leave any drippings in the pan) and bake for 10-12 minutes until steaks are done. Once done, place steaks on a cutting board and let sit 5-10 minutes before slicing

3. While the steaks are cooking, place the remaining 1 tbsp herb butter in the pan and melt. Add shallots and cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook 5-6 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown. Stir in the flour and cook another minute

4. Add the balsamic glaze to the shallots and mushrooms and cook 1-2 minutes. Pour in the beef broth and simmer 5-6 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thickened

5. Slice the steaks at an angle while everything else is cooking. Serve steaks with the mushroom sauce

I've never cooked steaks in the oven before and this recipe couldn't have been any easier! I'm definitely thinking this will be our next supper club recipe ;)



Linking up with Jessi

Blueberry Overnight Oats

Lately, Stephen and I have been trying to pull together some good, filling and quick breakfasts before we head to work each morning. One of my co-workers has been bringing in overnight oats for quite some time - they always looked delicious but her ingredients seemed to be a mile long. I brushed off all overnight oats thinking they needed to have complex ingredients in them. That was, until I found this recipe on pinterest. Since then, we've made them a few times and I've altered the recipe to fit our needs.

We quite enjoy overnight oats as they're easy to prepare the night before and then it's a quick grab in the morning before heading out the door. Something to note, you can alter the ingredients as much as you'd like depending on your taste and what consistencies you like.

Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup and 2 tbsp cooking oats
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- A handful of blueberries
- You can also add chia seeds for added nutrition

Directions
1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a container with an air-tight lid

2. Place in fridge and chill overnight - 8+ hours

3. Enjoy :)

Linking up with Jessi