Menu Monday

BBQ Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

This was really yummy! The filling was a very simple but tasty combination. I love the idea of a quesadilla for dinner, and this is a way to make it with something other than a Mexican flair. :)

{Recipe Here}

We really enjoyed our choices last week! With maybe a few changes next time... The recipe for the marsala chicken & mushroom casserole could use a teeny bit of work. In the future, I might pre-cook the rice so that the cooking liquid doesn't water down that delicious marsala cream sauce. Next, the slow-cooked balsamic and brown sugar pork was delicious, but the method was a little confusing. The blogger said there should be no cooking liquid left at the end, but there was a ton. Which you also need to keep slow-cooked meat moist/tender? Anyway...a mystery. The glaze was so good, though, so I think you could just baste an oven pork tenderloin with it and be good to go!

This Week's Menu:

Roasted Garlic & Chicken Lasagna with Salad

Asian Pork Burgers with Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

Chicken Enchilada Pasta with Guac & Salad

Chili (freezer stash) with Green Onion Corn Cakes

Because You Loved Me

I couldn't resist using a Celine song for the title of this post. ;) I saw this free printable making the blog rounds pre-Valentine's Day. We have used the Pinterest-inspired dry erase board more than I ever expected, and I thought this one was just a sweet idea!

It's 8x10, so you just print it, frame it, and fill in the rest of the sentence with a dry erase marker whenever you feel like it! There are several color options, so you can pick whichever goes best with your decor. (I thought about taking the file somewhere to get a little bit of a higher quality result. But it did just fine on the regular old inkjet!) You can get it here.

And speaking of love...

I have found my version of Nutella! (I'm missing the Nutella gene. I know, I know. It must be the same one that makes everyone in the world like goat cheese, too. Ick.) This is 57% Biscoff cookies, blended up with other goodies into a texture that's just like creamy peanut butter. The jar has barely lasted a week in our kitchen! It can pretty much go on anything you'd put peanut butter on.

Or just a spoon. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Strange CoffeeTableFellows

Menu Monday (+ Happy Hour!)

Oven-Baked Chicken Fajitas
{Recipe Here}

This was a super easy fajita-like filling for tortillas! One dish, no mess. I marinated the chicken in the oil/spice mixture for an hour or so, and next time I would probably drain the tomatoes or just use a little tomato paste. (There was a tad too much juice.) Tasty!

This Week's Menu:

Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork with Gnocchi Mac & Cheese and Roasted Broccolini*

Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas with Sauteed Spinach

Marsala Chicken & Mushroom Casserole with Salad

Leftover Italian Drip Beef from the weekend!

*This is definitely a day-off dinner. Way too much effort for a weeknight. :)

And now, more importantly....happy hour!

This was a Pinterest find, and I immediately knew it would be right up my martini alley. I love anything pink grapefruit/citrus.

Citrus Blush Martini
{Adapted by Liv Life}

1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
1/2 oz. limoncello**
1 1/2 oz. vodka
2 oz. ruby red grapefruit juice
Crushed ice
Add ingredients (double for a "full size" martini) over crushed ice in a shaker. Shake. :) Strain into martini glass.

**We discovered that this is a pricey ingredient for a mere 1/2oz of use... Delicious, but expensive. If you don't already have some, I'm guessing you could use citrus vodka or lemon juice in its place.

Rainy Day Dogs

Since I have the day off tomorrow (thanks, presidents!), we were able to skip our usual Sunday morning chore activity of grocery shopping. So we had a relaxing, rainy morning instead. Then we decided to try something new for lunch!

We're fans of Richard Blais and his Flip Burgers, so we've been wanting to try one of his other Atlanta ventures: HD1. It's a Haute Doggery!

Andrew opening the biggest door ever.

A's Pick

{The Little Italy: Fennel sausage, grilled radicchio, fontina & San Marzano ketchup}

W's Pick

{The Freemont Street: House dog, garlic cream cheese & tomato-red onion salad}

On the side we had half-sour house pickles and waffle fries with a spicy maple sauce! Yum! It was definitely a fun lunch for a rainy day. :)

Menu Monday

 Potato, Ham & Spinach Frittata
Frittatas are always a weeknight favorite around here because they're so quick and easy. This one was a great flavor combo (and filling because of the potato), but more cheese couldn't hurt.
{Recipe & Much Prettier Photo Here}

We're trying some new things this week along with a salad we had once before and loved. But the common thread is that they are all ea-sy. I think we spent all our cooking time and precision for the week on that cheesecake... :)

Spanish Chicken and Potato Roast with Salad & Bread

Oven Chicken Fajitas with Black Beans & Rice
Cheeseburger Macaroni with Roasted Green Beans

Asian Steak Salad with Mango

Thanks to MacKenzie for recommending two of our choices this week!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Now that it actually feels like February, we have spent most of the weekend cozied up inside. (I was not one to complain that it hasn't "felt like winter." 60+ degrees is just fine with me!)

We planned to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend and were going to cook something special, but we decided to pick up a feast from Maggiano's instead. Thanks for the gift card, Meema et al!

While Andrew was gone to get the food, I pulled out some Valentine's decor from the closet to make our table festive. We put the Sounds of the Season channel on the TV for some background tunes, and it made for a nice little romantical dinner! ;)

Part of the reason we decided against cooking is that we spent the better part of yesterday afternoon making a joint culinary effort: baking a cheesecake. I had never made one before, and it's a dessert that seems a little more intimidating than your average baked good. But it really wasn't so tough.

Behold: Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake
{Recipe Here}

Holy yummy. It is so good! The top got a little bit brown in spots, but next time I'll know that "just set" = still gonna look jiggly = done. A word of warning...if you click on the recipe, do yourself a favor and don't even bother reading the nutritional information!!

Today we went out to lunch at Farm Burger and ran a few errands in the "brisk" but sunny weather. Now it's time to get back into snuggly clothes and enjoy some hot chocolate.  Hope you had a good weekend!

(P.S. Happy anniversary to my parents!)

xoxo

(I drafted this blog when I made these and never posted it...and now it's almost Valentine's Day! Eek!)

In our house, there is one conversation heart lover and one conversation heart hater. The hater thinks they are better left for crafting inspiration. ;)

I saw this little "wreath" on Pinterest, but there was no tutorial. How difficult could it be, right?

Well, it was a little bit tougher than it looked, although it would probably only bother a perfectionist crafter. And I don't know any of those! The variable sizes/shapes of the hearts make circles sort of a challenge, and my very scientific plan for laying them out proved to be about as useful as guessing.

But I think it turned out pretty cute! You need conversation heart candies, cardstock (pink or red), cardboard or popsicle sticks, ribbon, a hot glue gun (or super glue!), and a sealant of your choice.

What ended up working was laying them out the uncut cardstock and making some Sharpie marks as landmark points. (The scientific plan involved making one for every heart, but I didn't end up using them.) Mark a line at the "half-heart" point of the first and last rows, since you'll want the paper to stop just shy of the hearts on the edges.

When it's the size and shape you want, dump the hearts into a container so you still have the right number. Then cut the circle out, using the "half-heart" mark as the edge. Fold the circle in half and cut out the center, using the half-heart mark there, too. You'll end up with a donut shape, which you'll need to reinforce with either some cardboard or popsicle sticks. (I didn't realize I needed to do this, but the hearts are so heavy...aww...that it will be floppy if you don't.)

Then starting in the middle, lay your first heart circle back out on the cardstock. Just start picking them up one at a time and gluing them to the paper. (Keep checking to make sure they're spaced properly.) Continue until you're done with as many rows as you want!

ModPodge or spray seal the hearts if you want to. Loop a piece of ribbon around the wreath (or tack it to the back) and tie the top in a bow.

(I'm not sure this will be long-term Valentine's decor in our house, because the hearts keep popping off the paper. I guess the glue was not hot enough to melt into the candy? That's why I might suggest super glue!)

~

This was another Pinterest find! But I feel bad, because I thought the photo was pinned as a craft idea... After I bought the supplies, I went to the site and saw that they were actually for sale! Oops. So, I at least credit her for the idea!

This one is pretty self-explanatory. You need wooden hearts, ribbon, paint, and ModPodge. Sand the hearts if necessary, and paint the color of your choice.

I used another Pinterest trick for painting the names! Print out the text in a font you like to fit whatever it is you're painting. (This only works if you're painting on wood.) Tape it on and trace the letters with a ball-point pen. Be heavy-handed about it! When you remove the paper, you'll be able to see the outline of your tracing. It serves as a visual guide but also helps your brush to stay in the lines. Neat!

{Tutorial Here}

Run a piece of ribbon down the back of the hearts and attach with a teeny nail, tack, or hot glue -- whatever works. Then tie a bow using another piece of ribbon and attach the long piece to the back of it. You can also glue on a loop to hang it with.

xoxoxo

Menu Monday

 Black Bean Soup
This is from awhile back, but we really liked it! It was surprisingly easy for how flavorful it was. We served it with sour cream and avocado on top and a cheese quesadilla on the side.
{Recipe Here}

A little bit late in the day for ole Menu Monday, but better late than hungry. :)

This week, Andrew was kind enough to take care of our menu planning! (Thank you, A!) One nice thing about putting our meals on the blog weekly is that if you click on the "menu" tag at the bottom of a post, it turns into an easy-to-reference recipe index of sorts. So he went back through and picked some of our past favorites to have this week.

(As an added bonus, I make our grocery lists in Notepad and save them by date. If I want to repeat a week's menu as-is, I've already got the shopping list!)

Here's what we're replaying this week:

Taco Stuffed Shells

Honey Mustard Pork with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and CousCous

Chicken Parmesan with Roasted Broccoli
Dinner out!

A Sublime Morning

Waking up early on a Saturday morning to go to the DMV in (super) downtown Atlanta* deserves a treat...

 

Sublime Doughnuts! Here we have (clockwise-ish from the top): Dulce de Leche, Cinnamon Swirl, Orange Dream Star A, White Chocolate Peach Fritter, Orange Dream Star B and A-Town Cream.

(Yes, we got three each. If you're going to willingly venture into Yellow Jacket territory, you might as well make it worth your time!)

We enjoyed reading this short Food & Wine feature on Sublime's founder Kamal Grant before we left.

*It was actually a very efficient and painless process. Even though the little mobile unit was filled to the brim with people, we were in and out in less than thirty minutes. Thanks, Capitol Avenue DDS!