Menu Monday

Beef Noodle Salad
I used PW's dressing recipe and the basic idea for this salad but changed it up a bit beyond that. It made a ton. Fortunately, though, it was really good. :) I sliced a flank steak really thinly, seasoned it, and stir-fried the pieces. Then I put it in the serving bowl, topped it with some dressing (like she suggested doing), and let it chill while I made the rest.

I used linguine instead of thin spaghetti, and during the last minute or so of boiling the noodles, I tossed in half a red bell pepper (sliced), a few handfuls of fresh snowpeas, and half a bag of frozen shelled edamame. After I drained everything, I ran it under cool water before adding it to the meat. Then I added plenty of sliced scallions and poured the dressing over all the goodness before returning it to the fridge to chill. Yum!

(If you are not a huge sesame fan, definitely don't use 3T of sesame oil. One would probably lend enough flavor. It is super strong to me!)

{Recipe Here}

I don't know about you, but I get less interested in complicated cooking when spring and summer roll around. It's too hot (already) and too pretty outside to worry about all that. :) So I think sandwiches and salads will continue to creep into our menu plans a little more in the coming weeks... And that's fine by us!

This Week's Menu:
Spinach Lasagna Rolls* and Caesar Salad
Taco Salads and Fruit
Bacon, Cheddar & Apple Panini (Brooks's suggestion!) and Kale Chips

Smoky Corn Chowder and Bread 

Eggs with Ham, Cheddar & Chives and Roasted Red Potatoes 

*We had these last night, and they were like a fancier-looking version of stuffed shells. If you try them, add some seasoning beyond s&p to the ricotta mix. I used Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

Also, Publix was out of peaches last week, so we had to go with pineapple for the fruit salsa we were planning to have with our pork. It's not really a recipe so much as it is a combination of ingredients, but it was so good. This would be great on chicken, pork chops, fish (if that's your thing), or even just tortilla chips.

Pineapple Salsa

Adapted from Annie's Eats

-1/2 of a fresh pineapple, peeled/cored and chopped

-1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

-1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced

-1/4 cup red onion, diced

-Chopped cilantro, to taste

-Juice of half a lime

-Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss until well-mixed. Refrigerate until ready to use.

A Good Weekend to Wed

Last year this time, we woke up (really) early to watch the royal wedding before heading south to Hilton Head for Danni and Reed's wedding. And this weekend, we had another wedding to attend here in Atlanta!

Our friends Josh and Emily got married on Saturday afternoon at the All Saints' Episcopal Church. The church was beautiful inside, and the ceremony was a sweet one.

We headed down a few blocks to 191 Peachtree for the reception at the Commerce Club...

...which is on the 49th floor!

Andrew met Josh in law school, so the reception was a fun chance to hang out with some of our favorite Law Dawgs.

Amer & Andrew

Andrew, Audrey & Michael

Me & my most favorite Law Dawg

The dining room had such pretty views (especially after dark), and I loved all the spring colors they chose for the flowers mixed with some champagne and gray in the room. (Sadly, I had to take the little pocket camera...it doesn't really do the room justice.)

We had a great time eating, drinking and (of course) dancing to celebrate the new Mr. & Mrs. P! Congratulations, guys -- thanks for including us in your special day!

Then today, my cousin Jessica and her husband Chris were in town celebrating their 5th anniversary...which I can hardly believe! Their hotel ended up being near our apartment, so we were able to get in a last-minute lunch before they headed out of town. We went to Taco Mac, and there was some computer glitch that caused our food to be delayed. We were just talking and hadn't really noticed, but the manager came by and apologized profusely and said it would be on the house. Okay then!

Happy anniversary, y'all! Glad we got to see you!

Menu Monday

 Spicy Brown Sugar Pork with Cajun Slaw

Our dinners last week were all pretty tasty--but not necessarily photogenic. We did really enjoy this easy Food Network Magazine dish. The pork had great flavor from the brown sugar/Cajun spice rub, and the broccoli slaw dressing was so good! (Although you could probably dial it back on the horseradish and be fine.) I used plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo because, once again, I don't do mayo. I think that made it a pretty healthy meal to boot!
{Recipes Here}
Happy Monday! Time to cook for another week. :) We have a couple of good repeats this week along with some random choices.

This Week's Menu:
Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Pork with Peach Pineapple Salsa (no peaches at Publix...?), Sauteed Spinach & CousCous

Steak Noodle Salad with Red Peppers, Snow Peas & Edamame

Creamy Chicken Taquitos with Black Beans & Guac

Grilled Ham, Swiss & Green Apple Sandwiches with Chips (I hope this combo tastes as good as it sounds in my brain.)

On another cooking-related note, did you know you can clean stainless steel cookware with baking soda and vinegar? (It seems like maybe you can clean everything with baking soda and vinegar, but anyway.) Our dishwasher always leaves this skillet super "filmy" looking, and Rachel told me about using a product called Barkeeper's Friend to clean SS. I kept forgetting to buy it week after week, so I decided to try a homemade fix. It worked!

I just sprinkled an even layer of baking soda on the skillet, poured in a little white vinegar and swirled it around to cover. Then after a few minutes, I dumped it out and used regular dish soap to scrub it. The first time, I didn't quite get all the residue out, and little white spots appeared as it dried. However, I put a little more water in and let it soak over night...and all kinds of stuff floated to the top by morning. I'm guessing that's what the leftover baking soda was "stuck to." Yuck.

Menu Monday

Sour Cream Chicken
Thanks to MacKenzie for recommending this recipe! It was super easy and really yummy. I added a clove of minced garlic to the sour cream before spreading it on the chicken, and it was a tasty addition. The herb stuffing mix gave it a unique flavor, but I think you could also use your own toasty breadcrumbs/cubes and season them however you like. We'll definitely make this one again!
{Recipe Here}

This Week's Menu:

Spiced Burgers with Cucumber Yogurt & Crash Hot Potatoes

Grilled Chicken Salad with Gazpacho Dressing

Roasted Pork with Cajun Slaw & CousCous

Pasta with Spicy Sausage, Tomatoes & Mushrooms

Honey Garlic Chicken with Broccoli

Weekend Visitors

Brooks and Caitlyn came to visit this weekend. They spent the day on Friday seeing the Picasso to Warhol exhibit at the High while Andrew and I worked. When the time to start the weekend finally arrived, we headed down to One Midtown Kitchen for some dinner!

I refrained from taking pictures in the restaurant, except for this shot of our "Mr. Spears" jumbo asparagus appetizer. We had a great meal!

On Saturday, they had a few things they wanted/needed to do around town, so we opted to head to Atlantic Station to eat, shop and just enjoy sitting outside. (Seeing a tweet about a Banana Republic sale may also have had something to do with this choice of destination.) Caitlyn had plans to head to a concert with a friend Saturday night, so the rest of us made other plans.

Chop, chop! It was perfect weather for taking in a Braves game!

We passed the new Kevin Rathbun Steak booth in the stadium. The booth sells sliced steak sandwiches with kettle chips. While priced slightly higher than our ballpark figure (ha ha) for food ($15.00), they smelled really tasty and were being served up by Kevin Rathbun himself.

They even had an on-site butcher!

Bro-in-laws enjoying some moderately-priced dogs

We had great seats and a colorful cast of characters sitting around us, which always adds to the fun.

The Braves won, and my only complaint was that there wasn't enough focus on Brian McCann. Then again, I guess there can never be enough!

We all met back up this morning to head over to Front Page News for brunch. It was pretty warm out but looked like it might rain, so we sat in the covered area of the patio. Best of both worlds!

Another (unrelated) highlight was following @TitanicRealTime on Twitter throughout the weekend. They tweeted the Titanic voyage from different perspectives (crew, captain, first class, third class, etc.) in real time. It hit the iceberg while we were at the Braves games, and we all know what happens from there... But we thought it was a really neat way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking. You can check out the timeline of tweets here.

Hope you've had a great weekend too!

Menu Monday

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

This seemed to be the latest "all the rage" recipe on Pinterest, so I had to try it! It was definitely not the easiest weeknight meal. I'm not sure quite how many pieces three chicken breasts yielded, but when you have to individually batter and pan-fry each one...it sure feels like a lot. Then, they bake for an hour and require flipping/stirring every 15 minutes. However. This was a really tasty version of sweet and sour chicken (and probably much healthier than a deep-fried version). It made a lot, and the leftovers were still good. So if you have some extra time one night, give it a try!
{Recipe Here}

This Week's Menu:

Slow-Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese (a hold-over from last week)

Chicken Burrito Bowls with Cilantro-Lime Rice & Guac

Italian Style Chili Mac with Salad

Sour Cream Chicken (Thanks, MacKenzie!) with Red Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts

Hoppy Easter 2012

Hope you've had a hoppy happy Easter weekend! We were here in Atlanta for Good Friday (on which Andrew got to come home early/earlier than usual, hallelujah!) and then enjoyed a fun day together yesterday. We dyed a small batch of eggs, and although we probably could have enjoyed dyeing more than 8, we probably would not enjoy eating more than 8. :)

Our Motley Crew of Eggs

We also spent the afternoon and evening preparing some tasty desserts, which were our contribution to Easter lunch in Peachtree City today!

Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake

Sweet Birds' Nests
(The birds laid Reese's Pieces eggs!)

It was a beautiful day for riding down to the land of golf carts, and we enjoyed visiting, eating lunch, watching the Masters, and doing a little bit of yard work for good measure. Thanks to Tim for taking our picture two Easters in a row!

A Little Lake Getaway

Over the weekend, we decided to head down to Lake Oconee to celebrate our "year and a half" anniversary. That's as good a reason as any for a resort trip, right?

We left Saturday morning and got to the lake a little before lunchtime. We stayed at the Ritz Lodge at Reynolds Plantation, which neither of us had been to before. It was a little cloudy and cool when we arrived, but we spent some time just walking around to check things out.

After lunch (where we sat next to some Statesboro friends!), we hung out in the lobby waiting on our room to be ready. There was a jigsaw puzzle to work on...just like home.

Somehow we ended up with a suite, a.k.a. "this is the room that never ends." (Sorry if you're now singing the Lambchop song in your head.) We walked in to find a little foyer and half bath...then a living room...then the bedroom...then a hallway...then another bathroom nearly the size of our kitchen at home. We weren't sure how we ended up with such accommodations, but we figured we shouldn't question it. :)

We had a relaxing afternoon that involved a nap for one of us and ESPN for the other before heading over to dinner at the Linger Longer Steakhouse at the resort.

Yum! It was so good. I think I talked about my filet with chive beurre blanc (again - yum) for the rest of the night, and Andrew had a dinosaur-sized bone-in ribeye. A surprise showed up with the check!

Random, but how can you turn down cotton candy? It was pina colada flavor.

Since we had senior citizen early bird reservations, we had plenty of time after dinner to walk around. The clouds had cleared up by then, and it was so nice out. We went down to the lake "beach." (Decidedly not like the beach beach, but still really nice!)

Then we headed back up to the lobby bar for berry cobbler and tasty coffee drinks.

Godiva hot chocolate with Bailey's, Godiva white chocolate liqueur, and peppermint schnapps - yes, please.

Sunday morning we slept in a little and had a lazy morning before going out to enjoy the beautiful day! It was sunny but not too hot, so we had lunch by the lake before heading out.

(Can you see where the infinity pool ends and the lake begins?)

Even though it was a short trip, we had a lot of fun just relaxing and enjoying the scenery away from the big city. Happy anniversary and a half to us!