Happy Anniversary to Us!

Lee and I recently celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a trip to Orlando. We haven't traveled much together yet so we have fun going anywhere we can relax. I wont make this a sappy romantic post but rather how much we love to eat!

I find myself thinking differently about what to order because I love to get ideas from restaurants.  I don't like ordering something that I can whip up at home and was a little bummed because I felt like I could make the majority of what we ate. With the exception of the mahi mahi, sushi, french onion soup and all the cocktails, I think I could make everything we ate. We did eat a lot of bar food like chicken nachos, cheese dip, quesadillas, and sliders. All delicious and gave me ideas of how to spice up my own at home. Things like green onions, red peppers, and using multiple cheeses. A new challenge I guess, and maybe I'll attempt our favorite french onion soup one of these days.

Wholly Gaucamole!

One of my favorite things I found at Sam's Club (Ive seen them at Kroger too) are 100 calorie packs of guacamole. I love me some GAUC, but I don't like to make it because it goes bad so quickly. Yes, Ive heard those tricks about leaving the pit in but these packs are so easy! They are great for dipping chips or veggies in or even a healthier substitute for mayo on your sandwich.

Not gonna lie Im excited to bring them to work for lunch

I confess, I saw them on a biggest loser commercial first

I mixed in some mango salsa with 2 or 3 packs for some company

Poached eggs with pasta and asparagus

This is super simple, I promise! I cant remember where I got this recipe but Ive made it twice now and it always makes me feel fancy. I would love to make this for company because I feel like it would be an easy, impressive thing to make.

3 eggs

1/2 lb linguine

3 C asparagus, chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 T EVOO

1 T butter

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Boil the pasta as usual and save about 1/2 C of the water before draining. While that is cooking heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add in the garlic and asparagus until soft and browned. This takes about 6-7 minutes and set aside.

Using the same pan, fill with hot water and bring to a simmer to poach the eggs. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of this part and I'm kind of bummed so I decided to attach a website for you. I learned online and was excited that it is much easier than I thought. Don't be intimidated, eggs are cheap so practice on a Saturday morning.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/


After you drain the pasta throw it back in the pot with the excess water and add in the asparagus with a little bit of butter. I usually would leave out the butter but I figured a little bit wouldn't hurt this time and it was worth it.

Definitely use a slotted spoon for the eggs so you can just transfer the eggs straight to the top of you pasta. Sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and cheese. I think next time I will used shaved parmesan because I just think it looks even fancier, however it was still delicious!

Turkey burgers

I dont have a grill and I still wanted to attempt some burgers this summer. I only had feta cheese and lets face it you cant eat a burger without any cheese, especially a turkey burger. So I grabbed some of my neighbors fresh basil chopped it up and threw it in a bowl. I added some ground turkey (about a pound), feta, one egg, salt and pepper.  I was excited how easy it was and how juicy they turned out.  I did have to make them in a pan but I think they turned out just fine. So fine Ive made them twice in two weeks.

Chicken salad

This recipe is also from "5 ingredient fix." I love how I watched the show for ten minutes and came up with two great recipes. This is a healthier version of a typical chicken salad. I was pleasantly surprised with swapping mayo for greek yogurt. 

3 C chicken (chopped)

1 stalk celery (chopped)

about 12 grapes (halved)

1 C non fat plain greek yogurt

salt and pepper

1/4 C craisins (Ill put these in next time)

Everything mixed together

Scoop a small amount on one side

Fold the sides in to keep everything together

Cut it on an angle to make it fancy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/schoolhouse-wraps-recipe/index.html

Chocolate peanut butter banana chips

Flipping through the channels on a lazy summer morning I stumbled upon "5 ingredient fix" on the Food Network. The simplicity of the Memphis Banana Bites inspired me to give it a go. 

All I did was melt semi sweet chocolate over a double boiler and mixed in some peanut butter. While that is melting, I layed out the banana chips over some wax paper on a plate or cookie sheet. When the chocolate mixture is smooth, I poured it in a large plastic bag and cut off a small corner. Make sure you snip off a corner AFTER the mixture is in the bag. (I fold over the edges of the bag just in case the mixture hits the sides of the bag on the way in.)

A double boiler uses the steam from the boiling water below so make sure you arnt boiling your glass bowl.

 

 

 In the Food Network recipe she makes little banana sandwiches but I had to adapt because my chocolate mixture was too warm. It wouldn't stop in between each chip and was looking really messy. So I decided to just smother it over all of them, put another layer of chips on top and drizzle (with a heavy hand) on some more chocolaty goodness. 

A thank you to my sister for letting me use her kitchen and a shout out to girls nights!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/memphis-banana-bites-recipe/index.html

Sweet summer time!

I recently discovered a delicious new

cocktail and I thought I would share

it with you. Its a perfect drink for

the summer time and I will be

taking full advantage of that

for the next few weeks.

Mmm it tastes like

a creamsicle!