Open-Faced Pastrami Omelet Sandwich

Don’t go running away yet….

I thought an omelet sandwich sounded a little weird, too.  And so did Big Guy.  But it’s delicious.  And ready in about 20 minutes.  Trust me.

Big Guy isn’t a lover of eggs – he does like scrambled eggs – and he thought that the quiche was the fluffiest thing ever.  He doesn’t believe I didn’t use any milk.  Nope, no secret ingredients here.

Simply eggs, pastrami, green onions, dill, salt and pepper.  But don’t leave off the cucumber salad.  It takes this ordinarily weird sandwich to an extremely delicious weird sandwich.

pastrami omelet

p.s. my new cookware does amazing things.

The recipe called for the omelet to be served on pumpernickel, which sounds incredible, but my stomach would rather the gluten-free variety.  So I went with what I had – regular gluten-free bread from TJs.

I toasted the bread, topped it with my portion of the omelet and then finished the open-faced sandwich off with cucumbers.

open-face to the face

All the flavors of a deli find without all the calories.  I loved the notes of horseradish and mustard that the cucumbers brought to the plate.  Big Guy added a sprinkling of provolone to his omelet since he’s a cheese-with-my-eggs kind of guy.

I know it seems weird but it is fantastically perfect.

Try it for yourself.

Charlotte, Baby Haines and Fruit Salsa

Like that for a title?  Well that’s pretty much what consumed my Saturday.  I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, squeezed in a trip to the gym and then headed to Charlotte.  As much as I need a weekend at home, I can’t turn down a weekend with my parents and my sister plus brother-in-law and baby Haines.  Can I just say, Baby Haines isn’t much of a baby any more.  She’s growing and becoming so stinkin’ smart.

she’s a mess!

I love that little girl so much my heart could explode!  She’s so full of personality and really understands a lot.  She’s also rather vocal.  When she says “yes” or “no” – everyone in the room knows her answer.

Despite the rain on Saturday, we were able to grill.  We also had a cider tasting.  I had a pear cider a few months ago and it was one of the most delicious things ever.  I was determined to find “it” so that my Momma could try it since she’s obsessed with pear jelly belly’s.

three strikes, I’m out.

I bought every pear cider I could get my hands on and none of those are “the one.”  Boo hiss.  Oh well, we had fun tasting.

grill masters

Maggie and Brad were in charge of the grilling.  Momma had brought over some chicken thighs that had marinated in a mojito lime marinade from McCormick.  You could taste notes of mint and lime but it wasn’t overpowering at all!  And it paired perfectly with a fruit salsa that Momma had whipped up.  I don’t think she followed a recipe but I know that there were strawberries, red onion, lime juice, cilantro and a smidge of EVOO in the mix.

my plate

On the side, grilled asparagus and red onion.  Maggie also made some crock-pot mac ‘n cheese that I heard was awesome…it’s her new “go-to” dish as decided by Brad.

Such a great evening with the family!  I can’t wait to see my sweet family again this weekend.

sweet girl

Penne with Herbs, Tomatoes and Peas

One of my favorite parts of Spring and Summer is the availability of fresh herbs (and vegetables) in our garden.  The vegetables won’t be ready to harvest for a while but thankfully, I was able to snip a few fresh herbs last night for a super simple, healthy and light meatless-Monday pasta dish.  To make the Penne with Herbs, Tomatoes and Peas gluten-free, I simply used corn pasta (from Trader Joes) instead of regular wheat pasta.  Of course, fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes would be amazing in this dish but unfortunately, those aren’t ready yet.

pasta night

In order to get this pasta dish on the table in around 30 minutes, get your pasta water on the stove top on high heat while you prep the rest of the ingredients.  Once it’s boiling, dump in the pasta and then begin making the “sauce.”  Honestly, waiting for the water to boil is the most challenging part of putting together this meal.  The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of olive oil and I cut that down to 2 tablespoons.  Other than that, no other major changes.

summer fresh

Feel free to play around with the vegetables that you use in this dish – I think that zucchini or squash would work wonderfully and if you don’t have basil or parsley, try using a different herb that you have on hand.  The possibilities are endless – just use the recipe as a guide for the basics.

Shrimp and Broccoli Stir-Fry

What’s not to love about a stir-fry?  First of all, a stir-fry cooks super fast which means dinner is on the table in no time.  Secondly, you can combine your protein, veggies, and carbs in one dish and it’s healthy.  Thirdly, clean-up is usually a breeze.  And finally, you get to use chop sticks.

chop stix

Let’s be honest, the chop sticks are my favorite reason.  Big Guy has been super jealous of my purple chop sticks for years and his new mother-in-law hooked him up with his own set.  Nothing says “Welcome to the family” like connected chop sticks with a giraffe on top.

This stir fry is my absolute favorite stir fry ever because we got to use our new dishes!  It’s the small things, folks.

But in all seriousness, the sauce in the Shrimp and Broccoli Stir-Fry is so delicious.  And the best part about this dish, I only had to grab three things at the store:  shrimp, broccoli and green onions.  You could use any protein you want, I would imagine and I’m sure you could use another veggie, perhaps some bell pepper or asparagus.  But don’t change the sauce.  Don’t change a thing.  Ginger, garlic, soy sauce (or tamari), rice vinegar, honey and a few red pepper flakes do amazing things when combined.

Make sure to serve the stir-fry over some rice (I used brown) so that you don’t lose a drop of the sauce.

all about the sauce

Did I mention I really loved the sauce?

Friday Favorites, Honeymoon Edition.

Oh how I wish there was a “rewind” button on life!  I want to go back and relive our wedding weekend and the honeymoon over and over and over again.  A lot of our time was spent simply laying low by the pool but we did a lot in the 9 days we were there. I promise to give a full recap of where we went for our honeymoon (Scrub Island in the BVIs) but for today I’m going to give you my Honeymoon Favorites!  And to be honest, the best part about these posts is that I get to relive the moments while posting the pictures.

Favorite View:  Waking up to this every.single.morning. was amazing.

Good morning from Scrub!

Favorite Place to Grab a Drink:  While on our honeymoon, we decided to rent a private boat and captain for a day and basically go island hopping.  And by island hopping, I mean, bar hopping.  One of our first stops was Cooper Island.  It’s easily my favorite place for a drink because there were bar tables in the ocean.  Had it been any later in the day, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave…  Wanna know the funny part about this picture?  Big Guy is the one that got the frozen drink!  Pinky’s up.

Cooper Island cocktails

Favorite Adventure:  By far, my favorite adventure of the trip was the island hopping day.  Here are some of my favorite pics capturing our day:

Cooper Island swing

Star fish at Cooper Island

Willy T’s

view from Soggy Dollar

Time to head back to Scrub!

Favorite Sunset:  This picture was taken on the ferry as we were on our way to dinner.

Beautiful sunset.

Favorite Drink at Scrub:  Sandie Split.  Sandie was one of our favorite employees at Scrub Island.  She made me this drink the first night we arrived and I had to have one every time she was behind the bar.  All I know is that there was lots of rum (light and dark) plus some orange juice.  The rest is Sandie’s secret.

Sandie Split

Sandie!

Favorite Dinner:  We ate some pretty amazing food everywhere we were, but my favorite dinner by far was our private dinner on the beach.  It wasn’t the food that made it my favorite but the company and the privacy was pretty hard to beat.  After a long few weeks of wedding preparation and the whirlwind of the wedding, this private dinner was much needed the second night of our honeymoon.

dinner for two

just us and the sounds of the ocean.

Favorite Frozen Drink:  Let’s be honest, we drank a lot of cocktails during our honeymoon.  But they weren’t one after the other – I promise there was lots of water in between each and every drink.  I mean, if you can have a drink at 11:30am on a Wednesday, why not?  The British Smile was one of my favorite frozen drinks – basically it’s a “skinny” bushwacker.

British Smile

British Smile in his hand, but no smile on this face.

Favorite Day of Relaxation:  I knew from the day we booked our honeymoon that I was going to spend a day at the spa.  Whether Big Guy was going to join me?  That was up in the air.  But he agreed and I’ve never seen that guy so relaxed in my life.  We did the full couples package and it was simply amazing.  Bonus – it was overcast that day, so I didn’t miss any of my sunshine time.

champs and relaxation

private infinity pool

relax.

Favorite Drink:  If I had to name my favorite drink of the whole trip, it would be the Kiwi Caipirinha from a hole-in-the-wall sushi joint we ran across in Tortola while killing time before dinner.  Y’all – this think was out of control.  Fresh kiwi, mint, lime and goodness muddled together.  And isn’t the color gorgeous?

kiwi cocktail

Favorite Picture:  Okay, I can’t really pick a favorite.  But I love this picture.

sandy hands

Favorite Husband:  Thank you, Big Guy, for the most amazing honeymoon I could have ever asked for.  It was the icing on the cake after the most perfect wedding.  I’ve always daydreamed about my honeymoon and my real honeymoon far surpassed anything I could have imagined.  And can I just say, it was even more amazing that Big Guy put up an email message saying he was out of the country and work wasn’t always on his mind (he got about 30 minutes a day to answer important stuff).  Big Guy works so incredibly hard every day and my favorite part of the honeymoon was having him all to myself.

Mr. and Mrs.

my favorite person

love you. (okay, done being lovey, dovey)

Spicy Thai Basil Chicken

During the warm weather seasons I find myself craving light dinners.  But I don’t want to sacrifice taste in order for it to be light.  (Just to note – this is probably why I’m in love with Cooking Light magazine.)  I don’t want funky, expensive ingredients.  I want real food.  Delicious food.  Spicy Thai Basil Chicken is 100% real and 100% delicious.  \

I didn’t change up this recipe much or make many substitutions but I did forget to grab a serrano chili so I ended up using some spicy chile garlic sauce.  It worked like a charm – Big Guy was sweating (he’s a light weight, so don’t be scared of the recipe).  You could honestly leave the heat out if you like milder dishes and it would simply be Thai Basil Chicken.  But don’t leave out the basil, please!!!  The freshness of the herb gives so much flavor and brightness to this spicy, salty dish.  And the lettuce wraps provide some crunch while also taming the heat.

spicy thai basil chicken

Don’t add in the basil too soon or let it remain on the heated stove top – that will make it wilt a little too much and it actually may brown from the heat.  Also, when purchasing ground chicken, be sure to look 93% lean or less.  If you’re not careful, ground chicken can be more fattening than ground beef.

lettuce wraps

Light, fresh, delicious and 100% real.  That’s the name of the game around here.

Wedding Wednesday, #bellwatson427

Oh y’all!  The past few weeks have been a fairy tale.  From the week leading up to the wedding – full of family and preparation to the honeymoon – relaxing and reliving the April 27th, life has been bliss.  I have so much to share and Wedding Wednesday will continue (perhaps on other days, too) so that I can wrap up all the details I haven’t shared.  I cannot wait to see the photographers pictures because I know that I missed so much at the reception.  But on Instagram, I used #bellwatson427 so that I could see pics as people posted them.  So here are some of my favorite Instagram pictures that other people captured, in no particular order…

“Bell” ladies – somehow, someway.

The guys golfing at BCC.

Groom’s Cake (more details to come)

Last “single” kiss.

much needed the morning of

mimosas!

4.27.13

getting ready

exchanging cards

the original 6

beautiful Rose Hill

me and daddy – one of my favorite moments captured

ceremony collage

“our” places

All the Watson’s

the wedding party

 

The Bell Gang

precious Baby Haines

It worked!!!