10 Fridays

I just realized (well, I actually just counted) that there are only 10 Fridays between now and my wedding week!  That really put things into perspective.  Holy cow.  Where has time gone?  And can I just say that those 10 weekends between right this minute and our wedding weekend are packed.  Thankfully they’re packed with fun stuff…showers, parties, Easter, and I’ve packed one full of nothing for sanity purposes.

So what’s this weekend going to be packed with?  Well, tonight I’m kicking off the weekend with a girls night!  The snow ice cancelled my plans for a date with my Buttercream Queen a few weeks back so we’re making up for lost time.  And Saturday is full of fun!  I’m spending the whole date with Big Guy and I couldn’t be more excited.  We’re going to try a new-to-us restaurant for lunch, run a few errands and cook dinner fit for “Fat Saturday.”  A weekend with no where to be is just what the doctor ordered.  I’ll catch you up with all the details on Monday.  But for now…my Friday Favorites of the week.

Favorite Computer Nook:  I can’t see this as being Big Guy’s office but I can totally see myself in this space, blogging and pinning away.

Favorite Covered Dish:  If I was invited to a family reunion this weekend, this trifle is what I would take.  Peanut Butter, bananas and brownies.  Shut up.

Favorite Garden Tip:  Painted strawberry rocks in your garden chase the birds away from your strawberries. They hate pecking on stones and assume that all the strawberries are hard.

Favorite Use of a Cast Iron Skillet:  PIZZA!!!  And the toppings sound amazing, too.  Brussel sprouts and bacon.  I’m sold.

Favorite Bag:  Are you not obsessed with this bag from Cole Haan?  If Big Guy can have 4 pairs of his shoes, can’t I have one bag?  (kidding, Big Guy, kidding)

Favorite Salad:  This salad makes me crave warm weather, grilling outside, cocktails on the deck and fresh veggies from the garden.

Favorite Boozy Dessert:  So I kind of love Amaretto.  And I’m not sure where our love affair began.  And then it was taken to a whole new level when combined with chocolate.

Favorite Quote:  All I can say is “Amen.”

Make this weekend fabulous!

Greens I want and a Single-Girl Dinner Big Guy ate.

Yea, this is a random post.  Really random.  But hey, gotta keep life interesting.

By greens, I mean plants/trees.  Yes.  I want (and I’m actually interested in) a plant and a tree.  Last week I had the pleasure of attending a workshop for work that took place at the NC Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill.  I’ve been to the gardens before for meetings but I had never taken the time to slow down and take a look at all the gorgeousness that I was surrounded with.  On Friday of last week I actually took a walking tour of the grounds and got to see so many beautiful plants and trees.  Two of them stood out to me and now I’m begging Big Guy to plant these lovely greens.

Pitcher Plant

This plant is so cool.  And yes, I just referred to a plant as being “cool.”  The pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant.  Basically, it eats bugs.  And I hate bugs.  Well, I hate when they bug me.  No pun intended.  (yes it was.)  They’re best grown in containers and they love sun.  Perfect for my back deck.

I’m also semi-obsessed with the Big Leaf Magnolias.  Magnolias are totally a Southern thing.  And well, I love all things Southern so this is my perfect tree.

 

Big Leaf Magnolia

Now to the “Single-Girl” dinner that Big Guy ate.

On Sunday we ate at McAlister’s before we headed home from Pirate country (Greenville).  And it was there that I started thinking about baked potatoes (theirs are ginormous and delicious).  I really needed a salad in my body so I skipped the tator and went for the greens.  But I knew that potatoes would be on the menu.  Seeing as it was a week night, I kept it healthy.  I left out bacon and I used chickpeas instead of chicken (hello, Meatless Monday).  But it was still fantastic!  And the best part, Big Guy loved it.  ”Single-girl” dinner win.

 

Hands down the best potato skin ever.  I washed the sweet potatoes, stabbed them with a fork a few times so they didn’t explode and placed them in a baking dish.  Gave them a good rub with olive oil and salt and baked at 350 degrees for about an hour (they were big ones).

Once baked, they got a spoonful of caramelized red onion (ugh, I could eat a bowl of just those onions!), a spoonful of chickpeas that had been tossed in BBQ sauce, and some white cheddar on top.  Big Guy put blue cheese on his.

Incredible.  So filling and hearty and comforting.

I love potatoes.

Baja Stir-Fry

Big Guy loves a stir-fry.

On Saturday I needed a pork tenderloin for the kebabs that we were making for dinner.  Well all they had were huge tenderloins and there’s no way we could eat all that pork in one night.  So we cut the tenderloin in half to use this week.

While browsing my many, many recipes, I came across this Baja Pork Stir-Fry that I knew would be a winner.  It’s not your typical stir-fry:  no soy sauce, no sesame oil in sight.

 

Cumin, jalapeno and cilantro are what give this pork stir-fry a “baja” twist.

 

I served the stir-fry over basmati rice that I had cooked in chicken stock instead of water.  Chicken stock gives the rice so much more flavor.

 

And cilantro on top!  I loved the tomatoes being added into the stir-fry and the cilantro really brightened up the dish.  I’m obsessed with cumin (even though Big Guy thinks it has a “weird” smell) so I doubled the amount stated in the recipe.  We also got to use some the end of our summer produce – jalapenos and green peppers are still growing! (Crazy NC weather.)

Baja is the new stir-fry.

The last of the summer corn.

It’s a sad day around here.  All the corn from our garden has been used up.  Next year we’re planting an entire backyard full of corn so that I have home-grown corn in the freezer all year long.  You think I’m kidding.

The last of the corn went into BLT Corn Salad Wraps that we thoroughly enjoyed.  I might have cried about using up all the corn but I loved this recipe so that made up for the long-gone corn.  Kind of.

So what made up the salad?  Obviously bacon, tomatoes and corn with a lettuce wrap.  But there’s also some lime juice, chili powder and paprika in the mix along with salt and pepper.

 

Big Guy added a sprinkling of cheese to his wraps.

 

I might have to start adding corn to all BLTs…

Doesn’t get much better.

On Friday I posted about my favorites and one of my favorites was a brie appetizer that I mentioned I might be enjoying on the porch with wine.  Well, brie happened and so did wine but I didn’t end up making the appetizer that I posted.  You see, I swung by Whole Foods and picked up a brie that was too good to mess up.  So I simple paired it with some sundried tomatoes, dried apricots and rosemary lentil crackers (also from Whole Foods).

So delicious.  We also toasted with champagne to celebrate life in general.

For dinner, mahi for her and a ribeye for him.  But the real star of the show was the bacon-wrapped bundles of homegrown green beans.

I cooked the green beans in boiling water for about 8 minutes then drained.  While the green beans were cooking, I cooked the bacon on the stove top (but not until it’s cooked through!).  Take 6 or 7 green beans and wrap with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Place in a dish and pour over a butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic mixture.  Bake.  Take in the amazing smell.  Devour.

Those green beans were insane.  Salty sweet tender green beans.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Brown Butter End-of-Summer Pasta Skillet

I will admit that I am loving the cooler weather.  But I’m not going to miss summer vegetables.  A few of my favorites:  corn and zucchini.  So before summer fades away, pull together a few of your favorite summer vegetables, drizzle them with brown butter and bake them with cheese.  It’ll make the end of summer a little more tolerable.

 

While your pasta water is coming to a boil, begin to saute your onions and zucchini in a smidge of olive oil (I used about half a tablespoon).  Saute for about 5 minutes and then throw your pasta (2 cups dry) into the boiling water (I used gluten-free corn pasta from TJs and it takes about 8 minutes to cook).  Also, add your corn and tomatoes into the skillet with the zucchini and onion.

Cook for about 10 more minutes.  While all that is going on, yes your stove-top will be busy, brown your butter.  I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons.  Simply melt in a small skillet over medium heat and whisk constantly until bubbly and brown bits begin to form.

 

Drain the pasta and add it to the vegetables (turn off all heat on the stovetop) and then drizzle with the brown butter and add in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.  Combine and top with provolone (I used a provolone mozzarella mixture because I live in a small town where you can’t find provolone – it’s ridiculous).  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

 

Brown Butter Garden Vegetable Pasta Skillet!

 

The original recipe contained double the amount of cheese and butter that I used but this “lightened” version was still awesome.  Dig in and enjoy the end of summer.

Gratin, Quiche or Strata?

Cooking Light calls this dish a “gratin.”  But I’m not so sure.

Definition of “gratin”:  a brown crust formed on food that has been cooked au gratin.  (“au gratin”: covered with bread crumbs or grated cheese and browned)

Definition of “quiche”: an unsweetened custard pie usually having a savory filling

Definition of “strata”: a  bread pudding-like layered comfort food casserole made with eggs, cheese and stale cubed bread.

Honestly, I think the Tomato, Squash and Red Pepper Gratin is a mixture of all three.

 

I’m going to be honest with you – this isn’t a “30 minute” meal.  More along the lines of an hour and 30.  My suggestion – prep everything before you start cooking.  The only changes I made were leaving out the thyme and using a savory spice mixture I had on hand (dried), I used gluten-free bread to make bread crumbs and instead of beefsteak tomatoes, I used romas from the garden.  Oh, and I used skim milk instead of 1%.

The texture of the final product is more quiche-like to me.  But it is a gratin because there are bread crumbs on top.  And it’s also strata-like because there are eggs and cheese (but no cubes of bread).

 

The dish was worth all the time and energy – I ate it all.week.long.  Super healthy, filling and delicious.

Here it is…plus Friday Favorites

Here it is…the last weekend of summer.  I’m kind of torn of weather whether I should be bummed or excited.  Part of me is bummed because I love the summer.  I love the hot weather, I love beach trips, I love not wearing a coat.  And the other part of me is excited because fall brings a different kind of fun.  ECU games, eating warm and comforting food such as chili, and wearing turtlenecks (though that won’t happen until about October or November here).

Are you excited or bummed that Fall is just around the corner?

So here are my Friday Favorites…some summer related, some fall related.

Favorite summer to fall transition meal:  A warm quinoa salad that honestly just makes me miss the garden already.

Favorite childhood memory:  We called them “goobers” growing up – but I’ll never forget sitting on the back deck at my grandparents house at OIB and eating boiled peanuts.

Favorite Fall wardrobe staple:  The “perfect” jean.  Citizens of Humanity: Ava straight leg.

Favorite Place to Spend a Summer or Fall evening:  Glass of wine in hand.

Favorite Cupcake just for Big Guy:  Bourbon + Sweet Potato.  No words.

Favorite LBD:  You can never have too many and they never go out of style.

Favorite Cocktail:  Vanilla, Pear and Vodka.

Enjoy your last weekend of Summer!!!!

Simple Sunday Pizza

Yesterday was a rainy, rainy day.  After being semi-productive (hey, I showered) we settled in on the couch for a movie.

Pizza is our go-to on many Sunday evenings and last night was no different.  But we kept this pizza simple.  Well, sort-of.  It looks simple but the sauce is actually homemade from our garden Roma tomatoes.  Instead of going through the steps of making the sauce, I’m going to send you to Cooking Light’s visual – that’s the recipe I used.  It tells you step-by-step how to make some of the most delicious sauce you’ll ever taste.  I stopped at step 5 – no pasta was involved.  I simply let it simmer until almost all the liquid is evaporated.  And please, whatever you do, eat a spoonful straight from the stove-top.  Jarred tomato sauce has nothing on this stuff.

I wanted the sauce to be the main topping on the pizza since it’s packed with flavor and a small hint of heat from red pepper flakes.  On top of the sauce, fresh slices of mozzarella and once it was bubbly, a sprinkling of basil confetti.  As for the crust, a gluten-free variety that Big Guy picked up at Whole Foods; I wish I could remember the company because it was fantastic.  I’ll make a note the next time I pick some up.

 

 

Squash Boats

This past weekend Big Guy picked up several zucchini and squash from the Farmers Market since our garden is all out of them.  We only ended up using one of each when I made the zucchini and squash on Sunday so I knew I had to find a way to use them Wednesday evening for dinner.  How about stuffed squash boats?  I ran across this recipe on SkinnyTaste and loved the concept – I love stuffed peppers, stuffed jalapenos, stuffed dates, stuffed tomatoes…the list goes on.  So why not stuff summer squash?

I made a few alterations to the recipe – first, I halved the recipe.  It’s just me and Big Guy so there was no need for 8 servings.  Plus I only had one squash and one zucchini.  I simply split the squash in half and cooked at 400 degrees for a little bit to soften them up.  (The recipe said to boil them for a minute in water but why dirty another dish?)  And instead of chicken sausage, I used lean ground beef.  I think the chicken sausage would be absolutely fantastic but I used what I had on hand (I used about 8 ounces – precooked weight).  The cooked meet was mixed with an onion, Mexi-bell pepper (from the garden) and garlic that had been sauteed.  Simply fill up the hallowed out zucchini and squash, top with a dollop of marinara (I used Newman’s Own brand – highest NuVal score at my store) and mozzarella and parm.  Baked for 15 minutes and dinner was ready.

Served with a some greens and homegrown corn (simply sauteed with salt and pepper – perfect on it’s own).

 

So fun!  Mix it up – make them vegetarian by using some quinoa instead of meat.  Use more sauce if that’s what you fancy.  The options are endless.

I’m looking forward to the leftovers tonight…