Good Eats!

Happy Hump Day Folks!

Today, I was digging back through all my draft blog posts to see which ones I had started and never got around to publishing, and found a good one. It's all about one of my favorite topics too, Good Eats! We have had some really yummy dishes the past couple weeks, so I wanted to share. Many of them are Pinterest finds - and ALL of them are husband approved.

First up we have one of my favorite salads - Very simple,

Tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and balsamic. Served crisp outta the fridge.

One of my favorite lunches,

 Turkey Bacon Avocado BLT

Whole Wheat Toast | 3 strips of crispy Turkey Bacon | 1/4 ripe Avocado sliced

2 Tomato slices | Bibb lettuce | Dill mayo (or regular if you prefer)

Next up, we have a fabulous dinner dish.  

Roasted Tomatoes with Shrimp & Feta

via Real Simple

This delicious dish below was an accident. We threw together some stuff we had around the house and created this delicious Roasted Pepper Pesto Chicken Pasta.

 Whole Wheat Pasta | Baby Bella Mushrooms | Roasted Red & Orange Peppers

Spinach | Grilled Chicken | Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Garlic & Onions | Pesto

Catfish Cakes and creamy Spicy Garlic Parmesan Cheese Grits

via Food Network

Chicken and White Cheese Spinach Lasagna

via Yummly.

Hope you are having a great week!

Home Sweet Home

There is nothing better than waking up in your own bed, with a day filled with nothing to do... well, except the ever-growing "to-do" list, but no work, no meetings, no calls... yay! After a four day work trip to Indy, it was great to finally be home on Sunday. Our trip was good - we did get to see some snow flurries, have dinner with some good friends we haven't seen in forever... and meet their adorable twins, and help our other friends finish their temporary move into a cute lil condo in Richmond. Caught this beautiful sunrise leaving Indy. {The perks of a 6am flight.}

After a long day of moving for the Hollomons and a long day of travel for us. 

Sunday, we started the day with an early breakfast at none other than Berky's! Nothing better than greasy bacon and piles of Texas toast french toast. Gotta love their new branding update too.

After breakfast we braved a trip to Wally world... and found out that going at 9 a.m. on Sunday is quite amazing. After a laundry-list of thanksgiving goodies, we got outta there before the sunday pre-thanksgiving craziness begun. 

The rest of the day involved unpacking, laundry, a long afternoon nap, and a few house projects. We finally hung our beautiful stained glass above the yet-to-be-finished built-in shelves in the living room. Now to figure out what should go on top of the shelves. Any ideas? 

Sunday supper was taco night at the Lyons Den. Shrimp Tacos with a side of black beans and rice. 

Tasty!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!! 

Italian Wedding Soup

Hello November and Soup Season! Last night I made this amazing soup with the hubs for supper and it was delicious.  Defiantly a repeat. Many thanks to Sydo for the recipe too!

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground chicken
2/3 cup fresh panko bread crumbs 

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves) 

3 tablespoons italian seasoning 

¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Asiago cheese, plus extra for serving

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

3 tablespoons milk

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten 

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 


For the soup: 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 cup minced onion 

1 cup ¼-inch diced carrots (3 carrots) 

¾ cup (¼-inch diced celery (2 stalks) 

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth (2-32 oz. cartons)

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup small pasta (we used veggie)

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill 

8 onces spinach

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, italian seasoning, Asiago, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1- to 1¼-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. {You should have about 35 meatballs. They don’t have to be perfectly round.} Bake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside. 

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra  cheese. Enjoy! 

Modified from Barefoot Contessa. 

Hope everyone had a Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend friends!

Lemon-Cranberry Muffins

I love the weekends, mostly because it means sleeping in late and druming-up a fun new big breakfast feast!

Today, I had to share a delicious new healthy muffin recipe we treid... they are in the oven as I type, so I'll let you know how they turned out!

I stole this one from fittness magazine and added a few changes of our own!

1 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)

1/3 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white whole-wheat flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour (see Shopping Tip)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.

3. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

4. Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

 

Tips:
Tip: No buttermilk? Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice into 1 cup milk.

 

Shopping Tip: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole wheat. Whole-wheat pastry flour can be used as a substitute here. Both can be found in the natural-foods section of the supermarket or online from King Arthur Flour, bakerscatalogue.com.

 

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Wrap each in plastic and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, remove plastic, wrap muffin in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.