Bon Appétit + InstaCloset Sale

Meals we'll be enjoying this week:
Click each meal title to view the recipe.

Grilled Tilapia Bowls with Chipotle Avocado Crema (Gluten Free meal!)

One Pot Pasta (I will add grilled chicken breast for a little extra)

Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

We'll also have our usual Sunday/Monday night pizza and taco Tuesday. What are some of your go-to meals during the week? I always go to my favorite food Pinterest board for meal inspiration before each grocery trip. Check it out for inspiration for your own meals! |E A T - Favorite meal ideas|

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P.s. I'm having an Instagram closet sale HERE! Make me an offer on your favorite items!

Guide to Yumminess!

Hi lovelies! I'm so happy to be back to blogging!

Do you notice anything different??! The ol' blog got a little makeover and I couldn't be happier!

Chelsea @ Bella Lulu Ink was so sweet & amazing to work with!

What do you think? I wanted something fresh and to feel like I have a CLEAN slate! Maybe it's my new last name, or that I'm finally able to commit time to blogging again--either way, I'm happy to be back and with new digs!

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And now, for today's post: I'm sharing a few of our favorite recipes with you!

We like to try new recipes in the kitchen and when we find a really good new recipe we tend to repeat it frequently for at least a few weeks. These are the goodies we've been making lately...

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Garlic

I never tried brussel sprouts before this recipe. I just wasn't sure about the green color or the fact that it had a weird texture (I'm one of those people..). Let me tell you--after trying this recipe, I was ready to eat brussel sprouts ANY way you cook them.

Smoky Cilantro Lime Butter (for grilled corn!)

This was the perfect flavor to add to grilled corn on the cob! It made our usual corn seem boring!

Delicious Herbed Potato Salad

 

This will blow your mind! It's so so so good while it's still warm, and pretty darn good when it's cold. Just think of it as a modern spin on your grandma's potato salad!

Green Smoothies

This is a food that I can't live without. We got the recipe from Ryan's sister after having one at her house during a visit. We haven't turned back since the first one! Let me tell you--these bad boys can help you trim down a little and they make you feel better! I didn't drink a single one for 1.5 weeks (between the wedding+honeymoon) and I could tell! I missed my greens and after having a few when we got home I felt better!

Here's what we put in ours (for 1-2 people (a full glass each)) just blend and drink:

Last, but certainly not least, this delicious treat!: blackberry peach bourbon pie!

This pie hit the spot for sweet and gooey, and helped me when I missed my old KY home a little (hello Woodford Reserve)! :)
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What are some of your favorite recipes? How often do you try new ones?

VIQ: Very Important Question

I have a very important question for y'all.

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Are these bags considered a single serving??! In attempt to eat healthier, I bought all healthy foods to eat while at work, and gave myself one not-perfect snack (aka not veggies or fruit). And you know what happens? I only want to eat the damn Goldfish crackers! They are so good, it's just so hard to put the bag down...

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Oopsie. 

Friendsgiving in Louisville

Happy Monday, lovelies! You know, there are just a few more Mondays left in 2012. I can't believe this year is almost over. To me 2012 has been one of the longest years, yet one of the shortest years. What do you think? Have you been counting down until January 1st 2013? I am excited about next year, but it's always bittersweet to close the chapter of another year around the holidays.
Speaking of holidays--my Louisville friends and I have been celebrating Friendsgiving for the last 5 years or so (longer for some of them!). This weekend was the annual get-together, and boy was it a good time!
Ryan and I headed up on Saturday morning and enjoyed an easy interstate trip (which almost never happens during the 2.5 hour drive north!). We got to town just in time to stop by one of our favorite pizza places to grab lunch while we watched our beloved Cardinals basketball team play.

If you're ever in Louisville and need lunch, check out Boombozz!

After that it was onto watching/taste-testing helping the bestie and her husband cook up a couple yummy desserts and sides for the Friendsgiving dinner that night. 
Dinner was so much fun! This year was our biggest group (in the time I've been attending), and it was a ton of fun sharing our friend-traditions with new people and enjoying them with the usual gang. 

My MOH Jess.
Also, I'm IN LOVE with my early Christmas present, a mustard yellow infinity scarf!!

Happy Friendsgiving!

How cute are they?

Y'all don't take scooter rides after dinner?

Sunday was a blast! If there was ever a time that I would need a sarcastic font, it was 2 seconds ago. Sunday was not a fun day. Car trouble, rain, lots of phone calls, and a tow truck turned our 2.5 hour trip home into a 5 hour trip. Thank goodness for some really great friends that gave us a ride home!

Here's to getting some good news today about fixing my little buddy.
I guess I can't say Sunday was a total loss. Our favorite football team made it to the Sugar Bowl!!

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------- How was your weekend? What do you do special with your friends for the holidays? 
I'm linking up with Sami for the weekend blog hop!

Thanksgiving Week + Weekend Recap

Holy Wednesday! I can't believe it's already the middle of the week. I thought for sure this week would creep by after the holiday weekend. But sure enough, here we are in the middle of the week. Thank goodness!! I love it when the weekends are slow and the weeks go by quickly.  Who am I kidding--we all love that, right?!

Working for the weekend!
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I have a ton to catch you up on.  Let's start with Thanksgiving week, shall we? ------- On Wednesday might we headed to our favorite bar down the street to catch up with friends, including some from out of town. 

Before heading out.

It was an unusually warm Turkey day this year, so I had to opt for an outfit that wouldn't completely make me melt while I spent time in the kitchen. I definitely had fun putting this outfit together!

Thanksgiving Day #OOTD

It's a simple Old Navy dress {with a fun skirt} paired with a Banana Republic button up and skinny leather belt. I don't know what brand the black boot is...I might have to look into that for y'all ;)
Thursday was a special day for me. I made my very first Thanksgiving turkey all by myself! And it turned out really well! Wahoo!

I used Trisha Yearwood's family recipe {found here}.
It's super easy and it creates a very juicy turkey (no crispy outside though).

I also made my first, but not last, sweet potato casserole. Check out the recipe {here}. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes, but I plan to make this again soon!

It has maple syrup and half&half in the sweet potato
mixture and is topped with brown sugar and pecans. Noms!

I also made this bomb.com cheese ball. It had bacon it in and was a big hit!

Pumpkin and Pecan pie.

My sweetie!

Naturally we ended the day with some college basketball!

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We did not spend Friday shopping black Friday sales. No way, no how. We've been out for a few in our years together, but we're not big on the crowds. We are just not cut out for that drama. We heart Cyber Monday though!

Our craving for turkey and ham leftovers lasted about 24 hours. We made our way across town to meet up with my Dad for a short visit, and while we were out we stopped at Noodles & Co. to fill our bellies with non-thanksgiving food.

I tried the truffle mac. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the penne rosa.

While we were close we had to stop at Trader Joe's
 to pick up our favorite snacks and beer.

Trader Joe's has all of their holiday snacks out now--I suggest you stop by and try a few. These peppermint pretzel slims are perfectly light and not too peppermint-y.

We spent Saturday afternoon at one of Nashville's beautiful parks with our wedding photographer shooting our engagement pictures. It was a lot of fun {even with my brace and crutches}. I couldn't ask for a better time or photographer!

What did you do Thanksgiving weekend? Did you travel at all? It was our very first of not having to travel at all!

------- P.s. I'm linking up with Sami for the weekend update blog hop!

stove top + sour cream chicken

It's Thursday, Thursday, Thuuuursday! I can't wait for another weekend of fun around here. Since my ankle surgery I've been cooped up in the house during the week. The weekends mean something totally different to me now that they're my main source of socializing. How crazy is that? Anyways--I'm so excited to hang out with the boy and our friends and have some fun!

Today I'm linking up with the sweet Katie from {Keep Calm & Carry On} and Steph from {Beautiful Mess} for their Saw It. Pinned It. Did it. linkup!

I saw this recipe on Pinterest yesterday and just had to try it.  With the cast on my foot Ryan has been taking care of dinner and chores after work {except for when his sweet family sends meals home with him}. With it being right in the middle of his super busy season, it's tough for me to sit by and watch him do it all without my help.

Pinterest. Original Source.

 SO, yesterday I decided to throw this very simple recipe together in the crock pot so that something yummy would be ready to eat when he got home! This recipe is so incredibly simple. It took me literally 5-7 minutes to put this all together {including photo taking!}. Anyone can do it :)

Ingredients  1 box of Stove Top {any type--original recipe used cornbread and I used chicken} 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1/2 cup of sour cream 1/4 cup of water 3-4 chicken breasts {I used 3-two were normal and one was large}
Directions +Put the chicken in the crock pot +Add package of Stove Top on top of chicken +Mix together water, sour cream, and soup +Add mixture on top of chicken +Cover and cook on low for 4 hours +Fluff and serve!

See, it's so easy! And look how delicious it looks :)
And when it's done...

You get perfectly cooked, juicy chicken with a "superb" {via the boy! lol} tasting stuffing. I'm already counting down 'til the next time we have this for dinner!
Also, if you're interested, this beer paired really well with the meal! Hahahah

------- Check out the rest of the Saw It. Pinned It. Did It. projects here!

Weekend Update

Happy Monday lovelies! While I'm not quite ecstatic that it's Monday, I can say it's easier to handle today after having such a great weekend!
Our families were here and we did all of the best things---eat, laugh, shop, celebrate a birthday, laugh, see a {sexy} James Bond movie, and laugh some more. Seriously, Ryan and I are so so SO lucky. Our families fit together really well and we always have such a good time when we're all together. We couldn't ask for a better time when we all get together! P.s. Skyfall was really good!!
Hopefully you can understand how I forgot to get pictures of  all of us? Using a camera while you're using crutches is not exactly an east feat. I did, however, get a few pictures of some parts our the weekend.
Food 

O'Charley's left over rolls make delicious mini-sandwiches!

Ryan makes the FLUFFIEST pancakes ever.

Church/Boy Scouts spaghetti dinner take-out. Noms.

Peanut butter cookie recipe fail. 

Fashion

Deciding on mother of the bride
and mother of the groom dresses!

Thinking about bachelorette party dresses...

The Boys

They are my favorite :)

He's so committed to his tennis ball...

 Projects

Embroidery hoop DIY project..

Future furniture piece...

Misc.

Long hair don't care. Except I do--I'm so excited
that it's getting so long {for the wedding}!

How pretty is TN? I love fall here :)

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It was really nice to have a relaxing weekend at home with our favorites. 

Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving!??!

What did you do this weekend? 

Check out the rest of the weekend updates on Sami's blog.

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