Tuesday's at the Table

I'm back to participating in All the Small Stuff's Tuesdays at the Table. I've found some amazing recipes (read: short and simple) through TATT, so if you don't check it out every week, you totally should. Or at the last very least, try mine! HA!

I had this Weight Watcher's Taco Soup at bunco in December and loved it so much I came home and Googled it the very next day. I've made it twice since then and I'm still not tired of it. It is so super easy and makes the house smell incredible. Perfect for the winter storm we're in the midst of this week.

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Weight Watcher's Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey (I've been using turkey and Nate has no idea)
1 large onion, chopped (I cheat and use onion flakes)
1 (1 ounce) package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 (1 ounce) package of taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) can of pinto beans
1 (16 ounce) can of chili beans (hot or regular)
1 (16 ounce) can of whole kernel corn
1 (10 ounce) can of diced Mexican-style tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (any flavor - I use the basil kind)

Instructions:
1. Brown meat and onions and drain.
2. Mix ranch dressing and taco seasoning into meat.
3. Without draining, add all of the other ingredients.
4. Simmer 1 hour.

What a real man does....

A real man is a woman's best friend. He will never stand her up and he will never let her down.

He will reassure her when she feels insecure and comfort her after a bad day.

He will inspire her to do things she never thought she could do; to live without fear and to forget regret.

He will enable her to express her deepest emotions and give in to her most intimate desires.

He will make sure she always feels as though she's the most beautiful woman in the room and will help her be the most confident, sexy, seductive and invincible....

No, wait. Sorry. I'm thinking of wine.

That's what wine does....

Never mind.

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Special thanks to my girl, Jamie, who brightened my day with this in my inbox. Who doesn't love a what wine does?

Tuesdays at the Table

Honestly, it feels a little silly to call this a recipe, but it is one of our all time favorite meals - we eat it at least once a week. And when I say at least, I'm not kidding - we've been known to make these two or three days in a row. Some may call me lazy. I prefer to call myself a 'creature of habit'.

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Baked Turkey Sandwiches

Ingredients:
Sliced turkey breast
Pepper Jack cheese
Small deli sub rolls (we like Sara Lee)
Mayo
Mustard

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare turkey sandwiches as you normally would - turkey, pepper jack cheese, mayo and mustard on a sub roll.
3. Wrap each sandwich individual in a single layer of tinfoil, rolling the seams to seal them.
4. Bake directly on the oven rack for 15 minutes, until bun is slightly stiff and cheese is melted.

I serve these with soup during the winter (clam chowder, vegetable, broccoli cheese) and some sort of salad, like broccoli slaw, in the summer. No matter how often we eat them, it never gets old. SO YUMMY!

Tuesdays at the Table

I love chicken salad. On a croissant, on a sandwich roll, in a lettuce cup, in a wrap, plain, with apples, with dried cranberries. As long as there aren't any onions, I'll eat it. If chicken salad is on the menu, you can rest assured that I will order it. When I make chicken salad at home, I will eat it for every single meal until it is gone.

I lurve chicken salad.

I found the basis for this recipe on Real Simple's website. You'll understand why I say 'basis' if you look at my version and then look at theirs. While theirs sounds yummy (minus the scallions!), it's way too much work. Why cook chicken breast when you can buy it already cooked in a can? And who the heck has the time to squeeze their own limes? Not this girl.

My version is just as good, and takes about five minutes as opposed to twenty. You can use the fifteen minutes I saved you to thank me later.

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Chicken Salad with Apple and Basil
via Real Simple

Ingredients:

• Two large cans chicken
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup lime juice
  
• 1 tablespoon white wine or rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 Granny Smith apples (peeled, if desired), diced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the lime juice, vinegar, and sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the apples and toss.
2. Drain the chicken and add it to the apple mixture along with the basil, and the salt and pepper. Toss and divide among individual plates.

Tuesdays at the Table

I made these super easy Nacho Pinwheels for the first time right before we went on vacation. They took maybe 10 minutes to prepare plus cooking time. I served them with a side salad, chips and salsa and we made a meal out of it. A perfect busy night or lazy Saturday night meal!

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Nacho Pinwheels via Pillsbury.com

Ingredients:
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
6 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tsp Old El Paso taco seasoning mix
1/3 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese (I used a Mexican blend instead)
1/4 cup Mexicorn whole kernal corn with red and green peppers (drained)
Thick n Chunky salsa


Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. Unroll crescent rolls; separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal.
3. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and taco seasoning. Stir in cheese and corn.
4. Spread cream cheese mixture over each rectangle to within 1/4 inch of edges.
5. Starting with the short side, roll up each rectangle, pressing edge to seal. With serrated knife, cut each roll into 5 slices. Place cut side down on cookie sheet.
6. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Serve warm with salsa.

Tuesdays at the Table

It will come as no surprise to most of you, but I'm not the cookbook type. Nearly all the recipes in my repertoire have been ripped straight out of a magazine. This one comes to you straight from the pages of April's Cosmo.

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Pasta Ponza
via Giada De Laurentiis's cookbook, Giada at Home

Ingredients:
2 cups halved red cherry tomatoes
2 cups halved yellow cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
1 lb ziti
1 1/4 cups grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup parsley leaves (or cheat and use parsley flakes)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 glass baking dish.
2. Combine tomatoes, capers, olive oil, salt and pepper in baking dish.
3. Sprinkle bread crumbs over mixture.
4. Drizzle with additional olive oil and bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden.
5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the pasta and cook 8-10 minutes.
6. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the water.
7. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl.
8. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the pasta.
9. Add the cheese and toss well. If needed, thin the sauce with a little of the reserved water.
10. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

Tuesdays at the Table

Anyone who's read around here for any length of time knows that I am addicted to coffee in any shape or form. Liquid, chocolate, brownie, shake - if it's got espresso in it, I'll take two!

So when I ran across this recipe in People magazine, I ripped it right out! Espresso? Cake? Microwave? 150 calories? I might have died and gone to Heaven. Care to join me?

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Espresso Cake in a Mug
via Hungry Girl

Ingredients:
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbs devil's food cake mix
1 tbs fat-free sour cream
1 tbs fat-free liquid egg substitute
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 no-cal sweetener packet

Instructions:
1. Place coffee and chips in microwave-safe mug sprayed with nonstick spray.
2. Add other ingredients on top and mix well.
3. Microwave for 1 minute and 45 seconds.
4. Cool slightly before eating.

Food + Friends + Flickr = Fantastic Fun

If you follow me on Twitter then you already know that I got to meet the lovely Ally from Cute on the Cheap when I was in Louisville a few weeks ago. She and her sweet husband, Al, took my friend Jamie and I to Ramsi's Cafe on the World, home of what is possibly the best brunch buffet on the planet. If you're ever in Louisville, you must go. It's insane.

Anyway, I finally got our pictures from the weekend. This one's for you, Ally!


And just because she's wonderful and fantastic and let me drag her all around Louisville for a weekend and took all the pictures because I was too lazy to bring my camera, this is my girl Jamie. Sup, playa?


You can see more pictures of our Louisville weekend (and Carrie Underwood!) on Flickr.

Sugar High

If for some reason, you should find yourself saying, 'Self, we really ought to send Sara a present, but what shall we send her?', allow me to gently point you in a sure-to-make-Sara-smile (and-gain-twenty-pounds-that-she-won't-even-care-about) direction:

Baked by Melissa

Holy mini-cupcake heaven. I want them all. One Two Five of every flavor.

Tuesdays at the Table

Well, I'm back to a few weeks off as a Lady of Leisure and I plan to make the most of it. And by 'make the most of it' I mean, I will do as little as possible. Unfortunately Nate doesn't have quite the same definition as I do. He seems to think that since my days are free, he should come home to a gourmet meal every night. Riiight.

But in the interest of at least pretending to be domestic, I think I will try this super easy recipe for dinner tonight. He'll think I slaved away all day when really all I did was sit on my duff and watch The Time Traveler's Wife while drinking Starbucks. Sounds like a productive day to me.

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Parmesan Meat Loaf
via Real Simple

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 large egg
1 grated onion (or cheat and use onion flakes like I do!)
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (or parsley flakes)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use Italian)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup tomato paste

Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
2. On a foil-lined baking sheet, form the mixture into an 8-inch loaf.
3. Bake at 400 degrees until cooked through, about 40-50 minutes.

Serves 4.

There's a boy who works at Starbucks....

To promote their new Any-Way-You-Want-It Frappuccinos, it's Frapp Happy Hour at Starbucks from 3-5pm every day this week! Although, technically it should be Happy Hours, since it's actually two hours, but whatever! As long as they are giving me a frappuccino at half price, I don't care what they call it!

I tried their new Extra Coffee Caramel Frap with non-fat milk yesterday and it was delish. The more coffee, the better in my opinion!

So in honor of Happy Hour week, here is a little tribute to Starbucks from one of my favorite Broadway stars, Kristin Chenoweth. Makes me giggle every time!

Tuesdays at the Table

We love a good sandwich at our house, especially in the summer months when it seems like we are running in a hundred directions of every day of week. We eat them for dinner at least once a week, so I'm always on the lookout for good recipes to add to my repertoire. I ran across this one in April's Real Simple and can't wait to try it.

Sliced Egg Sandwich with Herb Mayonnaise
via Real Simple magazine

Ingredients:
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pumpernickel bread
2 sliced hard boiled eggs
Lettuce or watercress


Instructions:
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, parsley and Dijon mustard. Spread on 2 slices of pumpernickel bread and form a sandwich with 2 sliced hard-boiled eggs. Top with lettuce or watercress, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

The Fantastic, Magical World of No Calories

I was happily eating inhaling a Qdoba Naked Burrito the other night when I thought to myself: I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content.

Which got me thinking - if I could only eat five meals for the rest of my life what would they be? Assuming calories are no object, of course!

{Image found here}

1. Qdoba Chicken Queso Burrito & Dark Chocolate Brownie - I was reluctant to try Qdoba when we first moved here. It seemed weird to me. Who wants to build their own burrito? Turns out, THIS girl loves to build her own burrito. Like, at least once a week. When Nate asks where I want to go for dinner on a weeknight, 9 times out of 10 the answer is Qdoba.

{Image found here}

2. Petro's Chili and Cornbread - Petro's specialty is chili over Fritos with all the fixin's. OMG. Best stuff ever. Too bad for me, we now live six hours away from the Knoxville-only chain. Probably good for my waist-line though.

{Image found here}

3. Chili's Triple Dipper Platter with a Frozen Raspberry Margarita - Many Friday nights you will find my happy butt parked in a booth at Chili's. I never get tired of that place, even though I order the same thing every.single.time - Triple Dipper Platter with chicken fingers, sweet buffalo boneless wings and the oh-so-scrumptious Southwest eggrolls. I split it straight down the middle and eat the second half for lunch on Saturday. Two for the price of one!

{Image found here}

4. IHOP Stuffed French Toast w/ a side of pancake - Yet another place I don't get to visit nearly often enough. Their french toast is stuffed with vanilla cream cheese. Makes me go all gooey on the inside just thinking about it. But no trip to the International House of Pancakes would be complete without at least one pancake. A short stack of 3 if I'm feeling really ambitious.

{Image found here}

5. Starbucks caramel macchiato and a cupcake - Because in my world, coffee is a meal. And a cupcake is just, well, icing on the cake.

If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tuesdays at the Table

One of the ladies in my bunco made these ridiculously easy treats for a bunco party a few months ago. She made them with both chocolate and golden Oreo's and she left off the chocolate dipping completely - just made the 'truffle' part and chilled them in the fridge. They were insanely good. I absolutely could not stay away from the golden ones.

Word to the wise: Make these only if you have a party to take them to, otherwise things will note end well for your waistline!

Oreo Truffles
Via allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 package Oreo cookies
1 package (8 ounces) Cream Cheese, softened
2 packages (8 ounces each) Semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

Instructions:
1. Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.)

2. Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl.

3. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended.

4. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.

5. Dip balls in chocolate: Place truffle ball in melted chocolate to coat; roll if necessary. Lift truffle from chocolate using 2 forks (this will allow excess chocolate to run off) before placing on wax paper.

6. Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.

7. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

Hello, Lover

It is entirely possible that I have died and gone to heaven.

It's no secret around here that cupcakes are my kryptonite. But really, it's not the cupcake that gets me - it's the icing.

I don't know what it is about icing that makes it impossible for me to resist. I will eat it by the spoonful straight out of the can, squirt it directly into my mouth from the tube, and I've even scraped the icing off and ditched the cake just to 'save' a few calories (HA!).

Nate thinks this makes me a weirdo.

But now I have proof to the contrary! Clearly there are others in the world just like me. Others who would like nothing more than a spoonful of gooey, sugary goodness sans the crummy cupcake part.

Icing lovers of the world, UNITE!

Who's up for a trip to Miami?

Craving, craving

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For some inexplicable reason, I am craving Little Caesar's pizza today. I didn't see a commercial, I didn't drive by one, I didn't overhear someone mention it - I just suddenly wanted it. A lot.

This happens to me a lot. I'm going about my merry way, doing whatever it is I'm doing these days, and suddenly - BAM! - I get a craving. And they tend not to go away. Last week? I ate broccoli slaw five meals in a row. The week before that? We had toasted turkey and pepper jack sandwiches for dinner two nights in a row. The week before that? I couldn't get enough chicken salad.

And our weekend dinner dates? I usually know where we're going and what I'm going to order by Wednesday. This Saturday night? PF Changs - lettuce wraps and orange peel chicken.

Nate calls this behavior 'weird'. I prefer to call it 'anticipation'. Po-ta-to; Po-tah-to.

Surely I can't be the only person who does this? Do you look forward to your meals with such enthusiasm? Or am I really a weirdo?

Guilty Pleasures

I saw this little meme over at Gilding the Frilly (isn't that a fun blog name?!) and thought I'd steal borrow it. I'm ashamed to admit, but it took quite a bit of time to narrow my guilty pleasures down to just five!

1. High heels - I firmly believe that a girl can never have too many pairs of high heels. Unfortunately my husband doesn't hold the same belief. 'Yes, darling, I know have four pairs of black heels in my closet, but I don't have black patent leather peep-toe stilettos with a white stitched diamond pattern.' Well, at least I didn't until this afternoon....

2. MTV's Styled - Maybe it's just Rachel Zoe Project withdrawals, but I am a little bit obsessed with MTV's RZP knockoff. It's like a train wreck - you just can't look away. Seriously, where do they find these people?

3. Being a 'hairbrush singer and dashboard drummer' - You know, like the Carrie Underwood song? Okay, so I'm not a drummer, but I'm definitely a hairbrush singer. Well, not with an actual hairbrush but I love to belt some Carrie and Taylor Swift in the car. Seriously, I could alternate their two CD's for the rest of my life and be perfectly content listening to nothing else for the rest of my life.

4. Sonic commercials - There isn't a Sonic less than an hour's drive from here, but they still show the commercials non-stop. I laugh like a maniac at every one, even though I've seen them all a million times. Nate thinks I'm a nutcase. How can you not find this laugh-out-loud funny?



5. Massages - I've gotten a monthly massage for the past four or five years now and I look forward to that hour with eager anticipation every month. When we moved to Indy, I discovered Massage Envy and it's the best gift I've ever given myself. My massage therapist is a-MAH-zing and I don't know what I would do if she didn't knead my shoulder muscles into submission on a regular basis. This guilty pleasure is worth every single penny.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Signs of the Season

Red cups at Starbucks.

Peppermint milkshakes at Chick-fil-A.

Amy Grant on my ipod.

Sparkly new ornaments in my shopping bag.

Tickets to a Biltmore House Holiday Tour this weekend.


All signs point to one thing...

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME, BABY!!

Sometimes you just need a little Southern

Cornbread muffins and black-eyed peas for dinner tonight. Because even grown-ups get homesick sometimes.

Queen for a Day Week

Guess who is my local Starbucks' customer of the week?!

That would be Yours Truly.

Know what that means? Free coffee for me ALL WEEK LONG!

That's right. Not just a free cup of coffee once. The drink of my choice EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS WEEK.

And they cheer whenever I walk in the door.

I could get used to this.