Hello! Happiness: cooking

Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Saturday, July 9, 2011

It's Time to Grill...Recipes for Summer Entertaining

Is it just me or does every other lady out there find it easier to get her macho chef cooking away during the summer? Jeff and I definitely take advantage of the summer temperatures and availability of grilling options to make our dinners easier and faster, too! I found some fabulous new grilling recipes and wanted to share:

Grilled Shrimp, Mango, and Guacamole Bites via Tasty Kitchen

Grilled Nachos via Williams Sonoma

Grilled Apple Salad with Brown Sugar Vinegarette Dressing via TK

Grilled Corn Salad via Mels Kitchen Cafe

Grilled Balsamic Pork Tenderloin via Recipe Girl

Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese Panini via Tasty Kitchen

Perfect Grilled Burgers via Mels Kitchen Cafe

Grilled Swordfish with Rosemary via Recipe Girl

Grilled Bananas Foster via Woman's Day

Grilled Skillet Peach Pie via Better Homes and Gardens

Grilled Pound Cake with Berries via Taste of Home

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Aint No Mountain High Enough!

I was listening to the oldies Pandora station this morning and this song came on... one of my absolute favorites by far!! In a time where we're constantly surrounded with both highs and lows, you have to keep moving on and be thankful for all the good. I am having one of those days where your mind is constantly swarming...thinking through everything that needs to be done--at work, at home, on the wedding front--yet, I can't seem to get focused enough to get my head above water...someone needs to help me here because I need some BALANCE!!

The high mountains that are making me happy:

Surprise Rewards: I received a pretty sizeable gift card from my boss yesterday for all the hard work {and overtime} I had recently put in for a huge proposal effort--it was her way to say thank you to a job well done and she said she wanted to make sure I realized that I had exceeded her expectations! Hallejuah Happiness ;)

Delivery Packages: lately I've been delivered some very fun items from the UPS man at work...I'm sure he is ready for my wedding to be over with so the packages will stop stacking up in my office, though it makes the day way more enjoyable opening goodies and seeing fun wedding ideas finally come to life!

Using New Cookbooks: We are having our annual beginning of summer lunch cookout at work on Friday and I couldn't be happier to whip out one of my new dessert cookbooks for a new recipe...I'm making Lemon Blueberry Filled Cupcakes--to me, that just screams summertime tasty!

Dinner with Friends: Thursday night, Jenna and I finally get to rekindle and I get to see her growing bely bump again!! We're having dinner at a new place in Green Hills I've been dying to try out so I promise to report back. Then, on Sunday evening, we're having Jocelyn and her hubbie Nick over for a low key dinner...cannot wait to catch up with these two--love them!

Kind Comments: Thanks for all the kind and sweet comments you all sent yesterday regarding the photo montage recap of the weekend's festivities...I know that the green dress was by far everyone'e favorite--haha! Sad to say, this was bought at a boutique here in Nashville called Blush, which is my favorite shop for practically everything I buy--however, sometimes their items are also featured on ModCloth, Shop Ruche, and Lulus's so try those lovely online sites for some fabulous and colorful dresses!!

So what all are the happy highs you've got in your worlds? Always love to hear of all the good things that God is blessing my blogging friends with ;)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Do Good...And Other Nonsense

My sorority's creed--haha. Random, I know. And other nonsense...this is Thursday's topic of delight. For some reason, this morning I woke up and must have felt patriotic because I am most certainly sporting a navy striped skirt and a tomato red springtime sweater...God Bless America, right?

On another fashion note, I finally did it--I broke down and purchased my very first romper the other day. I almost walked away with one last year, but couldn't give in to spending $100 on what I thought would be a one-season trend. Well, they're back this year, though I only shelled out $20 at Le Target and I am impressed by my budget-savvyness--it's really cute on, too! {no picture though, I can't seem to find it online}

So, we finished our first book club ready "Crazy Love" the other night--1 down, bunches to go. I think overall we all enjoyed the book, though we definitely needed some reflection time to deal with the themes and key takeaways from the book. Next on our plate? "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore--I can't wait to get started on this. The reviews sound really good and this should take us in a different direction this go-around.

Do any of you collect cookbooks? I am becoming obsessed with these lovely reads {yes I consider them to be reading books} and cannot wait to add more to my collection. Some recent gifts include Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Comfort Foods, 101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix, and a Gourmet Cupcake Cookbook--look out, these people know I love a good sweet, or two.

The Lady Gaga concert is here in Nashville next Tuesday and I'm going with 2 of my best friends...we cannot wait!!! I know it is going to be quite the spectacle and so much fun to sing along to each and every song...yes, we'll be acting like teeny boppers, too ;)

Need a good excuse to treat yourself to a night out to dinner? I found this event at Nashville Scene and it's a WONDERFUL cause going on throughout the nation in major cities. It's called "Dining Out for Life" and its an annual fundraising event involving local restaurants. More than 3,500 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from this one night of dining to the licensed agency in their city. Nashville is participating on Tuesday, April 26th and I was happy to see so many restaurants are joining in to raise money for such a worthy event...here is the lineup!

Alright, it's official--I am ready for the weekend...wedding crafting, shopping around town, and then celebrating my friend Leslie's birthday with good friends at Arrington Vineyards Saturday night--cannot wait for some much needed downtime!! Happy Thursday

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Top 2, Training, and Nonsense

Hola lovelies!! Happy, Happy Tuesday to each and every one of you... it's raining and a tad bit dreary here in Music City this morning, but I am keeping my fingers crossed the snow blows right on by us--too many things to do this week for weather to get in my way so take that Mother Nature.

Today, it's all about diet and nutrition--thanks to Taylor for her Top 2 topic...

Top 2 Healthy Recipes and Snack Ideas! {I'll give you 2 of each}

1. For healthy snacks, I am all about the fruit--we load up each time we go to the grocery store and its always best to think about what's in season to help save money, too... favorites for our house are always bananas, grapes--put them in the freezer as a treat, blueberries, as well as apples... mix it up and add some variety to keep it interesting so you don't get bored.

Another item that is wonderful for snacking that I have found tasty are the Fiber One bars--they're only 150 calories and they have a touch of chocolate so it's almost like a dessert, but healthy for you with 35% of your daily fiber!

2. As for healthy recipes, sometimes these can be hard to come across, but
2 of my favorites include these easy peasy recipes:

Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan via Kraft Foods

And because I must have dessert, Lemonade Pie via Tidy Mom

I also wanted to invlude some helpful hints and tips & tricks...little things I have stumbled across that make life {and trying to watch your weight/cut calories} that much easier:

Dottie's Weight Loss Zone--lists hundreds of chain restaurants and calorie counts for popular food and drink items... think Starbucks, Panera, PF Changs, Subway, Olive Garden, etc--VERY helpful so you can plan ahead to order something not too bad

Eat This, Not That books--yes, you've all seen them at your local Target/Barnes & Noble, but these books are WAY educational and there to help... different versions exist: grocery store, best/worst foods, kids, etc...check them out! They are fool proof and provide pictures for easy reference--switching out a few things here and there can really help you lose a few pounds in no time flat!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mumbo Jumbo from Yours Truly

This is a post filled with a jumbo heap of mess so I apologize in advance...

1. Readers/Friends who are into all things beauty: Recently, I have noticed my hair is really dry--assuming due to the change in weather which is strange becaused it used to be oily, but now I am on the hunt for a DEEP conditioning treatment to help my locks get repaired and stay healthy... any go-to products that you've tried that are musts? I'm seeking your guidance on this one please!

2. Taylor's Top 2 Tuesday today is "Your Favorite Jobs"... well, considering I have only had a total of 5 jobs my entire life, that makes this an easy one and they're both positions I held while in college...

a) Sales Lead at the Limited--granted, I made zero dollars because I spent way more than my paycheck, but I loved playing dress up with clients and customers and working retail can really be fun, especially when you had a lively bunch like we did

b) Manager at Hot Spot Tanning--you all know my former love of tanning, and this was no exception... I got this job so that I could tan for free. It was right across from our sorority dorms so it was mostly college gals, but don't worry, we had our fair share of creepy visitors, too--gives me the willies just thinking about some of the issues we had to deal with, not to mention we practically worked for free--is that sad this was my fav job?? =)

3. Dear Verizon, please hurry up and get the iPhone. My BlackBerry needs to be retired as its seen its finer days and I am getting anxious over here to download all these unnecessary apps everyone keeps telling me about!

4. The Christmas decor is officially out for display in the house...yes, I know, I am a tad bit early, but if you saw my calendar for these next 2 weeks you'd know why. Plus, what better reason than to enjoy it for more than a month, right? Dont mind if I do. I thoroughly enjoyed my Monday night, listening to Sounds of the Season via Comcast Music and decorating the first of our trees--pictures to come soon!

5. This week, I get to live out my dream of being a baker/chef by cooking for so many events... Thanksgiving at work Friday, Candice's bday treats for Friday night, breakfast for guests on Saturday, and tailgating/football food Saturday night. Oh full recipes to follow I promise!

Until we meet again... I'm off working away in the dreary and cold rain--yucko!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes

I've been on the hunt for some turkey-riffic {can't believe I just made that word up} recipes to share for all of your upcoming Thanksgiving menus--it's 2 weeks from today, can you tell I'm counting dowen?? Some of these I have tried, and some are newbies I can't wait to attempt, but they all seem relatively easy--a prerequisite for making it on my recipe roll--and I'm thinking you may want to try some, too!!

Appetizers

Bacon Wrapped Cocktail Sausages via Our Best Bites