From Our Kitchen: Greek Quesadillas

Welcome to the first food post from our "new" kitchen!  I will admit we have done a lot of eating out since we moved, but we finally went and stocked up on fresh ingredients and were ready to dig into some good home cookin'!

I have been saving recipes (mostly from Pinterest) to try, and these Greek Quesadillas caught my eye.  Now, if you've ever been to Auburn you know that Niffer's is one of the places to be.  They are known for their variety of delicious burgers and corn nuggets.  Yep, corn nuggets... those yellow, breaded bites you could find on your cafeteria tray back in 6th grade. But they are so good.  They also have awesome fried pickles.  Sorry... I got a little nostalgic sidetracked.  What you might not expect while you are trying to decide between the Cam Newton Burger or the Niffasaurus is that one of their Specialties are Greek Quesadillas. And they are special indeed.  So when I saw this recipe, I jumped on it! The Niffer's version has chicken, but I didn't take the time.  I just chopped up all the veggies and threw on some cheese (and then a little more cheese...) and we gobbled them up!

Chopped your veggies and prep any other ingredients you want.

Layer your tortilla with as much mozzarella cheese you think your shell can handle. :) Then add your toppings.  Of course, you can make this with whatever you want.  I added chopped olives for the hubs because he loves them. (Ew.)  The recipe also calls for Feta cheese which the grocery store was out of. (How dare they.)  Since I couldn't have feta, I smeared ricotta on the top tortilla.  Two cheese are better than one...right?

I realize the coloring in this photo does not make these super appetizing.  I was lazy and took these with my phone. (You have and will be witnessing much more of this type of laziness for it is just too convenient.)  However, these were delicious! Plus, it's simple - a little of this and a little of that. So try them yourself if you're in the mood for something a little different. 

Greek Quesadillas

adapted from: http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/01/greek-quesadillas/

Chopped tomato

Finely chopped fresh spinach (It's easiest to stack a few leaves, then roll them up and thinly slice. This technique is called "chiffonade."  I learned that from the original post.)

Chopped mushrooms

Mozzarella cheese

Feta cheese

Dash of oregano

Any other toppings of your choice:  chicken, olives, onion,...

Add your cheese to your bottom tortilla, followed by your toppings.  Then a little more cheese if you'd like. (I won't judge.)  

This time, I sprayed my pan with non-stick cooking spray, then sprayed the top of the quesadilla before flipping it, but next time I probably will use butter to give the outside more flavor and crispness.

Enjoy!

Let us know if you make them and if you put your own spin to it!

Weekend Round-Up: Graduates, Park, and Memorial Day

Well, this long weekend has come to an end, but I hope you all enjoyed it!

Here's how ours went:

On Thursday I went to Straughn to see my nephew (Ethan) and niece (Alexis) graduate from high school.  It was such a proud moment for them both.  As we were walking out to the stadium I looked at my mom and said, "It does not seem like 5 years since I was out there, nervous about giving my address at my graduation!" I was so glad that I could be there to see them cross the field and receive their diplomas, and I look forward to seeing what their futures hold!

I spent a little time with Mama and Wes in Luverne on Friday morning (even got pampered with a breakfast feast!), then headed back to Birmingham for movie night with my love. (We watched the movie Drive on Netflix instant, and while I enjoy Ryan Gosling, the moving was a bit strange and violent, so not one I would recommend as a must-see.)  By Sunday afternoon, we had been cooped up long enough in the apartment, so we went out in search of a park to walk Maggie around.  We found Star Lake Park in Hoover.  It's a small, quaint "park" - I give it quotations because it's really just a walking trail around a little pond, but it was nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air and greenery! (See the rolling hills in the background?)  Plus, it was so hot out, that one lap around the pond, and I was ready to go. :)

The water was surrounded by geese and a few ducks, that immediately walked up to us when we arrived.  Unfortunately for them, we did not bring any bread to share with them, but a couple of families that came after us did, and the kids seemed to have a blast feeding them.  It was pretty cute.  

(these guys were funny looking... I've never seen them before)

And, appropriately enough to see on the Memorial Day weekend:  in the center of the pond stands a flag that is on a little star-shaped island!

A huge thank you to all those who serve our country and make it what it is today!  Ethan will soon be seeing first hand what it takes to be a military man, as he has joined the Marines and will soon be in training!  (So proud of him!)

Anniversary Celebration

In honor of our one year anniversary, we took a day trip to Tennessee this past Saturday.  It was a beautiful day to spend together, and I always get extra excited about going to new places!  We first only planned to go to the Tennessee Aquarium, but decided to take a little detour on the way up and check out the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. I was a bit skeptical of what we would find, but our trip was successful.  We left with a bag full of goodies:

I was thrilled to find a Boden dress I had actually almost ordered once, a pair of Loft shoes, and a Tarte makeup brush (I know, a little weird, but I promise to disinfect it first!):

(Dress: retail $128/I paid $29.95; Shoes: retail $80/I paid $15.99; Brush: retail $32/I paid $8.39)

And Jesse snagged a few shirts, a pair of swimtrucks and 2 pairs of earphones:

(Not sure of the retail price of the shirts, but all were $5.29 and one still has tags on it! Both pairs of headphones retail at about $80, and he got them both for $22! And the swimtrunks were 4 bucks.)

You had to dig a little to find the treasure, but I think we did pretty good!

Onward we went to the Tennessee Aquarium, which was lots of fun!

We finished going through the aquarium quicker than expected, so we drove the scenic route out of Chattanooga and went to the the top of Lookout Mountain to Point Park.

Such an amazingly beautiful view!

(I'm not sure if you can read the sign, but warns of the danger of falling off the cliff.  My knees went weak just watching him sit down there.)

We had such a great day just enjoying each other and relaxing our way around Chattanooga. It was a fun trip, and we hope to go back to Ruby Falls and some other attractions next time!

And, don't fear! We are thawing out our wedding cake as I type this.  Hopefully it will be tasty a year later!  

Too see all of our photos from the day, click HERE.

One Year Anniversary

Can you believe it?!  It's been a whole year since we said "I do."  I think everyone says this, but I'm going to say it too:  it does not seem like it's been a year!  Time flies by so fast.  It really feels like it was only a few months ago that I was worrying over cupcakes, and chairs, and hairdos, and tablecloths, and flowers, and, and, and... I could go on and on.  So many decisions and so much effort and stress go into making a wedding happen, and then it's over, and before you know it you're thawing out the top of your wedding cake and saying "Happy Anniversary" to the person you've been sleeping next to for the past 365 nights!  Which just goes to show that it's not about all the hoopla of the wedding ceremony.  So many times on our wedding day I heard, "No matter what happens, you'll still say I do." Now, all you other brides know, at the time I was thinking that everything better turn out right and we'll say I do.  :)  But in hindsight, those words were so true, because that's really the only important factor of the day.

Remember these moments?

Happy Anniversary to us!
More to come of how we celebrated!

Dining Out

Just trying out some local restaurants - delicious sushi @ Stix. 

Settling

I know you all are just dying to know how our move went. ;)

If you've ever moved before, you know that just the process in general is a bit stressful.  Ours seemed to be off to a rocky start, and I was beginning to get down about it.  As you know, the actual move had a bump in the road with the flat tire, which set us a little behind schedule.  We had to rush to make it to the apartment's office before closing to get the key to be able to unload our stuff and move in, then Wes and I were racing the clock to make it to the warehouse on time to pick up our mattress so we would have a place to sleep!  Thankfully we made both deadlines, but since we had had to rush my whole scheme of labeling and organizing our boxes was out the window, so everything was everywhere, and it took a little while to get our belongings in the right places. The morning after moving in, we woke up to a very sick Maggie (our Jack Russell terrier).  I won't go into the gruesome details here, but it was serious enough for us to rush to the nearest vet for treatment where it was determined that she had pancreatitis.  She spent a couple of days at the vet until she was re-hydrated and could keep down food.  When we came back to the apartment after the first vet visit, Gene had determined that our "new-to-us" washing machine was missing parts, so no laundry for several days.  Then, to top things off, I picked up a screw in one of my tires on my car, which couldn't be patched.  Since replacements for all my tires were in my near future anyway, we decided to go ahead and replace them all since we found out Toyota was offering a buy 3 get the 4th free deal.  Then at the end of the day, the service man called us back to inform me that the deal was only for Toyota vehicles, so we would have to purchase all 4 tires.  Also, neither of our phones can pick up cell phone service at our apartment for some reason.  We figured in Birmingham of all places, service would be prevalent, but apparently we live in the one spot where it's not.  We were missing phone calls from our parents, the vet, various delivery people,.... not good.

Boo, hoo, hoo, right?  In hindsight, these things are not such a big deal, but when they were piled on top of current stress, it seemed like nothing was working out for us.  BUT, things turned around and started looking up!  Maggie got to come home and her symptoms ceased; she started acting more like herself, so we knew she was feeling better.

We had parts ordered for our washing machine, and they arrived quickly.  I've never been so happy for my day to look like this:

(after already washing two loads)

And Saturday morning I woke up to two messages on my phone:  1) Toyota service man telling me that he was misinformed and that he could honor the tire deal on my Hyundai. 2) My car was ready for pickup with 4 new tires!

And, thanks to Jesse's extremely tech-savvy brother, Matt, we can now connect our phones to our WiFi while at our apartment and talk all day long if we choose! 

I think God just wanted to remind me that I am not the one in control, but He is.  And I'm so glad, because obviously I can't keep it all together by myself! :)

And while all of this was wrapping up, we had our first visitors!

Matt, Heidi, and her sister Kayla

Kayla also lives in Birmingham, so they have two good reasons to visit!  We had a great time with them!  I got away from the moving madness and had some good girl time shopping, while Matt helped Jesse pick up and move in our new living room furniture! (More photos of our place are coming soon!)

All visitors are welcome, especially through the summer.  (I won't make any promises of being a good hostess once school starts!)  So, come and see us; we would love to have you!

Introducing an AU Alum

Hello again, world!

Sorry for the delay in posting, but moving turned out to be a little more hectic than I anticipated.

Let's rewind a little bit and celebrate the fact that my wonderful husband is officially an Auburn graduate!  He finished his degree in Chemical Engineering earlier this month, and we are SO proud of him! He is so glad to be finished, but now the real world awaits!

In front of Ross Hall - Chemical Engineering building.

(Thanks to Matt for the awesome graduation photos!)