From Our Kitchen - Pinterest Inspiration

With my more relaxed summer schedule I recently experimented with a few new recipes.  I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to numerous recipes I thought looked delicious, with the hopes of one day making them all. My school schedule the past two semesters has not given me much time to spend in the kitchen during the week, so this summer I've been throwing in new dishes to try, and I marked a few off the list. Surprisingly, nearly everything we've tried turned out good.

When compiling this list to share, I realized all of my picks were from my top 3 food blogging sites: Damn Delicious, Chef-In-Training, and The Pioneer Woman.  All three of these use simple ingredients to create delicious meals, and then they photograph the food so well you just want to lick it off the screen. For real.

In each description below, click on the picture to take you directly to the original site. There is also a link to my personal printable version for my recipe binder under each image. (All images are those of the original blogger.)

Lemon Chicken (by Damn Delicious) - a quick & easy way to change up the ordinary chicken night. The only thing you might not have in your pantry is a couple of lemons. After zesting them for this dish, give 'em a squeeze and make yourself a glass of lemonade!

(Click HERE for my printable version of the recipe.)

White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce (by Damn Delicious) - rich and creamy enchiladas; toppings optional, but not really.

(Click HERE for my printable version)

Crab & Quinoa Spring Rolls (by Damn Delicious) - the original recipe called for shrimp, but since I'm allergic, I changed this to imitation crab. Don't turn up your nose! You can always buy fresh lump crab, but that can get pricey. Although I don't think imitation crab taste much like real crab, I like it's own flavor.  I know I said most of these recipes have common ingredients. This one calls for quinoa (which I've talked about before) and rice paper wrappers. I did have to go to an Asian market to get these wrappers, as Publix did not have them, but you might luck up and find them in Walmart or elsewhere?

(Click HERE for my printable version.)

Baked Corn (by Chef-In-Training) - I love corn. This stems from a deep love of my Memaw's freshly creamed corn from her garden. And I mean fresh. I remember helping bringing in piles of corn from the garden as she sat at this old wooden table outside her house shucking and washing corn cobs. Then they would get creamed by hand into glorious perfection. There was and is nothing like it to this day. Okay, okay... back to the recipe. It takes plain ol' whole kernel corn (which nearly makes me gag to just serve alone as a side) and dresses it up.  Similar recipes call for mayo and/or sour cream, so I like this recipe better since it cuts out on more fattening things like that.

(Click HERE for my printable version)

Spinach Artichoke Pasta (by The Pioneer Woman) - throw the "less fattening" idea out the window for this creamy pasta dish from Ree. She, butter, and cream are a love triangle that will not be broken. But, this classic dip turned pasta recipe was a hit at our Community Group one night, so I think you will like it too! You could also throw in diced chicken to make this dish more filling.

(Click HERE for my printable version)

Share any new recipes you have tried in the comments below, or let me know if you make any of these dishes and how well you like them!

Lately

Hello again world!  I realize I've been a little absent around here lately.  I've just been rolling through with my summer schedule, and just when I was getting into the groove of things it was over Friday.  Six weeks flew right on by, but I'm ready to really kick my feet up and enjoy my summer break.

(My summer group going out in style with Dr. Vaughn!)

(On the way home, Heather and I stopped by Steel City for a celebratory pop to end second year.)

So what else have we been up to so far this summer?

- I got my hair cut with full bangs. (As you've probably noticed from the photos above.) I just went out and did it while Jesse was away for work one week.  I immediately regretted my decision because for a day or so I was personally convinced  I had just received a really bad haircut from the 80's. After a couple of weeks and a little bit of growth of these obvious hairs, I began to have fond thoughts about the do, and am now on board with my new "look."

- We went to an event recently called "Local Birmingham" and browsed over booths of local vendors to the sound of local musicians, and ate some local food from a food truck. I love events like this, and came home with a homemade soy candle (in a repurposed beer bottle) and a t-shirt that says "Someone in Birmingham loves me" underneath an outline of our little cityscape.  

- Jesse has been hard at work with his Master's course. The tables have turned this summer- he is now the one in the books while I take afternoon naps and watch Netflix.  I can't say I don't hate it. ;)

- Way back a few weeks ago we did a double-date night with friends Mike & Kelsey.  We went to this indoor trampoline place called "Airwalk".  Thank the good Lord above we only booked a 30 minute spot, because 5 minutes in we were all winded and had to take a breather on the sidelines. We jumped back in (pun intended) and had a blast. I'm pretty sure mine and Kelsey's abs got a good workout from giggling at ourselves the whole time. Afterwards we played a round of mini-golf and ate at a nearby pizza joint, which was incredible. Area 41 is on the outskirt of Birmingham, but worth the short drive to eat another slice of this fancier pizza. Plus they offered cannolis and creme brûlée cheesecake for dessert that night. And, of course, we had dessert.

- Our church kicked off it's Summer in the City series for the second summer in a row. The sermons have been kind of back to the basics and good reminders to us as Christians of how to truly live a Godly life.  There are so many activities and events that happen throughout the city during the summer, and it's a great time for us to get out there and enjoy community with each other and the people of our surrounding communities.  Our church is also doing weekly picnics after Sunday morning service to give us some extra time to hang out with each other, and help bring people in from the community who need a free meal. Bonus is that they get to here about Jesus while they are there. I love this idea they had, and it feels traditional and homey to have a potluck on the front lawn of the church.

I'm sure I missed plenty, but that's what we have been up to lately. We have big plans for this summer, which I will reveal soon!

Our Friends are Cooler Than Yours

I've talked many times about our friends, Mike and Kelsey. Some of you know that they make board games.  You've probably also seen a few things I've shared recently on facebook about the latest in their game developments. But I wanted to explain a little more here.

Mike and Kelsey have been developing their game, The Amberden Affair, for a couple of years now, and even coined a business name (Two Penny Games). They had the opportunity last year to enter their game in a Tabletop Deathmatch competition put on by a very famous game maker, Cards Against Humanity.  Within this competition there were hundreds of games submitted, and 16 finalists were chosen to present their games to a panel of judges and be recorded for a web series. The Amberden Affair was among the finalists. The winner will get their game printed for free and will have a booth at this year's conference to promote/sale the game.  You can watch Mike and Kelsey pitch their game to the judges here at a big gaming conference known as GenCon, and learn the meaning behind their company name:

Several weeks after the competition, they were notified they did not win, so they moved forward with other plans to produce their game.  It's a passion of theirs they couldn't let die.  They made some great connections at GenCon and even struck up a deal with a game manufacturer to print their game without putting out much of their own money up front. So they tweaked the game a little more to its final state and sent it off for mass production. Then they wondered how they would fit 2000 copies of their board game in their tiny apartment. (They have since figured this out as well.)

They decided to return to GenCon this year, and wanted to do something fun while there to promote their game. Having a background in theatre, they decided to host a live event of their game, where people can sign up to play as characters of the game in a themed hotel room. On June 1st they launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund this life-sized event. So what does that mean? Kickstarter is a crowd-funding site where you can set a goal to raise money to help produce your product or production, whether that's an artist to record new music, a new gadget, or a game (among many other things). Reading Rainbow is even making a comeback through Kickstarter supporters!  The idea is to have many people (known as backers) pledge a little bit of their money to help you reach your goal.  And you only actually get the funds if your goal is fully funded within the time period. There are different levels of backing so that you can choose an amount you're comfortable pledging, and many of them offer rewards - such as a copy of the product once it's funded and produced.

So go check out Mike and Kelsey's Kickstarter page (<-- Click there), and help support their live event! You can even only donate a dollar or so if you'd like, or a little more and get a copy of their game for your own home! Watch the video below to learn more about the game, and see Jesse and me in what is the closest we will ever get to a big-screen debut! So go support Two Penny Games on Kickstarter and help make the live-event possible! Mike and Kelsey would greatly appreciate it!

High Five for Friday

I am finally feeling like this summer semester is starting to have a routine- now that it's halfway over. And although Jesse was out of town for work this past week, I had a pretty good work and kept myself busy...with what, now, I'm not certain. But let's try to put together this week's High Five:

1.  On Sunday, after church, we had friends Mike and Kelsey over for lunch which was basically a launch party for their Kickstarter fund to support their gaming business. (More to come soon about that, so I won't elaborate here. Except that they are so creative and cool, and God is blessing their talents and efforts in so many ways, and I'm enjoying watching it all unfold.

2.  I've recently discovered Scandal on Netflix, and have quickly become somewhat of an addict. It's kind of like Law & Order minus the court room, plus politics, including the President and his affair with the main character (no spoiler there).  Which brings me to a conflict of interest in me telling you to watch this show (and describing it as I have).... because I don't support marital affairs, but shows like these drag you in and make you root for a relationship that shouldn't happen. And of course, they always make the wife out to be a horrible woman anyway. So watch at your own discretion, but I'm gonna recommend it. ;)

3. Tuesday I got to keep my favorite munchkin. She calls me "Em." Which partially makes my dream of being called "Auntie Em" like Dorothy's aunt from the Wizard of Oz come true. (I realize I'm not actually this child's aunt, but I see her on the regular, so I think we are close enough here.) I tried this on my actual nephew about 16 years ago, but the lingo didn't stick, much to my dismay.  And if I become Auntie Em, that makes Jesse "Uncle Jesse" like from Full House, which is equally as funny.  (Ironically we do sometimes call her a munchkin, which I didn't realize until now was so fitting, as well.)

4. My first week of clinic was awful. It took me 3+ hours to do a full eye exam, and my patients sighed their way through it, asking how much longer this would take.  (To my slight defense, all my classmates were in the same boat as me. But still.... no one wants to sit there 3 hours with lights blaring into their eyes.) Now that 2 more weeks have ticked by, things have gotten better and I've gotten a little faster. My last patient this week repeatedly told me that I did such a wonderful job. She really had no idea if I truly had or not (from my and my attending's perspectives), but she lifted my spirits and made me smile.  

5.  I made these Chocolate Chip cookies this week. I'm pretty sure I could eat chocolate chip cookies daily for the rest of my life.  I do refrain from this activity, but when I have a craving for a good chocolate chip cookie, I've got to make a homemade batch.  Store-bought just doesn't cut it.  The "secret" ingredient in this recipe is cornstarch, which makes the cookies extra chewy. This is just the way I like my cookies, so these turned out nice, without tasting under-done. 

Birmingham Adventures - Red Mountain

Last weekend we marked another to-do off of our Birmingham list by hiking a little through Red Mountain.  There are several trails to explore, but we only did about half of them. We took Maggie, and she was tired before we veered onto trail #2 less than half way through. Poor dog - she's an inside girl. We went from the South side to the North to see one of the overlooks. Not the best view of Birmingham, but pretty in the distance. And we also went to the SkyHy Treehouse. It's a small park, but perfect for a short outdoor excursion.

High Five for Friday

Well guys, this has been quite the week!  My summer session has officially started and nearly worn me out. I got a little used to relaxing in a cozy hotel bed until about 10am each morning last week.

1. This summer I get to ditch the books and focus on patient care. I (along with my classmates) will have Primary Eye Care clinic, optical, community eye care, and vision therapy. My favorite so far was working with the kids in vision therapy. This helps kids with different problems, like eye turns or lazy eyes or focusing problems retrain their eye systems to strengthen their eyes enough to fix their problem. Some kids (or parents) start noticing problems when they start school or learn to read and they can't keep their place on the page, wind up hating to read, which can lead to problems in school, and often lead to behavioral issues. But really their original problem was that their eyes just can't do it. So 12-15 weeks of vision therapy can really change the lives of these kids, which is amazing!  

2. Jesse made it home from Pennsylvania Friday! So happy to have him back, as usual.

3. Wednesday was our 3rd wedding anniversary. Although we were miles apart he still sent me flowers to celebrate our special day.

4. After a week away and previous weeks of studying for finals, I finally made it back to community group and Dave Ramsey group this past week, which was wonderful to hang out with friends and talk Jesus and finances.

5. I also came home this week to a couple if post cards from my cousin, Carissa. She is venturing through Austria ans France with her job this summer. Definitely the opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm really glad she took it!

Pittsburgh 2

I'm obviously behind (yet again) on blogging. But I wanted to fill you in on the rest of our Pittsburgh trip.

I thoroughly enjoyed my break, not having any schedule to follow, and lying around in a hotel room for several days.  I did venture out and explore the town we were staying in, and did a little shopping. I realize it sounds rather boring, but it was just what I needed to relax and recoup from this past semester.

On our second trip into the city we had quite the fancy dinner. Fortunately, Jesse's company covers his meals while on business, so we decided splitting the bill would be like a half-price fancy dinner, and declared it our anniversary dinner (which is next week!). We went to an amazing restaurant that resides on the top floor of an apartment building, which has a perfect view of the city. We arrived during the daylight hours and got to watch the city fall into darkness and light up in all of its glory. I love how cities look at night. It's funny how a city like Pittsburgh - decent, but not the cleanest and best looking city by day, can be so beautiful shining at night. And it's reflections off the adjacent rivers make it even prettier.

Back to the fabulous meal. Because, as you can see, we pretty much just eat good food on vacation. It's our thing. Everything was presented so beautifully, but I tried to refrain from being one of those people that photographs their food. (Although, I am that person.) I mean, I was trying to be a little more fancy than usual. So I just snuck out my phone every now. It seems to be a more accepted and inconspicuous way to capture snapshots of the yummyness before you.
We began with a trio appetizer of shrimp, crab cake, and a skewer of various fish. Then clam chowder, poured table-side into a bowl of the tiniest julienned potatoes I've ever seen. Followed by a house salad with fresh citrus dressing. Finally the entree - Hawaiin Nairagi with a mango chutney with rice and grilled bok-choy (aka - the most expensive fish I've ever consumed).

(I also ate the flower, because I could.) 

And it was on this very day that I ate the most delicious dessert I've ever had. If you know me, you know that says a LOT about this dessert. I sent a picture to a friend, and she questioned my judgement- there was no chocolate - how could this be?! Rightfully so, I told her, but it was true. This decadent dish is apparently "award winning" in this neck of the woods. It's called an Angel Food Cake Grilled Cheese. Which sounds disgusting, I agree. However, it was a "sandwich" made of angel food cake and mascarpone cheese, topped with fresh berries, sliced almonds, vanilla bean ice cream, and a swirl of raspberry sauce. I'm pretty certain the angel food cake was grilled in butter and sugar, which resulted in a nice, thin crunch with every bite.

Across from the restaurant is a lookout point, so we stopped and took in the city one last time.

We also found a local frozen custard shop nearby our hotel. We might have visited it twice during our trip.

One night we were invited to Jesse's friend's house, who he met through the company that is doing this training last time he was in PA. He grilled us steaks and let us sample his homemade wines, then required us to leave with 2 bottles. Not a bad deal.

On Saturday I drove all the way back to Alabama by myself, leaving Jesse to return behind me. It was a long trips, but fun and I was a little proud of myself by the end. And sweet friends made dinner for me upon my arrival, so it was a good day!

Things I did/learned on this trip:
- Turnpike = toll road. Be prepared with lots of change. Then pray you find a toll booth with an actual person to break your only 20-dollar bill so you can continue on your way.
- Kentucky is among the most beautiful states I've seen (plus it has a castle). Miles of green pastures with perfect white fences, horses, and lovely homes in the distance.
- West Virginia is a close second with it's lush, green mountains.
- However, you cannot hold your cellphone in WV. Thanks to one road sign and one concerned citizen who honked at me.
- I drove across the Appalachian Trial somewhere along the way.
- I drove through two mountains (tunnels) as well.  One in West Virginia, then you pop out the other side into Virginia.
- I successfully tried not to get pulled over, carrying two bottles of wine in my front seat cup holders. Not sure if that was unlawful at any point along the way...
- If you look like a cute couple, you might just get your tab picked up. Yep, that happened. A sweet couple at a local pizzeria decided to treat us to dinner one night, unexpectedly, for that very reason. We explained it was a "business meal" and they should not pay, but they insisted. Then the lady told me I had I lovely accent. :)
- I cannot survive a 11.5 hour road trip without gum, water (which leads to frequent pit stops), and Christian radio (gotta keep it positive) or NPR. And phone calls to curb the boredom.