Vegas

I've been absent from blogging for a few weeks now and can't believe it's already March. So far, 2013 is racing by and I can't find the "Pause" button. Here are some photos from an amazing weekend in Las Vegas with Emily and my parents, eating delicious food and seeing some very interesting (sometimes beautiful, sometimes sketchy) sites.

View from the plane - hello, desert

Playin the slots like a champ

Red Rock Canyon hike

Smokey Robinson and some Aussies

Red Rock Canyon

Branzino crusted in sea salt at Milos

  

Carving the fish

Happy birthday, Mom!

Happy (noseless) Emily

The fish is flown in fresh every day

Rock Shrimp at Sushi Samba

Sea bass (wish I had a better picture) and steak with mushroom curry 

Sushiiiii

Tuna tacos and little dumplings with pumpkin

If only the country were smooshed together and I could visit her every weekend. Love you, Em!

Turkey burgers

I can't believe it's already February 1. January flew by and, as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, I can feel spring lingering just around the corner.

This week, I tried to keep my eats pretty simple after being so sick on Sunday and Monday. I made a batch of delicious "Mexican" turkey burgers Tuesday night that I've been eating the rest of the week:

Ground turkey
Sliced grape tomatoes (or any tomatoes you like)
Cilantro
Diced onion
Cumin

Mix all these together with some salt and pepper (and hot sauce, if you dare). Don't handle the meat too much, though, or else you'll overwork it and the burgers will become tough. I managed to get five burgers out of a package of meat. I sauteed three and broiled two - I think broiling was more successful as it cooked out a lot of the fat but kept the burgers juicy. After they were cooked, I quickly seared the broiled burgers to give them some color.

I topped mine with sauteed onions and tomatoes, TJ's corn salsa (my favorite), and sriracha and ate it on a bed of spinach. I loved the tomatoes in the burger!

Homemade Thai

On Friday night, Rob and I were hankering for some ethnic food. After some lengthy deliberation, we settled on Thai. After a quick glance through the pantry, we realized we could easily whip something up with what we had instead of spending money on take out. Dinner turned out pretty delicious (especially the chicken), so here's the recipe!

Thai Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice and Brussels Sprouts

Rice:

1 cup of rice (I used sushi rice but you can probably use any kind)
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 Tbsp. of red curry paste
Salt and pepper

Rinse the sushi rice many times in water, swirling it with your fingers. Put the rice in a pot and add the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and cook for ten minutes. Remove the cover, add the curry, and keep at a low heat for another ten minutes.


Chicken:

Chicken breasts (I used leftover rotisserie chicken which was perfect and easy)
2 Tbsp red curry paste
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
Onion
Spinach
1/3 - 1/2 cup coconut milk
Lime

Sautee the vegetables in coconut oil and ginger. Add the chicken, coconut milk, and curry. Stir together until well combined and the flavors have settled (5-10 minutes). Squeeze lime juice over the food.

Brussels Sprouts:

B Sprouts
Ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
1 clove of garlic

Sautee the brussel sprouts in coconut oil and garlic. Add the ginger and cook until browned.

Enjoy!!!

Weekend Update!

This three-day weekend has been absolutely perfect. Friday night, I was totally exhausted (and so was Rob -- congrats on finishing his first full week!) so we ate in and watched Safe House with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds. Ehhhhh....decent movie.  For dinner, we had super easy chicken tacos. If you have a slow cooker, make this. It's cheap, foolproof, and delicious. Basically, put chicken breasts (or thighs) in the slow cooker with a jar of salsa. I used spicy salsa verde but any kind of liquid-based sauce will work. Then, we warmed corn tortillas in the oven and piled the tacos with black beans, spinach, tomatoes, Greek yogurt, and guacamole.

Saturday morning, I woke up and made oatmeal pancakes. No pictures, but they were decent -- just mix 1 banana, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, vanilla and cinnamon together and cook like a pancake. Rob had to work, so I went to FlyBarre and then bought some new curtains. I guess I'm spoiled by Hilliard, but FlyBarre was not challenging whatsoever which was kind of a bummer. Then, we headed up to Davidson for lunch with Hilary and Collin at Tenders!

Vanilla milkshake for the win

Grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and creamy garlic!

After lunch, we swung by F to see David Levintow who is finally graduating this spring after a tumultuous freshman year plagued by a broken ankle and pneumonia! Yayyyy David! Then we went to the McKillop's house before the game for a beer and to hang out with Brendan's niece, Maggie. She sat behind us at the game and it was the first time Rob has spent more time with his attention focused on a girl instead of the game -- he and Maggie are best buds.

Sunday, I went to FlyWheel in the morning which was an amazing workout. It was a 45 minute spin class that tracks your distance, calories burned, resistance, speed, etc.....I have a bunch of free classes and can't wait to go back. Rob spent the afternoon making three pizzas - Mexican with the leftover salsa chicken and black beans, pesto, and just a plain cheese. They were all amazing. We took them to his co-worker's house around the corner and watched football all afternoon. So sad for Tony Gonzales, but excited to see the HarBowl in two weeks. 

I didn't have work today, so I saw The Impossible (emotionally draining), made some healthified banana bread muffins, and cooked an easy and pretty healthy dinner: spinach fettucini with roasted red pepper sauce and an arugula salad. 

Red Pepper Chicken Pasta

Sauce:

Broil two red peppers lightly coated in olive oil until slightly charred 

Slice the peppers and add 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt, 3 Tbsp of goat cheese, 2 cloves of garlic & salt to a food processor or blender and mix well

Chicken:

I marinated the chicken in lemon, olive oil, balsamic, rosemary, and mustard. I just cooked it on the stove, but you can bake it if that's easier.

Cook the pasta and then mix it all together! I also added portobello mushrooms for some extra oomph.  Nom nom.

Happy birthday, Robble Gobble!

Happy birthday to the greatest guy I know! 

 

Birthday scotch and cigars

 

"Coco Loco" Duck Mole @ 5Church

Brett and his Proscuitto-wrapped NC Trout @ 5Church

Birthday S'mores @ 5Church

The boys eating all the dessert

Happppppppppy happy birthday! 

I hope 24 is your best year yet! 

Food comas

I realize that this blog is basically turning into a documentation of how absolutely food-centered my weekends have become, and this past weekend was no different. Rob got back from ten days in Atlanta on Friday night, and since it was his last weekend before launching into busy season (and, coincidentally, his last weekend as a 23 year old!), we had to celebrate. 

Friday night, I prepared an Italian feast. Mind you, I do not like cooking Italian food. I don't particularly enjoy pasta and I'm not very good at making it. Rob, however, requested it for his homecoming meal and since I aim to please, I couldn't say no. I headed to Pasta Provisions, a wonderful Italian market with all the fixings you can imagine, including fresh made pasta. I also had a coupon, so it was clearly meant to be. Rob was hungry when he got home from Atlanta but I wasn't, so I made him a happy hour plate to have a few hours before dinner.

Rosemary focaccia, pesto (nommmmm), manchego, jalapeno-stuffed olives, red wine cheddar, and proscuitto

Arugula salad with asparagus and proscuitto; rosemary-garlic linguini with a pomodoro sauce

Happy Bob

The meal was delish. We stayed in and watched a movie (I fell asleep, oops), and it was an absolutely perfect start to the weekend.

Saturday morning, I had to drop my car off at the dealer for some maintenance so I let the king sleep in. After another session at Hilliard, Rob and I went to get massages at the Charles Grayson Halcyon Days salon in Charlotte. I had a gift card thanks to some very sweet coworkers, and I knew this would be a really good birthday treat. The massage was AMAZING. I want to get one every month...or every day. We ran errands and had a really good lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Bar (sandwiches and a beet-arugula salad) before heading back home to watch some football. I'll talk about Saturday night in another post!

SUNDAY was pretty fabulous. Hilary spent the afternoon with us and it was so nice to be reunited with my long lost sister. We did some serious shopping (hello, new curtain rod, shoe rack, TV stand, and duvet cover) and baked cookies for her friends. After she left, I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking a pretty extravagant meal for Rob's official birthday dinner (he works through dinner during the week, so we celebrated last night): slow-cooked short ribs, grits with manchego, and roasted veggies.

Short ribs:

Brown the short ribs in a pan with oil, salt, and peppaaa. Make them crispy. Put them in the slow cooker with carrots, onions, garlic, red wine, beef broth, a little coffee, red pepper, balsamic, thyme...whatever. Make it deep. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and the meat will literally fall right off the bones.

For the grits, I brought chicken broth, water, and milk to a boil before adding the grits. I couldnt believe that 1/2 cup of grits turned into ~5 servings, but alas, magic in the kitchen! I added 1/8 stick of butter (I really thought I'd have to add an entire stick, but didn't need to!), ~1/4 cup of manchego, and ~ 1/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt. These were amazing. Rob had some leftovers with his eggs for breakfast this morning. Delish.

Then I just roasted up some brussel sprouts and mushrooms for a little extra oomph.

Finished product:

Nom.

I ALSO made a cake from scratch for the first time. I used Ina Garten's chocolate cake recipe, this frosting recipe, and then another German Chocolate Cake Frosting recipe for the top. Lots of work but it was worth it - this cake is EXTREMELY decadent and delicious.

After the sugar high from the cake, I passed out from a food coma.

Weekend in Atlanta

This weekend, I went to Atlanta for the first time. Rob has training there for ten days which means I got to visit a new city without having to pay for a hotel room! I've wanted to check out Atlanta for a while now and am so glad I finally went. The city is way bigger than I had expected and full of all sorts of people. We had some amazing meals (most notably at 246 in Decatur, Fritti in Innman Park, and Highland Bakery), saw a hilarious improv show at Dad's Garage, and explored the city. I really, really loved everything I saw (and ate) and hope to go back and visit again soon!

Mural in Decatur (there are TONS of murals everywhere!)

Massive salami sandwich and pile of fries at 246

Most amazing bok choy I've ever had, plus two toasts with ricotta and veggies @ 246

Carmelized onion, pancetta and hot pepper pizza + arugula and proscuitto pizza @ Fritti

Corn-cilantro cakes with black beans, fried eggs, and queso fresco @ Highland Bakery (huge portion!)

Fried Chicken Benedict and amazing home fries @ Highland Bakery