What's Up Wednesday

Today I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday to share what I've been up to since last month! 

What I'm Eating: I made this Andouille and Rice Skillet and it turned out AH-MAZING! Will definitely be adding to the rotation for the future! I also tried this Southwest Tortilla Baked Egg dish and while it didn't turn out as pretty, it was still very tasty! This week I'm going to be using up some extra pasta that I already made with this Dragon Noodles recipe and this twist on Taco Tuesday with these Taco Stuffed Shells. 

What I've Been Up To: 
Celebrating my niece's first birthday, a delicious dinner date at one of our favorite restaurants, and a big celebration for our favorite brewery's 3rd Anniversary with lots of friends and family! 

Elle's 1st Birthday

short rib pasta, scallops and banana cream pie

What I'm Dreading: We are looking to switch to a new ticketing system at work at the end of next month and we are nowhere near ready. Instead of giving more time to prepare they are just pushing full-steam ahead which will surely end in disaster. 

What I'm Working On: Spring cleaning! I took a random day off last week and since the weather was pretty gross I spent the day cleaning and purging - it felt great to be able to see my closet floors again! 

What I'm Watching/Reading: I recently watched Nightmare Alley- what a strange and DARK movie! I also started Season 2 of Getting Organized with The Home Edit on Netflix (getting some inspo for that cleaning and purging!). 

What I'm Doing This Weekend: Checking out a new-to-me restaurant/brew house with Michael

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: A loong vacation (a full week!) with my family down the shore (the beach for those of you not from NJ!). 

And that's it! 

What's up with you this month?

What's Up Wednesday

Today I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday to share some highs (and lows!) from the last month! 

What I'm Eating: Now that it's the Lenten Season (and I'm a good Catholic girl), I've been struggling to find some meatless meals for Fridays that aren't pizza, PB&J, or a tuna dish. I made this DELISH Chana Saag (chick peas and spinach with Indian spices) from Budget Bytes with white rice and naan last week and it even got  two-thumbs up from my spice-averse gf, Blue! And it was so easy! That's one thing I love about recipes from this food blogger- they're usually wallet friendly, using ingredients I already have or are easy to attain, and fairly simple! If you try this one, I'd adjust the salt; I needed more, but I'd rather have that than too salty to be edible (which unfortunately has happened to me before)! 

This week I'm going to try this Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet and this 20-Minute Red Curry Basil Garlic Oil Noods recipe. Wish me luck! 

What I'm Reminiscing About: My last "air travel" vacation in Jamaica pre-pandemic (Dec 2019). This was my first group vacation, and one of the couples who came with us are there right now and blowing up my FB feed with gorgeous ocean views and delicious food and I'm so jealous! I wish I were ready to get back on a plane, but mentally I'm not there yet :( 

What I've Been Up To: Well. There has been a leak in my ceiling since... October? Which is ridiculous because I'm on the ground floor and my upstairs neighbor hasn't had any water leaks/damage at all! Apparently high winds made rainwater leak between the two floors (how?!). So my landlords finally got a team in to fix it, but now my couch is sitting in my kitchen while they continue to fix the ceiling in my living room! It's been inconvenient to say the least! 

What I'm Excited About: Finally getting a chance to deep clean my living room now that everything is out of it? I may even do some rearranging/purging when it's done. 

What I'm Watching/Reading: I just posted about what I'm watching here! As for reading, I just completed a reading challenge, so I've slowed my roll on this front. I did just get The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren and am slowly making my way through that. 

What I'm Listening To: Every so often I find a country song that absolutely love and this one popped up in my Spotify recently and has been on repeat since! It's called "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend: Our wine is ready! For our anniversary Blue got us a gift card to make our own wine, so a few weeks ago we made/mixed it, and now it's time to bottle it before it sits for over 6 months. We got half a case so we can gift some to friends for Christmas.  

I'm also going shopping *gasps all around* I'm not a fan of in-store shopping but our dress code at work downgraded post-pandemic and my jeans aren't nice/dark enough since I never planned on wearing them to work before. 

Favorite Purchase of the Month: This wasn't my purchase, but Blue bought us these new zero-gravity chairs for her deck. I will probably purchase this similar one from Amazon for my deck since it has a cover, and I hate when it rains and I get wet because I'm on a lower deck and the rain comes through the upper deck! 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month: It's this little munchkin's first birthday! So excited to celebrate with the  fam! 

And that's a wrap! 

What's been up with you this month?

Currently: February

Hi friends! Thought this space was getting a bit lonely, so I want to share what's currently going on over here with Anne and all the others! 

I am... okay. That's all I got and I'm ok with that since last month was pretty rough, especially work-wise.  I still don't go anywhere unless absolutely necessary or to go to Blue's on the weekend. Last week I literally did not leave my apartment- my mom bought me a few groceries (like milk for my coffee, tomatoes, lettuce, bread, and cold cuts), so I had no reason to leave. 

This week it was back to the office which was a nice switch because I got to see my coworkers whom I didn't really realize I missed until today, and just got outside in general- love that Vitamin D! But it was also refreshing to "shut off" work as soon as I left the office- too often I stay online working late when I'm working remote. I've gotten better at it more recently, but I don't even set up my computer when I get home from going to the office (besides now to type this!). Thankfully we're only scheduled to be in 3x a week, but even that makes me nervous since I was already exposed (and subsequently quarantined) in October because of a customer. 

I still get weekly Covid testing to go to work. I would like to get the vaccine, but can't get an appt in my area. Blue and all of the Mountain Mamas have gotten Round 1 and have round 2 scheduled, so I'll be able to hang out with them more freely very soon and I'm excited about that!  So that's where I'm at in general- now back to our regularly scheduled post! 

Reading: I'm in a bit of a reading paralysis as 4 books that I was on the holds list for all showed up within 2 days of each other! Why does this always happen?? I'm working my way through Outlawed by Anna North now (ehhh...), with The Push by Ashley Audrain, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, and Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan on deck (and of course none of these are for the reading challenge ::facepalm::)!

Watching: WandaVision on Disney+ and this weekend Firefly Lane on Netflix! I am SOOO psyched for the TV adaptation- it is one of my favorite books! I also recently watched Ma (Wow. Love Octavia Spencer, even as a psychopath!), Everything Must Go (possibly my least favorite Will Ferrell movie ever), Run (somewhat predictable but pretty good twist!), and King of Staten Island (meh, def glad I didn't pay real cash money to see this) - all available on Hulu. 

Listening To: my "happy" playlist, aka US Summer Hits of the 90's! 

Loving: The snow! We got our first serious snowfall Sun-Tues, leaving us under two feet of snow and giving us two more days of working remote. I love watching the snow fall- it's so peaceful! And I live in an apartment and don't own a car, so I never have to worry about digging myself out afterwards! 

Remembering: our last fly-away vacation in December 2019 in Jamaica. (We did drive up to Vermont in September and stayed at a friend's house for a long weekend which was also nice but REALLY F*N COLD!) I really miss going...anywhere (but particularly AWAY, vacation mode activated!), especially with friends! 

Sharing: Superbowl foods! We used to have a Superbowl party every year but alas, not this year. We're still celebrating with food though! There will definitely be chicken wings and these taco puffs (with a dollop of sour cream, omg soooo good!) and probably pretzels (as pictured), but other ideas we had were Air Fryer twice loaded baked potatoes, chili cheese pigs in a blanket (drool), and a Philly cheesesteak french bread we've made in the past- so delicious!

Wishlisting: While I wasn't able to get my act together for Tanya's Prime Purchases, I did browse some of the posts and Cici shared this Tiffany lamp. It's expensive but isn't it so purty?! I think it would look quite nice in my living room! 

How are you doing?

Recipe Swap - Sweet Treats!

Hi friends! If you're here from Penny's blog, thanks for stopping by and welcome! After the EPIC FAIL that was lasagna on Easter, today I'm sharing two sweet treats that I made recently. The first is a dessert, which is kinda funny since I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. This is a rich, dense chocolate cupcake with a cheesecake and chocolate chip top though, and is SO easy (and quick!) to make. It's a favorite of mine.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 12 cupcakes

adapted from Beyond the Butter. 


Ingredients

for the cream cheese filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened and at room temperature
1 Large Egg, room temperature
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
2 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

for the cupcake batter:
1.5 cups All-purpose Flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Water
1 Tbsp Apple Cider or Distilled White Vinegar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Cream Cheese Filling: 

• Adjust the oven rack to the 2nd level position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

• Using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).

• Add in the granulated sugar and egg and continue to mix until completely blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

• Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Set to the side.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

• In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together: flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

• In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla extract. 

• Make a little well in the center of your dry ingredients, and slowly add in the wet ingredients, then mix it all together, stirring until smooth. You can use a hand mixer, standing mixer (with paddle attachment), or you can do it old school like I did and just use a spoon.

Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and filling

Putting it all together:

right before the oven- I was generous with my filling!

• Divide the batter among the muffin tops. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fit the cups almost completely, which is fine. (Recommended to use an ice cream scoop.) 

• Bake for 25 minutes at 350ºF, or until the tops looks slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.

• Remove from the oven and let cool. Can stay unrefrigerated 2-3 days in an airtight container- if you can make them last that long! 

This next one is a breakfast food. I'll be the first to admit that I don't eat breakfast as often as I should, but I like to indulge on weekends. We had this on a Sunday morning the other week and it was sooo good! Especially since we did "the hard part" the night before, so all we had to do in the morning was turn on the oven and pop it in! We used challah bread for this one, and I would recommend using this or French bread- it needs a certain thickness to soak up all the liquids without getting too mushy. We also used Bourbon maple syrup because that's what we had, but it didn't come out tasting "boozy" at all! 

French Toast Casserole Bake 

Adapted from Kristine's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:

1 loaf day old French bread- whole wheat, brioche, challah, or ciabatta, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 eggs
2 ¼ cups milk
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or light brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

• Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place the bread cubes in an even layer in the dish.

• In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread in the dish.

• In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, maple syrup or brown sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle over the casserole.

At this point, you can refrigerate the casserole overnight (covered) and bake in the morning, or let it rest for 20-30 minutes (in the refrigerator) and then bake right away. We left it overnight. 

• When you are ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more, until the top is lightly browned. Top with fresh fruit, butter, syrup- whatever you like! 

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That's all I've got for you today! Next month I'll try to share some "main" dishes,... we shall see. I'll try to be better about taking pics in the process too! Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out more yummy treats at another Dani next over here, and all the other bloggers on Leslie's blog! 

Tasty Tuesday: Snickers Stuffed Cupcakes

Welcome to my first Tasty Tuesday post! I plan on making this a "thing," which will be shared on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. I hope you'l join me!

I've mentioned this before, but Blue and I don't really "celebrate" Valentine's Day in the traditional sense. After my birthday and Christmas in December and our anniversary the first week of January, we're spent (literally and figuratively) by February. We still get each other cards and small gifts, but for the most part we prefer to order in, watch our favorite shows, and just BE together. This year we did precisely that, but decided to "celebrate" the next day. She made me my favorite, chicken parmesan, and I offered to make dessert since I prefer to bake vs. cook (and she has a sweet tooth!). She requested chocolate vs. fruity, so I scoured Pinterest and came across these. I will admit that I'm pretty simplistic when it comes to anything in the kitchen, so this was by FAR  the most elaborate and time-consuming dessert I've ever made. But I'm going to share them anyway because, well, they were freaking AMAZING, and I don't even really like desserts (I know, crazy!). 

A few things to note before we go into the details: 

• Unless it's a special occasion (like this one), just use a boxed chocolate cupcake recipe. Seriously, save yourself the time! It really doesn't taste that different, especially since you're basically butchering half of it to add the filling. 

• When they say "room temperature," they mean it. Trust me. I tried (and made a mess) not doing this during the cupcake stage, but learned to melt the butter in the micro for about 20-30 seconds in the micro by the frosting stage. Just keep an eye on it. 

• I don't currently own a standing mixer (which is going to change if she expects any more treats of this caliber ever again!). So maybe it would take less time and energy (and flour/peanut butter/chocolate encrusted clothes) if I did. I used a hand mixer, and it still turned out delicious. 

• I didn't use the fancy wrappers the author uses here. I used regular foil cupcake liners. I didn't even have to spray the cupcake pan- they came out fine. 

• You will use a LOT of butter. Like, a LOT. And if you're anything like me, you may think it's too much. It's not. Also, I used salted butter since it didn't specify and that's what I had on hand. 

• I forgot to buy brown sugar.  I saw somewhere that you could mix regular sugar and molasses to make your own brown sugar, but I didn't have molasses on hand either, so I used regular white sugar- still delicious. (Also I didn't tell Blue or any of my friends about this and they didn't seem to miss it!)

• I wound up with a lot of extra frosting and I'm not sure why, since I used the exact amounts required. Anyway, I refrigerated the extras and ate it spread on toast the next day- it was freaking amazing, and I may just mix fluff and peanut butter for toast in the future just 'cause! 

• My notes are in Pink (and RED in one section). And all pics after this one are my own- promise! 

TIME: A LOT (depending on your level of experience and tools, but it took me and afternoon) 

QUANTITY: 20 full-size cupcakes (you can edit the original recipe for the amount you want to make, but it went into like 7/8ths of butter, and that got confusing for me since I like to be exact) 

INGREDIENTS: A LOT (just kidding... kind of.) I'm going to break it up the same way I saw it from the original recipe, because that made the most sense to me) 

FOR THE CUPCAKES:
7.8 oz all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)
3 oz cocoa powder (1 cup)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup full-fat buttermilk at room temperature
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature
2 tbsp water (can substitute brewed coffee for richer flavor) - I used water
6 oz butter at room temperature
4.75 oz granulated sugar (2/3 cup)
5 oz brown sugar (2/3 cup)
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract

FOR THE CARAMEL-PEANUT FILLING:
14 oz soft caramels - I found bags of Kraft caramels in the supermarket, add time to unwrap them all individually!) 
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup salted peanuts coarsely chopped (I just bought a jar of salted chopped peanuts)

FOR THE PEANUT-MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
8 oz butter at room temperature
12 oz creamy peanut butter (1 1/4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cream - I used the same heavy cream
1 lb powdered sugar (4 cups) - literally a box
7 oz marshmallow cream (1 jar)

TO FINISH: (I didn't do any of these except adding a lil Snickers on top because I was tired)
1/2 cup chocolate fudge sauce
1/4 cup salted peanuts chopped
7 fun-size Snickers bars cut in half or coarsely chopped

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 20 cupcake cavities with paper liners.

• In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl or large mixing cup, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and water (or coffee).

• In the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until they’re light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.

• With the mixer running on low speed, add a quarter of the dry ingredients. When it’s mostly mixed in, add a third of the liquid ingredients. Continue to alternate adding drys and liquids, ending with the dry ingredients. When the drys are almost all mixed in and only a few streaks of flour remain, stop the mixer and finish mixing by hand with a spatula. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

• Scoop the batter into the lined cupcake pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes, until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool completely. 

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

Don’t make the filling until you’re ready to fill the cupcakes. Combine the caramels, cream, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring well after every 30 seconds. They may resist melting and coming together at first, but continue to stir and heat until you have a smooth, fluid mixture. Add the chopped peanuts and stir them in. (This was probably my longest step... keep heating and stirring, it does eventually become liquidy, and is much easier to put in the cupcakes when it is. Once it's liquidy, I spooned it into the hollowed out cupcakes. If it becomes hard, micro some more.) 

It may look messy, but the frosting covers it up! 

TO MAKE THE FROSTING:

• Combine the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. 

• Add the vanilla, cream, and powdered sugar, and mix on low speed until the sugar is moistened. Raise the speed to medium, and continue to beat until the mixture lightens and becomes fluffy and smooth. 

• Add the marshmallow cream and stir it in by hand using a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl well. Once the frosting is well-mixed, spoon it into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. (I don't own a pastry bag. I've heard of pouring the frosting into a plastic baggie and cutting off the tip, but I was too tired for that, so I just spooned it on top and smoothed it with a knife. Maybe not as pretty, but got the job done. I nearly skipped this step altogether (especially since I don't even like frosting) but... don't. It really brings the whole cupcake together.)

Please excuse the crumbs!

ASSEMBLY:

• Use a sharp paring knife to cut a cone-shaped hole out of the top of the cupcakes. Scoop the caramel-peanut filling into the hole, coming almost all the way to the top. Cut the bottom off of the cupcake cone, and replace the top of the cupcake on top of the caramel. (The cupcake filling can be eaten or thrown away—I trust you will find something to do with it.- I didn't write that, but I wish I did!) If the caramel starts to get a little hard to work with, microwave it briefly until it is fluid again.

• Once all of the cupcakes are filled, pipe the frosting on top in one big decorative swirl. Add a drizzle of fudge sauce or chocolate ganache, a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, and half of a fun-sized Snickers bar on top. Store Snickers Cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature, and enjoy within 3-4 days. (Good luck if you can make them last 3-4 days!) 

One cup was filled more then the other- my bad!

What's cooking or baking in your kitchen lately? 

Let's Look At: Favorite Fall Recipes

Mmmm... fall! I wasn't sure it was going to make an appearance this year, but today was rainy, gloomy, and that raw cold which is typical of the season, so I guess it's here! For me, fall makes me think of heavier dishes like casseroles and chilies. And we can't forget our favorite "eating" holiday, Thanksgiving! So today I've compiled 10 of my favorite fall recipes. Those annotated with an asterisk (*) are ones I've made before. I also broke them up into categories- Breakfast (-y), Apps, Dinner, Dessert, an Drink(s). 

via

Peanut Butter Banana Quesadillas
I never made it, but it sounds similar to a crepe and I love a good crepe! It also sounds like a great breakfast snack on the go! Excuse me while I add Nutella to my Amazon cart... 

Mini Chocolate Croissants* 
I'm actually surprised at myself for not making these more often- I think I've only made them once and they were delicious! 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing*
Sorry, but anything with stuffing is going to remind me of Thanksgiving! This was really good though- the chicken was really moist ( how many of you hate that word?!) and so was the stuffing. I think I served it with a side of veggies like green beans. 

Leftover Turkey and Mashed Potatoes Empanadas
I've never made these, but I love empanadas in general, so I should probably make these soon! Hopefully I will, and I'll be able to share how they cooked in an air fryer! 

Tomato Beef (Or Amish) Casserole*
Like I said before, fall make me think of casseroles!  This ground beef- heavy dish is so easy to make and definitely fills you up on cold days!

Fried Pork Chops + Applesauce
For some reason, fall almost always remind me of crispy, stove-top fried pork chops. It was one of the few dishes my mom actually cooked, so trying to perfect it in as an adult had been quite interesting, since she never actually "taught" me how to make it! (Sidenote: I didn't even know pork chops and applesauce were a thing until I met my ex bf, but OMG WHAT A COMBO!) 

Not My Grandma's Meatloaf:* 
This was the first time I ever made my own meatloaf. Neither my grandma or mom never made me meatloaf, so I cobbled together a few different recipes I found on Pinterest to make this. Goes especially well with a healthy side of veggies. 

Fall: Smoked Apple Cocktail
From: Black Button Distillery

Ingredients:
1 part bourbon
1 part apple pie moonshine
1/2 part ginger ale
ice

To make: Pour ingredients in glass over ice.

Banana Bread*
I actually just made this over the weekend while I was procrastinating catching up on some "work" work. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, so this was just right, and so simple! I didn't have any walnuts on hand but would definitely try them in this next time. 

Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes*
I've been making these for coworkers for the last 5-ish years and they're always a hit! I tried making the chocolate web on top but it's hard and gets messy. They taste just as good without it! 

To see a few other favorite Fall recipes, here's a post I did on the same topic last year! 
Really into those fall cocktails?! Here are 47 others! 

What are some of your favorite fall recipes? 

Linking up with Shay!

What's Up Wednesday // What's New With Me

What I'm eating this week: On Monday I was down the shore with my friends and we had a late lunch at The Anchor's Bend in the Asbury Park Convention Center. I wasn't expecting much, but I had the fish tacos and they were so fresh with a little bit of kick from a sriracha dressing- so good! On Friday we have our monthly girls night out dinner. As for cooking, I'll probably keeping it light with pantry staples since I didn't get a chance to do groceries last weekend, but I did want to share this delicious Chicken and Stuffing Crockpot Recipe that I made last week since I found myself with an expected WFH day.

What I'm reminiscing about: Being at the beach and pool this weekend. It was perfect! But more on that coming Friday.

What I'm loving: Free money! If you guys haven't done so already, be sure to see if your data was exposed in the Equifax Data Breach and file a claim for $125... it only takes a few minutes and they'll mail a check to you! Also loving that the construction (that began in March) is finally completed and I can use my deck again! 

What I've been up to: Prepping items to sell at my first ever garage sale! Honestly it's so hard to have a garage sale when you're renting an apartment, but our landlord is letting us use our private parking spots and I plan on stuffing my little spot with things to sell and purge unnecessary things from my apartment! 

What I'm dreading: My self-evaluation for work. Ok, I'm not dreading it anymore because it was due yesterday, but man, that gave me agita. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my job, but I just could not muster the motivation to put the words into coherent, "Hey, I'm awesome and here's why" sentences. And also because I kind of (completely) forgot about one of my goals, so I didn't actually do it in time, which leads to...

What I'm working on: Actually completing the thing I said I finished on my evaluation.

What I'm excited about: Chris Stapleton and a WFH day next Friday! 

What I'm reading/watching: I just finished Road to Eugenica by A.M. Rose (YA sci-fi) last night and started The Yellow Envelope by Kim Didan (travel memoir). Binging the last season of Orange is the New Black. I'm about halfway through and it's pretty slow/boring. 

What I'm listening to: My Summer 2019 playlist, but also Lizzo's Tiny Desk Concert. It's sooooo good (even though "Juice" has been stuck in my head for days now)! 



What I'm wearing: Just trying to keep cool in capris and tees as much as possible, but I forgot to share my red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July! 

What I'm doing this weekend: All the things I didn't do last weekend- cleaning, food shopping, laundry, errands, etc. Happy to not have any plans so that I can get it all done though! 

What else is new? Hmm... not too much. On Friday I'll be sharing how I'm doing on my Summer Bucket List- I'm halfway through! So stay tuned for that :)

What's new with you?

Linking up with Shay and Kristen! 

Menu Plan Monday

After months of fast food, delivery, BBQ and meeting leftovers, and microwave meals, I finally found my way into my kitchen to actually prepare food again. This started with a giant trip to the grocery store, because my freezer and pantry were looking pretty bare. I'm not sharing everything I made but if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen these taco puffs. It was meant to be a snack on Saturday, but was heavy enough to count as a meal (especially with the sour cream "dip"). It only uses 5 ingredients and takes about 20 min start to finish- my kind of meal. Since Steph asked about it, I thought I'd share here as well. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 (1-oz) package taco seasoning
1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
2/3 cup water
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (17.3-oz) package puff pastry, thawed

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain. Add taco seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles and water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Unfold pastry sheets. Cut each sheet into 9 squares.
4. Arrange taco meat down diagonal center of the pastry squares. Sprinkle with some of the shredded cheddar cheese. Fold two opposite corners of each square over the filling and press edges to seal. Place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I used crescent rolls instead of "puff pastry," so I made 8 instead of 9. Also, if using crescent rolls, feel free to cut this recipe in half as that's about how much filling I had left over. Here's what's on deck for the rest of the week.

Monday: Beef and Cheese Pita Pizza- I'm actually using the leftover beef mixture with some cheddar cheese mixed in for this "pita pizza." (I love how just about anything on top of pita bread is suddenly referred to as a pizza now.) 

Tuesday: Creamy Tuna Pasta with Peas and Parmesan*-  I'm trying to steer clear of overly heavy meals this week, and Blue hates tuna and cheese together (separate is fine), and is not a fan of hot tuna in general, so I'm making this when I know she won't be around. 

Wednesday: This week is Hudson Restaurant Week, so we're heading out for a Cuban pre fixe dinner at Coco Havana. I'm looking forward to my favorite, ropa vieja! 

Thursday: Bowtie Pasta with Broccoli,  Garlic, and Lemon- a light, fresh, simple yet tasty favorite. 

Friday: Date night with Blue- we're going to see John Mayer! 

What do you eat when it's super hot out? 

Sharing with Laura!