A blog about life, adventure, and good food.
It’s that time of the month again. My turn to host Girls Night! I went back and forth on what to make for our meal. With some input from a friend, I decided to do a “build your own pizza” night. This way the girls could create their favorite pie. Doing this would also take some of the tasks off of me; just some simple prep work for toppings and dough. (more…)
As my week for Girl’s Night was approaching I pondered what sort of menu I should create. There really are so many options, especially with fall peaking through. I have a board on my Pinterest page with all sorts of ideas. However, nothing on there was really speaking to me. We had been talking about doing a cocktails and tapas night in the past. So I decided to take a stab at it. (more…)
About a week ago I received a salivating photo from my dearest Amanda. She and her hubby were spending their Friday evening at their favorite spot, Sweetwater Bar & Grill. Some of you may remember my “review” post I had written back in May after visiting myself. They have the most creative, yet delicious cocktails and dishes. Anyways, as soon as I saw the photo of what they would soon be enjoying I had to know what made this dish. Amanda proceeded to list off the ingredients for me and I knew right away that I had to recreate.
Lucky for me, Girl’s Night was to be hosted by yours truly this week. This would be the centerpiece of the whole meal. However, I didn’t have the time to do a test run so tonight I just ran with it. I had purchased the ingredients that Amanda so kindly provided, along with whatever else I had brainstormed and here is what I came up with. (more…)
I feel it has been awhile since my last turn for Girl’s Night. When planning, I had originally wanted to make grilled pizzas. However, the grill is currently indisposed so I had to turn to Plan B. I obtained this recipe from a friend of mine who has told me about this dish several, mouthwatering times. I could not wait to try it myself so I figured this was the perfect occasion. I also feel that I use my Girls as my test subjects for new recipes, my guinea pigs if you will. Thanks ladies! (more…)
This was my round for Girl’s Night. I really wanted to cook on the grill and eat outside. However, the weather prevented me from doing so. So I turned to my cookbooks and found a delicious recipe from Giada’s Feel Good Food. It was so easy to make and incredibly delicious! Paired with a nice, crisp glass of white wine and a side Caesar salad…we were ready for a fabulous Girl’s Night! (more…)
This week was my turn for Girl’s Night. I figured I would change it up a bit and have a dessert night! I thought this would a fun, different way to enjoy each other’s company. Not to mention I have a ridiculous attraction to sweets. So here was the line up.
It’s crazy to think that five weeks has gone by already…five weeks since the last time I hosted Girl’s Night! Deciding what to make is always a challenge. We’ve had a lot of delicious and different meals over the past month so I want to keep up the trend. I toyed around with a few different ideas and finally settled on Fettuccine Alfredo. It is something we have never enjoyed before over the past, however many years. I have not made this from scratch since Culinary School so I’m a little rusty. I wanted to find a good recipe so I perused pinterest, per usual. One of my favorite food blogs had a “skinny” version which was perfect because I had almost all of the ingredients in my arsenal. Gimme Some Oven makes an appearance at Girl’s Night often. We find their recipes fun and delcious, and usually very simple!
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Every quarter my LM ladies and I like to get together outside of the confines of work. A time for us to actually see each other rather than communicating through instant messenger. A time for us to talk about something other than spreadsheets, numbers, conference calls, and reps. This weekend was our Q3 (a little late…oops!) gathering!
Theresa and Sarah came over Saturday afternoon so we could embark on part one of our adventure. With Quattro in tow, we headed out to a park that is about 30 minutes away for a nice afternoon hike. We were a little skeptical at first since it was raining the entire way there. However, as soon as we pulled into the park the rain had let up and we were on our way. Fortunately there were still leaves on the trees. The beautiful fall colors and the amazing views were a great way to start our day. We completed about a 45 minute hike followed by a quick pit stop at a local farm for some delicious cider doughnuts.
Upon returning to my house, we figured we should keep up the active part of our day. We completed a mini yoga session to relax our minds and bodies. This was a great way for us to get ready for the festivities ahead.
The theme for the evening was Mexican. Theresa mixed up 4 or 5 different flavors of margaritas. She even made a dessert marg with frozen yogurt and tequila! For dinner, I made fajitas with a corn and black bean salad on the side. Sarah provided the snacks of tortilla chips, guacamole, and salsa! We really went all out. The rest of the evening consisted of delicious drinks, tasty food, and hilarious games. Theresa was even so gracious as to provide an “authentic” piñata for us to break open.
We rounded out the evening with a late night showing of one of our favorite Hollywood box-office hits…Pitch Perfect!
Girls Night has been a tradition for over four years. What started out as three friends going out to dinner every week, has now turned into five friends eating in and enjoying each others company. Since Deirdre, Tara, Dianna, Sabrina, and myself are all in the same town again we like to make time for each other once a week.
Going out to eat every week proved to be expensive and rushed. It was then that we decided to start a rotation of dinner parties. Each week one of the ladies cooks dinner and another brings the wine. This way we are all able to enjoy each other’s company without being pushed along by waiters and are also able to minimize the spending.
Tonight was my turn to host. I decided to use ingredients of fall. I found a few variations of chicken stew that I put my own twist on. I was able to cook this in the slow cooker saving me time in the evening. I paired the stew with a pear, gorgonzola and pecan salad. My friend Dianna is a lover of fruit and cheese so I figured I would have to incorporate the two into the meal one way or the other. Lastly, we enjoyed some buttery biscuits. Unfortunatley, I did not have the time to make these from scratch. However, the store bought biscuits that come in the tube are just as flakey and delicious.
Autumn Chicken Stew
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast cut into cubes
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup potatoes cut into cubes
2 cups butternut squash cut into cubes
1 can (14.5 oz) of low sodium chicken broth
1 can (6 oz) of tomato paste
1 cup of water
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp corn starch
Directions
Combine all of the ingredients except the corn starch and 1/4 of water into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
Mix together the water and corn starch; stir into the stew. Continue cooking cover for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Serve warm.
Servings: 6
Pear, Gorgonzola, and Pecan Salad
Ingredients
10 oz bag of spring mixed greens
1 pear, cut into thin slices
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Combine the above ingredients. Pair with your favorite vinaigrette.
Servings: 4
