Friday Favorites 07/14/17

Happy Friday, friends! Today I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci to share my favorite things from the week.

My first fav... this pic is from a couple weeks ago, but I never posted it, so... my two FAVORITE guys. You can pretty much expect that between now and when baby is born, I will have a bump pic as one of my favs for every single week. This pregnancy has been such a blessing and I am so very thankful.

Relaxing with my 2 favorite boys <3 td="">

Another of my FAVs from the week was making 'zoodles' aka zucchini noodles for the first time. I'm always excited when I can make meals using veggies I've grown from my garden, and this meal was a good way for me to sneak in some veggies that didn't even taste like veggies bc they were covered in alfredo sauce. If you haven't tried zoodles yet, give them a whirl! I know my local Schnuck's (grocery store) even has spiraled zoodles in their produce section.

Speaking of veggies from my garden, Lee and I got to spend an evening with our niece, Littlecjc this week, and she was a big helper in the garden. She helped us make 4 trips to the garden to water plants and pick veggies. It's so sweet that she loves being helpful. I know that once our baby boy gets here, we won't have a lot of one on one time with our nieces and nephews like we are used to, so quality time with this cutie was definitely a FAVORITE.

We've not done too much to prep for our baby's room yet, but we are brainstorming ideas of what we want to do in there, and we've decided on a theme. This week I ordered part of our bedding from Etsy, and I am SO excited! I have a feeling this "Adventure Awaits" theme is going to be a FAVORTIE of mine... We ordered a blanket in this print with tan minky fabric for the back.

I'm going to *try* to make my own crib skirt with the same 'adventure awaits' fabric, and I have a few different crib sheets that I've registered for that will mesh well with these. I can't wait to show you all the blanket once I get it in the mail!



If you know me, then you know Starbucks is a definite FAV. of mine. I'm not a huge coffee drinker... I'm kind of a coffee snob. If I'm making coffee at home, It's usually some type of latte packet/kit for the keurig, or I really love these Chai Lattes from Trader Joes... most of the time I'm splurging at Starbucks. Is it really splurging if you go every week? Idk, but I'm going with it... 

This week I tried the Peach White Tea Infusion, and the Strawberry Green Tea Infusion (pictured above) and it both were so good! The Strawberry was great, but the Peach was my fav. I'm especially excited because Starbucks is giving away free tea this afternoon, and I'm debating if I should indulge in the peach again, or try a different flavor. Either way, free drinks from Starbucks could easily be anyone's favorite!!
P.S. These drinks are low calorie, AND low in caffeine! win/win!



Lastly, this guy has to be my number one FAVORITE for the week. My hubby is always so positive! From a bad haircut, to a cracked/leaky toilet, to a dead lawnmower battery, he's  had one heck of a week. I realize none of these things are important in the grand scheme of life, but still frustrating nonetheless. I am thankful Lee has pushed through and made the best of things all week! He deserves a gold star for best attitude, that's for sure.

We have plans to go boating with friends this weekend, and I am looking forward to some sunshine, rest, and relaxation with a few of my favorite people. Happy Friday, friends! 

Zucchini Noodles aka Zoodles

Have you guys had zoodles before? Apparently its a trendy thing right now for healthy eating people. Normally I would not consider myself a health-nut... far from it, really, but since being pregnant, I am eating a more balanced diet than normal. I planted zucchini in my garden for the first time this year, and it is really taking off. I knew that if I only used the zucchini to bake bread that Lee and I would be tired of it quickly, so I gave zucchini noodles, aka zoodles, a try.

Making the zoodles was super easy. Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut off both ends of the zucchini, and *spiral it. See below for spiraling instructions.

Once my zucchini was spiraled, I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the zoodles on it. I sprinkled garlic salt and parsley on them and baked at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. I ate one of the zoodles prior to baking it, and the texture was good. I probably could've gone without baking them if I were in a rush, but I didn't want my zoodles to cool off my sauce, so I baked them.

Here's what my zoodles looked like on my baking sheet. 

I bought this garlic salt and parsley combination from Aldi, and this is what I sprinkled on my zoodles. 

After my zoodles were done baking, I separated them onto two plates for Lee and I, and topped them with grilled chicken and spinach garlic alfredo sauce. I had the sauce pre-made from a few days before, so I just threw some leftover grilled chicken, 2 handfuls of spinach in a skillet with olive oil, and then added my sauce to the skillet until it was all warmed up.

One medium sized zucchini was enough for Lee and I, but we didn't have any sides or bread with it (which we normally would when eating pasta), so I'd say one medium zucchini can feed 2-3 adults.If you're pairing it with my garlic alfredo sauce recipe, I would say you probably want 2 medium zucchini to use up all of the sauce, and that could serve 4-6 adults depending if you're serving your 'pasta' with a side salad, garlic bread, etc.

Here's my final product: Chicken, spinach, and zoodle alfredo.

*I ordered this spiraler from Amazon, and so far I really like it. It is small, so it doesn't take up a ton of room in my cabinet, and spiraling my zucchini was super easy. It also comes with this little brush that makes the spiraler easy to clean. The only downfall is that because it is small, I will not be able to spiral my larger zucchinis unless I cut them into smaller chunks. I haven't tried that yet, but I'll follow up and let you know how it goes once I do.

Show and Tell Tuesday: My Favorite Recipes

Today I'm linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesday to share some of my best recipes. I have all of these recipes posted on my blog already, so I'm going to link to them. I will warn you that I'm not a professional blogger, nor am I a professional photographer. I do this all for fun, so beware that all of these pics are iphone quality, but the recipes are delish. I have 4 that I want to share, so let's jump right in:

Italian Meatballs
These meatballs are a staple at our house. I have a little dry erase board on my fridge that I plan our meals each week before I grocery shop, and we have meatballs or some time of simple red sauce pasta close to every other week. I love that I can whip these up, stick them in the oven, boil some noodles while they're baking and dinner is done in about 30 minutes. These meatballs also freeze very nicely... so if you have some extra time, make a double batch and have half for dinner and freeze the other half... then the next time you have a busy night, all you have to do is bake the meat and dinner is served. Sometimes I'll even serve them with a side of risotto instead of pasta to switch things up.                 




Stuffed Peppers
Another fav recipe of mine are my Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Peppers. I make these all the time for family gatherings, and very rarely do I have to bring home leftovers. The cream cheese & cheddar cheese filling is divine, and then add in bacon and a little spice with the peppers... YUM. Next time you need a new appetizer to make, try these peppers!

S'mores Pie
My next favorite recipe is a dessert for you...S'mores Pie.This one is delish. A perfect recipe to try out in the summer when you want a s'more but its either too hot, or rainy for a s'more over a fire. This pie is super easy to make. If you like graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallow, you will love this pie.

Spin Dip

The last recipe I want to share with you is actually two recipes... Spinach Dip. I have a hot version (baked), and a cold version. I love the hot version with tortilla chips. My hubby prefers the cold version with wheat thins. The baked spin dip is my idea of comfort food, and Lee thinks the cold version is refreshing. If you need to make something up the day before and have it ready to go for company, then go with the cold dip. If you need to indulge in a warm, gooey snack with chips, then try it baked. The recipes are slightly different, but a large majority of the ingredients are similar. These recipes can be an appetizer, snack, or even a side dish. 

This post has officially made me hungry!! Try out these recipes and tell me what you think! 

Garlic Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce... this one is garlicky, rich, creamy, and full of all things good. My sister-in-law introduced me to a similar recipe when she made her lasagna alfredo roll ups for dinner, and I believe she found that recipe here.  The blogger who posted this recipe hasn't posted anything new in almost 3 years, but I'm so glad her blog is still up, because her alfredo lasagna roll ups are divine. Once my sister-in-law made this recipe, I had to copy her ASAP! I'll be honest and tell you that the lasagna roll ups are amazing, but they are a lot of work, so I don't make them very often. More commonly, I just use this alfredo recipe and mix it in with noodles and chicken/seafood. If you have extra time to spend on dinner some night, try the recipe I linked to above. You will not be disappointed. I've adapted her alfredo sauce recipe to my own liking, and have used it to create several of my own recipes. So here's how I do my version of Mmm... Cafe's alfredo sauce:

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream (1 pint size carton)
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 heaping tbsp. pesto
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 block cream cheese (2 oz.)
Garlic salt to taste... I use a garlic salt grinder, so I don't have a measurement on this one

*I highly recommend a garlic sea salt grinder... I usually buy mine from Aldi's but I haven't seen them there lately, so I've also purchased from Wal-Mart. I also recommend using a fresh pepper grinder if you can.

*This makes a batch of sauce to serve a pasta dish to 4-6 adults. 4 adults if you like your pasta more saucy.

Start by melting your butter in a large skillet on the stove on medium heat. (While you're making your sauce, you may want to also bring some water to a boil and cook up your pasta so your sauce and pasta can be done cooking at the same time.) Add your cream cheese to the melted butter and let it melt as well, whisking the butter and cream cheese together. Whisk in all of your seasonings: minced garlic, pesto, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Next, whisk in your heavy whipping cream. You will need to whisk until thick- probably about 8-10 minutes or so. The whisking is the worst part, but the sauce is so good that it's totally worth your time. Last, add in your Parmesan cheese, turn off your burner, but let your sauce sit on the hot burner for about 3 minutes while it thickens up.

Then you can add your sauce to meat and pasta, veggie noodles, put it on a pizza crust, use it as a bread dip, or anything else that sounds good! I love to double this recipe and make two batches of sauce. I'll use half of it for pasta one night, put the other half in the fridge, and make an alfredo pizza with it later in the week.

Enjoy!

B.E.A.S.T. Sandwich

The BEAST... Lee and I got creative this week when we needed a quick,simple dinner. This sandwich was so good! This post is not so much a recipe, but more of a quick meal idea. The BEAST is like a jacked up BLT... its Bacon Egg Avocado Spinach and Tomato.

Here's how you make it:

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 ripe avocado, sliced
4 slices of bacon
a handful of spinach
2-4 tomato slices
4 slices toasted bread
Mayo (optional)

*This makes two BEAST sandwiches.

To make it, fry up your eggs and bacon. Make sure your egg yolk is cooked most of the way through, unless you don't mind a messy sandwich. Toast your bread, and spread mayo on if you like. Lee loves mayo, but I do not, so we make our sandwiches both ways. Cut your bacon slices in half, and stack your egg, bacon, tomato, spinach and avocado slices on your sandwich. Top with your second piece of bread. This sandwich could be served anytime of day! We have also made a similar sandwich before with bagels instead of toast, and it was delish. If you're like us and you enjoy quick, easy stuff like this for dinner, serve with some fruit or a side of chips and enjoy!