Monday Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Branden and I stayed home and just hung out and ran errands. Our weekend started on Friday when we had people over for dinner. Our friend had knee surgery so we offered up our place since he couldn't exactly make food for himself. Then I invited over another friend and we made an evening of it. I made this delicious soup that I'll share with everyone at the end of the post, and we played Cards Against Humanity.

On Saturday we went to REI and officially became members (hooray). We are going on a backpacking trip at the end of May and wanted to make sure our packs were sized correctly. It also happened to be their "garage sale" day so we walked out with some gently used hiking shoes which turned out to be a great deal!

We also watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Normally I'm not really into those kinds of movies, but I thought it was pretty good and there were some great jokes in there. I'd definitely recommend it if you are looking for something to watch.

On Sunday it was raining so we were couped up inside, but I made it to the grocery store so that we could try my friend, Andrea's, grilled cheese and tomato soup recipe. It was seriously DELICIOUS and you all have to try it. You can find the recipe on her blog, here.

The only thing we didn't do was include the mustard and mayo spread because Branden hates mayo and I hate mustard. If you don't have an immersion blender (we don't), just let the soup cool off a little and then pour it into your regular blender. I'm super excited to eat the leftover soup for lunch today.

Overall it was a great weekend and I hope everyone enjoyed it as well.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tsp minced rosemary
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
- Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Put the olive oil, onion, and garlic in a soup pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes
2. Add remaining ingredients, except Parmesan, and simmer for 20-30 minutes
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add Parmesan, if desired

This recipe was super simple and I was told by our guests that it was delicious as well (I know I loved it). If you are looking for a quick soup recipe, this is for you! You can also make it vegetarian by removing the chicken and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

What a Super Bowl!

I hope everyone had a great Super Bowl weekend and you are all recovering nicely! Branden and I went to visit his family this weekend. It started off on Saturday at his cousin's house, where we all watched the UFC fights. We had a great time hanging out with everyone even though the fights weren't that exciting (if you ordered them, you know what I'm talking about).

Sunday was spent at his sister's where we watched the game. I attempted to make a few appetizers but I didn't love them that much so I won't waste time posting them. I had high hopes for my crab and artichoke dip, but something just tasted off. I know I'll be able to make a better one eventually.

I was so happy with the outcome of the game! I cannot stand Seattle and I was so happy the Patriots won (although if the Pats were playing anyone else I probably wouldn't have been rooting for them). The game itself was very exciting and I was glad it wasn't a blowout like last year.

My favorite moment was watching Richard Sherman's heart break on the interception at the end. He is my least favorite player of all time and it made me so happy seeing his heart ripping out of his chest. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

I was fairly underwhelmed with the half time show and the commercials this year. Katy Perry didn't do terrible, but I didn't find it that exciting either. Her outfits were a bit much (especially her Hot Dog on a Stick uniform at the beach). I was super exciting to see Missy Elliott come out, but when she wasn't even pretending to lip sync, I got over it pretty quickly.

There were some pretty funny commercials, but for the most part, they were average. My favorite commercials were the following (in no particular order):

• Clash of Clans
• Budweiser Puppy
• Avocados from Mexico
• Doritos
• Esurance
• Snickers

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, and there are probably a few I didn't even see, but those were the best of what I saw. Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite commercials were and what you thought of the half time show.

Curried Chicken and Vegetables

Branden and I made this chicken and vegetable dish the other day and it was so good! I saw the recipe and I knew it was venturing out of my comfort zone since I am so picky, but I decided to give it a try. For one, I'm not a huge fan of curry, and for two, I've never tried brussels sprouts and have heard they are either a love or hate kind of food. I decided to give it a try since it wasn't a huge amount of curry, and, if I didn't like the brussels sprouts, there were plenty of other veggies I could eat.

I HIGHLY recommend giving this a try because we both LOVED it!

Ingredients
- 1 lb. butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3/4 lb. brussels sprouts, halved
- 1 large red onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup plain, fat-free Greek yogurt, plus more for serving
- 1 tbsp. fresh minced ginger (we used 1 tsp. ground ginger)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tbsp. curry powder
- 2 lbs. skinless, boneless, chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- warm Naan for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°
2. In a very large bowl, toss the butternut squash with the brussels sprouts, onion wedges and 1/4 cup of the canola oil; season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables on a large, sturdy rimmed baking sheet
3. In the same bowl, combine the cup of yogurt with the ginger, garlic, curry powder and the remaining 1/4 cup of oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss until thoroughly coated.
4. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables. Roast for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables are nearly tender and the chicken is nearly cooked through.
5. Pour off any accumulated liquid in the pans and roast for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is lightly browned
6. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a platter and serve with warm naan and yogurt.

Don't forget to buy the naan! We both agreed the meal really needed it and added to the amazing flavors. Oh, and by the way, I ended up really liking the brussels sprouts. I don't think I would like them without any seasoning, but since the chicken cooks on top of the veggies, it added a really nice flavor.

Organizing the Kitchen

Our kitchen is SMALL and it has really proven itself to be difficult to store all the crap stuff we have. We have cabinets above our stove to put all of our glasses and dishes, one cabinet under the counter to put all of our pots and pans, and one very skinny cabinet under the counter to put our tupperware. We also have a fairly large pantry (thankfully) where we keep our food and some of the larger pots and pans.

Even though we have a spot for almost everything, it was always disorganized. Trying to put our pots and pans away was seriously a pain because it's so low and our cabinet is very deep. My parents' kitchen have built-in sliding drawers throughout their kitchen, and I knew I wanted something similar.

I am so glad I went on the hunt for roll-out drawers because I found this roll-out drawer, and it has made life so much nicer! I chose the one I did because the measurements were almost perfect for our deep cabinet and it had great reviews.

It is so smooth rolling it in and out and I no longer despise putting away our pots and pans.

Our pantry is a pretty good size, but our bottom shelf has a lot of room between the base and the next shelf up. I was always digging for my baking stuff and taking things off that were piled on top. I knew we needed something that would allow us to easily pull things out of there as well as give us an extra shelf.

Thankfully, I found this double shelf that rolls out. If you decide to go this route, make sure you do your research on brands. There are other brands that allow the top shelf to come out separately from the bottom shelf, but for the price we figured the one we chose was good enough. In addition, once you choose which one you like, make sure to search the internet for places that might sell it cheaper. I actually found the double shelf to be cheaper on Amazon, but the single pull-out drawer was cheaper at Wayfair.

Here are the before and after pictures of what our pantry looks like:

I couldn't be happier with deciding to make these purchases! I feel so much more sane in my kitchen and a lot more calm now that things are organized and easily accessible. We have more ideas for our kitchen and hopefully in the near future I'll be able to post more organizational changes we've made.

Breakfast Biscuit Casserole

Branden and I had a relaxing weekend at home again. We rode our bikes to this adorable park near our place and played tennis for almost 2 hours. We had to take advantage of the beautiful January weather. I can't wait to go back again. It was especially nice because we were the only ones there playing tennis and didn't have to worry about our terrible hits.

On Sunday we went to lunch at a German restaurant and we definitely want to go back. The food was delicious and the beer was even better!

I tried a new recipe for breakfast and Branden and I both agreed it was a keeper, with a few modifications. We figured there wasn't enough eggs so next time we will add more. Here is the recipe which includes what we are going to do next time.

Ingredients
- 5 eggs + 3/4 more eggs
- 1/4 cup milk + 2 tbsp milk
- 16 oz refrigerated breakfast biscuits (I used the Pillsbury flakey kind but I might try homestyle next time)
 - 4 green onions
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 7 slices bacon (optional)
- 7 sausage links (optional)
- 9x13 pan

Directions

1. Mix 5 eggs and 1/4 cup milk in a large bowl. Cut each biscuit (feel free to use kitchen scissors) into fours and add it to the bowl. Gently mix around so the biscuits can soak in the eggs. Do this before you cook the bacon/sausage, shred the cheese, or cut the green onions.
2. Cut up the green onions, shred the cheese, and cook and break up the bacon and sausage (if using)
3. Mix it all up in the bowl.
4. Mix the additional 3/4 eggs with the 2 tbsp. milk.
5. Spray the pan with cooking spray and add the eggs, then top it with the biscuit mixture.
6. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, making sure the eggs aren't runny and the biscuits are cooked all the way.

The recipe we tried only used the 5 eggs and we thought it was too bread-y. We had plenty for leftovers the next morning and added more eggs which helped a lot. If you end up trying this and have suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Chicken à la King

A staple in my house growing up was to make chicken à la king (also known as creamed chicken to me) with leftovers. I absolutely love it and find it to be a comfort food.

We made a whole chicken and already cooked tacos with it, so I wasn't sure what to do. Then I remembered creamed chicken. I called my mom and got a quick recipe. There is so much more you can add, but here is a quick and simple recipe to follow:

Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. flour
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 cup milk
- leftover chicken (or turkey), shredded or cubed
- frozen peas
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- salt
- pepper
- toast

Directions
1. Melt butter in a medium-sized skillet
2. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and pour in milk
3. Whisk a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Add more milk or flour until you get the consistency you want
4. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste, while continuously whisking
5. Throw in the chicken and as many peas as you'd like and whisk until heated
6. Put your bread in the toaster and serve the chicken mixture over the toast


I've also seen people add mushrooms, bell peppers, pimientos, and more. Add whatever you like! We always have all of these ingredients in our house so it makes for a perfect quick meal and change of pace when trying to figure out what to do for dinner.

Another Weekend Gone

I'm sure it's no secret that the older you get, the faster time seems to go. I can't believe it's Monday already. The weekends always go by way too fast. 

Branden and I stayed home this weekend and it was really relaxing. On Saturday, we rode our bikes to a local park to play tennis. There were only 2 courts at the park we tried and they happened to be occupied, so we rode our bikes to the next park with tennis courts. They were pretty full, but thankfully there was one court open.

We used to play tennis a lot (we taught ourselves, so we aren't very good), but haven't played in years. It was a lot of fun being outside in the nice weather and enjoying each other's company. We played for at least an hour, and then rode our bikes over to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things for the evening.

Saturday evening we made tacos and watched Wolf of Wall Street. Neither of us had seen it and we both thought the movie was great.

On Sunday we went and played tennis again and then watched football and UFC the rest of the day. That Seattle vs. Green Bay game was crazy! I was really hoping the Packers would win, but oh well. It looks like I'll be rooting for the Patriots in the Super Bowl!

I hope everyone had a great weekend as well and enjoys the rest of the week.