uh huh.

Spicy Coleslaw Burger!

That's not healthy.

But it is deliciously yummy.

Salad Time!

Mr. Lawyer got me a delicious smoked danish blue cheese for Valentine's day. It's so rich and flavorful. I thought it would be delicious on a salad and it was!

Bibb lettuce, smoked danish blue cheese, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds.

Grocery Store Crisis

We were going to make this amazing looking tuna steak recipe but the store was all out of tuna! Whomp whomp. Our in store emergency decision was catfish. We still have a pouch of cajun fish fry seasoning from Mr. Lawyer's New Orleans trip. Always delicious.

We'll catch that tuna another day!

Rainbow Love

I love opening my cabinets to be greeted by a cheery rainbow. 

I've been rotating the larger dinner plates based on the colors of the season. We're still in the darker and icy hues of winter.

Fiesta Olympics!

I guess I should invest in a set of black fiesta so I can make the rings authentic. I don't have a set of ivory either.

 Syracuse themed coffee!

 My organizing obsession got a little out of hand today. I saw this colorful binder system on pinterest and just had to have it. Now that we're beginning our journey as a married couple it made sense to organize everything nicely. Our categories are Medical/Insurance, Auto (it should read "stupid car"), House (!!!), Taxes, Bills etc (for any major bills, purchases, warranties, receipts, etc we should keep), and finally Pet paperwork! The store had two more different shades of blue and green...can you think of any other categories we should have? I really just want to buy those last two colors!

 One more Fiesta rainbow shot because I can't resist.

Do you know your colors?

Honey Mustard Love

I've always had a love affair with honey mustard so I might be a little bias when it comes to loving this recipe but Mr. Lawyer liked it too and lawyers never lie right? This was easy and amazing. For lunch the next day I chopped up the leftover chicken and spooned the sauce over the leftover quinoa. It was to die for. This recipe has earned a spot next to my favorite Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I want to make both of these recipes over and over again.

Honey Mustard Chicken

(Pinterest find! From goodlifeeats.com)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of grainy, course mustard (I subbed more smooth, spicy Gulden's Mustard)
1/4 cup smooth dijion mustard (Grey Poupon of course!)
1/2 cup honey
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenderloins (I cut up chicken breasts)
salt and pepper
3 - 4 small sprigs of fresh rosemary
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the mustards, honey, and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.
2. In a sauté pan or cast iron skillet, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
3. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional 1 - 2 minutes, until fragrant.
4. Place the chicken tenderloins on top of the onion and garlic mixture, or if the pan you cooked the onion and garlic in is not oven safe, transfer the onion and garlic to an oven safe dish and add the chicken to it. Salt and pepper the tops of the chicken according to your personal preference.
5. Pour the honey mustard mixture on top of the chicken. Arrange the rosemary sprigs around the chicken in the pan.
6. Bake the chicken covered at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Then remove the cover, baste the chicken with the sauce, and continue to cook for an additional 20 - 30 minutes uncovered, or until the chicken is browned on top and cooked through.

Why Hello Bambi...

The Mother Unit and Frank gifted us with some venison a couple of months ago. Tonight the Bambi tenderloin made a delicious appearance! Next on the docket is the venison roast, perhaps making an appearance as some burgers. The marinade was quite good although I did add a couple extra dashes of worcestershire to my own tenderloin piece for some extra zip. Since we don't have a grill I cooked it up in my cast iron pan. I liked this marinade more than the herb marinade we had at First Thanksgiving but I missed the horseradish cream! The Kale Salad, my current favorite, made an appearance and as did some red beans and rice.

Venison Marinade 

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 to 1.5 pounds worth of venison tenderloin or steak
Directions:
1. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a plastic bag. Add the venison to the bag.

2. Place the bag in the fridge making sure the meat is in a single layer. Marinate at least 4 hours, turning every hour or so to marinate each side.

3. Remove the venison from bag. Grill meat (or cook in a cast iron pan!) until desired doneness.

Kale Salad

This salad knocked my socks off which was pretty awesome considering it was made from leftover kale and random bits of things from the cupboards! A salad was in order since I had a bunch of leftover kale from the deliciously healthy Green Meatloaf. There was also some leftover feta languishing away in the fridge so I tossed that it and topped it off with one of my favorite salad topping combos: cranberries and pecans (or sunflower seeds). A tangy lemon vinaigrette was mixed up and my poor leftover kale was turned into a deliciously zippy salad. The tartness of the vinaigrette worked well with the sweetness of the cranberries. The best part is it was amazing the next day for breakfast! Since kale is so hearty it stood up to the dressing and did not get soggy and mushy after it was dressed. The flavors melded together well and I've already got another kale salad lined up for this week!

P.S. Let's admire this beautiful yellow Fiesta salad bowl from the Kitchen Kraft line. Thanks Mother Unit!

Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon agave

A pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mix it all together and shake, shake, shake!

**Note: this was the basic recipe, I did end up tweaking it by adding a little more of this and that until it suited my taste. 

Power Breakfast

Sometimes tinkering around in the kitchen with no real recipe works out.

I sauteed up some onion, garlic, and a package full of baby bella mushrooms then dumped in a (rinsed) can of cannellini beans and diced tomatoes. Let it simmer for a bit and voila! A healthy fiber and protein packed dish that made an excellent and filling breakfast...which a big squirt of hot sauce for a nice wake up call!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Every year since moving to Philly Mr. Lawyer and I hunker down and prepare a fancy salmon meal together. We avoid the restaurant crowds and go out for a nice dinner the following week. It's pretty awesome.

Our Valentine's Day Salmon Tradition!

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

And now on to Year 4!

Pink and Red Fiesta for some holiday cheer!

 Looking good.

 Delicious! This year I went with my Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce, my famous asparagus, and a quinoa-brown rice.

During dinner Mr. Lawyer learned of my inexperience with Tastykake. I've only ever had the kandy kakes. We fixed this by polishing off our bottle of wine, walking down to the Wawa, and purchasing a nice sampling of sugary goodness. Behold our Tastykake and wine paring! Does it get any more Philly than that?

 Although Mr. Lawyer stated that being married to me makes every day Valentine's and therefore he wasn't getting me a gift he showed up with a cheese & chocolate "bouquet" and gorgeous flowers. He received the very thoughtful gift of a renewed subscription to Field & Stream. 

 We popped open some fancy wedding champagne to celebrate our first Valentine's together as a married couple.

 Then we moved all the furniture and brought in all the blankets and pillows to have a camp out. We feasted on our cheese and champagne while watching WALL-E, a movie that has special significance to our time in grad school.

One more awesome Valentine's Day for the books!

Snow Day Things

Cheers Philly! Thanks for another snow day.

The perfect way to start your morning.

And the perfect way to warm up after digging out your car.

I love snow days.

No Recipes

Repeats, standbys, and no recipes....and I'm not sorry.

For the second week in a row I made out favorite Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps. This time I doubled it and served it up with some jasmine rice. It's amazing. Make it now.

 Mr. Lawyer was home early due to the Nor'easter and I nearly died due to an ocular migraine so he took over dinner duties and nursed me back to health with his grad school staple chicken parm. Always delicious. 

Healthy vegan skillet of healthy things! I sauteed up some onions, garlic, and kale. Then I threw in some diced baked sweet potatoes and mixed it all with quinoa. It was good but very healthy tasting so we added some sriracha. It was excellent and filling for lunch the next day.

Soup & Salad

I felt inspired to whip up a batch of my Tomato-Barley Soup.It was a clean out the kitchen pot of soup so I swapped the chicken broth for turkey stock, there was less barley and I added a good shot of sriracha. 

Yum yum!

Don't forget the grilled cheese croutons!

Nutella Hot Chocolate

I am a hot chocolate fiend. However I have started to notice that in my old age that hot chocolate keeps me up at night if I drink it too late in the afternoon. So instead of downing the Swiss Miss (ah the days of my youth!....or grad school) I now try to stick to yummy hot chocolate drinks and special occasions. This delicious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate fits the bill! It's easy and fancy enough for a special occasion.

Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

(From Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups milk

1/3 cup hazelnut spread (I like Nutella)

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and Nutella in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking until smooth. Divide between two cups and serve with whipped cream!

January Things

The holidays are over, the honeymoon is over, and the post-honeymoon depression is over...mostly. Here's what we've been up to in January:

Spicy Jambalaya!

 Lazy Hot Dog Meal!

 Refrigerator Leftover Pizza!

 Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower and Rainbow Chard

 Sausage, Pepper, Potato, and Onion Hash!

 PARTY TIME!

 Rainbow Cupcakes for the boys.

 Waffle Bar!

 Mr. Lawyer's Waffle Sandwich

 Our favorite Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps!