7UP Biscuits?!

Happy 300th Post! I was hoping for something more inspiring but here it is!

Salad week is all well and good but this girl needs her carbs! I found a recipe (pinterest!) that required sour cream which was excellent because I had some that needed to be used. It was a simple recipe (4 ingredients!) that satisfied my carb craving and was devoured by Mr. Lawyer. So I guess he liked them....or I'm starving him with only salads.

7UP Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7UP soda (don't be freaked out! Also, I used Sprite)
1/4 cup butter, melted
Garlic powder
Directions:
1. Mix together bisquick, sour cream and soda to form a soft dough.
2. Put half of the butter in an 8x8 pan. Spread out dough in pan and score the pieces or roll out on counter, cut pieces, and place in pan.
3. Spread remaining butter on top of biscuits and sprinkle desired amount of garlic powder over top.
4. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Salad Week!

It's Salad Week! Time to detox from our 3 week eat-fest. 

Everything is all chopped up and ready to go for ease and convenience. I guess it worked because Mr. Lawyer took a salad for lunch. Topping choices: peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, tuna, cranberries, sunflower seeds. Not pictured are carrots, cheese and hard boiled eggs. 

Proud Big Sister!

Awww my baby brother made a stir fry! I'm so proud of him! He called me up from the grocery store yesterday asking for advice and I walked him through it. ("Did you pick up some rice?" "oooooooooh yeahhhhhhh. Rice would be a good idea huh?" Indeed.) He just moved back to the west coast and has a limited kitchen to work with....plus he's a 24 year old man boy with limited motivation (mostly).

Sorry for the picture quality, he took it with his phone.

Chickpeas!

I'm completely 50/50 on this recipe. It was useful for cleaning out the fridge because I had some celery and carrots languishing away but the celery didn't do anything for me (the original recipe called for chickpeas, celery, carrots and broccoli). I really only like celery raw with peanut butter. The sauce didn't really get thick either and I really like a nice thick stir fry sauce to coat all the veggies and rice. However, I am in love, love, love with the marinated chickpeas. Maybe it's because I haven't had them in forever or because I've never had them stir fried or because the marinade was delicious. I would make a batch just for them and omit all the other veggies (which I did in the below recipe). One more healthy veggie dinner down!

Chickpea Stir Fry

(found on pinterest from peasanthankyou.com)

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions:

1. Mix everything together and let sit for 2 hours.

2. Stir fry your desired veggies and then add chickpeas with liquid.

3. Cook until sauce thickens up.

Around the World Part II!

I sense that May will not be a good food month. We have so many social obligations and dates out that my poor kitchen might get dusty! Plus I'm trying to extra be healthy when we are home so there are lots of salads! For example after our eat-fest last weekend in Syracuse we came home and had dinner out with friends Sunday to celebrate our engagement. Monday I wanted to detox and I made a huge salad and served it with Grandma's homemade applesauce. Tuesday Mr. Lawyer took me out to Rose Tattoo for an early anniversary dinner, Wednesday Amanda came over and we made mussels, tonight is Brad's graduation dinner, Friday will probably be a salad night, and then Saturday is a baseball game and Sunday is Mother Day's Brunch. Yikes!

I told them to smile and this is what I get. *sighs*

Do you remember when Amanda and I started doing our "Eating Around the World?" It seems we're much better about eating out than cooking it ourselves! Plus with both of our busy schedules planning a meal has been a disaster. Last night we finally got back on track! Way back in November we did Zorba's and made some greek food. A little bit ago we went to the Belgium Cafe (one of our favorite places!) and had some delicious mussels. Last night we finally got to make some! Mr. Lawyer and I had made these once in Syracuse with our friend Dave and they were super simple. Plus mussels are surprisingly cheap. This recipe highlights the mussels and is not as intricate as the Belgium Cafe's mussels. They have some crazy and amazing flavor combinations. One of my favorites is their Bloody Mary Mussels which you can only get for brunch. Next up: Thai! Because we already went out for it!

Mariniere Mussel Pot

(From Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded (make sure to pick out any broken or open ones!)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup dry white wine, or Belgian beer
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
1 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions:
1. Place mussels in a large pot. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. With water boiling, steam for 3 minutes. 

2. Add wine and bay leaf. Steam for 3 minutes longer. 

3. Add onion and celery, and steam until all the mussels open, about 1 minute longer. Remove from heat, and add butter; toss until butter melts. Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

Syracuse Adventures

Oh my god.

Take me back now I'm going through Dinosaur BBQ withdrawal. I may or may not have dropped my ring off at the jewelers covered in bbq sauce. Also, I don't think you've really lived until you see your grandma polish off a 1/4 rack of ribs.

More delicious pictures after the jump!

HOBOS!

Tonight I made a hobo packet and I was super excited about it. In reality I really just like using the word "hobo." Hobo packets are easy: just throw everything together, seal, and bake! Hobo packets are clean: nothing stuck on your baking sheets and our plates were as clean as a whistle! Hobo packets are delicious: yum!
I was using left over beans and corn so my measurements are not exact. I'm sure you could be a tad healthier and get away with only 2 tablespoons of butter (and adjust the spices accordingly).

Hobo Packet Tilapia with Black Beans and Corn

(from my kitchen!)

Ingredients:
2 tilapia fillets
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup black beans
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub (or whatever you fancy)
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place two sheets of aluminum foil (about 8-12 inches) on a baking sheet. Divide up the corn and beans between the two pieces.
3. Dry fillets and season with salt and pepper (to taste)
4. Mix together butter, garlic and spice rub. Divide the compound butter in half and slather it on your fillets. Place fillets on top of veggies and roll up the foil, sealing it well.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked (depending on the size of your fillets, mine were skinny)

My hobo packet!

I used the word "hobo" 9 times in this post. Woo!

Italian Pasta

Mr. Lawyer's parents just went to Italy and brought us back some real Italian pasta! It was a little stressful deciding what to do with it because I wanted the pasta to shine and not be overpowered by a thick, chunky sauce. I decided on our No Cream Pasta Primavera and it was a hit. I am currently eating a bowl right now for breakfast and I think the pasta has actually gotten better with time!

Our Special Pasta

 No Cream Pasta Primavera (recipe HERE)

April Roundup!

The second installment of my monthly roundups is here! The March Roundup is here.

We like to saute our onions in burger grease. Delicious. 

 This post Easter picture makes me giggles. Chocolate bunnies right next to baby carrots.

 I had a serious craving for guacamole so veggie tacos made an April appearance.

A Camping Engagement!

We went camping this past weekend.

There was fishing and hiking.

Toasty Campfires.

Weenie Roasts

Camp Fire Jiffy-Pop

But most importantly...

S'mores and a RING!

YAY!