Recipes I’m Loving Lately

crockpotsalsachicken

I’m finally getting the hang of this whole “rotating meals” thing. For the longest time, I never liked making the same thing twice. Or if I did, months had to go by in between. I think I was afraid Keith might start getting sick of things? I’m weird, I know.

Anyway, now that we’re feeling pretty settled in our house and starting to fall into a routine, I’m starting to fall in love with some very specific recipes. These have somehow creeped into our monthly rotation.

I love them because a) they are quick and easy b) they are budget-friendly and c) they are DELISH.

1. Crockpot Salsa Chicken. Having a crockpot is seriously a godsend. I throw a bunch of stuff in it when I leave for work and come home to a fully prepared meal. It’s *almost* as good as if I had a personal chef :)

I make my own adjustments to this — I don’t used canned cream-of-anything soup (because it’s not gluten free), so I make my own and add it. I also make my own taco seasoning, I just add ground cumin, chili powder (lots of it!), garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper.

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When I get home, I put a cup of rice in the rice cooker and cook up some frozen corn. If you really want to add bulk to this recipe, you could add a can of black beans and a can of corn for the last hour and let it heat through. You could use less chicken this way, and stretch your meal. Keith loved it, so I think it’s definitely something I’ll be making more often.

2. The best made-from-scratch-sauce in the world. I’m not kidding. Do yourself a favor and go and make this!

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This sauce was so good, I just wanted to stand over the stove and eat it straight out of the pot. Even Keith, who admittedly does not love Italian food, was commenting on how great our kitchen smelled! Neither of us are huge fans of stewed tomatoes, so I used my immersion blender to blend most of them up. I also left out the mushrooms because we aren’t mushroom lovers either, but I’m thinking about adding them next time and using the immersion blender to make them barely noticeable. I served it with gluten-free pasta and a garden salad. There was even enough leftover that I was able to freeze and will pull out on another busy “what are we going to have?” kind of a night!

3. I just call this next one “Ground Turkey Stir-Fry” but the technical name for it is “Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Turkey” . It is so fast and easy to make and super yummy!

 We love ground turkey and I use it in place of ground beef all the time. I don’t measure out the ingredients, I just keeping adding until it tastes just right. We like food that has a bit of a “kick” to it! We also made this one night with chicken and it tasted amazing as well. I serve it with steamed brown rice for an extra bit of healthy :)

So yeah, I’m thinking that these three recipes are going to be around for awhile! Now if only I could find 23 more, my monthly menu would be complete :)


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Marriage. Soon.

mzceremony
The wedding part is over …. the champagne has been drank, the band has packed up and the bride and groom have left for their honeymoon. 
Now what’s left are the memories of the love and support that filled the room, and wrapped itself around you. Now, comes marriage. The day in and day out of forever with your best friend. 
To love for a lifetime takes talent.

I feel so privileged to have been a part of this day. Meghan is one of my dearest friends, and her new husband adores her and makes her smile and that, is what love stories are made of. You find the one that makes you, a better you. I wish them lots of love, laughter and karaoke. Oh and babies. Lots of adorable babies :) Preferably soon.


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Love. Sweet Love.

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This has been a pretty amazing week so far. Filled with so much freaking love I feel like my heart might burst!
Monday night, we celebrated the engagement of our dear friends, Andrew and KerriAnne.
The happy couple <3

Popping some champagne

Nice bling!

Besties!

Shots!!

Also, today, marks four years since Keith and I first met.

This was taken just a couple months after we started dating!
I can hardly contain all the love and excitement I’m feeling! There is some thing so beautiful and exciting about engagements and weddings. Marriage is hard work, and sometimes things are really tough. It’s nice to reconnect and remember why we’re here in the first place :)
To Andrew and KerriAnne….being engaged is hands down the most exciting time in your life. Enjoy every single second, and don’t let the stress get to you too much! It’s all worth it in the end, because your wedding day WILL be the best day of your lives.
 
And this weekend, we have two weddings to attend :) Keith’s friend from home is getting married on Saturday and on Sunday, one of my bridesmaids, is getting married too!

I’m excited to share photos and details of both weddings early next week :) 


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