Meal Planning

If you know me at all, you know I love a good meal plan.  I recently started using Plan to Eat to help with meal planning and I will never go back!  You can easily import recipes, add them to your calendar, and create a grocery list in a matter of minutes.  I hate creating a grocery list so this is amazing!  It also helps remind me of meals that we like so that I can keep making them.  This year we've made several new healthy-ish recipes.  Here are a few:

Grilled Tilapia with Avocado Lime Salsa
Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Tilapia Scampi
Chicken and Black Bean Green Chile Brown Rice Skillet
Mexican Quinoa
20-Minute Spicy Sriracha Shrimp and Zucchini Lo Mein

Hope you enjoy!!

Weekend on the Coast

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to catch a plane to see one of my best friends for the first time in a year!!  Saturday night was Katie and Kyle's engagement party and I knew I wasn't going to miss it!  Sadly, Henderson was on call so he didn't get to come.

Katie picked me up at the airport before 10 and we headed to Michael's to buy some frames for the party.  Next, she took me to downtown Ocean Springs where I saw the church and the reception spot.  They had some beautiful stuff in the cute stores in OS.  We also went and looked at some Walter Anderson prints.  I'm in love with the one below and may have to get it!

I wanted some seafood for lunch (since I live in Dallas, I don't get much fresh seafood), so we headed to McElroy's.  Apparently, they were having a VW convention!

My mom ended up being on the coast to visit Allen, so we swung by his construction site for a few minutes to catch up!

Here's Katie getting all the pictures ready!

About to head out to the party

Before all the guests got there

Katie made these sweet boxes filled with special items to ask us to be her bridesmaid!  It was so thoughtful and I know it took a lot of time.  I can't wait for the next few months!

with the bestie!

The next morning, Kyle brought us breakfast in bed!  Isn't he a gentleman??

Getting up at 5 am on Saturday morning and staying out until almost that late on Sunday morning, made me super tired.  So, I was so surprised and excited to see this plate when I walked in the door Sunday evening!

Henderson made Paula Deen's herbed pork tenderloin, her buttermilk mashed potatoes (officially my go-to mashed potato recipe, now!  they were soooo good!), peas, and cornbread!  Delish!!

I then promptly got in the bed at 7 and woke up at 7 this morning!  

It was such a great weekend and I can't wait to keep celebrating Katie and Kyle over the months to come!

Fourth of July

I love celebrating the Fourth of July, but this year Henderson was on call and we were planning to head to Mississippi the next day.  So, we made a fun meal for just the two of us, as well as PW's Strawberry Ice Cream that I didn't take a picture of!  Truly enjoying our ice cream maker!

I watched Pioneer Woman's Fourth of July episode and studying her blog post about her favorite 4th foods.  I decided to make her Spicy Pasta Salad since I had gouda on hand, as well as tomatoes and basil in the garden.  This is officially my new go-to side dish for pot lucks.  It was even better the next day!

Henderson grilled some delicious ribs...

and I fried up some green tomatoes fresh from the garden.  We certainly missed our family, but we ended up with some great food and even got to see some fireworks from our back porch!  

And in between feeding our faces and missing our families, we are so thankful to be able to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.  

Happy Birthday Henderson!!

Henderson is officially 27 years old!  So glad he's older than I am!  :)

On Thursday I woke up a little bit earlier to make sure he had a good breakfast.  I pulled some of my cinnamon rolls out of the freezer, heated them up and put some candles on them.

I think he thought they were tasty!

Besides having a cake at work and lots of snacks, he got this delivery from Collin Street Bakery from me and the dogs.  It was full of cookies, pecan brittle, and chocolate covered pecans.  Goodies that I haven't gotten to try yet!

For dinner that night, we decided to stay in and cook dinner.  I made Pioneer Woman's Ribeyes with Whiskey Cream Sauce (from her first cookbook) and Henderson made her onion rings.  

Such a delicious meal!  Time-consuming but delish!  We've already made the onion rings again!

We ended the night with some cookie studded brownies.  I made them with dark chocolate brownies and mint chocolate chip cookies.  HK said they were great!

Such a fun day celebrating the man I love!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I found this great recipe in my cookbook, "Vintage Vicksburg."  I got this cookbook as a wedding gift and have already found a few great gems!  I love cookbooks like this - tried and true recipes by ladies who feed these meals to their families.  And sometimes I recognize the names!  

I actually doubled this recipe and froze the rest, so you'll see a lot more peppers than the recipe calls for.  You know how I love freezing meals!  Makes it so much easier to have healthy meals during busy season.

Cut off the tops of 5-6 bell peppers, remove the reads, and parboil in salted, boiling water for 4 minutes.  Drain and cool.

Brown 1 pound ground beef in a skillet with one small onion, finely chopped.  Drain oil.  Mash 1 (20 ounce) can of whole tomatoes and add to the beef.  

Then add 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.  Then add 1 to 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice.  Simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.  Remove from head and add 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, stirring until melted and well blended.  

Stuff mixture into peppers.  Top with grated parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 about 20 minutes or until hot.  If freezing the peppers, do not bake.  Wrap individually and place in a large freezer bag.  Thaw well before serving.  

And enjoy!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Source: Vintage Vicksburg

Ingredients:

5-6 large bell peppers

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 (20-oz) can whole tomatoes

2 T Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Cut tops off bell peppers and remove seeds.  Parboil in salted, boiling water for 4 minutes.  Drain and cool.  Brown meat in skillet with onion.  Drain oil.  Add tomatoes that have been mashed.  Add Worcestershire, salt, and pepper.  Simmer 15-20 minutes.  Add rice.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add cheddar cheese, stirring until melted and well blended.  Stuff mixture into peppers.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 about 20 minutes or until hot.  If freezing peppers, do not bake.  Wrap individually and place in large freezer bag.  Thaw well before baking.

Fine China Friday

We have instituted a fun Friday night tradition at the King house: Fine China Friday.  I was looking for a reason to use our beautiful fine china on a more regular basis.  If you've ever met me, you know I have a mild obsession with dishes.  Right now, we own four sets of china.  So, since we don't have family over a lot, we decided to use our nicer things on Friday nights.  This won't necessarily be a weekly thing, but so far we've done it four weeks in a row!  Here's what we've been making:

Our first fine china Friday, I made Pioneer Woman's Spinach and Artichoke Pasta.  I cooked some shrimp to have - we have to have meat at every meal here!  We got to use our Lenox Opal Innocence for the first time, and a couple of the AnnieGlass pieces.  

We made steaks during this Fine China Friday.

The next week, we made Confetti Chicken.  It took up every eye on our stove, but it was worth it!  After this Fine China Friday, we headed to the local drive-in and watched "Argo."  So fun to have a drive-in right up the road!

Pasta, cupcakes, football

I had been wanting to try a few new recipes and this weekend, since Henderson was on call, seemed like the perfect chance!  Friday night I made this delicious Baked Shrimp Fettucini (it reminds me of making chicken spaghetti, with a few different ingredients).  I got the recipe from Eupora's 20th Century Club Cookbook.  My favorite cookbooks are fundraisers - you know the type.  Where the entire town gets together and gives away all of their best recipes.

Finished product!

This is the picture I sent Henderson since he was on a call.  Poor guy!

Baked Shrimp Fettucini

1 1/2 stick butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 large bell pepper, chopped

1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. flour

2 lbs. peeled medium shrimp

1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 pint half and half

2 tsp. lemon pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 (12 oz.) package fettucini

1/2 package fresh mushrooms, sliced

Saute onion, bell pepper, jalapeño peppers, mushrooms, and garlic in butter for 15 minutes.  Add flour, stir, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add shrimp, stir well.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.  Add cheese, Half & Half, lemon pepper, salt, and pepper.  Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes.  Cook fettuccine noodles according to package directions.  Drain noodles and mix with sauce.  Pour into buttered casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 350 until bubbly.  

Y'all this stuff was delicious!  Make it.  Soon.

I also whipped up some red velvet cupcakes with Martha Stewart's cream cheese frosting as a quick surprise for HK while he was on a call.  I've made cakes from scratch before, but I've decided it's much easier and just as tasty to make the cake from a box and make the frosting from scratch!  That little contraption is perhaps the best thing since sliced bread.  I just put the pancake or cupcake batter in the contraption and squeeze it evenly with no messes!  It was only $15 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  Great investment!

Dixon enjoying a Saturday afternoon nap.

Henderson decided to bring a TV out of storage so we could watch two games at one time.  It got pretty confusing at times, but I did feel like we were in a sports bar.  :)

All in all, another great weekend.  Exciting things are happening around the King house.  Can't wait to share them with you!

Updates!

Sorry, I've been MIA lately.  Honestly, in my spare time I like to sleep.  And pinterest.  And sleep.  But when not sleeping or pinning, here's some things we've been up to!

Henderson loves red beans and rice.  I'll eat it as long as it's not mashed up red beans over rice.  Henderson was craving some, so we found an awesome recipe in a cookbook I bought on my bachelorette trip in New Orleans!  It was delicious and made a ton (not to mention the fact that Henderson cooked it, giving me the night off!).  I think it'll be added into our repertoire.  

Here it is in a beautiful piece of McCarty pottery we got as a wedding gift.

I love a good dip and since it's just us we don't just whip up dips to eat by ourselves.  I'm trying to change this mindset.  I say we should be dipping every day!  So, I found this hot bacon and cheese dip recipe on Pinterest, bought a round loaf of bread and baked it in the bread bowl.  Y'all.  This stuff was good.  Rich, but good.  Which means I'll be pulling it out when family visits!  And I had to serve it on a piece of AnnieGlass.  That girl knows what she's doing.  Btw, did you know I have a mild obsession with dishes and serving pieces?  It's pretty easy to buy gifts for me!  :)

Other things from Pinterest I've made, but didn't take pics of because they were delicious, just not pretty, include but are not limited to: 

• Cajun Crab Cakes with Jalepeno Remoulade - these crab cakes were good, but I will never make crab cakes again.  This recipe was very intense and required a ton of ingredients.  And since we're so far from the ocean, crab is expensive!!  It's way cheaper to buy crab cakes than to make them, I say!  And no clean up!
• Cheesy Potato Fries - O M G.  Y'all.  These were amazing!  And the best part is we always have these ingredients on hand.  However, I won't be making them too much.  Wouldn't want to clog our arteries.  
• Crockpot Chicken Tacos - I loved these for an easy Sunday night dinner.  Had plenty for Henderson to have a couple of lunches with.  These were great, although they were a little dry.  I'll try to adjust the recipe to make the chicken a little more moist next time.  This is something else we will be having for easy dinners regularly.
• Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Icing - This recipe was strictly for Henderson's benefit.  I don't like mint or chocolate cake, so I didn't even try it, but according to Henderson and his co-workers it was delish!  But it turned out so ugly, y'all!  My cakes pretty much crumbled, but it was still edible!  I'll try this again for a special occasion, just hope it'll turn out prettier.

I took a sewing class last fall in Jackson, but since we got engaged soon after, I didn't really get a chance to practice.  This weekend, I brushed up on my basic sewing skills by following along with this blog class and then I made the cute apron above using this tutorial.  It was really fun, but it took a really long time!  Hopefully, sewing will go faster with practice!

So far, we look like all we do is eat.  But I was able to go to Orlando for a week in August for training for work.  It was a great excuse to spend a week-long slumber party with one of my very best friends!

While in Orlando, we were able to partake in some delicious sushi, 

a little Lego action in Downtown Disney, 

and some awesome seafood!  

It was a great trip, and I'm so thankful we had this great opportunity to see each other!

We're so excited about September!  We'll be heading to Starkville one weekend to watch the Bulldogs play and we have family members coming to visit over a couple of weekends.  Life is great in Texas!

Life of a Vet's wife

Well, I got my first taste of being a veterinarian's wife this weekend.  Henderson is on call this weekend through Friday; yesterday, we decided to run to Walmart and grab a few random items we needed.  We're finishing up and HK gets a phone call.  We literally put our shopping basket down and head out!  Today, he's been gone all day on various emergencies.  I'm so glad that Henderson is so passionate about his work!  I don't know how someone could work this much and study this much to do something that they didn't love.

Well, besides our boring weekend, we've been setting up house and cooking a lot!  I hope to get pictures up of our new home soon; I just need to keep the entire house clean for more than a couple of minutes!  It seems like if the kitchen is clean, our bedroom is a mess.  If the living room is clean, the kitchen is dirty.  Can't stay caught up!

The dogs are loving it here.  Every night after dinner, we take them outside and play for about 30 minutes.  It's nice to get outside for just a few every evening.  We do have to wait until the sun is completely down, though, ha!

I've been pretty much living off of Pioneer Woman's new cookbook!  We've made her crash hot potatoes, Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp, potatoes au gratin, and herb roasted pork tenderloin!  I've noticed that her cookbook recipes have slight variations from the ones online.  Paula Deen's been getting some love, too, by way of her peaches and cream pie (which I hated; HK thought it was ok) and blackberry cobbler (these recipes I couldn't find online.  Her cooking bible is worth the investment!  It has lots of great recipes for people, like me, who want to learn to cook tried and true Southern recipes.  These recipes are ones your mama and grandmother cook).  I have over 20 cookbooks that haven't gotten a lot of use in the last 2 years, so I'm trying to make up for it!

Well, that's all for now.  Stay tuned for more pictures from the honeymoon!

Cookin' Out

 After cooking all week, I told Henderson the weekend meals were his responsibility.  :)  Of course, he was all over this as he had been wanting to grill some ribs for a while.  Last weekend, we went to Lowe's and he got a smoker box for our gas grill; we got the grill as a hostess gift from the Leighton shower.  This box worked perfectly and did a lot better than we thought!  We both really like dry ribs, so we found this recipe for a rub.  We liked it so much, he's even using it on the pork chops we're grilling tonight.  He also threw on the grill some corn, squash and potatoes, and jalepenos stuffed with cream cheese wrapped in bacon.  We got the corn, squash, potatoes, and jalepenos from the Dallas Farmer's Market.  We love going there and finding fresh produce!  It was a delicious meal!  

I worked extremely hard on the appetizer in the Mississippi Peter's Pottery dish!  It was a block of cream cheese, topped with jalepeno pepper jelly we bought at the farmer's market, eaten with wheat thins.  So difficult!