Busy as a Beaver (And I Can't Wait for Fall :))

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That's what I've been lately - busy as a beaver! Currently, every spare moment I have is spent doing wedding tasks since we're in the final stretch! I'm sorry that, yet again, I don't have a recipe for you today. I just don't have the attention span right now to put a recipe post together!
So what will I share with you instead? I'll share with you more things I'm looking forward to this fall! And a disclaimer: this is not a complete list. There are many other things I'm looking forward to this fall in addition to what's on this list!
My first pumpkin spice latte from "the 'buck." :)

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I plan to get one this week as a nice treat! The mornings have totally felt like fall lately, and I'm in love. :)
Apple picking!!!!

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Warm apple cider donuts...

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Baking fall-shaped sugar cookies!

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Everything pumpkin, obvi. ;) You know that from my last post!

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Fall hikes. Beautiful foliage.

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Butternut squash!

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I'm thinking I need to make some butternut squash apple soup this fall... I can taste it now.
Jeans. Sweaters. Sweatshirts. Boots. Scarves.

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Fall clothes are my favorite.
And of course, my favorite holiday - Thanksgiving! I realize it's over a couple months away still, but I already can't wait for it. :)

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What are you looking forward to this fall?!?

Just Poppin' In...

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...to say hi! I meant to have a recipe for you by this point this week, but the past few nights have been way busier than I anticipated, so I haven't gotten around to it yet. Hopefully I will soon because the recipe I'm sharing with you next is awesome!!!
In the meantime, here are a few recipes from the food blog world in the past week or so that have caught my eye! Thought I'd share them with you in case they catch your eye too. :)
Candy Corn Sugar Cookie Bars from Cookies & Cups

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Dark Chocolate Fudgy Cookies from Simply Life

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Chocolate Caramel Bars from Taste and Tell

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And because every recipe can't be a dessert (!), here are a couple recipes that aren't sweet treats...
Tomato Basil Soup from Eat Yourself Skinny

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Roasted Buttermilk Potatoes from Bran Appetit

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I don't know about you, but I could read food blogs and look at food photos all day long!!!
Oh, and guess what?! I'm getting married ONE MONTH from today!!!!!! :) :) :)

We're MARRIED!!!

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Well, it happened!!!

Mike and I were married last Saturday, November 3rd. :) It was honestly the best day of my life, and we couldn't be happier right now!

I've included several pictures from the day in this post. These pictures are from a few different wedding guests. The professional ones won't be done for another month or so, but once we get them, I will be sure to share them with you on the blog!

My handsome groom, his brother and best man, Dave, and one of his groomsman, Andy.

We got married in my hometown church in upstate New York.




This is my parents' 1938 Chevy, which they also rode away in at their wedding in 1979. How cool is that??!

Pictures on the beach by the lake! This was Brant Lake, NY, by the way. :)

The day was actually quite cold, low 40's, and during pictures, the winds were blowing pretty strongly (15 - 20 mph). We tried not to look cold in the pictures even though we were freeeezing!



Cake cutting!!

The cake Mike and I cut was a pumpkin cake with vanilla frosting. It was soooo soooo good!

And for our guests we had two types of cupcakes - vanilla cupcakes with a Bailey's chocolate frosting and chocolate cupcakes with creme de menthe Oreo frosting. I didn't get to try either kind that night, but I was able to try a vanilla cupcake with Bailey's chocolate frosting the next day. It was awesome! And our guests said the other flavor was deeelicious too.
And no, I did not bake our wedding cake or cupcakes. No time for that. ;)


My wonderful mom, sister (best maid of honor ever!!), and me.

Love that guy - who's now my husband. :)


We had an absolutely amazing weekend, and we are so thankful to have had such a wonderful celebration to begin our married lives together! I could go on and on here, but for now, I will just keep it at that. We are so very happy. :)
In the coming weeks, I actually hope to mix in some wedding-related blog posts with some normal food posts. I thought it would be fun to share more details of our big day (if you all don't mind!).
Hope everyone's had a great week! Happy Friday and weekend!

Creamy Carrot Potato Soup

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Soup. It's what you like to enjoy on a chilly fall or winter night. It's what you pair with an ooey gooey grilled cheese sandwich. Aaaand, it's what you crave when you're sick with a cold. That last point? That's been me for the past several days! I came down with a cold over the Thanksgiving weekend (don't worry; the cold didn't hinder my enjoyment of Thanksgiving dinner ;)). And let me tell you, it's been a doozy of a cold! It's been worse than any cold I've had in the past few years. So, naturally, I have been craving soup this week!
Lucky for me, Gina over at one of my favorite blogs, Simply Life, posted a delicious looking recipe for creamy potato soup this past Monday morning - and right away, I knew that's what I wanted for my dinner that night! I decided to change up the recipe slightly though by adding carrots. Otherwise, the recipe I made was mostly the same, aside from my omission of the red pepper flakes and scallions (simply because I didn't have them on hand). The soup came together in a flash, and let me tell you, it was just what I needed to help with my cold!
The ingredients below are what I used, but you can check out the original Simply Life recipe here.
Ingredients:
-2 Tbsp. olive oil-3 Idaho potatoes, cubed (I didn't peel mine but you can)-3 large carrots, sliced in 1/2" pieces-1 large onion, diced-2 garlic cloves, diced-salt and pepper, to taste-1 tsp. herbs de provence-4 cups low sodium chicken broth-shredded cheese of your choice (I used monterey jack)
Instructions:
Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, carrots, and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add garlic and cook another minute. Stir in salt, pepper, and herbs. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, 25 to 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and cooked through (you can easily test this by sticking a fork in the veggies; it should easily go through them).
Remove soup from heat. Using an immersion blender or transferring soup to a stand blender, blend soup until creamy and smooth. Return to heat. If soup is too thick, add 1 cup of water and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with shredded cheese on top. Enjoy!!



Mmmmmmm....
 
Mike and I both really enjoyed this soup. It had great flavors and was incredibly comforting...just what you want in a soup!


The next day I heated up some leftovers (which I think tasted better than the soup on day 1!), and along side it, I enjoyed some toasted baguette slices with melted cheese on top. Soooo good! I love making a "lazy woman's" grilled cheese like that sometimes. I simply put a slice of cheese on bread and throw it in the toaster. So easy and delicious!

This scene is what my days looked like earlier this week. Soup, tissues, a blanket, and my computer.... Colds don't usually get me badly enough to make me stay home from work, but this one did! Luckily I had some great soup to keep me company. And a cuddly, super cute kitty as well. :)


Definitely keep this soup in mind for an easy, healthy, yummy meal on a chilly winter's night!

Nigella's Ritzy Chicken Strips.. An Easy Lunch or Dinner..

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This practically took minutes to prepare and a few more minutes to cook. But needs a couple of days for it to be ready, so prepare them a day in advance. If you have kids, they will love this recipe and grownups do too! I tried this Nigella Lawson easy breezy recipe accompanied by homemade Honey Mustard Sauce.. tastes sooo good!

Ingredients:

2 Packets of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup buttermilk (Leban) - I prefer KDD because it's think and creamy
20 pieces of Ritz cracker crushed to form bread crumbs


Method:


. Put the chicken breasts into a freezer bag flat.
. Bash them gently with a rolling pin until the chicken is quite thin.
. Once done, take them out of the bag and slice them.
. In a bowl, place the butter milk and chicken and leave then in the fridge to marinade for 24 hours atleast.
. When ready to cook, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven.
. Take the bread crumbs and place them in a shallow dish to coat the chicken.
. Take the chicken out of the fridge, take each piece, shake off the excess buttermilk and dip them in the crumbs.
. Coat them well and lay them on the baking sheet, bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. and Voila !!!!




Dinner is served! ... or lunch ;)

Chipotle Marinated Chicken

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I never really need an excuse to eat spicy food, but if I did, the horrible cold I've had for a few days that has reduced me to a mouth-breathing crybaby is a really good one. I rarely get sick, so when I do, I'm completely miserable. When cold medicine fails to relieve my congestion, I turn to my favorite sinus clearing ingredients like sriracha, jalapenos, and canned chipotles in adobo.

Fortunately, my cold coincided with my discovery of Chrissy Teigen's hilarious blog So Delushious. Am I living under a rock? Have you guys been reading her blog all this time? For those of you who are equally clueless, she's the gorgeous Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, who also happens to be engaged to John Legend. Oh yeah, and she's in culinary school. I basically read her blog from start to finish in a day, and noticed that she mentioned this chipotle marinade half a dozen times.  Needless to say, I dragged my sneezing, congested self to the grocery store and immediately bought all the ingredients for this delicious meal.


I'd consider this marinade on the milder side of spicy, so if you're not a spice fiend, don't be afraid! Also, I beg you to make this with the chicken thighs as specified, and not boneless skinless chicken breasts. I know that's the go-to piece of chicken for most people, but thighs are infinitely more flavorful and juicy and soak up this marinade like it's their job. By the way, since this marinade contains vodka, you can easily freeze it without it turning into a block of ice! I'm really wishing I'd doubled the recipe below and stored half in the freezer myself!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cans chipotle peppers in adobo
6 tablespoons vodka
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 teaspoons light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds bone in, skin on, chicken thighs, rinsed
Chopped cilantro or chopped green onions for garnish (optional) 

Combine all ingredients except for chicken in a food processor. Pulse for 1 minute, or until smooth. Place chicken thighs in an 8" glass baking dish, and pour marinade on top. Turn chicken to coat completely. They should be almost submerged in marinade. Marinate for 12 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chicken thighs from marinade and transfer to a 9x13 baking dish. Pour excess marinade around the chicken thighs if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until they have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees.

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Source: Adapted from So Delushious

Mexican Pizza

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Here is another great recipe from Allrecipes.com. I always find good ones on that site. This Mexican Pizza is a nice change from the same old tacos and tostadas we usually have for Mexican night. It is a lot like the Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell. The only thing I changed was that I used green chili enchilada sauce for the red sauce, since it was all I had on hand. I also didnt think that pizza sauce sounded very good on this. Also, I added taco seasoning to the ground beef, instead of just seasoning it with salt and pepper.

Mexican Pizza (from Allrecipes.)

• 8 (6 inch) Mission® Fajita Flour Tortillas, cooked into crispy tortillas
• 1 cup refried beans, prepared
• 1 pound ground beef, chuck, raw (with taco seasoning)
  
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons pizza sauce, prepared (I used green chile sauce)
  
• 1 cup Mexican Cheese Blend, grated, prepared
• 1/2 cup Roma tomato, fresh, small chop
• 4 teaspoons cilantro, fresh, rough chopped

1. To make the Mission® Crispy Tortillas: Place all 8 tortillas directly on the oven rack of a 350 degrees F oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve on your work surface.
2. Heat the 1 cup of refried beans for 1 minute in the microwave to get hot and reserve for the recipe build.
3. Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and saute for 8 minutes in a non-stick pan, drain and reserve hot for the recipe build.
4. To build 1 Mexican Pizza: Place 1 crisp Mission® tortilla on work surface.
5. Evenly spread tortilla with 1/4 cup hot refried beans.
6. Evenly top refried beans with 1/4 (approximately 4 ounces) of the cooked ground beef.
7. Top ground beef with second crisp tortilla and evenly spread 1 heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce over the tortilla.
8. Evenly top the pizza sauce with 1/4 cup grated Mexican cheese blend and 2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes.
9. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for remaining 3 servings.
10. Place all 4 pizzas, at one time, in 350 degrees F oven on a cookie pan/flat pan, and bake for 2 minutes to melt the cheese. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro evenly over the top of each pizza. Serve each pizza whole.