It is STILL Summer: Coconut Shrimp Meatball on Crostini with Fruit Salsa

Soooo, are any of you folks on Pinterest?  I am and I waste hours (yes, hours) of my life looking at pins, pinning pins, liking pins and thinking about pins.  Clearly, I have too much free time (at work).

It’s bumming me out lately that people are pinning Halloween stuff and (gasp) Christmas stuff.  I mean, slow down, y’all.

It’s still totally summer, if you ask me.  I literally just started buying and wearing tank tops because I sort of have a tan (a tan for me is not really a tan by normal standards, but at least nobody is blinded by my upper arms anymore).  Also, all the summer clothes are on clearance now and that makes me happy.

Let’s just relax.

And enjoy summer.

How about a coconut shrimp appetizer for your cocktail party?  It screams SUMMER!

Quit trying to plan ahead and live in the present…mostly just so I can enjoy my tank tops and flip flops for a little longer.

Coconut Shrimp Meatball on Crostini with Fruit Salsa

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Attack of the Oreo…Cocktails!

I’ve never been one of those people who can’t say no.  I have no problem saying it.

 

{In school}

Can you copy my test? I think not.

Lunch money?  Ain’t got none (clearly our school system is failing).

 

{As an adult}

Need help moving?  I’m busy that day.

Oh, I also can’t help you paint your house.  I got a thing.

Yeah, I can’t babysit your kid ’cause I don’t wanna.

Your birthday is coming up?  I’m no good at cakes.

Also, I have given to a charity already this year, so not today, seedy people who approach me at the gas station.

 

Yeah, there’s a lot more stuff to say no to as an adult. But, when your co-worker of 5-plus years asks you to make some of your “very delicious Oreo truffles, pleeeaaasse” for her son’s wedding on a budget…sometimes you gotta suck it up and say yes.

Months go by and I’m dreading it and dreading it. Ugh.  Today is the day. OK, so I’m gearing up to make a million truffles, but clearly I need to make a stop at the liquor store to get through this madness.  I texted my brother updating him on my situation.  Then he said the best thing ever.

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A Salsa for Summer: Grilled Watermelon and Feta

As I get older and now that I have life all figured out (Ha!  Sense the sarcasm, folks), I am less embarrassed about stuff. I used to be the girl who turned beet red and just about died from humiliation over the tiniest things.  Now, if I trip in front of you (I most likely will) I’ll just smile and wave.  Saying something stupid?  I do it on the daily.  I’m okay with it.

The one thing I am consistently still embarrassed over is my iPod music selection. The worst part is that I voluntarily put all the crazy embarrassing music on there. Just to give you a taste, there are about 300 songs including Pitbull (face getting red), assorted 90’s rappers (getting redder), maybe some country (eyes closed in shame) and a butt-load of Glee renditions (maximum levels of musical embarrassment reached).  I’m just gonna tell you, I sometimes roll my eyes when listening to my iPod alone.  I need an intervention.

Why am I discussing this with you today?  Well, I had some willing taste-testers hanging around my kitchen while I made this killer salsa aaaaand my iPod was on the speaker dock. So, when I think about this salsa, I will forever associate it with the delicious flavors of fresh watermelon with a grilled char and tangy feta, along with the ear raping sounds of Miley Cyrus.  Oy.  Y’all, forget I wrote this, okay?

Grilled Watermelon & Feta Salsa

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The Cure for Feeling Poor: Stuffed PayDay Cookies

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere?  I think we all have.

You know what helps?  Cookies.  Cookies are magical and break down all social, political and economical barriers.  I wish I had some of these cookies last week when this happened.

So I spontaneously decided to head over to the Vera Bradley designer handbag store after work one day to shop for my mom’s birthday.  I entered the parking lot and started to have second thoughts.  Man, this mall was posh.  There was a strip of fancy boutiques and a freaking fountain (probably hand crafted in Italy or something).  I rolled through the parking lot in my car, which is an old, super-loud hand-me-down Buick from my grandmother.  Some ladies crossed the parking lot; they all had on white pants and flowing, flowery tunic shirts.  I looked down at my outfit.  Hmmm…starting to feel a little uncomfortable. My outfit consisted of workout capris, flip flops and a Paul Frank monkey shirt.  Let me explain.

My office has no dress code.  We do internal work that requires almost nobody visiting our office, so we wear what we want.  9 times out of 10 I am wearing workout clothes.  They are comfortable and sometimes I walk outside on my lunch break, so quit judging.

Yeah, so I sucked it up and went in the store.  No lie, I felt like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman.  Except not a hooker, just a poor person.  Um, all those ladies in and around the shop clearly made it their job to be impeccably groomed and coifed.

Nobody was rude or anything, but I felt out of place and like people were probably wondering why I was there.  I guarantee that if I came in with a tray of these bad boys that all my fashion faux pas-ing would have been forgotten.

By the way, I get the irony that I felt poor and Pay Day cookies would have helped.  Life just happens that way sometimes.

Stuffed PayDay Cookies

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Fast Food Copy Cat: Cherry Berry Chiller

Sometimes people unintentionally plant seeds in my brain. I have a sweet friend who is mildly obsessed with McDonald’s Cherry Berry Chiller and gets it on the daily. She mentioned it to me a total of 15 times last time I saw her.  So…now I’ve been obsessing. In my mind.

If you know me at all, you know I am not that into fast food, so I thought I’d make one myself. You know what? I think this is the first thing that I couldn’t just Google and make. So, I went to McD’s website and found that their chiller is made with such lovely ingredients as flavor concentrates, citric acid and xanthan gum. Sounds yummy, huh? Don’t even get me started on the calorie and sugar count. I could go on all day…

But I won’t. I will, however, present you with a fresh, homemade and all (OK, mostly) natural Cherry Berry Chiller! Get into it, y’all.

Copy Cat Cherry Berry Chiller

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Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Potato Kabobs

Please tell me we all have these days.  When we look at the laundry to fold and the grass to mow…and end up on a raft in the pool drinking beers. Please tell me it’s okay to sometimes have a whole week like this.

Well, despite my incredible procrastination of monotonous house chores as of late, I have actually still been making food. Ok, I’ve been grilling food in between dips in the pool.  Whatever. This recipe is perfect for procrastinators and slackers alike. It is so easy, it’s embarrassing to call it a recipe. Well, clearly that’s not going to stop me from sharing it with you lovely people today.

Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Potato Skewers

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Shouldn’t Work But Does: Hawaiian Pizza Sliders

I’ve been thinking about Hawaiian pizza lately.  How weird is it that pineapple, ham, cheese and tomato sauce would get together and make it work?  It works, though.

So, I cracked my knuckles and did some research on Hawaiian pizza.  Ok, I just went to Wikipedia—whatever.  So apparently it is not a Hawaiian invention and it is the most popular pizza of choice in Australia.  Huh.  Who knew?

I know one thing.  This flavor combo goes beyond pizza.  I have made a Hawaiian pizza grilled cheese that was the bomb-diggity, so I figured it would also be an awesome burger.

It is.

Hawaiian Pizza Chicken Sliders

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