Entertaining
Build your Own Pasta
My kids love it when I do “Build Your Own Pasta Night”.
It allows them to put exactly what they want in their bowl almost like being at a Buffet. Except, I don’t own that much food.
You can use absolutely anything you want. Everyone has different tastes.
I just happened to use what I had on hand.
I used some olives, capers, feta, roasted tomatoes (not pictured), and fresh basil (also not pictured).
For the roasted tomatoes, I just took some grape tomatoes, drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over them, and a little salt and pepper. Then I roasted them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to burst.
Afterwards, I sprinkled fresh chopped basil over them.
These things are so yummy. When you roast them, they become sweet and tangy and they start to produce their own juice. So, instead of doing a tomato sauce, I decided to just use these in place of it.
I chopped up extra fresh basil to sprinkle over top at the end if anyone wanted to.
A drizzle of olive oil and ………
a splash of lemon juice is always a great option when you are trying to keep it lighter instead of the typical heavy feeling pasta can take on sometimes.
That’s exactly what I did. : )
AND it was soooooooo good.
It’s a great chance to get creative and try all kinds of different toppings. This would be great for a Get Together also! Especially if you have picky eaters.
Enjoy!
New House Update / “Conversation Area”
I wanted to give you an update on our new house. We have been hard at work trying to get it cozified. (Yes, I know. I made that word up.)
Which reminds me, I should probably update my kitchen picture on my “About Me” page. Maybe later.
Anyway, I don’t know about you, but in my home, the kitchen is the main area everyone likes to congregate.
AND I love that! I feel like that is exactly where I want everyone.
In the kitchen, talking, eating, and even curling up with a good book? WHAT?!?
“Curling up with a good book?” YUP!
In my old kitchen, Z would come home and we would literally hop up on the counter tops, sit there with beer and a glass of wine, and talk about our day.
We would try to do this without interruption from our children, but alas, this never was the case.
Our old home was so tiny, there was no place to hide. AND I MEAN NO WHERE!
Exibit A:
So, what I’m tryin to say…. is that even if it is just us, and not a million people, we still seem to hang out in the kitchen.
With this being the case, I decided that instead of having a breakfast nook with a table……
I would have a breakfast nook with “A Conversation Area”. I know what you are thinking. Why not just call it a Sitting Area? Well, because I don’t want people to just sit. I want them to actually Converse with eachother! : )
The way the layout of my home is designed… the kitchen, dining room, and family room are all open. So, I didn’t see the need for both a dining room table and a breakfast table.
It’s not completely finished yet. I still need to hang curtains, and move the original light from the center of the space, over to hang between the two chairs and the side table in the center there.
This is what the space looked like before. ( The day we moved in )
We still have to change out the flooring. Thank goodness this is laminate and not tile. Else, we would not be doing them for a while. It is not fun having to remove tile before laying any kind of wood flooring!
We are going to have to do this in our foyer and I really think that is the reason we keep putting it off.
I absolutely love this Industrial looking side table I snagged at Homegoods. It has wheels on it, so I can easily move it if I want to.
I got the linen chair from Homegoods as well. It was missing one little button on one of the arms and the lady knocked $50 off! Either she was being really nice, or she did her math wrong! Regardless, I SCORED!
I got my pretty floral bird chair from Overstock.com. I waited until it went on sale. The fact that their shipping was only $2.50, and they didn’t charge me tax because of the state I lived in, was an added bonus!
I’ll make sure to post more as we do more updates to the space.
I am working on finishing up my office space too, so hopefully I will have more pictures to share on that as well very soon.
This is the before picture of it:
SO, you can imagine that anything I do to it, will probably make the space look better. I’m trying to “girly” it up, so that certain male species in my home feel uncomfortable being in there after maybe 240.28 seconds.
Happy Monday y’all!
Chicken Piccata
My husband loves Chicken Piccata. He also loves ANYTHING with capers. I hadn’t fixed it in a little while and the other night, I happened to have everything on hand that was needed.
Well,
ALMOST everything. Usually, the recipe I do calls for white wine. Since I didn’t have any of that, I used chicken stock. All that meant was that it would be a good substitute for the wine and my children wouldn’t be walking around bumping into things. J/K
It is actually a really easy, fast meal.
All you need is a some lemons, capers (which taste like mini olives and can be found right next to them in the grocery store), butter, spaghetti noodles, chicken stock, chicken breast and a little flour.
I guess you could call it a 30 minute 20 minute meal.
If you love lemons and olives, you will love this dish.
Recipe: Chicken Piccata
Ingredients:
-4 skinless and boneless thin cut chicken breasts
– Salt/Pepper for seasoning
– All-purpose flour, for dredging
– 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
– 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
– 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
– 1/2 cup chicken stock
– 1 small jar of brined capers, rinsed
– 1 lb. Thin Spaghetti Noodles
– lemon slices for garnish
Directions:
– Cook Thin Spaghetti Noodles according to package instructions.
– Salt/Pepper chicken breast and dredge in flour. Set aside.
– Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
– Cook chicken breast for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
– Remove from pan and set aside.
– To the same pan, add lemon juice, chicken stock , and capers. Bring to a slow boil, scraping up any loose brown bits from chicken.
– Return chicken breast to pan and allow to simmer for 5 additional minutes.
– On a platter, layer spaghetti noodles.
– Remove chicken from sauce and layer on top of noodles.
– To the sauce, add butter and whisk until smooth.
– Throw in lemon slices and pour sauce over chicken.
Enjoy!
Z’s Yummy to my Tummy Ribs!
Let me just start by saying we love RIBS! We are definitely in the “carnivore” family. I tried it once….. LITERALLY ONCE in the “herbivore” family and I think it lasted all of 24 hours and that is stretching it.
I have nothing against Vegetarians. In fact, I eat A LOT of veggies, but I just can’t cut out meat.
So! I find it only fitting to showcase, what I like to call my hubby’s “Yummy to my Tummy Ribs”!
I feel like they are perfect for a Southern Cookout!
I really love these things!
He tries to give me all the credit, but the truth is….. I PREP…… HE COOKS!
Here is what WE do:
Take a pack of baby back ribs. I shop at Sam’s Club a lot, so I always find a pack of 3 slabs there. › Continue reading
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