Tag: dinner tonight

Weekend Things: When it’s summer in winter

Lauren2 Comments

It’s officially the first day of spring, but it was 80° in Colorado this weekend!  We had all the fans on and all the windows open, but it was straight up HOT.  Felt like we completely skipped over spring and went straight to summer.  It’s cooling back down (slightly) this week, but I didn’t mind that little summer vacation one bit.

Last night, as we were putting away the dishes and getting ready for bed, I asked Joey what his favorite part of the weekend was.  He couldn’t pick.  And honestly, neither could I.  If I were to share it with you in word form it would look something like: patio beers at a new-to-us brewery, traditional St. Patrick’s Day corned beef & cabbage (PLUS GREEN VELVET CAKE!) with my family, a kombucha field trip with my sissy, pizza lunch date, LOTS of reading outside in the sun, an evening run, Beauty and the Beast, the most incredible Sunday brunch, exploring the Stanley Marketplace, “Sunday stuff” (aka being an adult), an evening stroll and capping it all off with a perfectly springy salmon dinner.

And in picture form, it would look like this…

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Joey suggested we hit up 4 Noses Brewing after work on Friday and it did not disappoint.  That place is doing everything (from their website to their beer to their taproom atmosphere) right!  

P.S. Remind me to drink more saisons.

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PSA: My mom is the best.  I declare this the best corned beef she’s ever made (so perfectly salty!) plus I mentioned to her earlier in the week that I was dying to try Irish Soda Bread and she surprised me with a loaf.  Red GREEN velvet cake for dessert because, as I said, my mom is the best.

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Our tree babies bloomed!!!!!  I actually squealed in delight when we pulled up to the house on Friday night and I saw the little blossoms.  Joey texted me this picture Saturday morning when he left to pick us up some iced coffee and those little flowers are so perfect.

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I made Joy’s whole grain waffles and they were seedy, but in a good way.  I kind of loved them!

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At noon, my sister and Wayne came over and then we all headed to American Cultures, which is, GET THIS, a kombucha taproom!  I got a taster — ginger peach was the best! — and Joey got a kombucha float so he was just as happy.  I asked Joey to take the picture at an angle that would make me look just as tall as my sister but I see he failed completely.  

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After my sister and Wayne headed back home, Joey and I walked over to Denver Deep Dish where I had a salad + slice lunch and it was so satisfying.  Post lunch, we hung out in the backyard, went on that evening run, watched the animated version of Beauty and the Beast (HOW’S IT SO GOOD, THOUGH??) and then I fell asleep on the couch at the like 10 PM.  

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Sunday morning at the new Stanley Marketplace.  People have been talking it up and I was like “yeah, yeah, but how’s it any better than The Source?” Turns out it’s way bigger, has way more restaurants and shops and is just… uh yeah, better.  

We ate at Annette and I was so totally smitten with the experience.  They do a daily biscuit (apricot & ginger) and it was huge and buttery and I think Joey loved it more than he loves me.  We both ordered the pork shank hash and it was INCREDIBLE.  Those crispy potatoes, that fall-apart tender pork, those perfectly poached eggs and PICKLED mustard seeds.  Help, I’m head over heels.   

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Post-brunch, it was grocery, laundry, lunch salad prep, slow-cooker beef (for burritos this week!), reading, being delighted by Joey finishing a bunch of house projects, I actually cleaned the bathroom (instead of just talking about needing to) and then we went on a little end-of-the-day stroll before dinner.

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I made us this Dijon-Herb Crusted Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce + Warm Buttered Radish & Edamame Salad and it tasted like straight up spring deliciousness.  Joey was blown away and I take that as the highest of compliments.

I give this weekend an A+ and gosh, I’m so happy it’s spring today!  What did you do this weekend?!

Make This Now

Lauren6 Comments

I’m back!  If anything, this series is making me really aware of how many good things we cook.  When you’re doing the post-work marathon of going to the gym, cooking dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up dinner and fitting in Season 5 of GoT before Season 6 starts (we made it, phew!), you don’t exactly have time to breathe to really appreciate how good what you cooked for dinner (hopefully) is.  Even if it’s just the same vegan mac and cheese you’ve made like 100x, take a minute to appreciate how glorious it is!

Garlic Mac n Cheese

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I forgot how good this recipe was until Joey suggested we make it this week, but it is really really good.  And if you like saucy mac and cheese, this one is for you!

I was admittedly and wholeheartedly obsessed with this recipe last summer.  Like made it once a week and was embarrassed to admit to Joey that I had put it on our meal plan AGAIN obsessed.  Good thing he was totally okay with it because it’s LOADED with his favorite ingredient: nutritional yeast.  Yeah, we’ve been over this.  If you roast the garlic ahead of time, this meal takes all of 20 minutes to make.  And look, I know VEGAN mac and CHEESE is an oxymoron, but vegan or not, I would (and maybe have…) spoon this sauce directly into my mouth because it is so flavorful and cheese-like.  I mean Grandma’s mac and cheese is still #1, but this comes right after.

Simple Flaky Crab Cakes

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Colorado isn’t exactly known for its seafood, but turns out, if you get good crab from Slidell, Louisiana (I got it at Whole Foods, but my aunt lives there!), you can make the most incredible crab cakes.

Okay, even though we ate these during Game of Thrones and I should have been completely distracted and not even realized I was eating, these were too good to ever ignore.  There was very little “filler” ingredients so these mostly tasted like crab, which IMHO, is EXACTLY what crab cakes should taste like! That herby sauce on top was the perfect compliment, but let’s be real, the actual crab cakes were the star of the show.  I can’t take any cooking credit on these, but Joey made it seem effortless and food cooked by other people always tastes the best.

One-Bowl Banana Nut Bread

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Joey asked me to make banana bread a few months back and look, there’s like a million different banana bread recipes on the internet but this vegan version was the PERFECT combo of sweet banana, bold vanilla flavor and occasional bites of walnut.

I am so bad at freezer food.  So so bad.  I know the freezer is a great place to store food for when you just don’t feel like cooking and can pull out a container of red beans and rice and that sounds so great, IN THEORY, but in reality, defrosting something for dinner never sounds exciting to me.  Because my dinner life is either A) cooking something fresh or B) going out to eat.  Ain’t nothing in between (except the occasional pizza delivery).  But, the exception to this rule is frozen baked goods.  This is where chocolate chips cookies, the best sandwich rolls and banana bread muffins live.  They love it in there!  This particular banana bread freezes BEAUTIFULLY and I’ve been pulling out a few at a time to defrost in the fridge and be devoured as snacks.

Pro Tip: smother in peanut butter and reach a new level of snack nirvana.

Happy Eating and Weekend-ing to you all!  I’m super excited because I’m headed to New Orleans!!!  My mom is already there and Joey and I haven’t been there together since October 2013, so my heart is probably going to explode from happiness.  New Orleans is a place to say yes to everything and I plan on doing just that!