Dinner

Baked Coconut Chicken Bites

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Is August really over already? I feel like Labor Day is the unofficial end to summer which has been making me quite sad…that is of course until I bought a sweater last Saturday. Then I promptly remembered how much I love sweaters, and scarves, and boots (can’t forget boots!) and even hats! One thing I do NOT love is pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin baked goods are another story but hopefully that’s enough to set me apart from every other “basic” 28 year old girl in America 🙂

Close Up

End of summer means back to work. Back to work means a lot less time in the kitchen. Less time in the kitchen means batch cooking is once again my new best friend! Heyo! I am big on trying new recipes and we rarely have repeats, but I do rely on a few staples when we are short on time. Enter, Coconut Crusted Chicken Bites!

coconut Toasted Coconut

I love fried chicken in all its forms (except wings…too messy and bony, bleh), but I NEVER fry foods at home. A. I’m scared I’d burn myself and B. Crusty baked chicken tastes equally as delicious and is so much better for you! Before I discovered the secret to crispy “baked” chicken, I made many a bird that came out soggy and did nothing to mimic the fried texture I was aiming for. Then one day I read a recipe that called for a rack and that made ALL the difference. When the chicken sits up and the heat is able to circulate all around it, everything cooks evenly and gets nice and crispy. I use my cookie cooling rack since it is oven safe, and it works wonderfully. If you have had similar experiences and thus snub your nose at baked fried chicken recipes, try this method, I guarantee you’ll change your tune!

Coconut-bc-panko

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Super Simple Side: Pan Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

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And just like that it’s almost August! Summer, where have you gone? Anyone have any tips for prolonging these next few weeks? If so I’m all ears. Besides being the first week of August, next week is also my last official week of summer break. True to style, we have packed a lot into it already. Robert has an end of the summer party with his tennis buddies on Sunday, my mother and sister are tentatively coming for a few days of girl time Tues-Thurs and then we leave for North Carolina to spend the weekend with my grandparents. On top of all of that (in just the first week!) we also celebrate my birthday and the anniversary of our engagement in August Smile  Robert and I got engaged in Las Vegas while on vacation with my family and it was hands down the best few days of my life. Our wedding was absolutely amazing, but getting engaged in Vegas was SO MUCH FUN! I’ll be sure to recap that fabulous trip next.

 

It probably isn’t traditional to celebrate the anniversary of your engagement, but Robert surprised me last year and I sure hope it becomes a yearly tradition (hint hint). He set his alarm to wake me up after he left for work and I found a sweet card by the bed telling me to get up and get ready because he was on his way home to pick me up for a breakfast date! There aren’t many things I love more than a breakfast date, and the fact that Robert took an hour away from a busy work morning meant the world.

 Anniversary

It was such a sweet surprise and a nice low key way to celebrate the best “yes” I’ve ever given.

 Olive Oil

As summer winds down, I hope everyone is taking advantage of all the yummy produce it has to offer. I guess technically asparagus is a Spring vegetable but whatever, we’re still enjoying it in this neck of the woods. Full disclosure, I used to dislike asparagus. It’s got a pretty distinct flavor, it definitely makes your trips to the bathroom more fragrant and getting a thick, not quite done stalk is quite unfortunate. Luckily, as my taste buds have matured and as I’ve been exposed to fresh, well prepared asparagus, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the pointy green little guys.

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Date Night at Home: Perfect Steamed Crab legs

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Happy Hump Day! This is the view I awoke to on this glorious Wednesday…

 Human Dog 2

Renly officially thinks he is a human. He usually falls asleep right between us with his head on the pillow like a real person, but this is his typical relaxing posture. Need further proof that he thinks he is a person? This is how he rides in the boat….

 Human Dog

Goodness I love that anthropomorphic furball.

In case it isn’t obvious, I  have certainly been spending a lot of quality time with Renly this summer, but I’ve made sure to enjoy a few special date nights with the other most important man in my life… you know, the one that is actually a human Winking smile  When Robert and I were completing our pre-marriage counseling, our pastor stressed the importance of “date night” repeatedly. Now that we have been married for a year, I see just how right he was. Life gets busy and its crucial to make time to reconnect with your spouse. Dinner is an important time for me to spend with Robert each day, not only because I love preparing our meals, but also because that’s sometimes the only time during the week that we truly get to sit down and talk. Every few weeks, it’s nice to have a date night and make that dinner time together extra special. Robert and I both enjoy treating ourselves to a meal out, but sometimes I’ll splurge at the grocery store so we can enjoy a date night at home. Crab Legs are not only one of my favorite date night splurges but they also scream SUMMER.

 Crab Legs

The first time I ever remember eating crab legs was on vacation with my family at the beach when I was little. My younger sister Haley was only a toddler at the time and she must have enjoyed the crab legs even more than we realized. As we were leaving the restaurant, one of the restaurants wooden crab mallets fell out of her pants right in front of the hostess stand! She cried and explained to my parents that she had wanted to take it home as a souvenir, which the restaurant was kind enough to let her do (maybe because it had already been in her pants). She kept the mallet in her room for years and we still laugh about it to this day.

haley
      The cutest thief you’ve ever seen

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Smoked Salmon Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

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Happy Friday! Renly and I just got in from a humid mid-morning walk and are cooling off on the couch, dreaming about smoked salmon spaghetti squash carbonara. Or at least I am….Renly is probably dreaming about chasing all his doggy friends and rolling around in the dirt.

 Ren Resting

I love Friday afternoons. Everyone is in a good mood, the weekend is just around the corner, what could be better! Robert and I have a few fun weekend plans already in the works including dinner with our friends Ben and Annie (and baby Cooper!) tonight and an early morning 5k with our neighbors Mark and Lindsay. Mark’s company is helping put together a 5k to benefit the families of the 9 victims of the shooting that took place at the AME Church in Charleston last month. Such a horrible, senseless tragedy. I will never understand racism or how people can live with such hatred in their hearts towards entire groups of people they’ve never even met. The race is sure to be HOT, but well worth it to support these beautiful families who reacted to pure hatred with such grace and love. Theirs is the faith I want to have.

Mark and Lindsay are not only our fellow runners, neighbors and good friends, but they also inspired the recipe I am sharing today! Remember when we celebrated their wedding back in March?

 Wedding 2

Well as a wedding gift, Mark’s sister bought them a CSA box for a year. AWESOME gift idea by the way if you know of a couple who loves to cook. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and typically means that for a reasonable set price, you receive a weekly (or bi-weekly) box filled with local produce. It’s a great way to support local farmers and benefit from fresh healthy produce. Win-win! You never know what types of produce you will receive as it changes weekly based on what is in season and being grown around you. I love this as it encourages you to try new vegetables that you may not have bought at the store. Lindsay has been kind enough to share some of the veggies with Robert and I when she doesn’t think they will be able to finish them all. The produce is always fresh and delicious, and usually significantly smaller than what I see at the grocery store which makes you wonder… did nature really intend spaghetti squash and eggplants to be the size of your head…I’m going to guess no. I’m going to look into signing Robert and I up to receive our own box, or maybe Lindsay and Mark would like to split one once their subscription runs out. If your area offers a CSA box program, check it out!

 Close Up 2

Last week Lindsay shared several lovely little eggplants, an onion and a few types of squash with us, one of which was a spaghetti squash the PERFECT size for two. After enjoying eggplant rollatini for dinner, I wanted to try something new with the spaghetti squash. My mother had also left a pack of smoked salmon in my fridge from her 4th of July visit. I LOVE smoked salmon and realized I had all the ingredients to incorporate it into a carbonara dish already on hand.

Carmelized Shallot Smoked Salmon

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Creamy Cucumber Soup

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I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! I loved visiting with my parents and we all had a fabulous 4th!

 Family

After spending the day roaming around town with my parents on Friday, we grilled out at home for dinner and then took the boat to get ice cream with Robert’s whole family. On Saturday we had a fantastic cookout on his sister’s new porch and watched the annual neighborhood 4th of July golf cart parade. All the kids in the neighborhood decorate their bikes, scooters golf carts and then caravan around the neighborhood and throw out candy while everyone watches from their lawns. This was my first year experiencing it but I thought it was such a cute tradition!

GC Parade GC Parade 2

It rained Saturday evening which was kind of a bust and delayed a lot of the fireworks, but we did manage to catch a few and enjoyed our time together nonetheless.

Festive Family
My adorably festive Aunt & Mother in Law

On Sunday my parents and I took a day trip to Savannah to celebrate my dad’s birthday in one of his favorite cities. He used to travel to Savannah often for work so he toured us around the city and then we came home and met Robert for a casual dinner out. Happy 61st Dad!

 Dad's Bday

I am missing my parents already but I am happy to do a bit of detoxing after a weekend full of barbeque, birthday margaritas and red white and blue desserts. Fun, delicious and oh so worth it, but it IS nice to get back on track.

Remember those herb pots my mother was bringing down, aren’t they great looking?

 Herb Pots

She had my dad make these cute wine cork labels, which I thought were adorable and will probably be replicating in the future.

 Cork Markers

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