Pinterest Recipe Weekend

This weekend I decided to try a few different recipes that I found on Pinterest.  The first was for Cheesy Baked Quinoa as a side for Kevin's famous chicken thighs and crunchy green beans.  We had Michael and Jessica over for dinner on Friday, so I wanted to try something fun as a side.  Below is the recipe that I found on Pinterest, along with a few changes that I made to it to try to make it a little bit healthier.  

Cheesy Baked Quinoa

1 c. quinoa
2 c. chicken broth ( I used low sodium)
4 oz. (1/2 block) cream cheese (I used fat free cream cheese)
1 & 1/2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese (I only used 1 c. of 2% sharp cheddar)
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1-2 t. onion powder (I used 1 tsp.)
salt & pepper to taste
any seasonings (i.e. italian seasoning, garlic, herbs, etc.), optional (I used a dash of rosemary, oregano and thyme)

• In a saucepan, combine quinoa and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
•  Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reserving 1 c. of the sharp cheddar. Spread into a baking dish (or 4 individual sized baking dishes).
•  Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Make sure to follow the directions on the package for cooking quinoa.  If you use too much water or broth, the quinoa will not absorb all of the liquid.

Mix the ingredients together (reserving some of the cheese) then press into a larger dish or four individual serving size dishes.

Ingredients are pressed into the pan

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.  I only used one cup of cheese instead of 1 1/2.

Bake for about 15 minutes and viola!

A perfect replacement for macaroni and cheese!

On Saturday we went over to Nick and Bre's for a Mexican Fiesta night and bonfire.  The girls wanted to have a healthier take on Mexican night, so Bre made veggies with homemade guacamole and taco salads with turkey meat instead of beef tacos or similar.  Her friend brought over four layer bean dip with vegan sour cream.  I decided to make some homemade tortilla chips, that I've made before, and a Pinterest taco dip made with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

The link to the actual recipe was broken, but here's the gist of the dip recipe:

Greek Yogurt Taco Dip

1 medium sized tub of Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
Ranch seasoning packet
Taco seasoning packet

• Combine all ingredients into a bowl, stir
• Chill to let set
• Serve 

Since the link was broken on the recipe, I just sort of winged it.  I didn't use the entire ranch or taco seasoning packets, just about half.  I also added a lot of cayenne pepper for a little extra kick.  Next time I'd also use hot salsa instead of medium.  For the tortilla chips, I cut whole wheat tortillas into triangles and then brushed them with olive oil.  Then, I sprinkled some sea salt on them and baked them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Brush on olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake chips

The ingredients

Toss together the ingredients

Mix together in a bowl, then chill for 10 minutes to set

The finished product!

Wedding Vendors & Details

Kevin and I have been happily married for two months this week, and I thought now would be a great time to give a shout out to all of our amazing wedding and reception vendors!

Our full length wedding video came in last night and I'm happy to say I'm extremely pleased with the results!!  The guys over at Deja-Vu Films were an absolute pleasure to work with.  They have a wonderful way of turning a wedding video into a film as opposed to just a "recap" of the day's events.  They are based out of Columbus, GA and traveled all the way to Fort Lauderdale for our wedding.  You can check out our wedding video on their website here:  http://dejavu-films.com/portfolio/kevin-nicole/.  If you look at the other work on their website you will see what I mean about turning a wedding video into a film.  They 100% lived up to their name!  They were also kind enough to bring along their friend who took some of my favorite photos from the day.  Check out some of his work here:  http://crouchncrasephoto.com/blog/weddings/.

 Our videographers and photographer

 Photo by Nathan Crase

Photo by Nathan Crase

Our wedding was held at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort and Spa.  We chose a great package for our wedding and got to choose from a list of vendors for our photographer, officiant, musician and florist.  We were also given a Harbor Beach wedding planner, who ended up being a huge lifesaver for us!   

Harbor Beach Marriott on Left

 Our photographer, Tom Weber, provided by Harbor Beach

Our very talented steel drummer provided by Master Musicians.  I walked down the Isle to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and back up the isle with Kevin to "Is This Love?" by Bob Marley.

Our wonderful officiant, Charlotte, whose beautiful words can be heard during the first scene of our wedding video.  We chose Charlotte because her wedding ceremony was deeply moving and original, unlike any ceremony we'd ever heard before. 

And now for the story of the florist (who will remain nameless) that almost ruined our entire wedding-- and the wedding planner who saved the day! 

Being an event planner myself, I had everything planned to a "T" including, of course, our florist.  I had planned a year in advance for a beautiful four post bamboo wedding canopy with white fabric draping and an elaborate floral arrangement that would go on top of the canopy during the ceremony, and then after the ceremony it would double as the centerpiece for our reception at 3030 Ocean.  The florist would also be providing my bouquet, Kevin's boutineer and white hydrangeas for my mason jar isle vases. 

The ceremony was drawing closer and closer and I had yet to see my canopy get installed on the beach.  I also hadn't heard from my wedding planner as to the whereabouts of my bouquet.  Then my wedding planner informed me of what I thought might already be the case-- she had been calling, emailing and texting the florist with no response.  She called his partner and everyone else she knew who might know where he was, but he was nowhere to be found.  She told me not to worry, and that she and the team at Harbor Beach would not let this ruin my wedding.

I said, I don't care about the boutineer or even the bouquet.. I just need a canopy; otherwise, we're just getting married in the sand.  She said she'd get me flowers and a canopy if she had to go to Costco to get flowers and make my bouquet herself!  I tried not to let it ruin my day and kept it together without any tears, even though I was heartbroken inside.

Finally with 30 minutes left to the start of my wedding, my wedding planner got back to me and said that she had contacted a backup florist that would be able to provide a bamboo canopy with flowers, a bouquet in my colors, a boutineer and flowers for my isle vases!  The florists rushed to my wedding ceremony in traffic while literally hand tying my bouquet in the car on the way over.  They set up the canopy with flowers, and my wedding only started 30 minutes behind schedule. 

Then my wedding planner, Rochelle Tingling, used the flowers from the ceremony and my mason jars to create a makeshift reception arrangement using the flower petals from her own Valentine's Day bouquet!  Thanks again to Rochelle, Harbor Beach and Panache Style, my backup florists!!

Our ceremony bamboo canopy

Makeshift reception centerpieces

Mason jar isle vases

My bouquet-  tied in the car!

To top it all off, at the end of the night we came back to the room to find a framed and engraved photo from our wedding with the wedding date, chocolate covered strawberries, champagne and a nice card from Rochelle and the staff at Harbor Beach!

 

Here are some photos and details from the other vendors at my wedding:

Invitation suite by Empress Stationary

Makeup by Billy Sullo Salon

Hair by Billy Sullo Salon

Monogrammed veil by Timeless Weddings Shop on Etsy

Parents' gifts by MisterandMrs on Etsy

Mrs. Mulvaney hanger by grinsngiggles12 on Etsy

Wedding dress by JCrew Bridal

Wedding cake by Publix

Lovebirds cake topper by Rue23Paris on Etsy

Birthday Weekend in Detroit

For my birthday, my husband surprised me with an overnight trip to Detroit.  On Friday he picked me up from work and we headed to downtown Detroit.  We pulled into the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center where he had already booked the room.  Once we got to the hotel we freshened up for dinner.  I kept trying to get him to hurry up because we were going to be late for our 6:00pm reservations, and he kept saying, "Oh, we'll be fine.."  Finally we headed out of the elevator and he said, "Oh look, a restaurant!"  He had booked us for dinner at the Coach Insignia, which was located in the top of the building. 

 Birthday flowers from Kevin

 Our view from the hotel.  Detroit on the left and Canada on the right.

It was also Detroit Restaurant Week, so we decided to order off of the Restaurant Menu.  We shared a cheese board and Cesar salad, then I had the scallops with corn succotash and potatoes and Kevin had the sweet pea risotto.  For dessert I had the bread pudding and Kevin had the chocolate and raspberry tart.  We also had the wine pairings with dinner, which were all wines from Michigan.  One was from a vineyard Up North that we had been to before.

View from our hotel, we had a similar view at dinner

After dinner we went to the Greektown Casino for some gambling, drinks and music.  There was an R&B band in the lounge that was really good.  A lot of people were dancing and having a great time.  After a few drinks we tried our hand at the craps table and slot machines.  From there we had some more drinks in the lounge and decided to walk across the street to Fishbones for a late night snack and some live Motown music. 

 My date enjoying the Motown band at Fishbones

Irish coffees at Fishbones to keep the party going!

Fishbones served two of my all time favorite foods under one roof: Cajun food and sushi.  Such a perfect combination!  We both had Irish coffees while he had a bowl of gumbo ya-ya and I had some catfish bites with cajun dipping sauce.  The band was also wonderful and we really enjoyed the vibe there.  This will most certainly be one of our new go-to spots in Detroit.

The next morning we went to our other new go-to spot, Eastern Market.  Eastern Market was my favorite place in DC, and now I've found something pretty close to it in Detroit.  DC's Eastern Market is more of an art market, while Detroit's is more of a food market, but I was still excited about it.  We started off the morning with a little breakfast at Farmers Restaurant where Kevin had a reuben and I had a lamb and feta omelet.  After breakfast we went next door to an antique store and then over to the market.  It was freezing outside so we didn't really stay that long, but ended up getting some hydrangeas for Kevin's mom.  More Detroit adventures to come!

We've Made the Move to Michigan!

It's official!  We are now Michigan residents!  After many months of thought and consideration, Kevin and I decided to start our "newlywed life" in Michigan.  With a little help from our friends, we packed up the rental truck with all of our belongings and drove the ten hours or so to Novi, MI.  Kevin's parents were gracious enough to offer for us to live with them until we found a home to rent in Royal Oak, MI.

We left DC around 2:00pm or so on a Saturday and drove until around 8:00pm with Kevin driving the moving truck (with his car towed behind it) and me driving my SUV packed to the brim with our belongings.  I was running on two bottles of 5 Hour Energy and adrenaline, but was exhausted after dinner so we spent the night in Ohio before making it all the way to Novi the next day.

After relaxing on Easter Sunday, we picked back up the move on Monday by placing all of our items into storage.  Tuesday, we met with a realtor to start looking at rental homes in Royal Oak.  We saw about six houses that day, but none that we were really interested in.  Either they were too far away from downtown and gorgeous, or a few blocks walking distance to downtown and in disrepair. We really thought it would be a lot easier to find a home, but we were wrong.

We found a house we loved, but when we got to the showing we found out that we were the tenth couple to look at it!   We booked it over to Kinkos to fax the home owner all of our information, but found out that we were the third couple to already do so and the house was on a "first come, first serve" basis.

The next weekend Kevin found a listing on Craigslist for a rental home and made sure that we were the first couple scheduled to see the house that Saturday.  The house was a great bungalow style home with three bedrooms, a half finished basement, fenced in back yard, two car garage and it also allowed dogs.  The paint scheme in the house wasn't the best, but the owner also let us know that we can paint it to our own taste.  We jumped on it and let the owner know that we were interested in signing a contract that day!  Three other couples were scheduled to see the house that day, but since we were first, we got first choice.  After a couple of days, we heard from the owner and the house was ours!!

Here it is!  

Since the current tenants don't move out until June 1st and the owner wants to update the plumbing, we won't be able to move in until June 15 or before.  We hope to be able to get into the house to paint that week as well.  Stay tuned for many before and after pictures!