Tasty Tuesday: Gnocchi in Ricotta Meat Sauce!

Today's recipe is by no means a healthy or clean recipe but I still tried to make better decisions to keep it on the healthier side. This dish was inspired by a local place called Gravy where I had an awesome gnocchi about 2 years ago that hasn't been back on the menu since. I was craving it so thought I would try and recreate it the best I could. 
This gnocchi with ricotta meat sauce the sauce and meat are going to give us 2 additional dinners later on. I prob spent about $12 on all the ingredients including the bread, (I got some Laura's lean ground beef that was about to expire at a steal! Even bought some extra to freeze) but I already had sauce and the gnocchi at home so that's not included. 

What you need:

1 lb of Italian sausage (you can use mild of hot) 
1 lb of lean ground beef 
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese 
1 jar or 2.5 cups tomato sauce 
Gnocchi or pasta of your choice 

Ground sausage and ground beef together. One cooked drain, and split in half as you only need a full pound for the sauce. Set the other half aside or you can split your meat before cooking and freeze and save for later. 

I make my own tomato sauce ( well sorta) I buy the cans of organic tomato sauce comes in a 12 pack from Costco and then I make big batches at a time with seasonings etc...  and freeze. I had a big container in my fridge I had just made for some pizzas and had froze yet so I used that. I measured 2.5 cups of sauce and added it to the pan with the meat. 

One that started to cook and warm I added a 1/4 cup of ricotta and decided it wasn't enough so added 2 additional tablespoons. Let that all warm up and sauce was done. 

The gnocchi only takes 2-3 min to cook so I stared that and then drained and served. This was a while wheat gnocchi we had found at a place called Southern Seasons a while back and hadn't made yet, wasn't sure how it would be but it was really good! 

After you palace gnocchi in the bowl top with sauce and dinner is ready!  

The sauce did get a little thick and we had more than half left so we put in fridge to top pasta another night this week  for dinner.  We rarely make pasta but momma has been craving the carbs! More than likely we will put over a spaghetti squash. 

As for the remainder of the meat I mixed with the ricotta cheese and some Italian blend cheese for manicotti filling and placed in the freezer. I've had a box of manicotti noodles in the pantry staring at me for a while now and this is half my usually recipe for it so it worked out perfect and I'll  make it for dinner soon! 

Hope you enjoy! 

These are a few of my favorite things!

So it's Black Friday which means its officially Christmas season!! I love all the special treats that are only available this time of year so I wanted to share some of my favorite!  

My all time favorite Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark! The Dark Chocolate is my favorite of the 2 and nothing else seems to even compare. Its a true addiction and a good thing it isn't around all year.

I don't even drink soda like ever ( an occasional Ginger ale or Ale 8 with bourbon)  but this time of year I treat myself on occasion and craved this ginger ale the end of pregnancy hence the empty bottle, and is a soda I drink this time of year but not often. The Sierra Mist one is really good too and I had to grab it when I couldn't find the ginger ale.

You can't go wrong with the classic Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes. Yes they are terrible for you but such a great treat!

Seriously why do Reese's taste better in shapes. I love these anytime of year they come out in shapes but Christmas Trees are the best!

A new favorite this year Angie's Boom Chicka Pop Holidrizzle flavors. Their Kettle Corn is a go to treat for me, its organic and low cal for a great sweet tooth snack. So these flavors make it all that much better. There is still a Frosted Sugar cookie and White Chocolate Peppermint one I need to find to try but these 2 are great and the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt is my favorite!

Another peppermint item. These come in white chocolate which I like too but I love Dark Chocolate and all things peppermint!

My favorite coffee treat of the season in CAribou Coffee Ho Ho Mint Mocha. There you can choose what kind of chocolate you want so I go with dark and white and they melt real chocolate chips in your drink! They also top it with real candy cane pieces and I love that they have almond milk now. I rarely hit up Starbucks anymore I just think their coffee is so much better!

And yes a non food or drink item! Bath and Body Works Fresh Balsam Candle. No other Balsam candle compares I have tried. These are worth every penny and watch for their sale and stock up because non of their candles disappoint!

I promise all the food items are not consumed at once. There are so many other things I love too.  I stocked up on some things the end of pregnancy to have the treats in the house because I knew I may not be going out much the first few weeks our baby girl is here.  What are some of your favorite Christmastime treats?

Tasty Tuesday: Crock Pot Cranberry Orange Chicken

So I have to say I have never made a whole chicken but we found a great deal on some so we decided to try it. I looked around for some recipes and found a cranberry orange one that I had ingredients for changed it up a bit and decided to go with it. Best part its a crock pot meal and its super easy! 

Here is what you need: 

2 cups of cranberries 

1.5 oranges sliced 

salt, pepper, and garlic for seasoning 

1.5 cups chicken broth 

Cinnamon or 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks 

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic. Pour chicken broth in crock pot and add cinnamon sticks, then place chicken in. Top with cranberries and orange slices. Make sure some of the oranges and cranberries go on top of the chicken. 

Cook on low 4-6 hours until chicken reaches internal temp of 165. The time is going to vary with the size of the chicken. Once its done place in baking dish and cook on broil for 8-10 minutes or until skin is brown. Then its ready to serve!

We served with stuffing and potatoes, it tasted like Thanksgiving dinner. I could hardly tell it was chicken. Enjoy! 

Emma Kate's Completed Nursery!

So our nursery is finally complete! It's so sweet and cozy and I just want to sit in our glider cozy up and enjoy it. One night I actually took my iPad and a blanket in there and cozied up and had a Netflix binge. The glider is one of the most comfortable spots in the house right now. 

After getting the wall and dresser/changing table painted it was time to get the crib and bedding in, and the monogram hung above the bed. It turned out exactly how I imagined. I ordered the monogram from Etsy in plain wood and we painted it the same color as the dresser. The crib and bedding all came from Pottery Barn Kids. 

My mom found this little rocker and painted it pink and it's absolutely perfect in the room. 

We finally picked out curtains and I am in love with what we decided. This is the only room we get major sunlight in our place so we went with black out curtains, and I'm in love with the pattern we chose for these! They also came from pottery barn kids (see a trend here?) 

I had my eye on our glider since early on. When I sat in it in the store I didn't want to get up. Yes it came from Pottery Barn Kids also. I loved that the slip cover came off and was washable which is why I was comfortable going with white. Also it was a classic chair that if I ever wanted to place in the living room, or use in a 2nd nursery when we have a 2nd child it was going to work.  It was pricey but I knew it was an investment and thanks to some family members helping towards it we didn't have to purchase it ourselves. This chair we will have for years to come! The mint throw on the chair came from West Elm, and the pillow came from Tuesday Mornings and I had it monogrammed.  We bought picture shelves from target for books and I love having them right by the chair. The side table was one I had and wasn't using and is from IKEA, and the lamp was found at a yard sale. It all came together so perfectly! 

One of my favorite things was putting the collage together over the dresser. I wanted to add some mermaids in the room as they are my favorite. I had my heart set on a mermaid I had seen at PB kids but by the time we knew what we were having it was out of stock. My mom (seriously she is the best) found this mermaid at Kirkland's it wasn't what we needed but of course she painted it and it was the perfect fit!  My best friend did the quote for the wall and I am so happy to have something from her in the nursery! 

Target must have known my visions for our nursery because there is Christmas decor to match out, so Emma Kate is getting her first little tree this year too! (But If you know me and my love for Christmas you wouldn't expect anything less) That will come in another post. We are anxiously awaiting for our sweet baby girl to arrive, could be any day now! 

Tasty Tuesday: Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving is next week so I would share my tried and true cranberry sauce recipe, and its so easy!  I was never a cranberry sauce fan the circles of gelatin from can, but I love cranberries. You can actually make this pretty clean with a brown sugar blend and stevia but I used the regular stuff this time, still better than the stuff in the can. Here is what you need:

1 bag of cranberries
3/4 cup Orange Juice - I use 1-2 oranges ( depending on size I usually buy a few extra just in case you never know how much juice you will get) the original recipe calls for orange juice trust me you can go that route but its not as good as fresh squuezed from the orange,
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
optional - 2 oz gold rum but in this house we use bourbon

Pour all ingredients into a sauce pan on medium heat, stirring occasionally as cranberries start to pop. This typically takes 10-20 min, I find it takes more time on my flat top than a gas stove. ( Gosh I miss a gas stove)

Once cranberries are popped and it has a liquid consistency take off heat. I let sit for about 5 minutes and then pour into dish. Place in refrigerator, or its good served right away as well! I make this at Thanksgiving and Christmas for dinners. Its great heated up on pancakes or french toast ( i always make french toast Thanksgiving weekend with leftover sourdough bread, it is about the only time of year I make it.  Its also great on leftover turkey sandwiches and freezes great too! Enjoy!

Bourbon Roast Turkey

So I missed my Tasty Tuesday post as I was busy wrapping things up at work this week. Better late than never! 

With Thanksgiving around the corner I thought I would share my favorite turkey recipe for Bourbon Roast Turkey! I won't be making Thanksgiving dinner this year but may try to adapt this recipe for a turkey breast something a little easier because this is seriously the best! 

I found this recipe in the Orlando Sentienal several years ago when we were living there and I've never strayed away.  It was adapted from the Beekman 1803 Heirloom cookbook. 

So here is what you need: 

Turkey : (it states 14lb but I've used smaller) 

Ancho chili powder

Salt

Sugar 

Orange

Lime 

Half an Onion (we don't onions in our house so I add 1/2 and orange and some cranberries) 

2-3 garlic cloves 

Maple syrup

Molasses 

Brown sugar

Worcestershire 

Kentucky Bourbon (for cooking I typically go with Jim Beam) 

Prep: Mix ¼ cup coarse salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 teaspoons ancho chili powder in a small bowl. Carefully run fingers under breast and thigh skin to loosen; season under skin with a third of salt mix. Rub remaining mixture in cavity and all over skin. Pierce 1 orange and 1 lime and halve 1 onion; stuff them into cavity with 2 bay leaves and 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled. Tuck wing tips and truss your 14-pound turkey as before.

Glaze: Heat ¾ cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons each molasses and brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire to a simmer in a small saucepan; cook 5 minutes.

Roast: Set turkey on rack in roasting pan; add neck and giblets to pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 2 cups bourbon into pan. Pour two-thirds of the glaze over turkey; set aside remaining third. Cover roasting pan; or oil a large sheet of foil, cover pan, oil side down. Roast about 3¼ hours. Uncover pan. Brush turkey with reserved glaze. Roast uncovered until breast meat registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer, 30 minutes.

Ignore the plastic still in my turkey (haha) this was my first time every cooking one and I didn't have twine so I left this in 😂.  Plate, carve and enjoy! 

So it's November and we can officially talk Christmas right?! 

I'm in full thinking Christmas mode ( yes I am that person, but its hitting extra early this year)  so I can enjoy some things before our baby girl arrives within the next 3 weeks. I have about another week of work and our tree is going up, fingers crossed before she arrives because I have to have my tree and Christmas decor up!  This is going to be such a special Christmas after all. 

But to the main point of this post, 12 dates of Christmas! Dating your spouse is so important and 4 years ago we started a tradition called the 12 Dates of Christmas.I worked for Disney at the time, the holidays were crazy and hectic and we didn't get to go home for Christmas so making a big deal of it was important to me. It is my absolute favorite holiday! I always knew when we had kids we would include them in some dates and have some just the 2 of us.

This year could be interesting with a newborn, and we will more than likely not be going out for any of these dates and may not even complete 12 of them, but I am determined to make some happen this year,but we always have dates that are at home dates anyways. The Holidays can be a hectic time, traveling, holiday parties etc... This is a great way to make sure to stay close in the season, not become overwhelmed and keep within the reason for the season. 

I love trying to make a big deal of at home dates. Like making shaped pizzas when we put up our tree, themed dinners to certain movies etc.... Below are some ideas of what you can do: 

1. Putting up the Christmas tree
2. Holiday Beer tasting 
3. Going to pick out the Christmas tree (we don't get a real tree currently but I will one day) 
4. A Christmas show/ performance 
5. Church Christmas Service
6. Gingerbread house
7. Movie Marathon 
8. At home date night with a TV Christmas special 
9. Reading of the story of Jesus Birth to the kids on Christmas Eve ( new tradition we will start in our house this year, even though she won't understand) 
10. Movie theme night ex: Polar Express with hot cocoa, pajamas and cookies 
11. Baking Christmas Cookies 
12. Driving Around to look at Christmas lights 
13. Christmas themed weekend getaway
14. Christmas Shopping
15. Shopping for an Angel Tree Child or some way to give back
16. A concert - last year we did Garth Brooks it's wasn't Christmas themed but that's ok
17.  Trip to see Santa 
18. Ice Skating 
19. Christmas Eve Church service 

Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite dates!

There are so many more things you could come up with depending on things going on in your town. When we lived in Florida and worked for Disney the possibilities were endless. It's just important to not lose the true meaning of Christmas in all the hustle and bustle and spend real meaningful time with your spouse and family. Make it a great season of thankfulness and giving, and stay tuned for some post of what Christmas dates we make happen this year!

Tasty Tuesday! Pumpkin Overnight Oats!

Easy breakfast are the way to go, and overnight oats are one of the best! They take about 2 min to put together the night before and then in the morning all you do is grab from the fridge and enjoy! This was one I found on Pintrest and just changed up a bit. It called for less almond milk but the oats were so thick it was hard to eat so i played with the right portions. I also think it all has to do with the brand of greek yogurt you use as they all have different consistencies. We use so much of it I typically by the Costco brand. 


These are the perfect fall breakfast, but I have some great recipes for spring and summer that are great too! The best part for me about overnight oats is the ingredients are staples I keep in my house, and are clean breakfast treat.

So here is what you need for this recipe:

3/4 cup of old fashioned oats
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tbs of non fat Greek yogurt
2 tbs of pumpkin purée
1 tbs of stevia
1tsp of pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin pie spice
Cinnamon


In a small bowl mix almond milk, yogurt, pumpkin purée, stevia, a dash of pumpkin pie spice and a dash of cinnamon. Add your oats, stir and cover, then place in fridge overnight. Chia seeds also work fantastic in overnight oats I just didn't have any too add in. 

In the morning grab from the fridge, stir and your breakfast is ready! 

Missing My Old Kentucky Home

One of my favorite spots and my husbands also in the fall is going home to Kentucky to Keenland in Lexington. Kentucky is where my husband and I both grew up, it's our home and always will be even though we have lived there in over 7 years, and such a beautiful place. It really is one of those places that gets in your blood and will always be there. You really respect the place you grew up, it's heritage and so many things you took for granted when you move away.  

I'm  missing Keenland this  year, and it gets an extra weekend for Breeders Cup today which is a race that's pretty cool to experience in person. My husband took me several years ago when it was at Churchill Downs in Louisville and it was a cold but fun day. However there is just something about Keenland. It's just so beautiful, and I enjoy it more than  Churchill, and  I spent a year working there doing a marketing internship during college. 

Last year we spent my 30th birthday there ( the pictures are from that trip) , it was great to celebrate with friends from home, North Carolina and one of my Disney best friends  for the closing weekend. Even more fun to introduce people who had never been. 

It's the beauty of watching the horses walk the paddock, the old stone everywhere. Watching the artist sit and paint. Tailgating with friends, betting on races and enjoying the beautiful fall foliage. 

Keenland only races twice a year for Spring and Fall meet and it's worth a trip to Kentucky! Even better hit the bourbon trial while your there too. Woodford Reserve is only about 15-20 min away and one of my favorite distilleries and my favorite bourbon.  The drive out there in the fall is beautiful. Stop and have lunch at Wallace Station. It's always busy and worth the wait! 

Today I'll enjoy the Breeders Cup and Keenland from afar and watch the races on TV.  We can not wait to take our little girl there one day, and hope she enjoys the ponies as much as her daddy and I do!