What's Cookin'?

Bean Dip

I had this bean dip at a work shower and have been dying to make it ever since. It's one of those dishes that will have everyone asking for the recipe. I love it because its light but very flavorful. It does require a little extra time for chopping but it's well worth it! I finally whipped it up over Memorial Day weekend for an impromptu cookout. Look how colorful!

Here's the recipe:

Salad:
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn (I use shoepeg)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons lime juice (fresh if available)
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (1/4 cup before chopped)
1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 Tablespoon ground black pepper
1 dash hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Combine beans, corn, bell pepper, and onion in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients EXCEPT hot sauce and chili power. Season with hot sauce and chili powder to taste. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.

Chill thoroughly and serve cold. Taste great with Frito's!!

Enjoy!

Weekend Highlights

Healthy Start

Although BBQ Fest and Memorial Day weekend were both fun, I'm starting to see the impact of my eating indulgences on the scale! So, my goal for June is to eat healthier and bump up the exercising. I had a good start this weekend.



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On Friday night, I did the Harbor Town 5K. This is a great race that goes through the Harbor Town neighborhood, a cute little island community downtown.The neighbors cheer you on and I really enjoyed the occasional sprinkler to cool me down. This year, the weather was perfect as the Memphis heat took a little dip after some much needed rain. The race has grown quite a bit since the last time I ran this as I heard there were 1,600 participants this year!



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Lauren & I post race

On Saturday, Lauren and I got together again for a fun bike ride to Overton Park. We checked out the new dog park which I hope to take Juno to soon. It is super nice and well shaded.

I picked up one of these cute watermelons which I would strongly recommend if you haven't gotten one this season. It was nice and sweet! I am a little perplexed as to why there were seeds in a "seedless watermelon" but oh well.

Sunday I exercised at the mall...hehe... I did some much needed shopping to buy some new summer clothes which I'm really excited about. That night we grilled out fish and squash (which I will post soon) and made S'mores. The good thing about this dessert is that it is easy to limit your portions (vs. baking a whole batch of cookies). We stuck to one each.

Have a great week!

BBQ Fest

Last week, the Memphis in May celebration continued on with BBQ Fest. In my book, this is the best event that takes place in Memphis! Hundreds of teams from all over the nation come down to compete. You know the festival is starting when the smell of sweet barbecue starts lingering in the downtown area.It's especially fun for me because my husband is on a team. And it's always entertaining to walk around and look at all the different tents and parties. We stuffed our faces with ribs, barbecue, barbecue nachos, chicken wings and a bunch of other food that's not so healthy but delicious. Here are some pics from the event.



This is our tent





Me with the grill master!



I love this pig grill!! I take a pic with it every year!



Some of the tents get pretty elaborate! I like the double deckers!



Josh's team ended up getting 13th in ribs for their division! Until next year...

Weekend Highlights

This weekend I got a real treat because one of my bff's, Lia, was in town! It was so great to see her since living in different cities limits our time together.

After eating sushi on Saturday, we hit the Collierville Square and shopped around. I came away with no purchases! I love this little square!



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 Later that night, we meet up for a girls night out with my friend Lauren. We were joking that they both have a couple of other really calm friends similar to me and I seem to attract really nutty friends (nutty in a good way of course!!). Needless to say, we had a great time hanging out and I am so grateful to have such entertaining and fun girlfriends:)

By the way, we ate at one my favorite local Midtown restaurants - Sweet Grass. I strongly recommend it if you are in the Memphis area.



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Here is the yummy cheese plate we took down!



On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with my wonderful mom! Here is a little pic comparison of me and my mother - both in our early 30's.

What's Cookin'?

Shrimp Vodka Pasta

So, this was my first time to make this dish and I will definitely add it to my favorites! I don 't cook with shrimp too often so it was a nice little treat. It was pretty quick and easy! Plus, it is a Cooking Light recipe, so it's not too bad at 427 calories a serving.



Ingredients


While the pasta is cooking, all you have to do is just heat up or cook the shrimp (I bought cooked shrimp because my grocery store did not have peeled and deveined raw shrimp). Remove it and saute chopped garlic followed by vodka, marinara sauce, basil, cream and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and then add the pasta and shrimp.

Here's what you get:




Creamy Goodness!



I served the pasta with some garlic bread and a nice butter lettuce and avocado salad.



Recipes
Shrimp Vodka Pasta
Butter Lettuce and Avocado Salad

Tip: The recipe calls for refrigerated fettuccine but my grocery store does not carry. The regular fettuccine works great.

Enjoy!

Weekend Highlights

Sorry this is a little late! The highlight of my weekend was definitely seeing Florence + The Machine live at the  Memphis in May Music Festival! I am kind of obsessed with her right now and she did not disappoint. Plus, this was the best music fest that I've attended as the rain and mud were nowhere to be found.

Sooo....all I had on me was my iPhone, and the only pic that turned out was of me getting a pronto pup!! This was my very healthy dinner::) I really don't even like pronto pups but I was so hungry (hence why I went for the large).

Don't worry, I found this pic from our local paper. Florence sported a cape!


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Some of my favorite songs include:

Kiss with a Fist

Seven Devils

Bird Song

I'm a little bummed that I missed the Kentucky Derby! I was at another bar-b-que practice cook eating my heart out and the boys were all about the NBA playoffs...But, from the images I've found, these are my favorite fashion picks:



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Which leads me to a yummy treat that my friend Lauren brought over on Sunday night. She swears by Blue Bell ice cream! This special edition Kentucky Derby ice cream was great! I'm glad she didn't leave it here or I probably would have finished off by now!



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What's Cookin'?

Cheesy Chicken Rolls! A work friend gave me this recipe when I was in college and she told me - your boyfriend will be coming back for more!! Well, about 8 years have gone by and that boyfriend, now husband, is always requesting it for dinner. If you are in the mood for comfort food, this is a great dish!

Ingredients
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
Crescent rolls
Shredded cheese (I used the casserole mixed cheese)
Cream of chicken soup
Cream of broccoli soup (or use your favorite)
1/2 cup milk (forgot to include it in the pic below)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In the meantime, cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. In a separate pot on medium heat, combine the cream of chicken and cream of broccoli soup. Add about a 1/2 cup of milk and about 4 handfuls of cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, cut up into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill each crescent roll with chicken and roll up. Place in a 9 x 12 dish, pour the soup mixture on top and cover with more shredded cheese (we use about 3/4 of the bag).

Cook for about 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.

And voila! We usually eat it with lima beans.

Enjoy!