For 2: Mussels with Wine and Cream

I love mussels, like when I see them on a restaurant menu I close the menu because there is no doubt that is what I am getting.  I live in Atlanta, not exactly a sea port, so when I was picking up lunch from the hot bar at Whole Foods the other day and saw the 3 pound bag of cultivated mussels on sale I promptly ditched my previous dinner plans and threw the little guys into my cart.  And, no, you cannot ask why I had a cart since I was just picking up lunch from the hot bar.  With the addition of just a few common ingredients and the mandatory slice of crusty bread dinner was served

Recipe after the jump!
Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Fall Decor

Almost 2 months ago I wrote about Autumn being just around there corner, well now here we are with 50 degree mornings, leaves changing colors and talks of Halloween costumes and parties in the air.  Unfortunately my Yellow Jackets haven't produced on the field the way I hoped they would, but I am very happy with the way my front porch decor came together.

So for now I will take pride in that, oh and the Falcons first 5-0 start in team history!

Right at the front steps I put a mum ($6 at Kroger) Welcome sign ($12 at hobby lobby - last year) a scare girl ($5 at Big Lots - last year) and a pumpkin ($2.50 at Aldi).

I love buying decor at Hobby Lobby and Big Lots - the prices are fantastic and the goods can be reused from one year to the next!

On the front door I hung a wreath I made with some leaves, pumpkins and fall berries I bought at Michael's when they were having a 40% off fall decor sale

Grand total for this was about $13, sure beats that $45+ ones at Pottery Barn!  Have you decorated for fall?  Obviously I go the "cute" route, but I do love driving past the "scary" decorated houses...that reminds me almost time to carve a pumpkin!
Sincerely Loving Food and Fall,
Lainey

For 2: Buffalo Chicken Burgers & Ralph's Birthday Cookout

Just like I said we would, on Friday we grilled out for Ralph's birthday.  It got dark crazy early, silly fall with your early sunset, so my pic is a little dark but we still had tons of fun!  And Ralph can still find the tennis ball even in the dark, so he had fun too - about 2 solid hours of fetch!

The buffalo chicken burgers were tasty, juicy and spicy, but the blue cheese spread cooled them off just enough, and the grilled zucchini strips were the perfect accompaniment. Click "keep reading" below for the burger recipe, and, what is a party without wine?  A pretty lame party in my opinion, so we each had our own bottle, don't judge me it was Friday and a party...Oh and in another effort to keep the party from being lame, there were party hats, or a party hat I guess I should say:

At least for a minute there was...

Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Happy Birthday Ralph!

So maybe it's a little silly, but today is my little Ralphie's birthday and I am so excited!  He has brought so much joy to our lives and I really can't imagine our home without him.  I think the hubs might be a little scared, considering I have made him a birthday hat, birthday cake and bought him a birthday present, of what will happen when we have an actual child, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.  We got Ralph when he was 7 weeks old, the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, but were told that he was born on or around October 5th, so we stuck with that date.  Tonight we are going to grill out while watching the braves game and playing an endless game of fetch to celebrate the little guy hitting the 1 year mark.  Here are some of my favorite pics of him through the last fabulous year!

The  first day we met him, 11/21/11, we had to give him back for a week and wait for him to come live with us, it was so hard! 

The first night he was home with us  

11/28/11

 

One of our first family photos, he was so tired after my Mom's surprise 50th birthday 

12/4/11

 

 How can you not love that face?  

12/10/11

Me and my boy on Christmas Eve with his Christmas bow  

12/24/11

 

Look at all of his Christmas toys - can you say spoiled?  

12/28/11

 

With his favorite toy, which he later tore to shreds, the elephant  

1/30/12

Still his favorite place the ottoman 

3/6/12

The best kitchen helper 

3/24/12

 

In front of our new couch thinking where is my ottoman, don't worry we put it back 

5/3/12

 In the kitchen once again, thinking please drop something 

6/5/12

His first big dog bone

6/16/12

 

With is GT Bandana 

8/12/12

Watching the US Open 

8/29/12

The king of the yard 

9/7/12

Looking forward to many more happy memories!

Sincerely Loving Food & my dog Ralph,
Lainey

For 2: Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Sauce

Rachael Ray claims to make meals in 30 minutes.  Personally, I have never actually been able to pull one of those off in 30 minutes...maybe its because I can't carry as many things at one time as she can, but that isn't the point.  The point is I really did make this dinner in less than 30 minutes and not only was it fast; it was filling, healthy and delicious.  And, I venture to guess it feed me and hubs (with leftovers for my lunch the next day) for less than $10 - yes this might be the healthiest, most cost effective, loaded with the most adjectives recipe I have ever written.  Toot toot - yes that is me, blowing my own horn.  Here is a picture, but like I have said before, I'm not so good at food pics so just remember this tasted way better than it looks!

What is your favorite type of squash?  Mine changes with the season: yellow crocked neck in spring, zucchini in summer and butter nut and acorn in the fall/winter.  This was my first venture with spaghetti squash and I think it has a promising future at least tied with acorn if not elbowing it out for second!
Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Easy, delicious, gasp - Healthy - Chicken Salad

I took this chicken salad, smooshed between 2 slices of bread with a piece of provolone, (times 5 cut into triangles) to my tennis match yesterday and no less than 5 people asked me for the recipe so I figured you all might like to give it a whirl as well.  This is a great version of chicken salad to make for a picnic, tailgate, any outdoor party because there is no mayo, which also makes it more waist line friendly :)   I used roasted red peppers and sun dried tomatoes from a jar because I always have them in my pantry or fridge; they are great ingredients to keep on hand as they both add a whole lot of flavor to any dish while keeping the calories low. 
Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey