For 2: Pioneer Woman Sandwich and Coleslaw

Stating that The Pioneer Woman is a good cook is like stating Rafael Nadal is good at tennis (ha, take that John Isner…sorry if you don’t tweet or follow tennis, that made no sense, but I do and I thought it was funny) Last night I made the Marlboro Man sandwich Pioneer Woman’s Way and it did not disappoint; it was freaking good! The cube steak, onions, peppers, mushrooms, Tabasco, cheese, and Worcestershire sauce were the perfect combination of savory goodness on a hoagie roll! I am not even going to attempt to rewrite this recipe and tell you how to do it, because I did it exactly how she says (but divided by 4, I have an inkling of self control) and she has a great step by step procedure on her blog so click on over and check it out. And if you don’t know who Pioneer Woman is– like the best food blogger ever - you really need to click over and check it out!

What I do want to talk about is Coleslaw, it was our side dish last night. I love coleslaw, specifically Fresh Express Angel Hair Coleslaw (NO CARROTS – carrots do not belong in my coleslaw) and Marie’s coleslaw dressing. That is how I like my coleslaw, straight out of a bag and bottle, no cutting cabbage, no mixing a dressing – and yes I know, there are better ways…blah blah…I haven’t tried one that I like as much as this way. The one thing I do always have a hard time with is the proportion. Like how much cabbage to dressing…I just can’t seem to master it. How do you make your coleslaw? What is your portion of cabbage to dressing? Do you make it all from scratch? Any recipe you would like to share?

Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Side note – FreshExpress nor Marie nor Pioneer Woman know me – I just like their food!

For 2: South West Chicken Salad

I am lucky enough to have a husband who is fine with eating a salad for dinner, as long as it includes meat and cheese as toppings.  I am totally fine with this because everyone needs protein and who doesn’t love cheese!  So considering our apartment currently looks like an episode of Hoarders (crazy, train wreck obsession show) I needed to make a quick, easy dinner so that I could concentrate on the more important task of organizing the wedding gifts, newly moved in boy mess, and general disaster that is now our life and get the apartment looking like a home…Enter South West Chicken Salad.  

 

Finished Product, topped with Fritos!  YUM!

I am Married!

So, I know I haven't blogged in like basically forever...but I have a good reason.  I was planning my wedding!  And it was worth it; I really had the most fun I have ever had in my life! Now that it is over and I have spent a week in St. Lucia eating so much that I probably gained back every pound I lost for the wedding, I will be back to cooking, recipe writing, and posting! 

If you happen to be incredibly intersted in my life, for now you can check out the wedding pics on my fabulous photographer Melissa's blog  She posts some favorites, but the slide show has all of the absolutely fabulous photos!  And if have three hours to kill are really interested you can see all 826 amazing photos here.

Sorry if you think I am incredibly vein; I guess this post is, but I feel like its the one time in my life I can be!

Have an awesome day and I promise at least one recipe this week - if not two! 

I promise Hayley I really, really will do it!

Sincerely loving food, I mean my husband,
Lainey

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP CASSEROLE: for 2

I love a good casserole, especially if I assemble it when I have a lot of time and then bake it off for a quick week night dinner when I’m in a time crunch. Last week I saw a recipe for Chicken Soup Casserole on the tasty kitchen blog that I knew I had to try…I mean I love chicken soup and I love casseroles so HELLO – sounds perfect! And man was this delicious and simple. The recipe called for boiled chicken, but honestly I just can’t do boiled chicken…looking at it while it’s boiling just kind of grosses me out and I feel like it doesn’t have any flavor. So I baked my chicken after I sprinkled it with dried Italian herbs and it worked great. Also, the recipe said bake in a 9x13 pan, and well let’s be honest that’s a little bit, ok a lot a bit too much food for 2 people, so I baked half of it in a 9 inch pie pan and froze the other half to bake next week some time. HOORAY – 2 easy dinners! With some roasted broccoli, it was the perfect meal. This recipe is really a great starter, you can use any veggies you like and omit any that you don’t; next time I'm adding some sliced mushrooms. Hope you like it!

Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Deep Fried Eggs

Last week Jessica, at The Novice Chef, wrote about a fried egg. You are all thinking yeah, yeah big freaking deal I can go to Waffle House any minute of the day (literally) and get a fried egg, big deal. But NO, this is not a fried egg like you are thinking this egg is soft boiled, cooled & peeled, breaded & DEEP FRIED! Yeah that’s right deep fried. I commented on her post and said my wedding is in however many days so I will have this immediately after that since I am trying to eat healthy. Well Yeah Right…I made it all the way to Saturday, a solid 5 days after I wrote that. Will power – not so much. Worth it – totally! Breakfast was complete with sausage patties and hashbrowns, completely off the healthy train (however incredibly delicious). But, the meal did keep me full until dinner time so maybe that sort of cancels out…and a word to the wise, recruit a sous chef to help peel the eggs, it is nice to have the extra set of hands!
Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

 

Shoplifting at the Grocery Store?

This blog post isn’t totally about food; maybe more about ethics but I just can’t help myself….I really want to hear some other peoples ideas. On Sunday the FH and I were at the grocery store and I totally saw a guy stealing food. At first I was shocked and then I was very intrigued; I wondered, “is he homeless, is he starving, does he get a rush from sticking oranges in his pockets?” and I guess that is the other thing about it…he wasn’t stealing Doritos or Beer, he was stealing healthy food. I know I saw him put a protein shake, an orange and a banana in his pockets. My internal dialogue, “should I tell on him, why is it my place to rat him out, what if he is starving and really needs this food?” He was very “good” at it; I don’t think anyone saw him but me (and then the FH after I told him) yeah these are my detective skills coming out. As we were paying he just strolled out of the grocery and when we were headed to the parking lot we saw him on a bike, cycling away…Now 2 days removed I am still not sure what I think about this. He did look like he needed a shave and his clothes were very ratty, but I am not convinced he couldn’t afford the food. Also I don’t know why I am “justifying” his stealing because starving is not a shop lifting excuse…obviously, stealing is wrong and he shouldn’t have been doing it, but what if he really was starving? Should I have told on him (I know it’s like I’m in 3rd grade), should I have offered to help him? Am I absolutely ridiculous for still thinking about this 2 days later? Well let’s hear it…what would you have done? Why? And feel free to tell me I am crazy for thinking about this…I don’t know why I was so intrigued in the first place, its sort of like Sister Wives, I don’t know why I couldn’t stop watching but I just couldn’t…

Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey

Monday, Breakfast, Fried Eggs...

This weekend the FH and I tried out a new breakfast place, The Social House, on Atlanta’s West side. We have been driving past this place for years and I am so glad we finally tried it. I had fried chicken with a blue berry waffle, (yes chicken and waffles – its very Atlanta) and the FH had the country fried steak biscuits. I had cheese grits and he had hashbrowns, we are meant for each other...that way we both get to try the 2 sides items!  Our meals were awesome, the drinks were refilled regularly and are looking forward to a return to this place to try out their pancakes, eggs Benedict, the list goes on and on. 

Yesterday afternoon I put together this Chicken Soup Casserole that I am going to bake for dinner tonight. I will let you know how it turns out. Additionally I tried my hand at this fried egg this weekend and holy moly it was so good!!! I will post on that later in the week too.

So to wrap it up – one day a deep fried egg and one day chicken and waffles – I didn’t really hit healthy out of the park this weekend…but it was the first weekend of the NCAA’s so I had to celebrate. Now it’s Monday and back on the diet train. Did you eat anything crazy good this weekend? What’s your favorite breakfast?

Sincerely Loving Food,
Lainey