Friendsgiving

Hello loves.

I get kind of overwhelmed around Thanksgiving. Not a bad kind of overwhelmed... It's the good kind. The kind of overwhelmed that makes my head spin with all the things I have to be thankful for. Our family always goes around the table and says one thing we're thankful for. Does your family do that? There's a problem with this every year, because HOW am I supposed to pick just one?! Despite my "dilemma," it's still a beautiful tradition of which I adore. It makes me smile real big.

One thing I cannot seem to say enough this year is how incredibly thankful I am for my friends. They are the BEST. As I entered my 26th year of life last August, having just started nursing school, I never would have imagined that we would be here today. Now I'm 27, we all graduate in May, and we're closer than ever. We're a close-knit group. The kind of group of friends I've always wanted, but never really had. They're always there for me. We have each other's backs. We tell each other everything. And I'm pretty sure they've seen me at my worst, ugliest, and goofiest moments and they still like me. Anyway, I still don't know what I did to deserve it, but...{*sigh*}...I'm just thankful.

SO, in light of this lovely group of girls I call my besties, I decided to host a "Friendsgiving" potluck Dinner this year. I figured we'd all have plenty of the traditional Thanksgiving menu items as we celebrated with our respective families, so we went a different way with the menu... This is what we came up with:

Pre-Dinner cocktail:
Crisp apple cider mimosas

Main Dish:
Herb-roasted pork tenderloin with savory-sweet fig sauce

Sides:
Fall salad with mixed greens, pomegranate arils, apple, pear, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette
Traditional creamy squash casserole with bacon
White truffle asiago mashed potatoes
Crusty french bread

Desserts:
Raspberry almond crumble bars
Salted caramel pear cheesecake

Post-Dinner cocktail:
Iced cinnamon apple pie cocktail with brown sugar rim


Is your mouth watering yet? It is? I thought I saw you drooling.
On that note... We had a great time, which is really a massive understatement. Here are some pictures of the event:

Stay tuned: I'm sharing my Salted Caramel Pear Cheesecake recipe on the next post. 'Till then, enjoy your Thanksgiving, count your blessings, and spend time with your loved ones. OH, and eat some delicious food. Please don't forget to do that. Ciao!

Stuffed Chicken & Cinnamon Banana Bread. Not to be eaten together.

Hello out there.

Aren't you happy it's Friday? I'd be willing to bet you are. I'm happy for you! Weekends are the best. Since I'm in nursing school, and I have clinical rotations on Saturdays, today is actually my "Tuesday," and Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my "weekends," which makes tomorrow my "Hump Day!," which gives me another reason to be happy. That was beyond confusing, so let's move on. 

Last night, I cooked with/for a couple of my best friends, Caroline and Misty. Caroline prepared a delicious and creamy Butternut Squash Soup, which we decided was a little closer to a bisque than a soup. I practically inhaled it, and it paired oh so divinely with my Cheddar & Spinach-stuffed, Cajun Panko-encrusted Chicken {I realize that recipe title is way too long, but that's just how it's gotta be}. Here's a picture of our meal:

Doesn't that just make you wish you could jump through your computer screen and taste the yummy goodness??

Anyway, I adapted the chicken recipe from this one. Please make this. Please. It's so delicious. You could make it exactly like the recipe tells you, or you could make these changes like I did (either way, it's a win-win situation):

1. I used a shredded Sargento mix of cheddar cheeses, since my local Kroger was out of shredded pepper jack. You could really use any shredded cheese you have in your fridge.

2. I did not brush the chicken breasts with olive oil before breading. I just didn't think it was necessary. Either that, or I may or may not have just forgotten this step, and didn't want to admit it. The chicken turned out fine. 

3. I replaced the breadcrumbs with panko. I love panko. It added a perfect texture to the outside of the chicken, in my opinion. So I think you should definitely try it! But again, it's delicious either way.

That's it! Now you're going to make it right? ("YES!" is the correct answer here.).


The other recipe I'm playing with today is a Cinnamon-Swirl Banana Bread. 
Bananas? Good. Bread? Good. Cinnamon? Goooood. (If you can name what TV show I'm referencing, you will make me very proud, and we should be friends. That is all.)

I adapted this recipe from here. There's lots of wonderful recipes from this blog, so if you have some extra time, do some browsing. 

I'm going to walk you through the changes I made. The only reason I made any changes at all is because I doubled this recipe, so I could put it into 3 smaller disposable loaf pans, instead of one big one. I needed one loaf for the new neighbors (can't wait to meet them!), one loaf for my nursing school clinical group brunch potluck tomorrow, and one for Dennis and me. {It's baking as I type, and the smell is intoxicating, by the way.}

So, here it is.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Ingredients: 

5-6 overly ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 tsp vanilla (I'm a vanilla fiend. if you're not into it as much as I am, cut it in half)
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour 3 disposable loaf pans (the ones I got from Kroger were 8 x 3 7/8 in) Or do like I did, and use Pam Baking spray. It was easier. As she states in the recipe, you could really use any size loaf pan, and adjust the amount of ingredients and cooking time as needed.

2. Mix the bananas, butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking soda on top of banana mixture. Then gently stir in the flour. Be careful not to overmix!

3. In a small dish, mix together the 2/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. 

4. Add 1 cup of batter to each loaf pan, and gently spread to even out. Then, sprinkle about 1/8 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter in each pan. It's a pretty hefty layer of cinn-sug, so if it looks like too much, you're doing it right. 

5. Proceed to add about 1/2 cup of batter to each pan on top of the cinnamon mixture. Divide evenly until all the batter is used up. 

6. Then, sprinkle another 1/8 cup of cinnamon sugar on top of the batter in each pan again. 

7. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes, turning halfway (if your oven bakes as unevenly as mine). a toothpick inserted all the way should come out with only a few crumbs.

Holy yum, batman.

Sweet Baked Acorn Squash {with a hint of spice} For Two

HI GUYS.

Well, since I'm still recovering from Halloween weekend, I'm keeping dinner somewhat simple tonight, just using what I have on hand. I bought a random acorn squash about a month ago, and I decided it was time to use it. 

So here's a fun secret: I've never baked acorn squash. I'm not even completely sure I've tried acorn squash before. Possibly in the form of cream-laden soup from some chain-y bakery restaurant in the past, but I'm pretty sure that's the extent of it. So, you get to accompany me on my maiden voyage while I attempt to cook this delectable Fall dish. Don't you feel honored? I knew it. 

I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I LOVE HER RECIPES. Glad I got that off my chest. I use an amazing app called Paprika to archive all of my recipes {If you don't have it, and you love to cook, GET IT}, and I'm pretty sure I've saved almost every single one of her recipes to my collection. 

This is her original "Delicious Baked Acorn Squash" recipe found here.

Only I changed a few things to match my taste...

First of all, I halved it, because I'm only cooking for my husband and me. Also, the Pioneer Woman uses butter {bless her}, but I chose to use coconut oil to keep it a little more healthy diet-friendly. I also chose to add some spice, because salty/sweet/spicy is literally my favorite flavor combination EVER. 

So here it is... my adapted recipe. Hope you like it!



Sweet Baked Acorn Squash {with a hint of spice} For Two:

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash
dash salt
dash cayenne pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil, divided
1 tbsp brown sugar, divided
drizzle of maple syrup (about 1/2 tsp or less)
2 cups water


How To:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Slice squash in half. Scoop out seeds and stringy pulp. 

3. Place flesh-side up on rimmed baking sheet, like so.

4. Sprinkle each half with salt, followed by cayenne pepper.

5. Add 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil to the center of each half, followed by 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar.

6. Drizzle each half with maple syrup.

7. Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil.

8. Place in oven for 30 minutes. 

9. Remove foil. Bake another 30 minutes, or until squash is golden.

10. If you want, turn the broiler on for the last 5 minutes of cooking to get a beautiful deeper golden squash for a pretty presentation. Or not. Your call. 


I'll be serving this tonight with garlic parmesan tilapia filets and a side of fresh, savory broccoli, oven-crisped, with just a zap of lemon.

Okay, gotta go. My mouth is officially watering. Byyyeeee.

Oops! I'm so hungry, I almost forgot to show you the finished product:

Now take a spoon to it and go to town. I won't judge. 

Turkey Taco Chili

I love Fall. Let me say that again. I LOVE FALL. It's my favorite season, bar none. 

I'm one of those people who... {how do I put this...} is very in touch with my feelings. Yes, I think that's a good way to explain it. And Fall has always given me that warm, cozy, lovely, nostalgic, snuggly feeling inside every year it rolls around. 

When Fall comes, it's time to get a lot of things accomplished. In our house, this to-do list is comprised of the following: Watch A LOT of football, build fires in the firepit, roast marshmallows in said firepit, drink a little beer around same firepit (it's just necessary), raking leaves, possibly proceeding to jump in those piles of leaves (my husband and I are and will always be kids at heart), hosting a Halloween party, eating candy and various baked goods, spending an exceptional amount of time outdoors {OMG it's time to plan our next camping trip!! *insert squeals of excitement*}... OK, I think you catch my drift. The Curtis household loves Fall.

Fall also means it's time to make chili. It's a scientific fact.

That's why I'm presenting you with my favorite chili recipe: Turkey Taco Chili. It's easy peasy, a great source of protein, darn tasty, and bonus - it's fun to say {I'm far too easily amused}. It's also a man-pleaser in my experience. DJ and our group of guy friends all love it. In fact, I will be serving this tonight for dinner before we all go out back to gather around the...you guessed it! Firepit! This Fall-loving, expert mallow-roasting, outdoorsy girl is pretty excited about it. 

Here's the recipe... I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

(**Note: This is pretty spicy, because that's how we like it. If you're not a fan of spice, hold back on the cajun seasoning or red pepper flakes, or both. Play with the spices and do what works best for you!)

You will need:

1/2 cup chopped frozen onion (or you can use 1/2 medium onion, chopped)

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb. ground turkey

2 cans low-sodium tomato soup

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans corn

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans light beer

2 heaping Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1/2 Tbsp garlic salt

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground Jamaican allspice

1 tsp cajun/creole seasoning

1 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions. Sautée 2-5 minutes, or until translucent. Add turkey. Cook until no longer pink. If some pieces are still not completely cooked through, that's okay, since all of this is going into the slow-cooker in a little bit. Set turkey/onion mixture aside on paper towel-lined plate. 

2. Add tomato soup, black beans, corn, kidney beans, and turkey/onion mixture to slow cooker. Pour in about 1 and 1/2 cans of the beer and give it a good stir. Add more if the chili seems too thick. It should look something like this -

- And maybe take a little sip of your own beverage while you're pouring... -

3. Add your spices. Now put the lid on, and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 

4. Serve with some shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream (or greek yogurt is great too), and cornbread on the side. 

Dee. Lish. 

Pilot

Let's just throw this out there: I'm new at this. All of it. 

You know when you're having one of those Fridays at home when you should be studying for your test on Monday, but instead, you procrastinate studying by being incredibly productive in all areas of housekeeping, netflix-watching, and starting new blogs? Thought so. Well, I'm having one of those days. So here you have it... My first blog post. My "pilot" episode. We'll see how this goes ;)

I've actually been wanting to start one of these little blog thingys for awhile. Almost every time I cook, I find myself trying to snap pictures of the whole process, usually in hopes of posting them later and showing off the meal I cooked, while of course paying due credit to the original recipe creator. And I typically have a big cheesy grin {Mmm, cheese...} on my face while doing it. You can ask my husband or my friends, and they'll back me up on that statement. But let's be real. There's only so many instagram photos of food I can post before they start getting...annoying redundant. I think that's the word I'm looking for. So, here it is. I'm doing this. Here goes! Let's do this... OK, I'll stop now. (Can you tell I'm a little nervous?)

So let's talk about the bad news. I'm not cooking anything today. I know, I know. How boring is that? But honestly... How am I supposed to with all the procrastinating I have to do?! But for real y'all, I sadly have not been able to go on my weekly grocery store trip to stock up. And I can't drive right now (Long story. Don't ask.) So, no recipes today. But there's good news! I'll be stocking up sometime in the next couple days. Dennis (AKA DJ, husband, hubs, hubby, hubster...) and I are hosting a Halloween party/birthday party, complete with costumes, next Saturday for my sweet friend Misty. I really couldn't be more thrilled about it {OH. gotta remember to put Thriller on the playlist...}. I'll be making lots of fun recipes in preparation for that. So get pumped for some fun Halloween posts in the near future. In the meantime, have a kick-A weekend if you would. I would truly appreciate that! 

DJ and I will be enjoying our weekend at the movies this evening, and hopefully enjoying some super healthy movie snacks ;) Like Whoppers and Coke ICEEs. Ah, the sugary frosty goodness... Can't wait!

Till next time! Mrs. Curtis, out.