Paleo Pancakes

Also known as two-ingredient pancakes. All you need is two eggs and a ripe banana. Throw them in the blender, cook them in the pan like regular pancakes, and then eat! Pretty simple.

The pancakes come out nice and fluffy - not too eggy or banana-y. Top with syrup or nut butter or just eat them plain. They were a nice change from my typical breakfast of oatmeal. And don't worry, I am not going Paleo just mixing things up in the kitchen. Off to make some more homemade pasta!

Fun Facts Friday

1) Thank goodness for a short week this week. I am so ready for the weekend.

2) I am dreaming of summer and have been eating this salad with strawberries, chicken, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette for lunch everyday this week. Never mind that it is currently snowing.

3) I am making an effort to actually make the recipes I pin on Pinterest. Remember this recipe for kale fried rice I blogged about back in December? I finally made it this week and it was so good.

4) I'm thinking I just might have to make this recipe this weekend. Homemade macaroni. Cheese. Sriracha. What's not to love?

5) Enough talk about food. 

6) I'm loving this song by Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton. I heard it for the first time last weekend and have listened to it way too many times to count this week.

7) We had an event last night and when I got home, I was greeted with this. I love getting fun surprises in the mail and can't wait to read it. Thanks, friend!

8) I added this quick treadmill workout from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life to the routine this week. It is pretty killer but the time flies by.

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9) That's all I have for today.

10) Happy Friday!

Thought on Thursday

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Carried Away

I finally have my Kitchen Aid mixer that I got for Christmas thanks to a special delivery on Sunday. It came with the pasta making attachment and I could not wait to try it. Luckily I had the day off yesterday, so I told my roommates I would make them dinner. I may have gotten a little carried away...

I started making spaghetti and quickly covered very inch of available counter space with drying noodles. Halfway through the dough, I switched to the rigatoni attachment. The rigatoni was much easier to handle. I need to work on my quality control as the noodles ended up different lengths but overall my first pasta making experience was a success!

I had some store bought pesto that I wanted to use but instead of using it straight out of the jar, I decided to make my own version of the Pioneer Woman's Pesto Cream Sauce. I basically just added a few spoonfuls of pesto to some cream and melted butter and threw in some parmesan. You can't go wrong with that combination.

I grilled some chicken on my George Forman and roasted the tomatoes using a recipe similar to this one from Barefoot Contessa.

I wanted to make something for dessert as well. When I told my mom that I was making dinner for everyone, she recommended keeping it simple. I am known for tackling difficult dessert recipes. At first I thought about making this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats but then figured we didn't need two dozen cupcakes in the house. So I decided to go with berries and homemade whipped cream. I used this recipe for the whipped cream and sprinkled shaved semi-sweet chocolate over the top.

Monday night dinner for the win. If only I could spend all day in the kitchen everyday!

Weekend Recap in Photos

Homemade Lo Mein. 

This has become a Friday night staple using whatever I have in the fridge.

#SheReadsTruth Soul Detox and a Green Monster Smoothie.

Detoxing the body and soul.

Hair cut chop.

I think 2013 might be the year of changes.

Another successful hospitality table.

That brie was some of the best I have ever had.

Pho with the bestie. 

Leftovers for lunch.

And a special delivery. 

Pretty good long weekend if you ask me.

Fun Facts Friday

1) How is it already the middle of February? I feel like we just rung in the new year.

2) My pancake supper was a huge hit on Tuesday night. I'd forgotten how good those pancakes are. I need to make breakfast for dinner more often.

3) For Lent, I am giving up time. I've started waking up earlier in the mornings to do my devotional. I thought it would be a big adjustment getting up 20 minutes earlier but for the past three days I've woken up before my alarm. We will see if this continues but it really is a great way to start the day.

4) Chobani came out with smaller containers of new flavor combinations called "Bites." The coffee with dark chocolate is really good. I'm thinking about putting them in the freezer for an after dinner treat.

5) I went to the premiere of Safe Haven on Wednesday night. You can judge me all you want but I loved every minute of it. Now, I really want to visit Southport, NC, or maybe just go home for a weekend.

6) I am also obsessed with the soundtrack and have been listening to it on repeat. You can't go wrong with Gavin DeGraw, Amos Lee, and Ben Howard.

7) I finally jumped on the Spotify bandwagon. I am not quite sure what took me so long.

8) For not liking the day, my Valentine's Day was pretty great: cupcakes in the office, a new cookbook from mom, sweet cards and treats from friends, and dinner with Chloe and Marg.

9) I am very much looking forward to a long weekend this weekend. 

10) Happy Friday!

Thought on Thursday

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Happy Valentine's Day

Shrove Tuesday

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Today is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday. The perfect day for a pancake supper. This is my go to recipe for pancakes or hotcakes, as we call them. It is my grandmother's recipe and is a family favorite. I highly recommend that you make them tonight!

Nellie's Hotcakes 

Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

• Beat egg, milk and oil together in a bowl and set aside.
• Sift together flour and remaining ingredients. Add to egg mixture,  mixing well.
• Drop by spoonfuls into greased electric skillet or griddle at 400 degrees. Brown each side.
• Serve warm with syrup and sour cream.

Yield: 8 hotcakes

What I Baked on Sunday

Valentine's Edition

Brownie Mix Truffles

Even though I am not a fan of Valentine's day, I will use any excuse to spend the afternoon in the kitchen. I'd pinned two different truffle recipes last week and decided to give Kristin's a try. The recipe was super easy and I had a lot of fun making them. The hardest part was waiting for the brownies to cool and having self control while making the truffles. Head on over to Iowa Girl Eats for the recipe and step-by-step instructions.

Happy Birthday, May Lo!

I love you so much!

The Friday Five

1. What I'm Reading:

From Amazon: From the beloved bestselling author of Home Safe and The Year of Pleasures, comes a wonderful new novel about women and men reconnecting with one another—and themselves—at their fortieth high school reunion. As the onetime classmates meet up over the course of a weekend, they discover things that will irrevocably affect the rest of their lives. In this beautiful novel, Elizabeth Berg deftly weaves together stories of roads taken and not taken, choices made and opportunities missed, and the possibilities of second chances.

2. What I'm Eating:

Peach and Mango Salsa from Costco. 

Come on summer.

3. What I'm Listening to:

"More than Miles" by Brantley Gilbert. He is one of my new favorite artists. 

4. What Recipe I'm Bookmarking:

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I just might have to make a pesto pizza for dinner.

5. What Pins I'm Loving:

Happy Friday!

Thought on Thursday

NYC Recap in Photos

I spent the last few days in NYC for work. Here are a few pictures from my trip:

An easy train ride up.

My home for two nights.

A little sight seeing.

A great event in a beautiful venue.

A visit with my aunt and cousins as they prepared for Fashion Week.

A tempting sign to keep heading south.

A successful trip treat.

Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

In case you missed it last night, this was by far my favorite commercial. You might need to grab some tissues before watching.

Fun Facts Friday

1) T.G.I.F.

2) This week has worn me out for some reason. It hasn't even been that busy but I am exhausted. Last night I went to bed at 9 and it was awesome. No Tylenol PM needed.

3) The weather has been all over the place this week. We had a delay on Monday because of freezing rain. Wednesday it was 65 degrees and sunny. Today, it snowed. Pick a temperature mother nature.

4) This happened earlier this week. Gotta love when the boss gets into the wine at work.

5) I added a core conditioning class to my workout routine. The instructor was highly entertaining. He kept telling us our two options were either to make it or die. I'm pretty sure we all wanted to die.

6) We had a visit from this little guy in the office today. Isn't he precious? I could have hung out with him all day.

7) Oh hey, February.

8) I am off to NYC this weekend for work. I'm pretty excited about it. This is just the first stop of many coming up this spring.

9) Happy Friday! Hope you have a great weekend!