Valentines Day

 We always cook instead of going out for Valentines. This year we kept it a little more simple by grilling. I think this was the best idea because Nathan did the grilling and all I had to do was make a side and dessert.

We started by putting this guy in his Valentines pajamas and into bed.

To accompany our Mustard Seed Crusted Burgers and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad was beer from local Throwback Brewery

During Jan-March they are making special batches of dark beer. They call it their Unafraid of the Dark series. I bought this for Nathan for Christmas. For Valentines they featured a beet stout. The color was an amazing burgundy purple. Despite the high sugar content in beets it still tasted like beets and unfortunately I've never liked them so I wasn't a huge fan. 

We hadn't grilled in a while so a burger was a nice change. My favorite was the roasted sweet potato salad. I had come across the recipe on Bon Appetite and wanted to try it because I was tired of all the ways I usually prepare sweet potatoes. It was delicious! I could have eaten the whole bowl myself. 

Homemade Date Night

 So we don't go out to eat much around here but we do try and do something once a week together out of the house even if it's just coffee or ice cream. Nathan works a lot of hours these days so anytime together is nice. So we had $20 (a splurge) and it was a toss up between going out for a cheap date or making our own tasty dinner at home. We opted for our at home dinner date of....

 ...fried pickles for appetizer. Not healthy but yummy and ok on occasion.

 Grilled burger with roasted red pepper, spinach, feta, and balsamic drizzle.

Spinach salad with strawberries, feta and blackberry vinaigrette. 

 

And, of course, Nathans beer. Harpoon Ginger Wheat. I had a taste and it was delicious. 

Grilled Vegetable Cousous Salad

I made this salad about three weeks ago and unfortunately for you I didn't write down any sort of guess on measurements. The great thing is that you can pretty grill your veggies of choice, throw in some cheese and herbs and your done.

I grilled:
red peppers
yellow squash
zucchini
Vidalia onion
chicken

I then chopped everything up in to a medium dice and put it in a large bowl.
I cooked a 10 oz. box of Near East brand plain couscous and after it cooled added it to me veggies and chicken. I then add some feta cheese. Goat cheese would be yummy too.


I didn't have any fresh basil so I used some dried that I had on hand.
I made a simple dressing with balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard.

Toss it all together and your done! An all in one meal that doesn't require you to turn on the oven on those super hot days.

Don't Worry Melissa We'll Do It Again

We have been waiting for Melissa (sister-in-law) to come up for her visit to make this Grilled Vegetable Pizza.
Unfortunately her tip has fallen through the last two times she planned to come. We decided to go ahead and give the pizza a go two weekends ago. It was amazing!


We did not use the crust recipe that Cooking Light used. I made our usual whole wheat crust but if you choose to do this make sure you cut in half. The crust will be took thick and won't cook all the way if you use all of it.


We also used goat cheese instead of fontina.


It's a little more work than your usual pizza but it is worth the extra time and effort. Try it!

Glorious Weather

We had sunny skies and temperatures in the 60's this weekend!!! After having either rain or snow every weekend for the past few months this was a huge treat. Saturday we spent the day outside working on projects and Sunday we grilled out. It was great to sit in the sun and just lay around.




One of the other highlights of the weekend was that we found one of our favorite beers at our local grocery store. We've had this a few times a the Flying Saucer but never found it in the store.

Summer Dinner

I love grilling during the summer! Last time I was visiting Nathan we grilled corn, asparagus, onions and pork. It was sooo yummy!

Sunday Dinner

Sunday (while I was in NC) Nathan and I grilled lamb. It was quite tasty. I wish I had the recipe to share but it was in book that belong to a friend of Nathans so I can't get it. I made lemon couscous to go with the lamb and it all turned out really well. Yummy!