Weeknight Dinner Guests

I tell ya what – this has been one busy week so far! 

But not busy enough to keep us from having Fanatic Mom & Dad over for dinner last night

On the menu:

Our new favorite fall inspired salad:

Romaine, sliced pear, dried cranberries topped with a homemade balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette & fresh black pepper.

And yes, I use baby food jars to shake up homemade salad dressings!  Works like a charm

Roasted beets topped with sea salt, black pepper, balsamic vinegar and crumbled feta.

About 1 hour at 375F, wrapped in foil, then peeled and sliced is all you gotta do to get this sweet treat!  I still can’t believe how much I love these roasted beauties

Baked sweet potatoes – served all fancy-like

And finally, the steaks, which were seasoned with sea salt & black pepper then done stovetop using a bit of butter & vegetable oil.

Good night for our grill to decide to stop working… sheesh I tell ya!  But this stovetop method works every time – so good!

And finally… get ready to drool…

Oh yes, the “dessert sampler platter” provided by Fanatic Mom!

Here we have a chocolate cheesecake thing, a chocolate brownie thing, a vanilla/chocolate thing and a lemon thing… no need to get techinical, they were all OUTRAGEOUS!!!!

Perfect ending to a busy Tuesday if you ask me

Do you like being the hostess and having guests over for dinner?  Or would you rather be the guest?

Bet ya’ll know the answer to that for me   I LOVE being the hostess (and cook!!!)

Princess and the Frog!

We’re through with it bloggies!  It’s Monday night, which means superfab TV is on (hmm mmm XOXO?) and the first workday to the week is ov-ah   Cheers to that (no literally, wine in hand now haha)

Thanks for all your wonderful feedback on the slow cooker vs. crockpot post – I am so glad that it was helpful to you friends!

After work I met up with my homegirl Cindy Whitmarsh and used our new exercise space (complete with 1/2″ jigsaw mats throughout, which I love!) to do the Less is More workout… this routine is no joke.  I was sweatin’ it up and it felt great!

Before I got on the workout though, I started on the beets since I knew they needed some time a’roastin!  Same method as last time around, easy peasy.

Who knew that this guy…..

Could turn into this…..

And then even transform into this….

I think we have a case of “Princess and the Frog” here peeps   One sweet kiss from the oven and a lil’ sprucing up and voila, sheer beauty!   Not to mention freaking delicious.

• 3 beets, roasted 1 hour or until tender
• 1 tblsp EVOO
• 2 tblsp balsamic
• black pepper
• 2 tblsp chopped onion
• crumbled feta

Roast beets, peel and chop.  Make dressing with next 4 ingredients and drizzle over beets.  Sprinkle with feta. SO GOOD!

I also roasted some acorn squash for about 40 minutes at 375F, adding cinnamon, brown sugar and maple syrup towards the end.  Seen this one before, yes you say?  That’s ’cause it’s so good and seriously just tastes like straight up fall heaven!

I also used some of the 800 pounds of chicken that I got for dirt cheap chicken from Tom Leonards (4.5lbs for $7 seriously?!) by marinating for a while in this guy

Cook on the stovetop – medium heat to sear each side, add the rest of marinade and turn down heat to medium-low and cover with lid to finish cooking (keeps in the juices and moisture since the stovetop can dry chicken o-u-t!!!)

Then I sliced up the chicken and added back to the juices – this is a lil’ trick from my momma on keeping the meat moist and making sure each bite has mega-flava!! 

‘Twas a good dinner night in this house

Alright friends, I gots to run — time for Gossip Girl in t-minus 10 minutes!!!  And yes, I am 15 years old

Have a fantastic evening and can’t wait to see ya’ll tomorrow!