Trader Joes Goodness

Even a tired working gal can appear a culinary wizard thanks to Trader Joes and it's lovely frozen food section!  Tuesday, I wanted to pick up something quick for dinner {as well as some cheapo fresh flowers to subside the stress of the work week and make our home look pretty}so I scooted over to the nearest Trader Joes to pick up said items.  Perusing through the many choices in the frozen section, I discovered two new favorites for a heavy h'ordeuvre type dinner for two.  Sometimes we need a quick bite for supper without a lot of fuss and sometimes I down right don't feel like putting on my ole really cute apron.  And I {along with my kitchen sink and cookware}can breathe a sigh of relief because it is perfectly okay, if not preferable at certain times, to break out the frozen stuff! Especially when its this good and there are so many items to choose from.

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a few of Trader Joe's appz so I'll give a quick shout out to those first...their Mini Beef Tacos and Coconut Shrimp.  For the Coconut Shrimp, we like the Thai Chili sauce and cocktail sauce for dipping and of course salsa for the mini tacos. I must say, these are both great choices to keep in your freezer for a simple quick dinner, a random, little impromptu cocktail party or even for a bigger planned event like a bridal shower. Big flavor for a cheap price...you can't beat that these days. Especially when you can wash it all down with some of Trader Joes' "Two Buck Chuck" which retails at $2.47 a bottle!  Thats right! $2 my friends!
    

And now, for the most recent faves. The Mandarin Orange Chicken and the Parmesan Pastry Pups.  So good!  The chicken, you can serve alongside brown rice or a veggie stir fry for a bigger meal.  We just enjoyed the chicken by itself this time.  If you're serving these for a crowd, prepare more and place on a big white platter and scatter some fresh green chives or other herbs around for a pop of color.

The Pastry Pups, well let me just say, these ain't the pigs-in-a-blanket that your accustomed to {even though those are pretty good in their own right}. These are super yum and flakey and flavorful.  Loved by men and women alike which is another huge plus.  I always enjoy a one to two bite appetizer and this one is perfect and dainty, yet filling.  Serve with dijion mustard or coarse grain mustard for an extra kick.

Obviously if you serve this chicken at a dinner party, etc, you'd want to wipe off the excess sauce around the bowl so as not to have it looking messy. Or you can use the ever easy go-to method of keeping it warm in a crockpot for a larger shindig. Dylan and I were super hungry so no fancy serving technique done here. We just chowed down!  : )

Tonight after work, we're looking forward to attending Roswell's first Alive After Five of the season!

I'll post more on that soon...

Happy Thursday! One day closer to the wkend.

Weekend Update: Sometimes You Need...

A Braves Game and a Gumby sighting

So random!

A Sunday Night Enchilada and Nachos Dinner

A Red Rose

Much to our amazement, this beauty made an appearance in our front yard
Hopefully the first of many!

A Sleepy Kitty

A New Project

To be used in guest room as a vanity.  I'm painting this little guy white
and replacing the drawer knob.  Cheapest ever Goodwill find!

A Finished One

The infamous deer head as scene before {here}. 
Dylan hates it but of course I love it!

A Home Grown Veggie

The first three little potatoes from our garden!

First onions! Although, one of them looks quite pitiful : )

A Purple Teacup

Cute idea if you need extra jewelry storage. 
I'll use this as well as my trusty ole deer head!
Yet another Goodwill find. 

Deer Head Decor

Admittedly, this is an odd post but I felt the need to share regardless.  Deer Head Decor.  The ever growing, popular trend in home decor as of late.  My husband and most of the people in my family for that matter {except Leah~she knew exactly what I was referring to}, think I'm crazy to want a deer head on a wall in my house.  I'm not talking the kind of taxidermy deer head from a south georgia kill, I'm talking an elegant heavy set of antlers or a dainty white lacquer spray paint kind.  I'm sure whoever is reading this is either laughing or scratching their head right now in disbelief.  I'm serious though!  Its so fashionable right now that stores are selling these things for big "bucks!"  Pun intended.

Well, friends, I will not be paying a penny for one because I was lucky enough to find one in an old building on our land down south.  The real deal, folks, an old deer head with antlers in tact! And the best part, for free!  We named him George.  Long story but my neices thought it was funny and so did I : )

I spent a few moments every free chance I had flipping through Southern Living and House Beautiful magazine in my quest to show my family over Easter that this is, in fact, super chic and that I am not crazy!  I intend to prove my husband wrong and show him that my fabulous find at our farm will be lookin' super fly on our wall and not shoved in a closet somewhere.

Here are some examples of this growing trend and one BEFORE pic of my little deer head.  He,
"George," will be getting decorated sometime over the weekend with white shiny spray paint to look similar to this...although this guy is fake...

NOTE: This retails at Z Gallerie for $49.95.  But mine...FREE!

Picture {via}

Picture {via}.  Love the chevron stripes here too!

Picture {via }

  And these are just some examples of this fun new trend!  And now for the BEFORE of my deer head.  I stress that word because he's a bit scary without the spray paint! I'll post an after pic on my weekend updates post next week. 

Enjoy your Friday!  I am taking the day off work to enjoy good times with good friends at the Braves game home opener. Go Bravos!!!

Dover Sole with Spicy Mayo and Pickles

As promised to my dear friend, Whitney, here's my experience with a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's book My Father's Daughter.  It was certainly yummy but as usual I have some slight alterations.  Gwyneth uses plain breadcrumbs {probably to save on calories} but I went all out and used seasoned bread crumbs.  Worth it! Not only because I already had those on hand, but for the flavah too! : ) Only other slight change I would make next time is to cook more of the Dover Sole or have the Fishmonger slice it a bit thicker.  Even though I'm on the portion control kick, this is very light and flakey fish so you do actually need more of it to fill the baguette.

Give it a shot!  Great recipe for a low key weeknight in.  Serve with her homemade "No-Fry Fries" {recipe found here and in her book} or a salad.  We went for the fries...ooops for the Svelte Quest 2012 last night! I'll walk/run it off with Abbey today.  No biggie since they aren't technically fried. 

I'll begin with the fries since that takes the most time. 

No-Fry Fries
*Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Peel potatoes then slice as directed and put into bowl of cold water

Take out the sliced potatoes and dry them well on a hand towel

*Place on baking dish with wire rack, drizzle fries with olive oil and sea salt and pop into oven.  Stir occasionally throught the 25 minute cook time.  Keep them on warm in the oven until fish is ready.

Dover Sole with Spicy Mayo and Pickles

Ingredients:

o 3 fillets Dover sole, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels

o 1 cup milk

o 1 cup plain bread crumbs mixed with 1 teaspoon each coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper  {I used seasoned}

o 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

o 1 lemon

o 1 baguette, cut in half lengthwise

o 1 cup loosely packed baby arugula  {I used romaine hearts}

o 1/2 cup bread-and-butter-pickle coins {on Dylan's side I used dill}

                    Spicy Mayo

o 1 1/2 tablespoons ketchup

o 1 cup Vegenaise {I used regular low fat mayo}

o 1 1/2 tablespoons Lee's Homemade Sriracha {a MUST for this recipe}



Prepare Spicy Mayo first. Note: I used regular mayo instead of vegenaise.
Mix all these together and refrigerate until ready to build the sandwich.





Put pan on stove with olive oil.  Assembly line for the fish. 
Dredge Dover sole into milk then into breadcrumbs then into pan. Cook 2 mins on each side.

While the fish cooks, assemble sandwich.  Cut baguette and scoop out some of the
bread to make a little well for the fish.  Spread spicy mayo, layer romaine hearts and pickles on one side.
Spread more spicy mayo and layer the cooked fish on the other side of the sliced baguette {below}

*Serve on a white platter with half a lemon. If you're serving this dish at a dinner party, I would also sprinkle some dried herbs around the plate or a use a big sprig of fresh parsley for a colorful garnish.





Serve fries alongside and extra spicy mayo for dipping.  Flip lettuce and pickle side
of baguette onto fish side and cut baguette in half {we were too hungry so no pic of the flip!} and ENJOY!