Happy Thanksgiving

photo weheartit.com

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I just wanted to stop by and wish you guys and wonderful holiday! I hope you get to spend it with family, friends, or just whoever puts a smile on your face! This will be my first holiday that I will be spending with my boyfriend and his family. He says they go all out with the food, eeek maybe no skinny jeans today? ;)

Thank you so much for taking time of your day to visit me, it really does mean the world to me :)

xoxo, kat

 


Surf & Turf Thanksgiving: Garlic Shrimp with Basil, Tomatoes, and Red Pepper Flakes with Brown Butter Gnocchi

garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes with gnocchi

Yummy! I only have one thing to say, gnocchi is awesome! I can’t believe I waited twenty-something years to try this! Oh why was I deprived of this growing up???

Welcome to part two of my super belated Thanksgiving extravaganza! We had the turf (steak with tomatoes, red onions, and balsamic) and now we have the surf (garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes). Haha, that was such a terrible joke, I’m sorry!

Rather than babble, check out the garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes with brown butter gnocchi below…

INGREDIENTS: gnocchi, shrimp, grape tomatoes, dry white wine, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, s+p

STEP 1: Boil the gnocchi according to package, drain and set aside.

While the gnocchi is boiling, start working on the shrimp. In my opinion, the shrimp takes the most work.

Read the rest of this entry »


Surf & Turf Thanksgiving: Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onions, and Balsamic

steak with tomatoes, red onions, and balsamic

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! Who’s excited for the upcoming Christmas holiday?? Me, me, me, I am!! Christmas is definitely one of my favorite times of the year! I love everything Christmas has to offer from giving/receiving presents, shopping, decorating, gift-wrapping, baking holiday cookies, gingerbread lattes…I can go on and on :)

Thanks to you guys and a few yummy inspirations from across the web, I went for a very non-traditional surf-and-turf Thanksgiving. Whoever came up with the idea of eating meat and seafood together, is a genius! It’s such a great combo.

Oh by the way, did you guys go grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving??? It is a madhouse! I’m not just talking about the herds of new faces at my regular grocery store, but also all the emotions! I admit, I had a bit of a mini-meltdown when my grocery store didn’t have any orzo since my menu was specifically “garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and pepper flakes with orzo”. Sigh, I’m not proud but I wanted everything to be perfect, just the way I had planned. You know what I’m saying, right? Anyways, I settled for gnocchi which also had me worried since I’ve never cooked nor eaten it before. Ahhh, what I thought was going to be a stress-free easy breezy cooking day ended up being a somewhat stressful day. Maybe I hyped it up too much and should of just called it “dinner” and not “Thanksgiving dinner”….

Meanwhile in the kitchen, with my bitch face in tow, we googled how to cook gnocchi (just browned butter, hah!) and whipped up a pretty delicious meal!

Check out Part 1 of my surf and turf Thanksgiving below featuring steak with tomatoes, red onions, and balsamic…

STEP 1: Coat and season both sides with olive oil, Lawry's dried oregano, and pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes prior to cooking.

STEP 2: Meanwhile, chop one red onion and minced three garlic cloves.

STEP 3: Clean and wash two large tomatoes...

remove the center and dice the tomatoes.

STEP 4: In a large bowl, combine the onions, tomatoes, garlic, basil. Drizzle in some balsamic and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

STEP 5: Cook steak and set aside for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice on a diagonal.

STEP 6: Spoon the tomatoes and onions over the steak. Serve.

This is such a quick and pretty way to jazz up steaks! All the flavors go so well together. I love doing this! Do you have any ways that you do to pretty your steak? :)

Stay tune for the garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and pepper flakes with gnocchi!

xoxo, kat

ps. Did you vote in my waffle cook-off? The winning waffle will me announced on Friday. I hope you all choose mine, hehe :)

Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onions, and Balsamic (via Skinny Taste)

serving size: more than enough to cover two medium-sized steaks

  • steak + seasonings of your choice for the steak (Lawry’s, pepper, dried oregano)
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh herbs
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions:

  1. Coat steak with olive oil and season generously with Lawry’s, dried oregano, and fresh ground pepper on both sides. Set aside for 10 minutes prior to cooking. Cook steak using preferred cooking method. Set on a plate and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.
  2. In a large bowl, combine onions, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Let onions sit a few minutes with the salt and balsamic to mellow a bit.
  3. Combine with tomatoes and fresh herbs and adjust seasoning if needed.
  4. Slice steak on a diagonal; top with tomatoes and serve.

Happy Thanksgiving

photo pinterest.com

This year I have so much to be thankful for! I want to give a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that has stopped by to read she cooks, he eats. It means the world to me! This foodie blog of mine has made me so happy in the last five months. Never in a million years would I ever of thought to blog, let alone write about food. So funny how life is sometimes, right? :)

I’m also thankful for my wonderful parents, as much as they drive crazy I still love them. And my amazing boyfriend, he’s my everything. No matter how many times I give him the “I’m a control freak and it has to be done how Martha would do it” bitch face in the kitchen, he’s always there to calm me down, give me a hug and say “I love you”. Moments like that, I remember and cherish. I love you!

What are you thankful for this year? Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving filled with laughs and new memories! :)

xoxo, kat

 


gobble gobble, problem solved!!

After reading all of your wonderful comments and listening to your suggestions, I have decided to go for a very non-traditional surf and turf menu for our Thanksgiving mini-feast, yay! I am so excited to get cooking today!

While making this menu, I had a few necessary requirements. It had to be something that’s fresh, light, and not heavy since I know we’ll be consuming all that heavy starchy goodness come turkey day.

Check out what I have planned for our pre-Thanksgiving mini-feast à la surf and turf!

Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onions, and Balsamic (recipe here):

grilled flank steak with tomatoes, red onion, and balsamic || photo skinnytaste.com

Garlic Shrimp with Basil, Tomatoes, and Pepper Flakes with Orzo (recipe here):

garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and pepper flakes || photo seriouseats.com

And for dessert, my apple crumble!  Speaking of that…I can’t seem to remember my apple crumble recipe!! I’ve made it so many times too…so sad. Don’t you just hate when that happens? Hopefully, that light bulb in my head turns on soon!

So what do you guys think?! What I love about this is that it’s simple, easy, and totally stress-free. And of course, someone (wink wink) will be in charge of  steak cooking duties and chopping that pesky onion! :)

Oooh I better get started on my grocery list! Ahhh, I have never gone grocery shopping the day prior to Thanksgiving before! You think it’ll be chaos? Hehe. Just out of curiosity, when did you start grocery shopping?

For you twosomes dining sans family this Thanksgiving, what’s on your menu? Ps, I think of us as a tiny family of two. So don’t fret, celebrate!!! :)

Happy pre-Thanksgiving and good luck braving those grocery aisles!

xoxo, kat


Thanksgiving For Two? Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma…

photo pinterest.com

This week I plan on making a tiny Thanksgiving mini-feast for two before we head home to celebrate the holidays with our respective families.

One of my biggest challenges (when it comes to cooking at least) is that I always end up cooking for a big family of four, it always ends up being too much food for the two of us. Sure, it’s not an entirely bad thing because we get to eat leftovers for the rest of the week. But since we’re leaving, I think it’s best to keep it minimal and try to avoid having any leftovers (if possible).

Soooo what’s a girl to do?? I myself, am not too fond of turkey or the holiday ham. In fact, for the past few Thanksgivings my dad will roast a chicken for me.

I was actually thinking of making a tiny roast chicken for the two of us, but then realized I would have to touch giblets (gasp!) and learn how carve beautifully like Martha Stewart. I’ve never carved anything before, and I can totally imagine it being such a sloppy mess! If it isn’t pretty, I won’t serve it. I’m a perfectionist. I’m a mini-Martha in training. I envy how prim and neat she is. I adore that woman! :)

Since I made a pretty awesome baked chicken dish last week, it seems a bit redundant to serve another chicken dish… At least in my opinion.

Sigh…I’m actually thinking of doing something completely nontraditional, and do surf and turf since there were a bunch of yummy seafood recipes that caught my eye. Yay or nay??

Any other suggestions for me? How would you guys do Thanksgiving if it’s just for the two of you? What’s on your menu plan for the week?


Keep Calm and Gobble On: Desserts

One of the many reasons why I love the holidays is because of all the fun festive sweets that I get to eat! Also, I am a total sucker for theme desserts! Aren’t we all at one point or another? :)

I love scouring the internet for fun recipes when the holidays roll around. It’s a great way to get inspired and motivated to try new things.

Check out some yummy festive sweet finds for this Thanksgiving holiday…

Twig Mini Caramel Apples (recipe here):

twig mini caramel apples || photo allysonbakerdesign.blogspot.com

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats (recipe here):

peanut butter rice crispy treats || photo gimmesomeoven.com

 Pilgrim Hat Cookies (recipe here):

pilgram hat cookies || photo tasteofhome.com

Caramel Pumpkin Pie (recipe here):

caramel pumpkin pie || photo epicureanmom.com

Aren’t these just some of the cutest dessert ideas?! My personal favorite is the twig mini caramel apples. I love it because it’s so not in your face Thanksgiving lol.

Happy gobbling!

xoxo, kat


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