Good Eats

Another week is in the books of my life up here as a Hoosier. Nothing too exciting has been going on, just more organizing the house and perfecting my housewife-in-training skills. I am definitely enjoying spending the days at home and really getting a feel for my new life up in Indiana. Since we are still settling in we haven't gone out and done too much (other than our lake weekends) but this past Wednesday I ventured out without Nick for a little girls night! 

Sandy and Kayla are two friends of Nick's who I have met in the past and have gotten to know rather well. Sandy and I always kept in touch even when I was still in Florida and it's been really nice having some girlfriends up here already. The two of them try to get together every week or so and do any and all sorts of things and I was thrilled when they invited me to tag along. Typically, the get togethers take place on Wednesday (so they can dub the term White Girl Wednesday) and this week we made our way out to the fair. I'm not really a fair type of gal, but I'm always up for trying something new and figured it would be fun! We ate corn on the cob and shared an elephant ear and a lemon shake-up. I was actually proud of myself for having some self-control of the deep-fried deliciousness that surrounded us. Great night and I already can't wait for next week!

Sandy, Kayla, and myself enjoying our corn. Seriously...SO good!

Mmmm!

Speaking of food, one thing I have really enjoyed since being up here is the cooking I've done. I love planning dinners for the week and having a home-cooked meal ready for Nick when he gets home. I feel like that, in addition to household chores, is the least I could do! I'm constantly on Pinterest looking for new recipes and have found several hits...and some misses. So far, Nick has enjoyed everything I have made and don't worry, he would certainly tell me if he didn't! As many of you know, Nick works in the food industry with Gordon Food Service. One of the many perks of his job is that he brings home the bacon. Literally. I think we have at least 15 pounds of bacon in our deep freeze right now. He is always bringing home samples from customers and items from the marketplace which is a huge plus. Before we even went on the dreaded grocery shopping trip, we had close to 150-200 pounds of food in our freezer. I can definitely get used to that! This makes it even easier to experiment and try out new recipes because usually we already have all of the ingredients in the house!

Here are some of my favorite Pinterest finds that I have whipped up this past week!

Chicken Fried Rice
This was great!! I followed the instructions pretty closely, but Nick thinks onions come from the devil, so I have to nix those from anything I cook. Which totally sucks because I love cooked onions. Especially in fried rice. Occasionally I'll pull his portion out first and then finish it, but many times its just easier to forgo them. All about compromise! I marinated the chicken all day in General Tso's sauce and then added some orange ginger sauce to the skillet when I added the soy sauce. Threw some frozen egg rolls in the toaster oven and we had ourselves a tasty meal!

Tortellini Bake
I made this last night and it was quite delicious. You can't every really go wrong with tortellini though! This could not have been easier and the only thing I did differently was use a light
Alfredo sauce and add some bacon crumbles to the top right before I popped it in the oven. A bagged Caesar salad and french bread with homemade olive oil dipping sauce made this meal complete. Nick's friend Taylor was over and ate with us as well. We got to use the dining room table for the first time!

Thanks for mowing the lawn, Nick! ;)

Perfect comfort food!

Spicy Sausage Pasta
This is probably my favorite Pinterest find to date. It is SO yummy and has the perfect amount of spice to it. I used the turkey sausage as was suggested and it didn't taste "light" at all. I've made this three times since I've found this recipe and it is a keeper! Had to do without the onions again, but I don't think that makes or breaks this dish by any means. Highly recommend!

 Can't get enough!

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

...And finally these babies are currently waiting to be popped into the oven. I made the dough this morning and am letting it chill in the refrigerator. I am always SO impatient when making chocolate chip cookies because I never want to let the dough chill and if I do I keep sneaking trips to the 'fridge to take a spoonful or twenty. Before I know it, I'm left with enough dough to fill up one cookie sheet and not the "three dozen" that it says it makes. Regardless, I am being patient with this one and practicing some will power. I've only gone to the 'fridge once...thank you very much! I'll let you know how they turn out but how can they not be delicious?!

**Update** These were pretty good! I definitely prefer just a good, old fashioned chocolate chip cookies but these were fun and I'm glad I made them. I wouldn't want them all of the time, but in moderation. I think I only ate 2 or 3 of them, but Nick managed to polish off the rest :)

Brown sugar coated bacon. Uh, yum. 

Plus, I got to use my adorable new measuring cups!

The best part, let's be honest

The final product! I will say that they were perfectly fluffy which was an accomplishment in itself. I pressed a few extra chocolate chips into the top of each ball of dough right before they went into the oven and I loved the way they looked. I will probably use this recipe (minus the bacon) next time I just want plain chocolate chip cookies!

Even with all of this food talk and my love for cooking and eating, in general, I'm happy to say I have lost 20 pounds since the beginning of this year! I've been exercising and counting calories and for the first time, I can really see it paying off! I feel great and I am rather proud of myself. I haven't gone on any crazy diet, I really am just being more mindful of portion sizes and measuring out everything I eat. It can become time consuming, but after awhile it just becomes habit. I love food way too much to cut out entire food groups altogether (couldn't live without bread and cheese) so I've just been limiting the amount that I intake with the help of the My Fitness Pal app. Back in Gainesville, I was going to the gym or working out at home at least 5 days a week. I haven't been quite as good about that up here, but I have been running...which for me is a huge feat. I used to DESPISE running with a passion. I thought it was stupid and couldn't even run to the mailbox without becoming irritated and exhausted. I've definitely overcome that and have really learned to love it. Plus, the 75 degree weather is motivating too!

First run in our new neighborhood yesterday.

We are headed down to the Brickyard on Sunday and I'm looking forward to seeing my dad, Drew, and Jody! Have a lovely weekend!

Until next time :)