Recipe: Southern Sangria

We southerners, like our sangria like we like any drink, strong and with a hint of Jack Daniels.

Southern Sangria

2 limes, wedged
2 peaches, sliced
1/2 cup raspberries
1 cup Jack Daniels whiskey
1/2 cup Honey Wine (or skip this and use 1 1/4 cup Jack Daniels honey whiskey)
1/2 bottle Pinot Grigio
1 liter ginger ale

Soak fruit in whiskey and wines for a few hours. Add ginger ale just before serving. Makes 1 medium sized pitcher. Double for 2 pitchers and more fun!

Whole30 Recap

I finished the Whole30 last week, and folks, it changed my life! Cliche, I know. I've always struggled with my weight and with maintaining a healthy relationship with food. You can read my first post about Whole30 here.

I did Weight Watchers right after college and lost the weight I put on in those 4 years. I loved WW, and I think it works great for some people, but it did not teach me to have a healthy relationship with food. Whole30 has been the only thing that really clicked in a "what the hell have I been doing to my body?" kind of way.

Here's a little break down of my experience.

What I thought I'd miss but really didn't:	What I really did miss:
Cheese	Diet coke
Bread	Chewing gum
Chocolate	Wine
What I'm scared to go back to:	Couldn't live without:
Diet Coke	Trader Joe's turkey burgers
Dairy
Best for traveling:	The hardest part:
Raw Cashews	Eating out
Lara Bars	Explaining Whole30 to others
Bananas
What I lost:	What I gained:
Almost 10 lbs	A healthier body
An unhealthy relationship with food	A better attitude
	Self respect
What's next:	What worries me:
Whole30 80/20 lifestyle	Incorporating foods back in
Adding in workouts	Slipping back into my old lifestyle

Now, I can't believe I'm going to show you this, but here goes...

I was an inflamed mess, and I didn't even know it. Let me clear, I do not have it all figured out. I am still a work in progress just doing the best I can. But then again, aren't we all?

Whole30

On Tuesday, I embarked on a new journey with my health. The Whole30 journey. I'd heard tremendous things about the Whole30 lifestyle, but it's a Paleo-like diet and that scared me. So, I bought the book and that pretty much sealed the deal.

Here's the thing...I've always struggled with maintaining a healthy weight and with making smart food choices. I reached my ideal weight in 2007 and maintained it until 2011, but over the past 3 years the weight has slowly crept back on. I knew I needed to make a lifestyle change. I knew Weight Watchers wasn't going to cut it this time.

The science behind Whole30 really appealed to me, but I'll go more into that in another post. In an effort to keep myself honest, I'm going to blog about my Whole30 experience. I'd love to hear your feedback!

 

Day 1 -

Breakfast: Breakfast was my least complicated and most satisfying meal of the day. I had turkey bacon, egg whites, and an apple. I love breakfast food so this was an easy meal. I also had the day off from work, so I didn't eat breakfast until around 10am.

Trip to the Grocery: Bad idea. Terrible. I wanted to buy all the cookies. I didn't, but I wanted to.

Lunch: Turkey burger patty, homemade sweet potato fires, and grapes. Lunch was a little harder. The fries didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, so I was a little bummed. Plus, Kris was packing for his move so my emotions were on the fritz. I really wanted to binge eat potato chips. I didn't, don't worry. I think I ate around 1:30pm.

Snack: I wanted a snack around 3:30pm so I ate some pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. In hindsight, I should have added some protein. Maybe I was using fruit in place of a normal sweet snack?

Dinner: Another turkey burger and sweet potato fries. I ate dinner around 5:30pm. I planned on cooking chicken, but by that time Kris had gone. I'd cooked 4 patties at lunch, so I thought why the hell not?

Snack: Yet another turkey burger patty around 9pm. At 160 calories I didn't really feel so bad, but I'm not sure why I felt like I needed another snack.

Overall, I felt like I ate too much fruit and not enough veggies - something to do better tomorrow. Also, I noticed how often I mentally felt like I needed to eat. Whole30 talks about patterns and having to rewire your brain. Hoping that starts soon!

Caprese Garlic Bread

Those who know me know that there aren't many home-cooked meals at Casa de Garner. To put it another way, the only thing I'm interested in making for dinner are reservations. And that's the truth.

It's not that I can't cook, it's that I don't cook. There's a difference.

I work hard, and the last thing I want to do when I get home is cook something. And then have to clean it up. Um, no thanks. We are an adults only household, and we can figure out to not starve to death without someone having to cook all the time. Plus, most nights Kris works so it's just me at home. I'm totally happy with a sandwich or a bowl of cereal. #passthefrostedflakes

But, in an effort to do something different, I'm challenging myself to cook one new meal every week in May. That means I'll make one dish I've never made before for each of the five weeks in May.I know, it's sounds crazy to me, too. :)

This week, I made Caprese Garlic Bread (I skipped the balsamic). It was super easy and required minimal clean up. A double win for this career girl. I can remember my mom making french bread pizza when I was growing up and I freaking loved it. Little did I know this was her "I don't feel like making dinner, but I can't neglect my children" meal. The secret is out, mother. The secret is out.

Bad Decisions & Cheap Wine

This is my life right now.

I saw this quote on Pinterest, I don't know where it originated so I made this little gem to express how I'm really feelings nowadays. If you're interested in the PDF version of this, leave a comment and I will email it to you.

Cheers!

No taste like home

Being Southern, I know the value of a good meal. Being a working woman, I also know the value of a good cookbook. I'm not my mother. I don't know recipes for the best Southern dishes intuitively. Thank the Lord for Southern Living!

courtesy of Southern Living

I need a place to find all my favorite Southern recipes, and No Taste Like Home is that resource!

Here is recipe from the book that I can't wait to try!

courtesy of Southern Living

Coca-Cola Cake

This is simply one of the best sheet cakes on earth. The magical brew of carbonated cola is the secret to its tender texture.

Makes 12 servings

Hands-On Time 15 min.

Total Time 55 min.

1 cup Coca-Cola

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

Coca-Cola frosting

¾ cup chopped pecans, toasted

1.      Preheat oven to 350°. Combine Coca-Cola and buttermilk; set aside.

2.      Beat butter at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar; beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat at low speed until blended.

3.      Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with cola mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended.

4.      Stir in marshmallows. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Pour Coca-Cola Frosting over warm cake. Sprinkle with pecans.

Note:  Don’t make the frosting ahead—you need to pour it over the cake shortly after baking.

Because Southern Living and Oxmoor House are awesome, they're giving one lucky Love & Loyally reader a free copy of No Taste Like Home!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oatmeal Pumpkin Creme Cookies

Call me crazy, but I love me some pumpkin. I could eat pumpkin flavored anything and be happy. Especially this time of year. When I saw this Oatmeal Pumpkin Crème Cookie recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them.

Ingredients:
Oatmeal Cookie

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 & 2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Pumpkin Crème Filling

• 4 oz of cream cheese, at room temp
• 1 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (to thicken, if needed)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl with a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Slowly stir in the baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, oats, and flour. Mix together until combined.
2. Chill the dough for at least an hour in the fridge.
3. While the dough is chilling, prepare the pumpkin crème. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, mix the cream cheese, butter, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice on medium speed until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and stir to combine. If the mix is too thin, add flour to thicken. Let chill in the fridge until cookies are baked and cooled.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. I cooked mine on my baking stone, but you could also use a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let stand on stone or cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.
4. Spread a generous amount of pumpkin crème on the underside of the cooled cookie and place another cookie on top to make a sandwich. Makes 30 sandwiches.

Tips:

These cookies were much better after they sat overnight in the refrigerator. I was very disappointed when I tasted them the night I baked them, but it was a completely different story the next day! They were terrific!

If you follow Weight Watchers, one of these sandwiches is 4 Points Plus.

Note: I changed the recipe to fit my tastes, but you can find the original recipe here.

Tennessee Sundrop Cake

Kris gave up sweets for Lent, and although I never bake/cook I wanted to do something special for him. So I made him a Tennessee Sundrop Cake.

If you don't know, it's a super moist lemony cake with glaze icing. It's delish. And probably the reason I gained 2 pounds last week. Man was it good.

You'll need:
Cake                                                                            Glaze
1 box lemon cake mix                                                 1 cup powdered sugar
3 eggs                                                                          2 tablespoons water
12 oz Sundrop                                                             1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
1 pkg lemon pudding mix

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your bundt pan with non-stick spray and put it in the freezer.

Empty your cake mix (setting a tiny bit aside to dust yout bundt pan) and lemon pudding mix into a mixing bowl. Combine the eggs, sundrop, and applesauce into another mixing bowl. Whisk to combine the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix together with utensil of choice. I use an electric hand mixer on low for 2 minutes and high for 1 minute.

Once all the cake ingredients are mixed together. Get your bundt pan out of the freezer. Use the cake mix you set aside to dust the inside of the pan. This will help prevent the cake from sticking.

Pour the mix into the pan, and put in the oven on the center rack.While the cake is baking, go ahead and make the glaze. Stir the water and vanilla into the powdered sugar until well combined. You can add more water or sugar to get your desired thickness. Stick the glaze in the fridge. This will thicken it up a bit. After your cake is done (mine took about 30 minutes) let it cool for 15-20 minutes before you take it out of the pan. After it cools, place it on a cake stand or serving dish. Let it cool for another 10-15 minutes.

After it cools, drizzle the glaze over the cake. Use as much or as little as you like. Clearly, I like a lot.

Then, I suggest you eat a giant piece. Life's too short.

5 Things

I've been seeing these 5 Things posts all over the place lately. Technically, I think someone is supposed to tag you before you can do one. Well, no one tagged me, and rules are made to be broken. So I'm doing one anyway.

1. I only wash my hair 2-3 times a week. Mostly because it keeps my hair healthy, but I"m not going to lie. Part of the reason is because I hate, gut hate, blow drying my hair.

This is 4 day hair

2. I don't like paying for manicures. I just do not see the point. I can file and paint my own nails. For free.

Done by me FOR FREE

3. I've never had an entire beer. I just hate the stuff. When someone says "Try this, you'll love it. It doesn't taste like beer," I try it, but just can't stomach it. I call BS. If it's a beer, then it tastes like a beer, and I just can't drink it.

This is what I prefer to drink

4. I'm a homebody. My husband would prefer me to the person who wants to go out until 3am, but that's just not me. Maybe when I was 21, but at 28, I love being home and getting a good night's sleep.

Lying on the couch is my favorite

5. I'm a wine snob. My boo for life is a country club manager so I've been spoiled with trips to wine country and bottles of the best.

Private Guest House = spoiled Jessica

 

 

Eff, the rules. Tag yourself and tell me your five things.

 

I say chicken you say chili

I can't remember the last time I shared a recipe with y'all. That's probably because I don't really cook so I don't have many recipes. Anyway, I'm going to share a Garner family favorite for the cold winter months.

I am NOT a traditional chili fan. I'll eat it, but only if I have to. When a friend shared a chicken chili recipe with me, I could not have been happier. It can be made in the crockpot, so it's perfect for this working woman. Over time, I've tweaked the recipe to our tastes. We really love this chili!

You'll Need:
a crockpot
1 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders
2 cans great northern beans
1 large jar of salsa (24 oz)
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*makes about 5 servings at about 350 calories per serving

Add chicken to the bottom of the crockpot

Pour both cans of beans over the chicken

Pour salsa over the beans

Cook on high for 4-6 hours. You can also cook on low for 8-10 hours. I do this if I put it in before I go to work.

About 20 minutes before serving, turn to the "keep warm" setting and stir the ingredients. I like to shred the chicken at this time, but you don't have to do this.

Add both cups of cheese and mixed until well combined.

Stir again before serving. Eat and enjoy!

It's Monday; let's have a giveaway!

Monday may be the most loathed day of the week. I know I always need twice the caffeine to get through a Monday. Especially on cold, rainy Mondays like today. To make your spirits a little brighter, I'm giving one lucky reader a $10 Starbucks gift card.

To enter you must:

1. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect and leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite Starbucks drink.

OR

2. Like The Only Ten I See on Facebook and leave a comment telling me your favorite Starbucks drink.

If you do both 1. and 2., you'll get an extra entry. The winner will be announced in Thursday's post.

Let them eat (cup)cakes!

If eating cupcakes and drinking champagne is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Like my good friends at Rue la la reminded me, life is too short not to eat cake. Happy Wednesday!

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

Or we eat pink lemonade cookies. It just depends on our mood.

 Thanks to Lisa (I told you about her here) for bringing these in today! I'll try to get the recipe and post it later.

UPDATE: Lisa said she used the Pillsbury Pink Lemonade Cookie mix (directions on the box). She also added 2 packets of Crystal Light Lemonade (just the powder) to make them more lemony. Before putting the cookies in the oven to bake, she rolled them in granular sugar then powdered sugar. Enjoy!

It's the small things

We've been in our new house now for 7 weeks. Boxes are unpacked and most everything is in its place. Except for the pictures. They've been leaning against their intended walls for almost 6 weeks.

I was starting to think we'd never get around to hanging them, and that houses with wall art were an urban myth. Oh me of little faith.

When I got home tonight, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were 3 pictures hung in the kitchen thanks to my husband. You may be wondering why I'm so excited about 3 pictures, especially when there are about 20-30 more that still need to be hung. Well, I'll tell you; it's the small things that keep me going. A win is a win, and I'll take what I can get. Plus, I'm secretly hoping the others will magically hang themselves out of jealousy or something. A girl can dream.

A little retro flair for the kitchen

Above our stove, a little cheesy, but I like it

I think it looks good here

Another shot, our living room is to the right

Our first date restaurant menu, this is to the left of the fork and spoon