I promise I will get to my sous vide review but first I have to ask a very serious question. Who has not seen “A Star is Born”and what in God’s name are you waiting for? I saw it this past weekend, with three of my girlfriends, and I can not stop thinking, well singing, about it. I purchased the soundtrack as soon as I left the movie. My daughters are super annoyed because now instead of driving around listening to TSwift it’s all “maybe it’s time to let the old ways die” ( I think those are the right words, but I’m guessing). Can you sense the eye rolls I’m getting? Whatever, it’s worth the whining to listen to B Cooper and Lady G belting those beautiful ballads. So yes, go see it, but I also bring this up to chat about girlfriends. Going out with my gals this past weekend was good for my soul, y’all. I enjoyed every single second of my time with them; eating (had the best panzanella, burrata & bean salad from Crust) drinking and laughing. Why don’t I do this more often? Time and time again I find myself saying no to girlfriend outings because I’m too tired or it’s too hard to find a babysitter or whatever other excuse I come up with. But NO MORE. I learned this past weekend that time spent with girlfriends is the equivalent to a months worth of therapy. ( Apologies to the hubs who is an actual psychologist but it’s true!!) It’s like hitting a reset button. And not to brag or anything but y’all, I have the best, best friends. I have my childhood friends who are my family. They are “Aunts” to my children and have been with me thru every success and failure in my life. I will never have to worry about losing them; if I haven’t peeved them off by now, they aren’t going anywhere! These eight woman are my sisters and I love them beyond words. And then I have my post kid friends who are one of the greatest surprises and joys of my life. They are the people who keep me sane every single day. I never thought I would find best friends after the age of 30, but man was I wrong. My point to all of the above is to raise awareness on the importance of having female friends. We need these chosen people, in our lives, as they make us better wives, mothers, and all around people. They ground us when we need grounding, cry with us when we need to cry and laugh with us when we so badly need to laugh. To quote Jerry Maguire, female friends are our “Ambassadors of Quan” y’all. So stop reading this post , for just a sec, call your friends and set a date to go see ” A Star is Born” – you will thank me later! P.S. – Bradley Cooper is SO DAMN HOT!! OK, on to the sous vide….
Tip of the Week: My quick sous vide review. OK so I had no idea what a sous vide was, prior to last week, so just in case you do not either, here is a very basic explanation! A sous vide is a gadget you clamp onto a stockpot full of water, OFF of the stove. You set the temperature, and timer, on the sous vide and it brings the pot of water to that specific temp and stays there. You then place your food into a Ziploc bag and drop it into the pot of water. The water “bath” cooks your food evenly and to the perfect temperature. The SV (sous vide for short as y’all know I love an abbreviation) will not allow you to overcook your food. It’s pretty genius. Let’s say you are having a dinner party and serving filet mignon. Place each steak into a Ziploc with a clove of smashed garlic, little olive oil and some fresh herbs. Drop those bad boys into the water for 45 minutes and go take a shower. Right before it’s time to eat, sear each steak, on medium/high heat, for about 20 seconds a side and your steaks are perfectly cooked and ready to roll. Now, is the SV something you are going to use everyday? Probably not. And will it save you oodles of time? Probably not. Think of it like a crock pot – less hands on cook time but more actual cook time. Does that make sense? Should you buy one? Maybe. If you can find one for $25 bucks it’s totally worth it. There are much fancier ones – Joule, Anova, Sansaire – with wifi, but in my humble opinion, not necessary. I’m sure the features are great, but if you are only using this thing once a week, a simple one will do. Bottom line – a sous vide will turn any mediocre cook into an award winning chef but it won’t save you loads of time.
What What. Food for the week of 10/21. How is it almost November????
XO ~ Kelly D.
Sunday – Slow Cooker Jambalaya – One of my Boones Farm friends ( of the original eight) has been begging me to put this recipe on the blog. I make this a lot during football season as it’s super easy, delicious and serves a crowd. Since it’s FINALLY dipping into the 70’s here, I feel like now would be a good time to pull this recipe out of my bag o’ tricks. I must REALLY love y’all because this is one I don’t like to share!!!!
Monday – Chile-Lime Fish Taco Bowls – This yummy fish recipe does require some prep time. I will make my marinade on Sunday and then plop the fish into said marinade when I get home from work on Monday. No worries if you don’t have hours to marinate the fish – anytime will do. Actually, less time is better. The acidity in the marinade will start to cook the fish, if left in too long, which can give the fish a funny texture.
Tuesday – Mini Meatloaf – I’ll be honest – I’m not a HUGE meatloaf fan and I hate mixing meat with my hands. It’s always so cold and gooey. But, this is really easy recipe to whip together and it’s family and waist line friendly. You can also double the recipe and freeze these in pairs for later. Great for weeknights.
Wednesday – Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Spicy Sausage and Spinach – Another fun Kelly fact – squash is so, so on my list of healthy foods but in this recipe it takes on the flavors of the sausage and sage. Honestly, the squash is the “cream” in this recipe, if that makes sense. The instructions call for you to dice, boil and blend the squash but here are two shortcuts – 1) buy pre-cut squash or 2) use frozen squash puree. I will add a little cinnamon here too!! Sometimes low cal dishes don’t have enough flavor but instead of “hating” on them, play around with spices. You will be amazed at how much a tiny bit of cinnamon takes this from good to great!
Thursday – Grilled Bourbon Chicken – I am always searching for flavor filled, yet simple, chicken recipes. This is definitely a winner, winner chicken dinner. Love the flavors in this super easy week night dish. I’ll serve along side some brown rice!
Friday – Super Lean Turkey Sloppy Joe’s – Sloppy Joe’s and meatloaf. What am I doing to you people this week? I must be in a reminiscing phase!! Adult spin on a childhood fav right here. A little spice and a little tang kick this up a notch. Perfect for a cool Friday indoors!
erin says
i am loving all of these posts, kelly!
Dining with the Duffys says
Ahhh, thanks Erin!!! And I’m loving all of the baby pics!!!!!!