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Saturday, September 27, 2014

Chicken Sausage Alfredo

Hi lovelies! I hope everyone's weekend is going great!

Hubby and I have been so busy lately that we have been eating out a little too much. And now that I'm back to working part-time, I'm excited to start cooking a lot more. Yay!

After de-cluttering our apartment and getting rid of "junk" that has been accumulating (ahh I love getting rid of stuff!), I decided to make a pasta dish. My husband loves pasta and I don't make it as much as he would like me to.

So today I threw together some ingredients and decided to call it "Chicken Sausage Alfredo." I probably should have called it Broccoli Alfredo since I used so much broccoli! Ha!


I shared the picture above on my Instagram and said that I would share what my hubby thought of the dish. And he LOVED it! Seconds after trying it, with the cutest Italian accent and his eyes closed, he said "Italy, Italy, Italy!" Haha! He said it was very rich and flavorful, with a nice spicy kick! Oh and the turmeric gave it such a pretty color too!

I paired the pasta with a simple caesar salad and whipped up my own homemade caesar dressing. The dressing alone needs a blog post! I could eat the dressing on its own it's that good! Will be sharing in future posts. 

Heres a recipe to the pasta. 

Alfredo Sauce Ingredients:
-3/4 stick of butter
-1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
-1 cup Pecorino Romano (love the sharp flavor!)
-5 cloves garlic
-pinch of salt & pepper 

Alfredo Sauce Instructions:
In a saucepan, melt the butter and then whisk in the cream. Add pinch of salt & peppa. Add the crushed garlic and the cheese. Bring to a light simmer. And done! 

Pasta Ingredients:
-box of Quinoa shells (cook per packaging instructions)
-head of broccoli, chopped
-1/2 onion, sliced (purple onion would be great too!)
-package of Trader Joe's Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage, sliced
-pinch of salt, pepper, turmeric, oregano and cumin 
-2 Tbsp. olive oil (for sauteing)

Pasta Insructions:
Saute over medium heat the onion, sausage, and broccoli for about 5-7 min. Add a pinch of salt, pepper, turmeric, oregano, and cumin. Combine the alfredo sauce and the cooked shells. 

Two hours later, hubby asked for more! I think I'll be making it again :) 

Until next time!
Xoxo,
Alina

Friday, September 5, 2014

Labor Day Weekend

Hello Lovelies!

Ever since we came back from our Labor Day weekend trip, I have been a busy bee! So tonight I can finally say TGIF! And I "totes" totally just found out what "TGIF" stands for! Ha! I might just be a decade behind. 

Here's our Labor Day Weekend trip in pictures.  And I hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend as well!

Hubby and I decided to be "spontaneous" at a totally wrong time, on a Labor Day Weekend! We packed our little car Saturday night and drove out early Sunday morning to an unknown destination... but with Lake Chelan in mind.

After asking a lot of locals about private camp sites and settling on a campground, it was lunch time!


And we hungrily dived into these hamburgers and greasy fries!


And then we took a walk. And I tried pretending I was in Italy and took the photo above. 


So many boats and kayaks passed by this pretty view. 


My husband's patience for "stopping by and taking a photo" is increasing! He stopped the car and had me take the photo above! Ummm, "sure, honey!"


I don't know about you, but I'm one hungry girl every time we camp! Hubby and I normally don't eat hot dogs, but these campfire sauteed Brats on a toasted (almost burned)  bagel with garlic & herb butter were way too good!

No regrets whatsoever!


My friend Julz is a genius! She sauteed broccoli with one whole jalapeno pepper and some sliced up onions. The jalapeno brought out so much flavor from the broccoli that I was in broccoli heaven. Oh and we used the same pot that we used for sauteing our smoked Brats... so the flavor of broccoli was just fab! Ha! 


I was way too excited for Eugene and I to use our enamel mugs I got from a flea market our first married summer. I was drinking my Yogi Detox tea within minutes. 


For lunch we grilled chicken and asparagus. What a perfect combo! 


I don't remember the last time I had a s'more! And it was time I had one. Or maybe three. We were camping after all, right? 

Hubby and I have a tradition to have dinner at one of our favorite rustic Tuscan wineries in Chelan. So the night we left for home, we knew where we were going for dinner.


I ordered creamy tomato basil soup. The sun was setting and it was getting chilly. And soup seemed perfect at the moment. I also ordered a caesar salad. 


I definitely felt like a good detox was needed when I came home. A good detox for me usually consists of lots of water, detox tea (I love the Yogi Detox), and green tea! Water and natural tea's are one of the best things to flush out unwanted toxins. 

I love a good detox/cleanse; and might be thoroughly talking about it in future posts. 

Until next time!

Xoxo,
Alina