Homemade Caesar Salads & Wine!

Happy Wednesday!

How has everyone’s week been so far? I feel like mine has been so busy! Monday nights episode of The Bachelor was pretty good! I was happy to see Ashley S. go home but sad that Prince Farming kept Ashley I. She reminds me of a desperate 12-year old with her whining and constant complaining! I’m still #teambritt but she broke bachelor cardinal rule #1, don’t ever question the bachelor! Chris was not at all pleased with being confronted, I think she got lucky this time!

I bought this delicious Merlot just for the occasion, Ghost Pines is one of our favorite affordable wine brands and we had never tried their Merlot…it’s delicious ya’ll! I know, you must be shocked to hear that! :)

Last night I was not in the mood to spend a long time on my feet, I was so tired from the 4 miles I ran at the gym! I decided to make quick fried chicken caesar salads, in total it took me about 20 minutes from start to finish!

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 chicken breasts, blutterfied

1/2 cup egg beaters or two eggs, scrambeled

1 cup bread crumbs (I used the seasoned kind)

Vegetable oil (enough to fill a deep pan with 1 inch of oil)

6 cups romaine lettuce

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup light caesar dressing

Croutons (I made my own, recipe for those below!)

Here’s what I did!

Pour 1 inch of the oil into a deep pot, I used my soup pot. Heat on medium, it took my oil about 10 minutes to reach the correct temperature.

Butterfly your chicken breasts and coat in the egg beaters, let rest until you’re ready to add them to your oil. Once it’s ready coat the chicken breasts with bread crumbs and drop into your oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, you want them to be a dark golden color. Place onto paper napkins to drip, dry and cool. Once you can pick them up slice them into 1-inch pieces.  You want to use a really sharp knife for this so you don’t tear off the breading!

In a large bowl combine the lettuce, parmesan cheese and dressing, mix well! Serve on a plate and top with your chicken and croutons, yum!

Homemade croutons:

2 cups of bread that is a few days old (but not stale), chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Fresh cracked black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Cut your bread into 1-inch cubes and place in a single layer on a baking dish. Drizzle with the olive oil then sprinkle the garlic powder and pepper. Mix well, I used my hands! Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. I used our small counter top oven, they will cook faster in a normal oven.

They were as yummy as they look!

We paired this delicious meal with a wonderful red blend I picked up the other day. I don’t usually buy blends but I am a fan of the 14 Hands brand. This was a great choice, it wasn’t too sweet and had a great spicy after taste. I will definitely buy this one again! Cheers!

Sweet Home South Carolina!

I can’t believe it’s Monday already! How was your weekend? Ours was pretty good!

I wanted to share this picture I took just this morning of the South Carolina State House, I feel so blessed to be able to pass this beautiful building everyday going into work :) 

Friday night we were both pretty tired from the work week so we decided to order pizza and binge on some Netflix, it was really relaxing and much needed! Miss Lily was pretty exhausted too, if you can't tell!

Saturday we took Miss Lily down to the river front park and went for a nice run, it wasn’t too cold so we wanted to take advantage! It rained all day Friday so Miss Lily had a lot of energy to expend!

Saturday night we headed to Augusta, GA to visit Mr Tan Lines’ cousin & husband! We got to check out their beautiful new home; complete with an underground swimming pool and hot tub! It was gorgeous and we can’t wait to have some fun in the sun with them!

The four of us then headed to dinner in Augusta and ended up at a place called Whiskey Bar Kitchen that was fantastic! The menu wasn’t complicated, burgers, sandwiches and some appetizers. However everything was done with such effort, from the toppings on the burgers to the dishes with some Asian flare everything was so good! I ordered the cheeseburger with sweet potato fries, the fries were soo good! After dinner we headed back to their house for dessert; almond flavored cheesecake! I know, YUM! It was a great Saturday and we can’t wait to do it again!

Sunday morning we ran some errands then headed to the river front park again! It was warmer then the previous day and much sunnier! We got a nice run in despite that it was so crowded! I guess everyone else had the same idea huh?! We are so lucky to live somewhere with such beautiful scenery! 

We got Miss Lily a new toy after our run, at first she wasn't really interested!

But she warmed up to it soon after :)

I can’t wait for tonight’s episode of The Bachelor! Let’s go #teambritt! 

Mexican Casserole Recipe & Flash Back Friday!

TGIF! I am so happy it’s the weekend! Even though it’s cold and raining out today, it could always be worse! The weather back in Virginia is just terrible, snow, rain & ice! Yuck!

Writing my blog yesterday got me thinking about the last time I had visited South Carolina, which was in April 2009. I came down to Myrtle Beach for spring break during my senior year of college. I was visiting a friend who had just recently moved to the area! I had such a great time going out downtown and seeing the beach.

I also go to visit Margaritaville which was so, so cool! I think I’ll have to start planning a trip so Mr Tan Lines and I can go have some fun!

I wanted to share my recipe for Mexican casserole, this one I actually came up with all by myself! I’m sure there are similar ones out there, but here is my take.  This recipe is more involved then my normal posts, you have to slow cook the meat for 8-9 hours in a crock pot.

You’re going to need:

1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef, up to you)

1/2 large white onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

Taco seasoning (see my other blog for the recipe) or use a store bought packet

1 can red pinto beans

1/4 cup chopped velveeta cheese

1/2 cup Mexican cheese

1/4 cup cheddar cheese

16 corn tortillas

Here’s what I did:

Put the turkey, onion, bell pepper, chicken broth and taco seasoning into a crockpot. Cook for 8-9 hours on low.

Cut 8 of the tortillas into triangles, line the bottom of a square baking dish with them in a layer. Spoon half of your turkey mixture onto the tortillas. Sprinkle half of the cheddar cheese and half of the Mexican cheese on top. Spread half of the can of the beans on top of your cheese. Cut the remaining 8 tortillas into triangles and repeat the layers like above. Only this time add the velveeta, just sprinkle it around so that when it melts it covers the entire thing.

Cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Then raise the temp to 400 and cook for another 10. Let cool and then dig in! Mr Tan Lines was a HUGE fan of this dish and so was I, hope you try it out soon! 

South Carolina House Hunting & Tips & Tricks!

Hi! :)

I wanted to start off today with this super cute picture of Miss Lily! We went to the dog park for two hours yesterday; I think it’s safe to say she had an awesome time!

I completely forgot to show off my manicure that I got on Saturday, I did it myself for Mr Tan Lines’ birthday celebrations! I actually took this picture today so the polish is still going strong!

In honor of #tbt I wanted to share some pictures of just what we were doing this time last year; really because it was exciting! We were actually visiting South Carolina and house hunting! We decided it was a nice way to celebrate Mr Tan Lines’ birthday and of course we were anxious to start looking!

On our way down I had to snap this picture because Mr Tan Lines was so excited that we stopped at Zaxby’s to eat lunch.  There weren’t any of these in northern Virginia so it was my first time eating at one! It’s a fast food place with tons of chicken options. Chicken salads, sandwiches, tenders and wings.

We even made our very first trip to Lake Murray, just seeing the beautiful, blue water got us so excited for boat season! It was around 40 degrees the entire weekend but sunny and beautiful :)

We ended the day by going to dinner at what is now one of our favorite haunts, Buffalo Wild Wings. You see, there also aren’t any BWW in northern Virginia, at least close to where we used to live, so we were thrilled to be able to eat there!

As you know our Saturday spent house hunting ended successfully as we found our dream home! It only took visiting 6 others to realize that the first home we saw was it; I guess it was love at first sight!

We also spent Championship Sunday at an outdoor bar called Pawley’s that is animal friendly, here is one of the dogs watching the games with his humans :)

Being a first time home buyer can be intimidating and I don’t think there is a list of rules to follow that are set in stone. Everyone is different and in different places financially; everyone wants different things and in the end YOU are who needs to be happy. It was especially intimidating for us moving to a new state where we knew no one. We had never visited the particular city either; I guess we really wanted a challenge huh?!

Here are a few things I would pass on as tips & tricks:

Make a list of what you want. Mr Tan Lines and I had a list of deal breakers and must-haves, for example, our must-haves included: a large backyard, kitchen with an island, stainless steel appliances, master bedroom located on the second floor, hardwood floors, his and hers walk-in closets and 3+ bedrooms. This list will make it easy to say no, trust me there are a tons of houses out there, it’s much easier to say no when you’re set on what you want.

It’s all about your realtor. Find a realtor that is right for you. We lucked into ours and he was fantastic. He was our eyes and ears down here and he couldn’t have done a better job. He wasn’t pushy, or in a rush to make a sale. We found ours through Zillow.

Do your own research. We spent countless hours online looking at houses and pricing. Before our visit we sent our realtor a list of the 10 houses we wanted to see, then let him add any he thought might be of interest to us. This allowed him to efficiently plan our day of house viewing as well.  We also brought print outs of our list to help keep us organized. Think of your realtor as the cruise ship director; there to make sure things run on time and everyone has fun. It's your job to get the majority of the facts before you hop on that ship.

Bring a camera. Take pictures of things you like, don’t like. After house #4 you’ll start confusing one house with the other.  This way you’ll know which living room you liked best or which layout looked the most appealing.

Bring pen and paper to take notes. These notes will go along with your pictures. Note things you like, might need upgrading, small yard but love the kitchen etc.

Take time to think it through. After looking at the houses we were pretty set on which one we wanted, however we took two weeks to mull it over and make sure we were certain.

Go back to the house at night. Sure, it’s all gorgeous when the sun is shining brightly down, but go back and inspect the neighborhood. Does it seem safe? Is it packed with cars on the street?

Join local forums online. We joined a few different forums and asked about the nightlife, area, things to do etc. It gave us an idea on what to expect our quality of life to be like here. 

Have a hefty down payment. Because it’s smart and gives you leverage to negotiate.

Negotiate.  Never, ever pay the asking price. Also ask them to throw in some freebies, things like blinds, refrigerator, ceiling fans etc. (Our house was new, so these things might not apply to everyone). The worst they can do is say no.

Take your time. Open all of the doors, picture your things set up in rooms, picture yourself cooking dinner etc. If you can see yourself feeling at home there, that’s a good start.

Trust your gut. If you find yourself saying "I guess I could live with that," RUN! You are buying a house, not a t-shirt. 

I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, however I think it’s a great general list to start with. I truly think when we bought our house it was pretty painless, it wasn’t stressful or difficult. Pretty sure we just got really lucky though, I’ve heard some pretty bad horror stories! I hope this was helpful :) until next time!

Top Ten Tuesday & Wine!

Hi everyone!

So for starters, wasn’t last nights’ episode of The Bachelor AMAZING! :) If you missed it then that won’t mean quite as much to you! I really feel like Prince Farming has a great group of girls and more of them are starting to shine through! The girls are all starting to really develop feelings for Chris so the claws are starting to come out! I can’t wait for them to start traveling!

Last night we paired The Bachelor with this delicious Malbec from the Mendoza wine region in Argentina.  I spent almost an hour telling Mr Tan Lines all of the wonderful things we could do in Argentina and all of the beautiful sights to see!

So for my Top Ten Tuesday list I wanted to list my top 10 favorite romantic comedies. This was really, really hard to narrow down because it’s rare when I don’t like a cheesy, romantic comedy. I ended up going with the movies that I can watch over and over again and still laugh, cry and love the movie when it’s over. Here they are in no particular order!

1. Wedding Crashers
2. Enchanted
3. 10 Things I Hate About You
4. 17 Again
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
6. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
7. 50 First Dates
8. Sweet Home Alabama
9. Can’t Hardly Wait
10. My Best Friend’s Girl

I also wanted to point out that I added a new page at the top of my blog, I wanted to share my bucket list with ya’ll! It’s something I’ve been working on for almost 7 years, hopefully I’ll get to cross of a few items this year! Check it out!

Have a great rest of the day!!

Mr Tan Lines Turns 29!

Happy Bachelor Monday!! I hope ya’ll had a fabulous weekend!

The events I had planned for Mr Tan Lines birthday did not go anywhere near what I planned, but thanks to him and our awesome neighbors it turned out to be an epic celebration! Here’s how it all went down.

Friday night Mr Tan Lines was craving Mexican food so we went to a little local place and had some delicious enchiladas, tacos and salsa. We then headed home and took it easy. Saturday Mr Tan Lines and I did some yard work, ran some errands and got ready for our evening! Our group arrived to dinner on time and were told there was quite a long wait (despite my attempts to make reservations earlier in the week, they just weren’t having it)! We ended up sitting outside, luckily it wasn’t too cold and they had plenty of space heaters! After dinner we headed to the piano bar, which due to us being late had given away our reserved table. The place was packed; we decided to go for plan B! We headed to the local Ruth’s Chris and took over the bar area.

We hung out there for a little while but decided that it was way more fun to drink for free and play some games, so off to our house the gang went! We ended up pulling out old faithful, Cards Against Humanity and boy was it fun! Some of our neighbors had never played before so you can imagine how much fun it was for them! A few tears of laughter were shed and we played into the early hours of the morning..what a great night!!

Sunday morning (actual birthday!) upon Mr Tan Lines request I made him a yummy egg, sausage, cheese casserole. Here’s what I used:

11 eggs

1/2 of a velveeta package

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3/4 package of turkey sausage (get spicy if you want to)

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Here’s what I did!

Brown the Italian sausage. Into a baking dish dump in all of the ingredients I listed above. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. I personally don’t add salt or pepper to my eggs but if you want to go right ahead!

 Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. Voila!!

I paired mine with a (much needed) Bloody Mary, I just used V8 juice a few dashes of hot sauce and vodka, yum!

The rest of the day we spent it lounging around, I took Miss Lily to the dog park and Mr Tan Lines went on a motorcycle ride! Here is Miss Lily with her friend Ellie May!

For dinner, again upon Mr Tan Lines request I made shrimp scampi linguine with cesar salads! It wasn’t my favorite meal, there was too much lemon juice for my liking, but I would definitely make it again with a few alterations. Here’s what I used:

1 lb fresh shrimp

7 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Linguine pasta

1/2 cup dry white wine, I used Chardonnay

1/2 cup chicken broth

Clean your shrimp and marinade with 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice and the crushed garlic cloves. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan combine the wine, chicken broth, parsley, salt & pepper and 2 tbsp of butter. Bring to boil and cook until sauce has reduced by half.

In a large pan place 2 tbsp of butter and let melt, add your shrimp and cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan and place aside. In the same pan pour your cooked pasta along with your sauce in and mix well. I added 2 more tbsp of butter. Serve and enjoy!

Next time I will skip on the lemon juice and attempt a creamier white wine sauce, wasn’t too bad though…Mr Tan Lines absolutely loved it!

Can’t wait for tonight’s Bachelor episode!!

TGIF & Love Quiz!

TGIF!! I know I’m not the only one excited it’s Friday! I can’t wait to get this weekend started! Do you have big plans? We sure do! Sunday is Mr Tan Lines 29th birthday and I have a few surprises up my sleeve! I’m cooking him a delicious meal tonight, we are having dinner with friends tomorrow night and then going to some fun bars downtown and Sunday I plan to make his favorite meals all day! I love showering him with love, can’t wait for the fun to begin!

I’ve been hearing this story on the radio all week, apparently if you take the quiz below with your SO you are guaranteed to fall in love, Mr Tan Lines and I did something similar on one of our early dates but I definitely wouldn’t attribute that to the “reason” we “fell” in love. I put those in quotations because A you don’t need a “reason” to love someone and B we didn’t “fall” we gradually developed strong feelings for each other that matured over time and turned into love :)

Anyway, I love taking quizzes and surveys so I thought I’d give this one a go, enjoy!

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

Ellen DeGeneres! Not only is she someone who inspires us to become better people but I think she would be so much fun to hang out with.

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

Can’t say I never fantasized about winning American Idol and being the worlds next Carrie Underwood, that would be pretty awesome!

3. Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you're going to say? Why?

If it’s an important work call definitely, I’m always prepared to leave a voicemail that doesn’t sound like a hot mess!

4. What would constitute a perfect day for you?

My husband, my puppy, secluded beach, tropical drinks, sunshine and my iPod

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

Yesterday on the way home from work in the car, jamming out to Taylor’s 1989 cd! To someone, I don’t know if it counts but I sing in the car with Mr Tan Lines all the time!

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?

BODY lol no, no I guess I’d go with mind...my memory is terrible as it is. I can’t imagine it being any worse!

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

Never thought about this, hopefully painless?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

Taste in food, TV shows & wine :)

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

My family and husband. Without them I’d be lost. I can do anything as long as I have them there to see me through!

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

Hmm probably the location, I would have loved growing up near the ocean!

11. Take four minutes and tell you partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

Maybe later?

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?

The ability to curl my hair like the pro’s. I’ve watched endless videos and it never works for my hair!

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

I guess basic life hacks, where are we going to travel, how many kids & dogs will we have, will I ever get my Scottish Fold kitteh, who killed Ali in Pretty Little Liars etc.

14. Is there something that you've dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

Traveling to Australia and Bali, obviously gotta save $$!

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

I think I have a few…graduating from a prestigious college, marrying someone so kind and amazing, moving to completely new state with no friends and family and making it our own!

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

The quality, someone who gives as much as they receive!

17. What is your most treasured memory?

Our wedding day and honeymoon!

18. What is your most terrible memory?

Any and every encounter I’ve had with spiders and snakes

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

I’d probably quit my job and travel, because why not?

20. What does friendship mean to you?

Being there for someone unconditionally.

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

Big ones, I love to show love and affection on a daily basis.

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

Kindness, sense of humor (Mr Tan Lines is SO funny!), his handy man skills, compassion for others, patience (with me)!

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

Very warm, and yes I do! I was lucky enough to grow up in a home with two parents who loved each other and worked so hard to provide my sister and I with everything.

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

She’s my BFFFFFFFF love her!!

25. Make three true "we" statements each. For instance, "we are both in this room feeling..."

We both love to lay in bed and talk to each other.

We both love Auburn football!

We both love to travel and would do it year round if we could!

26. Complete this sentence "I wish I had someone with whom I could share..."

I wish I had someone with whom I could share my music playlists, what can I say? I have great taste!

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

Um, everything!

28. Tell your partner what you like about them: be honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

His ability to keep calm when I may be having a melt down!

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

I’ve shared these with him of course, there are some really, really good ones!

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

By myself yesterday when my favorite food store didn’t have any clam chowda, I really wanted some!

In front of someone was a few weeks ago when Mr Tan Lines and I watched The Guardian, the ending is really sad!

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

Oh, hi!

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

For us, nothing is off limits!

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

Just telling everyone I love them, it’s early in the day and I haven’t spoken to them yet!

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

Cell phoneeee I don’t know if this counts though because I always have it with me! Before you go judging me hear me out. Family & pet are safe, photo albums and clothes can all be replaced, I mean really everything in the home can be replaced. Except I have over 3,000 pictures on my phone that I don’t have anywhere else, also 70+ videos including tons of Miss Lily from when she was just a little puppy. I’d be devastated if we lost those! No, I don’t have my phone backed up and yes I know I need to do that! Look at how precious she looks!

If it’s a thing probably my purse, I’d want to save my drivers license, there is nothing worse then having to go to the hell that is the DMV amirite

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

I don’t like these questions, next!

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR DINNER TONIGHT. I’ve asked him 4 times already, he cannot decide!

Have a great weekend everyone!