Halloween Fun!

Going out on Halloween especially on a Saturday was just not happening. I deal with enough crazies walking home from work and with sirens already blaring at 5pm, I knew we were definitely staying in. Since we don't get any Trick-or-Treaters where we live, I thought it'd be fun to make some Halloween-themed food. First off, my hubby's favorite, Deviled Eggs! I made them orange with the addition of Mexican Chili Powder and Paprika. They were super cute and super delicious!

I also made some Meatball Eyeballs with precooked chicken meatballs. To make them look like eyeballs, I added some marinara sauce on top and half of a pimento-stuffed olive. Creepy right?

And for a sweet treat, I made some Funfetti Cookies with Halloween M&M's. My coworkers loved them!

More Taco Tuesday Goodies!

I"m a total sucker for anything taco-related that I haven't tried before so when I saw these Tortilla Boats, I couldn't resist! I filled them up with another new awesome find from Trader Joe's, Korean-Inspired Pork Shoulder. I'm always a lil skeptical about precooked meat but this stuff tastes like it's been marinated and slow-cooked all day. SUPER flavorful and tender! I also added some coleslaw from the deli on top and it was one of the best meals we've ever had! All done in less than 30 minutes too!

New Taco Tuesday Finds!

We love doing Taco Tuesdays at home. They're even cheaper than $2 AND the atmosphere is MUCH nicer! I'm always happy to try out new ingredients to make tacos so when I found these Fiesta Flats, I knew I had to test them out! I love the fact that they can stand on their own. One of the things I hate about tacos is that they fall over and all the yummy filling spills out onto the plate. These things were genius! They're a bit small which just means that we can eat more of them! I filled them up with ground beef and onions cooked in LOTS of Taco Seasoning. Then I topped them with Trader Joe's Fiesta Layer Dip, another new find that we're totally in love with!

5 Year Anniversary in Napa!

Happy Mexican Independence Day!

I bet you thought Mexican Independence Day was Cinco de Mayo right? WRONG! Mexican Independence Day or Grito de Dolores is actually on September 16th but of course there's no reason NOT to celebrate with some Margaritas on May 5th either! We celebrated tonight with some beefy and cheesy tacos. What made these even better were the Nacho Cheese Taco Shells, a new find that I'm definitely getting more of! When they said BOLD flavor, they weren't joking! These taste like Nacho Doritos which were always my favorite chips growing up. I stuffed the shells with ground beef, bell peppers, onions, LOTS of chili powder and topped them with even more cheese and sour cream. YUM YUM!

Sunday Eats!

Now that football season has officially kicked off, I can't WAIT to start making snacks again! I found this Lawry's Garlic Spread a while back and spread it onto some mini baguettes. All it took was 10 minutes in the oven and we were in garlic bread heaven! Of course, you can't have garlic bread without some warm marinara sauce for dipping!

And what could be better than grilled lamb on a Sunday night? I marinated these lamb loin chops in a mixture of olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and thyme then simply grilled a few minutes on each side in my grill pan. Served over some curried couscous and the best way to end the weekend!

Labor Day Weekend!

Labor Day might be the unofficial end of summer but the weather in SF made it feel like summer was just beginning! We FINALLY got some heat and totally took advantage of the gorgeous weather. Here we are getting ready for some fun in the sun and BBQ!

This is our friend's house in the Marina who was kind enough to host the BBQ. We had WAY too much to eat and drink as usual!

Now onto some actual food and no party is complete without a dip! I made a 5-Layer Mexican version that was super easy and pretty healthy too. The layers were Wholly Guacamole, TJ's Cowboy Cavier, Salsa, Light Sour Cream and finally Reduced Fat Mexican Shredded Cheese. YUM!

I found lamb loin chops on sale and of course, had to get some. I marinated the chops in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and Dijon mustard for a few hours. Then just grilled them about 5 minutes on each side in my grill pan. Served over couscous and it was the perfect summer meal!

Finally for the perfect Sunday dinner that didn't heat up the house, slow cooked short ribs! I just browned the meat for a few minutes and then tossed them into the slow cooker with a can of Guinness. The meat was falling off the bones after cooking for 10 hours and I served them over a new find, Potatoes Au Gratin. SO much easier than making those potatoes from scratch and tasted just as good!

That's a wrap for our awesome long weekend!