Weekend Recap

Another weekend of 2015 down....where has this year gone?!  It is really flying by at an alarming rate, I mean football season is starting this week!  Which I am completely pumped about. If you need me on a Friday night for the next 12 weeks, try the field supporting Eric and our team.  Since I actually pulled my phone out once or twice this weekend I can do this recap in pictures.  How convenient, right?  I should try this more often.

1. My Friday lunch.  I love love love (did I mention love?) Jimmy John's. We recently got one downtown so there has been a buzz around the office about it, mainly since they deliver with it being so hot outside and people getting tired of Chik-fil-a  (the only other option in the building). We had a minor break in the oppressive heat that's been hanging around since June so a co-worker and I walked over to grab lunch. Perhaps this can be my new Friday Football Food Tradition for this season...we shall see. 

2. Tiger Night was on Friday night so I ventured up to the football field to watch the game.  It's just an intra-squad scrimmage, but it's still fun.  Plus this amazing breeze started blowing Friday evening that actually made feel like dare I say fall?  OK it wasn't exactly a cool fall breeze, but it made possible to sit outside and enjoy the game without sweating to death. My only complaint was I had no idea who the kids were playing. With players graduating, jv moving up to varsity, and others switching numbers in the off season, the other coaches wives and myself spent half of the game trying to figure out who was who.  I will be glad next Friday when I have a program with a roster in my hands. 

3. Saturday AM I was up early (thanks Hawk and Peanut) so I took them on a walk and got a run in before going to visit a friend and her sweet 3 week old baby boy.  We had a great visit and it was great to see her!  We work together so I've been missing our daily chats! After I got home, I treated myself (and the boys) to a little pool time.  This time of year if my favorite for pool time because the water is just cool enough to be refreshing, but not cold like it is early in the year. 

4. & 5. These two....I did my best to keep the two of them outside as much as possible when it was not too hot which meant lots of fetch time and walks (despite Peanut's protests - pictured above). 

6. Saturday night I had a really fun Girls Night with a couple of girlfriends.  We started the night at Blackfinn for appetizers and ended up downtown for a little while.  I can't remember the last time I got out for a little while and we had a blast! Although, I can say with no regrets that I am  over the bar scene.  I will take background music and a glass of wine over loud bands and huge crowds every. single.time. 

7. Saturday night was my first time at Blackfinn and I was impressed.  They had some absolutely delicious appetizers. I had the Blackened Brie and it was fantastic!  

Sunday was spent churching and relaxing.  I did get my happy butt on the treadmill because I was afraid I was not going to make my 10,000 steps for the day...don't worry I made it. =) It was a nice afternoon, so I once again tried to keep the pups outside for a while and ended up weeding my veggie garden.  It needed it desperately.  My garden season is definitely winding down, and I was tempted to till it up because half of it is dead or covered with weeds.  I had a bad case of squash borers that completely wiped out my squash and zucchini plants.  I didn't know what they were until it was too late and my plants were dying. I put off tilling it up because I still have 2 watermelons growing, but I got a nice surprise Sunday when I found 4 new baby cantaloupes as I was pulling the weeds up!

I was quite shocked to find them.  I figured that with the awful heat and lack of rain we've had there would not be much else coming from the garden this year. It just goes to show that new and wonderful things can come in even the harshest conditions.

I am crossing my fingers that my statement above holds true for Mondays as well. =)

Weekend Leftovers for Dinner: BBQ Tacos

After a big cookout weekend like this past weekend we always have a TON of leftovers.  Being the pack rat that I am I always save them at least until Thursday night when the trash gets taken out to the road. My goal in saving them is that they will get eaten by the end of the week so we don't throw a bunch of food away and perhaps making dinners a little simpler to prepare.  However, that is not always the case either because of the volume of food we have leftover or us getting tired of eating the same thing for 5 days straight.

This week's leftovers consisted of potato salad, baked beans, mac and cheese, ribs, and 2 containers of Boston butt. The mac and cheese didn't last past Monday (obviously), but the rest of the items have lingered. Rest assured I am trying my hardest to use up the Boston butt.  We usually make a BBQ pizza or BBQ nachos but I wanted to try something different this week.  After hitting up Pinterest I found the inspiration I needed and we have feasted the last couple of evenings on delicious BBQ Tacos with a spicy southwest slaw. We both love it.  I usually tire of pork after a couple of meals but I am thinking that I am ready for round 3 for dinner this evening (if there's any slaw leftover).

original recipe from here

What you Need:

4 cups broccoli slaw (I used a 12oz bag)

1/2 onion, thinly diced

1.5 Tbsp yellow mustard

1.5 Tbsp white vinegar

3 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp chili powder

How to Make It:

Put dry broccoli slaw in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and chili powder. Pour mixture over slaw and stir until the slaw is evenly coated.  Mix in onions and stir until completely combined.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

How to Serve It:

I took some leftover Boston Butt and warmed it up in a skillet, mixing in a little BBQ sauce while it heated up to give the meat some flavor. I put equal amounts of meat and slaw in tortilla shells I warmed in another skillet, and topped them with a little shredded cheddar cheese.  Eric added salsa and hot sauce to his because he believes you have to put hot sauce on everything.  These tacos were soooo tasty!  The slaw has a slight hint of heat to it, but the sweetness of the BBQ sauce in the meat balances out the heat. If you want to, you can adjust the heat by decreasing the red pepper flakes and chili powder.

Talk about a winner winner, but I guess we'd call this pork dinner?! Who cares....just go make it. =)

Weekend Recap: Kicking Off Another Football Season

In all of the craziness lately I forgot to mention that we're in the beginning stages of embarking on another football season around here.  I think this is season 6? Maybe 7?  I really can't remember; they're all starting to run together for me. Every year Eric says he isn't going to coach and every year I tell him I'll believe it when he isn't at practice in August.  Do I know him or what?  Truth be told, he absolutely loves it and it makes him happy (and gives me peace and quiet in the afternoons), and I kind of can't imagine him NOT coaching. He is fortunate to be a part of a wonderful staff who all are part of wonderful families.

We kicked off this season with our annual BBQ Rib Cookoff at our house Saturday night.  Eric came in 2nd....again, but only but one vote this time. Maybe next year...lol! We also did a Mac & Cheese contest, which I bowed out of because I have yet to find a simple, successful mac and cheese recipe.  The best ones in my opinion are ones that start with rues and rues and I have never gotten along.  I burn them or they get lumpy and I end up getting frustrated with the whole process.  I opted to make potato salad and Chinese coleslaw instead.  We had 5 mac and cheese entries so it was no biggie. We filled up the evening with food, swimming, Left Right Center, and a round of Celebrity. And now we're just over a week away from the first game!

The coaches and wives (minus 2 coaches and a whole lot of kids). I can't begin to tell you how awesome this group of folks is.  I am really looking forward to spending another season with them!

After such a fun day on Saturday we were beat and spent nearly the entire day on the couch Sunday catching up on Redbox movies we wanted to watch....we went with Insurgent and Get Hard. (They were both pretty good.) I felt kind of bad for not taking the dogs out more than I did but it was just too stinkin hot to do anything outside.  I don't think they really minded too much.

They were clearly game for lounging.  =)

So here's to the end of Football-less Friday nights for a few months....now if we could just get the temps to go down ever so slightly I will really be ready for the season to start!

5th Anniversary Weekend Recap

Another anniversary is in the books for the Cagles. Being the foodies that we are, we celebrated with an amazing dinner at a new favorite (as for Friday night) restaurant in Auburn called Acre.  It's a really neat farm-to-table restaurant with a rotating menu and fresh everything!  The atmosphere was very rustic and the food was outstanding! We started off with raw oysters and pimento cheese with smoked paprika pita chips.  As we were scarfing down our appetizers they brought out the most amazing dinner plates:

My Dinner Edible Work of Art

Come here Pimento Cheese and get in ma belly!

I ordered the Grilled Hereford Beef Tenderloin that came with parsnip-potato puree, caramelized shiitake mushrooms, hollandaise sauce, asher blue cheese, and potato skins.  As you can see the dish was a work of art and it tasted like heaven! I would say it was one of the best fillets I have ever had.  Eric agreed.  He ordered the Smoked and Seared Teres Major, which is a piece of meat from the shoulder of the cow that had been smoked and was served with peaches, purple hull peas, basil, corn vinaigrette, cornbread panzanella (think Ruby Tuesday croutons, but made with cornbread), fried okra, and calabrian chili-beef fat-butter.  It was delicious, and he dove into it so quickly I didn't get a picture.  Since it was our anniversary we splurged and got dessert (even though we were completely stuffed).  We got their Blueberry-White Chocolate Bread Pudding that came with Whiskey Caramel Sauce and homemade vanilla ice cream. And then they had to roll us to our car.  Just kidding...almost.

We are both ready to go back, but this time we want to take a big group and order one of their massive cured meat and cheese boards...aka my happy place.  We just need an occasion....any takers?

One of my favorite parts was the familiar dinnerware.  Eric couldn't believe that we had this exact salt shaker and similar cups growing up. I also spotted a mini-cast iron skillet (think ash try size) they used to serve oysters, that I have in my kitchen, and my favorite were the sectioned metal trays like my grandparents have at their lake house that I grew up eating off of!  It was sooo cool!

Saturday was pretty much the norm...Eric fished and we grilled out the the neighbors. But Sunday brought fun, some surprises, the beginning of another season for us. We headed up to the lake early to pick up my new toy.....

My first rider!

I got a paddle board!  I am stoked about it, too! Ever since I tried it on the 4th I've wanted one and now I do! As much as I wanted to take it in some open water, I figured I should test myself on it to see exactly how much balance it was going to take....so into the pool I went with it! I can't get going fast (or far) but I have been able to see how much weight shiftage it could handle. Just for the record it can take a lot more than I thought initially.  I also made sure I could get on it in deep water by myself with no help because I am sure I will fall off it eventually. I cannot WAIT to take it out on open water soon!

Almost as soon as we got back with my board Eric was off to football meetings.  The 2015 football season officially starts this week, and Eric is excited about it.  Truth be told, I am, too.  I enjoy it because I know he enjoys it, and I really enjoy our little group of coaches wives.  After shockingly short meeting, we headed back up to the lake with the neighbors for a little golf game.  We made it a family affair this time and it was a blast! The perfect end to our weekend.

Happy first day back to school to all of my teacher friends!