Five Course Meal

Sunday = the day of the 5 course meal I would prepare (all by myself) for my husband. I have to say I was looking forward to preparing these foods/techniques I've never used before. I was also nervous that I wouldn't be able to produce anything edible. No worries, I had pizza on speed dial!

First, I would like to introduce you to some new pans that have joined our kitchen family.

All-Clad Copper Core 3-Quart Saucier:



Which was inspected by Melvin Bell. Thanks Melvin!



4 - Quart Braiser pan:



I was very excited to use the new pans while preparing today's meals!

5 Course Meal

Below are some pictures of the final products of the meal. I will be making separate posts to review and explain how I made each one of these dishes.

First course, Andouille French Bread Pizza with Pickled Jalapenos (perfect for Superbowl party):



Second course, Seared Scallops with Caper and White Wine Sauce:



Third course, Salad:



Fourth course, Cauliflower Puree:



Roasted Spicy Broccoli and Grilled Herb Rubbed Filet Mignon:



A Margarita!



Fifth course, Banana Soft Serve (thanks blog world):



Not sure which blog this banana soft serve originated but it was a really good alternative to ice cream. Thanks!

This meal took a lot of work not only in preparing and cooking but planning, shopping and cleaning!

Overall I think it was a success. My husband seemed to really enjoy the meal and that makes me happy!

Hope everyone weekend was fantastic!

Saturday = Perfect Oats and Shopping

I love Saturday's. The feeling of no work all day and not having to go to work the next day is priceless. I love that I have an entire day to do whatever I want alongside my husband and dogs:)

I started off the day by making banana oats.

mmm...

One of the toppings I chose was Justin's Natural Almond Butter. This was the first time I've had it and it was pretty good. Thanks Whole Foods for the sample!

Today's oats consisted of the following:

• Oats
• Milk
• Banana
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon

Toppings:

• Shredded Coconut
• Toasted Walnuts
• Almond Butter
• Butterscotch Chips

Amazing bowl, so good.

I like to mix up all my toppings:)

To help me wake up and be a little more productive I made myself a cup of vanilla coffee.

With some milk and cinnamon added.

This was a wonderful breakfast. I only wish I functioned at a higher level on workday mornings. I would make this breakfast every morning!

Saturday was super busy. I spent a couple hours shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Whole Foods for the 5 course dinner supplies. Wish me luck on my cooking venture tomorrow, I will totally need it!

Question:

When you eat oatmeal do you mix in your ingredients or do you leave them on top while you eat?

I always mix my ingredients in my oats.

Rewind to Friday

This is going to be a quick recap of Friday eats. I have a lot planned for today and tomorrow so I don't really have time to do an in depth post.

I woke up Friday totally parched so the first thing I reached for was a big bottle of water.

But I still wanted some flavor so I added Crystal Light lemonade.

Exactly what I needed. I think I drank this big bottle in a half hour.

Breakfast

A piece of quiche with hot sauce on top.

Pineapple + melon

Snack

My breakfast filled me up so I didn't eat lunch. This mean around 3:00 pm I was starving so I grabbed a banana.

TGIF Happy Hour

Went to Ceres and ordered a Captain and Diet Coke.

While talking over drinks I found out my husband didn't eat lunch either.

No lunch + Cocktails = Food needed

So I ordered us chips which we dipped in a bowl of Chili with cheddar cheese.

After the chili I started feeling a little sleepy so I ordered a Sugar Free Red Bull.

Dinner

My husband made us a pizza and I made the salad.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. I'm in charge of cooking my husband a 5 course meal on Sunday. I lost a bet and the loser (me) had to plan, shop, cook and clean up a 5 course meal. Details are soon to follow!

Hungry by Crystal Renn

Many of you have asked about the book, Hungry by Crystal Renn:

I'm a big fan of biographies and memoirs especially those that I can somewhat relate too. I found Mrs. Renn to be very honest and straight forward about her history. I think it is fantastic that she was able to get past her eating/exercise issues and become the success that she is today.

I'm not yet finished with the book but I can tell you that I've enjoyed it so far. I like hearing about her story in her words. This book did captivate my attention except for a section where she was talking about stats of weight, like BMI's. For some reason that small section of the book somewhat annoyed me, I don't really know why.

Overall, I think the book is a good read and was able to keep my attention which is not easy to do!

Friday in St. Maarten

My husband and I were not in the best of shape after the pub crawl. We woke up late and dragged ourselves to a restaurant with a great view. I just love how some of the restaurant have no walls!

I had the perfect hangover meal (even on an island) a cheese burger and fries:

The best mozzarella sticks:

We were really bummed that it was our last day on the island and were feeling pretty depressed that we would have to be going back to our "normal" lives.

Maho Beach

Spur of the moment we decided to hit up Maho Beach. This beach was the most beautiful beach we had been to the entire time we were on the island.

The water was warm, so blue and the waves were huge!

This beach is known because of the Princess Juliana International Airport that is situated immediately adjacent to the beach.

After watching a couple small planes fly above us we decided to go to the restaurant down the beach to wait for the big jets to land.

The bar had a surf board in the sand that listed the arrival times of all the planes.

While waiting for the jets I sipped on a Kettle one vodka and Sugar Free Red Bull:

I thought the bathroom signs were funny:

And I LOVE disco so I was psyched to see a disco ball on the beach!

Still waiting for the big jets to fly over, my husband and I shared an order of spiced fries.

The signs around the beach and the restaurant were hilarious! Warning people of the jet engines power to blow you over.

Finally the jets arrived. It was amazing and so much fun not only to watch the jets but to watch the peoples reactions to the jets.

We were SO happy we decided to go to this beach. Not only were the planes cool but the water was beautiful. We both had a great time!

Last Meal in St. Maarten

We decided to go to Big Fish for our last meal on the island.

I had a salad with really fresh ingredients.

and the BEST fettucini in my life. I'm not even kidding, this was heavenly. I believe the menu called it Jerk Chicken fettucini. It had the most amazing flavoring I've ever experienced. My poor husband was probably embarrassed by all the mmmmm's that were coming from our table while I inhaled this dish!

For dessert we had a Multan chocolate cake. We didn't know it when we ordered it but, it came with some mint ice cream and a mint flavored liquor.

This trip was amazing. The water is beautiful and the people are so nice. It was great to get away from the city and just take the time to relax with my husband!

Doctors = 5 Guys (not what you think;))

What a day! Started off having to fast until 3:15 in the afternoon. That means no coffee and no food. I don't even know how I got through it but I did.

Right next door to my doctors office is a place called Five Guys. Here is a little info for those of you who are not aware of Five Guys:

• The place only uses fresh, never frozen, ground beef.
• There are no freezers just coolers so nothing is ever frozen.
• They use only Peanut oil.
• The menu is trans-fat free.

It's still a fast food restaurant but it's a better fast food place then like McDonald's or Burger King. It's not only better for me but tastes better too, can't beat that!

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

So after being poked and prodded at the doctors I went to Five Guys and ordered some Cajun fries which were awesome.

Cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mustard and A1 sauce.

mmm...so good! While eating this burger I felt like I was cheating on my husband because he LOVES this place.

To wash down my breakfast/lunch/dinner, I got a grande skinny vanilla latte. Didn't get a picture but I think we all know what a Starbucks cup looks like;)

Drinks

Once my husband got home from work we set out to Grant Park. A bunch of people were out building amazing snow sculptures. I felt bad for them because I can't even explain how freakin cold it is in Chicago tonight. I can't wait to see the finished product of all the sculptures.

Simply amazing that people can do this:

When they started out with nothing. These pictures don't even do it justice.

After freezing our tootsies (a word my grandma always used) off we headed to the Hilton on Michigan avenue for a cocktail. This is an old school hotel and the bar is simply amazing. The bar is made out of marble and actually there is a ton of marble everywhere!

I ordered my typical Kettle One Cosmo and it was really good.

Tomorrow I will be posting my final St. Maarten post. I must say some of the pictures are pretty great so make sure you check in tomorrow!

I will also being doing a book review of Hungry, I've gotten some emails requesting info about it.

Good night everyone, blog at y'all later!