Sweet & Spicy Soup

With a few days of fall weather coming up here in Texas, it was the perfect weekend to make my first batch of fall soup. Recently I've seen a few different recipes for Sweet Potato Soup, so I chose to adapt this one because, personally I like for my sweet potatoes to be more on the savory side. Besides, there's nothing like a hot bowl of soup on the first cool weekend of the year. 

(the only picture I have is from instagram)

2 large sweet potatoes

1/4 cup butter

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

24-ish oz low sodium chicken broth

1.5 teaspoons Sriracha

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2-3/4 Tbsp maple syrup

In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter & saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes. Add the sweet potatoes, chicken broth, Sriracha, nutmeg, and maple syrup. Cook on medium heat for about a half an hour [or until the potatoes are soft]. Mash everything up with a potato masher if you want your soup more chunky, or blend it all together until smooth (easily done with an immersion blender). Add salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

Rainy days are for books and tea.

After spending practically the entire day reading, I finally finished The Night Circus. It was just as good as I hoped it would be when I read the first chapter. The story is written in such and interesting way, from different, intertwining points of view. It's magical in a wonderful way--I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something new to read. 

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields."

Then, after spending the dreary, rainy day with my nose in a book, Tiffany and I met at The Domain for tea and dinner at The Steeping Room. We each got a different kind of sandwich and tea. It was the first time I've eaten an actual meal there, but the food was just as good as I hoped. Obviously, it is a wonderful place for tea, too. And of course, we took a photo of the food before digging in (and our waiter arranged the teapots and cups for us). 

TV Dinners

Since tonight was the night for the new seasons of Person of Interest and Scandal, obviously it was the perfect time to make my Flatbread Pizza. Both premiers were great, of course. My dad is also a fan of Person of Interest, so we had a running commentary going on via text during the episode. Oh, and Scandal. So. Scandalous. Always leaving us hanging. 

Obviously pizza is always a good decision, but this is my own light version that can be customized to your heart's content. I generally use the same ingredients every time I make it, but sometimes I make a buffalo chicken version or veggie-only. When life gets busy, I tend to chop up all my vegetables at one time and keep them in the fridge so I can toss them together really quickly. Plus, the whole pizza is only 5 points+ if you're down with the Weight Watchers.

1 FlatOut Light Original [or Light Italian]

Prego LightSmart or VeggieSmart Pasta Sauce

Pepperoncini Peppers

Olives

Bell Pepper

Tomatoes [I usually use Roma]

Turkey Pepperoni

White Mushrooms

Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat the over to 350, and I always spray my cookie sheet with a little Olive Oil because FlatOuts have a tendency to stick. Put down your FlatOut first, then put down your sauce--I use about 2 tablespoons to cover it. After that, I put down about a half cup or so of mozzarella, then top it off with all of your veggies and pepperoni. Bake it for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the FlatOut is crisp around the edges. 

Last night I did a little baking & put together tasty Diet Coke Red Velvet Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow topping. I guess I'll go ahead and share that one, too. 

This one's really simple:

1 can Diet Coke

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix

Jumbo Marshmallows

Preheat your oven to 350 & line your muffin tin with some cute cupcake liners. Combine the Diet Coke and cake mix, mixing with an electric mixer [or whisk if you're old school] until the mixture is smooth. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way and bake according to the instructions on the box. A couple of minutes before they're done, pull the cupcakes and top each one with a marshmallow, then bake them for 2-3 more minutes until the marshmallows are melted and barely brown on top. 

These puppies are only 4 points+ each; enjoy. 

Monday Night Tapas

Tonight I met Tiffany downtown after work for dinner at Malgas Tapas Bar, where we fought the Monday blues with a glass of wine and some tasty tapas. We sat outside on the patio while the sun was going down, talking and laughing and I got to meet Tiffany's friend Mohan. And that's all I've got for you tonight.

For the Love of Fall

In honor of the [official] beginning of fall, I did a little bit of decorating around here. While I was out running errands this afternoon, I picked up a couple of precious pumpkins for the island in my kitchen. (It seems that in all of the packing that I did when I moved, I didn't remember to bring any of my seasonal decorations). And while it's still hot in Texas, but still, piles of pumpkins have been turning up all over the city and everywhere you look, so I'm still in the spirit of the season. 

So here's to fall. My favorite season, colorful and crisp. I'm glad you're here.

Brunch + Book Club

Last weekend I went to my first book club meeting in Austin. I got to have brunch at the Galaxy Cafe and chat about good reads with a few lovely ladies and we picked out our first book--The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy. We had a few to choose from, but the description of this one was just so appealing. I can't wait to get started, have any of you read it?

"In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger."

The Little Things

On the way home from work, I decided to try out another little coffee shop for a Friday night treat. I stopped at Bennu coffee and tried the Pride & Prejudice mocha. So good. 
(I also spotted a funny little mural across the street from Bennu)

But the best part of this lovely Friday evening was coming home to find a package from my sweet mama in my mailbox. She sent me two issues of the Mississippi arts and entertainment review (one with good ol' Elvis on the front) and the newspaper from my hometown. 

It's the little things, y'all. 

Records and Espresso.

Today was a day for relaxing. My first plan was to spend my Saturday laying by the pool, but the cloudy skies had other plans and it just wasn't the kind of day for that. Once I realized that, I spent the greater part of my morning reading while Zoe sat in her favorite window, then decided to go out and explore some more of Austin.

I read about a coffee shop called Epoch Coffee, so that was where I decided to head for the afternoon. I found it, and ordered and Espresso Freeze (I think that's what they called it) and y'all, it was probably the best frozen espresso I've ever tasted. Plus it looked pretty.

Since you all know just how much I love my coffee, you should also know that I'm a sucker for a good record store. So when I noticed that what is possibly my new favorite coffee shop is right by a sweet little record shop called Breakaway Records. So I decided to treat myself to one or two, including this sweet copy of The Beach Boys' Endless Summer. Obviously, it was a great day.

Cooking y'all.

After a strangely stressful week, I decided that tonight was a good night to try out a new recipe. I don't know about all of you, but growing up in the deep South around the the ladies that I did, there's nothing much more relaxing that cooking yourself a good dinner. Somehow I just happened across a recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps on Emily Bites and it seemed like a good one to try out on a Friday night. And these turned out pretty fantastic with a cup of tea, y'all. So I couldn't help but share the recipe.

Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps from Emily Bites
Yields 4 wraps. WW P+: 8 per wrap (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
1 lb 95% lean ground beef  (I substituted ground turkey for ground beef, as always)
1 T McCormick Hamburger Seasoning
4 Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle Wedges, cut into pieces
2 T Ketchup
2 t Yellow Mustard
1/3 cup 2% shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 T Hormel Real Bacon Bits
4 light original Flatouts 
½ a medium tomato, cut into pieces
1 – 1 ½ cups shredded lettuce
Directions:
1.    Bring a large skillet to medium heat. Add the ground beef and hamburger seasoning and cook until meat is browned. Drain meat. Clean skillet and set aside.
2.    Place meat in a medium bowl and add the cheese wedges, ketchup, mustard, cheddar and bacon bits. Stir to combine. Microwave on high for one minute. Stir again until meat is evenly coated.
3.    Spoon a quarter of the meat mixture (around a generous ½ cup) onto the center of each flatout and spread the mixture lengthwise, leaving about an inch at each end. Evenly distribute the shredded lettuce and tomato pieces across the top of the meat. Fold in the short ends of the flatout over the filling and then fold in the long ends to cover it. 
4.     Lightly mist the large skillet with cooking spray and bring over medium-low heat. Place the wraps fold-side down onto the skillet (I did them in batches of two) and let them cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Flip the wraps and continue to cook until golden on the bottom. Cut in half and serve.


I have yet to try one of her recipes that I didn't like, so check her out! There are tons of cute, individual serving "cupcake" recipes--I haven't tried any of them yet, but they're on my list of recipes to try!


Happy weekend, friends!

Downtown Days.

On Saturday, I drove into downtown Austin for a little exploring. I finally went to see the capitol building--which is a pretty, pretty sight in the sunshine.

After I drove around for a little while, I decided it was high time I stopped at had lunch at one of the food trucks. Right after I moved here, I started a list of the ones that I really wanted to visit. So now I've finally crossed one off the list! I picked Conscious Cravings to try first. Their full menu is vegetarian, so I tried their Spicy Chickpea wrap and a mango smoothie. The wrap was delicious, the homemade sauce really takes the cake at Conscious Cravings. Yum. But the smoothie was a little depressing. I expected a deliciously cold, icy smoothie, but it was lukewarm blended fruit. I would stil go back for another meal, but I'll skip the smoothie next time.

And then I decided that I should try two foot trucks. Mostly because right next to Conscious Cravings is Holy Cacao. There's no way I'm passing up a food truck that serves delicious chocolates. I tried the Red Velvet cake ball--red velvet cake dipped in white chocolate. Obviously it was fantastic. So I crossed two of the food trucks to try off of my list last weekend.

I think I'm going to make a goal to try a new place every weekend until I finish my list--then maybe I'll have found some new trucks to try!

Back to the blog.

Looks like I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Bad, bad blogger. 

But now that I'm almost unpacked and settled I can get back into a regular schedule. 

Austin is huge and different and overwhelming and entertaining all at once. I've found a favorite spot for bubble tea, but I'm still on the lookout for a favorite coffee spot--working at Strange Brew spoiled me.

I don't have much of an update tonight, but recently I read an article about Kelly Clarkson. Now y'all don't hate me for it, but I've always liked her. I have every album she's released since then and I've seen her perform live. Her voice is ridiculous. I guess it's the part of me that's always wanted to be able to perform like that. Anyway, the point is that she's almost constantly been judged for her body by the media and she always comes back in a kick-ass way. Homegirl is looking fierce these days. I want her trainer.  

(source)

Also, Kelly Clarkson + Jennifer Nettles + John Legend makes for great tv. I'm hooked.