Zucchini Bread!

About a week ago I decided to make some zucchini bread because I had several zucchinis that were going to go bad if I didn't use them soon.  I asked a few people if they had any recipes that they loved, and I never really got a reply from anyone.  I decided to google and look around to see what I could find.  I found a recipe on  Allrecipes.com that was okay, but I thought I could make it healthier.  I made some good changes, and the result was super moist and delicious zucchini bread!  I was shocked at how much I liked it, and I was even more shocked at how much Greg liked it!

My healthier version of zucchini bread: 

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 3 tsp. ground cinnamon

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup applesauce

- 1/2- 3/4 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

- 2 tsp. vanilla extract

- 2 cups grated zucchini (I just grated 4 medium-large zucchinis, it was probably more than 2 cups.  You don't have to strain it because the juice helps to keep the bread moist)

- 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

You sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon) together in one bowl.  Whisk the eggs, applesauce, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.  Next, fold in the zucchini and nuts.

This makes enough for two loaves, so split the batter between two buttered loaf pans.  Bake them for somewhere between 45-60 minutes depending on your oven.  I would start checking them, and you can stick a toothpick or knife in to see if they're done.  If the knife comes out clean then you are good to go, but if it comes out with batter on it then keep baking.

Your house/apartment is going to smell amazing.  I love the smell of spiced bread... This is super delicious.  It's also a good way to get vegetables in your kids or picky spouse (ha!).  I hope that you enjoy it as much as Greg and I did!

Going home: Tuscaloosa edition

I made a last minute trip home to Alabama back in May.  The family that I nanny for was going to be gone for a week, and Mom was missing me (and wouldn't come to Durham)... So, I decided to go home for a few days.  It was a relatively short trip, Saturday-Wednesday, but it was certainly nice to see my family.

I had a pretty long layover in ATL, but it was actually a nice change from having to run to catch my next flight.  I enjoyed being able to get breakfast, and do some people watching.

I coordinated a family get together while I was home.  We met at one of my favorite restaurants, Jim 'n Nick's in Hoover.  To my surprise, everyone was actually able to make it.  Having everyone there certainly made it more fun, although we did all miss Greg.  I got to spend some time with my nephew, Justin.  He actually got to chew on his first rib bone!

Okay, so Jim 'N Nick's is actually Greg's favorite restaurant.  He was extremely jealous that we went to eat there without him.   

Here is me and sweet Justin.  I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with him! 

This is Alicia, Ben, me, Guy, Andrea, and Justin.  It's always great to get a picture of all of us together.

I also got to have dinner with my sweet friend, Mary.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture together.  It was one of the highlights of my trip home.  One of the hardest things about living so far away is that you don't get the opportunity to see you good friends on a regular basis.  I am always missing Mary, so it was especially nice to get together with her for dinner.

Mom, Dad and I went out to dinner at my all time favorite restaurant in Tuscaloosa.  I absolutely love Depalmas.  I think the food is really good, and I love it's charm.

It's so cute!  I wish I had some pictures of the inside to show you.

I got one of the specials, and it was so good!  

Like always, it was really good to go home and see my family.  I wish that I could do it more often, and that Greg had been able to join me for this trip.  I was so glad to see my parents, siblings, and Mary!  We will be heading back to AL in a few weeks for a wedding, and maybe we will be able to see a few more people during that visit!

Sangria and Baked Brie!

When our friends were visiting, I decided that I'd make some sangria!  I had never made any before, and so I looked around at a bunch of different recipes to try and figure out how to make it.  I kind of picked parts from several different recipes, and this is what I came up with.  It was absolutely delicious!

The first step is to cut up all the fruit.  I used 2 lemons, 2 limes, 1 orange, 1 red apple, and one green apple.  You slice the citrus fruits and dice the apples.  Throw them in your pitcher.

Then you add the booze!  I decided to do a bottle of Spanish red wine (it's one of the cheapest bottles that I could find at Trader Joe's, all the recipes I read said to use cheap wine, so here you go).  Then I added a cup of orange flavored vodka and a cup of Triple Sec.  Then you should pop it into the fridge for several hours so that the fruit can soak up everything.  

This is the finished product.  We started drinking it, and I felt like it was missing something.  A few of the recipes mentioned adding something with bubbles like ginger ale or sprite.  Well, I didn't have any of those, but I did have a bottle of Prosecco.  I added a splash of that into each glass and it was perfect! Something worth mentioning, the fruit really soaks in the alcohol, so be prepared to be shocked when you take those first few bites of fruit.  It is seriously like taking a shot.  whew.  

Besides wine, one of my favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's is cheese.  They have very affordable cheese.  While I was there picking up the Spanish wine, I got some Brie and French bread.  This recipe is super easy and really delicious.  Put the Brie on a baking sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Also throw your sliced bread in there too, so that it can get crusty and toasty and delicious.  While the cheese and bread are cooking, toast some sliced almonds in a skillet.  When the cheese is good and oozy then pull it out of the oven, put it on the plate, throw the almonds on top and drizzle with honey.  NOM.  I mean, SO GOOD!

You should make both of these of your next get together.  I think that you should make a double batch of the Sangria if you are entertaining people.  YUM!  I hope that you guys enjoy this as much as we did.  Happy eating!

Friday Favorites: Currently Reading (or just finished)

I tend to go through spurts where I will read a lot in a short amount of time, and then I will take a break for 1-2 (well, maybe more) months.  I'm not sure exactly why it happens to me like that.  I've always wanted to be the type of person that reads at the end of the day, before I go to sleep.  I have just never been able to achieve that goal.  Recently, I have been successful at reading before bed and not staying up too late!  It all started with something that I'm kind of afraid to admit to all you blog readers out there...

50 Shades of Grey- I had seen a lot on twitter recently about this book.  I knew that there was going to a special on 20/20 with the author, and I had read some online about it.  I didn't know if I really wanted to read it.  It's about a recent college graduate who met a very successful business man, and there was an instant attraction.  She feels like she could fall in love with him, but he's into some serious stuff.... BDSM.  Now, that's not at all the kind of thing that I'm in to, so I have no clue why I was so drawn to this book.  I don't think it's fun or sexy, but I seriously could not put this book down.  I read the whole thing in 4 sittings over 5 days.  Now that it's over I'm debating about whether I should continue on with the trilogy, or if I should call it a day and be done with reading about freaky sex.  (HA!)

After flying through such a serious book, I needed something a little less intense.  I had bought this book right after it came out, but I just hadn't decided to pick it up.  I talked about Ree Drummond in my last Friday Favorites post.  I love her.  I love her food (in extreme moderation).  I love her blog.  I love her dog, Charlie.  I love the life that she lives.  I was very intrigued when this came out because I'm always wanting to know more about famous people that I like.  I also flew through this book, it was finished within a week.  It's her and her husband's love story.  It was so sweet and touching and heartbreaking and amazing.  I loved everything.  One reason I may have loved it so much is because it was simple, pure, and very sweet, which was a huge contrast to what I had just finished reading!  If you just want a sweet love story then you should pick this up.

Little Bee is another book that I picked up FOREVER ago, but after finishing the last book I was desperate to start reading something else right away.  I just started this one a few nights ago before bed. I have just read the first chapter, but I'm certainly intrigued!  I can't wait to get further into it.

I know that Little Bee is more on the serious side of things, so I decided that I needed to pick up something that was a little lighter to balance it with.  I couldn't resist picking this book up yesterday.  I'm already 60 pages in and I am seriously LOVING it.  I have already had several LOLs, and everyone that I have talked to that has read it highly recommends it.  I'll have to let you guys know how it goes.

There you have it!  Those are the books that I'm into right now.  I seriously cannot believe that I blogged about 50 Shades of Grey!  I feel like no one talks about reading it (at least I don't know one person that has told me they've read it), so maybe I broke the ice.  If you have read it, I want to know!  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week!  I am planning on blogging with my Sangria and baked Brie recipe this weekend.

Scott and Kathleen visit!

Our very good friends Scott and Kathleen came to visit us this past weekend.  We had SO much fun, and it's always so good to see them!  They drove over on Thursday afternoon after they got off work.  Greg and I were so excited about their arrival that we both stayed up until 12:30 waiting on them to get here, and then we all stayed up an hour or so more talking.  If you know me, that's a pretty big deal (I tend to go to bed on the early side).

We did a lot of fun stuff on Friday.  First we went over to Duke Gardens.  It was so pretty!  We really enjoyed walking around and checking everything out, and then we walked over to Duke Chapel.  It is so gorgeous on the inside, and I think there were some organ students practicing in the Chapel.  I haven't been when the organ was being played, and so I just sat down to take it all in.

 Kathleen and I at Duke Gardens

Our handsome husbands 

The Gardens were beautiful!  I loved these flowers. 

Scott and Kathleen 

Me and the hubs.

The inside of Duke Chapel.  Isn't it gorgeous?!

After we walked back to the car, we headed over to one of my favorite lunch places in Durham, Foster's Market.  Scott and Kathleen had sandwiches, I had a salad, and Greg had a milkshake (of course).  When we finished eating, we headed home to catch a nap because we were all tired from the late night on Thursday.

Friday night we headed over to the American Tobacco Campus because they were starting their Music on the Lawn series.  We took a couple of blankets, and a bottle of wine for me and Kathleen.  The boys walked over to Mellow Mushroom and grabbed a pizza.  We had a really good time just hanging out and listening to the really good bluegrass band that played.  I think that was my favorite part of the weekend!

The Lucky Strike Tower is at the center of the American Tobacco Campus downtown.  The band plays right underneath it on the stage.  It's one of the big Durham landmarks.   

There were a lot of people there! 

I really love Bluegrass.  I think that Greg and I will become regulars at Music on the Lawn 

Scott and Kathleen really enjoyed it too!

Saturday morning, Scott and Kathleen went to meet some family friends for the Farmer's Market and brunch.  I just took it easy, and went out to run a few errands while they were gone.  Greg had to work a few hours that afternoon.  When they got back over to the house, we headed to Trader Joe's.  I absolutely love that place!

Saturday afternoon the boys went over to the driving range.  Kathleen and I had some sangria, and I made some baked brie with honey and almonds.  It was incredible!  I'll be posting the recipe later.  When the guys got back, Greg started getting the grill ready to cook dinner.  We had a pork tenderloin, grilled corn, grilled zucchini and squash.  It was delicious!  After dinner, we just hung out at the house, had some dessert, and played a few board games.

Absolutely delicious!!

Sunday morning we went to Watt's Grocery for brunch.  It was fantastic!  They had the best grits that I have ever had.  SO good!

Overall, I would say it was a great weekend and we had a wonderful visit.  We absolutely love Scott and Kathleen!  We are already planning a trip to Chicago in the fall to visit them.

Friday Favorites- TV edition!

Greg and I are both loving Smash!  I think that they definately has good and not so good episodes.  It's recently been renewed for another season, and I can't wait to see what happens!  If you like musicals, theater, singing, or drama then you will love this!  I also love Katherine McPhee and Debra Messing!

Castle is one our of all time favorites!  I find that I'm becoming more and more frustrated with the state of Castle and Beckett's relationship!  Anyone else feeling this way?  I think that the tension between them is getting to be more than I can stand.  I wish they would just tell each other how they are feeling!

I love Jeff Lewis and Jenni!  I'm so glad that they are back with a new show.  It makes the time between Flipping Out seasons more bearable.  It's so entertaining to watch them move in with clients, and try to help them work through issues.  I find this even more amusing because Jeff has so many issues of his own, it's funny to watch him react to other people's strange habits and design sense.

I know, I don't need a lecture about how this one is on it's last leg.  Everyone is saying that ABC is going to cancel it, but I still love it.  I think that Shonda Rhime's writing is phenominal, and the acting is great as well.  I love that this show deals with such difficult topics, and I always find myself crying at some point during the episode.  I will be very sad to see it go if ABC decides to cancel it.

Greg only tolerates this show because I love it so much.  I've really enjoyed watching this season unfold.  I am a tad bit peeved with the HUGE break that they have been on for the last two months.  Why does ABC think that is such a good idea?  Although I love this show, I am not sure how it can carry on for more than one season.  I guess we will just have to see what happens.

Okay, seriously, don't judge me.  This show is hysterical.  The Robertson family is a total hoot.  I find myself laughing throughout the entire show.  It's interesting to watch their family dynamic and how it affects the family business.  Greg will claim that he doesn't like this show, but you know what?  He laughs through the entire episode too!

Hello!  Have you seen this new show?  If not, then you need to stop reading and go over to ABC's web-site and watch it.  Now, do it.  Great show!  I just love Shonda Rhimes writing, she is very talented.  I love all her shows! (even though Grey's Anatomy isn't getting any love on this post)  I love how intense this is, and the Olivia Pope is a total bad ass.

I have no idea why I love this show so much.  I think it's the people on the show that I love.  I think that Troy and Bruce (I call him Big Sexy) really make the show.  If you haven't seen this then you should hop on over to the History Channel and give it a try.  It's very entertaining!  Again, Greg will probably try and deny that he likes this one, but we watch it together every week.  

I love Ree Drummond.  period.  I don't necessarily think that you should make her food every single day, or just as the recipe calls for.  I think a lot of improvements could be made to her recipes to make them healthier, but sometimes nothing is better than a butter and cream filled batch of mashed potatoes with a big juicy steak.  I love the insight into her life and cooking on this Food Network show.  They have just restarted the first series, and I'm looking forward to the new season.

If you haven't been watching this show then you are really missing out.  Discovery Channel makes the most magnificent shows about Earth.  They have ways of capturing the most amazing moments on camera.  I have loved seeing this mini-series!  My favorite episodes are the ones that show the behind the scenes footage because I think it is crazy to see how they are able to film these wild creatures in their natural habitat.

Well, there you have it.  This is my first Friday Favorites post, and hopefully I will be able to keep it up every week.  If you have a suggestion on what next Friday's post should be about then just let me know!  I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, and grab your remote to set the DVR!  

Updates!

I've decided that I'm just not very good a keeping up with the blog.  I check in and read other blogs daily. Maybe I'll start doing some weekly theme posts.  We'll see... I'm not going to make any promises.

It's been about 2 months since I posted last.  We have had a good bit going on.

Greg got a part-time job working at Eddie Bauer.  It's not the perfect situation for us right now, but it's so much better than him not having a job while he continues to look for something full-time.  He's really enjoying it, and he is learning a lot about the brand and the great quality of stuff that they have there.  I'm so happy that he has something to keep him a little busy.

My in-laws came to visit in March.  It was really wonderful to see them.  They made most of the drive up after Linda got out of school on Friday for spring break.  The stopped and spent the night right outside of Charlotte, NC.  They arrived Saturday afternoon.  We love having visitors, but especially family.  We mainly concentrated on just spending time with them since we don't get to see them as often as we would like.  We went out to eat, saw The Hunger Games, Greg and his mom went shopping, Greg and his dad went golfing, I met Linda for lunch one day while the boys were golfing.  It was a really nice visit.  They headed home on Wednesday morning.

We also got news from the DS that Ralph would be moving this year to take a new appointment.  We were nervous and excited to see what was going to happen when appointments came out.  They'll be moving in June to Roanoke First United Methodist Church.  We are very happy for Ralph and Linda and their new appointment.  I'm looking forward to helping them move (it's the first time they have moved churches since Greg and I started dating).  Greg will be heading down with the dogs the week of the move, and I'll fly down on Tuesday night.  We'll all be busy moving on Wednesday and then helping them unpack and get settled the rest of the time we are there.  Of course, we will be there for the first Sunday services.  I do hate moving, but I'm glad that we are going to be able to be in AL and help them with everything.

Our good friends, Scott and Kathleen, are driving up for a visit in two weeks.  Excited may be an understatement.  We can't wait to see them!  I am going to take lots of pictures because we aren't sure how often we will be seeing them after this since they will be moving to Chicago in the fall.  Of course, we are already saving and planning for a trip to Chicago after they get settled in.

All that to say, I feel like we are in a really good place right now.  We love our jobs.  We love being in Durham.  We are really enjoying the beautiful weather (although we are ready for the pollen to go away).  We hope that you all are doing well, and I hope to keep you updated more often.