Valentine's Day Round-up!

I am so ready for Valentine's Day! Even though this holiday has become very low key for us and I definitely don't spend any time cutting out paper hearts for seasonal decorations or securing reservations for a fancy dinner out, I still really love this Hallmark holiday. So today I wanted to round up some of my favorite Valentine themed posts over the years.

We have our annual Valentine bake sale coming up at school and I really can't decide what I want to make. I have to individually package each item, can't use peanut butter and I need a large quantity so I can also share with the teachers in both Thomas and Caroline's class room too. Would love to know your go-to bake sale item.

A few of my past Valentine sweet treats...

First up, Valentine Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing! I made these a few years ago and they were pretty awesome but not exactly quick.

Valentine Heart Brownies are pretty easy. I made these in cupcake tins and sprinkled powdered sugar on top!

Also love my Easy Heart Rice Krispie Treats.

 And I can't forget about the crowd pleasing Chocolate Heart Peanut Butter Cookies!

I am so excited that Valentine's Day falls on a weekend this year. This means I can actually make a fun breakfast for the fam. One of my favorite Valentine breakfast ideas is my 5 minute waffles. Seriously, this is so easy and I know Caroline will love these this year.

For any of you expecting a sweet floral deliver, get your vases ready!!!

Lastly, I've shared this before but it's worth mentioning again! One of the best things that has ever happened to our marriage was the book The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who is married (newly or decades in), engaged or wants to get married in the future! I also love to give this book to my friends as an engagement gift. This book sits on my nightstand and there's no better reminder than Valentine's Day to flip through all of our highlighted, underlined and scribbled notes inside.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Long Snowpocalypse Weekend

We are recovering from cabin fever over here! It was one heck of a loooooooong weekend! On Thursday I got a call from daycare that Thomas had a fever and needed to be picked up. He turned out to be just fine thankfully. With two kids in daycare there's a 30% chance every single day that I'll get the dreaded call that one of them is sick and needs to be picked up (and can't return for 24 hours). So we cuddled until daddy got home...and then I ran out the door for Supper Club!

Sara kicked off our 2016 Supper Club and it was absolutely awesome. It took me a whole 2 minutes to get to her house since she lives a few streets away and a nice large glass of wine was ready for me when I arrived!

For dinner she served the yummiest chili and paired it with salad and mini cornbread muffins. So good. And I am still dreaming about her oreo cake dessert.

The next morning we were surprised with a snow day! 

We got 3 inches of snow in Charlotte which is actually enough to shut down our entire city and send everyone into panic mode. No bread on the shelves. Milk sold out. Schools closed. It was a true snowpocalypse.

By Saturday the snow had melted just enough that we decided to brave the roads for our sanity. We ventured out to Trader Joes to replenish our wine supply snacks.

Later that night we ubered out to dinner to celebrate Restaurant Week at my favorite place ever - Dogwood! When we arrived we were seated at the same window table we sat at for my birthday which was pretty cool. But what was even cooler was Ron Rivera sitting a few tables away from us. Every night before game day he dines at Dogwood specifically for their unbelievable bacon jam for good luck. So in true Panthers fan fashion, we ordered some bacon jam too!

On Sunday we ran our usual errands, meal prepped for the week, celebrated another Panthers win and watched Caroline turn her kitchen into a jungle gym.

Creamy Zuppa Toscana Soup {Olive Garden Copycat} & Cheesy Rosemary Crescents

We have been on a soup kick recently. On the weekends I've been making large batches and freezing for later so we have a nice soup variety for the cooler months. Most recently I whipped up a batch of Creamy Zuppa Toscana Soup and it was so good we didn't have any left over to freeze! The soup is actually an Olive Garden copycat recipe. And since you can't eat an Olive Garden soup without breadsticks, I served Cheesy Rosemary Croissants on the side! So good. I mean so, so, SO good.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Adapted from The Recipe Critic

Ingredients

·         4 slices bacon, diced

·         1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 onion, diced

·         4 cups chicken broth

·         3 russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

·         3 cups baby spinach

·         1 ½ cups heavy cream

·         Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

 

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble and set aside.

2. Add Italian sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, crumbling the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat and set aside.

3. Skin and cut potatoes in ¼ inch slices.

4. In a large stockpot, add garlic and onion, and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil.

5. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

  

6. Stir in sausage and spinach until spinach begins to wilt, about 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in heavy cream. Cook until heated through, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

7. Serve immediately, garnished with bacon.

Print recipe for Zuppa Toscana Soup 

Easy Cheesy Rosemary Crescents 

From Pillsbury

Ingredients

·         1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

·         4 sticks mozzarella string cheese, cut in half

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray or line with cooking parchment paper.

2. Separate dough into 8 triangles.

3. Place 1 piece of string cheese on wide end of each dough triangle. Sprinkle each piece of string cheese with 1/4 teaspoon rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon Parmesan cheese.

4. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle, gently wrapping dough around filling and rolling to opposite point. Place on cookie sheet.

5. Top each crescent with some of remaining rosemary and Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.