Beer Glazed Pork with Onion and Mushrooms, Parmesan Baked Zucchini, and Baked Potatoes

Beer Glazed Pork was made by sauteing an onion in olive oil with sliced mushrooms.  Once they were cooked, deglaze the pan with your favorite beer, I used a Heifezewiesen, and let the sauce reduce and pour over baked pork or finish cooking pork in the sauce.  The Parmesan Baked Zucchini was made with Zucchini halves topped with shredded Parmesan, baked and broiled in the oven.  The Baked Potatoes were diced golden potatoes coated in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baked in the oven for about 40 min.

Smothered Pork Chops, Steamed Asparagus, and Roasted Potatoes

Simple and delicious.  The pork chops were marinated in chicken stock, olive oil, and wine and then baked in the oven at 350 degrees.  While the pork chops were baking, I made a sauce in a skillet on the stove top made from fine chopped sauteed onion which was then cooked in wine, chicken stock and reduced to a thick sauce to smother the pork chops in.  The potatoes were chopped into bite size pieces and mixed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted in the oven.  The asparagus was steamed and then topped with pepper and salt.

Bachelorette Party!!! (Snacks, Champagne, and Stitch Fix)

For my friends Bachelorette party, I made all kinds of pink colored snacks for the party.

Cherry Flavored Cupcakes dyed with pink food coloring, topped with icing also dyed with pink food coloring, piped icing with a star tip, and then topped with bright pink sprinkles.
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Topped Crackers, this was the crowd favorite.  I used triscuit crackers, with a cream cheese spread, and topped with a thin slice of smoked salmon.
Pink food colored rice krispy treats cut out the rice krispy treats with letter cookie cutters in the first letter of her name and his name.
Pink food colored cream cheese and puff pastry with a strawberry, almond topping.  Using frozen puff pastry, cut into small rectangular or square shapes, top with a spoonful of whipped cream cheese, powered sugar, and pink food coloring mixture.  Close the puff pastry with all 4 corners or 2 corners to the middle of the pastry to hold the filling, and top with a sprinkle of sliced almonds.
Bruschetta with toasted bread, consisting of tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinaigrette. 
Bowl of berries to put in the champagne glasses.  I used blackberries, strawberries (tops cut and washed) and raspberries.
Finally, add a bottle of champagne with champagne glasses, and Pink flowers to decorate the table, I used tulips.


Need something to WEAR to your Bachelorette Party, check out Stitch Fix, it's shopping in your own home with your own mirror. 
I was so excited for my first stitch fix, it came in the mail yesterday.  I have been waiting for this box for a month.  When I opened the box, I was so excited when I saw all the colors.  If you don't know what Stitch Fix is, it is a personal styling service that delivers a box of accessibly priced items directly to your door.  Stitch Fix hand picks pieces for each client, to ultimately help them look and feel their best. Over time, Stitch Fix tracks and learns from each client’s preferences, likes, and dislikes making it the only shopping experience that can know women’s tastes even better than their friends. Stitch Fix works with over 200 brands, from up-and-coming labels to more established designers and is based in San Francisco.

The first item was a gorgeous blue and pink flowered scarf.  It's was so pretty on.  I decided not to purchase it because it didn't go with a lot of my own clothing and it was a little too expensive for me at $28.  The next item in the box was a gorgeous red scalloped shirt.  I fell in love with this shirt.  The only reason I didn't purchase was the sleeves were too tight, but I was contemplating whether I could alter it myself since I do have basic sewing skills.  Ultimately I decided against it and updated my sizing chart on my style guide.  I kinda thought the first one box might not fit perfectly.

The third item was a black and white chevron shirt.  The fit was perfect and I loved the chevrons, but I didn't love the V neck on this shirt.  I decided against this one too.  If it had been less than $58 though, I probably would have purchased it.

The next item in my box was a maxi dress, which I specifically asked for.  This dress fit pretty well, but didn't hang on my body type very well, it did look good when paired with a sweater, which Stitch Fix recommended.

Now to the final item, my favorite, and the item I purchased from my Fix.  The green and white cut out tank.  The fit was perfect and I loved the color.  I can wear it with work slacks and a white sweater or with jeans.  I was in love and at $58, I felt it was affordable for what I was getting.  I don't normally spend that much on a shirt, but it seemed to be made really well and have a lot of detail.

I'm really happy with my first Stitch Fix and I have already scheduled my next.  If you are interested, use the link below and check it out.  I also get a fun freebie if you use my link below ;)

Check out Stitch Fix!!!

I am in no way affiliated with the company, I just love their service.  I use my own personal money for shopping with Stitch Fix.  Here's how it works:

1. Sign Up and Complete Your Style Profile After signing up you can start immediately on your Style Profile. We need to know your size, shape, style, price preferences, and lifestyle to get your Fix right. It’ll take about 10 minutes.
2. Schedule a Stitch Fix Pick a date, and we’ll send you a box of 5 clothing and accessory items we’ve hand-picked just for you. Schedule monthly, or as often as you like—it’s your call. You pay a $20 styling fee up front, which serves as credit toward anything in your Stitch Fix shipment.
3. Try it all on Try on everything we send you—you never know what you’ll like until you see it on. Pair it with items already in your closet. Each item includes style cards with ideas and inspiration on how to wear it.
4. Decide Take 3 days to decide what you’ll keep. Pay for just what you want to keep, return the rest in our pre-paid mailing bag at any USPS mailbox. Keep all 5 items and you save 25% off the entire shipment.
5. Check Out Give us feedback on your Stitch Fix shipment—our secret (styling) sauce gets better over time if we know what did and didn’t work for you.

Stitch Fix works with the best up-and-coming labels and brands—the kind featured in magazines and on stylish celebs—but our average price point is an accessible $75, but there is a fair amount of variation. On your Style Profile you can let us know on what prices work best for you.

Macaroni and Cheese, not out of a box

Preheat the oven to 400 deg.  Cook 3 cups of dry elbow macaroni until aldente.  In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter with 4 Tbl flour and make a roux, add 1 Tbsp of mustard, and pepper.  Once hot, slowly add 4 cups of milk and then slowly add 32 ounces of cheese (i used 16 ounces of velveeta and 16 ounces of shredded cheddar).  Cover the top with seasoned bread crumbs and then bake until bubbly and browned.

Cheeseburger Pizza

Made from Pillsbury Pizza Dough, seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, and Roma tomatoes.  Spread the dough on a oiled sheet pan and season.  Add ground beef, shredded cheese, Roma tomatoes, and any other ingredients that you want.  Roll the dough into a log, rub with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Bake the log in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and slice.

Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Steamed Asparagus

Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin  was made by searing all 4 sides of a pork tenderloin, then baking it in the oven.  Using the skillet that the tenderloin was seared in, add balsamic vinegar and chicken stock and let the sauce reduce and get thick.  Once the pork is done baking, cut into slices and add back into the skillet.  For the Steamed Asparagus, break off the hard ends and add to a steamer, takes about 30 minutes.  Add salt and pepper for flavor.

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and gravy, great southern breakfast.  Start by browning one pound of sausage in a skillet.  Once the sausage is cooked, add flour to the oil to make a roux.  Once the flour is dissolved, start slowing adding milk, until you get the consistency of gravy you want  (the roux needs to cook about 30 minutes with the milk).  While the gravy is cooking, make your biscuits in the oven.

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Nutty, Heath, Graham Cracker Cookie

These pan cookies are made in a 13x9 inch casserole dish.  Start by melting a stick of butter in the oven at 350, once melted, add one cup of graham cracker crumbs, mix well and press down.  Cover the graham cracker crust with a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk evenly.  Then cover this with you ingredients, I used chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, walnuts, and heath pieces.  Press the ingredients down softly.  Bake this at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown.  Once cooled, cut carefully with a sharp knife.

Meatloaf and Baked Butternut Squash

Classic meatloaf made with ground beef, Italian bread crumbs, seasoning, chopped onion, and a ketchup brown sugar topping.  Next time I will saute the onion prior to adding it to the meatloaf.  I served a baked butternut squash casserole with the meatloaf.

Pan Fried Pork, Steamed Asparagus, Baked Butternut Squash, and Roasted Red Potatoes

This was a recipe I found.  I marinaded the pork chops in a little soy sauce and some season salt.  Then I dipped them in egg and Italian seasoned bread crumbs.  Once they were breaded, I put them in a skillet with hot olive oil and seared each side of the pork for about 3 minutes.  Once seared, I placed the pork chops in a baking dish and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  This was the perfect amount of time for the thickness I had and they were still juicy and not dried out.  While they were baking for 45 minutes, I made a pan sauce by adding cream of mushroom soup to the skillet where the pork was seared and about half a beer.  I let this simmer the entire time the pork was cooking and just added some salt and pepper.  While the sauce was simmering, I also steamed some asparagus.