Going to the chapel and we're....

Well folks I'm off to get married!! Please cross your fingers and send a little prayer up that we will have beautiful weather. We are getting married just outside Atlanta by the gorgeous lake here (weather permitting), and will then be heading here (Mexico!) and here (Bora Bora!) to kick-off our new life of marital bliss. So there will be no posting for the next 3 weeks, but please look forward to lots of goodies when we return. I think I will have to cook/bake for hours a day to make up for all the time I will have on my hands once this celebration is complete. 

Have a wonderful end to summer - see you all in a few weeks when I return as a Mrs!

It hits home!

So after I went on and on ranting about how I could never ever give up carbs, and how I would go totally insane on one of those diets - remember that? Well, isn't life funny. No sooner had I gone off about the no-carb fad as my hubby-to-be announces that he wants to lose some weight before the wedding and that he was heading down the popular South Beach path with the rest of the skinny folk. He then threw in that, as the supportive fiancee I am, I should strictly adhere to the plan as well while in his presence. SERIOUSLY??? Two weeks before our wedding and you expect me to give up chocolate, bagels and (gasp) wine?! He really must not have realized that my sole plan on making it through these last stressful weeks revolved entirely on having glass after glass of stress melting vino.

Luckily I run a lot and used that as an excuse for why I had to have carbs in order to keep my self standing upright, let alone sane. Didn't want to quite admit that a lack of sugar could potentially cause a side of myself to come out that is probably best saved till after the vows are said. Anyways, I am trying to be supportive (that's part of the whole marriage thing, right?), so I scoured to find some recipes that fit his new no-carb requirements.

Aida to the rescue! Can I tell you guys, I love this girl. It's seriously like the Food Network made a show for me and people like me (example - she spent a whole segment explaining how to crack open an egg). The format is a little strange as she has this sidekick that acts as the tech guru and does a corny bit where he pretends to cypher through emails viewers have sent in with questions. Kinda lame, but it hasn't driven me totally crazy yet, so I'm willing to overlook it.

On to breakfast. This dish was made in little ramekins stuffed with Canadian bacon, sauteed spinach, lotsa cheese and South Beach's favorite breakfast food, eggs. The beauty of this is that you just stack it all up and pop it in the oven. I hate frying eggs for breakfast because I can never get the yolks to come out like everyone wants. But no problemo with this! I'm thinking it would be great for when you have a few people over for brunch and would rather be drinking mimosas than watching the stove.

The flavors were great and it's a nice change from you typical eggy breakfast. Hubby-to-be loved it and claims he will want it even after the diet is long gone. Aida made some cheesy bread to go with it, but I thought that was a little over the top, so I just made some toast to dip in it, while HTB got some lite sausage links. I'm still more of a pancakes for breakfast kinda girl, but if savory food is more up your alley than have at it!

Please visit the link below for the recipe:

Aida's Baked Eggs with Canadian Bacon, Spinach and Cheddar

Adapted from Ask Aida - Aida Mollenkamp

Bobby's Italian Meatloaf

It seems like everyone has a meatloaf recipe. Whether it's their grandmother's or even their own adaptation, meatloaf is just such a staple food and everyone has their own version they like to turn to. Well trust me when I tell you, that no matter how much you like your own meatloaf, you must make room for this Italian version in your repertoire.

This is the most moist and flavorful meatloaf I have ever tasted. It has tons of beautiful veggies, grated Parmesan and Japanese breadcrumbs inside along with a tasty balsamic crust. It's not much to look at, being meatloaf and all, but it was really tasty and made the most amazing leftovers (I swear a meatloaf sandwich the next day is enough of a reason to make this).

The only drawback I see to this amazing Italian take on an old staple is time, cause it takes a lot of it! There is a lot of chopping involved to get all the veggies prepped and then the meatloaf itself took over an hour to cook. If I hadn't still thought it was delicious the second day I might have attributed a major part of it's yumminess to the fact that I was famished by the time it was finally ready.

I will definitely be making this again, but not anytime soon. We are off to the wedding in exactly two weeks and time is the one ingredient I don't seem to have any more. Yes, Culinary Wannabe has regressed. I have a feeling the only form of cooking going on in our kitchen for the next few weeks will involve pouring cereal into bowl and fighting over who gets the last of the real milk and who is stuck with the soy (we're practicing that compromise thing people always tell me is needed to make a marriage work).

I'm going to try and experiment a bit more before the wedding and hopefully will share some good finds (or bad ones for that matter!), but in the meantime be sure to try this meatloaf - if you have the time. :)

Please visit the link below for the recipe:

Bobby's Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

Adapted from Throwdown with Bobby Flay - Bobby Flay