Jalapeno Cheddar Sliders & Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges

Earlier this week I put another jewel on my wife of the year crown and made a big hit with Kyle for dinner! I made jalapeno cheddar sliders with baked garlic Parmesan wedges and I must say both were so dang good! Kyle could've eaten twenty sliders and I could've eaten the entire pan of wedges. Don't worry, we refrained. But only because it is like 105 degrees and probably would have straight just died!

 

Jalapeno Cheddar Sliders

Recipe adapted from Lyubat at willcookforsmiles.com

 

Ingredients•    1 lb ground beef

•    2 large jalapeno peppers, sliced and de-seeded •    3 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated •    2 tbsp minced cilantro •    1 large clove of garlic •    Salt •    Sweet jalapeno dinner rolls (I used King's Hawaiian)
Instructions

1. Seed and mince jalapeno peppers. 2. Combine ground beef, minced jalapenos, cheddar cheese, pressed garlic, minced cilantro, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well using a wooden spatula, until evenly incorporated. Then you can use your hands to mix. 3. Form 6 mini burger patties. 4. You can cook them on a grill or a stove-top. I used the grill for ours.  5. Serve on sweet jalapeno rolls with whatever toppings you would like. Since they are packed with flavor we just ate ours with condiments. 
 

Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges

Recipe originally by Creme De La Crumb

 

Ingredients•    3-4 large russet potatoes, sliced into wedges

•    4 tbsp olive oil •    2 tsp salt •    2 tsp garlic powder •    2 tsp Italian seasoning •    1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese   Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
2. Place potato wedges in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. In a small bowl whisk together salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Sprinkle potato wedges with the shredded cheese, tossing to coat, then sprinkle with the seasoning mixture.
3. Place potato wedges on prepared baking sheet in a single layer with skin-sides-down. Bake for 25-35 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender and golden brown. 
Y'all, I am telling you these two paired together make a delicious dinner! Don't worry about the calories, it is worth it! Enjoy!

 
 

Off the Shoulder Chambray Summer Dress

Chambray Dress: From local boutique Similar//Similar//Rodillo Hi Wedges// BP Sunglasses//

Tassel Crossbody: From boutique Similar//Similar

I absolutely love this chambray off the shoulder dress. It is so comfortable and "airy" which is very helpful living in 100 + degree weather everyday. Literally sometimes I don't even know certain body parts could sweat...haha Back to the dress, it looks thicker but it's not at all  and of course I love anything with a ruffle. Sometimes when I get tired of it riding on my shoulders I will just pull dresses like this up to be one big ruffle for a sleeveless look. Great dress for a fun fourth of July look. I'm thinking about pulling my hair up with a red bandana to complete the festive look.

Can we talk about these wedges for a second. Oh my goodness, I have never loved a pair of shoes more in my life!! I got these Rodillo Hi Wedges for my birthday but they were on backorder and I just recently received them. I literally can not stop starring at them! I first spotted them last spring and have been drooling over them ever since. Ladies you know, the pairs that you just HAVE to have? These. {insert heart eyes emoji here}

Do you y'all have your festive July fourth outfits picked out? We have several get-togethers and festivals to attend so I have a couple different outfits. And I might have ordered little Haddock a festive accessory!

 

What I've Been Cooking: Blue Apron Review

I'm sure many of you have heard of Blue Apron or their competitors Hello Fresh and several others. If not Blue Apron is a company designed to allow families to eat fresh, healthy and conveniently from your home. You can sign up on their website and they offer a variety of different packages to meet your family's needs. Such has how many people you need to feed, how many times a week and if you have any food allergies or preferences. The company prepares six meals per week and they select three for you based on what your preferences are. If you would like to switch meals out for the others offered that week you can. You select what day is best to receive your delivery and they will deliver your meals straight to your home.

 

I have been wanting to try Blue Apron for a little while and was just on the fence about it for a few different reasons but really just cause I hadn't pulled the trigger and ordered. That's when Kyle's customers and our friends offered us a free trial. I was super excited and immediately took them up on it and ordered right away.

 

Just for reference Kyle and I ordered the package of 3 meals for 2 people for 1 week. This would have normally cost us $60 if we weren't reviewing the service. Not too bad when you break it down to $10 a meal/person.

 

 

The meals are not precooked and prepared. How the program works is Blue Apron sends you all the ingredients you need for your meals besides salt, pepper and olive oil. They also provide you with full recipe cards with picture instructions included that make it super easy to follow. The ingredients provided are the exact amount that you need for each meal. All items are organic and fresh. They arrive to your doorstep in a refrigerated box that ensures all items stay cold and fresh. 

 

 

Once I unpacked our box I loved how everything was measured out and individually packaged. This made the weeknight dinners go much faster. All the meals are designed to take between 20-35 minutes total to prepare and cook.  

 

We received the following meals for our week's trial: Maryland-Style Cod Cake Sandwiches with tarter sauce and red cabbage slaw, Peruvian Roast Chicken and Potatoes with green beans and creamy jalapeno sauce and Beef Arepas with pickled onion, avocado and radishes.

 

 

The first night I made the Maryland-Style Cod Cake Sandwiches. I was really unsure about this dish since I am not a fish fan at all. I love shell fish but not fish. Kyle really wanted to try fish so I went ahead and selected to receive the cod. I thought well it was free so why not give it a try. I'm glad I did because I couldn't taste the fish flavor at all! Kyle and I both agreed that the sandwiches were good but had too much spice in the recipe. If I made these again on my own I'd do half the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg. You can find the recipe for the Maryland-Style Cod Cake Sandwiches here.

 

 

The next night we had the Peruvian Roast Chicken and Potatoes. This was my favorite of our three meals. It was super easy to prepare and cook and it was delicious. I will definitely make this meal again on my own. If you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner that is packed with flavor and delicious check out this recipe. You can find the Peruvian Roast Chicken and Potatoes recipe here.  

 

 

Our last Blue Apron meal was the Beef Arepas. This was Kyle's favorite of the three. The Arepas were loaded with flavor but they were a little too greasy for me. The bread cakes are similar to Indian fry bread if you are familiar with fry bread, so it is delicious! You can find the Beef Arepas recipe here.

 

All in all I was pleased with using Blue Apron. It did make our weeknight dinners quick and easy and everything we made was good! However, for the price of $60 to continue I just don't think I can justify it. As $10 a meal sounds really good I can still cook a full meal with leftovers a lot of the time for less than $20. I loved the break of a week off from the grocery store but after our trial I found myself comparing on Sunday after I got home from the grocery store. For only $10 more I purchased a TON more food than what I received with Blue Apron. Plus the only other down fall was the meals are mostly between 650-800 calories per serving and that is WAY more than I am used to. However it was fun and a great trial, I do recommend the service to at least try! You can snag discount codes on their website as well if you want to try it yourself.

 

Have you tried Blue Apron or Hello Fresh? If so what did you think? We are going to also try Hello Fresh next but so very appreciate of our Blue Apron experience we receieved!  

   

Weekending: Quick Rundown

Back to reality, sigh. However I am off work all next week so I am now counting down the hours until 5:00 on Friday! This weekend was sort of all over the place. Kyle had a ton to do for work so our plans kept getting changed or canceled. It was a lot just seeing how things worked out this weekend. 

 

Our quick rundown:

Friday evening I ran a few work errands with Kyle and then we went to dinner and were in bed by 11:00. Nothing too exciting.

 

Saturday I took Haddock and strolled through downtown Jenks' farmers market, got Haddock's pedicure and just finished the morning off with a walk in town. That afternoon I spent the afternoon at my parent's with  my sister's and some of my brother in laws family while Kyle worked. And Saturday evening I had dinner with two of my good friends, Megan and Megan. It was a great dinner, with a great atmosphere and great company!

 

Sunday was spent grocery shopping, running a few errands and getting things ready for the week. 

Here are a few snaps from the weekend.

 

 

 

 I hope y'all have a wonderful week! XOXO

   

Five Friday Favorites!

Hello Friday!!! I'm so excited for another summer weekend with lots of fun things planned! I'll jump right in and share five of my favorite things I've been loving this week.

ONE: Oversized Round Sunglasses

Oversized Round Sunglasses // Similar Pair

I got these super fun babies this week from Nordstrom and love them! They are easy to pair with outfits just to give off a fun look. Hurry and snag them, they are on sale for $7!

TWO: Brand Sparkling New Niece

If you read my post here you saw that Kyle and I's niece Presley Vaughn was born on Monday. I'm so in love and can't wait to have her in my arms again!

THREE: Infused Water

Like most of you probably we are roasting here in Oklahoma with temps in the triple digits with heat indexes and humidity levels making things unbearable. We are all trying to stay cool and hydrated so I have been making sure to pump plenty of water into my body! We have fresh strawberry mint, rosemary and basil in our herb planters so I have been getting creative and adding fresh herbs to my water. So far I love basil, lemon and strawberries as well as grapefruit and rosemary. Have you tried any fun combinations?

FOUR: Summer Staple Shift Dress 

Lush Shift Dress

I also shared this must have shift dress in my post here this week. At such a great price hurry and grab it if you need a very versatile, cool and chic staple dress. Like I mentioned with our temps skyrocketing here it is important to me to find cool but nice looking staple items for my summer wardrobe.

FIVE: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil 

 NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

I picked up this NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil up from Ulta a couple of weeks and have been loving it! I got it in the 'Milk' color and have been applying it to the inside corners of my eyelids. It really makes my eyes stand out more now that I have a summer tan. Try it, you guys will love it! It is for sure now part of my daily makeup routine.

I hope y'all have a wonderful rest of your Friday and an even better weekend!

Summer Staple Shift Dress

 

Lush Shift Dress // BP Retro Sunglasses sold out- Similar // Strap Wedges (On Sale $24!)

A few weeks ago I was perusing through the Nordstrom half yearly sale and came across this Lush Shift Dress. I was immediately drawn to it because I love the brand Lush and own several of their items. Including this Lush Tunic that I have in three different colors. It is also a staple item in my closet. Anyway, back to the shift dress. I knew it would be comfortable and breezy for the hot Oklahoma summer but also figured I could easily pair it with booties and transition it into fall.

I decided on the 'Astral Blue' because I did want to wear it be able to wear it into fall. I can not say enough how much I love this shift dress. I just received it about two weeks ago and I have already worn it about four times. It is also a perfect dress to transition from work with pumps to a dinner with wedges or with flats for a more casual look. Best part is even though the half yearly sale is over it is still on sale for $28 and comes in several colors, hurry before it is sold out!

 

Announcing Presley Vaughn

Monday, June 20th at 10:12 PM Kyle and I's niece Presley Vaughn made her arrival into this world. She was in such a hurry to get here and meet all of us that she came four days early and gave my sister-in-law an AMAZING labor and delivery. This princess was here without even ONE push! I don't have kids and even I'm jealous of that! 

Presley weighed 7 lbs and 9 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. I was talking to my sister-in-law Randi a couple hours before she was born and I predicted 7.9 and born at 10:02 so I was pretty dang close! 

 

Kyle and I got to meet her last night and we could not love her any more! Her brothers were quite a bit bigger so she feels very tiny! They have my two nephews you already so her momma was very ready for lots of pink, bows and ruffles!

Her big brother Brecken is completely smitten and, now middle brother, Cyrus isn't quite sure what to think yet and is still adjusting to getting bumped from the baby role.  

Presley, Aunt Kin Kin and Uncle Cow love you so much and we are so excited to have you fit right into the family. I hope you love monograms, ruffles and bows because your Aunt Kin Kin does!