Weekly Eats

My menu is up and ready to go for this week! I sat down with my Pinterest food boards and looked for some inspiration, as well as my freezer, fridge, and pantry to check and see what I have waiting to be used. Had I known that the weather was going to be back deck-margarita-drinking-let's fire up the grill-weather, I would have planned for more meals for my grillmaster to cook outdoors. The warm weather is here to stay, at least through this week, so you better believe we'll be taking advantage of it. Someone in our house has a birthday this week and I think that a weekend getaway may be in order.

Monday- Grilled salmon with parsley garlic butter + Avocado-butter lettuce salad

Tuesday- Thai Flank Steak + Asian slaw with peanut dressing (similar)

Wednesday- Grilled chicken + Spinach strawberry salad with goat cheese, pistachios, and balsamic

Thursday- Pulled pork taco salad with guacamole

Friday- My birthday!!!

Saturday- TBD

Sunday- Grilled steaks with pepper & caper salsa + baby greens salad

A few other bites I might make this week:

Herb & Pistachio Falafel

Cheesy Cauliflower Tater Tots

White Bean Hummus

Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Dip (for apple dipping!)

Also, if you're and iPhone user, and still stumped for recipes this week, check out Giada's new app, Giada's Daily Bite. It's a free app to promote her new cookbook being released next week. For 15 days, there is a new recipe posted daily! Monday's parsley garlic butter and Sunday's pepper & caper salsa were both featured on this app. If you're like me, you'll also get a little chuckle from the "sound bites" section, where you can learn the proper Italian pronunciation from Giada herself!

Don't forget to link up with Molly over at Duchess of Fork! I'm also shaking it up and linking up with Rachel of In No Simple Language, too! So many great menu link ups.

And...today is the LAST DAY to enter my Thirty-One Giveaway. Hop on over to {this post} if you want to win a fabulous Thermal Tote.

Happy menu planning and happy Monday!

Black & White Gallery Wall

This St. Patrick's Day post has nothing to do with bright green, and a lot to do with classic black and white. I've had this gallery wall completed for several months now and am just now getting around to blogging about it! Since I have my whimsical wall of yellow mirrored medallions in our family room, I thought a cleaner, more uniform gallery wall would be a nice contrast on the opposing wall. There is something soothing about black and white photos and metallic frames added just enough texture. I purchased the 11x14" frames from Hobby Lobby for around $12 each. For a custom framed look, I bought white photo mats from Amazon.

Each black and white photo is 8x10". The gallery includes our very favorite wedding photo and I smile every time I walk by. I'm now inspired to create more gallery walls in our home. Next, I may tackle the wall behind the desk in my office for what I'll just call "Nina's office makeover, volume 2".

In the spirit of the Irish holiday today, we ventured into the green sea of downtown! We have been having some fantastic weather in these parts and today was another beautiful day. There were so many festive families out and about. We had lunch at a cafe in our little college town and watched the parade as we ate. For "dessert", we headed to an irish pub for for a mid-afternoon brew.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wine of the Week: Bella Sera Pinot Grigio

Have no fear, I wasn't going to leave you all without a featured wine of the week! I have a crisp and bright white for you today, just in time for a "Yay! Tomorrow is Friday" Happy Hour.

Most of the time, I like to pop open a bottle of red, but every so often, white wine seems more appropriate. I opened this on Sunday night to enjoy with our Lemon Shrimp with Broccoli & Peas. Paired with this fresh meal and the dreamy Spring weather, a glass of this pinot grigio was just heavenly.

I purchased Bella Sera Pinot Grigio at a weekly special price of $6.99

Also, don't forget to enter my Thirty-One Giveaway! You have until Monday, March 19, 11:59pm CST.

Thirty-One Giveaway!

I’m taking a break from my usual Wednesday wine post to sprinkle some joy onto one lucky winner’s Wednesday! I have never done a giveaway on my little blog so I am doubly excited to be giving away a fun treat to one of you. Thanks to my friend Pam of Our Love Nest for sponsoring this exciting giveaway from Thirty-One!

I have never purchased anything from Thirty-One yet, but Pam is hosting an online party this week and she has been wonderful in helping me troll through the catalog of functional items in gorgeous prints. I’m loving the new print for Spring 2012, Awesome Blossom! I’ve been looking for a good work tote that I can throw everything in when I head into the office from time to time and the Retro Metro Bag seems to have everything I’m looking for. The pockets on either side were the selling feature for me. I like to think I could sneak this tote on a beach vacation as well! It’s perfect for day at the beach essentials. When I told Pam that I was looking for a new cosmetic bag, she suggested the the Cosmetic Bag on page 39. How great would this be for travel? I’m a sucker for feminine black and white prints and the Black Parisian Pop has my name written all over it.

Here’s a bit more about Thirty-One Products:

Our stylish, affordable products are exclusive to Thirty-One. From our signature purses and totes to storage solutions that help organize your life, you'll find something to fit every personality and situation. Each season, we develop new products built on the idea that our products must be functional AND fashionable (and, of course, make great gifts!).

Today, one lucky reader will receive a Thermal Tote in Awesome Blossom! This is the perfect tote to carry to work if you bring your lunches, or even if you are running around town all day and want to pack your own quick and healthy snacks to enjoy on the go. The silver thermal lining will keep your drinks and snacks cold while you bustle about your day. I’m also thinking this could be a beach day necessity? If you can’t tell already, it’s pretty evident that I’m craving a trip to Kiawah Island.

This giveaway will be open through Monday, March 19. All entries will close at 12:01am CST on Tuesday, March 20. A winner will be announced next Wednesday, March 21.

Additionally, there is a chance to win a Thirty-One product everyday in the wonderful land of blogs. Visit Our Love Nest each day this week, to find out which bloggers are hosting.

Pam is also hosting an online party this week! If you are interested in ordering anything from her Thirty-One store, you can shop her party here. The Thirty-One catalog can be found here.

You can enter to win bly clicking "READ MORE" below. Huge thanks to Pam and Britt for hosting the giveaways this week! Good luck!

Lemony Shrimp with Broccoli and Peas

Fresh and fast are the two key words that need to be emphasized with this recipe. If we were going to add a third word, beginning with the letter F, I would add FANTASTIC. This was delicious enough for Sunday night dinner, but so easy that it will be making its way into our weeknight dinner rotation. The flavors are so bright and happy. The best part about this is you could really play around with the foundation of the recipe and make it your own. Next time, I'll add even more fresh veggies like asparagus and bell peppers, and maybe even a splash of white wine. I always keep a bag or two of frozen shrimp in our freezer. It's so easy to thaw using warm water and they are peeled and ready in no time. If Shrimp and veggies don't sound like they fill you up, trust me when I say that even Mark was full after eating this. Shrimp is surprisingly filling. And if you still aren't convinced, I'm sure this would be delightful served over quinoa or whole grain cous cous.

Lemony Shrimp with Broccoli and Peas

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

4 Tbsp. butter (I used half butter, half olive oil)

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest plus 5-6 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 lb. fresh broccoli, cut into small florets

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups frozen peas (or one 10 oz. bag)

In a large skillet with a lid, melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and scallions and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add broccoli, lemon zest, 1/2 cup water and season with salt a pepper. Toss together and cover until broccoli is steamed and bright green, around 3-4 minutes.

Add shrimp and peas, cover and cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp is pink.

Add lemon juice, some olive oil and more salt and pepper if needed. Toss and serve.

I have an exciting giveaway tomorrow that you won't want to miss out on! For a sneak peak at what's going to be featured, pop on over to my friend Pam's blog, Our Love Nest to see what's in store!

Weekly Eats

It's Monday again and my menu is ready for the week. It was a lovely Spring weekend here and Mark and I enjoyed Saturday lunch at a new Greek cafe in our little college town. This should explain the two nights of Greek inspiration that we have on this week's menu. If I wasn't Italian, I do believe that based on food, I would choose to be Greek.

Monday- Greek lamburgers with tzatziki and greek salad (Bachelor finale night calls for an extra glass of wine!!)

Tuesday- Roasted pork tenderloin, mashed sweet potatoes & stuffed mushrooms (because I have a container of baby bellas that have to be eaten up)

Wednesday- Grilled Italian sausage with peppers & onions and salad

Thursday- Greek chicken lettuce wraps with tzatziki

Friday- Baked Tilapia and salad with greens, strawberries, pistachios, goat cheese, and balsamic

Saturday- Happy St. Patrick's Day! Must find dinner out and a green brew.

Sunday- Steamed artichokes, steaks on the grill and Caesar salad

Having a meal plan is nice, but we don't always stick to it 100%. My goal is to plan out our meals so that I only have to go to the store one time each week. Tuesday may be a day that I have to go into the office instead of working from home. If that is the case, I'll find a slow cooker pork recipe that I can leave cook all day while we're at work. My market usually has ground lamb but if they are out or if the price is outrageous, I'll use the ground turkey that I already have in the freezer. I frequently swap meals, too depending on what we're in the mood to eat. The point is that with somewhat of a plan, a week's worth of groceries and a well stocked pantry makes a huge difference. I just shop and plan according to what works for us and I tell others the same.

For those of you that e-mailed me last week in regards to the menu planner/grocery list template that I use, it's from The Project Girl and can be downloaded HERE.

Don't forget to link your menu up with Molly today! If you don't have your menu ready, check out the comments section of her Weekly Eats post to get some great ideas and kitchen inspiration!!

DIY: Burlap Ruffle Wreath

Our front door has a little something new for Spring! I'm getting a little out of hand with my front door decor- Mark thinks I'm on the verge of opening up my own wreath shop. Alas, nothing says welcome like a little happy hanging on the front door.

Molly posted this darling idea a few weeks ago and I have been smitten ever since. I already had a foam wreath on hand waiting to be used so all I had to pick up was about 2 yards of cream burlap and flat head pins from Hobby Lobby. Molly's tutorial is great so head on over to her blog for the how-to details. This project couldn't be simpler! The only thing I tweaked was using larger squares of burlap because I wanted larger ruffles. The burlap squares measured around 5x5". Best of all, since I already had a foam wreath in my craft closet, I spend under $10!

I hope everyone had a dreamy weekend!