Let’s Catch Up!

Wow! What is up everyone? It’s been too long! I know I’ve been busy, for sure. Starting new ventures, cooking good food, eating said food, just overall enjoying life.

Now before you come for me, just keep in mind I’m still getting used to taking pictures of the steps in my cooking, as well as the finished products. I’ll get better. So, apologies in advance for any pictures I’ve missed.

For my first recipe….

I decided to try my hand at making stuffed onions. I made some rice and mixed it with ground beef, tomato paste and seasonings. I boiled the onions for a few minutes until they softened, cooled them down enough to touch and separate the layers, and stuffed them with the rice mixture. I don’t remember exactly what I used for the sauce, but I made it a bit too spicy. Lesson learned for next time!

They turned out good, but nothing amazing.

This is a new snack I discovered at Lidle. This brand has great canned goods, especially their stuffed vine leaves. But these giant white beans in tomato sauce are fabulous, especially with a little white rice. Delish!

Next, I made some stuffed chicken breasts!

Now these turned out a lot better than the stuffed onions. I mixed some softened cream cheese with regular shredded cheese, capers, green onions and a little salt and pepper. Made a slit in each chicken breast and stuffed it with the cream cheese mixture. Then I baked it for around 30 minutes. Served with rice and broccoli and I’m a happy camper.

Every week we go visit my mother-in-law. And we bring her (and us) some lunch. My favorite spot is called Sushioki. It’s in Durham, NC and they have sushi burritos and bowls as well as various side dishes. And they just added chicken wings to the menu! (The spicy mayo chicken wings are FABULOUS). I decided to get their Crab Rangoon this time – some of the best I’ve ever had actually, as well as my usual sushi burrito. I get the “Real Alaskan” and add cream cheese to it. I highly recommend you give them a try if you’re in the area!

Randy and I actually love going grocery shopping together. We usually shop at either Lidl, Food Lion or Walmart with the occasional Harris Teeter thrown in for good measure.

Ok, so, I didn’t know this product existed. Or that there would even be a market for it. But I guess so! We were comparing Aldi’s and Lidl one day and found these at Aldi’s. I guess it’s not that different from the bags of ice places sell, but I would think you don’t get as much in these little boxes.

This was an interesting find I picked up while in line at the Asian grocery store. Hawthorn candy! I didn’t even know Hawthorn was a fruit! It was really hard and sticky (I think it was coated in hardened sugar) and it tasted kind of both tart and sweet. I liked it but the funny thing is, Randy ended up liking it even more than I did! Surprise, surprise.

On another note, we decided we want to make 1 International Day of Meals every month. We started with the country of Georgia!

For breakfast we made (from scratch, mind you) these individual bread boats filled with cheese and topped with a fried egg and butter. They’re called Adjarian Khachapuri and they are absolutely delicious! These will be made again for sure.

For lunch we made these hideous-looking dumplings called Khinkali.

Even though my dumpling making skills are not yet up to par, they tasted great and you serve them with butter. And we also made a side salad with a walnut dressing that was delicious.

Here’s you cooking tutorial in case you want to make Spinach Pkhali! You toast some walnuts, add a clove or two of garlic and blend them together. Blanch some spinach and drain it really well. Squeeze that water out! Mix it with the walnut puree and the seasonings shown, cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two. Then form it into balls and enjoy! You can top it with pomegranate seeds for garnish, but I just didn’t have any.

We served those with dinner along with….

Lobio which is a sort of bean stew and some roasted chicken leg quarters. This was so much fun to make and try! We of course didn’t (couldn’t) eat everything in one day, so we spread it out over several days, but it was a blast. Can’t wait for the next countries cuisine we try to make!

We do occasionally eat out or order something to take home.

It’s been a while since we ordered a meal from “Too Good To Go”, but we decided to try this place called Tender Tank Chicken. It’s a food truck in Raleigh, NC. And it was sooooo good! The chicken was tender and flavorful, the sauce it comes with was great and the fries were perfect! Try them out!

Now, we don’t just have food-related adventures. We decided to go to the RV sale and show that came to town! We’ve been curious about RVs for a while now. And we finally got to see our first RVs up close and personal!

We both won prizes at one of the booths (I think my prize was better lol) and got to wander in a lot of different RVs. And the funny thing is, my favorite one we went it wasn’t what I expected. I actually preferred one of the mid-sized ones you tow behind your car. And I had expected to like the larger, truck-like ones better.

We also got to meet one of our favorite RV YouTubers from “Matt’s RV Reviews”!

Another thing we like to do is try new coffee houses in the area. We’ve kind of started to make it a weekly thing. We’ve been to 3 so far….

First stop was Aversboro Coffee in Garner, NC. Cute place and the coffee was decent. I got their “Coconut Cream Pie” coffee and Randy got their “Mona Lisa” and a shot of espresso.

Full Bloom was also in Garner. Very nice staff and the place was adorable. I got a “Partly Cloudy Matcha Latte” and Randy got a “Strawberry Cheesecake Latte” with….a shot of espresso.

And finally, we went to Lorraine’s Coffee House and Music, also in Garner NC. We both ended up getting “Lorraine’s Mocha” and Randy also got a chocolate chip cookie and, you guessed it, a shot of espresso! I think this was my favorite one so far and the inside was really cool with a large stage for live bands!

Happy Birthday to Me! We celebrated my birthday this past week! Technically I got to celebrate it twice. The first time we didn’t get to go to the place Randy really wanted to take me.

So we went to UMI instead! It’s a pretty new place in Cary, NC. It’s a giant Asian/sushi buffet and they have unlimited milk tea you can drink, and the sushi is great! We ate way too much, but got to try some cool new dishes and just have a great time!

My friend also took me to an African restaurant near me called “Elle Et Moi Cuisine”. This was my first time trying African food and, let me tell you. We’ll be back. I HAVE to take Randy here. It was so freakin good!

We tried their homemade pineapple ginger drink (it’s strong, y’all, but it makes a great hot drink too). I got their okra and lamb soup (OMG), fufu (delish) and their casava leaves (YUM). The owner was also the cook and was so kind and gave us complimentary beignets for dessert! I have no complaints, guys.

Finally, we got to go to the place Randy originally wanted to take me for my birthday. And it did not disappoint!

Everything was so good and the place was really cool! I’d seen places like this online, and always wanted to go! Almost everything is included (with the exception of drinks and a few desserts) and the price is reasonable. You can take things off the conveyer belt, or order from their extensive menu. Your order comes via either train, robot or human! I strongly recommend this place and we will for sure be back!

Here’s a little glimpse of the trains that bring your orders!

Wow! That was a lot to catch up on! But here we are! Now we get to relax. Want to watch a movie? Come, sit with me on the popcorn couch!

This was a decent movie. It’s another subtitled one. The acting was good. The main character looked so young to be a prosecutor! There were a lot of twists and turns, but I can’t say you don’t see them coming as the movie progressed.

I LOVED this movie! As someone who is a reader of Poe and interested in that time period, this lured me right in. And I mean, it’s Christian Bale….and can you believe the guy who played Poe also played Harry Potter’s annoying cousin?! The acting was great; the ending was great. Not really gory, just a good murder mystery. Definitely recommend this one.

So, maybe I’ve watched too many of these movies. From the start I called it. It’s still a fun watch, though. I strangely like the husband’s character, too. I liked them both. Oh well.

This one was good! Another good detective story! The characters were likable (Eleanor grew on me, for sure). And Dean’s voice is just….wonderful. Worth a watch.