Friday's Letters

Dear Friday's Letters,

Sorry I've neglected you again.

I'm starting to realize that being a PA and a blogger don't mix.

Dear magical Icelandic cough drops,

I'm so thankful I brought you back to America with me.

Even though I have no clue what is in you, you have saved my throat so much pain this week.

Dear Josh,

Why do you have to be so darn good to me?

Dear The Office Season Finale,
No tv show has ever made me cry as hard as I did last night.
I love you more than Jim loves Pam and I'm gonna miss you more than they will miss Scranton.
. . . but Austin is pretty cool.

 Dear yet another really photogenic homemade dinner,

Thanks for being so pretty yet so tasty.

 Dear Chunks,

Your tan lines are really uneven.

You'll never find a woman looking like that.

Dear weekend, 

Thank heavens you are here.

Let's last a little longer this time.

A Pinterest Success Story

In our household, it is rare that Pinterest recipes turn out as good as they look in photos.

I finally found an exception (and have cooked it three times since then)

Chicken and kale stuffed sweet potatoes

The original recipe was found here, but I tweeked it a little bit here and there by adding kale and jalapeños instead of chipotle peppers and spinach.

Also, pictured is cilantro lime quinoa, which is a staple in our home.

2 sweet potatoes

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cups olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

2 chopped jalapeño peppers, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoons chili powder

salt and pepper

2 (half a 10oz bag) cups kale

5 ounces monterey jack cheese

chopped cilantro

greek yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and prick all over with a fork. Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender. Place your chicken in a baking dish and rub with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and peper. Place in the oven with the potatoes and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and shred the chicken with a fork or your hands. When the sweet potatoes are done cut in half and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

In a medium size bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno peppers, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat a small skillet over medium heat and wilt the kale. Toss the kale and shredded chicken together, set aside and keep warm.

Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Scrape the sweet potato out of the peel, leaving a medium size layer of flesh inside with the peel so that it can stand up on its own and place in a baking dish. Brush the skins with with a little of the sauce and bake for 5-10 muntes until nice and crisp. While the skins bake mix the kale, chicken, and sauce together. Remove skins from the oven and stuff with the chicken mixture, top with shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the skins are hot and crisp. Serve with fresh chopped cilantro and greek yogurt if desired.

Any Pinterest recipes you are currently gushing over?

You can follow me here on Pinterest!

Our Wedding Feature

Last Friday I was thrilled to find out that our wedding was featured on the Paper Moon Weddings website!

Go here to check it out!

Monday's Letters

Dear Friday's Letters, 

Sorry for neglecting you.
Don't be mad. 

Dear Dallas,
It's not hard to find something fun to do throughout the week, but it's a major plus when it involves lots and lots of food.

Dear Whole Foods,
Your Iron Fork event was awesome, but unfortunately all the local restaurant samples weren't all thaaaat instagrammable (which is no bueno for a blogger who has a food & instagram addiction)
All the cheese and Empire Bakery bread made up for it though.

Dear two dudes in a laundry basket,
HAH.

Dear Walking Dead,

So maybe we jumped on the train a little late, but I'm afraid to say we're hooked.

Now we just need Season 3 and apparently it doesn't exist anywhere that our skinny wallets can handle.

Aka, I'm not buying it on iTunes. 

Dear Josh,

Thanks for my crash course in contrasting flavors last week.

Mango + cayenne and sea salt, 

You win.

Honorable mention: Watermelon + pepper, chocolate ice cream + sage and olive oil, and vanilla ice cream + chili powder and cinnamon. 

Dear Mother's Day,

I'm glad you exist.

Moms deserve a lot more than one day of recognition a year though.

I'm glad we were able to celebrate with this soon to be mama as well!

How was your weekend guys?

Speak Now Link-Up {and giveaway!}

I'm so excited to join in with Ellie Coburn and her wonderful mission, Speak Now.

She has gathered tons of awesome bloggers together to host a fun link-up and a surprise giveaway!

Check out the post below to hear more about her great cause and see how you can enter to win some incredible prizes!

Ellie Coburn // elliecoburn.com | Ashly Griffith // After nine to five |  Keri-Anne Pink // Gingerlilytea | Franchesca Cox // So this is love | Kristine Foley // The Foley Fam | Lena Baird // Lena B. Actually | Emily // Dashboard Diaries | Cristine // Life with a side of Coffee | Shane Prather // Whispering Sweet Nothings | Shantel Cannon // Our Funny Little Family | Heather // Finding Beauty in the Ordinary | Ady // When in Doubt, just add Glitter | Beth Lewis // Through the eyes of the Mrs. | Brooklyn // This Little Blonde | Cassie Yielding // Live. Laugh. Love | Tamika Rybinski // No Time for Tea | Torie Jochims // Lattes and Love | Laurel Martinez // Heart of Wanderer  | Laura Williams // Lulu's Little Wonderland | Kayli // Truly Lovely | Ali Mills // Our Happily Ever After |  Jean // What Jean Likes | Hannah Stocker // All of My days with you | Jen Hallquist // Living a Listful Life | Jill Wilhelm // I know the plans I have for you | 

  Happy May Speak Now friends, both new and old! 

Today is an exciting day for Speak Now

Today, some fabulous ladies have teamed up to link up and tell you that you're beautiful. 

Speak Now is all about beauty from the inside out.

We believe in your dreams + passions. We believe in you. 

Today we want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you're beautiful.

Identify what makes you feel beautiful. Make this feeling an obligation in your life.

Today we are here to remind you that you can do anything.

Today and everyday, you are lovely, you are perfect, you are bold, you are unique.

Today and every day- you are beautiful!

Speak Now is a women empowerment organization 

built around the philosophy that self-love, self-respect, + self-confidence will make you beautiful.

We empower. We create. We educate. We inspire.

Link your blog up to connect with other bloggers who believe in the empowerment of women and help us spread awareness about the importance of women empowerment!

Once you link up, no community experience would be complete without a little welcome gift!  We are giving away a $100 visa gift card and any piece of beautiful jewelry from the Speak Now shop!

So link up, enter our giveaway, take a look at some of our blogging friends, and share our mission with your friends, family, and fellow blogging community. 

We are an online community designed to believe in you.

Today, we want you to join our movement. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

HOW TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY 

&  win a $100 visa gift card and a custom jewelry piece from our jewelry store

MANDATORY TO ENTER:

****MUST FOLLOW SPEAK NOW ON EITHER FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR INSTAGRAM TO ENTER*****

*****MUST LINK UP BLOG BELOW TO ENTER*****

 ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:  +1 for each // Follow Speak Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - COMMENT FOR EACH + 1 for each // Follow via GFC, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for any of our co-hosts - COMMENT FOR EACH + 1 // Share Speak Now's I AM BEAUTIFUL May link up with your FB or twitter friends - COMMENT FOR EACH +1 // Spreading the word via status/tweet/instagram post- COMMENT FOR EACH COMMENTS ARE OFF ON ALL WEBSITES CO-HOSTING THE EVENT SO YOU CAN HEAD ON OVER TO SPEAK NOW'S WEBSITE AND COMMENT TO ENTER!  { WWW.WESPEAKNOW.ORG }

A very special thanks to  Aunie of Aunie Sauce, Casey Wiegand,  Keri-Anne Pink, and Salena Lee  for sponsoring our link up!