Mr. & Mrs. Future In-Laws

Last night was the last big landmark before Adam and my wedding November 28… Adam’s sister got married! It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony in a gorgeous gazebo. The weather was iffy most of the day, and just before 5 p.m. when the ceremony was to start, the clouds cleared, and we were met with a beautiful fall afternoon!

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After a short and sweet ceremony, they were pronounced husband and wife! I teared up at that point out of happiness, as well as the realization that, finally, Adam and I are next!


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There was much photo-taking after the ceremony, and I was truly touched that Riv asked me to be in a family photo with her and Adam… it was another reality check that we really are going to be one big family.

During the cocktail hour, Adam and I got OUR picture taken…

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And then Riv and Alex made their entrance as Mr. & Mrs.!

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And then…we ate!!! I was ravenous by the time the food got there since liquor tends to make me hungry (oh yeah, I had a couple!) and I was thrilled with this egg-lemon-rice soup and family style dinner. I made sure to sample everything! The roast beef definitely calmed a craving I’d been having for a while!

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There was, of course, cake as well… which I didn’t take a picture of whole! BAD FOOD BLOGGER!! Oh well, the slice was a plate of sugar that helped get me going for the dancing that occurred soon after:

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We headed home fairly late (for us) at about 11:15, and somehow got stuck in a super huge traffic jam on the interstate! By the time we got home, I was just about spent… I didn’t sleep in as late as I wanted to, but took advantage of the morning. I threw dinner in the crock pot (more on that in a minute), made baked french toast for breakfast, napped a bit, watched movies, and got a sandwich for lunch. LOVE Jimmy Johns after a night out!


Now, onto dinner…
Thursday evening, I threw together a double batch of Thai Pork Stew for my staff potluck, and made a point to take a small amount in advance for lunch. Good thing I did, because by the time I actually got TO the potluck for my lunch, the crockpot had been scraped clean! I’m so glad my coworkers loved my recipe (Hi RBMS people, if you’re reading!) but it left me wanting more.

So this afternoon, I made another batch just for Adam and I…and man was it good. The picture isn’t the best, but as you can see, this features brown rice, shredded pork, red peppers, and a spicy peanut sauce… ok, you might not be able to see that, but pretend you can, ok?!

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I’m off of work tomorrow in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement. Traditionally, we fast from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow, and spend the day atoning for the years’ sins. To all my Jewish friends, may you have an easy fast, and I’ll see you tomorrow for our “Break The Fast” meal.



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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, September 27th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Guests for Dinner, dinner out, family, pork, simple recipe

Barbecue Fail and a Giveaway!

Nope, I’m not infallible. I don’t always make meals that are fantastic. In fact, today was a downright FAIL. At 5:30 this morning, I put a chopped up onion, a lean pork loin, ketchup, diet coke, garlic, and hot pepper in the crock pot to cook for 12 hours in the hopes that I’d come home to a delicious barbecue meal.

Nope. Didn’t happen.

I came home to a burnt mess on the bottom of the crockpot with a shrunken, kind of barbecue colored pork loin in the middle. Adam and I thought that maybe if we took it OUT of the burnt mess, shredded the meat and tasted it, maybe it wouldn’t be terrible. Again: nope. It was dry and barely seasoned.

THEN, I added barbecue sauce to the bowl of shredded pork, stirred it up, and put it on a sandwich with fat free american cheese:


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Not bad huh? Haha looks are deceiving. It was still dry, but now it was on bread with cheese. So, Adam is out getting us some delicious sushi in honor of National Sushi Day! Thanks for the heads-up Tina!

You can win me!

You can win me!

Onto other news… FREE STUFF NEWS!! Earlier in the week I was sent a 32 oz. jar of virgin coconut oil from Tropical Traditions, and they have so generously offered to send one of you, a What’s For Dinner reader, your very own jar of virgin coconut oil! I’ve been using it as a moisturizer for a few days now, and my previously NASTY dry elbows feel super smooth! It smells amazing, and I can’t wait to start cooking with it. I think some coconut shrimp are in my future!


To enter, just leave a comment below! For an additional entry, subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter, and email me at mara@imadedinner.net to let me know you’ve done so. Winners will be announced at Dinner time on Sunday, June 21!

FINALLY, I have Guest For Dinner for you!! I met Julie waaaaaaaay back when I was in 6th grade and she was a big bad 7th grader at Hebrew School. She had this amazing singing voice, and we figured out that eventually, we’d end up at the same high school (betcha didn’t remember that, huh Julie?) We remained friends through high school where she was often the star on stage, and I was a mere costume wench, sewing aprons together for our showing of The Crucible. Our paths connected again more recently on Facebook, where I then found her fantastic weight loss and healthy eating blog, Flip This Body. She seriously rocks! So, Julie, pull up a chair, have a seat at my table, and tell us about your meal!
Even with all the recipe oriented magazines I subscribe to, I find that most of my favorite recipes come from friend and family referrals. (Which is what makes this blog so great, in my opinion!) This recipe comes from a Facebook status update from my friend Karen (the wife of one of my college theatre professors, in fact.) Her status was literally all the ingredients, and I had to figure out the rest. Add one charcoal grill and some teriyaki sauce and you’ve got…

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1 lb. ground turkey (I used Jennie-O)
1/6 cup minced dried onion (or 1/3 cup chopped fresh sweet onion)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 TBSP dried parsley
1 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. hot sauce (I used Cholula)
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries (can throw them in whole)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)
1 TBSP teriyaki sauce

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with your clean, bare hands (makes me feel like a kid again :) . Form into 4 patties (1/4 lb. each). Grill or pan-fry. I used my charcoal grill and it took about 20 minutes, flipping the burgers every 4 or 5 minutes to ensure even charring (turkey can burn easily, so monitor diligently.) Once done, place on an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin (my new favorite bread product!!!) and top with 1 TBSP of your favorite sweet teriyaki sauce (I used Soy Vay.)

The thing about cooking turkey (like chicken) is that it needs to be cooked all the way through, or you can risk salmonella poisoning. I suggest using a meat thermometer around the 15 minute mark. The burger will be done at 182 degrees. Make sure to put it in through the SIDE of the burger to get an accurate reading. I had it sticking into the top of the burger for a while and it didn’t get above 130 degrees, but then I tried the side of the burger (making sure at least 1/2 of the thermometer stick was in the meat) and the needle immediately shot up to show it was done!

I LOVED this burger. I have never been a big fan of turkey burgers because I always found them kinda bland and dry. But this burger was moist, flavorful and FILLING. I actually had to put back some of my side dishes after plowing through that puppy because I was so full! The savory sauces & herbs balanced well with the sweet cranberries, and both were great compliments to the turkey. It kinda reminded me of Thanksgiving, in June! :) The teriyaki sauce was my addition to the recipe, and it added a great layer of extra flavor and zing.

I used Sparkrecipes.com to calculate the nutritionals — and they’re not bad! Each patty is about 225 calories, 9g of fat, 1g of fiber and 24g of protein. Add the teriyaki sauce (35 cals, 1g fat, 0 fiber, 0 protein) and the Arnold’s sandwich thin (100 cals, 1g fat, 5g fiber, 4 g protein), and you’re looking at about 355 calories for the whole sandwich (7 Weight Watcher Points.) I definitely will be having another one for lunch tomorrow! Enjoy!
Thanks so much Julie! These look quite fantastic, and like something that would go over VERY well in our house!

The sushi is here, so I’m heading out, but I leave you with the camper quote conversation of the day: “Hey, why are your pants on backwards?” “That’s how I like them!” “Doesn’t the zipper bug your butt?” “No, i just like them this way.”

This occurred after our arts and crafts project of “Teddy Bear Stuffers” where we each got to stuff and take home a stuffed animal!

Have a great night all!

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, June 18th 2009 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Guests for Dinner, dinner out, giveaway, pork
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