Weekend Rewind

Hubby & I had a fantastic weekend that involved some super great food which is always a plus! Friday night we had dinner with some friends at a fantastic restaurant. It's actually the same restaurant where we have planned to have my work Christmas party so it was a nice trial run. Their claim to fame is flash-fried spinach--which doesn't taste like spinach at all--but we decided to be adventurous and try the flash-fried garden which was a combo of yellow squash, zucchini, & cucumbers flash friend in olive oil and then tossed with parmesan cheese!!! It was so yummy!!! We all had some variety of steak but I had filet tips with a portabello mushroom sauce. It was so delicious and I already can't wait for the Christmas party to try something else! After dinner we headed to a coffee shop to hang out and have something warm to drink...it was a great night with friends!!

Saturday morning I had to work and then I headed to lunch with one of my best friends. We tried this new little coffee shop/tea house & it was fantastic. I had a turkey avocado sandwich and mushroom brie soup. It was probably the best cream of mushroom soup I've ever had! After lunch I did a little shopping & then came home for a relaxing afternoon that might have included a nap! ;o)

The weather was beautiful outside so we had hamburgers & homemade french fries for dinner & then Hubby made a fantastic fire & we enjoyed smores for dessert. The fire was a little smoky because of the wind, but it was a great evening anyway!

Today we went to church, grabbed lunch at Qdoba (YUM!!) and then went to visit my grandma for a bit. She looked great today & is still making lots of progress, we all just keep praying that God will bring full motion back to her left side. She was in great spirits today & had a good day of therapy so that is always uplifting to see. We're spending the rest of the afternoon watching football & then we'll head to small group this evening. It's been a great weekend & I think I may need to go on a diet after all the yummy goodness I've consumed!

I've mentioned homemade french fries several times & this is one of Hubby's favorite side dishes so I thought I would share the recipe (or non-recipe)!

Ingredients:
Potatoes (normally 1 large baking potato per person is plenty)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut the potatoes into then strips or however you like your fries. (I also peel the potatoes because we're not big potato skin fans, but you can certainly leave the skin on if you like) Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Then add salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, & parmesan cheese. Toss/Stir until potatoes are fully covered in oil & the seasonings are distrubted evenly throughout mixture. Place on cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for approx. 30-45 minutes.

I have an actual recipe but I like more seasoning so just add whatever I think looks good & go from there. I also use parchment paper on the cookie sheet so everything doesn't stick to the pan! This is a very versatile recipe that you can use any seasoning with & the cooking time also just depends on how crunchy you like your fries. We prefer them quite crunchy so I always cook them for quite awhile! Enjoy!