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binge worthy shows

A solid weekend for me consists of some quality couch time and at least 6 straight episodes of a new show.  I just started watching A Million Little Things and I’m giving it some undivided attention this Saturday.  It’s not always easy to find a good series that both Jeremy and I enjoy but we are dedicated and managed to find a few that had us hooked.

 

Amazon Prime

  • Jack Ryan-  I LOVED this show.  I think I watched the entire series in two couch seatings (that’s an official measurement).   Jack Ryan is a CIA analyst that got recruited into a field assignment for a terrorist investigation.  I was immediately hooked after the first episode. Highly recommend!
  • Dirty John-  This is the latest show we watched.  It’s an 8 episode series based loosely on a true story about the relationship of a middle aged successful interior designer and a man she starts dating.  Her family has their suspicions about him and soon start investigating his history which reveals some very concerning information.  This show had me hooked right until the very end (which was a good one!).
  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel- I wasn’t so sure we’d love this show and I was honestly shocked by how much Jeremy enjoyed it.  Mrs. Maisel is a 1950’s housewife who mistakenly falls into stand up comedy.  If you’re looking for something lighthearted then this is it!

Netflix

  • Bloodline-   A bit older and it’s been sometime since we watched this show but it’s definitely a good one.  There are 3 full seasons out and sadly no more to come.  The show revolves around a family of four adult siblings and their parents.  Without giving too much away one siblings return ‘home’ causes a bit of family drama which leads to a shocking ending in the first season and it doesn’t end there.  Each season leaves you wanting more.  I’m sad that this show is over but then again I’m not sure how many more shocking events could have realistically taken place.
  • The Sinner- SO GOOD.  I feel like most people have seen this show by now but if you haven’t what are you waiting for?  There are two seasons out and they are unrelated aside from one character (no need to watch Season 1 before 2).   The first episode of Season 1 will have you completely questioning what the heck is going on but the end of the season answers everything you’d want to know.
  • Ozark-  This one is about a seemingly normal family that is uprooted when the father’s money laundering scheme goes wrong and he now has to figure out how to pay back millions to a Mexican drug cartel. Apparently Season 3 is in the works and I’m impatiently awaiting the air date.
  • Making a Murderer-  This is the true crime documentary about Steven Avery who served 18 years in prison after a wrongful conviction of sexual assault.  Just two years after being released he was charged with murder of a 25 year old woman who had disappeared.  The first season was filmed over the course of 10 years by graduate film students and detailed the murder trial while the second season documents the aftermath of the conviction.

Hulu

  • This is Us-  Okay I think most of us are hooked on this show by now, aren’t we?  Another good family drama that sometimes leaves me holding back tears.  I really hope that Season 3 is far from the last one.
  • Parenthood- Available on Hulu.  I can’t remember what prompted us to start this fairly old series but we watched all six seasons over the course of a few weeks.  It is such an emotional and heartwarming show outlining four grown siblings struggles with parenthood.  I wish it hadn’t ended!  It’s also available on Netflix.
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Another couple of crowd pleasers on the menu for this week…and by ‘crowd’ I mean myself and Jeremy but I promise we are good judges of deliciousness.

 

  1. Greek Turkey Burgers 

I’m actually not a huge fan of ground turkey but you barely know you’re eating ground turkey with this recipe.  I even added my sub par food photography for this meal.  I’m trying to eat less dairy these days so I skipped that ingredient but it’s delicious either way.   I topped mine with Trader Joe’s Tzatziki Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip- so good for both the burger and mixed in to the cucumber, tomato, onion side.

 

2.  Chicken Enchiladas

This is another recipe that I kind of just throw together and it always works because you can’t go wrong with cheese and carbs!  I use whole wheat tortillas and a blend of Mexican cheeses.

Ingredients: 

tortillas

enchilada sauce

cheese

diced onion

 diced red pepper

chicken breasts

Directions: 

Cook & shred chicken

mix chicken, onion and pepper in a bowl with the enchilada sauce

add the above mixture to your tortillas and sprinkle cheese inside each tortilla- roll each tortilla up as you fill them and place seam side down in a baking dish

pour more enchilada sauce over the tortillas and then top with more cheese

cover with tinfoil and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, remove the tinfoil and bake for another few minutes until the cheese is melted

Really simple and really yummy!  We are expecting a snow storm on Tuesday so I plan to make this then.

 

 

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My love for Trader Joe’s runs deep.  I recently joined a Facebook group- Trader Joe’s Meal Ideas for Busy Moms- and panicked thinking that they might not approve my request to join because I’m not a mom.  Luckily it’s open to anyone and there are SO many members posting ideas for meals, snacks and such daily. We buy a very large majority of our groceries at Trader Joe’s so I figured I’d go ahead and share two meals made with some of my favorite TJ’s finds .

 

1.  Cauliflower Gnocchi with Pesto

I love this combo and the pesto can also be swapped for regular tomato sauce.  This is such a quick meal to make BUT if you haven’t made the cauliflower gnocchi yet I have to warn you- DON’T follow the cooking instructions on the bag.  I typically heat oil in a skillet and then cook the gnocchi in that- no water as the package suggests.  I’ve also heard of people baking them but I haven’t tried that yet.  After cooking the gnocchi just toss in some of the Vegan, Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto and you’re done!  I’m making this tomorrow or Tuesday and I’m thinking of adding in some sautéed spinach so I can’t get some more greens in.  Super simple!

 

2.  Cauliflower Stir Fry

Just realized as I’m typing this that I’m having a very cauliflower themed week.  Just missing the good ole cauliflower pizza crust.  Maybe I’ll share my recipe for cauliflower pizza another week! Anyways, I wasn’t a fan of the plain riced cauliflower but this stuff is GOOD.  I cook it according to the package instructions- just a few minutes over the stove.  I typically add in these shelled edamame and some snap peas.  I actually just made this tonight but subbed broccoli for snap peas and added cubed chicken.  I toss in a few tablespoons of the coconut aminos and it tastes like a healthy fried rice (you can also add egg)!  I use coconut aminos as a sub for soy sauce and it honestly tastes the same.  

 

I’ll do a dedicated post to share ALL my favorites from Trader Joe’s in the next few weeks.  Who else is a huge TJ’s fan?!

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So sad to that my long weekend is over but at least it’s a short work week!  On Friday we went out to a steakhouse by our old apartment that we had yet to try and were sad we waited so long to go!  Pretty sure Jeremy is still having dreams about his filet and béarnaise sauce.  The rest of the weekend was spent inside as we had a tiny snow ‘storm’ if you can even call it that and then temps dropped like crazy so we spent many many hours on the couch.  I’m pretty sure the impression of my body is still there.  Now, after a long weekend of indulging, two of our favorites are on the menu for this week!

 

1. Steak Fajitas

First up is steak fajitas which I think may be Jeremys favorite meal that I cook.  My mom actually gifted us a small cast iron fajita pan with wooden trivet and it’s the MVP of this meal.

Ingredients:

skirt steak

3 peppers (I usually use a mix of red and orange)

1 white onion

fajita seasoning (I throw a ton of spices together and never measure it out but here is a recipe that includes all the spices I always use)

Corn or flour tortillas

Optional toppings: avocado, sour cream, salsa

Directions:

Slice steak in 1/4 inch pieces

Slice all peppers & the white onion

Heat 1 tbsp oil in cast iron pan over medium heat

Coat each piece of sliced skirt steak in fajita seasoning and add to the pan

Cook about 6-7 minutes until all steak is fully cooked

Add in pepper and onion and stir until they are tender

Serve mixture in warm tortillas and add any toppings of your choice!

Pretty much the easiest dinner and always delicious.  We actually make these into ‘fajita bowls’ and skip the tortillas but serve it over brown rice- more like a fajita-less fajita.

 

2.  Lemon & Dill Chicken

Another really simple recipe!  I’ve tried this with dried dill weed and I must say the the fresh dill really makes a difference!  I’ll typically make this with a side of cous cous and a vegetable- usually some roasted brussel sprouts or broccoli.

 

Another soup might be in order for next week if the temperatures stay this low! Let me know if you have any favorite soup recipes!

 

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small master bathroom Our very first home renovation is complete!  While our house was ‘move-in ready’ it was, and in some parts still is, a bit outdated.  With our two biggest projects being the kitchen and this bathroom we…ok maybe I (happy wife happy life, right?) decided  to start small with our tiny master bath.  This bathroom along with the others in our home are quite small but that was not at all a deal breaker for us.  It did make this project SLIGHTLY easier as the layout didn’t change.  Our house was built in the 1970’s and this bathroom was NOT trying to hide it’s age.  I actually refused to use this bathroom prior to the start of the renovation because while I could sort of get over the yellow walls, and even the yellow sink, the yellow toilet just put me over the edge.  Thank goodness for a slightly better hallway bathroom.  Okay, enough potty talk here’s two before pictures to really set the scene.

And thanks to our gem of a contractor it now looks like THIS:

 

pottery barn medicine cabinet I was so against a medicine cabinet because in my mind they all look cheesy and unfinished (frameless) but this one totally made me a believer.  This was the exact style I wanted for a mirror and it’s a huge bonus that it’s a medicine cabinet because hidden storage is key in this small space.

navy blue vanity So happy with our navy blue vanity!  We loved the gold hardware but didn’t want to do ALL gold hardware throughout the bathroom because I thought it might be a LITTLE too trendy for me so we decided to mix metals.  The vanity drawer pulls and the scones are both a gold/bronze finish while the rest of the hardware is polished nickel.  I was super nervous about this but I did some research and found that this could totally work as long as we repeat each finish at least twice and stick to 2-3 finishes max.  I LOVE how it come out!

shower floor tileshower wall tile Jeremy was insistent on a rain shower head so that is what we got.  I think he was a tad underwhelmed with the water pressure but to me it works just fine and I love that you can tilt it any which way you please.

The background of our nook is the same tile as the shower floor.  AND yes, we use more than one product but I just hadn’t moved them all over just yet.

small bathroom renosmall bathroom reno Props to Jeremy for sourcing this baseboard cover.  It’s such a clean look and is much better than the rusty cover that once lived in it’s place.  We plan to eventually replace all the other covers in our home with these.

Bathroom Sources:

Vanity:  Lowe’s

Sconces:  Pottery Barn

Mirror:  Pottery Barn

towel racks:  Pottery Barn

shower door:  DreamLine

floor tile:  The Tile Shop

shower floor tile:  The Tile Shop

shower wall tile:  The Tile Shop

baseboard cover:  Home Depot

sink faucet:  Delta

shower head:  Lowe’s

shower faucet:  Delta

 

I’m thinking of doing a post on what we learned from our first renovation project- what worked and what we would do differently if we could go back in time.  Let me know if that would be something you’re interested in!

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I’m so excited to share a new series here on the blog!  I am always looking for new recipes and meal ideas so I thought I’d share what I find & cook along the way.  While Jeremy is certainly the better chef we both share the cooking responsibilities in this house.  Honestly, figuring out what we are having for dinner each night provokes more arguments between Jeremy and I than I’d like to admit.  It sounds ridiculous but we are SO different when it comes to food.  I would be perfectly happy throwing together a salad every night while Jeremy needs a protein, carb and veggie and it can’t be the same carb he had for lunch…or the night before, and he can’t have the same animal protein two nights in a row, and the veggie can’t be oven baked asparagus because asparagus is only good on the grill.  Okay, I’ll admit I’m at fault too being that I don’t each fish (and he LOVES fish) and I’ll only agree to eat brown rice and whole wheat pasta…I like to keep my carbs complex.  Needless to say we’ve both learned to compromise a bit and I have learned that I need to keep a running list of meal ideas on my phone so that I can spit them out when I get the daily “what do you want to have for dinner?” text.

Each week I’ll be sharing 2-3 recipes that I’ll cook on Sunday to have for dinner and lunch during the week- often not my own because I’m not super creative in the kitchen.  This week I have one tried and true ‘recipe’ and a second that I just made for the very first time.  I included some very pathetic photos today but I may or may not share them each week (let me know what you prefer) because my food photography is laughable and I’m pretty sure that if anything it might deter you from making these meals.

1. Pesto pasta with grilled chicken and cherry tomatoes

A crowd pleaser in the Stauber house.  I used whole wheat penne and and Trader Joe’s vegan kale, cashew & basil pesto for my portion and a regular pesto from Costco for Jeremy.  This one is super simple:

Cook pasta and drain.

Heat pesto in a saucepan

Mix pesto in with pasta

Add in grilled chicken (I cooked mine in the oven for 25 minutes at 350•)

top with cherry tomatoes

optional topping: shaved parmesan

(exhibit A of pathetic food photography)

 2.  Salsa Verde Steak Soup

This is from a favorite website/blog of mine, Gimme Some Oven.  I just made her Cajun Corn Chowder last week and it came out great.  I really love that she gives cooking instructions for stovetop, instant pot and crock pot! I often find recipes I’d love to try but they’re specifically for  an instant pot which we do not have and I’m not ready to add yet another small appliance to our collection.  Anyways, I made this in a dutch oven and it was SO simple.  This definitely has all the tangy/zesty flavors of salsa verde, the only thing I left out was a poblano pepper because I couldn’t find one.  I’ll be bringing this to work tomorrow for lunch!

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It’s been a very long time since my last post.  Last year was filled with all things wedding (which I’ll eventually share more on!) and it consumed my life.  Being that I’ve neglected this little slice of the world wide web for so long I decided I’ll sum up my favorite purchases of 2018 being that I hadn’t shared much of them throughout the year. HERE WE GO…

  • OUR HOME!

Definitely my favorite and biggest purchase of the year/my life.  Jeremy really wanted to start house hunting before the wedding but I was adamant that it had to wait because I would be WAY too overwhelmed.  Although we started looking just days after returning from our honeymoon I am so glad we didn’t start the hunt before the wedding as the home buying process was WAY more emotionally exhausting than I had imagined.  We moved in the first week in September and have been slowly making this house a home.  I’ll be sharing our first renovation project very soon!

 After our mighty little magic bullet died we did some research and upgraded to this blender.  It is great for making sauces, hummus, smoothies and probably 100 other things I have yet to try.  I’ve mostly used it for smoothies and it works great! My only complaint is that it is loud but that is not at all a deal breaker for me.  It also comes with a large tumbler BUT you do need to purchase a separate blade to screw on the tumbler if you want to use that directly on the blender base.

So this technically wasn’t a ‘purchase’ but it was a gift that we registered for.  My sweet sweet girlfriends bought this for my bridal shower gift and Jeremy and I were SOOO excited when it came.  This vacuum is a GAME CHANGER.  It is incredibly lightweight and cordless which makes vacuuming super quick and seamless.  I can vacuum the entire house in less than 20 minutes.  It comes with several attachments, it’s easy to empty and you can quickly take off the top portion to use as a hand vacuum.  I now feel VERY strongly about cordless vacuums as it’s brought me more joy than ever imaginable.

I used to insist that I would never like an e-reader because I enjoy holding an actual book but I decided to give the Kindle a try because everyone/thing deserves a first chance, right?  Well, turns out I love it and I totally get why others do to.  The lighting works perfectly and it’s great for reading in bed.  I have admittedly been awful about reading lately but I’m hoping to join the local library so I can download books on my Kindle through them (I think that’s a thing?).

Our first big furniture purchase for our new home!  We outgrew our old sofa quite awhile ago but agreed we would wait to purchase something new until we bought a house.  This sofa came highly recommended from my friend Janna and she would never steer me wrong!  I brought Jeremy to check it out in store and he was immediately sold.  It’s everything I wanted in a couch- very comfortable, looks polished yet cozy, a great neutral color (ours is the taft cement fabric) and the cushion depth is ahhhhmazing. crate & Barrel lounge ii Max is also a big fan of the new couch!

Pretty much my entire skincare regimen consists of Beautycounter products but this product easily takes the cake.  I will for sure be repurchasing this again and again and again.  I’ve never used a product that actually provides a noticeable change OVERNIGHT until I gave this peel a try.  I use it about 2 to 3 times a week on nights when I don’t apply facial oil. I have very dry and dull skin but it is noticeably brighter the morning after using this peel and WAY smoother.  Best part is you just apply all over your skin before bed and just rinse or wash your face in the morning.  I’m pretty lazy when it comes to using masks or peels so this product is perfect and perfectly low maintenance.  The other bonus is this happens to be very reasonably priced in comparison to some of their other products. & now on to my favorite clothing purchases

I’ve been working on narrowing down my jean inventory and purchasing pairs that I feel great in rather than a mediocre pair that I found at a great price.  I’ve raved about Madewell denim in the past and they really are the very best.  This pair is my most recent denim purchase.  I was really needing a darker wash that I could wear to work and on the weekend.  I’ve been wearing these non-stop and they are currently my most reached for denim.  Also, for anyone that doesn’t know, you can donate a pair of old jeans (any brand) to Madewell and they will give you a $20 coupon to use on a new pair!

I am always searching for the perfect basic tee and I’ve discovered a new favorite.  These t-shirts are super affordable, a great fit and they wash really well.  I have both the black and white and wear them on the weekends and under cardigans for work.  They are a perfect fit- tailored yet not clingy.  I wear a size Medium in these.

I REALLY do not know how I survived winters in New York and Connecticut before this purchase.  I bought this jacket last Winter and it’s made the cold weather SO much more bearable without sacrificing style!  This is my go-to jacket for the entire season and I love that it’s also machine washable unlike any wool coats I’ve had.  Jeremy actually called me out for trying it on in the olive color the other day (I own the black).  When it’s good, it’s good. Fun fact- the filling is made from recycled plastic bottles, so cool!  I wear a size Small in this jacket- it runs a little big but I use the drawstring to bring it in at the waist. J.Crew Perfect Winter Parka

I won’t go on and on about these because I have talked about them so many times in the past but these really are my favorite leggings and actually the only black leggings I own (aside from 2 pairs strictly for workout out). zella live in leggings

Aside from the leggings I had yet to try any other products by Zella until I tried these joggers.  They are my current favorite lounge pants and although I rarely ever leave the house in sweatpants if I do I’m wearing these.  They work great for an athleisure look because they have a more tailored slim fit and pair perfectly with a black tee, jean jacket and some white tennis shoes.  If in between sizes I recommend sizing up in these- I wear a Medium.

& that’s a wrap.