Clean Kitchen, Happy Wife

There are some days when cooking is the last thing I want to do after work. Does anyone else feel this way?

I've provided some links to 3 of my favorite places I've eaten in the last months before we headed to Australia. When my kitchen is clean, I'm happy!

PF Changs - We ate in Ridgeland one night after work. I ordered the Orange Peel for Shrimp dinner and brought half of it home. It was a party of flavor in my mouth.

Lulu's - One weekend, we went to the beach in Gulf Shores and visited LuLu's for the first time. With a warm breeze and an open atmosphere, this restaurant was perfect after a day in the sun. We shared the Mahi Tacos and we both loved this dish.

Abuelo's - This is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. I grew up in Texas, so Mexican food is part of my DNA. I take it seriously. Every time we visit my family in Texas, we eat at Abuelo's. Their chips and salsa are to-die-for and it's my belief that the chicken enchiladas will be served in heaven.

We try and not eat out too much because it's expensive and it's not the healthiest choice, but we enjoy trying new restaurants and sharing a meal with friends. I'll be sure to post some of our favorite new restaurants in Sydney real soon. When the kitchen is clean, I'm happy!

Tell Foodie Freddies about your favorite restaurant!

Chicken Spaghetti

Foodie Freddies is posting from Sydney, Australia! This is Day 1 of a 2.5 year contract with KPMG and we're so happy to finally be here! Eliott and I flew today and we're trying to adjust to the time difference, so we've been forcing ourselves to stay awake, hence the blogging. It was like Christmas when we saw our luggage appear at baggage claim. We're off to a great start!

Prior to the move, I was trying to clean out the cabinets as much as I could. We had the Rotel, spaghetti noodles, and chicken, so the idea for Chicken Spaghetti seemed scrumptious. This recipe comes from a First Baptist Church of Burleson cookbook. I'm always drawn to church cookbooks because the submitted recipes usually come from the kitchens of women who have been doing this for years. One of these days, I'll submit a recipe to a church cookbook and feel accomplished.

Ingredients:

1 can of cream of mushroom

1 orange bell pepper, diced

1 can of Rotel

1 16 oz. Velveeta

1 16 oz. spaghetti

3 boiled chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

Directions:

Boil the chicken breasts. Cut into bite size pieces once it has cooled a little. Cook the spaghetti noodles and bell pepper in the chicken stock. Drain. While the noodles are going, mix the Rotel, cream of mushroom soup, and Velveeta on medium low heat. Cut the Velveeta into chunks to melt easier. Continuously stir. Add the chicken to the cheese mixture. Add all ingredients to the noodles and bell peppers. Stir evenly. Prepare a 9x12 pan with Pam and heat oven to 400. Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy! We love this meal and we hope you do too!

E: 8

A: 9 - thankfully, it was a clean-out-the-cabinet-meal

T: 7 - not the fastest with boiling, preparing, and baking involved

HH: 10

Sometimes...

Sometimes, you just need to let someone else do the cooking.

Sometimes, you just need to get food to-go, from one of your husband's favorites restaurants, that you've never experienced with him.

 

Sometimes, it's fun to relax and be completely unhealthy.

It was a good night.